seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 24:1 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. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.
6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in 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 covenant law?”
7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.
15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
I don't understand why the commentary has to be as long as the action piece. The commentaries are all long this morning. Figures, It's about money for the church..... preachers always get long winded when it comes to money.
For a long time... no one had been collecting money for the Temple maintenance and repairs. Dead queen Athaliah, Jezebel's grandbaby, let her sons ransack the Temple. Now Athaliah was gone, and Jehoiada the priest was working for King Joash. To King Joash, the Temple was home. Jehoiada's daughter rescued baby king Joash when Althaliah went on a murderous spree, killing all of little baby king Joash's brothers. He had been raised in the temple by Jehoiada's daughter. Naturally.... when little king Joash got old enough.... he started to notice things and asked about maintenance and repairs. He was probably told.... "we haven't collected the taxes". So little king Joash probably asked "Why?"
Isn't it interesting.... taxes were collected in an unmanned chest at the door. No one passed the hat or accounted for every penny's whereabouts. The money came in and the workers were paid.... then the money came in and the workers were paid.....then the money came in and the workers were paid.... the workers were the ones filling the chest with the money they made working.... and no one was tracking who paid what amount in taxes because the chest was full every day..... Theocracy.... God runs a great show!
These comments are from the easy English site.
Joash decided to repair the LORD’s temple. He told the priests and the Levites to go to all the towns in Judah. He told them to collect money from the Israelites. That money would then pay for the repairs to the temple. But the Levites were slow and they did not do it.
There were three sources of income for the temple. There was the money that people gave for the work of the temple. Also, when people visited the temple they gave gifts for the temple. And there was the tax that Moses charged (2 Kings 12:4). This tax was half a shekel of silver for everyone who was over the age of 20 years (Exodus 30:11-16). The Levites did not collect this tax money.
Jehoiada ought to have made the Levites go to collect the tax. Joash asked him why he had not done so.
By the 23rd year of Joash’s rule the repairs had not started. So, he ordered the priests and the Levites not to take any more money from the temple stores for themselves. But he ordered them to take money from these stores. And he ordered them to give it to those who would repair the temple.
Each time that the box was full, the Levites took it to the officers. There were two officers. One was the king’s secretary and the other was the chief priest’s officer. They counted the money and they put it into bags. The king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who repaired the temple. And the Levites put the empty box back in its place.
Ah.... it wasn't the people who were ripping off the temple.... the people were happy to pay the tax.... apparently the Levites were stealing. The money was coming in.... but it was being squandered on the Temple payroll instead of maintenance and repair..... I guess all governments have their problems.... even Theocracies.
