Joash Repairs the Temple
(2 Kings 12:1–16)
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. 1Ch 3:112Ki 11:21 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 2Ch 25:22Ch 26:4-52Ch 24:17-222Ki 12:2Isa 29:13Mrk 4:16-17Psa 106:12-13Psa 78:36-37 Jehoiada took for himself two wives, and he had sons and daughters. 2Ch 24:15Gen 21:21Gen 24:4Gen 4:19Mat 19:4-8
Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the LORD. So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly.” 2Ch 21:22Ch 29:32Ch 34:8-92Ki 12:4-7
The Levites, however, did not make haste. So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring 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 Testimony?” Exo 30:12-16Num 1:50Num 17:7-82Sa 24:3Act 7:44Num 18:2
For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of the LORD for the Baals. 2Ch 21:172Ch 28:22-242Ki 12:42Th 2:8Dan 5:2-4Dan 5:23Deu 32:15-17Est 7:6
At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the house of the LORD. 2Ki 12:8-9Mrk 12:41 And a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they were to bring to the LORD the tax imposed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. 2Ch 24:6Mat 17:24-27 All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their contributions, and they dropped them in the chest until it was full. 1Ch 29:92Co 8:22Co 9:7Act 2:45-47Isa 64:5
Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance. 1Co 16:22Ki 12:10-12 Then the king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who supervised the labor on the house of the LORD to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, as well as workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. 1Ki 5:152Ch 34:9-11
So the workmen labored, and in their hands the repair work progressed. They restored the house of God according to its specifications, and they reinforced it. 1Ch 22:5Hag 2:3Mrk 13:1-2Neh 4:7 When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada to make with it the articles for the house of the LORD—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver. 1Ki 7:502Ki 12:13-14Exo 29:38-42Num 28:2-29Pro 27:22
Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of the LORD.
Jehoiada’s Death and Burial
When Jehoiada was old and full of years, he died at the age of 130. 1Ch 23:1Gen 15:15Gen 25:8Gen 47:9Job 5:26Psa 90:10Psa 91:16
And Jehoiada was buried with the kings in the City of David, because he had done what was good in Israel for God and His temple. Heb 6:102Ch 31:20Neh 13:141Ki 2:101Sa 2:302Ch 23:1-21Act 2:29
The Wickedness of Joash
After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. Deu 31:272Ch 10:8-102Ch 22:3-42Pe 1:15Act 20:29-30Dan 11:32Pro 20:19Pro 26:28 They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. Jos 22:202Ch 19:22Ch 24:4Eph 5:61Ki 14:232Ch 28:132Ch 32:25Hos 5:10-11 Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them; but they would not listen. 2Ch 36:15-162Ki 17:13-15Isa 28:23Isa 42:23Isa 51:4Isa 55:3Jer 25:4-5Jer 26:5
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’” Num 14:41Jer 5:252Ch 15:1-22Ch 20:141Ch 12:18Mat 23:351Ch 28:91Sa 13:13-14
But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD. Act 7:58-59Neh 9:26Jer 11:19Jer 18:18Jer 38:4-6Mat 21:35Mat 23:34-37
Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.” Gen 9:5Luk 11:51Jhn 10:32Rev 19:2Rev 6:9-11Psa 10:142Ti 4:142Ti 4:16
The Death of Joash
(2 Kings 12:17–21)
In the spring, 1 the army of Aram went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people, and they sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 2Ki 12:17-181Ki 20:221Ki 20:262Ch 24:17-18Deu 32:35Psa 2:10-11Psa 58:10-11Psa 82:6-7 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash. 2Ch 22:8Deu 28:25Isa 30:17Lev 26:25Lev 26:37Lev 26:82Ch 16:8-92Ch 20:11-12
And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son 2of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. 2Ch 24:21-222Ch 28:272Ch 21:162Ch 21:18-202Ch 22:62Ch 24:162Ki 12:20-212Ki 14:19-20 Those who conspired against Joash were Zabad 3son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad son of Shimrith 4the Moabitess. 2Ki 12:21
The accounts of the sons of Joash, as well as the many pronouncements about him and about the restoration 5of the house of God, are indeed written in the Treatise 6of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place. 1Ch 3:122Ch 13:222Ch 16:112Ch 20:342Ch 24:122Ch 25:12Ch 9:292Ki 12:18