2 Kings 12:1-21
1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated thingsa that is brought into the house of the LORD, even the money of every one that passeth the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD,
5 Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.
6 But it was so, that in the threeb and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.
7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
8 And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the doorc put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
10 And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribed and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the LORD.
11 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, that wrought upon the house of the LORD,
12 And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.
13 Howbeit there were not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of the LORD:
14 But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith the house of the LORD.
15 Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully.
16 The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the LORD: it was the priests'.
17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.
19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the housee of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
The Last Kings of *Israel and *Judah
Book of 2 Kings
Philip Smith
Chapter 12
Joash repairs the *Lord’s *temple
v1 Joash became the king in the 7th year of Jehu’s rule. (Jehu was the king of *Israel.) Joash ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba. v2 Joash pleased the *Lord while Jehoiada the priest taught him. v3 However, Joash did not remove the places where people *worshipped on the hills. People continued to offer *sacrifices there and they continued to burn *incense there.
Joash ruled for 40 years. Many people think that he ruled during the period 835 to 796 *B.C.. Joash pleased God while Jehoiada taught him.
Joash did not know either of his own parents. A nurse brought him up. And it seems that Jehoiada acted like a father to him. Jehoiada protected Joash. Jehoiada taught Joash. Jehoiada even chose wives for Joash (2 Chronicles 24:3). And Joash obeyed Jehoiada.
It is clear that Jehoiada impressed Joash greatly. But Jehoiada was a very old man (2 Chronicles 24:15). When Jehoiada died, Joash did not continue to behave in the same manner. The Book of 2 Kings does not tell us much about Joash’s *sins. 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 explains more about those *sins. It seems that Joash depended on Jehoiada’s trust in God. But our trust in God should not depend on other people. Each person needs to have his or her own relationship with God.
Joash did not remove the places where people *worshipped on the hills. Often people gave honour to other gods there.
v4 Joash ordered the priests to collect all the money that people brought to the *Lord’s *temple. The people brought it as sacred *offerings. It included money that people collected in the census. (A census is when the government counts the number of people in a country.) That money also included money that people brought because of a personal promise. And it included money that people gave as gifts. v5 Some people looked after the money. They had to hand the money over to the priests. Joash ordered the priests to use the money to repair any damage in the *temple. v6 But by the 23rd year of Joash’s rule, the priests had still not repaired the *temple. v7 So King Joash ordered Jehoiada the priest and the other priests to come. Joash asked them why they had not repaired the *temple. In future, they must not keep the money that they received. They must hand it over so that people could repair the *temple. v8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people. They also agreed that they would not repair the *temple themselves.
During the early part of his rule, Joash did many good things. One of his most important decisions was to repair the *Lord’s *temple. The *temple was a special place for Joash. He lived there until he was 7 years old.
The *temple was in a very poor state. Previous rulers of *Judah had spoilt it. They had taken its sacred objects for the *temple of *Baal (2 Chronicles 24:7). But Joash decided to repair the *Lord’s *temple.
Joash told the priests to collect money for that purpose. The priests received some money with the gifts and *sacrifices. Joash wanted them to use that money for the repairs. But it was clear that the repairs would cost more than that. So Joash decided to collect a tax when he counted the people. That was an ancient tax which the people had to pay for the *temple (Exodus 30:11-16). Joash asked people from Levi’s *tribe to collect the tax (2 Chronicles 24:5). And he asked the priests to be responsible for the repairs.
