Offering and Wages Payable

Something from the book of Kings caught my interest last night: under Joash and Jehoiada, the priests assigned to collect money to meet the expenses of repairing the temple "did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty" (2 Ki 12:15). I have no good reason why I like this verse other than its reference to our meticulous accountant friends. They get their very own line! I've frequently pondered the very real temptation to use church funding for private purposes, and how those lawyers and accountants who are often responsible for our church finances deal with it. There is also a convergence, or collision of sorts, of covenant theology, political economy, and taxation of public goods taking place on all sides in the Old Testament. More on OT administration of government another time.