They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate. Sermons
I. THE COMMISSIONERS. 1. Their names. Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the king's secretary (ver. 15); Maaseiah the governor of the city; and Josh the son of Joahaz, the recorder or chronicler. 2. Their business. To repair the house of the Lord. This had been done two centuries before by Joash (2 Chronicles 24:12), and nearly one century before by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:12-19). During the reigns of Manasseh and Amon it had fallen into such disorder that it a third time demanded renovation. In this respect the temple was a melancholy symbol of all human institutions - not excepting such as are religious - which constantly exhibit a tendency as they grow old to become degenerate, and, as a consequence stand in need of periodic reformation and rejuvenescence. 3. Their procedure. Along with Hilkiah the priest - as Joash had acted in concert with Jehoiada, and the king's scribe had co-operated with the high priest's officer (2 Chronicles 24:11, 12) - they received the money which the Levites that kept the temple doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and from the inhabitants of all Judah and Benjamin, who, following the plan in vogue since the days of Joash and Jehoiada, cast in their free-will offerings into a box placed in the temple court for the purpose of receiving the voluntary contributions of the faithful towards the good end the king had in view, the repairing of the temple. Having received this money, the three commissioners, along with the high priest, paid it over to the superintendents who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. II. THE OVERSEERS. 1. Their names. (1) Jahath and Obadiah, two Levites of the family of Merari; (2) Zechariah and Meshullam, two Levites of the house of Kohath: and (3) others unnamed, but specified as "Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music" (ver. 12). 2. Their duties. (1) To exercise supervision over the workmen, over the bearers of burdens, and all that wrought in any manner of service (ver. 13), over the carpenters, builders, and other artisans engaged in the undertaking (ver. 11). (2) To set forward the work (ver. 12), or "to preside over it" (margin). (3) Perhaps also to do both, i.e. incite and cheer the workmen, and so prosper the work, by music and song (Bertheau). "Orpheus and Amphion, by their music, moved the workmen to diligence and activity, and lessened and alleviated their toil. May we not suppose, then, that skilful musicians among the Levites did exercise their art among the workmen who were employed in the repairs of the house of the Lord? "(Adam Clarke). (4) To distribute the moneys received from the commissioners to the different tradesmen that these might procure the necessary materials for the building (vers. 10, 11). III. THE ARTISANS. 1. Carpenters, or workers in wood, whose business was to prepare timber for couplings and to make beams for the houses, i.e. for the temple and its courts, which the kings of Judah had permitted to fall into decay. 2. Masons, or workers in stone; not to hew, since the stones were already hewn when purchased, but to build - in this perhaps designedly following the example given in the building of the temple (1 Kings 6:7). IV. THE ASSISTANTS. 1. Scribes, who kept a record of the progress of, as well as the necessary accounts connected with, the work. 2. Officers, who served in different capacities under superiors. 3. Porters, who watched at the several gates of the temple while the work was going on. LESSONS. 1. The beauty of order, 2. The efficiency secured by division of labour. 3. The value of co-operation. - W.
