2 Chronicles 24:1-19 A Lifetime
Joash was faithful to the Lord for the lifetime of Jehoiada. He even kept Jehoiada faithful to the work of the Lord. Together they repaired the House of the Lord
“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest” (verse 2). This is both a comforting verse and a sad comment on the reign of Joash. God kept Jehoiada in Joash’s life for a good many years. Jehoiada’s mere presence was enough to keep Joash strong and trusting in the Lord. But even Jehoiada couldn’t live forever. At the age of 130 Jehoiada died.
I’m wondering if Jehoiada shouldn’t have set up advisors who would help Joash transition after his death. The speed with which Joash moves from being a God fearing king to worshiping idols is astonishing! All it took was for “the princes of Judah” to flatter him and lead him astray. I’m wondering who these “princes” were. The only royal family left after Athaliah got done were the daughters. Were the princes their sons after the death of Athaliah? Were they Joash’s sons? Were they the heads of tribal clans in Judah? Whoever they were, they were a BAD influence! Where were the godly advisors that Jehoiada should have put in place LONG before his death? Should there not have been someone to take Jehoiada’s place? But then who can really take a father’s place in a son’s life?
While Jehoiada lived his influence was clearly seen in Joash’s life. First of all, Jehoiada found wives for Joash AND he limited that number. Joash had two wives. This is a BIG difference between all the previous kings. Notice that there is not even a mention of concubines. God told Israel in the beginning that their kings should not take many wives for themselves. Jehoiada made sure Joash followed this command of the Lord. But then who can really take a father’s place in a son’s life?
The second impact we are told about is Joash’s love for the House of the Lord. He wanted to repair it. I’m not certain if this was out of love for the Lord or a sense of civic pride. Athaliah had stolen from the Temple for her gods. She had taken so much that the Temple was in disrepair. I’m sure that the occasional invasions didn’t help this matter. Joash wanted to restore the Temple to its former glory. This was going to take money. And he had a reasonable plan to accomplish this.
God had set in place commandments to care for His dwelling. It was a tax dedicated exclusively for the work and upkeep of His sanctuary. The people had been neglecting to bring it and the Levites had been reluctant to gather it. How long had this been going on? Was this just since Athaliah was in power or was it even before this time?
I HATE asking for money, even when it is owed to me.
God had set in place commandments to care for His dwelling. It was a tax dedicated exclusively for the work and upkeep of His sanctuary. The people had been neglecting to bring it and the Levites had been reluctant to gather it. How long had this been going on? Was this just since Athaliah was in power or was it even before this time?
I HATE asking for money, even when it is owed to me. I have people that, even to this day, have not repaid loans I have made to them or paid me for services rendered. I always wonder if they might need it more than I do presently. So I identify completely with the Levites and Jehoiada when they delayed in going out and collecting what was due to the Lord. They were uncomfortable enforcing something that had been let go for so long.
Joash couldn’t do the work that needed done without the funds. After confronting Jehoiada and the other Levites about their reluctance, he took the task from their hands. What he did instead is astonishing! He appealed to the people’s hearts. He put the word out about the need and reminded them of their responsibility. Then he left it completely up to them to honor the Lord’s command. NO ONE sat at the box Joash had installed and took names of those who contributed. NO ONE went after those who weren’t contributing. NO ONE judged it what was put in was each person’s fair share. What came in was a direct result of the people’s love for the Lord, His house and their king.
Money poured in! The chest set out for the people filled up over and Over and OVER again. Every time it was full it was emptied and replaced only to be filled again. And that money was given to those who would see to the work being done. No more ambiguity as to what was to be done by whom. The “king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest” (verse 11b) worked together to hire the right people to do the work. They didn’t care the cost, only that it was done right. Every need of the House of the Lord was addressed until it was fully restored. The money that came in afterwards was melted down and used to replace the utensils and items of gold that Athaliah had stolen. ALL was restored.
Did the money stop pouring in after the Temple was fully restored? Did the king encourage the people to keep giving so that the Temple wouldn’t fall into disrepair again? Did the hearts of the people lose interest after they no longer saw work going on in the Temple? Did God stop stirring their hearts when the need was met? Did they stop giving when they turned instead to idols? Or did the new system remain in place up until the exile? Apparently it stopped at some point or they couldn’t have “brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada” (verse 14b). There wouldn’t be ‘the rest of it’ if it kept coming in.
When we read this story in 2 Kings I thought that the Levites had collected money but not allocated it to repairs. I thought they were holding it or misusing it. I didn’t realize they were reluctant to even get it. I wonder if their reluctance was on the same lines as I was thinking or if there might have been another reason. Is it possibly they thought it too much work? Or did they fear the people would react badly? We don’t know their motivation for sure. As a group there could have been many individual reasons that they leaned on to postpone their task. Joash and God took it out of their hands.
I find it interesting how I can find so MANY reasons not to do something I know I should be doing. I don’t have any tasks that are as impactful as the Levites did but I still can put off things with the best of them. One of them is folding my laundry. I have a table where several loads pile up on before I finally do the task I should have been doing all along. I call it ‘conquering Mt. Laundry’ when I finally do take on the task. Another is sweeping and mopping my floors. I have very few people living in my home so they don’t really get that dirty. But they do get chaff from the trees tracked in and whatever my animals track in and shed. I should sweep daily, but I don’t. I find excuses instead, including the one I just shared with you. For a while,
I approached journaling with my bible this same way. I would find reasons to be too busy or too tired. There would be MONTHS that would go by before I realized it. Even when I started writing this blog I would find ‘reasonable excuses’ to miss periods of time. Not so much anymore. I can’t say never because I left it for three days when I traveled for a celebration of life for my aunt. But my heart felt different this time. I sincerely missed not writing. Not because of some sense of duty but because of an emptiness during those days. I MISSED spending this time with the Lord and with you.
That’s how I wish EVERY task was that He calls me to. Whether it is sweeping the floors out of love for my family and care about their safety to spreading the gospel in some way. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).
Father God, I leave this in Your hands. I KNOW that You have called me to be a wife, mother, and caretaker. But there are areas of this role that I am not so good at. Show me what I need to work on and what is O.K. to let go. I don’t know if I ever want to be determined to keeping up on dusting. But if this is something YOU want me to attend to with purpose, I will. Because I LOVE You and want to honor You in ALL I do. Speak to my heart and impress upon me the things YOU would have me focus on. Give me a heart for those things too instead of letting me drag through them in reluctance.
