2 Kings 12 Bible Study (Jehoash Repairs the Temple/The Death of Joash) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's turn to second Kings chapter 12. We were not together last week. Because of that, I believe it's helpful to refresh our memories and remind ourselves where we are in the suspenseful study of the book of second Kings. In summary, the royal line of David was on the verge of extinction because of the efforts of a wicked woman by the name of Athalia. Athalia was the daughter of Jezebel, and she was married into the Davidic dynasty.

And when the opportunity was right, this woman usurped the throne of Judah, and she sought to exterminate all her rivals. And it seemed like she succeeded, but her desire to eliminate the family that God promised would receive and keep the kingdom was short lived. Primarily because of a man who was a priest. Jehoiada was his name. And in partnership with his wife, Jehosheba, they went into the palace, namely his wife, and rescued one of the little children who belong to that Davidic dynasty.

They hid him in the temple. And from his infancy until the age of seven, Jehoiada supervised and shielded this boy. And when it came to the point of him being exposed, he was made king at the ripe age of seven. That may seem startling to us, but this was done in order to cut short Athalia's evil reign and to announce and give hope to the people that the Davidic line has been preserved. It was not lost.

And what we have here in second Kings chapter 12 is a brief account of this boy's reign. His name was Joash. And the Holy Spirit has preserved for us here what he was able to accomplish as the king of the Southern Kingdom. And as always, we have much to learn in every part of our study, including this one. So if you're there with me, let's read the first two verses of second Kings chapter 12.

In the seventh year of Jehu, pause, Jehu was the king of the Northern tribes. Remember, Israel was divided. You have the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom. Jehu was the king of the Northern Kingdom. In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Zibiah Beersheba. And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days because Jehoiada, the priest, instructed him. If you're wondering who Jehoash is, it's the same person of Joash. This is just an alternate spelling of that original name. More importantly, did you notice something so striking about the first two verses?

The spiritual success, which is refreshing to us in our study of second Kings. Right? We're used to seeing kings coming to power and being corrupt. But what do we read in verse two? He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days.

And this man's spiritual success is attributed to the God fearing mentorship of Jehoiada the priest. Isn't that what we see here? Because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. So Jehoiada, this man of God, not only protected Joash, I'm gonna use his name different ways throughout the study. Joash is just easier to say.

He not only rescued Joash and protected Joash from physical death, we also learned that he kept this young boy from drifting into spiritual peril. He instructed him. He counseled him. He taught him. Ever since he was a young boy, all the way to the point where he became king, there wasn't much time.

He became king at seven. But as long as Jehoiada was alive, this man Joash was kept in line. And it stirred me reading this. It stirred me to the point to encourage many of you in this place, to have a story where you grew up with a godly father, mother, maybe older sibling, family friend who is a follower of Christ, maybe a mentor outside of your bloodline. Regardless, there are many who are in this place that can attribute where you are today in your faith because of how you grew up.

And if that is your story, it's a wonderful one. It's a glorious testimony. I want you to pretend for a moment that you share some similar background to this young king in this. Imagine you were, maybe there are some people here who at some earlier point in their your life was rescued from a deadly situation by somebody who cared for you. Maybe it was drowning.

I know somebody who was rescued from drowning at a young age. Maybe it was a car accident, maybe it was a disease, whatever the case may be, imagine being able to think back and know that there was somebody, because of their intervention, was able to pull you out of something that might have cut your life short. Would you fail giving God glory whenever you share that story with others? I doubt it. So then why do you hesitate to give God glory and to declare with glee how you have been spared from spiritual danger and deception?

I don't think most Christians who grew up in a Christ glorifying home think about it that way. Do you know how I know? Because when you ask people who grew up in the faith, they tend to give their testimony in the following way, well, my story is nothing special. You know, I was pretty much born into the faith. Is that how you respond and react to Joash's testimony here?

Is there any part of you that rejoices in knowing that there was a man, an older man who walked with God that hovered over this young boy with great wisdom and love. Doesn't that stir you? I wanna challenge you to change your perspective about your upbringing. I'm speaking to those who grew up in a Christian home, primarily. The next time anybody asks you what is your story, I hope you say something like this with absolute gravity, weightiness, sincerity, by the grace of God.

