Introduction
It’s been a while since we were studying 2 Kings together. But you might remember how Jehu had been anointed king of the northern kingdom of Israel; and he went immediately and killed Joram, his predecessor, and Ahaziah, who was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Joram and Ahaziah were both wicked kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And so, the Lord was using Jehu to cleanse Israel and Judah from their corrupting influence. But when Athaliah, who was Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to kill the whole royal family. Jehu had already killed many of them. So, there may not have been many of them left alive anyway. Nevertheless murdering the rest of the royal family was a wicked thing for Athaliah to do. And she then ruled the land in place of the king.
However, though she wanted to kill the whole royal family, and though she thought she had succeeded, there was one member of the royal family who survived. In chapter 11 we read about this woman, Jehosheba, who took Joash, who was one of the sons of Ahaziah, and she hid him in the temple along with his nurse for six years. And at the end of those six years, when Joash was seven years old, Jehosheba’s husband, Jehoiada, who was a priest, brought him out into the open and crowned him king. And Athaliah was put to death.
And at that time, Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the new king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. And since they had renewed their commitment to the Lord, they tore down the temple of Baal, which had been built in the land of Judah; and they smashed the altar and killed the priest. And so, Baal worship was removed from Judah; and the people devoted themselves to the Lord; and one of David’s descendants was back on the throne. Everything was back to the way it was meant to be.
And do you remember how chapter 11 ended? It said that the city of Jerusalem was quiet. It was quiet. That’s how the chapter ended. Was that an anticlimax? That’s what we were thinking about the last time. Was it an anticlimax? Perhaps we were expecting the narrator to say that the city was buzzing with excitement, because they people couldn’t wait to find out what their new king will do. That the city was quiet seems a let down. But really, that’s what we all want, isn’t it? We want to be able to live quiet and peaceful lives. In fact, Paul the Apostle tells us to pray for all those in authority so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives. That’s what we want. That’s what the people had in the days of King Solomon, when everyone lived quietly under his own vine and fig tree. Sitting under their own vine and fig tree was a picture of contentment and peace. And that’s what the people had in Jerusalem once Athaliah was dead and the Baal worship was removed and King Joash was on the throne. The city was quiet.
But would it last? That’s what chapter 12 is about. And spoiler: it doesn’t last. It doesn’t last, because though Joash began well, his reign ended up being a bit of a disappointment. And so, the Lord’s people had wait for a new king to arrive who would do what was right in the eyes of the Lord; and who would enable them to live quiet and peaceful lives forever. But before we get to that, let’s go through the passage.
Verses 1 to 3
Our narrator follows his normal pattern for telling us about each king. So, he normally begins by giving us basic facts about the king: when he began to reign and how long his reign lasted. In this case, Joash became king in the seventh year of Jehu’s reign in the north and he reigned for 40 years.
And then the narrator normally gives a brief assessment of the king: whether he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord; or whether he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. In this case, Joash did what was right.
And then the narrator normally tells us about one event from the reign of the king. So, he doesn’t go into very much detail about the kings and he doesn’t give us a full account of the life of every king. He’s always selective. And in this case, he tells us about how Joash set about repairing the temple in Jerusalem.
And the pattern for each king ends with the narrator saying that the other events in the reign of the king are written in the book of the annals of the kings and then he tells us who succeeded the king after his death. The account of Joash breaks the pattern slightly, because there’s a bit more to say about his death. But we’ll come to that.
For now, let me draw your attention to verses 2 and 3. So, yes, Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. However, the narrator then adds the words, ‘all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.’ So, so long as Jehoiada was there to instruct him and to guide him, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But what happened once Jehoiada was no longer there to guide him? What happened once the priest had died? Did he continue to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord? Or did he turn away?
And the narrator refers briefly to another blemish on the record of Joash’s reign, when he tells us in verse 3 that the high places were not removed. So, the people were to worship the Lord in the temple in Jerusalem and nowhere else. But from time to time we’ve heard about these high places, where people used to gather to worship the Lord. They were worshipping the Lord, which was good, and not some false god or idol. But they were not travelling to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in the temple. And that was bad, because in those days, there was only one place for worship. It’s different now. Nowadays we can worship the Lord anywhere. But in those days, they were meant to worship him in the temple. And Joash did not do anything about removing the high places. He tolerated this wrong practice.
So, that’s not good. And telling us that Joash did what was right only when Jehoiada was there to instruct him is a concern for us, because we want to know what happened afterwards.
Verses 4 to 16
For now, let’s turn to verses 4 to 16 and the one thing which the narrator wants to tell us about Joash’s reign.
According to verse 4 the king said to the priests that they were to collect money from the people; and they — the priests — were to use the money to repair whatever damage was found in the temple. So, the temple was built many years before in the days of Solomon. And we all know that buildings don’t normally improve with age. Normally buildings deteriorate with age: wood rots; paint peels; plaster cracks; tiles are dislodged; weeds appear; and on and on it goes. All kinds of things in a building deteriorate over time, especially when it’s a public building and lots of people are using it. And so, the temple needed to be repaired.
