From Start to Finish

And we are in a series in Kings, so if you'd like to open your Bibles, Scripture journals, Bible apps, whatever you have.

And again, we have some Scripture journals in the back if you'd like to at some point pick up one of those that lets you have a page that is blank next to the Scripture so that you can write in any insights, any notes that you want.

But today, I'm going to introduce a little phrase that I think you may have heard. Tell me if you're familiar with this phrase. It's not how you start, but how you finish.

Right. Good. Good. Sometimes I try that and that doesn't work. This one, though, has been the theme of inspirational quotes. Some of you might have this in some artwork at home on the wall or in a shop or in a lab.

It's been the theme of songs. I'm pretty sure it's been the theme of halftime speeches in the locker room, right? Detroit Lions last night maybe didn't finish so well.

We feel bad for that. But, you know, perhaps nowhere is this theme and its importance more on display than in 2 Kings chapter 12. 2 Kings chapter 12.

2 Kings 12 · chapter mention 2 Kings 12 · chapter mention

We have just come off another coup here in the southern kingdom of Judah. We've seen a change in regime and it's been for the good, of course.

The line of David has been saved from wicked Athaliah. And an actual heir of David named Joash is back on the throne. And none too soon because our kingdom desperately needs a king who is ready to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

But a mere seven-year-old boy sits on the throne. And that means there's going to be a warm-up period and a grow-up period. And we hope he has a good mentor and praise the Lord, but he does.

He has just the mentor he needs. High priest and uncle and for all intents and purposes all around adoptive dad, priest Jehoiada. So join me in 2 Kings chapter 12 verse 1 and we will begin our reading through the end of the chapter.

2 Kings 12:1

Hear the word of the Lord. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash began to reign and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibia of Beersheba.

And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away.

The people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places. Joash said to the priests,

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. But by the 23rd year of King Joash, the priests had made no repairs on the house.

Therefore, King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and he 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 priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people and that they should not repair the house. 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 priests who guarded the threshold put 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 and 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 to the stone cutters,

as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord for any outlay for the repairs of the house. But they were not made for the house of the Lord.

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. And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly.

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 priests.

At that time, Hazael, king of Syria, went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, Joash, king of Judah, took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, 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 he sent these to Hazael, king of Syria.

Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem. Now the rest of the acts of Joash 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 Joash in the house of Melo on the way that goes down to Silla. It was Jazakar, the son of Shemaith, and Jezebad, the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down so that he died.

And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place. Let's pray once more, shall we? Lord, we come to your word today with many questions.

And so, Father, we humble ourselves, and we ask you to prepare our hearts to hear what you want to teach us. Father, as we look into these events of the past and specifically into the lives of someone like a king of Israel, it can seem quite distant.

But, Lord, help us to see the present application for our own path. Lord, we think of our congregation and specifically of Pat Moorhead. We pray for her in a time of loss or grief.

We pray for your comfort. And, Father, we pray for others among us who are enduring difficulty right now, whether through sickness or some other circumstance.

And we lift them together as a family to your throne. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Verse 2 starts off pretty well, doesn't it? I mean, take a look at this. Isn't this encouraging to read that a king of Israel, I'm sorry, king of Judah, whichever, did what was right in the eyes of the Lord?

We're encouraged to read that. And yet, there is this last phrase that I think is pretty important. It's pretty telling because we're told that the major reason why things go well is because, look at this, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

In fact, you know, there's a parallel account over in the book of Chronicles to what we read here in 2 Kings 12. It's over in 2 Chronicles chapter 24.

2 Chronicles 24 · chapter mention

And I want you to hear how it's put in verse 2. I'm going to have a lot of the scriptures from 2 Chronicles 24 up on the screen, so just bear with me.

If you want to turn over there and put a finger there too, you can. But here's what it says in verse 2, that Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

Because of Jehoiada the priest and all the days of Jehoiada the priest. And hang on to that thought because that's going to turn out to be pretty key.

What it tells us is that it is because of Jehoiada's instruction and influence and mentorship on this young man that so long as the priest was still around, Joash did well.

Joash did what was right. You ever had a friend like that? Does it take you back, some of us, to your childhood? Or maybe if you're still in the childhood and you're growing up and you're a teen, can you think of someone like that?

Don't tell me it's one of your kids. You know, we want our kids to be leaders, to be independent. But it's the kind of person that they really need to be around the right people, the right influences.