He has been merciful to me to the degree that I have received guidance from my mother, my father, both that kept me from drifting, that kept me in the sweetness of the faith, that kept me in the word, that kept me in holiness, and I give God maximum glory for that kind of a story. That's my journey with Christ. Don't be ashamed that you grew up. Don't don't minimize how wonderful that is. Unfortunately, many do.

And you don't wanna rob God of that glory. There is no doubt in my mind that Jehoiada was a gift to this young king. And you should see your parents. You should see those who who brought you to the light in the same way. You know, the influence of this priest was so great that second Chronicles actually tells us that he chose the wives for this king.

I want you to turn there. We're gonna flip back and forth between this chapter and second Chronicles 24. It's a parallel account that fills many gaps of what we find here in second Kings 12. But look quickly at second Chronicles chapter 24. If you don't know where Chronicles is, it's it's directly to the right of second Kings.

It's first Chronicles and second Chronicles. Look at chapter 24 and verse three. Jehoiada got for him two wives and he had sons and daughters. I don't think you need anybody choosing a spouse for you, but I think that it is wise to seek and submit to godly oversight when it comes to that crucial decision in your life. And I believe Jehoiada was familiar enough with recent and distant history to know just how significant such a decision is, especially for a king.

And so he took the initiative to select the right person for this king, but it wasn't just one person, two. That got me scratching my head. I'll tell you why, because we know from the Bible, we know from the Genesis account what God's ideal and design for marriage is. One man, one woman coming together in covenant for life. And there is not one instance in all of the Bible where you see polygamy working out in a good way, producing good fruit.

There's issues there. And what we see here makes us think, why is Jehoiada adding another wife? Isn't one enough? And I think the most reasonable explanation is that he is doing this in order to strengthen the Davidic line after such devastating loss. Go back to chapter 11 of second Kings and look at verse one.

We read here that she, Ithalia, went after the entire royal family. And we see that Joyada is thinking to himself, in order for us to recover from this, to accelerate this recovery process, we're not gonna go overboard here like David or Solomon, we're just gonna add one more so that we can speed this up. And some would even add that there isn't any direct condemnation in the text concerning Jehoiada. But if you do feel uncomfortable with this strategy, that is justified. Because again, we know what God's design was and we should trust in God's design no matter what the circumstances may be.

And I believe we are being prepared with this concern to encounter more concerns relating to the strength of Jehoiada's faith, Joash's faith, and their piety. Let me show you what I mean. Go back to chapter 12 of second Kings and look at verse three. So we learn here that they did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days because Joiada the priest instructed him. But look at verse three now, nevertheless, the high places were not taken away.

The people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places. Nevertheless, suggests that there's a concerning stain with this duo and how they ran the kingdom. And the alarming thing was that the high places were not removed. Though they had the ability and the authority to remove them, they didn't. Here's a question.

What are the high places? I believe they can be two things. The first thing is found in Deuteronomy 12 verse two. This is before Israel even entered into the promised land. God gave many instructions including this one.

Listen to Deuteronomy 12 verse two. He says here, you shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. So these pagan worshipers that occupied the very land that now Israel is occupying, had stations in these high hills and mountains where they would sacrifice and worship false gods. When when the Lord told the people as they prepared to go in about this, he says, I I'm asking you to remove these high places. They they would become a source of temptation to my own people and I am I'm calling you to worship me in a particular way and it's not gonna be on the high places.

So number one, these are these are places where idols were loved and adored and worshiped. But something interesting happens throughout redemptive history. From Deuteronomy on, especially when the people come in, the high places also, were comprised of areas where the people of the true God would worship, especially before there was a centralized area to worship in Israel. So if you remember what we read in first Kings, when Solomon became king, this became prevalent. So I want maybe you could turn there, first Kings three and look at verse two.

It says, the people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord. So the people here are actually the people of Israel. So now the people would go to these high places, but their hearts are to sacrifice to the true God. And we get commentary that they did this because there wasn't a concrete place, the centralized area where God would determine for them to be able to appropriately worship. Here's what's interesting.

Even after the temple was built, worship in the high places continued. Not by pagans, but be by even the people of God. And here's why I think that happened. I think that the convenience of these stations convinced the people not to go to the temple, though God required that sacrifices would be made in that one location. It's just something that they got used to.

