Evil Kings Make the People Sin

2 Kings 13:1-13
    1 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.
    3 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 4 So Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 Then the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. 6 Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the wooden image also remained in Samaria. 7 For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
    8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Joash his son reigned in his place.
    10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 11 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them. 
    12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13 So Joash rested with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The kings of Israel, Jehoahaz and Jehoash, are covered here.   The lesson shown us by bad examples is that evil kings make the people sin.  These both acted contrary to God’s commands in His word, both written and spoken by the messenger prophets He sent the people (Hebrews 11:36-38, Acts 7:51-53).  These willingly sinned against the LORD and were set on setting the evil examples for God’s people to imitate instead of what was good, righteous, and honoring to Him.  This brought God’s anger and just recompense on Israel, both the leaders for initiating the disobedience of a blind eye and deaf ear, as well as the lost sheep who willingly went along with what they knew and were accountable for also.  We still see the deliverance of the LORD when Syria oppressed Israel, yet they remained accountable.  This is similar to our deliverance in Christ in that we still suffer the consequences of unrepentant sin, but our Deliverer has once and for all set us free from the penalty of sin (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10, 7:25).  Let us then learn from bad examples and seek holiness to see the Lord as He is whole we run the race to conform to the image of Christ with true turning from sin each day as we seek forgiveness and grace.  Let us not grow weary while doing good in God’s eyes according to His word of grace and mercy with eternal hope at the end of our race.  Evil kings can make the people sin, but personal and corporate accountability offers hope to stay the right course.  Those who lead must also imitate Christ that we might follow their examples which are right (1 Corinthians 11:1, Hebrews 13:7, Ephesians 5:1).  Amen.