King Joash (Part 2)

1. HOOK: Voices in my Head

• Blindfold a child. Put him at one end of the class. Now mark the other end of the class as “B”. Pick another child to be his mentor. He should listen only to his mentor. The mentor is to guide him to move to point B. He will tell him to move right, left forward.
• Pick another child (or maybe 2) to be the “distractor”. He will give wrong instructions. The blindfold child must only listen to the mentor’s voice to get to point B.
• After the game, ask, “Was it easy?”
• Now I am going to tell you about what happened to a king called Joash who had a mentor, but later died.

2. LESSON: King Joash (2 Chron 21-22)

A. Joash Protected — God’s Promises Preserved (Review)

• Last week, we learned about how Athaliah tried to kill all the little princes — her own grandchildren — so that she could be queen of Judah.
• However, one little boy escaped. What was his name? Joash
• That’s right! Joash was a baby, and his aunty carried him to safety in the temple.
• The priest Jehoida took care of Joash for six years, while evil Athaliah ruled Judah. The priest believed God’s promise that King David will always have a King on his throne. His faith in God’s promises made him bold to risk his life to protect baby Joash.
• All through the pages of Scripture if you look beneath the physical story that you read you can see Satan’s endless attempts to stop God’s plans.  God has all authority over all His creation and nothing can stop His plans. Last week when we read about Queen Athaliah’s attempt to murder all of the sons of the king what do you think was happening in the spiritual world?  (Satan, God’s enemy was trying to destroy the seed from which Jesus Christ would be born.) God always keeps His promises and nothing will ever stop or thwart His purposes. So He preserved baby Joash so that His promises will be fulfilled through him!

B. Joash becomes King — God can use us even when we are young!

• When Joash was 7, Jehoida brought together the commanders and the Levites in Jerusalem, where he introduced Joash as the rightful king of Judah. “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.”
• Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!” The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises.
• Joash was King of Judah. He was 7 years old! How many of you are 7 years old? God can use Joash, God can also use you, even when you are young.
• When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the Lord. When she saw King Joash at the entrance of the temple, she tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!” The soldiers arrested her and put her to death.

C. Joash had a godly teacher and helper

• Joash was a little boy, but he had a good teacher and helper in Jehoiada, who taught him about God’s word and led by example.
• Jehoiada made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the Lord’s people. He offered sacrifices to God and protected God’s temple. All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols.
• One of the things Joash did as king was to repair the temple of God. Athaliah’s sons had used the temple’s furnishings for themselves. So Joash commanded that the temple be repaired. He put out a box so that people could put in their money to contribute towards the repair of the temple. The people gave gladly, a large amount of money was collected, and the temple was repaired.
• Jehoiada lived to be 130 years old.  He lived a life that impacted others in a Godly way.  When he died he was honored by being buried with the kings in the City of David.  He was faithful to God and was a Godly influence to King Joash and the people of Judah.
• After Jehoiada died, however, Joash did not follow God anymore. He did not listen to God’s prophets who came to warn him, and instead he killed them. In the end he did in battle.
• That’s a sad end for a king who had such a miraculous testimony as a baby, who had such good godly influence in his life and whom God used in such great and amazing ways.
• When he had a good teacher and helper, Joash followed God and prospered. But when he didn’t have a good teacher and helper anymore, he got sidetracked and didn’t follow God anymore.
• Today, children, we have the best teacher and helper. He is the Holy Spirit. He teaches us about God and His ways, and He helps us to be good Jesus boys and girls! After Jesus died and rose again, He went back into heaven. He promised that He will send us the Holy Spirit who will come to live in our hearts forever.
• We don’t have to worry about the Holy Spirit leaving us or dying (like in Jehoiada’s case). He is in us and with us forever!
• John 14:16-17a ^“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate/Helper, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Game for Memory Verse
• Quiz for Review of lessons — King Jehoshaphat and King Joash