Joash Repairs The Temple

Lesson 112Joash Repairs The Temple2 Kings 12:1-19

MEMORY VERSE2 KIN GS 12:2“Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all thedays in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him .”WHAT YOU WILL NEED:A large bowl, rice, chopsticks, and some pennies.White construction paper (1 sheet for each child), several smallscraps of paper cut into small squares and/or triangles, scissors,glue, and markers.Masking tape, balloon, chalk or dry erase board.ATTENTION GRABBER!Lost CoinsYou will need a large bowl, rice, chopsticks, and some pennies.King Joash and the priests were looking for money to repair thetemple. This game will be a good introduction to the story. Beforeclass fill a large bowl with rice and hide a few pennies inside therice. Choose a few volunteers to help you find the pennies. Havethe volunteers take turns. Give them the pair of chopsticks andask them to try to find some treasure in the bowl of rice. Give eachchild a few minutes to find the pennies.When they find the pennies encourage the kids to cheer and clap.Allow the children to play until all have had a chance, or thechildren tire of the game.

When she saw that her son, King Ahaziah, was dead, she decidedthat she wanted to become queen. Just to be safe (so no one elsewould try to take away her throne), she decided to kill the entireroyal family! How sad it is for someone to want to be powerful sobadly that they would be willing to kill part of their own family.Sin had completely blinded her.Now, God knew what was happening. God had promised that therewould always be a king from the line of David to rule over Judah.If Athaliah had her way that promise would not be fulfilled,because all of the heirs would be dead. Satan wanted to destroy theline that would eventually bring Jesus (Jesus is a descendant ofKing David). But, God is always faithful and will keep His promises.Satan could not defeat the plan and promise of God.God raised up a faithful priest by the name of Jehoiada. He had agodly wife who was a half-sister to Ahaziah, the former king.Jehoiada knew what was happening was very wrong. He and hiswife took Joash, a son of Ahaziah (just a baby at the time), fromamong the sons of Ahaziah who were being murdered. They hidhim away for about six years.Meanwhile, Jehoiada the priest met with the rulers of Judah andthe different leaders in the army. Together, they decided that theywere going to crown the rightful king of Judah--Joash. Joash wasonly seven years old at this time! Declaring him to be king, theygave Joash a copy of the Law and anointed him with oil(representing the Holy Spirit). God can use children to dogreat things!As might be expected, Queen Athaliah was not very happy about allthis--she accused them of treason! But, Jehoiada commanded thearmy to seize her and take her away. She eventually receivedjudgment for what she had done and was killed.

Jehoiada made a covenant (promise) with the Lord that King Joashand all of the people were to be the Lord’s special people, a peoplecommitted to following Him. The people tore down their templesto false gods and broke apart the altars and images. They wouldworship God alone. What a revival! And a seven-year-old boy, KingJoash, was leading it. God can use children to do great things!In verse three, we note sadly that, even during this time of revival,some people still worshipped idols: “But the high places were nottaken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on thehigh places.” How sad that a person or a nation would leave afoothold for the enemy to their own eventual destruction.Joash did many good things during his reign. The Bible tells us “hedid what was right in the sight of the Lord.” One “right” move onthe part of Joash was the move to repair the temple.2 KI N G S 12:4-8An d J e h o as h s ai d t o t h e p r i e s t s , " Al l t h e m o n e y o ft h e d e d i c at e d gi f t s t h at ar e br o u gh t i n t o t h e h o u s eo f t h e L O R D ; e ac h m an ' s c e n s u s m o n e y , e ac h m an ' sas s e s s m e n t m o n e y ; an d al l t h e m o n e y t h at a m anp u r p o s e s i n h i s h e ar t t o br i n g i n t o t h e h o u s e o f t h eL O R D ," l e t t h e p r i e s t s t ak e i t t h e m s e l v e s , e ac h f r o m h i sc o n s t i t u e n c y ; an d l e t t h e m r e p ai r t h e d am age s o f t h et e m p l e , w h e r e v e r an y d i l ap i d at i o n i s f o u n d . "N o w i t w as s o , by t h e t w e n t y -t h i r d y e ar o f Ki n gJ e h o as h , t h at t h e p r i e s t s h ad n o t r e p ai r e d t h ed am age s o f t h e t e m p l e .

