His officials conspired against him and assassinated him at Beth Millo, on the road down to Silla. – 2 Kings 12:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 21, 2019): 2 Kings 12

Beginnings often don’t reveal the end. Or as Yoda (Star Wars) phrased it, “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.” The problem with the future is that it is heavily influenced by the actions that we take today. The smallest decision, for the good or bad, moves the future by vast distances. It is why what we do today matters so much. Today sets up tomorrow and pushes it in a way that is either beneficial or detrimental to the rest of our lives.

The reign of Joash began with the cheers of the people. After the violence that took place during the reign of Athaliah, Joash’s grandmother, a respite was needed. Joash ascended to the throne of Judah at the age of seven. In those early years, he had possessed the benefit of the priest Jehoiada, and together they had set the nation on a path that honored God. But then Jehoiada died. And the reign of Joash, which had begun with such promise, turned. Joash began to listen to the princes and members of the Royal family more than the priests. So Joash descended so far into evil that he even had the high priest Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, executed in the Temple where he served. It might have been this very issue that Jesus was referencing in Matthew 23. Speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, Jesus is recorded to have said: “And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35). While the name matches the prophet who lived more than three hundred years after the son of Jehoiada, some scholars wonder if it could be an error in the copying process or if this Zechariah might also have been the son of Berekiah, and maybe the grandson of Jehoiada, and it was this Zechariah about whom Jesus was speaking.

But regardless of the question of identity, rabbinical literature says that it was the death of Zechariah that caused the palace officials to turn gains the King. And a reign that began with the people cheering for the new king ended with his assassination. The future had moved to a point that no one could have predicted in the beginning.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Joel 1