June 14: The Era of Joash

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012

The Era of Joash (2 Kings and 2 Chronicles)

Despite Joash’s order to repair the Temple, the Levites did not respond immediately.  After a fairly long period of time, Joash recognizes that the priests have still not acted and called Jehoiada to account for the shortcoming.  Apparently, “the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.”  Joash proposes a state-driven repair plan, in which the priests would turn over any contributions to the king.  The people gladly bring their “tax” to the Temple for its repair.

 

Amid this revival, the funds for the Temple go to workmen who work diligently and for the Lord.  Indeed, the leaders “did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with completed honesty.”  The priests and the workmen set to bring glory to the Lord by restoring what had been.  As Hudson Taylor observed, “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

 

Yet, the people revert to their wickedness almost in concert with Jehoiada’s death.  Despite Joash’s initiative of the Temple restoration, he turns to silver-tongued officials, who lead him to “abandon the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and worship Asherah poles and idols.”  The die is now cast, and the downward spiral toward the Exile will continue:  “Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.  Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and thought they testified against them, they would not listen.”  Their spiritual deafness and insensitivity would lead to physical blindness and the capture by foreign raiders.

 

We may wonder how the Israelites, with their historical record of God’s manifest presence and His constant intervention on their behalf, could turn away from the Lord and so casually treat their key commitments to him.  It likely revolved around their pride, believing that they could better ascertain the “right” way to worship and live.  They had the revelation through Moses and other prophets but chose to live in disobedience, which would lead to pain for several generations to come.

 

Clearly, the sinfulness of the human heart compels us towards idolatry.  We do not desire God’s glory so much as our own.  Indeed, even in the New Testament, we recognize the Bible’s clear teaching on the vileness of idolatry.  Two verses discuss the inherent idolatry of greed, Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5, which reads:  “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”  For those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, our bodies have become a literal temple of the Holy Spirit, for God desires to dwell with us and in us through the righteousness of Christ.  In 2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul poses the hypothetical question and provides the admonishment on how we ought to consider His dwelling within us, a fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31–34:  “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:  ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

1. How can you honor the Lord in your work this week? 
2. What can you do to restore your temple:  your body, mind, and soul?

________________________________________
1) Blog:      http://bit.ly/rV1Cw1

2) Facebook:  http://on.fb.me/tc6jkS