S o Ki n g J e h o as h c al l e d J e h o i ad a t h e p r i e s t an d t h eo t h e r p r i e s t s , an d s ai d t o t h e m , " Wh y h av e y o u n o tr e p ai r e d t h e d am age s o f t h e t e m p l e ? N o w t h e r e f o r e ,d o n o t t ak e m o r e m o n e y f r o m y o u r c o n s t i t u e n c y , bu td e l i v e r i t f o r r e p ai r i n g t h e d am age s o f t h e t e m p l e . "An d t h e p r i e s t s agr e e d t h at t h e y w o u l d n e i t h e rr e c e i v e m o r e m o n e y f r o m t h e p e o p l e , n o r r e p ai r t h ed am age s o f t h e t e m p l e .The beautiful temple that King Solomon built several years earlierwas beginning to go into disrepair (getting old and falling apart).For many years, the people had given their time and energies to theworship of idols and ignored God’s house.King Joash desired to give the temple some much neededattention. He commanded the priests to collect money from thedifferent areas in Judah so they could do all of the necessaryrepairs.Notice how the king said that people should give what theypurpose in their heart. It is a blessing to be able to give to God’swork! It is never something that God forces us to do. God willreward us when we purpose in our heart to give to Him.But after a long time, by the 23 rd year of King Joash’s reign, therepairs had not been done. King Joash called all of the priests tocome together to find out what was going on. Perhaps, after thesupport for the priests and Levites, there was not much money leftfor the temple repairs.Temple MosaicYou need a sheet of white construction paper and several smallscraps of various colored paper cut into small squares and/ortriangles. You will also need scissors, glue, and markers.

Have the children make a temple by first drawing an outline of atemple onto the white construction paper. Next have the childrenglue the small scraps of paper to make a colorful temple. You mayhave the children cut out a large starburst from yellow paper towrite the theme or verse on it to take home with them.Use this craft as a means to review and reinforce the story of howGod used King Joash to repair the temple.2 KI N G S 12:9-16T h e n J e h o i ad a t h e p r i e s t t o o k a c h e s t , bo r e d a h o l ei n i t s l i d , an d s e t i t be s i d e t h e al t ar , o n t h e r i gh ts i d e as o n e c o m e s i n t o t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D ; an dt h e p r i e s t s w h o k e p t t h e d o o r p u t t h e r e al l t h em o n e y br o u gh t i n t o t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D .S o i t w as , w h e n e v e r t h e y s aw t h at t h e r e w as m u c hm o n e y i n t h e c h e s t , t h at t h e k i n g' s s c r i be an d t h eh i gh p r i e s t c am e u p an d p u t i t i n bags , an d c o u n t e dt h e m o n e y t h at w as f o u n d i n t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D .T h e n t h e y gav e t h e m o n e y , w h i c h h ad be e nap p o r t i o n e d , i n t o t h e h an d s o f t h o s e w h o d i d t h ew o r k , w h o h ad t h e o v e r s i gh t o f t h e h o u s e o f t h eL O R D ; an d t h e y p ai d i t o u t t o t h e c ar p e n t e r s an dbu i l d e r s w h o w o r k e d o n t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D ,an d t o m as o n s an d s t o n e c u t t e r s , an d f o r bu y i n gt i m be r an d h e w n s t o n e , t o r e p ai r t h e d am age o f t h eh o u s e o f t h e L O R D , an d f o r al l t h at w as p ai d o u t t or e p ai r t h e t e m p l e .H o w e v e r t h e r e w e r e n o t m ad e f o r t h e h o u s e o f t h eL O R D bas i n s o f s i l v e r , t r i m m e r s , s p r i n k l i n g-bo w l s ,t r u m p e t s , an y ar t i c l e s o f go l d o r ar t i c l e s o f s i l v e r ,f r o m t h e m o n e y br o u gh t i n t o t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D .