It was just something that they couldn't shake off. It was something that made things easier for them even though it wasn't God's will. And I wanna tell you too that alternative and supplemental ways of worship today can infringe upon how we should truly worship God as a people of God. Say what do you mean by that? What I mean is, with a recent example, there are some people who have not yet recovered from the COVID area.

The COVID era. Think about it. Church doors were shut, everything was online, and so many people were convinced that the church is not about a place, but about the spirit and our hearts and being united with Christ by faith. And ever since the doors open again, you have many statistically, we have many people who have never come back to meeting in person and worshiping God the way he asked us to worship him as a church. Here's what I think, I think what the high places were in second Kings are the online places in our day.

Now you can't use these supplemental convenient ways to worship God, eclipse what the Lord asks of you as priority. And whether the high place is considered of one type, the other, or both, God was clear that there was supposed to be one designated place. According to Deuteronomy 12, it was in Jerusalem. Later on that would be revealed, but it would be one space, one place. And the leadership in second Kings 12, not addressing that was a dishonorable thing on their part.

And it's sad to see that not a full reformation was made by this duo. They had the opportunity, Jehoiada and Joash had the opportunity to clean up everything, but for whatever reason, they didn't address this. And so let this be a challenge to you and I that if we're gonna have a passion for the things of God, let it be an all zealous about the things of God, let it be for all that he has to say, not just for some some of the things he said. Unfortunately, they didn't go all the way. Be that as it may, there is something about this king that is highly admirable.

It's what we read in verse four and five. Let's look at it. Joash said to the priest, all the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed, the money from the assessment of persons, and the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, let the priest take each from his donor and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered. We're not told how old Joash was at this point, but he was mature enough to be able to look at the temple and identify the need for restoration, for renovation. And this concerned him.

And so he begins a project for the renewal of the house of God. And this moves me for many reasons. And we'll get to those reasons in a moment, but I wanna ask you the question. Why is it that the temple was in such a destitute condition? Any idea?

I mentioned it last or two weeks ago rather. I'm curious to know if anybody remembers. Say that again. That's right. Athalia, we're told in second Chronicles 24, you don't have to turn there.

Her sons regularly went into the house of God, stripped it of its functional glory, and funded the house of Baal instead. So you have to understand this is serious. I'm sure walls were breached, the roof was leaking, the floors were cracked. It wasn't a suitable place anymore to come and worship. It didn't reflect the majesty of God.

And this man was stirred and he and he wanted to do something about it. And I want to make a point here but it's gonna require us to do some basic math. Very simple math. How old was Joash when he became king? Good.

Now scroll down to verse six real quickly and I want you to notice something. But by the twenty third year of King Joash, the priest had made no repairs on the house. So if he was seven when he began to reign, how old would he have been at this point, the twenty third year of his reign? Very good. Mathematicians in the house.

He was 30. But he was 30 when he inquired again of the progress of the project that he originally initiated back in verse four, which tells me that and based on how verse six reads, it must have been a few years that span between his original request and his investigation of the matter. So you had this king in his twenties that had this burden on his heart for the house of God. That's relatively young, and that should move you and me. Because it shows that this young king who was occupying the most powerful seat in the nation was preoccupied with the purity of worship in his land.

You don't meet many 20 year olds with that kind of burden, but it's here. And I find it so wonderful that it's possible for the honor of the Lord to be carried in such a young, strong, vibrant heart. Being enthusiastic and zealous for the things of God does not have to be reserved for the later part of your life when you've tried everything else and have been disappointed. Give God your best years. Give him the peak of your life, the prime of your life, because time is short.

And as you get older, things become more difficult even with this body of yours. And so I see a young man here who is devoted to doing something early on and not getting distracted by other things, even maybe good things. He he is so wrapped up in wanting to restore the house of God. And you and I should be fully dedicated to our father's work while you still have that time and that energy and that focus and the grace that comes with youth. Time is precious.

Your days are limited. And this king also teaches me how it's possible for younger servants of God to have greater spiritual perception than their older peers. It's generally true that those who are younger in the faith are characterized by zeal, while those who are more seasoned in years and in the faith are recognized for their wisdom and insight. But it doesn't mean that both of those categories can't share in each other's strengths. And it also doesn't mean that somebody who might be younger is not more sensitive to the things of God than those who might be more quote unquote experienced.

