'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 wast 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.'--2 KINGS
xii. 4-15.
'The sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of
God,' says Chronicles. The dilapidation had not been complete, but had
been extensive, as may be gathered from the large expenditure recorded
in this passage for repairs, and the enumeration of the artisans
employed. No doubt Joash was guided by Jehoiada in setting about the
restoration, but the fact that he gives the orders, while the high
priest is not mentioned, throws light on the relative position of the
two authorities, and on the king's office as guardian of the Temple
and official 'head of the church.' The story comes in refreshingly and
strangely among the bloody pages in which it is embedded, and it
suggests some lessons as to the virtue of plain common sense and
business principles applied to religious affairs. If 'the outward
business of the house of God' were always guided with as much
practical reasonableness as Joash brought to bear on it, there would
be fewer failures or sarcastic critics.
We note, first, the true source of money for religious purposes. There
was a fixed amount for which 'each man is rated,' and that made the
minimum, but there was also that which 'cometh into any man's heart to
bring,' and that was infinitely more precious than the exacted tax.
The former was appropriate to the Old Testament, of which the
animating principle was law and the voice: 'Thou shalt' or 'Thou shalt
not.' The latter alone fits the New Testament, of which the animating
principle is love and the voice: 'Though I have all boldness in Christ
to enjoin thee ... yet for love's sake I rather beseech.' What
disasters and what stifling of the spirit of Christian liberality have
marred the Church for many centuries, and in many lands, because the
great anachronism has prevailed of binding its growing limbs in Jewish
swaddling bands, and degrading Christian giving into an assessment!
And how shrunken the stream that is squeezed out by such a process,
compared with the abundant gush of the fountain of love opened in a
grateful, trusting heart!
Next, we have the negligent, if not dishonest, officials. We do not
know how long Joash tried the experiment of letting the priests
receive the money and superintend the repairs; but probably the
restoration project was begun early in his reign, and if so, he gave
the experiment of trusting all to the officials, a fair, patient
trial, till the twenty-third year of his reign. Years gone and nothing
done, or at least nothing completed! We do not need to accuse them of
intentional embezzlement, but certainly they were guilty of carelessly
letting the money slip through their fingers, and a good deal of it
stick to their hands. It is always the temptation of the clergy to
think of their own support as a first charge on the church, nor is it
quite unheard of that the ministry should be less enthusiastic in
religious objects than the 'laity,' and should work the enthusiasm of
the latter for their own advantage. Human nature is the same in
Jerusalem in Joash's time, and to-day in Manchester, or New York, or
Philadelphia, and all men who live by the gifts of Christian people
have need to watch themselves, lest they, like Ezekiel's false
shepherds, feed themselves and not the flock, and seek the wool and
the fat and not the good of the sheep.
Next we have the application of businesslike methods to religious
work. It was clearly time to take the whole matter out of the priests'
hands, and Joash is not afraid to assume a high tone with the
culprits, and even with Jehoiada as their official head. He was in
some sense responsible for his subordinates, and probably, though his
own hands were clean, he may have been too lax in looking after the
disposal of the funds. Note that while Joash rebuked the priests, and
determined the new arrangements, it was Jehoiada who carried them out
and provided the chest for receiving the contributions. The king
wills, the high priest executes, the rank and file of the priests,
however against the grain, consent. The arrangement for collecting the
contributions 'saved the faces' of the priests to some extent, for the
gifts were handed to them, and by them put into the chest. But, of
course, that was done at once, in the donor's presence. If changes
involving loss of position are to work smoothly, it is wise to let the
deposed officials down as easily as may be.
Similar common sense is shown in the second step, the arrangement for
ascertaining the amounts given. The king's secretary and the
high-priest (or a representative) jointly opened the chest, counted
and bagged up the money. They checked each other, and prevented
suspicion on either side. No man who regards his own reputation will
consent to handle public money without some one to stand over him and
see what he does with it. One would be wise always to suspect people
who appeal for help 'for the Lord's work' and are too 'spiritual' to
have such worldly things as committees or auditors of their books.
Accurate accounts are as essential to Christian work as spirituality
or enthusiasm. The next stage was to hand over the money to the
'contractors,' as we should call them; and there similar precautions
were taken against possible peculation on the part of the two
officials who had received the money, for it was apparently 'weighed
out into the hands' of the overseers, who would thus be able to check
what they received by what the secretary and the high-priest had taken
from the chest, and would be responsible for the expenditure of the
amount which the two officials knew that they had received.
But all this system of checks seems to break down at the very point
where it should have worked most searchingly, for 'they reckoned not
with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money' to pay the
workmen, 'for they dealt faithfully.' That last clause looks like a
hit at the priests who had not dealt so, and contrasts the methods of
plain business men of no pretensions, with those of men whose very
calling should have guaranteed their trustworthiness. The contrast has
been repeated in times and places nearer home. But another suggestion
may also be made about this singular lapse into what looks like unwise
confidence. These overseers had proved their faithfulness and earned
the right to be trusted entirely, and the way to get the best out of a
man, if he has any reliableness in him, is to trust him utterly, and
to show him that you do. 'It is a shame to tell Arnold a lie; he
always believes us,' said the Rugby boys about their great
head-master. There is a time for using all precautions, and a time for
using none. Businesslike methods do not consist in spying at the heels
of one's agents, but in picking the right men, and, having proved
them, giving them a free hand. And is not that what the great Lord and
Employer does with His servants, and is it not part of the reason why
Jesus gets more out of us than any one else can do, that He trusts us
more?
One more point may be noticed; namely, the order of precedence in
which the necessary works were done. Not a coin went to provide the
utensils for sacrifice till the Temple was completely repaired. After
they had 'set up the house of God in its state,' as Chronicles tells
us, they took the balance of the funds to the king and Jehoiada, and
spent that on 'vessels for the house.' A clear insight to discern what
most needs to be done, and a firm resolve to 'do the duty that lies
nearest thee,' and to let everything else, however necessary, wait
till it is done, is a great part of Christian prudence, and goes far
to make works or lives truly prosperous. 'First things first'!--it is
a maxim that carries us far and as right as far.