July 23, 2024 | Be God's Light
Joash Restores the Temple
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 24(NIV)
1 Joash was seven years old when he 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 of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.
6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?”
7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.
15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”
21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22 King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”
23 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash. 25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. 27 The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
Devotional
Joash became king at the ripe old age of seven. Since he was a boy king, Jehoida the priest guided the people and instructed the king. Some years later, Joash decided it was time to make some repairs to the temple in Jerusalem. It had been built during the reign of Solomon a hundred and fifty years earlier, so it was time for some restoration work.
Initially, the priestly repair committee was put in charge of collecting money and making repairs to the temple. But things got stalled in the bureaucracy and nothing got done. By the time Joash was thirty years old, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He got his royal secretary and high priest to work out a system to start paying people who were construction specialists. The work got done.
But then things fell apart for Joash. Jehoida the priest had kept the king on the right path with the Lord. But after the priest died, the king’s officials got in his ear. He caved to their bad influence, and in turn led the people to “abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols.” How sad. They put all that time and money into fixing up the temple, then deserted it to worship poles and idols instead.
The result? “Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem.” The Arameans attacked Jerusalem, killing many leaders and wounding King Joash. In 2 Kings 12:18, we see that Joash bought his way out of the problem by giving the king of Aram sacred objects and gold from the temple. The king of Aram withdrew from Joash, but so did his own people. At the age of forty-seven, he was assassinated in his own bed.
What did Joash do right? Why did he make an about face? Who influenced him during the various times in his life?
In Galatians 5:7, Paul wrote, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?”
Who has your ear? Who influences you for good or for bad? What can you do to keep the wrong people from cutting in on you to pull you away from the truth of God?
Poem
Repairing The Heart
The center of our worship
The center of our soul
Can be destroyed by enemies
Who ravage it, their goal
Destruction can come swiftly
When violence holds the key
Or it can happen over time
In varying degrees
Ignoring daily tending
Allows dust, rust to form
Without lamps lit and sacrifice
Its altar won’t be warmed
In order to restore it
Great cost it will demand
Not only time and riches
But Love’s almighty hand
So open up your window
And let fresh Spirit come
Repent, your cleansing agent
Strip off all of Sin’s scum
Then straighten what is crooked
Repair, forgive the wrongs
And kindle then Heart’s altar
With love and praise’s song
Come in the Holy Holies
And stand before God’s throne
Reclaim your heart for Christ alone
Your light on Hill be shone