Joash’s plan did not succeed. It seems that the priests needed the regular gifts for daily payments. And the people from Levi’s *tribe did not actually collect the tax. However, they did not refuse to collect it. It seems that they simply delayed (2 Chronicles 24:5). After several years, nothing had happened. Nobody had even started to carry out the repairs. In fact, the king waited for 23 years before he did anything about it.
v9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a box and he made a hole in the lid. He put the box by the *altar. It was on the right side as one entered the *Lord’s *temple. The priests guarded the entrance. They put into the box all the money that the *worshippers gave. v10 The royal *secretary and the chief priest came whenever the box contained a large amount of money. They counted the money that people had brought to the *Lord’s *temple. Then they put it into bags. v11 The *secretary and chief priest counted the amount of money. Then they gave it to the men that controlled the work. Those men used the money to pay everyone who worked on the *Lord’s *temple. These included people that worked with wood. They included builders. v12 The workers also included people that built with stone. And they included people that cut stone. The men who controlled the work bought wood. And they bought stone that workmen had cut. These things were for the repair of the *Lord’s *temple. Those men paid all the costs of the repairs.
v13 The men did not use the money to make objects for the *Lord’s *temple. They did not use it to make cups and bowls from silver. Nor did they use the money to make trumpets (instruments that make a loud, clear sound). And they did not use it to make tools for the lamps. The men did not use the money to make any other articles from gold or silver. v14 They used it to pay the workers. And they used it to buy materials for the repairs. v15 Those men that paid the workers with the money were completely honest. So they did not need to say how they spent the money. v16 They did not use the money from the *offerings for *guilt and *sin. That money belonged to the priests.
Joash saw that he would have to collect the money by a different method. If he just waited for other people to collect it, nothing would happen. He realised that he would have to collect the money for the repairs separately from other money. So he ordered the people to bring their taxes to the *temple. The priests put all this money into a special box. All this money would pay for the repairs. Joash would not allow the priests to use this money for any other purpose.
The people were very pleased when they heard these arrangements (2 Chronicles 24:10). They were happy to pay their money for the repairs. Soon the box was full. The royal *secretary and the chief priest counted the money. They gave it to the men that would pay the workers. Those men were honest. They used the money to pay the workers. The men also used it to buy materials.
The men who paid for the repairs did not use the money to buy gold and silver objects. The *temple needed these things, but these funds were not for that purpose. But after they completed the work, some other money became available for that purpose (2 Chronicles 24:14).
And the men did not use the money from the *offerings. That money belonged to the priests. So they continued to use that money for the *temple’s daily payments.
Clearly, the king cared very much about the *temple building. The repairs that he carried out were impressive. And he also made the building stronger (2 Chronicles 24:13). However, Joash cared more about the *temple than he cared about its God. Joash’s real attitudes would become clear after Jehoiada died.
2 Chronicles 24:15-16 emphasises how great Jehoiada was. He lived until he was 130 years old. Nobody had lived so long since the people in the Book of Genesis. The people buried him like a king. His grave was among the royal graves in David’s city.
When Jehoiada died, Joash’s character changed. The officials of *Judah persuaded Joash not to remain loyal to God. And King Joash, who repaired the *temple so well, began to neglect both the *temple and the *Lord (2 Chronicles 24:17-19).
v17 About this time, King Hazael of Syria attacked Gath. And he *conquered it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem. v18 But Joash, the king of *Judah, took all the sacred objects that the previous kings of *Judah had given. Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah had given those objects to the *Lord. Also, Joash took the gifts that he himself had given. In the *Lord’s *temple and the palace, there were special rooms to keep valuable things. Joash also took all the gold from those rooms. He sent all those things to King Hazael of Syria. Hazael then led his army away from Jerusalem.
v19 You can read about the other events during Joash’s rule. And you can read about all the things that he did. They are in the history of *Judah’s kings. v20 Joash’s officials plotted against him. They killed him at Beth Millo. That is on the road to Silla. v21 Shimeath’s son Jozacar and Shomer’s son Jehozabad murdered Joash. The people buried Joash among the graves of his *ancestors in David’s city. Joash’s son Amaziah became the king after him.
