The people rejoiced and brought their tax
Wed, 20 December, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
4 After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.
8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. 9 And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. 13 So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14 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, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
The temple is a mess. Athaliah had plundered it, so it needed to be refurnished. There are repairs that need to be made. All this would cost a significant amount of money. So Joash entrusts the Levites to begin raising the money. That doesn’t go very well, and so Joash instructs them to place collection boxes at the temple. Once the people understand the need and how they can help, they begin to give toward the repairs of the temple. They willingly paid their temple tax and rejoiced to do so, for they were giving to the restoration of God’s house.
What do we learn from this?
This is an example of God’s people rejoicing to give to God’s work. Giving to God is not a burden, but for the true child of God, it is a joy.
God has given us the opportunity to contribute to the furthering of His kingdom by giving to our local churches. This giving should be a source of joy to us, and not something that we do grudgingly. When we realize that everything we have has been given to us by God, and that after all He has done for us, we have the opportunity to give something back to Him, giving should be a chance for us to rejoice.
Where is Christ in this passage?
When we consider all that God has done for us, we realize that the greatest gift He has given to us is salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to die on our behalf, so that we could be right with God. He paid the debt we could never pay. Now we have the opportunity to give back to Him a portion of the material possessions He has given us in addition to eternal life. May we be able to rejoice as we give to God.