Joiada is much older than the king. I'm sure some of the other priests were as well. But doesn't it intrigue you that it wasn't the priest who came to the king and said, hey, we need to do something about the house of God. It was the king who went to the priest. That's not the king's Lane.

The King's Lane is the kingdom. The priests had their own lane. Why aren't the priests stirred by the weak condition of the house of God? Because you don't even have to be in full time ministry in order to have a heart that shares the burden of the Lord. This king is not in full time ministry.

He's not mediating between the people and God. He's administrating justice. He's dealing with yes, he has some obvious overlap with the things of God, but not to this degree. Listen very careful, carefully. Being older in age and fully immersed in Christian service does not promise you a burden from the Lord.

I've seen it in my own life. What constitutes a heart being connected to the heart of God? Your relationship with him, you meeting with him, you coming to his word, you developing your own personal intimate walk. You don't need degrees on your wall. You don't need anything else.

You just need a heart like this. And I wonder if this king, at least one of the reasons why he had this kind of a heart for the temple was because he grew up in the temple. Remember, he was hidden in the temple. And so he associated the house of God with his upbringing, with his care, his nurture, his safety. And so as he grows older in age now, he has a desire to contribute to the house of God.

Don't you dare believe the lie that your children growing up in the house of God, destines them to despise the house of God down the road. Many parents are plagued by that. What's gonna happen now once my child's able to think for themselves and they're exposed to the other elements and philosophies and lies of the world? You don't have to give in to the lie that if they came and they grew up in a house that truly preached the word and had people who love the word, that will anchor them more than anything. Believe that.

Hold firm to that truth. You have this young man who since his infancy grew up in the house of God, and when he had the world at his disposal, his main thing on his mind was the house of God. Believe that for your children. Let's come back to verse six, shall we? But by the twenty third year of King Joash, the priest had made no repairs on the house.

Why? The priests started bothering me. At least what I was reading about myself. Why? Why?

So, okay. The king initiates this. Right? You didn't even have the concern to begin with. And now he brings us to your attention and he says, let's get this going now.

And they made no repairs on the house. It's a good reminder that priests, pastors, ministers, evangelists, teachers, they're human. But I want answers. What's going on here? Many have speculated, I don't wanna speculate.

I want concrete conclusions. And if I don't get it, I'm gonna try to do what I can to come as close to it. And I think there's something in his initial instructions at verse four that gives us some clues. Look back again at verse four. Joash said to the priest, all the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed, the money from the assessment of persons, and the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, let the priest take each from his donor and let them repair the house wherever any need or repairs is discovered.

We don't have time to get into it, but if you study the law, there are different streams of revenue that would go into the house of God. And here's what the king is saying, all these streams, all the means by which income comes to the house of God, I want it to be preserved and and reserved for this renovation project. It wasn't absolutely everything. You're gonna learn later on that he still kept the income for the priest. He's He didn't forsake the need of the priest.

But everything else, this was emergency protocol. We need all funds to go to this and it kinda makes sense. Why fund the activity of the temple? The temple is falling apart. I don't think the priest saw it that way though.

And you say, how do you know that? Look at verse seven. Therefore, King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priest and said to them, why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house. So the reason why the project was stalled was not because there wasn't enough funds, the money was coming in.

So let's do some simple math again. Not actual numbers, just logical thinking. If the money was coming in and the priest had access to it, but they were not implementing the money where it should have gone, what's the conclusion? Mismanagement of funds. That's what's happening here.

Irresponsibility. And that mismanagement, that mishandling could have looked like pocketing some of that money to their own profit or simple incompetence. We're not given an exact reason, but the rebuke is warranted. The priests were in the wrong. So what's gonna happen next?

Well, we gotta read verse eight. So the priest agreed that they should take no more money from the people and that they should not repair the house. So the priest agreed that they should stop the donations until everything goes back under review, and they even submitted to stepping down from oversight of this campaign. More accurately, the king would take this responsibility from them and would now take charge himself. And I think there are some lessons here for our own lives.

One cannot have an irresponsible or dishonorable relationship with money and expect to build God's house. And that's true for leaders who are called to supervise and steward the funds of a local assembly or an organization, a gospel ministry. And it's equally true for those who accumulate wealth in their personal lives to the degree that it distracts you from your duty as a Christian. You cannot serve God and money. You can't love both.