Hazael, the king of Syria, came through *Judah. He came to *capture Gaza. He intended to *capture Jerusalem when he came back. Joash gave gold and other valuable things to Hazael, to stop his attack on Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 24:23-25 contains more information about Syria’s war against *Judah. Although Syria had a smaller army than *Judah, God allowed Syria to overcome *Judah. God allowed this because King Joash and the people in *Judah were not loyal to God after Jehoiada’s death. The *Syrian army killed the leaders of *Judah. And Joash himself had severe injuries from the war. That is why Joash was so desperate. He took the valuable things from the *temple and the palace. He even took back the gifts that he and the previous kings had given to the *Lord. And Joash gave all these things to Hazael in order to make a peace agreement with him.
(However, some people think that the Books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles are describing two different wars between Syria and *Judah. If those people are right, Joash gave the precious things to Hazael at the end of the first war. And the *Syrians killed the leaders of *Judah and they also caused Joash’s injuries during the second war.)
2 Chronicles 24:17-22 gives more information about the state of *Judah after Jehoiada’s death. The officials of *Judah persuaded Joash to allow false religions in *Judah. Then God gave a *prophecy to Zechariah, who was Jehoiada’s son. Zechariah told Joash that he (Joash) was wrong. Joash was causing God to be angry with *Judah. And Zechariah warned Joash about the results of his *sins.
Joash should have confessed his *sins to God. And Joash should have become loyal to God again. But Joash was too weak to change his attitudes. And he was too proud to be humble in front of God. Joash did not even respect Zechariah, whose father Jehoiada had been so kind to Joash. Instead, Joash killed Zechariah.
After Zechariah’s death, the *Syrians attacked *Judah. They caused injuries to Joash, but they did not kill him. It was Joash’s own officials who killed him, in his bed. Those officials murdered Joash because he had murdered Zechariah.
Joash began well, but he ended badly. He probably did not have his own belief in God. He probably depended on Jehoiada for that. After Jehoiada’s death, we can see how weak Joash’s character became. His officials could easily persuade him to do wrong things. He was not grateful for Jehoiada’s kindness to him. And Joash was not willing to change his attitudes even when God warned him. 2 Chronicles 24:25 mentions an interesting fact about Joash’s grave. Although people buried him near to his *ancestors’ graves, they did not put his body in the royal graves. After their terrible defeat, the people in *Judah did not still respect Joash.
It is interesting to compare Joash with Josiah. (Look at 2 Kings chapter 22.) Josiah also repaired the *temple. But Josiah did not merely mend the buildings. Unlike Joash, Josiah set out to mend the people’s relationship with God. Josiah found the book that contained the *covenant. Josiah aimed to encourage people to obey God. He removed the places where people *worshipped on the high hills. That was something that Joash had neglected to do.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
Lord ~ the name of God. We use this word to translate two different words in the original language. One word means ‘He is always God.’ The other word means ‘master’.
temple ~ the building that King Solomon built in Jerusalem, and the area that surrounded it. It was the most important place for the worship of the real God. We also use the word ‘temple’ to mean the house of a false god.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god); to give honour to God (or a false god) by sacrifice, prayer, song or action.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god); to give honour to God (or a false god) by sacrifice, prayer, song or action.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
incense ~ a substance that gives a pleasant smell when people burn it. Some people use it to show honour to God (or to a false god).
sin ~ an action that is wrong or wicked, which is against God’s moral law; something that is against a law in a religion.
offering ~ a gift that people offer to God (or to a false god).
Baal ~ a false god.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
altar ~ a table where people offer gifts or sacrifices to God, or to a false god.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
secretary ~ a person that makes arrangements for an important person. The secretary writes letters on behalf of that person.
guilt ~ the blame or unhappy feelings that someone has because he/she has done wrong things.
conquer ~ to take control over a country or a group of people by force.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
capture ~ to seize (arrest) someone and to keep that person as a prisoner; to take something by force and to keep it under your control.
Syrian ~ a person from the country called Syria; or anything that has a relationship with Syria.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
covenant ~ a special serious agreement between 2 people or groups; but especially the promises that God made to his people in Judah and Israel. In God’s main covenant, he promised to protect his people if they obeyed certain laws.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.