Read 2 Kings 12
Joash Repairs the Temple
12 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
4 Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the Lord—the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. 5 Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, then use it to repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”
6 But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. 7 Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage done to the temple? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for repairing the temple.” 8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.
9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord. 10 Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal secretary and the high priest came, counted the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord and put it into bags. 11 When the amount had been determined, they gave the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. With it they paid those who worked on the temple of the Lord—the carpenters and builders, 12 the masons and stonecutters. They purchased timber and blocks of dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the Lord and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple.
13 The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the Lord; 14 it was paid to the workers, who used it to repair the temple. 15 They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.
17 About this time Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. 18 But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.
19 As for the other events of the reign of Joash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 His officials conspired against him and assassinated him at Beth Millo, on the road down to Silla. 21 The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
Go Deeper
In the passage, we see the greed of the priests in hiding away portions of the offerings, despite their word to restore the temple, which they keep for themselves. They had told King Joash they would repair the temple, but this did not happen. The king sees this, questions the priests, and then commands them to do an offering next to the altar in honor of repairing the temple. The treasure given as an offering was then distributed to the workers, builders, stone masons, and others involved in the temple’s construction. They were awarded for their work.
We have two primary takeaways in this chapter.
The first is that when physical treasures are placed before us, we are easily distracted from our spiritual responsibilities. This is the case for money, relationships, goals, careers, or whatever else stands in front of your sight of Kingdom work. We tend to fix our eyes on the things that we believe will “repair” our own problems. We look and see where we can get a portion here or there and don’t truly place our whole selves, including our needs, at the altar. By doing this, we put only pieces before the Lord. He wants to be for our whole selves, though.
The second takeaway is that we need to pay attention to those who received the treasure and the ultimate payment of coins. It was the workers who spent time on the temple. They were the ones who toiled and put forth effort in restoring the temple. They were paid according to their humble and honest work (v. 14). Throughout scripture, In the Kingdom of God, we read of faithful servants who serve the Lord receiving a great reward. This is not to be confused with working to gain salvation, but rather to do good works because of salvation. Jesus’ death and resurrection are not to be celebrated once we have done “enough” to earn it, but we celebrate His death and resurrection because He did it. It is because of the work of the cross that we celebrate and work. He has paid for us to share now the repair of our own lives that was done on the cross.
Questions
- In what ways have you sacrificed this week to give to the Lord? In finances, time, relationships, resting?
- In what ways is the Lord asking you to be obedient today?
- How are you walking in the works set before you with freedom?
PRAY THIS
Lord, I thank you for the ways you have blessed me. You have given me grace abundantly. I pray that you reveal to me howI need to sacrifice to you. I pray that greed for finances or time will cease, and that I will freely offer everything to you. It’s all from you; help me to see it as all for you. Show me ways I can be obedient to you today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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7 responses to “2 Kings 12”
Josah is an example for us today. We know God’s truth but do we obey it?
Shallow faith
In times of crisis, do I first run to God in prayer and trust His promises, or do I lean on my own resources and schemes?
Mentally we know what is right or wrong but it is only when our heart posture changes that we truly obey God. God’s Word and will is from the heart. We do the right things and make the right choices because we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
You can teach a person right ways but it is ultimaly up to them to mentally assent ( Mental assent is the act of intellectually agreeing with the truth of a statement or idea without allowing it to affect your heart or actions) or to truly trust and believe what is truth from God.
God thank You for leading me to Your right choices and that I obey what You are teaching, showing and guiding me to. God thank You for turning to Your Word for direction. God thank You for this day, these minutes, and that I have the shema hearing to listen to obedience. God thank YOu for sending Your son to take my place. Help me to wrap my brain around that, to dwell on Your sacrifice for me. God thank You for my hands being open to You today for all things in these next 1440 minutes. God thank You for Your HESED love that knows no ending. God I want to think, ponder, dwell, and resonate in that Love so that I can live it. God help me to believe, complete, totally in Your Word. I am so thankful, grateful and blessed beyond words for what, how, and where You are leading me. God thank You for giving me boldness with Your love goggles and words that edifiy and build on You, today, in these minutes in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“We don’t do good works to gain salvation—we do good works BECAUSE OF salvation.”
A powerful reminder!
This chapter and the go deeper are yesterday’s sermon in action. Are you all in? My thoughts, yes, I’m all in, then something happens or something is said and I look at my reaction and have to honestly say, “maybe I’m not all in after all.”
My advise to me, “don’t let distractions or pride keep you from being all in. God is faithful! Now, be faithful to God in all and when you fall, and you will, repent, stand up, and believe God bigger than you did yesterday.”
Hope my thoughts can help someone else be all in for God.
2 “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.“
This passage struck me. I seek to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, I need to recognize the importance of an instructor. I can’t just coach myself!
“Timber Before Trimmings”
What immediately struck me in 2 Kings 12 was the priority given to repairing God’s house before adorning it with fancy vessels:
“None of the money brought into The Temple of God was used for liturgical ‘extras’ (silver chalices, candle snuffers, trumpets, various gold and silver vessels, etc.). It was given to the workmen to pay for their repairing God’s Temple.” (2 Kings 12:13-14 MSG)
First things first.
Louisa May Alcott (author of literary classic, Little Women) depicts something similar in her book, Eight Cousins.
Rose’s aunts would have her be a refined young lady — her guardian uncle would have her be a healthy young woman. Here’s what he says:
“Polish is easily added if the foundations are strong, but no amount of gilding will be of use if your timber is not sound.”
Rose’s uncle gets it. You gotta start with the inside.
Similarly, these instructions from 2 Kings 12 lay the groundwork for Jesus’s foundational truth: “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:26).
God cares more about the condition of our hearts than the appearance we present.
Here’s what’s fundamental: like the workers in 2 Kings 12, we must begin with our own brokenness, asking God to repair and restore all that’s rundown within us.
As we are made strong in Christ, the “polish” will take care of itself.
I immediately thought of the “Save a Seat” building program HC is currently pursuing. We’ve all been asked to sacrificially participate in providing a space for others both now and in the future. Far more than a physical space, God invites us to be part of his eternal kingdom building. May we step up and into that holy calling, forever carrying the hope of the gospel to everyone.
Joash’s commitment to repairing the temple underscores the significance of prioritizing our spiritual lives. Just as Joash focused on restoring the physical temple, we should focus on maintaining our spiritual temples. As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Keep your spiritual life in check and prioritize your relationship with God.