And the king had a plan for financing the repair program. In verses 4 he mentions various sources of income: the money collected in the census; the money received from personal vows; and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. The first one was a kind of tax which everyone over the age of 20 had to pay. You can read about it in Exodus 30. You can read about the second one in Leviticus 27. The third source of income was from voluntary gifts. People gave freewill offerings for the repair fund.
That all sounds great. But something went wrong. We don’t know what happened, but by the twenty-third year of the king’s reign, the priests still hadn’t repaired the temple. The money was presumably there, but the work hadn’t been done. As I say, we don’t know what went wrong, but perhaps the priests just didn’t get around to it. They were busy doing other things and they kept procrastinating. And since they were priests, and not builders, perhaps they didn’t really know what to do. Imagine if you were relying on me to maintain this building. I can tell you it would be a disaster.
So, Joash came up with another plan. First of all, he takes the project out of the hands of the priests. So, according to verse 7, he told them to collect no more money. And in verse 8 we’re told that they agreed about the money and they also agreed that they would not repair the temple. Next he took a chest to be used as a big money box and he placed it at the entrance to the temple. And presumably as people came into the temple, they put their gifts into the box. And once the box was filled, the money was counted and handed over to the men appointed to oversee the repairs. And they used the money to pay the builders and to purchase what they needed. And so, in this way they met all the expenses of restoring the temple.
The narrator adds in verse 13 that the money received was not used to make any of the basins and bowls and so on which were used in the temple for the worship of the Lord. It was only used for repairs to the building. And take a look at verse 15 which makes clear, I think, that the Holy Spirit was at work, because the narrator tells us that they didn’t require an accounting, because everyone involved worked with complete honesty. No one was tempted to skim a little from the top or to help himself from the proceeds. Everyone worked with complete honesty. And, according to 2 Chronicles 24, all the officials and people brought their contributions gladly. And that’s always a sign that the Holy Spirt it at work, because the Holy Spirit takes away our natural selfishness; and he makes us generous. And the priests were not neglected in any way. They continued to receive money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings, which was in accordance with God’s law. That’s how the priests were paid in those days.
So, the priests received their pay. And the temple was repaired by those who knew what they were doing. And it was all done in an honest and God-glorifying manner. Well done to Joash who organised it all! Joash seems to have been a good and effective and godly king.
Verses 17 and 18
And yet his good record is all undone by the next two verses. Normally the narrator only records one event from the king’s reign. But in this case, the narrator gives us two events from the king’s reign. And the second event in a sense rubs out and erases all the good from the first event. Some of you will remember tipex. The young people can ask their parents about it. It’s as if the narrator picked up a bottle of tipex after recording the repairs to the temple and he brushed over it with his tipex and blotted it out. So, what happened? About this time Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath before turning his sights on Jerusalem. Hazael has featured several times before. But we first heard about him in 1 Kings 19 where the Lord made clear to Elisha that, along with Jehu, Hazael would cause death and destruction to many. And now he’s got his sights on Jerusalem.
And how did Joash respond? Did he trust in the Lord as King David did in the past and go out, in the strength of the Lord, to fight against his enemy? That’s what David did. Remember when he had to face Goliath? He said to Saul at that time that the Lord who delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear when he had to watch his father’s flocks will deliver him from the hand of Goliath. And in the book of Psalms we have many of the psalms of David which record for us how he trusted the Lord to help him when he was faced with enemies. That’s what Joash should have done. But instead of doing that he plundered the temple which he had just repaired. He emptied it of the sacred objects which previous kings had dedicated to the Lord; and he gave them to Hazael. He also gave Hazael the objects he himself had dedicated to the Lord as well as all the gold in the temple treasury and in the palace treasury. And since the sacred objects had been dedicated to the Lord, then they now belonged to the Lord. They had been set aside for him. They were not Joash’s property to give away. Imagine if someone came and asked me for help; and I gave away your car. You wouldn’t be pleased, would you? Your car isn’t mine to give away. And these sacred objects belonged to the Lord. And that means Joash robbed the Lord to pay off Hazael, who received the gifts with thanks and withdrew from Jerusalem.
Verses 19 to 21
As for the other events of his reign, they’re written in the annals of the kings of Judah. Some of them are also written in 2 Chronicles 24, where we’re given a little more detail about Joash’s reign. It tells us that after Jehoiada’s death, Joash was led astray by his officials so that they abandoned the temple of the Lord and began to worship idols. The Lord sent prophets to tell the people in Judah to repent. But they did not listen. In fact, whenever Jehoiada’s son confronted the people over their sin, they plotted together against him; and by order of the king, by order of Joash, they had Jehoiada’s son killed in order to silence him. In fact he was stoned to death in the courtyard of the temple.
