Scripture Daily

Context No. 3652 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 12:1-5: in context

1Jehoash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2Jehoash did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3However, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. 4Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the LORD’s house, in current money, the money of the people for whom each man is evaluated, and all the money that it comes into any man’s heart to bring into the LORD’s house, 5let the priests take it to them, each man from his donor; and they shall repair the damage to the house, wherever any damage is found.”

Joash becomes king as a boy and does what is right in the LORD's eyes all the days that Jehoiada the priest instructed him. That last phrase is telling: his faithfulness was bound up with the guidance of a godly mentor. And one of his good acts is to see to the repair of the neglected temple, directing that the money brought in be used to mend whatever is broken in the house of the LORD.

Two things are worth noticing. Joash cared for the upkeep of God's house, not letting it fall into disrepair, a picture of ongoing faithfulness in maintaining what matters. And yet his goodness, sadly, was tied to Jehoiada's influence; as later chapters show, once the priest died, Joash faltered. There is both a good example and a quiet warning here: it is right to care for and repair the things of God, and wise to keep godly counsel, but our faithfulness must finally be our own, rooted in God himself and not only in the influence of others around us.

Do I care for the ongoing upkeep of the things of God, and is my faithfulness rooted in God himself rather than depending only on the influence of others around me?

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