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

Let's turn to 2nd 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 Divinic 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 Jehoshiba, they went into the

palace, namely his wife, and rescued one of the little

children who belonged to that Davidic dynasty.

They hid him in the temple, and from his infancy until the age

of 7, 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 of Thalia'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

2 Kings 12 · chapter mention

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 2 verses of Second Kings chapter 12 in the

2 Kings 12 · chapter mention

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 40 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Zibya 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 Joash 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 1st 2 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 is not what we see here

because Jehoiada the priest instructed him so.

Joiada, this man of God not only protected Joash, I'm going to

use his name different ways throughout the study.

Joash was 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.

That wasn't much time. He became king at 7:00 but.

As. Long as Jojada 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. They 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 fave 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 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 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 and knowing that there is a man, an older man who walk

with God that hovered over this young boy with great wisdom and

love, Doesn't that stir you? I want to challenge you to

change your perspective about your upper and 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 want to 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 going to 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

2 Chronicles 24 · chapter mention

Chronicles chapter 24. If you don't know where

Chronicles is, it's it's directly to the right of Second

Kings. There's First Chronicles and

Second Chronicles. Look at chapter 24 and verse 3.

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 2

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 designed 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 1 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, Athalia, went after the entire royal

family. And we see that Joy does,

thinking to himself in order for us to recover from this.

To accelerate this recovery process, we're not going to go

overboard here like David or Solomon.

We're just going to 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, Josh's faith, and their

piety. Let me show you what I mean.

Go back to chapter 12 of Second Kings and look at verse 3.

So we learned here that they did what was right.

In the eyes of the Lord all his days because joy had that 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 2.

Deuteronomy 12:2

This is before Israel even entered into the Promised land.

God gave many instructions, including this one.

Listen to Deuteronomy 12 verse 2.

Deuteronomy 12:2

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 worshippers 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 prepare to go in

about this, he says, 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 going to be on the high places.

So #1 these are these are places where idols were loved and

adored and worshipped. 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 can turn

there First Kings 3 and look at verse 2.

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 that 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 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 want to tell you too that

alternative and supplemental ways of worship today can

infringe upon how we should truly worship God as the people

of God. See.

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

worshipping 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 the supplemental Convenient Ways to

Worship God eclipse what the Lord asks of US 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 1 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 going to have a passion for the things

of God, let it be an all consuming 1.

If you're going to be. If you're going to serve the

Lord, if you're going to be 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 want to 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, a Thalia.

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 bail 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 going to require us to do some basic math, very simple

math. How old was Josh when he became

king? Good.

Now Scroll down to verse 6 real quickly, and I want you to

notice something. But by the 23rd 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 23rd 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 4, which tells me that, and based on how verse 6 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 20s? 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 something 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 is so wrapped up in wanting to restore the House of God.

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 and those who might be

more quote UN quote experienced. Joyada 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 priest had their own lane. Why aren't the priest 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 a 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 and 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 and 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 going to 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 loved 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 6,

shall we? But by the 23rd year of King

Joash, the priest had made no repairs on the House.

Why the priests are bothering me, at least what I was reading

about myself. Why?

Why? So, OK, 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 want to speculate, I want concrete conclusions.

And if I don't get. It I'm going to 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 to verse 4.

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 wanted to be preserved and and

reserved for this renovation project.

It wasn't absolutely everything. You're going to learn later on

that he still kept the income for the priest.

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 kind of 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 7. 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 priests 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 miss handling

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 priest were in the wrong. So what's going to happen next?

Well, we got to read verse 8. 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 will run into problems and 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

was carelessness for the cause itself.

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 priests get lazy?

Yes, I heard one minister asked 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 4. 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. You see what's being underscored

here to 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 she says

you have the right to, according to the law of Moses, there was a

tax that the people would say 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 weren't really active.

So 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 purposes 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 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's

something that we unfortunately see in many local assemblies.

Praise God, we can't see it in NBCI.

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 9. 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 in 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 stone

cutters, 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 that 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 Josh 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 that. 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 pot, who really sought God's power for

their work. And we see that in this man.

And listen, this is where it's going to apply to all of us.

The productivity of this leader and his effectiveness is going

to. Continue to be revealed in the

next few verses and the way he goes about things is so helpful

for us. If we want to know a fragrant,

fruitful life for the Kingdom of God, let's start with verse 13.

But we're 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 1st 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 4IN verse 8 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 to go to the gym, all right?

I try to go a few times a week. You can.

You can. 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 got to

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 want to 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 want to 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 want to 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 going

to serve the Lord in full time ministry, was Titus 278.

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,

something I don't know. He sounds all spiritual when he

gets up there and he shares the 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,

wasn'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 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 4, 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. It 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 going to catch you off

guard. Here's how we're ending.

At that time, has a Al king of Syria, went up and fought

against Gath and took it. But when has a Al set his face

to go up against Jerusalem? Johash, king of Judah, took all

the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Joram and

Ayaziah his father's, the kings of Judah had dedicated, and his

own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the

treasuries of the House of the Lord and of the King's house,

and sent these to Hazel, king of Syria.

Then Hazel 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 16 and 17.

Don't you feel that way? There are some missing pieces to

this picture. You went from investing

everything all your time, you 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 Josh

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 Josh

in the House of Milo on the way that goes down to Sela.

It was Joseph Car, the son of Shimiath and Joshabad, the son

of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down so that he died

and they buried him with his father's in the city of David

and Amaziah, his son, reign 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 his people, but within his own

Kingdom, two of his servants assassinated him.

I have a lot of questions. One of my initial questions was,

OK, let's deal with Hazel, 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 in Second Chronicles

24. But Jehoiada grew old and full

of days and died. He was 130 years old at his

death. And they buried him in the city

of David among the kings. Pause there.

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 burying 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 Princess of Judah came and paid homage to the king.

Then the king listened to them, 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 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 want to 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 the failure of a pastor?

That is not excusable. God is merciful.

But oh. We have an example here of the

trouble that could 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 going to do? OK, if you're not going to

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

Zachariah 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 them, and by command of the.

King, they stoned him with stones.

In the court of the House of the Lord.

Thus Josh, 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 an 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 prayers 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 16 and 17? How do we go from Joash

completing the House of God to him giving up everything in the

House of God? Or 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 Princess

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. Joy that 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 that to be king with all

the armies and have God forsake you.

Go back to second chronicles. I skipped 2424.

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 judgement 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 in

here. If I can open my heart to you

and how I felt when I ended this study in my own office, God keep

me close to you no matter what. If people want to walk out, if

people want to abandon you, if people don't want to 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 want to finish. I don't want my heart to burn

for your house in my 20s and 30s, but in my 60s and 70s, I

betray you. I want my heart to only grow

brighter and hotter for you as I advance in years.

I don't want to be a king. I don't want to 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 Jehoiades in our lives.

Below. We ask that you would fortify

our personal faith, that you would you would heightened 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. Blame us 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, worship

the Lord. Oh, I want to encourage you,

just take the time to tell them that.

Take the time to tell the Lord I give you my young years, I give

you my young life, but Lord, I want it for the long haul.

I want to be yours until you call me home.

I encourage you to pray that and we'll sing glorifying Him

together.