Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

14 Amaziah son of Joash began to rule over Judah in the second year of the reign of King Jehoash of Israel. ² Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. ³ Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. Instead, he followed the example of his father, Joash. ⁴ Amaziah did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

⁵ When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. ⁶ However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”

⁷ Amaziah also killed 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and changed its name to Joktheel, as it is called to this day.

⁸ One day Amaziah sent messengers with this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”

⁹ But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!

¹⁰ “You have indeed defeated Edom, and you are proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home! Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”

¹¹ But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ¹² Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. ¹³ King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of the Lord. He also seized the treasures from the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ The rest of the events in Jehoash’s reign and everything he did, including the extent of his power and his war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ When Jehoash died, he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam II became the next king.

¹⁷ King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. ¹⁸ The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

¹⁹ There was a conspiracy against Amaziah’s life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. ²⁰ They brought his body back to Jerusalem on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

²¹ All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, as king in place of his father, Amaziah. ²² After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and restored it to Judah.

²³ Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria forty-one years. ²⁴ He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. ²⁵ Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

²⁶ For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. ²⁷ And because the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them.

²⁸ The rest of the events in the reign of Jeroboam II and everything he did—including the extent of his power, his wars, and how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁹ When Jeroboam II died, he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then his son Zechariah became the next king.

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. ² Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.

³ When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. ⁴ However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”

⁵ Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. ⁶ He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel.

⁷ But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! ⁸ If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”

⁹ Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?”

The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” ¹⁰ So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage.

¹¹ Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. ¹² They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below.

¹³ Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴ When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! ¹⁵ This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”

¹⁶ But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!”

So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.”

¹⁷ After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”

¹⁸ But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!

¹⁹ “You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it. But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”

²⁰ But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom. ²¹ So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ²² Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. ²³ King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴ He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom. He also seized the treasures of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

²⁵ King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. ²⁶ The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, there was a conspiracy against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. ²⁸ They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection

Consider the following questions regarding II Kings 14 and II Chronicles 25 

> 1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

> 2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

II Kings 14 and II Chronicles 25 [Since these chapters are nearly identical, they will be addressed as a unit.]

    1. God sends prophets or wise counselors to people (in this case rulers) to help them to determine if a particular decision is wise or foolish.

    2. People often disregard wise counsel and do “their own thing” and sometimes suffer severe consequences.

Prayer

> 3. How might I pray regarding II Kings 14 and II Chronicles 25?

    O LORD God, You are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the nation that You formed from their offspring. In spite of their repeated rebellion, You never gave up on them as a people, even after their split, capture and exile. You have always looked at and dealt with them as a whole. They were always Your people. You warned them in advance of what would happen, even from the beginning with Abraham. Please help me to heed the advice of the wise counsellors You place in my life to assist me in making wise decisions and taking wise actions. Don’t let me disregard their counsel and do my own thing. May this also be true of the leaders You place over me (and those I hold dear) whether they are local, state/province or national. Whenever I (or these leaders) have a decision to make, may I (or they) bring it to You in prayer first. May I (we) research what You have said in the Bible about the issue. Then, may I (we) seek out the counsel of wise and knowledgeable people. Even those who do not believe in You will be blessed if they follow Your principles. Whenever we do, we bring Your glory, LORD. AMEN   

Action

(Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

> 4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to II Kings 14 and II Chronicles 25?

With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:

I will first discuss the issue with the LORD in prayer, research what the Bible has to say about it and consult a godly, wise and knowledgeable person I know regarding a particular decision I need to make, then follow their combined advice.

I will have a face to face meeting with someone with whom I disagree, being careful not to be “captured” by them.

I will show godly love to someone I consider an enemy.

I will work to bring to justice those who have acted wickedly.

Share

I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.