You either love God and serve God or you love money and serve money. And those who don't have a God fearing view of this particular resource we'll run into problems in being recruited for God's service. But listen, fleshly handling of the finances here is not the only problem. There's another problem. It's a heart issue in that there is carelessness for the cause itself.

You you won't you won't see that here. What you see in second Kings 12 is primarily the issue of the money coming in and them not doing what they were supposed to do with it. But when you go to second Chronicles 24, what's being highlighted there is this, laziness. Can priest get lazy? Yes.

I heard one minister ask a seasoned minister as he was lamenting the lack of Bible preaching and teaching in so many churches. And when he inquired of this older minister, why is it that there's so little in-depth rich study and proclamation of God's word? That older minister answered it very simply, because they're lazy. They're lazy. Go to second Chronicles 24 with me.

Let's look at verse four. After this, Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. Same thing that we read in second Kings 12 up to this point. 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. Do you see what's being underscored here?

Do you see the angle that's being addressed? In second Kings 12, it was the money coming in and they didn't do what they were supposed to do. In second Chronicles 24, part of the instruction was, you need to go door to door. Now you would think, oh, they're reluctant because who wants to go door to door and ask people for money? But we we we won't read it, but in the same text he says, you have the right to according to the law of Moses, there was a tax that the people would was to give for the funding of the house of God.

Evidently, that tax wasn't being honored so he tells the Levites, go and get the money that is rightly due. And I feel like the king had a hunch that they were kind of lethargic, they they weren't really active. So he he says at the end, make sure you do so quickly. I know you guys, I've studied you enough. And what do we read?

But the Levites did not act quickly. You and I should feel disheartened to read of those who have been invited to play an honorable role in advancing the purpose of of God in the house of God and to treat it with such indifference. And if this was a room filled with leaders and maybe there are some leaders in all levels of ministry here, so this would apply to you. But if this was a room filled with leaders, I would emphasize more on this point. That as you seek to serve God with vision and desire and expansion and greater greater fruitfulness, be ready to face half hearted commitment in the ministry.

It shouldn't be that way, but don't be surprised if you encounter it. It was true in the days of Solomon, his temple, and it is something that we unfortunately see in many local assemblies. Praise God we can't see it in MBC. I pray that it stays that way. But all the things that can be accomplished even if one person is captivated for the cause of Christ.

And that's what we see with this king. So let's go back to chapter 12 and let's look at verse nine. Then Jehoiada, the priest, took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priest who guarded the threshold put it in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. The impression that you're supposed to get from this detailed description of the efficiency of this leadership is to realize what's possible if your heart is in the right place and your mind is in the right place. And it's so obvious here that this was made possible, not only because the king removed the wrong people, but because he replaced them with the right people. Right? That that's what you're supposed to see, this kind of dance of partnership and people who are honoring their own role and how it's synchronized and it's bringing about results.

And this description of this new administration teaches us, again, maybe you're not a leader here, but this is worth listening to anyway. It teaches us that overseers cannot afford to delegate ministries to people in the name of niceness, in the name of tolerance, in the name of nepotism. You know what nepotism is? Giving favor to family members, friends, giving them jobs just because they're related to you. You can't do ministry like that or any other silly political reason.

The Bible informs us that there are sets and traits for both skill and character that have to be taken into account if ministries are going to flourish. And some leaders would rather let the ministry suffer before risk hurting anyone's feelings by removing or replacing them when necessary. King Joash was no such leader. He understood that the work of God was serious work. And I hope every ministry that's represented here sees it that way.

Church or any kind of ministry is not just a free for all. It's not. It's for people who are filled with the spirit, who are skilled, who understand their giftedness. Yes. There's a place for patience and trial and error.

How do we know that? This man waited years for the house to be repaired. We're not talking about days. We're talking about months upon months and nothing was getting done. And so a true leader will understand that things cannot be operated on on his own and he needs the right kind of people to partner with.

Paul was that kind of man. He didn't recruit anybody. He recruited people who who really had a heart for the things of God, who really put their hands to the pla who really sought God's power for their work. And we see that in this man. And listen, this is where it's gonna apply to all of us.