And the moment that they're not, man, it's not good. It feels a little bit like this. But our narrator informs us that overall in the kingdom, things are greatly improving.

And that as Joash takes the throne of Judah here in this southern kingdom, we know, of course, Baal worship is out. And yet, in verse 3, our hopes are maybe just a little bit tempered because we read that, nevertheless, the high places remained.

Now, that requires a little bit of explanation. We might wonder what that's all about. It turns out that that actually is a qualification. We're going to hear about a lot of kings, even the good ones, that nevertheless, the high places remained.

And it's not necessarily that the people of Israel or Judah are worshiping idols at the high places. Please understand, they're often worshiping the Lord at these places.

The problem is that it violated the law. In Deuteronomy chapter 12, God had told his people that when the time comes, and I tell you where the centralized place for worship is supposed to be, which we know is the temple.

Deuteronomy 12 · chapter mention

It was the tabernacle, now the temple in Jerusalem. When I give you that place, you worship me there and only there. And we now have a temple.

And God understood that this would be important because what these high places were is they were religious sites where previous to the people of Israel coming into the Promised Land, it's where the Canaanites conducted their worship.

And they were not worshiping Yahweh, God of Israel. They were worshiping demons, false gods. And God understood that there is a risk when you go to a site, when you worship at a place that had previously been associated with rampant idolatry.

So he didn't want this, and that's what that's all about. Well, in any case, years go by, and our young seven-year-old king grows up to be a man.

Actually, Chronicles tells us that Jehoiada the priest arranges a couple of marriages for him. And now, as a full-grown adult, in verse 4, in verse 4, our king recognizes that the kingdom has a bit of an issue.

It seems that when the land turned away from the worship of the God of Israel, that the temple had been neglected. He looks over at the temple, at the house of the Lord, and he recognizes that it's not looking so good.

It's in some disrepair. Now, we don't know exactly to what extent. You know, are the rafters, like, caving in? Or does it just need, like, a paint job?

Well, given that we're going to hear about timber and stone and masons and stonecutters, I think it's pretty safe to say it's pretty big. It's a structural repair that's needed.

And that would make sense, given that the temple is now 148 years old as a building. Solomon finished it in 960 B.C. So this structure is almost 150 years old.

I don't know if any of you live in a house that old. My father-in-law's house is not quite that old, but it's over 100. And these places need upkeep.

And in many cases, need even structural work. So no doubt the age of the temple itself is a factor. But then again, there is also that Baal worship that was going on until very recently that consumed the kingdom.

Yeah, thanks to the idolatrous leadership of past kings like Jehoram and Ahaziah, and most recently, wicked Athaliah, the would-be queen who was deposed.

This temple has been completely ignored. And not just ignored. Check this out. Another detail from 2 Chronicles 24, verse 7. We read that the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, I like it when the Bible just describes people like that.

2 Chronicles 24:7

That wicked woman had broken into the house of God and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals. Nice, right?

It's bad enough that you're plundering, I'm sorry, plunging the nation headlong into idolatry, but you're also plundering the Lord's temple to do your twisted Baal worship with the sacred things.

So in verse 5, Joash calls the priests and Levites. They're charged with overseeing the temple. And he says, Hey guys, let's get to work. Let's repair the house wherever we find that there are any repairs that are needed.

And he goes on to outline three sources of revenue. Bear with me. Let me try to explain this. The ESV is not quite as clear. Three sources of revenue that they're going to have at their disposal and that they can draw from.

The first source is the quote unquote money for which each man is assessed. This would be the census payment that Moses had commanded every Israelite male, adult male, 20 years old or older.

Once a year, you were required to pay a half shekel to the temple. Just the men. That's the first source. The second source is what's called the money from the assessment of persons, persons, which is actually vow money.

When a person would make a vow of service to the temple, strangely, I don't understand why, but often they would not really intend to fulfill it personally.

They would monetize it. It would be worth a sum of money and they would fulfill their vow by paying some form of payment monetarily. That's the second source.

And then the third source is pretty easy to understand. It's money that a man's heart or woman's heart prompts him or her to give, like free will offerings, over and above what's required.

And you know, I find all this kind of interesting, don't you? You know, here we are looking at ancient Israel with these different forms of income for the temple and it's a little different today, but in some ways there are some overlaps.

We're familiar today with the idea of tithing. Tithing is 10% of our income and we describe as offerings, anything that is over and above the 10%.

