Sermon Tone Analysis

Who Will Be the Lighthouse?

TURN TO 2 Kings 12

The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance.

Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south."

Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored.

So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!"

Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a seaman third class Jones."

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship."

Then the reply came: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."

Apparently, that story is a myth, but you can imagine it actually happening, and - it makes a great point: In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives.

Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest--something almost absurd.

But when that voice happens to be the unchanging Light of the World - we ignore it at our peril.

Our text this morning brings to mind the idea of a needed lighthouse, shining on a dark and stormy sea.

I trust you will see what I mean as we go along, but now let’s dig into the text.

READ vv.

1-8

1 KING WITH THE WIND IN HIS SAILS, vv.

1-16

Jehoash (or ‘Joash’- they are two different spellings of the same name and I’m sure I will be using both this morning) is on the throne - and his attention turns to the things of the LORD.

The temple in Jerusalem catches his eye.

Do you remember the delight and glorious taste of heaven’s worship we saw, when Solomon first dedicated this place?

God’s presence came down and took residence with His people.

The people of God couldn’t stop praising … the king himself sacrificing so many animals they couldn’t be counted – standing before the people and raising his voice with that awe-struck prayer of worship: “The Sovereign God of the universe has chosen to live with US!!”

Well, that was over a century ago.

And some of Solomon’s descendants have not taken care of the place in the way they ought.

If you walk by the temple in Joash’s day, you see some of the stones are looking weathered - cracks are showing.

The timbers - hewn from the mighty cedars of Lebanon … well, they are starting to look weathered.

Smoke damage from the candles and incense have left a mark .... and, if you look at the utensils used by the priests, a century of sacrifices has taken its toll.

This is a 100 year old building and it is showing its age.

That’s understandable, in a way.

But previous kings have neglected it – and this is not a good look for the HOUSE OF GOD on the earth.

Joash determines he’s going to do something about it.

In verse 4, he gives his orders to the priests.

2 Kings 12:4 “Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money that a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord,”

“Collect the offerings and get to fixing.”

Well we don’t know exactly when Joash gives the orders, but probably pretty early in his time on the throne.

And verse 6 tells us that TWENTY-THREE YEARS into his reign - the priests had none of the repairs done.

Now, the temple was pretty large - but decades in and NO progress?!

So what’s the lesson here – “don’t trust pastors or priests with your renovation projects?”

Well, that’s not exactly what the Bible says - but when I think of most pastors I know – there’s a reason they work among books and not with hammers and saw.

Remember that if you ever think of asking me to help you at your place.

These priests weren’t dishonest - they weren’t stashing the money - they just were terrible administrators.

So Joash goes to ‘Plan B’ – READ vv.

9-16 They’re going to make an offering box to collect the money and give it directly to the contractors.

So, Jehoiada takes a chest, bores a hole in the top, sticks a sign on it: “Temple Repair Project’.

Then he puts it beside the altar, at the doorway, just as you enter the house of the LORD.

Then, when people brought their offerings, the priests would take the money and drop it straight into the box.

Whenever the offerings piled up, the royal scribe and the high priest, empty the contents, count the money - melt down any precious metals .... and then they hand it off to the construction supervisors who keep the bills paid for tradesmen and materials.

People are giving generously, the workers are being paid, no receipts are needed, everyone is honest - and finally the temple is getting the facelift it needed.

Imagine the delight in Judah!

You know how it feels when your old house, that you are sick of looking at, gets a renovation …It’s almost like getting a brand new place.

Here we are in the temple of God - a one hundred year old building .... now wafting with the smell of fresh wood, the brightened colors - ugly cracks are gone.

And overseeing all of this, is Joash, the king who follows God.

He is reigning with the wind of God’s blessing filling his sails.

If the story ended at verse 16, we could close this chapter in Israel’s life with celebration.

Remember how it started!

At the beginning of chapter 11, God’s promises are literally hanging by a solitary thread.

Every single male descendant of David’s line SLAUGHTERED - this pathway God Himself promised to bring the Messiah, our Saviour to earth through - the promise is about to fail.

Queen mother, blood-thirsty, Athaliah is determined to kill every heir to the throne so that she can rule – these are her grandsons, but she doesn’t care – she wants to hold onto her place of power.

She almost succeeds in the slaughter.

But there is one survivor.

God has a minister, in the right place, at the right time, with the right focus - and Jehoshaba sneaks Joash into hiding.

One solitary thread holding the eternal promises of God intact.

And the promise lives on.

And the BIble’s own verdict on Joash is good – Verses 1 and 2: He ‘did what was right in the eyes of the LORD’.

He has a long reign - 40 years.

And, he has a fruitful reign - the temple, so long neglected, has been refreshed and refurbished.

God’s Kingdom goes marching on - from the brink of extinction to fresh fruitfulness.

Joash reigns with the wind of God in his sails.

What a great story here.

We expect the last words of this chapter to be: ‘And they lived happily ever after ....”.

Oh, but you should know better than to expect such a neat and tidy conclusion - a fairy tale ending.

Because God’s Word deals with real life in this real world … and it’s a broken world.

2 THE REIGN RUNS AGROUND, vv.

17-21

Sure enough - Verses 17-21 wrap up the chapter and far from the king finishing his journey, safely in the harbour, with the wind in his sails carrying him all the way therel … we see his reign run aground on the rocks of calamity.

READ vv.

17-21

So, Jehoash reins for 40 years, he’s renovated the temple, but v. 20 tells us that he dies a violent death - assassinated in a conspiracy that’s planned and executed by his OWN servants.

That’s not the way any person wants to die - let alone a king.

When the time comes to go out - you long to die in peace, surrounded by loving family and with the admiration of the people whose lives you’ve touched.

This king’s head goes to the grave in violent bloodshed.

What happened here?!

Well, vv.

17-18 tell us that the unhappy ending began BEFORE the assassination.

In fact - the way our text lays out the story - the trouble begins immediately after the success at the temple.

Verse 17 comes immediately after verse 16’s triumph.

According to vv. 17-18, Hazael the king of Syria is in the neighbourhood with his army.

He’s just been down to the city of Gath, in Philistine territory and conquered it for himself.

Gath is strategically located on the road that leads up, across the border and into the heart of Judah.

“Well, as long as I’m in the area, I’ll pay a visit to the palace of King Joash, just to remind him that I’m here .... and my power is growing.”

That’s what Hazael is trying to do - he’s trying to intimidate God’s King.

The end of v. 17, “He set his face to go up against Jerusalem” - he’s flexing his muscles.

The text tells us that when he shows up outside Jerusalem’s walls, King Joash springs into action.

But his response is puzzling.

Remember the city named Gath?

Joash sure would.

He’s a descendant of King David.

Gath was the hometown of terrorizing giant, Goliath - who had the entire army of Israel paralyzed in fear … but along comes young David who is only at the battle-front to bring lunch for his big warrior brothers.

David hears the taunts of Goliath against the God of Israel - and he takes his slingshot and with one small stone and a big faith in God, he takes down the giant - dead.

Everyone in Jerusalem knows that story - how much more David’s great, great, great - and so on - grandson?!

The fact that Hazael has just come from Gath - should fire Joash up with the reminders of God’s faithfulness in history - the God who’s temple he has just spent decades getting back into shape.

The God who lives with HIS PEOPLE and has chosen THIS CITY, out of all the earth, for his name to dwell in - Joash’s God fights for His people.