The writer of 2 Kings doesn’t mention any of this. As one of the commentators (Davis) puts it, 2 Chronicles shows us Joash’s wickedness, whereas 2 kings shows us his disappointment. That is to say, 2 Kings shows us how disappointing his reign became. When Athaliah was killing his siblings all those years ago, his life was preserved and he was kept safe for six years. Then he was revealed and crowned as king. And for a while the people lived quiet and peaceful lives. And the temple was repaired. That was all great. But then, Hazael threatened them. And instead of trusting in the Lord, he robbed the Lord to save his life. And, as the Chronicler tells us, he also turned away from the Lord and began to worship false gods. What a disappointment he turned out to be!
And take a look now at verse 20: his officials conspired against him and they assassinated him. When he was only a baby, his siblings were assassinated by Athaliah. At that time, he survived. But in the end, he too was assassinated. And in that way, his disappointing reign came to an end.
Application
The city was once quiet. The people were once able to live quiet and peaceful lives. But it didn’t last, because, though Joash began well, his reign ended up being a disappointment. And whatever good he accomplished when he repaired the temple was undone when he robbed the temple to pay off Hazael. And then, according to 2 Chronicles, he turned away from the Lord so that God became angry with him and with his people. The quietness was gone.
And so, the Lord’s people had wait for a new king to arrive who would do what was right in the eyes of the Lord not just at the beginning of life, but throughout his life. And the Lord’s people had to wait for a new king to arrive who would enable them to live quiet and peaceful lives forever.
And thanks be to God, because that king has come. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world as God’s Anointed King. And he always did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He never did anything wrong. Though he came into the world as one of us and was made like us in every way, he never sinned like us. He never did anything wrong. Every inclination of his heart and soul and mind and strength was to do his Father’s will. Not every inclination of our heart and soul and mind and strength is devoted to doing God’s will. Because we’re sinners, the inclination of our heart and soul and mind and strength is often to do wrong and to do evil and to disobey our Father in heaven. Like Joash, we obey him part of the time, but not all of the time. But the Lord Jesus was always inclined to do the Father’s will so that he never once sinned or did anything which was evil. He never thought anything which was evil. Not even for a moment. Not even for a fraction of a moment. He was wholeheartedly devoted to doing his Father’s will.
And out of obedience to his Father’s will, he gave up his life on the cross to pay for the sins of his people; and he shed his blood to cleanse us from our guilt. Joash, in order to save his life, and in order to save Jerusalem, took from God. He robbed God. He took the sacred objects and gave them to Hazael. But the Lord Jesus did not take anything that belonged to someone else. Instead he gave away what belonged to him. He gave away his life. He gave away his life when he died on the cross and offered himself to God as the once-for-all and perfect sacrifice for our sins. And so, he gave away his life in order to pay for what we have done wrong and to cleanse us of our guilt and to save us from condemnation.
And even as he died, he did what Joash did not do. What did Joash not do? He did not trust in the Lord. That’s what he should have done when Hazael threatened him. But that’s what the Lord Jesus our King did, because even as he died, he entrusted himself into the hands of his Father. His trusted his Father to save him from death.
And he was right to do so, because his Father did not abandon him to death or to the grave, but raised him from the dead on the third day and exalted him to the highest place where he now rules over all things in heaven and on earth. Christ our King entrusted himself to God; and God the Father raised him from the dead and glorified him in his presence.
And what about us? How can we avoid living a disappointing life like Joash, who began well, but who went astray when he was older? Well, all of us need to believe in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and for peace with God. That’s the first and most fundamental thing. Believe in Christ the King for forgiveness!
But then, having believed, we need to look to Jesus Christ our King continually for the help and strength we need to persevere. Christ our King persevered to the end. He was faithful throughout his life. He remained obedient to his Father even to the point of death on a cross. Every inclination of his heart and soul and mind and strength was to do his Father’s will. And that’s how he was throughout his life. And we need to look to Christ our King for the help we need to remain faithful and to persevere to the end. We need to look to him to incline our hearts to do the Father’s will. And the good news is that he gives us his Spirit to help us. The same Holy Spirit who was in him, and who enabled him to obey, is in everyone who believes in Christ. Christ our King gives him to us. And the Holy Spirit works in us to renew us in God’s image and he enables us to do our Father’s will here on earth. He makes us like Christ; and he helps us to persevere and to remain faithful to the end.
In other words, he enables us to avoid living a disappointing life. Joash’s life and reign was disappointing in the end. And there are people who start off so well. They start off with all kinds of advantages. And their life is full of promise. And you’re just waiting for them to take off and to flourish and to do well. But somewhere along the line, something goes wrong. And the rest of their life is a disappointment. But we can look to Christ our King to fill us with his Spirit to enable us to live a good and obedient and a God-honouring life.
And the Holy Spirit also helps us to hold on to the hope of eternal life in the presence of God, where we will live quiet and peaceful lives forever. The Holy Spirit fills us with the hope of the glory to come when all who have believed in Christ will come into that new and better world to come where everything we will be perfect and where we’ll be perfect and where we’ll have perfect peace and rest forever. Isn’t that what you want? And Christ our King gives it to us.
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