Key Verse Spotlight
2 Chronicles 34:8 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the house of the LORD his God. "
2 Chronicles 34:8
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
6 He did this in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, around in their ruins.
7 He broke down the altars, beat the Asherah poles and the engraved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, then returned to Jerusalem.
8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the house of the LORD his God.
9 They came to Hilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that was brought into God’s house, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered from the hands of Manasseh, Ephraim, of all the remnant of Israel, of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They delivered it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the LORD’s house; and the workmen who labored in the LORD’s house gave it to mend and repair the house.
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Here, first, the king gave orders to repair the temple (2 Chronicles 34:8). After he had cleared God’s house of its corruptions, he began to prepare it for the worship that was to be carried on there. We should do the same with the spiritual temple of the heart. It must be cleansed from the pollution of sin, and then renewed, so that it is changed into God’s image. In this command, Josiah calls God the Lord his God. Those who truly love God will also love the place where his house dwells.
Second, careful and effective attention was given to the work. The Levites went through the countryside and gathered money for it, and it was brought back to the three trustees mentioned in (2 Chronicles 34:8). They brought it to Hilkiah the high priest (2 Chronicles 34:9), and he and the others handed it over to the workers, both overseers and laborers, who agreed to do the job in a full and complete way, as we might say, in the whole business (2 Chronicles 34:10, 2 Chronicles 34:11).
The workers are noted for being faithful. They did their work honestly and well (2 Chronicles 34:12). Workers are not fully faithful unless they are both careful and diligent, because trust is placed in them to be that way. The overseers are also shown to be skilled. It says that those chosen to oversee this work were men skilled in musical instruments. Their music had nothing to do with building, but it showed that they were thoughtful, capable men, especially with a mind for mathematics, which suited them well for this task.
Wise people are truly wise when they use their ability to do good, help their friends, and serve the public when they can. In this work, God gave different gifts to different people. Some were carriers of burdens, suited for hard physical labor. Others, made of finer material, had skill in music, and they served as overseers, scribes, and officers. The first were the hands, and the second were the heads. They needed each other, and the work needed both. Let the overseers not look down on the laborers, and let those who work not resent those whose task it is to direct. Instead, each should honor and serve the other in love, and let God receive the glory and the church receive the benefit of their different gifts and abilities.
From This Chapter
2 Chronicles 34:1
"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem."
2 Chronicles 34:2
"He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left."
2 Chronicles 34:3
"For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten images."
2 Chronicles 34:4
"They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and he cut down the incense altars that were on high above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten images in pieces, made dust of them, and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them."
2 Chronicles 34:5
"He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem."
2 Chronicles 34:6
"He did this in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, around in their ruins."
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