Commentary - 2 Kings 12:17-18

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent account, we see the tragic culmination of a reign that began with such promise. Jehoash, who was rescued from the murderous Queen Athaliah and raised in the temple under the godly tutelage of Jehoiada the priest, here succumbs to faithless pragmatism. Faced with the military threat of Hazael, king of Aram, Jehoash chooses to buy his security rather than trust in the God who had preserved him from infancy. He strips the temple of its consecrated treasures, items dedicated by his faithful forefathers, and sends them as tribute to a pagan king. This act is not just a political maneuver; it is a profound spiritual capitulation. It demonstrates a heart that has forgotten God's sovereign power to deliver His people. The story serves as a stark reminder that a good start does not guarantee a faithful finish, and that fear is a powerful corrosive to faith.

The core issue here is the collision of two kingdoms and two ultimate trusts. Does Judah trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or in the political machinations and material wealth that define the kingdoms of men? Jehoash's decision reveals his true allegiance. By plundering God's house to pacify a human king, he functionally declares that Hazael is a more present and potent reality than Yahweh. This is the essence of idolatry: trading the invisible reality of God's sovereign care for the tangible, but ultimately fleeting, security offered by the world.

Outline

Context In 2 Kings

This passage marks a sorrowful turning point in the narrative of Jehoash. The earlier parts of chapter 12 detail his commendable work in repairing the house of the Lord, a project funded by the faithful giving of the people. It seemed that the king who grew up in the temple would be its greatest champion. However, the Chronicler's account (2 Chronicles 24) provides crucial background information. After the death of the high priest Jehoiada, Jehoash was swayed by the princes of Judah to abandon the house of God and serve idols. God sent prophets to warn him, but he refused to listen, even murdering Jehoiada's son, Zechariah, in the temple court. Thus, the invasion of Hazael is not a random geopolitical event; it is God's direct judgment for Jehoash's apostasy. The Aramean army, though small, was God's instrument of discipline against a faithless king and nation. This context transforms our understanding of Jehoash's actions from mere political pragmatism to a desperate, faithless attempt to buy his way out of a divine reckoning he knew he deserved.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 17 Then Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

The verse opens with the methodical advance of a foreign power. Hazael, the king of Aram (Syria), is on the move. He is not just rattling his saber; he is a proven threat. He "fought against Gath and captured it." Gath was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, a significant military achievement. This establishes Hazael as a formidable foe. God often uses the established competence of pagan rulers to bring about His purposes. Hazael is not a puppet on a string, unaware of his own motives; he is a king pursuing his own expansionist ambitions. Yet, behind his ambition is the sovereign hand of God, who had previously anointed this same Hazael through the prophet Elisha to be a scourge against a disobedient Israel (1 Kings 19:15-17).

Then comes the ominous phrase: "Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem." This is not a tentative probe. It is a statement of determined intent. The capital city, the heart of Judah's political and religious life, is now in the crosshairs. For the people of God, this should have been a moment for national repentance and crying out to the Lord for deliverance, as their forefathers had done. The threat was not ultimately Hazael, but the God who was sending him.

v. 18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had set apart as holy, and his own holy things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Here we see the king's response, and it is a spiritual disaster. Faced with a military crisis, Jehoash resorts to a purely materialistic solution. He inventories his assets. And what are those assets? "All the holy things." The text is emphatic. These are not just generic valuables. They are items "set apart as holy" (qodesh), dedicated to Yahweh. The historian carefully lists the provenance of these treasures: they were dedicated by his faithful ancestors, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah. These were legacies of faith, tangible memorials of God's past faithfulness and the devotion of previous generations. To this pile, Jehoash adds "his own holy things," likely items he himself had dedicated during the better days of his reign, and "all the gold" from both the temple and the royal palace.

This is the logic of pragmatism divorced from faith. The problem is an approaching army. The solution? Gold. The holy things are no longer seen as holy; they are merely a resource to be liquidated. Jehoash is treating the symptoms, not the disease. The disease is his own apostasy, and Hazael is the symptom. Instead of returning to the Lord in repentance, he tries to pay off the agent of God's judgment. He is attempting to bribe God's providence. This is a fool's errand. You cannot buy off God's rod of discipline. By sending these treasures to Hazael, Jehoash is essentially saying, "These things dedicated to Yahweh are of less value to me than my immediate physical security." He is ransoming his kingdom with the very things that symbolized its unique covenant relationship with God.

The result is tragically anticlimactic: "Then he went away from Jerusalem." Hazael takes the bribe and, for the moment, turns aside. The pragmatist would call this a success. The city was spared. The enemy was placated. A crisis was averted. But the Bible records it as a profound failure. Jehoash bought a temporary peace at the cost of his spiritual integrity and the honor of God's house. He secured his throne for a short time but lost his soul. This act of faithless expediency would not ultimately save him; the Chronicler tells us that the Arameans would return the next year, and Jehoash himself would be assassinated by his own servants (2 Chron. 24:23-25). Pragmatism, when it displaces trust in God, never works in the long run. It is a short-term fix that creates a long-term bankruptcy.

Application

The story of Jehoash is a cautionary tale for every believer and every church. It is the story of how easily a man can abandon his first love and resort to the world's methods for security and peace. We begin well, surrounded by the truth and perhaps even contributing to the work of God's kingdom. But then a threat arises, financial pressure, cultural opposition, relational conflict, a health crisis. Hazael sets his face toward our Jerusalem.

In that moment of fear, the temptation is to do what Jehoash did: to look at the holy things in our lives not as treasures dedicated to God, but as assets to be liquidated for a quick fix. We compromise our convictions for job security. We sacrifice family worship for career advancement. We neglect the gathering of the saints for personal leisure. We treat the things God has declared holy, His day, His Word, His people, our bodies, as negotiable commodities to be traded for a little bit of earthly peace. We try to bribe the consequences of sin rather than repenting of the sin itself.

The lesson is clear: God will not be mocked. His judgments cannot be bought off. True security is found not in stripping God's house, but in dwelling in it. It is found not in appeasing our enemies, but in trusting our sovereign God, who holds all the Hazaels of this world on a leash. When we are threatened, the first move is not to the treasury, but to the throne of grace. Repentance, not ransom, is the path to deliverance. Let us learn from Jehoash's failure and resolve to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and not to lean on the bankrupt understanding of faithless pragmatism.