He is another leader in Scripture who started off so well but failed to finish. Joash had simply stopped trusting God. He did well when he was being mentored, but he never came to a moment of grasping his own faith during the journey. Somewhat like Jehu, he checked off the list early on and when the time came for him to prove his faith, he floundered.
The final act in this scene is when he decides to use all that was sacred to protect his kingdom. Hazael attacked Judah with a weaker army but Joash was wounded, so instead of trusting, he compromised.
“The reign that commenced in sunshine was sadly overcast, and the king perished by the hands of conspirators and never came to the sepulcher of the kings. Then disaster after disaster befell the nation. They had to learn that they had been chosen for a special service in the world and could not be as others.”
F.B. Meyer
When we stop trusting God with the small things, we should not be surprised when our faith falters during a major crisis. I know this is true. When I stray from gazing at the Lord and all His love I lose spiritual sight. When I stop meeting with Him through Scripture, prayer, and just everyday life, my reactions to conflict are of the flesh.
It’s a sad ending to a promising king. We, like Joash, cannot live off the faith of others. At some point, we must take what we know and begin to mature in our own personal walk. I have a friend who has termed this predicament “secondhand faith.” Just like inhaling secondhand smoke around a group of smokers, some people’s faith only goes as far as the people around them. God has promised the individual love of a Father for each of His children.