2 Chronicles 24:1-19--Joash Repairs the Temple

2 Chronicles 24:1-19
English Standard Version

Joash Repairs the Temple
24 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

4 After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.

8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. 9 And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. 13 So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14 And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.

15 But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. 16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18 And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.

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We see no separation of church and state here--quite the contrary.  At the end of the last chapter, we see the high priest taking care of changing the culture in a way that would help the king have a better time in office.  Now we see the king using his power, authority and resources to help rebuild the Temple that has been in disrepair since the people have been in rebellion.

We get a pickup on something in verse two though that makes us kind of sad to know that this probably aren't going to end well for Joash.  The text tells us that Joash was faithful to the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the high priest.  If someone else is your "moral compass" and then that person dies, how do you live without that compass to tell you which direction you should travel in?  That's the situation that Joash is going to find himself in after Jehoiada dies.  However, the LORD blesses him with a long reign of forty years and gave him many children.  It seems like 47 is a time too soon for him to die but remember that he came to the throne when he was only 7 years old.

Joash commanded the priests and the Levites to go out among the people and collect the poll tax from the people that was commanded by Moses--the money that would be put into the treasuries of the sanctuary for its maintenance and repair, and the needs of the priests and Levites beyond what was available through the collection of the regular tithes and offerings.  Every male over 20 years old was to pay half a shekel in tax because the LORD at the time of the poll tax.  Since the priests and Levites did not obey to go out and collect the tax, they instead put a collection box in the Temple and ordered all the people to come and pay their tax at the Temple and drop the coins into the collection box (a chest with a hole for the coins cut in the top).  Wehn the chest started to get full, the king's secretary would join the high priest in being witnesses to the chest being emptied and counted and the amount of money officially recorded.  Then Jehoiada the high priest would put the money in the hands of those they had contracted to do the labor to repair the damage done by Athaliah and her followers, but they did not make the foremen or other workers give an accounting of how much of the money they used on supplies and how much they kept for wages because all of them were trustworthy men.  At the end of the repairs, there was enough to make new bronze, silver, and gold instruments where needed for the service of the LORD, because the old instruments had been defiled by Athaliah in the worship of Baal.

The LORD blessed Jehoiada with many years, but he died at age 130.  He received the same burial as a king because of all he had done to lead and reform Israel and to rebuild the Temple.  However, it was very quickly after the death of Jehoiada that the leaders of the people came and told the king that they wanted to abandon the Temple of the LORD and instead worship the Asherim and idols that their fathers worshiped, and Joash went along with them.

This caused the wrath of God to be poured out on Jerusalem (probably making us think of the king and his house and the government officials) and all of Judah (meaning the common people) because of their guilt in this decision.  They all knew what was right, and they were rebellious and did what they knew was wrong.  This was not something accidental, but something intentional they were waiting to do as soon as Jehoiada died.  They were deceptive acting like they were one thing in front of Jehoiada for they knew he would enforce the Law and would likely put the idolaters to death, but they did not fear the king after Jehoiada because they knew he was soft and would go along with them if they all banded together.

The LORD would even start to send prophets to the kings and the people to warn them and tell them to turn away from their sin so that they would receive blessings and not judgment, but the people and the kings would not listen.  We get the idea that maybe we are reaching a point where God is going to send them into exile as He said he would in the book of Deuteronomy.  We also know that's coming from studying the books of 1 and 2 Kings, but we still have several more kings to go with some great highlights left.  Hope is not lost, and as people repent, the LORD wrath is held back, and He brings healing and blessing to them.