#502 Staffing

In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3 But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of the Lord, even the money of every one that passeth the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the Lord,

5 Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.

6 But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

8 And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.

9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.

10 And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

11 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the Lord: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, that wrought upon the house of the Lord,

12 And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

13 Howbeit there were not made for the house of the Lord bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of the Lord:

14 But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith the house of the Lord.

15 Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully.

16 The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the Lord: it was the priests'.

17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

18 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 that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.

21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead. 2 Kings 12 KJV

He had a good run as far as years, and it started out well, but after the death of the priest it fell off. Some of us do well it seems when we are surrounded by pillars, but our temples come crashing down as they are removed. It is wonderful to have teachers and God gives them to us, but they should only and always point us to a relationship with God, not a religion to them. When Jehoiada is removed, his wise instruction is replaced. Again we see that the high places have remained, and it may be a dual allowance, that while no man is an island unto himself, and there are not such nodes of spiritual energy, the temple itself had been in ruin for some time. Athaliah's sons had created some of the breech, had stolen from this place, and she had probably made it unsafe. The high places were probably good in that effect, for those who dare not come near the evil queen, for she would prefer a different religion for her state. She would even kill her own, so what safety could be had there? On the other hand, the high places were also held with contempt of heart, against the altar of the Lord. We are tempted even still today to lay off from those dear and precious doctrines of the scriptures, pretending at such high places, and new revelations. We are now in this dispensation of grace, told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. We are told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, that where 2 or more are gathered together in my name, there I will be in the midst of them. I may find nature beautiful, but she is not my church, as Paul and Silas attested to this in shackles and chains, locked up in prison. They sang praises to God from that place and God was there. I use to say that fishing was my religion and the lake, the river, or the ocean was my high place. Be certain that anything we do can become an idol in a depraved mind, but also be certain that anything we do may also be a living sacrifice to the glory of God. Those who worship must worship in spirit and in truth. I forsook the coming together for so long because I thought I should find only hypocrites, but I found a worse hypocrite in my so called high place. For though I said I loved the Lord, I did not love His people, and though I cried out desirous to repent, I chose the way of disobedience. Very unstable.

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?Certainly not in this matter! 1 Corinthians 11: 17-22

There will always be issues among men, babies and those seasoned, and also those who would like to make it up as they go along, preferring not to be challenged. There was an issue here in the temple, that it needed repair, but the money that came in was not properly handled. Those that are gifted to teach may not always be so wise when it comes to finances, but they should at least be so wise as to know and correct this. Jehoiada and his fellow priests were allotted their care, but the care of the temple itself was neglected. They mismanaged the funds, as so often those who are put in positions with such access do. It is all brought to a halt, the project is stopped, and the fiscal problems are addressed. It is made clear that the provisions of the priest are not affected but the money that goes to the restoration is separated out to that purpose alone. Once the people can see that their money is going where it is intended, that it is purposed well, then they give to overflowing. The structure, the building is repaired, but it is not so different then as now, that God looks upon what is happening inside. The time of partial reformation comes to an end with Jehoiada. We see in the Chronicles of the kings that Joash, who started out well, was jealous for God's house, made some progress in it's outward repair, but in the end he fell away. He, who was so noble in confronting the priests, was so quick to turn over the things of the Lord the moment his enemy came near. I see the church like that today, as soon as society introduces it's own morality, the church buckles. As soon as the army is marching towards Jerusalem, we sell what rightly belongs to God, and pay them to go away. I prefer to be liked myself, but if I choose that in every instance then I cannot stand before God and say "I loved." 

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.[h] 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans,[i] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”[j] 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1: 5-16