The Joash Chest

I was intrigued and inspired by the beautiful chest into which we deposited our fish banks for our recent One Great Hour of Sharing.  With Norma Mack's help, I decided to find out what the Joash Chest was all about.  The computer sent me to many websites, but the best information was in the Bible (where else!) at Chronicles Two, Chapter 24, verses 1-16 which tells the story of Joash, the very young king of Jerusalem.

Joash became king when he was seven years old and reigned for forty years.  He was upset over the shambles he saw at the "House of the Lord" but had no money for its repair.  Since no tax money was available he had a chest built and set it outside the Temple.  He proclaimed throughout Judah and Jerusalem that people were to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses had laid on Israel in the wilderness.

The people, knowing where their tax money would be going, rejoiced and daily filled the chest with money.  The box, emptied nightly, was refilled during each day again and again.  The "House of the Lord" was completely restored to its original beauty and with the money left over they created worship utensils of gold and silver for their Temple.

Our beautiful Joash Chest was handcrafted in November of 2001 by Kenneth Lipp with walnut wood contributed by Wayne Parker and is used to receive our pledge cards every November.  Knowing about young king Joash gives me a better appreciation for it than I've ever had before.  Televangelist Joel Osteen thinks that we all should have a personal Joash Chest in our lives "to receive our time, our gifts, our hopes and our dreams so that we might become the person that God can do amazing things through."  That is something for me to work on.

~Donna Roth