Epitaph

“And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days…” (2 Kings 12:2a ESV).

The authors of 1^st and 2^nd Kings did not undertake to write down all the relevant events of the lives of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Rather, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they determined to write down that which was important to instruct the reader in the important aspect of God’s redemptive work throughout history leading up to Jesus Christ. As a result, what we get from the authors of 1^st and 2^nd Kings are important events in redemptive history combined with a spattering of religious commentary deemed to be important. For most of the kings of Israel and Judah, that included an epitaph describing whether or not the king was compliant with or in defiance of the Mosaic Covenant.

When you think about the kings of Israel and Judah, what immediately comes to your mind? Most of us probably think immediately of David because he was the prototype for the coming King of Israel and was a man after God’s own heart despite the fact that he had huge personal failures. Then we probably think about Solomon not only because he was so wise, but because he failed so miserably in the end. Perhaps we think of Saul because God rejected him in favor of David and most of us think of Ahab because of his conflicts with Elijah. If we are real bible scholars, we may even think of Hezekiah and Josiah, two kings spoken of so highly in scripture. There may be others we think of for other reasons, but those are the biggies.

How many of us, however, would think about Jehoash? Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days. What an amazing epitaph. Other than the fact that he made repairs to the temple, this is just about the only thing we know about Jehoash. Think about it, though. What else do we really need to know? Unlike David, who failed with Bathsheba, or Solomon, who was led astray to worship other gods, Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of God “all his days.” What more really needs to be said?

No matter what I do (or don’t do) with my life, there is nothing more that I would rather have said about me than that I did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. So often, we seek to obtain man’s favor. We want a long-standing epitaph amongst our peers or a place written in history – we want a legacy. In truth, though, what does it really matter whether or not man looks upon our life and decides it was – or was not – worthy. When we stand before almighty God, there are only two things that will matter. First, is our name written in the book of life? Have we attempted to earn our salvation through our own works or did we rely on the grace that comes through work of Jesus Christ in faith? Second, assuming we get past the first, God will judge our works with fire. If they withstand the fire, then we too, may receive an epitaph that reads “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.” At the end of the day, I cannot think of anything I would rather have said about me than that.

As for Jehoahaz, the only other thing we know about him is that he did not tear down the high places. In my next post, I will try to address that, because it goes toward whether or not we will be viewed as doing right in his eyes.