The productivity of this leader and his effectiveness is gonna continue to be revealed in the next few verses, and the way he goes about things is so helpful for us if we wanna know a fragrant fruitful life for the kingdom of God. Let's start with verse 13. But were there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold or of silver from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. For that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. You want answers from the bible?

Ask the bible questions. Have a conversation with the bible. You know what my question was when I read that verse? Why do I need to know that the money coming in didn't go to utensils but went to the actual structure of the temple? Any idea?

Here's the light bulb. We want to see that King Joash properly brought in the money and applied it to where it needed to go primarily. So what you have here in verse 13 is the principle of priority. It's not that those other vessels were not important, but they were not as important. And so everything that was coming in had to first go to the actual edifice and everything else would come later.

And what we have here is an important truth for us as well. If you do not develop a value system in life, then you risk spending your time, your energy, your efforts into things that don't matter as much as other things. And you can rejoice because the Bible has been granted to you as a blueprint to know where to make the greatest investments with this little thing called life. It's everywhere. Can I tell you one example?

First Timothy four in verse eight. You know this verse very well. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Question, is exercise bad? No.

Is it good? Yes. I highly recommend it actually. But is it as important as training your spirit man? Answer, no.

It's not. Do you know people who make bodily exercise more important than anything else? I do. They're buff. They're tough, but they're spiritual skeletons.

Not interested in that kind of life. Their value system is out of order. This is just one example. I'm not picking on guys who go to the gym. Alright?

I try to go a few times a week. You could you could pin this on anything, any pursuit in life. And so what we see here is this principle of priority. Where are your priorities tonight? If a minister is truly a minister, I know those nights where I would love to maybe do something else, not nothing sinful, but where's my priority?

My priority is this, and so I have to others may, but I can't because this is my priority. But there's also the principle of integrity. Look at verse 15. And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they deliver the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. Again, here's my question.

Why do I need to know this? What does that have to do with my life? Again, if you look at the wider picture, you have a king who took charge and things are getting done. God's glory is intensifying. His house is being strengthened and we're seeing some of the things that he did do in order for that to happen.

So if I want God to be further glorified in my life, if I want to contribute to the house of God, to the glory of God, the cause of Christ, then I gotta look deeper beneath this and see some principles. I see a principle of integrity here. He had a policy for his finances with the donations coming in. Full transparency. You wanna see the books?

Yeah. We have a box we actually have a box back there. I don't know if you noticed that. If you wanna know what came from this. There's a box.

There's a box and there's those guarding it and whenever it was filled they would go and it would go to another place and they would count it and but everybody knew where every penny went. And I'm sure that created a trust in the nation for them to give even more. And here's the lesson for us. If you wanna be fruitful in God's house and beyond, then you must strive to live in a way that gives no one a reason to cast doubt or question your character. One of the first verses I've ever ever memorized when I first became a believer, especially when I believed that I was gonna serve the Lord in full time ministry was Titus two seven eight.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. And in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned. So that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us. I took that, I memorized that, and I said, Lord, let it be real for me. Let there be nothing with my life, even the way I talk, that somebody could say, there's something off about that guy.

There's something I don't know. He sounds all spiritual when he gets up there and he shares a bible study, but off of the pulpit, I don't know. It's like a different person. I'm not saying you have to stay in preaching mode. That would be very concerning, wouldn't it?

Wouldn't it? But the purity of your speech, the things you laugh at, the way you react to things. Paul tells pastor Titus, be careful. Give no one a reason to look at you and have a question mark in their thinking, staining your ministry altogether. There's a principle of integrity here.

And lastly, there's a principle of true ministry. Look here at verse 16. The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord, it belonged to the priest. So remember, back in verse four, the king asked that all the streams, at least temporarily, would go to the building fund. But we're comforted here to know that he did not disobey the Lord in cutting off the source of income for the ministers.

And so, this was something that he kept intact, that he honored, and this too is for instruction, especially for our local church as we are also saving and looking for a new place. As we seek to develop the physical walls and the new land and the new ground that we will gain, you must and I must, especially the leaders, lose sight of the fact that the ultimate aim even for the funds that come in, If the Lord decides to keep this ministry for years and years to come, decades to come, should he tarry? We cannot lose sight that everything that comes in, not just the people, especially the funds, is for the people. It's to serve people. And so that looks like, supplying the needs for ministers so that they can provide spiritual nourishment.

