Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.Jehoash has done well. He ruled rightly, even to repairing the Temple. But now, the nation has been invaded. The army of Aram is besieging Jerusalem. Jehoash doesn't appear to have an army strong enough to fight them, so he comes up with another solution. He bribes the king or Aram to leave, by giving him all the gold he can get his hands on, including the dedicated items in the Temple.
We've seen in other situations that God will provide a solution when asked. If Jehoash had gone to the priests and to God and prayed for deliverance, God surely would have provided one. But instead, he took matters into his own hands, and robbed from God. To be fair, he also took all his own gold, not just that in the Temple, but he still took from God. I guess the modern-day equivalent would be us taking our tithe and using it to pay a bill for an emergency. I can't condone it, for God will provide a way if we are faithful.
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