Jehoash of Judah, grandson of Athaliah and the house of Ahab, was hidden in the Temple for six years, then crowned at seven by his uncle, Jehoiada the priest, who had Athaliah put to death. Under Jehoiada's direction the covenant was renewed and the temple of Baal was torn down. Jehoash reigned forty years and did right in God's sight only all the days Jehoiada instructed him. He overcame the obstacles to repairing the Temple and was more moral than his father and grandfather, yet he never removed the high places built under their influence. They were not personally abhorrent to him, and he lacked the seriousness, and perhaps the willingness to alienate Judah's leaders, to tear them down. Jehoiada was the real moral force of the reign and received a royal burial among the kings for his good toward God and His house. When Jehoiada died, Jehoash listened to foolish counsel from the other leaders and reinstituted idolatry. When Jehoiada's son Zechariah reproved him, Jehoash had him stoned in the Temple courtyard, forgetting the kindness of Zechariah's father. His servants later conspired against him and killed him, and he was buried in Jerusalem but not with the kings. He was spiritually strong only in the presence of a godly man, never making his uncle's ways his own. Like a politician testing the wind, he aligned himself with whoever held power, lacking the character to do right regardless of the herd.

Jehoash, also known as Joash, was a king of Judah who did what was right in the sight of the LORD during his reign, yet he failed to remove the high places from the kingdom. In his youth, he had the guidance of a strong and moral priest, but after the priest's death, Jehoash revealed a lack of personal character. He succumbed to idolatry and ultimately died without honor. His initial righteous path deteriorated over time, marking a spiritual regression that contributed to his downfall and negatively impacted those under and after his rule.

Jehoash (Joash) of Judah did what was right in God's sight only while Jehoiada the priest lived. His reign was neither terrible nor debauched, and he surpassed his father and grandfather in righteousness, yet he never removed the pagan high places from Judah. After Jehoiada died, he foolishly listened to other leaders in Judah, who steered him into idolatry. He died an ignominious death, assassinated by his servants, and was buried apart from the other kings. His son Amaziah followed his pattern: he did everything as his father Joash had done, tolerated the high places, began well, and ended poorly, finally dying at the hands of assassins as his father did. Jehoash's life shows that righteousness dependent on a godly mentor, without wholehearted devotion, does not last. Perfunctory compliance eventually ends, and what lives in the heart eventually comes out.

Joash (also called Jehoash) was a promising young king of Judah who nonetheless failed to rid God's land of the high places. He is one of four successive kings of Judah, together with Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham, whose reigns God specifically marks with the note that they did not remove the high places. This is striking because many kings neither built high places nor destroyed them, yet God chose to highlight this negligence only in these four. Their lives are fascinating studies in carnality, the nature of sin and temptation, and the tendencies of leaders who are not wholly dedicated to God. Joash's failure shows that a good start and a measure of loyalty are not enough. The high places had been a thorn in the spiritual side of both kingdoms since Solomon, and leaving them standing was a serious matter, because they led God's people toward the paganism of surrounding nations. The same lesson applies today. Anything that draws a person away from God, weakens him spiritually, or distracts him from his high calling is a symbolic high place, and if left unchecked it ends in disaster.

Joash ruled Judah for much of the late ninth century BC (c. 835-796). He was placed on the throne at age seven in a coup that rid the kingdom of his evil grandmother, Queen Athaliah (II Kings 11-12). His uncle, Jehoiada the priest, served as regent and chief counselor, and as long as Jehoiada lived, Joash did well. When the good priest died at age 130, Joash apostatized. He was then assassinated in his bed by his own servants (II Chronicles 24). Conservative commentators place the prophet Joel's ministry in Judah during his reign, since Joel speaks mostly of Judah, Jerusalem, Zion, and the Valley of Jehoshaphat and mentions Israel only twice. That would make Joel a contemporary of Elisha, whose ministry centered in Israel.