Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 12

When Jehoash of Judah began his reign, Jehu had been king of Israel of seven years. Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord, except he never took down the high places of t, he idols of the land, and some of the people still worshipped other gods there.

Jehoash ordained that taxes and offerings should be made to the temple, to be set aside for repairs on the temple that age had set in disarray. After he had reigned for 23 years, he noticed that the repairs had still not been made. In a meeting with the priests, it was settled that he would no longer collect taxes from the people if it was not going to be used where it was supposed to be used.

At this point, Jehoiada put a bucket in the temple on the right side of the altar and asked for donations to be placed in that bucket. After a while, there was found quite a bit of money in that bucket, and they took it to the king and told him that they found the money in the temple and started the repairs.

Then Hazael, king of Syria, took control of Gath and started toward Jerusalem with intentions of taking it, too. So, Jehoash took all the dedicated treasures from his forefathers houses and gave it to Hazael to keep him from invading Jerusalem.

Some people didn't like how Jehoash handled the problem, or the kingdom, so his servants conspired and killed him.

His son, Amaziah, took his place.

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My Comments:
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Just like today, there is corruption in the highest offices of the land. No matter who is the leader of our people, there are going to be people who are constantly criticizing how he handles things. People are so full of hatred, they can't tell the difference between truly good intentions and outright attacks on our beloved system.

Ecclesiastes says it best when it says "There is nothing new under the sun." Maybe the way that things are carried out is different, but the reasons behind it are one and the same.

Jehoash was doomed to die anyway because of his neglect to take down the high places of the gods. But, God was merciful on Israel with his leadership for awhile because he tried to be a good person for God in spite of his failure.

God won't let your failures go unpunished, but He is more tolerant of those who try, and He gives them more room to come to their senses.

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