Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.
Hazael of Syria has just taken the Philistine city of Gath. Now he turns his army toward Jerusalem. The king who must face him is Joash, the same man who spent years repairing the temple. The chapter has been full of careful giving to the house of God; this verse asks what that devotion was actually worth when an enemy appeared at the door.
One writer sees a purpose behind this invasion, and a hard question behind Joash's answer to it.
Hazael, the king of Syria, is God's rod. He comes up against Jerusalem after seizing Gath. That city lay at the foot of the mountains of Judah, and it was the key to the land on the Philistine side. To pay his ransom to Hazael, Joash sent him all the hallowed things of the house of God. What had become of his wonderful zeal for everything that belonged to the Lord?
The invasion is not random. It follows the death of Jehoiada the priest, and the turn Judah took right after.
After his death it became clear that the revival had rested on the good priest. Joash's convictions and faithfulness to the Lord were only skin-deep. A reaction set in, as it has so often in the history of the Church. He listened to the evil advice of the princes of Judah. Then they left the house of the LORD God and became idolaters. The result was wrath from God upon Judah and Jerusalem for this trespass.
Notice what the record does not say about the king.
Then Hazael began his wicked work and threatened Jerusalem. Joash bought him off by handing over all the hallowed things of the temple and the treasures of the palace. Not a word says that Jehoash sought the Lord or prayed. It shows only too clearly that the Lord, the present help in time of trouble, had been forgotten.
The payment that bought Hazael off came out of the temple. One writer presses the question of ownership, and turns it on the reader.
Did he not stop to think that the treasures he gave to Hazael actually belonged to the Lord, so that he had no right to give them away? Do we also make the serious blunder of giving up any truth of the Word of God to satisfy the enemy of our souls? The Word of God tells Timothy, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you." When God entrusts us with His truth, let us not dare to give it up, whatever enemy threatens us.
Paying Hazael off looked like a way out. But Syria came back, and one writer links the two invasions.
2 Kings 12:17-18 records an earlier invasion by the Syrians under Hazael. Joash bought him off with gold and other treasures taken from the temple and the king's palace. That is when the Syrians discovered the real weakness of Joash's army, even though it was "a very great host." So the second expedition against him was only "a small company of men." "The king is not saved by his great army," wrote that king (Ps. 33:16) whose throne Joash so unworthily filled.
Hazael did not come from nowhere. One reference work traces how he took the throne and how far his conquests reached.
About 890 B.C. Hazael murdered Ben-hadad and became king of Syria. We read that the LORD began to cut Israel short, and He used Hazael as His instrument. He struck all the coasts of Israel, from the Jordan eastward, in Gilead and the lands of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. He also took Gath, and only turned away from Jerusalem when Jehoash gave up the royal and temple treasures.
- Rod. Hazael takes Gath, the key to the land on the Philistine side, and turns on Jerusalem. Yet he is God's rod, the instrument God used to cut Israel short.
- Root. The threat follows Jehoiada's death. A revival that leaned on him gave way to idolatry, and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.
- Silence. Not one word says Joash sought the Lord or prayed. He had forgotten the Lord, the present help in time of trouble.
- Ransom. He paid with the hallowed things of the temple. That treasure belonged to God, and the king who had once repaired His house had no right to hand it over.
- Cost. The bribe bought time and showed Syria his weakness. The next force sent against him was only a small company, because no king is saved by a great army.
And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem.
Hazael of Syria had taken Gath and was marching on Jerusalem, where Joash had spent his reign repairing the temple. Joash then emptied that same temple to buy Hazael off, handing over gifts three generations of kings had set apart for God.
The Syrian advance was no accident. One writer names Hazael's role, then measures Joash against his own past:
Hazael, the king of Syria, God's rod, comes up against Jerusalem. He had already seized Gath, which lies at the foot of the mountains of Judah and was the key to the land on the Philistine side. To pay his ransom to Hazael, Joash sent him all the hallowed things of the house of God. What had become of his wonderful zeal for everything that belonged to the Lord?
Joash had rebuilt the temple once already. His answer to Hazael has one striking gap:
The leading work of Jehoash's reign was repairing the temple. This had become necessary because Athaliah's family had broken it up and used the dedicated things in the worship of Baal (2 Chron. 24:7). ... Then Hazael began his wicked work and threatened Jerusalem. Joash bought him off by handing over to him all the hallowed things of the temple and the treasures of the palace. Not a word is said that Jehoash sought the Lord or prayed. It shows only too clearly that the Lord, the present help in time of trouble, had been forgotten.
The verse calls them sacred gifts: treasure earlier kings had handed over to God. One commentator asks who owned it, then turns the question on us:
Jehoash made the sad blunder of not appealing to the Lord. Instead he sacrificed the sacred wealth in the temple, compromising himself to satisfy Hazael's greed (v. 18). Did he not stop to think that the treasures he gave to Hazael actually belonged to the Lord? He had no right to give them away. Do we also make the serious blunder of giving up any truth of the Word of God to satisfy the enemy of our souls? The Word of God tells Timothy, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you" (1 Tim. 6:20). When God entrusts us with His truth, let us not dare to give it up, whatever enemy threatens us!
Hazael went away, but not for good. The payment also taught Syria something about Judah:
"The king is not saved by his great army," wrote the king (Ps. 33:16) whose throne Joash so unworthily filled.
Why did the zeal collapse? Two writers trace it to the same root:
Joash walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the death of the high priest he leans on the princes of Judah and serves idols. He even puts to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him. Joash, forsaken by God, is defeated by the Syrians.
Another writer weighs Joash's early record and finds influence where faith should have been:
Everything seemed bright and hopeful for the king of Judah, but it lasted only a passing season. "And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest." Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
- Rod — One writer calls Hazael God's rod. The army at the gate was God's discipline, not just a political crisis.
- Silence — The record says nothing of Joash seeking the Lord or praying. He met the crisis without God, and that silence shows a God already forgotten.
- Surrender — The hallowed things belonged to God. Joash gave away what he had no right to give. That is the pattern of surrendering entrusted truth to quiet an enemy.
- Exposure — The bribe moved Hazael on for the moment. It also exposed Judah's weakness, and a few Syrians later overran a very great army.
- Root — Joash walked by Jehoiada's faith, not his own. Borrowed influence fails in the end. The man of God's house became the man who emptied it.