The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 292

IV. Hrs MARRIAGES. "Jeboied&. took for him two wives," one of whom wn11 Jehoarldan of Jerusalem (eh. xxv. 1). Perb&.ps: 1. Good policy, to ensure & succession to the throne. But: 2. Bad moraUty, 11nd against the Law of God, though recom- mended by 11 pious priest, and sanctioned by the example of godly kings, Joesh'e 1mbeequent declension may have been in part due to this. Learn: 1. That early greatness is not always accompanied by early goodness. 2. 'l'hat many begin to run well in youth who nevertheless decline in nfter-yeare. 3. 'l'hat religious education is not sufficient in itself to overcome the force of inbred corruption. 4. That permanenoe is an indispensable quality in all moral and spiritual excellcnco, 6. That all the opinions of a good man are not neceesarily good, 6, That good men t;Ometimes occasion sin in others.-W. Vers. 4-11.-.A good intention will carried out. I. Tn CONTEMPLATED WORK. 1. The reparation of the house of the Lord. (1) What this signified. The reconstruc- tion, not of the whole but of such parts of the temple walls and edifices as had beon overturned and destroyed. A project both becoming and right-becoming that Jeho- vah's house should be restored to its pristine completeness and beauty (1 Ohron. )[Xii. 3); right, inasmuch as on Judah had been devolved the duty of protecting and pre- serving it (eh. vii. 16-22). In the same way is it proper for, and incumbent on, believers to have regard to the strength and beauty, symmetry and adornment, not merely of the material edifices, but also and chiefly of the spiritual temples of the Christian Church. (2) Why this was needed. On account, not of the ravages of time upon its massive masonry, but of the demolition it had suffered at the hands ot Athaliah (and Jehoram) in order to construct the temple of Ba.al, whose walls and pillars, altars and images, had just been broken in pieces by the revolutionaries ot Judah (eh. :uiii. 17). So by false systems of religion, as well as by systems of no religion, have breaches sometimes been made in the Christian Church-adherents 68duced from the faith, doctrines obscured, perverted, or rendered inoperative-which demand the utmost efforts of Christians to repair, e'l'en after the false systems, like Baal's temple, have been shattered to pieces. (3) By whom this was projected. By Joash, who, even if not impelled by higher motives, certainly had reason to remember the house in which his infant years had been sheltered, and himself when a boy had received his crown. If Joash moved in this matter of his own accord, the fact spoke well for his goodness; if even he required to be urged to it by Jehoiada-which is not stated-the fact that he listened to the priest attested the reverence he possessed for Jehovah's servant. The pity was that neither his goodness nor his reverence were deeply rooted or permanent. (4) When this was moved. "After this," an indefinite note of time which might mean either after the revolution or after Joaeh's marriages. If the former, which is doubtful, the king evinced praiseworthy alacrity-if his business demanded haste (ver. 5), much more did God's (eh. xv. 15; :x.xxi. 21; Eccles. ix. 10; Rom. xii. 11); if the latter, his dilatoriness was not without blame (Matt. vi. 33). 2. The replacement of the dedicated thing, which had been bestowed upon the Baalim (ver. 7). Not the dedicated things Solomon had brought into the temple (eh. v. 1); the spoil, in articles of gold and silver, David had taken from his enemies (1 Kings vii. 51), since these had been pillaged and carried off by Shishak ( cb. xii. 9); probably the silver, gold, and vessels dedicated by Abijah, Asa (eh. xv.18), and Jehoshaphat (2 Kings xii. 18); the spoil taken by the first from Jeroboam (eh. xiii. 16), by the second from the Cushites (eh. xiv. 12), and by the third from the Ammonites (eh. xxi. 25). II. WAYS AND :MEillB. Two plans for obtaining the money requisite for the under- taking. 1. The plam, that faikd. (1) What it was. That the priests and Levites should in all the cities of Judah raise a contribution to repair the house of God (ver. 5); that the amount levied from each man should be "the tax of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony" (ver. 6); and that this should be done annually (ver. 5). In 2 Kings (xii. 4) the money is defined as of three sorts (Keil): (a) The" money of the numbered," or, "of every one that passeth the numbering," i.e. the poll tax of half a shekel required of every Israelite as a ransom for his soul (Exod. xxx. 12-16); (b) the "money of the persons for whom each man is raied," i.e. the sums arising from the redemption of devoted persons (Lev. xxvii. 1-8); and (c) "the money that it cometh into any man's heart to bring into the on. xxrv. 1-27.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE Cr~RONICLES. 293