The Importance of Spiritual Influences
2 Kings
12:2 really does my heart good. “Jehoash
did what was right in the eyes of the Lord because Jehoida the priest
instructed him.” I honestly can’t think
of a better epitaph for a man of God.
This just
goes to show us how important it is to have a mentoring relationship with
someone who can instruct you in being a disciple. Having someone to talk to, to bounce ideas
off, to correct your thinking when it is going astray, to teach you in things
that you need to learn, and to have someone to push you further into growth –
all of these things are very important.
Thanks be to God that He provided for Jehoash when he was in need of a
strong mentor. And thanks be to God that
Jehoash was so willing to listen!
Lack of Repair
Of course,
we see here that the priests – Jehoida included – are certainly not
perfect. Jehoash makes a plan for the
repair of the temple, but the plan doesn’t produce any results. Let’s take a look at this part of the
story. I have two thoughts with respect
to this, and I think in the end they lead us to the same place.
The story
initially reads as though the priests are unwilling to part with the offerings
for the repair of the temple. Thus,
Jehoida the priest took a chest and made it very clear that the money in the
chest was to go directly to the workforce to repair the temple. It is indeed quite possible that this shows
stubbornness among the priests. After
all, under Ahaziah and Athaliah the practice of worshipping Ba’al grew and the
practice of worshiping the Lord waned.
The priests of the Lord surely had some lean years; it would only be
human nature that they would horde and enjoy the surplus while they had
it. It’s not right, but it sure sounds
like human nature to me!
However,
it is also possible that there is a second way to understand this passage. Jehoash’s first plan was to ask for
donations. It could be that the
donations just didn’t come in above what the priests needed to live. It could be that the repairs weren’t done
because while there was some money coming in, there actually wasn’t a surplus
until after the chest was put out and rather than taking donations there was an
expected contribution to the chest.
In the
end, though, we arrive at the same point.
For one reason or another, the repairs weren’t being done. When those who are called to do ministry care
more about their money and lifestyle than they care about serving God – nothing
spiritual happens. When the focus of the
church becomes filling up the coffers, we lose sight of glorifying God and
doing His ministry. Yes, priests and
pastors need to be able to live. But
they do not need to become fat off of the work God has set before them, either.
Repairs Accomplished
Also
notice that the work gets done when the people who can accomplish the work are
allowed to do it. When Jehoash had instructed
the priests to see that the work gets done, it hadn’t gotten done. But when Jehoash saw to it that the workers
got the means to accomplish the work, the task was finished in good order.
I think
church administration can really take a lesson from this. How often have we seen a good idea get sent
to a committee and it fizzles, sputters, and eventually dies because it is
forgotten? Yet if the few people who had
the idea were simply given permission to accomplish the task the task would no
doubt have gotten done in short order! I
think we need to have leadership in the church, but often I think we over-administrate
and our committees stifle the Holy Spirit and what tasks God has indeed sent
our way.
Conspiracy to End It All
As we move
to the end of this chapter, we hear that Jehoash (Joash) had a fairly long
reign but was ultimately overcome by a conspiracy. How sad it is when God takes the time to
bring in a righteous leader yet the people underneath the leader continue in
their sinful ways? God had developed a
great leader in Jehoash and Jehoida. He
had brought great reform through Jehoash and Jehoida. But people are slow to change and easy to
corrupt. People scheme behind the back
of Jehoash and he is killed out of a conspiracy. Those who do God’s work are never free from
the effects of sin even in the midst of true spiritual reform. In the end, Jehoash was a great leader for
Judah. But is is still the victim of
religious or political corruption stemming from a human desire to have our own
way.
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