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I. THE CONTEMPLATED WORK.

1. The reparation of the house of the Lord.

(1) What this signified. The reconstruction, not of the whole but of such parts of the temple walls and edifices as had been overturned and destroyed. A project both becoming and right - becoming that Jehovah's house should be restored to its pristine completeness and beauty (1 Chronicles 22:3); right, inasmuch as on Judah had been devolved the duty of protecting and preserving it (2 Chronicles 7:16-22). In the same way is it proper for, and incumbent on, believers to have regard to the strength and beauty, symmetry and adornment, not merely of the material edifices, but also and chiefly of the spiritual temples of the Christian Church.

(2) Why this was needed. On account, not of the ravages of time upon its massive masonry, but of the demolition it had suffered at the hands of Athaliah (and Jehoram) in order to construct the temple of Baal, whose walls and pillars, altars and images, had just been broken in pieces by the revolutionaries of Judah (2 Chronicles 23:17). So by false systems of religion, as well as by systems of no religion, have breaches sometimes been made in the Christian Church - adherents seduced from the faith, doctrines obscured, perverted, or rendered inoperative - which demand the utmost efforts of Christians to repair, even after the false systems, like Baal's temple, have been shattered to pieces.

(3) By whom this was projected. By Joash, who, even if not impelled by higher motives, certainly had reason to remember the house in which his infant years had been sheltered, and himself when a boy had received his crown. If Joash moved in this matter of his own accord, the fact spoke well for his goodness; if even he required to be urged to it by Jehoiada - which is not stated - the fact that he listened to the priest attested the reverence he possessed for Jehovah's servant. The pity was that neither his goodness nor his reverence were deeply rooted or permanent.

(4) When this was moved. "After this," an indefinite note of time which might mean either after the revolution or after Joash's marriages. If the former, which is doubtful, the king evinced praiseworthy alacrity - if his business demanded haste (ver. 5), much more did God's (2 Chronicles 15:15; 2 Chronicles 31:21; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Romans 12:11); if the latter, his dilatoriness was not without blame (Matthew 6:33).

2. The replacement of the dedicated things which had been bestowed upon the Baalim (ver. 7). Not the dedicated things Solomon had brought into the temple (2 Chronicles 5:1); the spoil, in articles of gold and silver, David had taken from his enemies (1 Kings 7:51), since these had been pillaged and carried off by Shishak (2 Chronicles 12:9); probably the silver, gold, and vessels dedicated by Abijah, Asa (2 Chronicles 15:18), and Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 12:18); the spoil taken by the first from Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:16), by the second from the Cushites (2 Chronicles 14:12), and by the third from the Ammonites (2 Chronicles 21:25).

II. WAYS AND MEANS. Two plans for obtaining the money requisite for the undertaking.

1. The plan that failed.

(1) What it was. That the priests and Levites should in all the cities of Judah raise a contribution to repair the house of God (ver. 5); that the amount levied from each man should be "the tax of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony" (ver. 6); and that this should be done annually (ver. 5). In 2 Kings (2 Kings 12:4) the money is defined as of three sorts (Keil):

(a) The "money of the numbered," or, "of every one that passeth the numbering," i.e. the poll tax of half a shekel required of every Israelite as a ransom for his soul (Exodus 30:12-16);

(b) the "money of the persons for whom each man is rated," i.e. the sums arising from the redemption of devoted persons (Leviticus 27:1-8); and

(c) "the money that it cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the Lord," i.e. the free-will offerings of the people. According to another interpretation (Bahr), only the two last sorts were intended, and the phrase, "money of the numbered," should be rendered "in current money" (Revised Version) - the reason for this instruction that the contributions should be in current money being, it is said, that the money "was to be paid out at once to mechanics for their labour" (Thenius).

