Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 12

Introduction

Second Kings Chapter 12

2 Kings 12:1 "In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Zibiah of Beer-sheba."

In the last chapter, we saw the crowning of the 7 year old son of Ahaziah as king. He had been hidden away from the time he was a baby, until he was 7. The wicked queen Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, had ruled from her son’s death, after she had all of his descendents killed. Only Jehoash survived. Jehu had killed all the descendents of Ahab and Jezebel in Israel, and had destroyed the worship of Baal. In his 7th year to reign over the ten tribes of Israel, Jehoash {Joash} began to reign in Judah. The reign of Joash was to last 40 years. At first, he was a God fearing king.

2 Kings 12:2 "And Jehoash did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him."

Now, we see why he did right in the sight of the LORD. He had lived 7 of his formative years in the temple with Jehoiada, the high priest. It seems, the high priest continued to guide him, after he became king, and until, the death of the high priest.

2 Kings 12:3 "But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places."

The LORD was worshipped in the high places, instead of false gods, so it was not as bad as the worship of Baal and the other false gods. God did want them to worship in the temple in Jerusalem, but from time to time that had been impossible. They had gotten into the habit of worshipping in the high places, and it was hard to break the habit.

2 Kings 12:4 "And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of the LORD, [even] the money of every one that passeth [the account], the money that every man is set at, [and] all the money that cometh into any man’s heart to bring into the house of the LORD,"

2 Kings 12:5 "Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found."

During the reign of the wicked Queen Athaliah, the breaches had been made, and they had never been repaired. The priests seemed not to have taken the initiative in re-building, and Joash thought this should be done. Even though the priests had great influence over him, they still did not have control of him. He was not like a puppet on a string. He had ideas of his own, and he wanted them carried out. The money that came into the house of the LORD was to be used for many purposes at the temple, one of which was the support of the priests. They were keeping all the money, and not repairing the breaches.

2 Kings 12:6 "But it was [so, that] in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house."

They seemed to be using the money for everything else, except fixing the breaches in the wall. After he had reigned 23 years, they still had not made the repairs he had told them to. This upset Jehoash.

2 Kings 12:7 "Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the [other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no [more] money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house."

It appeared, that plenty of money had come in for the project, but they had just never begun repairing the breaches of the house. Somehow, something had to change to get this project under way. Instead of the money being distributed out from now on, it would be collected and turned over for repairs.

2 Kings 12:8 "And the priests consented to receive no [more] money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house."

I do not see a reprimand of the priests by the king. It appears, that he talked to them, and they agreed that the money taken in must, first, go to fixing the breaches in the house.

2 Kings 12:9 "But 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 cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money [that was] brought into the house of the LORD."

Now, we see a positive thing done by the high priest. He prepared a chest for their offerings. The chest was near the altar. I would believe it to be near the brazen altar, since it was near the entrance to the house of the LORD. They would hand their tithes and offerings to the priests on duty, and they would put it in the chest.

2 Kings 12:10 "And it was [so], when they saw that [there was] much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the LORD."

The high priest {Jehoiada} and the king’s scribe counted the money together, and made a record of it, so everyone would be pleased.

2 Kings 12:11 "And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, that wrought upon the house of the LORD,"

As soon as there was quite a bit of money in the chest, and they had counted it and recorded it, they hired carpenters and other builders to go to work on the breaches in the wall.

2 Kings 12:12 "And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair [it]."

It seemed to take all of the money they could collect for all of the laborers, and the materials used for building.

2 Kings 12:13 "Howbeit there were not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money [that was] brought into the house of the LORD:"

In the time of Solomon, all of these things had been in the temple. In fact, there was so much gold used, that even the inside walls were covered with gold. The temple had been robbed since then. Rehoboam had used many of these things to buy off a neighboring king. Some of the evil kings, and the evil queen, had not helped keep the temple up. It seemed, that funds were short now, and no funds had been set aside to buy these things for use in the temple. The most urgent thing, at the moment, was to repair the breaches in the wall.

2 Kings 12:14 "But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith the house of the LORD."

The offerings they took in were just enough to pay the workmen.

2 Kings 12:15 "Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully."

There was not any treachery going on pertaining to the money. It was being properly distributed among the workers. The high priest was assured they were dealing fairly.

2 Kings 12:16 "The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the LORD: it was the priests’."

The trespass and the sin money was the living of the priests’. They had no other income, only the money deposited in the chest was being used for the repairs.

2 Kings 12:17 "Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem."

It appears, that the Scripture, above, is a break away from verse 16. It happens much later. It appears, that after the breach was fixed, the priests set about putting the vessels in the temple back as they had been. 2 Chronicles 24:14 "And when they had finished [it], they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, [even] vessels to minister, and to offer [withal], and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada." The high priest Jehoiada died before the happening in verse 17 above. 2 Chronicles 24:15 "But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died." Hazael was the wicked king of Syria. He would take anyone he could.

2 Kings 12:18 "And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold [that was] found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king’s house, and sent [it] to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem."

Fear can cause a person to do terrible things. Jehoash does not have Jehoiada to ask about these things, and makes a bad mistake. The things in the temple belong to God, not to Jehoash. He takes the hallowed things in the temple, and buys off the king of Syria. It appears, there had been a battle, where many lives had been lost. Jehoash not only gave away the treasures of the temple, but of his own palace, as well.

2 Kings 12:19 "And 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?"

The record book that is mentioned so many times before, is mentioned, again, as where the rest of his exploits are recorded.

2 Kings 12:20 "And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla."

Joash had been a good king in the beginning. It seemed, as long as he had Jehoiada to guide him, he did just fine. He had become evil after the death of Jehoiada. Millo was a fortress, he went to for safety. His own commanders killed him.

2 Kings 12:21 "For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead."

He was buried in the city of David, not necessarily in the same tomb area. We will find, in a later lesson, that Amaziah actually becomes king, when he kills his dad’s murderers. "Amaziah" means whom Jehovah strengthens. We are not told exactly why they killed Joash, only that they did. Probably, it was to seize power, since he was a very sick man. He reigned 40 years, and was 47 when he died. Before we begin the questions, we must realize, again, that Joash and Jehoash is the same person.

2 Kings 12 Questions

1. When did Jehoash begin to reign?

2. How many years did he reign?

3. Where did he reign?

4. Jehoash did that which was _________ in the sight of the LORD.

5. How long did he do that?

6. What was one thing that still went on in worship, which did not please God?

7. Why did they do that, with the temple available?

8. What did Jehoash say to do with the money offerings?

9. Who had made the breaches in the walls?

10. Who had great influence over Joash?

11. How long had Joash been reigning, and the breaches were still not repaired?

12. What question did Jehoash ask them about the breaches?

13. What did the priests consent to do about the money?

14. What did Jehoiada do, to keep the money for the building project?

15. Who counted and recorded the money?

16. Who was the money given to?

17. Why were there no vessels made for service in the temple?

18. Why did they not question the use of the money?

19. Who did the trespass money and the sin money belong to?

20. Who fought against Gath, and took it?

21. Where did he turn to next?

22. How did Joash keep him away from Jerusalem?

23. What had caused Joash to do this?

24. Who killed Joash?

25. Who reigned in his stead?

26. How old was Joash, when he died?

Verse 1

2Ki 12:1