Thursday, October 15th, 2025
Sometimes the best way to tell if we have an unhealthy soul tie to something or someone is to see what happens when that thing is taken away. That thing or person may be taken away permanently or God may ask us to fast that thing so that our heart can be tested and, if necessary, our priorities righted. If a lack of this thing produces unhealthy fruit or has us looking for comforts in unhealthy places, we may have identified an unhealthy soul tie. If instead we turn to God for comfort and wisdom in its absence then we are confirming that we are bound to the Lord alone.
In the last blog we talked about Jehoiada and his bravery as a high priest in ensuring Joash was given the rightful throne (2 Chronicles 23). In today’s blog I am going to continue in the story of these two, but on a slightly different note. In 2 Chronicles 24, it says Jehoiada was 130 years old when he died. He was a faithful high priest and God certainly blessed him with long life! Two verses later however, we see Joash’s response to his death. The leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king and the king listened to them (v. 17). Without their high priest, the king and his leaders lost their connection to God. Verse 18 says they left the house of the Lord and served wooden images and idols.
Not only that, but a couple of verses later Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, gave them a word from the Lord asking why they were breaking God’s commandments and that it would keep them from prospering (v. 20). What do you think Joash’s response was to that? It says he commanded Zechariah to be stoned to death. Quite a sad turn of events. Joash, it appears had little or no personal connection to God. It was his high priest that brought favor and wisdom to his reign. Without Jehoiada, Joash’s spirit was suffocated by the unhealthy ties connecting him to Jehoiada.
Final Thoughts…
It really saddens me to see how Zechariah was killed for delivering the word of the Lord and trying to save Joash and the people in his kingdom. Jehoiada had dedicated his whole life to faithfully serving God and multiple rulers during very challenging times. His faithfulness continued to the next generation, but Joash was overcome by darkness and determined to listen to the enemy instead of the word of the Lord. Joash’s soul was in a very dark place at the moment, and he responded from that unhealthy state. Lord, please reveal the places in us that are tied to anything other than You. We want a pure heart that bears healthy fruit. We don’t want to be like a weak ship on a stormy sea.