And as our cheerful, and it's important to have a cheerful and generous heart. Cheerful and generous heart feels prompted. Sometimes you give over and above.

You make a special gift in addition to what is your regular giving. I never thought about instituting, you know, a church tax on all the men though.

How many 20-year-old men we got out there? I don't even know. What's a half shekel a year worth? You know, maybe we should talk about that in the next board meeting.

Just kidding, maybe not. But seriously, Joash knows that these three significant sources of income are going to be more than sufficient to pull off the work, to do the renovation.

And that's why he's troubled by the time he celebrates 30 candles on his birthday cake in the 23rd year, making it now his 30th birthday. He looks around.

He puts his ear to the window outside. He says, you know, why am I not hearing any construction noises? Why isn't there any work going on? Why, verse 7, are you not repairing the house?

He asks Jehoiada and the priests. He's quite troubled by any lack of progress. The priests are just quite simply not getting it done. We're going to learn later that Jehoiada is pretty advanced in years at this point.

That might have something to do with it. I'm sure they had good intentions. I'm sure they were carefully reviewing plans, and maybe they were out doing negotiations with the work crews and doing their due diligence by getting bids and all that.

I don't know. But the bottom line is that our king seems pretty convinced that something should be happening by now, and we've got a major problem.

We need a new plan, and maybe some new people in charge. Verse 7, he tells them, stop collecting money. In fact, take more money from your donors and hand over what you have for the repairs of the house.

It's going to be under new management. And maybe surprisingly, but our priests seem to agree right away. They hand it right over, and given the fact that they have all the money and they're willing to hand it over, suggest that there's no problems here, nothing nefarious going on, no embezzlement or theft.

Probably what's happening is that this is a problem of mismanagement or procrastination. No corruption. We just simply have the wrong folks in charge of a construction project.

And you know, maybe a quick side lesson for the church today. I don't know about you, but I was thinking about this this week. I think little moments like this in Scripture help us feel a little bit better about not trying to do every single church project ourselves.

Right? Because sometimes we can't do it, and we don't get it done, and sometimes it's appropriate to contract out. I mean, we've done some of that here in our renovation of our own building.

Our leaders at Redeemer, I want you to know, we're all about efficiency. We want to save money as much as we can, be frugal. We love your volunteer help, but sometimes you need the pros, and you need to hire and pay professionally skilled people to do the work.

And I think this, in a very simple way, is nice to see in Scripture. Yeah, they had to do it too. They had to hire the pros.

But first, the capital campaign itself needs some attention. They've stopped it, but now they're going to restart it again only under a different method.

And that's what we read about as we move on to verse 9. Jehoiada makes this box. We're told that he finds a chest, and he bores a hole in the lid of it.

And then what he does is he positions it in a very strategic place, beside the altar, which is actually on the wall of the altar that would be inside.

This is at the entrance of the temple. He puts it in a very visible place. Right? It would be like if you walked into the foyer and there was maybe conveniently an offering box in the back, which actually there is.

It's a convenient place where nobody will have to go looking for it, and they're also sure that they're going to have some temple guards watching over it, which turns out is a good thing because the new effort proves very successful.

The funds start rolling in. Apparently, the people recognize that something's really going to happen, and the king means business. And so they bring their silver.

They bring it enthusiastically. Reading the text, we get the impression that the box fills up pretty frequently, like maybe every day. And our king and his priest have developed a great procedure involving the supervision of the royal secretary.

So they brought in some additional high-level staff. And he oversees this whole process where as the chest gets full, they empty it, they count up the money, they bag it appropriately, and then immediately, immediately, they put it into the hands of trustworthy foremen,

right into the hands of the supervisors, of the workers, that we're told in verse 15, the narrator makes sure we understand that these are completely trustworthy people, completely trustworthy supervisors who are commended for dealing honestly, so honestly that they don't even need supervision.

And so, with the money in hand, and with now all the carpenters and the builders and the masons and the stone cutters contracted, they are well supplied, gainfully paid, paid in a timely fashion, and the repairs on the house of the Lord move forward.

Our narrator offers us a couple of additional details in verses 13 through 16. Interestingly, one thing we're told is that this money is all designated for one purpose and one purpose only, for the repairs of the house, which means none of it is going to go to the utensils,

all the worship equipment, so to speak, the bowls, the sensors, all that stuff. At this point, no, it's just for the structural repairs. The other thing that we're noted, or we should note in verse 16, is that the priests themselves, the temple staff, they don't take a hit personally.