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. Monday Club Sermons. I. THE POSSIBILITY OF YOUTHFUL RESPONSIBILITY. Other children besides Josiah have been called to the cares of a kingdom. Manasseh commenced to reign at twelve, Joash was seven, Uzziah sixteen; Henry III and Edward VI of England were both nine; four of the Scottish kings, James II, III, IV, and V, ascended the throne when children. Of the French kings, Louis I. began to reign at sixteen, Louis IX at eleven, Louis XIII at nine, Charles VI at eleven, Charles IX at ten; Louis XIV, inheriting the kingdom at five, assumed full control by his own force of character at thirteen. Charles I of Spain, better known as Charles V of Germany, became king at sixteen; Charles II at fourteen, seizing the kingdom from an ill-governing regency which had existed since his fourth year.II. EARLY PIETY IS POSSIBLE AND DESIRABLE. When does the period of moral accountability begin? We cannot fix it definitely. But this much is certain: whenever the child can intelligently choose this or that because it is right or wrong, then has moral accountability commenced, and the child can be a Christian. III. THE INFLUENCE OF GOOD ADVISERS. Josiah was but a boy, and yet around him were spiritual Titans — Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah. IV. THE ENERGY OF YOUTHFUL PIETY. V. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SURROUNDING ATMOSPHERE ON PIETY. We must be watchful against irreligious influences. (Monday Club Sermons.) (W. M. Taylor, D.D.) (T. Hughes.) I was admitted into the Church at the early age of eight. I don't remember that I experienced at the time any extraordinary work of God on my soul. I loved Christ, and felt a strong desire to be identified with His people. When I mentioned the fact to some of the deacons some of them looked askance, and expressed grave doubts as to the propriety of allowing one so young to sit at the Lord's table. Among them, however, there were wiser men. Their counsels prevailed, and after some months of probation I was admitted. From that day until now I have never ceased to thank God that I was induced to take the important step at the time I did. Had I not done so I doubt whether I should have been a missionary — if a member of the Christian Church at all.(Griffith Johns.) As the sensitive plate in the photographic camera, when the person who sits for a likeness is placed in a powerful light, takes an impression of him in which every line upon the countenance and every furrow upon the brow are exaggerated, so that the artist has to touch the negative in order to do him simple justice, so, when a man sits in the fierce glare of public light, his failings are so prominently recorded, and his defects so clearly brought out, that it is necessary for us in fairness to touch the negative with the pencil of charity, and thus soften down the defects. Remembering this, this description of Josiah fills us with wonder. Consider —I. HIS DISADVANTAGES. 1. His extreme youth. 2. The degeneracy of the times. He ascended the throne in a dark age. 3. He was the son of a bad father. II. WHAT IS THE EXPLANATION OF HIS PIETY? It may have been largely due to the quiet but all-powerful influence of a good mother. But there are wonders of grace often wrought in the lives of the children of wicked men which you cannot explain. III. THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS PIETY. He "walked in the ways of David his father." Four hundred years separated Josiah from David. Thank God, there are seasons, even in degenerate times, when the old purity of things is restored, when the grand old faith is received and lived over again, and when the heroism of those who are gone comes back like a new inspiration to young lives. "Ah! he is an old-fashioned young man: he lives behind the age; he ought to have been living in the time of David, for he has quite adopted his ancient ways," exclaimed some young men of the period. All the conceited striplings of the day would join in the chorus, "Poor Josiah, he does not move with the age. He is an eccentric young fellow, very puritanic in his notions, and sings psalms as if he lived in the days of old King David." My young friends, a true man likes to be old-fashioned sometimes. It is noble to move with the age when the age is going forward; but it is grand to remain with the past when the age in which we live retrogrades from ancient purity and ancient faith. When there is no spiritual vigour or moral fibre in our day, it is well to stick to the old days when there were strength and fibre in religion and morals. Do not be afraid of the charge of being old-fashioned. It is cheaply made, and is often meaningless, save as it is the highest possible compliment. Be in the company of the world's best and noblest men: never mind whether they live to-day, or whether they lived eighteen hundred years ago, or even more. (D. Davies.) People Abdon, Ahikam, Asaiah, Azaliah, Benjamin, David, Hasrah, Hilkiah, Huldah, Israelites, Jahath, Joah, Joahaz, Job, Josiah, Kohath, Kohathites, Levites, Maaseiah, Manasseh, Merari, Meshullam, Micah, Naphtali, Obadiah, Shallum, Shaphan, Simeon, Tikvath, ZechariahPlaces Jerusalem, Second QuarterTopics Allowed, Beams, Builders, Buildings, Buy, Carpenters, Couplings, Cut, Dressed, Fall, Houses, Joists, Judah, Kings, Purchase, Ruin, Stone, TimberOutline 1. Josiah's good reign3. He destroys idolatry 8. He takes order for the repair of the temple 14. Hilkiah, having found a book of the law, 21. Josiah sends to Huldah to enquire of the Lord 23. Huldah prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem, but respite thereof in Josiah's time 29. Josiah, causing it to be read in a solemn assembly, renews the covenant with God Dictionary of Bible Themes 2 Chronicles 34:11 4366 stones 5415 money, uses of Library Josiah'Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Josiah and the Newly Found Law The History Books Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant. Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above. 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