Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

2 Kings 12 Devotional

Honest Hands in God's House

“No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity.”2 Kings 12:15 (BSB)

Joash, the boy once hidden in the temple, grows up to repair it. He does what is right all the days the priest Jehoiada instructs him (12:2). When the priests are slow to fix the damage, a simpler arrangement is made: a chest beside the altar, the money counted and handed to supervisors, and workers paid to buy timber and stone (12:9-12). No accounting is required of those supervisors, because they are trustworthy (12:15).

The chapter is not all bright. The high places remain (12:3), Joash later sends the temple's treasures to buy off Hazael (12:18), and his own servants kill him (12:20-21). Even his best years depended on a good guide beside him. Yet the LORD's house was repaired through ordinary gifts and honest carpenters and masons. God still makes his home among his people, and Paul says believers in Christ are being built together into a dwelling place for God by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22). Quiet faithfulness in small tasks is part of how he builds.

To think about: What ordinary task in front of you could you do with quiet integrity, as part of the work God is building?

About 2 Kings 12: Joash Repairs the Temple

Joash rules Judah faithfully while Jehoiada the priest guides him, though the high places remain. When the priests fail to repair the temple, Jehoiada sets up a collection chest so trustworthy overseers can pay the workmen. Joash later buys off Hazael of Aram with sacred treasures and is murdered by his own servants.

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