**The Faithful Stewardship of King Joash**
In the days when Judah was still a kingdom under the rule of the house of David, there reigned a young king named Joash. He was but seven years old when he ascended to the throne, having been rescued from the wickedness of his grandmother Athaliah, who had sought to destroy all the royal heirs. Hidden in the house of the Lord for six years by his aunt Jehosheba and the high priest Jehoiada, Joash grew up under the protection of the priests and the guidance of the Lord. When he was crowned, the people rejoiced, for the line of David was preserved, and the covenant promises of God remained unbroken.
Joash reigned in Jerusalem for forty years, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days that Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Yet, despite his early devotion, the high places were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Nevertheless, Joash’s heart was set on restoring the house of the Lord, which had fallen into disrepair during the years of neglect and idolatry.
One day, as the king sat in his palace, he called for Jehoiada the priest and said, “Gather the priests and the Levites, and let them go out into the cities of Judah to collect the money that is due from all Israel for the repair of the house of the Lord. Let them do this year by year, and let them hasten the work so that the house of the Lord may be restored.”
Jehoiada obeyed the king’s command and instructed the priests and Levites to go throughout the land, collecting the sacred tax that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. This tax was to be used for the upkeep of the tent of meeting and, later, the temple in Jerusalem. The people responded with generosity, bringing their offerings to the priests, who placed them in a chest at the entrance of the temple.
But as the years passed, Joash noticed that the repairs to the temple were not progressing as quickly as he had hoped. The priests and Levites, though diligent in collecting the money, had not used it to restore the house of the Lord. Instead, they had used it for their own needs, leaving the temple in a state of disrepair. The walls were cracked, the roof leaked, and the sacred vessels were tarnished and broken.
Frustrated and determined to see the work completed, Joash summoned Jehoiada and the priests and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the house of the Lord? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for the repair of the temple.” The priests agreed, and they no longer collected money from the people or repaired the house themselves.
Instead, Jehoiada took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. The priests who guarded the threshold put into the chest all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. Whenever the chest was full, the king’s secretary and the high priest would come, count the money, and tie it up in bags. They would then give the money to the workmen who were overseeing the repairs to the house of the Lord.
The workmen were faithful and honest, and they used the money to pay the carpenters, builders, masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone for the repair of the house of the Lord. The work progressed steadily, and the temple was restored to its former glory. The walls were rebuilt, the roof was repaired, and the sacred vessels were replaced with new ones made of gold and silver.
Yet, despite the restoration of the temple, the money that was brought as guilt offerings and sin offerings was not used for the repair of the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests, as the law of Moses had commanded. The people continued to bring their offerings, and the priests continued to receive their portion, but the focus of Joash’s reign was the restoration of the temple.
As the years went by, Joash grew in wisdom and stature, and the people of Judah prospered under his rule. The temple became a place of worship and sacrifice once again, and the people came from all over the land to offer their gifts to the Lord. The priests and Levites served faithfully, and the kingdom was at peace.
But in the latter years of his reign, Joash’s heart began to turn away from the Lord. After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to their counsel. They led him astray, and he abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of his fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. Wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this guilt.
The Lord sent prophets to bring them back to Himself, but they would not listen. 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 command of the king, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”
In the spring of the following year, the army of the Arameans came up against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Though the Arameans came with a small army, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Joash was severely wounded in the battle, and when the Arameans withdrew, they left him in great suffering. His servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
Thus ended the reign of Joash, a king who began in faithfulness but ended in tragedy. His story serves as a reminder of the importance of steadfast devotion to the Lord and the consequences of turning away from His commandments. Though the temple was restored, the heart of the king was not, and the legacy of his reign was marred by his unfaithfulness in the end. Yet, even in his failure, the faithfulness of God remained, for He preserved the line of David and continued to work His purposes through the generations that followed.
