And the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without,
Joash's temple repairs had stalled: the money he ordered collected never came in, and the wrecked house of God stayed wrecked. So the king changed the method. A chest at the gate replaced the collectors sent out to the towns.
One writer traces the stall to what happens in people when money is required of them:
He gathered the priests and Levites. He ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from the people to pay for the repairs. He told them to do this quickly. However, this was not done quickly. Perhaps they had no heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
Another writer points to a second drain on the work, and to how long it dragged on:
What little was given seems to have been misused to support the priests and Levites. This neglect continued until the twenty-third year of Joash.
The order came from Joash, and it came out of what he had been taught. He was ready to press even the high priest — his uncle, who had saved his life as a baby — to do his duty:
He stayed true to what he had learned in the word of God. So he did not hesitate to correct even the high priest, if the high priest was slow to carry it out. That Word is above all. He owed his uncle a lasting debt of gratitude for saving his life as a baby. Yet when the occasion required it, he could ask him to do his duty as God's high priest. That meant making the needed repairs to the house God had set him over. If only he had stayed in that frame of mind to the end of his reign.
The chest stood outside, at the gate, where anyone could give. Nobody was forced. One writer sees here the pattern the New Testament sets for giving:
This method proved effective. People came and gave freely, with no pressure on them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. Believers are not required to give. They hear of definite needs, and they are told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). There is no demand, only encouragement.
The chest was no new invention of Joash. What it received was the collection Moses had laid on Israel in the wilderness:
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tribute of Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness" (2 Chr. 24:9). He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, or of putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that work God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
The giving was glad, and nobody watched the money with suspicion:
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does. They gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully… No one kept strict accounts. There was no suspicion of dishonesty or misuse. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, showing the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object, and all this produces confidence.
This was Joash at his best. His good ran only as far as the influence of Jehoiada the priest:
All the days of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving the command to repair the damage Athaliah had done (2 Chron. 24:6-11). But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow held bent by force, the heart springs back to its natural bent the moment the pressure stops.
- Demand stalls. The order to go out and collect produced nothing. A requirement awakens resistance in people.
- Invitation flows. A chest at the gate left people free, and they gave cheerfully.
- The Word ruled. Joash acted on what he had learned from Scripture. He pressed even the high priest with it, because that Word stands above all.
- Repair, not reinvent. The chest received the collection Moses had already laid down — God does not leave us to our own ideas when breaches need mending.
- The heart decides. The work went well while Jehoiada lived, but outside influence, however holy, never changes a heart.
and they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring to Jehovah the tribute of Moses the servant of God [laid upon] Israel in the wilderness.
Joash is repairing the temple, and a chest now stands at its gate. Why reach back centuries for an old law? And why did this work where the king's earlier orders failed?
The tax in this verse was not invented for the repair fund. It comes from an old census law.
When the children of Israel were numbered in a census, each individual was required to pay to the Lord half a shekel as a ransom for himself. It is called "atonement money." We may wonder about this. Atonement was made by the blood of the sacrifice offered, and yet this atonement money was required too. This individual requirement was to press home on every person that atonement costs something. Of course half a shekel is nothing compared with the price the Lord Jesus paid in giving Himself. But the rich were not to give more, nor the poor less, than half a shekel. All stand on exactly the same basis in the matter of atonement.
Joash did not invent a new way to fund the work. He went back to the command already written in the law, and that choice still speaks today.
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness." He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, of putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils. In the Word of God we too have our tribute of Moses, showing what God expects of us.
Earlier the king had told the priests and Levites to collect money from the towns. Nothing happened.
It may have been that they did not have a heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
The chest at the gate changed everything. Now the people knew the need, and each giver chose his own answer.
This method proved effective, for people came to give voluntarily without pressure being put on them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. There believers are not required to give. They learn of definite needs, and then they are told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). A demand is not made, but encouragement is given.
The response was not only large. The way the people gave mattered too.
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does, and they gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully. … No one demanded strict accounts. No one suspected dishonesty or misuse of the money. The most beautiful trust prevailed, and it showed the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged; selfish ends are absent.
Not everyone shared the king's zeal. The men nearest the sanctuary cared least for it.
The priests were using for their own benefit the gifts they received from their acquaintances. They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house. Their conduct showed this. They lived from their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches.
While Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did right and even led the repairs. But the reform rested on another man's faith.
External influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow held bent: it springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often this solemn fact is seen in Christian families! How often a son leaving the godly restraints of his father's house plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
- Ransom. The collection Joash revived was atonement money. Rich and poor paid the same half shekel, each a ransom for himself.
- Repair. Joash did not invent a funding plan. He returned to what was written, and repaired breaches instead of building anew.
- Request. Demanding money bred resistance. A chest at the gate and an open call brought plenty — God loves a cheerful giver, not a forced one.
- Rejoicing. What is of God commends itself to the conscience. The people gave cheerfully, trusting one another so fully that no one checked the accounts.
- Root. The priests served their own interests, and the house kept its breaches. Joash himself gave way once Jehoiada was gone. Outside pressure can repair a building; only a changed heart lasts.
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished.
A chest is set out, word of the need goes out, and the whole nation answers. This is the turning point of the chapter: the earlier effort to repair the temple had gone nowhere, and the new way of asking changed the people.
Joash had already sent the priests and Levites to collect money from the towns of Judah. Nothing happened. One writer explains why.
It is commendable that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. He gathered the priests and Levites and ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from the people to pay for the repairs. He told them to do this quickly. However, this was not done quickly. Perhaps they had no heart for demanding money from the people. People generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
This time the king demanded nothing. He set a chest where all could reach it, made the need known, and left the people free.
This method worked, for people came and gave freely, with no one pressuring them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. There believers are not required to give. They are told about definite needs, and then told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). A demand is not made, but encouragement is given. The leaders rejoiced in this, and so did all the people. They gladly brought their gifts and put them into the chest.
The gift asked for was not the king's own idea. It was the tax Moses had laid on Israel in the wilderness.
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does, and they gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully.
One writer sees a pattern here for our own day:
For Joash the important thing was to go back to the tax Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and all that was connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, the question is not about beginning to build the house, or putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils. In the Word of God we too have our tribute of Moses — the sign of what God expects of us. If our hearts are willing, they will seek only one thing: the interests of Christ and of the house of God on earth.
The people gave until they had finished, and the supply outran the need. The extra money went into furnishing the house.
The willing-hearted people gave more than enough. "And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings."
The same spirit marked the men who spent what the chest held.
No strict accounts were kept. There was no suspicion of dishonesty or misuse. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, showing the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object. All this produces confidence.
This bright day belongs to the years while Jehoiada the priest lived. Athaliah, named below, was the usurper who had seized the throne before Joash and was put to death. One writer marks the limit of what even a holy influence can do.
All the days of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving orders to repair the damage that Athaliah had done. But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow released, the heart springs back to its normal bent the moment the pressure stops.
- Demand stalls. The order to collect money from the towns went nowhere. A demand awakens resistance.
- Freedom flows. A chest and a plain word about the need released what pressure could not. God loves a cheerful giver.
- The word directs. Joash went back to what Moses had laid down. The aim was repairing breaches, not building something new.
- Grace overflows. Willing hearts gave more than the repairs needed. The extra became vessels for the house.
- Hearts remain. Joy in giving did not change Joash himself. When Jehoiada's influence ended, the old bent returned.