B u t t h e y gav e t h at t o t h e w o r k m e n , an d t h e yr e p ai r e d t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D w i t h i t .M o r e o v e r t h e y d i d n o t r e qu i r e an ac c o u n t f r o m t h em e n i n t o w h o s e h an d t h e y d e l i v e r e d t h e m o n e y t o bep ai d t o w o r k m e n , f o r t h e y d e al t f ai t h f u l l y .T h e m o n e y f r o m t h e t r e s p as s o f f e r i n gs an d t h em o n e y f r o m t h e s i n o f f e r i n gs w as n o t br o u gh t i n t ot h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D . I t be l o n ge d t o t h e p r i e s t s .King Joash decided to have a large chest made to collect offeringsfrom the people. Instead of the money for the repairs coming outof the regular offerings the people gave, they would come frompeople who desired to give extra from their heart. Most of thepeople in Israel had destroyed their idols and were now serving theLord; they desired to see God’s house repaired. What a blessing itwas for them to give from their heart for this special project.God desires that we give freely to Him from our heart. The Biblesays that God loves a “cheerful” giver: “So let each one give as hepurposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God lovesa cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7). To give to God’s work is a joy.2 KI N G S 12:17-19H az ae l k i n g o f S y r i a w e n t u p an d f o u gh t agai n s tG at h , an d t o o k i t ; t h e n H az ae l s e t h i s f ac e t o go u p t oJ e r u s al e m .An d J e h o as h k i n g o f J u d ah t o o k al l t h e s ac r e d t h i n gst h at h i s f at h e r s , J e h o s h ap h at an d J e h o r am an dAh az i ah , k i n gs o f J u d ah , h ad d e d i c at e d , an d h i s o w ns ac r e d t h i n gs , an d al l t h e go l d f o u n d i n t h et r e as u r i e s o f t h e h o u s e o f t h e L O R D an d i n t h e k i n g' sh o u s e , an d s e n t t h e m t o H az ae l k i n g o f S y r i a. T h e nh e w e n t aw ay f r o m J e r u s al e m .

N o w t h e r e s t o f t h e ac t s o f J o as h , an d al l t h at h e d i d ,ar e t h e y n o t w r i t t e n i n t h e bo o k o f t h e c h r o n i c l e s o ft h e k i n gs o f J u d ah ?Though King Joash had a great beginning, his life did not have agood ending. For, we learn from II Chronicles 24 that, after thedeath of the good priest Jehoiada, King Joash listened to wickedleaders of Judah. He began to turn away from the one true God andeven began to worship idols himself. He refused to heed thewarnings of God’s prophets, and even had Zachariah, the son ofJehoiada, put to death. King Joash brought God’s judgment uponhimself and the nation. For within a year of the death of Zachariah,the Syrians were threatening to invade Judah and Jerusalem.Joash sought to pay the Syrian king with the valuable things fromthe temple in order to keep him from attacking. The Syriansplundered Jerusalem.Joash reigned as king for 40 years. He did a lot of good thingsduring the early part of his reign. He had a good teacher, the priestJehoiada, who taught him in the ways of the Lord and helped himto do what was right.We learn from King Joash that we are never too young to serve theLord. God accomplished great things through Joash in his earlyyears. Maybe you are 7 years old or 9 years old or 11 years old.Did you know that God has a wonderful plan for your life, just likeKing Joash? How do you start? You can start by studying your Bibleas much as you can and asking the Lord to fill you with the HolySpirit. Ask God to give you the knowledge of His will for your life.God will hear your prayers! God can use children to do greatthings!

We also note, as we see the tragic end of King Joash’s life, that wemust keep our eyes on the Lord. Though it is great to start well, itis important to end well. May we not be swayed by evil counsel asKing Joash was in his latter years. May we keep our eyes on theLord and allow God to do great things!Bible Balloon PassYou will need masking tape, a balloon, and a chalk or dry eraseboard. Write the verse or theme on the board. Have kids form twogroups, and using masking tape make a line on the floor across thecenter of the classroom. Have each group of children stand onopposite sides of the masking tape. Blow up and tie off a balloon.In this game, the children will be passing the balloon, similar tovolleyball. Toss the balloon into the air to begin the game. Thechildren will hit the balloon back and forth across the tape line. Ifthe balloon touches the ground, the group that let it touch mustrepeat the Bible verse on the board. Each time a group recites theverse or theme, erase one word. It will get harder each time. Keepplaying until one group says the entire verse with no words on theboard to help.PRAYERLead the children in a prayer of commitment to look for how theLord wants to use their lives and then to go for it! If there are anychildren who have not yet responded to the Gospel, give themopportunity.