Thank God for a few good leaders (and the rest?)

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

If last week’s action story of Jehu in Israel was a bit much, today’s episode of “meanwhile in Judah” is a refreshing contrast. I love how it shows God at work through another significant branch of his Kingdom design. When leaders fail, prophets can shine, and so can priests.

Jehoiada the priest was from a long family line dependent on God for life and provision. They practised closeness to God and enabled the nation to approach him. So I’m surprised that stories of priests changing the fates of nations are a bit rare, but this was one time.

I love how Jehoiada’s faithfulness to God passed along into love and faithfulness for the infant king Joash, whose anointing within covenant relationships was the opposite of Jehu’s hit-and-run installation. Jehoiada did what priests do, bringing people together in agreement with God, and this meant that Judah’s branch of Baal’s temple got dealt with, but instead of leaving behind a great story and a bad smell, it was replaced by renewed public commitment to worshiping and obeying the Lord.

I also love two pictures in chapter 12 of getting stuff done (and not.) It turns out the priests were great at collecting people’s offerings of money and stuff, but it took over 20 years to realise this was not enough to rebuild the temple! Thankfully they eventually found the wisdom to ask people to bring themselves and their skills too, and instead of accumulating money, they were able to give it out, blessing all kinds of workers and suppliers. This gave Judah years of peace under king Joash.

Back in Israel, and afterwards in Judah too, leaders were not so good. There’s destruction coming. But faith works; I love how even Elisha’s bones could bring a dead man to life.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Even in turbulent times, God’s blessing and favour could be clearly seen wherever people would turn to him. However, he lets people make mistakes and suffer the consequences, like when Joash’s successor Amaziah let his ego lead Judah into unwise conflict with Israel.

God allowed bad leadership to continue, even though it resulted in bitter suffering. He had a bigger, better plan to redeem and restore people. We can see God at work around good and bad leaders, but just because they lead, it doesn’t mean they are good.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I’m wondering how much this informs our modern discussions about how we support and pray for leaders. 1 Timothy 2 urges us to pray and thank God for leaders, and some claim authority from God under Romans 13:1. They might still be awful. But I should pray more.

Who am I going to share this with?

People I discuss life, politics and prayer with, such as our online house group.