They receive their normal income according to the law, according to Deuteronomy 18, as usual, and that is the income from the guilt and the sin offerings.

So what that means is that in the midst of a construction project, the temple staff is still adequately provided for, which is good. And so the project continues until it's finished.

In fact, we're not told this in Kings, but we are in Chronicles. This project and the capital campaign go so well that over in 2 Chronicles chapter 24, verse 14, we get another detail.

2 Chronicles 24:14

Check this out. And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money, they had some left over, the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord.

Wow. It's gone really well. The people have been faithful and generous. There's money left over and now they can furnish the temple with new utensils.

2 Chronicles 24 even goes on to talk about the event and how it concludes and it tells us that the burnt offerings in the house of the Lord, they are now offered regularly, meaning that worship in the temple, an appropriately renovated temple and a properly equipped temple is now going on like it should.

We're told that it's regularly all the days of Jehoiada. In fact, over in 2 Chronicles 24, Jehoiada gets quite the commendation. Listen to what's said in verse 15, 2 Chronicles 15 and 16, 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 because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his house.

That's beautiful. Temple project completed. Temple service back in full swing. King Joash doing so well as long as he's got his mentor, King Jehoiada, with him, whom the Lord blesses with a really long life and you have to think maybe that's why so he'd be around.

Lives to 130, which at this point in the Bible is pretty unheard of. Incredible.

And yet, sadly, our story doesn't end here and boy, we wish that it would have. But it doesn't. We go on to read what we read in verse 17 here in 2 Kings 12 about this not-so-friendly neighbor named Hazael who again decides to pay a visit.

As it turns out, there is some background to what's happening here and again, I'm going to take you over to 2 Chronicles 24 and fill you in.

Apparently, here's what happened. As soon as the old priest Jehoiada was gone and off the scene and no longer in the ear of King Joash, young king, well, he's not so young now, King Joash decides to go get himself some new counselors and mentors.

Here's what we read in 2 Chronicles 24, verse 17. Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them and they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers

2 Chronicles 24:17

and served the Asherim and the idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. No! What are you doing? Asherim, these are the consorts of Baal.

We essentially have Baal worship back. How could you let this happen, King? Joash, you're the leader of Israel. You're supposed to lead the princes.

Not the other way around. But this was apparently a man influenced by the crowd, my friends. Apparently, a bit of a people pleaser. A bit of a prince pleaser.

And even when the Lord sent a number of prophets to warn our king, which he did, to try to turn him around, turn him back from his idolatrous, disastrous ways, it was to no avail.

He would not pay any attention. In fact, it got so bad that even Jehoiada's own son, a man named Zechariah, the next high priest, even Jehoiada's own son, Zechariah, after his father's death.

And remember, this would be the cousin to Joash. This would be the boy that was raised as a virtual brother with him. They grew up together.

When he spoke out against the idolatry in the land and confronted everybody and prophesied it will not go well if we keep on this path, I want you to read it for yourself in 2 Chronicles chapter 24 verses 20 and 21.

2 Chronicles 24:20

Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah, 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 him. And by the command of the king, Joash, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.

They executed him, more like assassinated him, right there in the temple complex. Can you imagine a prophetic voice coming at you from your mentor's successor, from your own cousin, your virtual brother,

the boy that you grew up with and probably played with, commanding his execution, and not for treason over this? Because you yourself, Joash, have succumbed to idolatry, and he, Zechariah, is calling you out for it?

And you give the order to have him killed, all the while fully knowing that it's only because of his parents that you're even alive.

And this is how you pay it all back, Joash. I think this is a pretty apt summary that we get from the chronicler in the next verse. This is 2 Chronicles chapter 24, verse 22.

2 Chronicles 24:22

We read that, thus, Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. Yeah, I'd say he didn't remember.

And when he, Zechariah, was dying, he said, may the Lord see and avenge.

And hence, and thus, this is exactly what we see happening here in 2 Kings chapter 12, verse 17. Hazael pops back up on the scene, quickly takes the Philistine city of Gath.

2 Kings 12:17

He's now close to Jerusalem and he is strategically closing in. We're told that he has his face set to Jerusalem, but in verse 18, Joash seems to intercept him and basically bribes him off.

We're told that he takes all the sacred gifts. These are, these are all the gifts that the people had recently furnished for the temple. And he also grabs all the treasures from his father and his grandfather.

