2 Chronicles 24:23

 2 Chronicles 24:23 says, And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.  Two years later, the king of Syria sent a small number of his army against Joash and the people of Judah, and they killed all the princes and carried away all the spoil from Jerusalem to Damascus.  We need to be careful that we don't start relying on our own power to overcome sin in our lives while turning away from God and His word.  Verse twenty-four adds, For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.  The Syrian forces were small compared to the army of Judah, but God allowed Judah to be defeated because He had removed His protective hand from them, and we are told that they executed judgment against Joash.  Matthew Henry points out that when the people of Judah were following God, they often defeated larger forces, but when they weren't following Him, they were often defeated by forces that were smaller than them.  As long as we as followers of Christ follow God through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, no force will ever be large enough to defeat us spiritually, but if we go in our own direction instead of following God, even a small sin may overpower us.  Verse twenty-five continues, And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.  The Syrians did not take Joash away, but left him because he had great diseases, and his own people conspired against him because of what he had done to Jehoiada the priest's sons and killed him in his bed.  He was buried, but not with the other kings.  Though we are not called on to kill those who go against God, even those who profess to be Christians, we can never follow them and must destroy anything in our lives that we have based on false teachings.  Verse twenty-six states, And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.  Those who conspired against Joash were the son of an Ammonite mother and the son of a Moabite mother.  These were foreigners to Judah, but God allowed them to exact vengeance for the death of His prophet.  We are not called on to exact vengeance on anyone as Christians but are to leave that up to God as we reach out to them with the gospel.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.  The things that Joash did which were referred to as a burden since he was not following God are said to have been written in the book of the kings.  Whatever we do as Christians that is not in accordance with God's will be a burden to us spiritually and will one day be destroyed.  Amaziah, Joash's son, was anointed king in his place.  There is but one King, and that is Jesus Christ, and no matter how hard the world tries to do so, He will never be replaced, whether we acknowledge Him or not.