The
People Still Sacrificed
In
the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of
Beersheba. Jehoash did what was right in
the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada
the priest instructed him. But the high
places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on
the high places.
And
Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are
brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s census money, each man’s
assessment money—and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring
into the house of the Lord, let the priests take it themselves, each from his
constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any
dilapidation is found.”
Now
it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not
repaired the damages of the temple. So
King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other
priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the
temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but
deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.” And the priests agreed that they would
neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the
temple.
Then
Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its
lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house
of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought
into the house of the Lord. So it was,
whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s
scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money
that was found in the house of the Lord.
Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of
those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and
they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the
Lord, and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying
timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for
all that was paid out to repair the temple.
However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver,
trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of
silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord. But they gave that to the workmen, and they
repaired the house of the Lord with it. Moreover
they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the
money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.
2 Kings 12:1-15
The
mixed legacy of a king who enjoyed a season of fruitfulness only while under
the counsel of a godly priest should make us stop and think. What will our
legacies be? Will we continue to grow and develop our faith throughout our
lives, producing good fruit? Or will we become distracted by the things of this
world and turn to modern-day idols – such as comfort, materialism, and
self-promotion?
Living well and doing right require perseverance and
spiritual direction.
Our
Daily Bread – April 30, 2016