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.
JEHOASH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE
(vv.1-16)
Jehu bad reigned seven years in Israel before Jehoash took the throne of Judah, so that the two were contemporary for 21 years (ch.10:26). Until the time that Jehoiada died, Jehoash was kept from evil (v.1), though after the death of Jehoiada, Jehoash was influenced by leaders in Judah to leave the house of the Lord and worship wooden images and other idols (2 Chronicles 24:15).
However, in the earlier years of his reign, Jehoash was rightly influenced by Jehoiada, though the high places still remained, where the people sacrificed and burned incense (vv.2-3). They would say they were sacrificing to God, but it was disobedience, for God had told Israel to sacrifice only in the place that He chose (Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:11), which was Jerusalem. Yet Jehoash was concerned for the proper welfare of the temple of God and gave orders that the money for which the people were assessed and that which they voluntarily brought was to be used for the repair of the temple (vv.4 5). It is not told us at what age Jehoash first gave these orders, but by the time Jehoash was 30 years of age the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple (v.6).
It was Jehoash who confronted the priests with this failure. it seems strange that Jehoiada had been lax in this necessary work. of repairing the temple, so that Jehoash took the initiative. At this time the faithfulness of Jehoash was commendable. He called Jehoiada and other priests to reproach them with their laxity and to command that they use the money they already had in the work of repair, demanding no more from the people.
However, Jehoiada bored a hole in the lid of a chest and placed it beside the altar, and whatever money was brought voluntarily by the people was put into the chest (v.9). This was filled more than once (v.10), and the proceeds were put into bags and counted by the king's scribe and the high priest, a necessary witness as to the amount gathered.
The money was then given to those who did the work, having oversight over the house of the Lord, as well as masons and stonecutters, and for bringing timber. It is noted, however, that basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or articles of gold and silver were not included in this work of repair (v.14). Does this not tell us that, though there was a good measure of recovery, yet the finer details of the worship of the Lord were still lacking? This too frequently happens even in the Church of God today. Seriously concerned saints may be exercised to recover the main features of the worship of God, but too often the silver basins are lacking, that is, the emphasis on the truth of redemption by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ. Or the trimmers might be ignored, speaking of the absence of lowly self-judgment in our worship. Or the sprinkling bowls may be absent, the bowls from which blood was sprinkled before and on the mercy seat. For sometimes, even in worship, we forget how valuable to God is the reminder of the blood of Christ having made atonement for sin in God's sight. Trumpets too, the musical side of worship, with its many notes of praise, may not be present. Indeed, today literal musical instruments may be used, but their spiritual significance hardly known. Articles of gold speak of that which is strictly for God's glory, and articles of silver speak of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. These ought to be most prominent in worship, and yet in many churches today there is a measure of worship without attention given to these precious details.
How good it is to see that the workmen dealt faithfully (v.15), not as under bondage. How vital a matter this is in Christian testimony too.
JEHOASH COMPROMISES WITH HAZAEL
(vv.17-18)
Hazael, the wicked king of Syria had aspirations of greatness. He fought against Gath, a Philistine city, and captured it (v.17). Then he set his sights on Jerusalem. Jehoash made the sad blunder of not appealing to the Lord, but rather of sacrificing the sacred wealth that was in the temple, to compromise himself and satisfy the greed of Hazael (v.18). Did he not stop to think that the treasures he gave to Hazael actually belonged to the Lord, so that he had no right to give them away? Do we also make the serious blunder of giving up any truth of the Word of God to satisfy the enemy of our souls? The Word of God tells Timothy, "O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust" (1 Timothy 6:20). When God entrusts us with His truth, let us not dare to give it up, whatever enemy threatens us!
THE DEATH OF JEHOASH
(vv.19-21)
No more is said in Kings of the further failure of Jehoash, though 2 Chronicles 24:15 shows us how far astray he went in disobedience to God after the death of Jehoiada, even putting to death Zechariah the prophet who reproved his transgression.
It is little wonder that the death of Jehoash was so tragic. When he rebelled against serving the Lord, his own servants rebelled against him, and as a result of a conspiracy, two of them killed Jehoash (vv.20-21). Thus a reign that began well ended in ignominy and shame. Jehoash was buried in Jerusalem and Amaziah, his son, took the throne.