It was normal for the kings of Judah to make contributions and gifts to the temple and they had. He raids all of this, the entire storehouse of the temple, plunders the house of the Lord himself of all the gold and we're told that he sent these to Hazael, king of Syria.

A bribe, a big, big payoff from a weak king in what looks like now a very vulnerable kingdom.

But it doesn't stop here. And most bullies don't stop if you've ever been bullied. If you keep handing over your lunch money they keep taking it.

And that's exactly what happens in 2 Chronicles 24 where we learn Hazael comes back again even after being bribed and this time he actually does invade and by the time he is done even though he's brought a smaller Syrian army with him we're told his army beats Judah

and he leaves King Joash quote unquote severely wounded on his bed. And it's in this severely wounded condition that the events here in 2 Kings 12 verse 20 happen.

2 Kings 12:20

Check out verse 20 the conspiracy made against him by his own servants who struck him down in the house of Melo.

Again 2 Chronicles offers us an additional detail about the motivation of these assassins. Here's what we read in 2 Chronicles 24 verse 25 when they the Syrians had departed from him leaving him severely wounded his servants

2 Chronicles 24:25

conspired against him 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.

it's ironic isn't it that it's come to this that Jehoiada the priest he dies he gets buried in the tombs of the kings like a king and yet when Joash dies

the actual king he's not but that's because our actual king while he may have started out well it was not in the end a good finish you know when we weave in

this material 2 Kings 2 Chronicles what we get is a much richer broader if not more disturbing and disappointing picture of the life of Joash and his reign you know it's even interesting and you see this frequently throughout Kings

and Chronicles where the one narrator refers to the other book and says if you want to know more about this particular king you know it says that here in verse 21 or 19 I think it is if you want to know more about this king Joash go over to Chronicles it's almost like a nod to readers like us there's more to the story

and as we get this full portrait on Josiah's life and leadership as we put it together from these two accounts we can see it's actually pretty dark if you're making charts and doing good kings and bad kings he kind of falls more along the lines of the bad kings

and yet he started out so hopeful didn't he so promising in fact the bulk of our chapter in 2nd Kings 12 is all about this construction project about this good work that happens but by

the end it's about apostasy betrayal murder assassination and all of it leading to an ignoble burial so if we were to ask ourselves what's the big theme here I would tell you it's about the work that is what the narrator

of kings wants us to focus on the good spiritual work and it is spiritual although it's construction done by a leader and I think the main message for us is that any good spiritual work that we do in our lives it must be pursued as they say

from start to finish in fact as the saying goes how we finish is more important than how we start and I think that we may have some application for our lives I think we may have some lessons so in the time that remains I'd like to offer you three

three lessons that people like us like you and I can often underestimate very easily and they are lessons that we should not underestimate and our first one is this lesson number one is to never underestimate the value of good

mentors never underestimate the value of good mentors you know I almost hesitate to use that word mentors because in our day that can just take on all kinds of technical meanings and I don't want it to when I say mentor I am not thinking

of anything too formal I mean mentor as in good counselor good influence on your life good example for you to learn from good mentors of course in our passage this morning all eyes are on the priest Jehoiada

right after all who was it who saved and raised this boy king him and his wife Jehoiada who cared for him and guided him as a teen and then as a young adult Jehoiada and then after Jehoiada

is gone who's our king turn and listen to those princes of Judah who somehow convince him it's a great idea to murder his own cousin and go back to essentially Baal worship listen the value of good mentors

should not be underestimated ! a lot of good can be done when you and I are mentored and led well and a lot of bad can happen when we're not so let me ask you who are you taking on as mentors in your life

who and what are you allowing to mentor you and guide you and influence you and lead you if it's a person start out by making sure it's a believer with a strong biblical worldview with

a godly life someone maybe with some wisdom of course sometimes it's a person that we do know up close and personal and can walk with and talk with and sometimes it's mentors from afar and these are very important too

I'm talking about those we read we read their articles and their books we read their posts those we listen to we listen to their podcasts perhaps or watch their shows or their channels are you going to listen to the latest

instagrammer and youtuber some of you are like I don't know what those are that's okay you're better for it are you going to listen to the latest youtuber or if you're a person that watches tv talk shows I mean they're full of advice and mentorship are you going to listen to the latest tv talk show or a personality

or celebrity or are you going to consult more helpful resources !