(2) Why it failed. Not because the priests embezzled the money (J. D. Michaelis, De Wette), which is not stated, and should not be suggested (Psalm 140:3; Titus 3:2), but probably because of

(a) their dilatoriness in setting about the work entrusted to them - that the work should have been entrusted to them was the first mistake in the proposed plan;

(b) the difficulty they had in gathering in the money, which from the manner of its levying had the appearance of a compulsory payment - this the second mistake in the proposed plan; and

(c) the too lavish expenditure demanded by their own personal necessities (a legitimate charge upon the collected funds), leaving too small a balance for the work of temple-repairing - that the priests should have been left to distribute the taxes and offerings of the people between their own needs and the public requirements was the third mistake in the proposed plan.

"If self the wavering balance shake,
It's rarely right adjusted."

(Burns.) The result was that in the three and twentieth year of Joash - the year of a new reign in Israel (2 Kings 13:1) - the priests had done little or nothing in the way of repairing the breaches of the temple (2 Kings 12:6).

2. The plan that succeeded.

(1) The details of the new plan. According to 2 Kings, the work of collecting money for themselves, the temple worship, and the repair of the building was no more to be entrusted to their hands, neither were these three items of expense to be in future defrayed out of a common fund; but the trespass-money and sin-money should be assigned to the priests for the first two of these purposes, as the Law of Moses prescribed (Leviticus 5:16; Numbers 5:8), while the taxes and the free-will offerings should be devoted to the third (2 Kings 12:7-16). According to the Chronicler, whose statements are supported by those of the Book of Kings, by Joash's command a chest or collection-box of wood was made with a hole bored in its lid, and placed "without at the gate of the house of the Lord," i.e. in the outer court "beside the altar as one cometh into the house of the Lord" (2 Kings 12:9). Next a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that the people should themselves, of their own free will and pleasure, bring in the temple rates prescribed by the Law, and the free-will offerings to which they were impelled by their own hearts, and deposit these, unseen by any eye but Jehovah's, into the box. Again, it was arranged that, as often as the chest or box was full, it should be conveyed by the hands of the Levites into the king's office, where the money should be emptied out by or before the king's secretary and the high priest's assistant, who should put it into bags, weigh it and hand it over to them "that did the service of the house of the Lord," after which the chest should be carried back again to its place at the temple gate.

(2) The recommendations of the new plan. It avoided the mistakes of the first scheme. It put the work into the hands of a board of oversight better fitted to command the confidence of the community. It avoided the irritating weapon of compulsion, and relied upon the free will of the people, even with regard to the levying of taxes. It simplified the financial arrangements by keeping the money given for the temple separate from that paid to the priests.

(3) The success of the new plan. The people entered into it as their forefathers had done when invited to contribute towards the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 35:21, etc.), universally - "all the princes and all the people cast into the chest;" cheerfully, with no sense of constraint or compulsion upon them - "they rejoiced;" liberally - money was "gathered in abundance;" unweariedly - not once or twice merely, but regularly and constantly they went on with their collecting "until they had made an end," i.e. of the enterprise they had in hand, the repairing of the temple. N.B. - The above principles should regulate Christian giving, which should be universal - "every one of you" (1 Corinthians 16:2); cheerful - "God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7); liberal - "see that ye abound in this grace [of liberality] also" (2 Corinthians 8:7); constant - "to do good and to communicate forget not" (Hebrews 13:16).

III. THE WORK EXECUTED. From the money thus collected:

1. The cost of materials was defrayed. "Timber and hewn stone," at least, had to be bought (2 Kings 12:12).

2. The wages of workmen were paid. Masons, carpenters, and workers in iron and brass were hired.

3. The necessary vessels were constructed. The surplus money, after meeting the above charges, was devoted to the manufacture of gold and silver utensils for the temple service. "So the workmen wrought," etc. (ver. 13). Learn:

1. The duty of Christian giving, which may be inferred, a fortiori, from this example of the Hebrew Church.

2. The superiority of the voluntary over the compulsory system of raising money for religious purposes, even should the latter be. deemed permissible.

3. The propriety of financial boards, especially those connected with the Church, being above suspicion.

4. The wisdom of aiming at simplicity in schemes for receiving the contributions of the faithful.

5. The advantage of adopting such measures as shall place Church-treasurers beyond the reach of temptation. - W.

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KJV: And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD.

WEB: It happened after this, that Joash was minded to restore the house of Yahweh.