And that also look like what we do here on a weekly basis, bringing food, not just to provide physical sustenance for people who come here, but to also foster spirit led fellowship. That that point may not mean much to you, but you'd be amazed to know how much misapplication happens in ministries when it comes to money. No. Even the money that comes in is saturated in prayer and has a gospel goal always, and we see that here. I wish this is where the chapter ended.

A very strange thing is about to happen in verse 17. It's gonna catch you off guard. Here's how we're ending. At that time, Hezal, king of Syria, went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hezael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Joram and Ahaziah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria.

Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem. Here's how I felt when I studied this the other day. I feel like there's a verse or two missing between sixteen and seventeen. Don't you feel that way? There are some missing pieces to this picture.

You went from investing everything, all your time, you're rallying the nation really to resurrect this temple, and just because there was a threat, you gave it all up in a couple of verses. What's going on here? It gets even more interesting. Look at verse 19. Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

His servants arose and made a conspiracy and struck down Joash in the house of Melo. On the way that goes down to Selah, it was Jossachar the son of Shimeath and Jehoshabad the son of Shomer, his servants who struck him down so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David and Amaziah, his son, reigned in his place. What? So not only did he give everything up to the king of Syria who hated the people of God and hated the God of this people, but within his own kingdom, two of his servants assassinated him.

I have a lot of questions. One of my initial questions was, okay, let's deal with Hazael king of Syria. Why is there no instance? Why is there no indication that the king prayed and sought the Lord to intervene? Why did the Lord not intervene at all?

Why did the Lord allow such a wonderful man of God to be murdered in such a way? Whatever your question may be, all your answers are found in second Chronicles 24. Let's turn there. Let's begin in verse 15. The verses preceding verse 15 give us an even more elaborate description of the success of the building of the temple.

So we don't have time to read it but essentially, we have sacrifices in the house of God again. Everything is reinstated. Everything is back on schedule and this is what we read in verse 15 of second Chronicles 24. But Jehoiada grew old and full of days and died. He was a 130 years old at his death, and they buried him in the city of David among the kings.

Pause there. Can you imagine that? He was not a king. He was a priest, but he was so loved by the people because of his influence in the land that they chose to honor him by bearing him with the kings. What a man this was.

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. Pause. Jehoiada was not the one who initiated the renovation project. Right? It was the king.

That's a mistake on this priest's part. But isn't it wonderful that because he recovered, God still honored his efforts for his house. You might have for years not taken the local church seriously, the mission of God seriously, but if you choose to change today, the Lord will look upon you with fresh eyes. Toward God and his house, look at verse 17. Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king.

Then the king listened to them. Uh-oh. Verse 18. And they abandoned the house of the Lord. The god of their fathers and served the Ashram and the idols, and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

When Jehoiada the priest died, so did the king's faith. Is it possible to be too dependent upon the blessings of a ministry or a mentor in your life? Absolutely. Absolutely. If the heartbeat of your faith relies solely on the constant service and giftedness of others or the personal instruction and help of another, you're in serious danger.

The proper response to being blessed by someone's walk with the Lord is that it would inspire you to deepen and cultivate your own walk with the Lord, because you will not survive spiritually solely on the support of others. That is not to say we don't need one another. I love to preach how we need one another. But what was designed to be supplementary cannot become your substance. You need to be able to develop that with your own heart, in your own heart, with your own walk with God.

The king didn't have that. He was willing to follow the Lord as long as he had Jehoiada. Some people are only willing to follow the Lord as long as their spouse is following the Lord. Some are willing to as long as they are under the tutelage of their parents. Others are willing to as long as your best buddy is willing to.

Others are willing to as long as your siblings. And we can go on and on with examples. Here's a true follower of Christ. Though none go with me, still I will follow. If you wanna come with me, wonderful.

This journey will be even greater. But if no one will go with me, if others pass on before me, I'm still going to follow him. How many disappear because of a failure of a pastor? That is not excusable. God is merciful.

But oh, we have an example here of the trouble that can come when you don't own your faith. If your inspiration is merely coming from the passionate sermons you hear, you're in trouble. If your worship is only stimulated by talented singers, you're in trouble. Own it. So what happens here?