your parents why not seek and surround yourself with good mentors good friends good and wise counselors and better yet since you're here today why not be one for someone else you don't have to have everything

all figured out never underestimate the value of good mentors take it from Joash that's the first lesson here's the second one number two number two never underestimate the impact of decisive action when it's taken by the rightly

empowered people that's a bit of a mouthful never underestimate decisive action when it is taken by the rightly empowered people now to his credit today the bulk of our chapter does focus on a time in

Joash's life when he stood up and recognized several things rightly he recognized that a an important task needs done this temple is not looking so good b he recognized it's not getting done and c he recognized that a different approach was needed with

different people and so he takes decisive action doesn't he you see sometimes it's good to remember that just taking action jumping into action for action sake or trying to get something done in the same old ways with maybe the same old people involved who

aren't getting it done Joash has the wisdom to know that a different approach is going to be needed and so he empowers people he empowers the right people and so yeah the priest Jehoiada is still involved it's not like he

took the old priest and sat him down and said time out for you you're bad you're not doing it right he used Jehoiada still very much involved but he also brought in the royal secretary didn't he and the collection process gets a major tweak and the foremen are directly paid the funds who are in

turn paying the workmen immediately and call me crazy because the work of the church today is certainly more than about our facilities and caring for them but there is a good lesson here because sometimes the more practical works of ministry we do

can benefit from an approach that we see modeled right here by Joash yes there's a time for planning and waiting and gathering resources and then more planning and then tweaking the plans and then casting more vision and planning but sometimes it's a time

for action and decisive action and you know what God has gifted our church all of our churches with both types of people we have good planners and thinkers and analyzers and then we have doers and we need both in the body of Christ

and it's wisdom in the body of Christ when the right people are empowered with the right plan at the right time who have the right gifting and the right wiring for a particular task of ministry and who are completely trustworthy you can count on them they're honest

people and you know what else we see here in our renovation story today we see that the decisive action as it starts to happen as there are construction sounds to be heard at the site of the temple all of a sudden strangely enough a lot more money starts coming in

that chest is filled so that when you started out and said now this fundraising is only to repair the temple we aren't going to have enough for the utensils we got to get the building in shape by the time it's all over the people have responded so well that again 2nd chronicles

24 14 says with the leftover money that they had leftover money they were able to make all the utensils never underestimate the impact of decisive action when it's taken by the rightly empowered people that's a second lesson and I've saved the third one

for last because I think it's the most important one lesson number three you can probably predict it never underestimate the critical importance of finishing well the critical importance of finishing well

you know what the great irony of this chapter is the great irony is that the temple work starts off poorly but it finishes well and yet for our king it's the other way around his

leadership starts off so well but he finishes quite poorly what a sad irony that some of the temple resources that have been gathered for this restoration process resources that the people have sacrificed and coughed

up and given are collected and used by the king to pay off an enemy to bribe Hazael and what sadder even more tragic irony that the son of the guy who loved you whose parents rescued you

raised you poured into you you make him a victim of stoning in your warped sense of justice no Joash did not finish well and we should never underestimate the importance of finishing well

I want you to consider some counsel from the book of Proverbs let me offer you Proverbs 4 verses 25 to 27 listen to this let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you ponder the path of your

Proverbs 4:25–27

feet then all your ways will be sure do not swerve to the right or to the left turn your foot away from evil listen I don't know how it started for you in life some of you have been very blessed with great

families and great upbringing and you have started well and praise God for that others of us maybe haven't started off so well you say you know you don't know where I've been I haven't told you my story you don't know what I've come from and I'm kind of ashamed there have been some hiccups in my life I've made mistakes

you know some big ones there have been some detours I don't know about all that but what I do know is however you've come to where you are whatever you've done in the past honestly however you're doing right now hear this you can still finish well

you can commit to finishing well and I would urge you to do that finish well so that you can say with the psalmist what he says in Psalm 119 verse 33 where he says teach me

Psalms 119:33

oh Lord the way of your statutes and I will keep it to the end finish well so that you can say with the apostle Paul in the new testament 2nd timothy 4 verse 7 I have fought the good fight I have finished

the race I have kept the faith three lessons from joash's life today all about things that we should never underestimate number one never underestimate the value of good mentors number two never

underestimate the impact of decisive action when it's taken by the rightly empowered people and three never underestimate the critical importance of finishing well to God's glory in the way

to at the much Modern into the mark in the world and to and to the government new and to Modern occurred in the home and to the world that will do Modern