Prepare to be visited again by the glorious patience of your God. Look at verse 19. Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention. What does the Lord do after this man turned his back on the house of God?

God doesn't turn his back on him. He sends prophet after prophet after prophet. That is the steadfastness of God's love and his compassion. He's reaching out. He's reaching out to Joash.

Come back to me. Joash, you're headed the wrong way. Joash, I have a plan for you. Joash, you had a heart for me at one point. Joash.

And he would swat his hand away. So what is the Lord gonna do? Okay. If you're not gonna listen to these prophets, I'm going to clothe someone with my spirit and that someone will be very difficult to ignore. Who's that someone?

Look at the next verse. Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest. And he stood above the people and said to them, thus says God, why do you break the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you. But they conspired against him and by command of the king, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.

Thus, Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, may the Lord see and avenge. You know what happens? God answered Zechariah's prayer. I sent you prophet after prophet after prophet.

I sent you the son of the man who took you in, who lavished his love, his wisdom, his insights. And because you treated Zechariah in this way, oh, he answered his prayer so swiftly. Here's the answer in verse 23. At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. Remember how I told you between verse sixteen and seventeen?

How how do we go from Joash completing the house of God to him giving up everything in the house of God? Well, what we just learned, here are the Syrians. At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Look at verse 25.

When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against them because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. Jehoiada was buried with the kings, he was not a king. The king who was supposed to be buried with the kings did not receive that honor. How you finish is so important.

It's so important. Here's what alarms me. I'm reading about the same king who when he was a vulnerable baby was providentially protected by the viciousness of an evil woman. And when that little child that was kept from the eyes of that vulture became the most powerful man in Israel. He was killed by his servants in his own bed.

How? Scary things happen when God's hand is removed from a person's life. You rather be like a child and so dependent with God on your side than to be king with all the armies and have God forsake you. Go back to second Chronicles I I skipped twenty four twenty four. I want you to see it because it just emphasizes my point.

Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into the hand a very great army because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, thus they executed judgment on Joash. So humanly speaking, the Syrians were not an impressive army. Very few men, in fact. Who had the impressive army in this? Judah.

And yet, God gave up that great army to the hands of very few men. One with God is always the majority. Always the majority. And here, if I can open my heart to you and how I felt when I ended the study in my own office. God, keep me close to you no matter what.

If people wanna walk out, if people wanna abandon you, if people don't wanna support or encourage, that's fine. I'm asking you to stay close to me. And by your grace, keep me close to you. I wanna finish. I don't want my heart to burn for your house in my twenties and thirties, but in my sixties and seventies, I betray you.

I want my heart to only grow brighter and hotter for you as I advance in years. I don't wanna be a king. I don't wanna be anything. I just want to finish well. Please, Lord, let me finish well.

Let's pray. We thank you, Lord, for every part of your word, including those that challenge us and sober us. We will not ignore these passages, but we will trust that in your love, you have given them to us. Even this account of king Joash, how he began strong, but did not finish well. But we thank you for the Jehoiadas in our lives.

But, Lord, we ask that you would fortify our personal faith, that you would you would heighten our appetite for the things of God, that we would have our own pursuit, we would have our own testimonies. We would not merely be inspired by the testimonies of others. If we are to be inspired, let it inspire us to plunge ourselves, to dive deep into your will for our own lives. So Lord, tonight, your word was so clear. The main point is so obvious, and we together as a church ask that you would make us strong, stronger than we were when we walked in here.

Strong in you by your grace, Lord. We thank you for your grace. We know that you are eager and willing to keep us faithful. Not just faithful, but blameless. Blameless to the point where when we stand before you face to face, we will have exceeding joy.

So, Lord, we worship now. Not just because we're taking heed to your warning, but realizing the extent of your promise. That even if we do drift, you send warning, you send messengers, you send many creative ways to try to bring us back. And Lord, if this bible study is one of those ways for anybody in this place, may they not ignore it. For those who are walking with you, may they just do so with greater love and zeal.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Let's stand together and worship the Lord. Oh, I I wanna encourage you. Just take the time to tell him that.

Take the time to tell, oh, Lord, I give you my young years. I give you my young life, but, Lord, I want it for the long haul. I wanna be yours until you call me home. I encourage you to pray that, and we'll sing glorifying him together.