(2 Chronicles 25)
If you read through the stories of the kings in the books of Kings and Chronicles, you will notice that each one is typically given an overall assessment of whether they were a king who did right in the eyes of the Lord, or a king who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. King Amaziah is introduced to us by the author of Chronicles as a king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, BUT not wholeheartedly. In 2 Kings, we are given a similar verdict of Amaziah: that “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done.” So right from the start, we can expect that while Amaziah may have been an okay king overall, we will find that he isn’t always going to make the best choices…
Amaziah’s first big move as an established king over Judah, is to kill all the guys who assassinated his father Joash. And I am not going to try and make a judgement call on whether that was a proper execution of justice, or whether it was just an act of revenge. Because I think that only the Lord who judges hearts and minds can make that call. But whatever his motive for it was, whether pure or impure, it seems that his first priority was securing his position as king and making a statement about who was really in power here. However, the author goes on to explain that he did not put their children to death, in accordance with the law of Moses which says that parents and children shouldn’t be put to death for each other’s sins. This implies that Amaziah knew God’s law, and was seeking to abide by it...at least in part.
The next thing we’re told that Amaziah did as king, was to muster together his troops. He organized the people according to their families, assigned commanders over groups of hundreds and thousands, and counted out all the able fighting men. He found that he had three hundred thousand men fit for military service. Then he hired another hundred thousand soldiers from Israel, just for extra measure.
But a man of God came to warn Amaziah that God was not with the kingdom of Israel, and so he should not use the extra troops that he had hired from Israel, because if he did, God would not give him victory in battle. To which Amaziah responds, “But what about all the gold I just paid to get these troops?!” I love the prophet’s reply: “God can give you much more than that.”
To his credit, Amaziah listens to the man of God, and sends the soldiers back to Israel. Unfortunately, the Israelite troops were pretty upset about being sent home, and they raid a bunch of towns on their way back, killing three thousand people and taking a bunch of plunder.
Meanwhile, Amaziah had taken his remaining army of men to go and invade the Edomites living in Seir. His quest is successful, and he and his troops return home having killed twenty thousand Edomites. But foolishly, he brings the Edomite gods back with him, sets them up as his own, and burns sacrifices to them! (We’re definitely seeing his halfhearted devotion to Yahweh here…)
Obviously, this was not something that pleased God! It says the anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah and He sent a prophet to confront him on his idolatry. I find it a little bit amusing how blunt God is about how stupid and illogical it was for Amaziah to do such a thing. He says, “WHY would you worship the gods who couldn’t save their own people from you?” HELLO?! God is the one who gave you victory, why are you turning around and worshiping the gods of the people He helped you to defeat? Definitely doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
But Amaziah was stubborn in his stupidity, and didn’t want to listen to the prophet’s words. He pretty much said, “who made you the boss of me?” and told the prophet to shut up unless he wanted to be killed. So the prophet leaves him alone, but not before warning him, “God is going to destroy you for doing this, and for refusing to listen to me.”
Then Amaziah sends a message to the king of Israel to challenge him in battle. Which also seems a foolish move, even to Jehoash the king of Israel (who, by the way, was one of the kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord...see 2 Kings 13:11). He sends a message back saying, “Why would you want to fight me in battle? You’re just overly arrogant after your big win against the Edomites. But it would be better for you and all of Judah if you just stayed home. Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall?” But apparently Amaziah wanted to ask for trouble. He had no reason to go to war against Israel, he was just trying to pick a fight. It seems like he wanted to prove the prophet of God wrong...that he could still win, without God’s help.
So, since Amaziah refuses to listen to common sense, they go to battle, and to no one’s surprise (except apparently Amaziah’s!), Judah loses big-time. King Jehoash captures Amaziah, and does a lot of damage to Jerusalem including destroying a large part of its walls, and taking all the gold and silver from the temple of the Lord.
When I read this story, Amaziah seems to me to be both very prideful and very insecure. Those two things might sound like opposites. After all, isn’t pride thinking too highly of oneself and isn’t insecurity not thinking highly of oneself? I can see why some might think that, but actually, what I have learned in my own experiences of being uncomfortably humbled by the Lord, is that pride and low self-esteem typically go hand-in-hand. Because they are both overly focused on self, rather than on Jesus.
And Amaziah is the perfect example of this. He wanted to secure himself as king, he wanted to have a big strong army, he wanted to have big wins, and he wanted so badly to prove himself. He was prideful because he was so focused on making himself look impressive and doing things his own way. But he was also insecure because he was so afraid of not looking impressive, and he felt like he had to work so hard to make sure that didn’t happen.
Maybe it’s just me and Amaziah who struggle with that, but I know I worry far too much about what people think about me. Which feels silly to admit, probably because I care too much what you think! It’s easy to lose perspective, and forget that it’s not what others think or say, but what God says about us that really matters. Remember that overall, Amaziah was a pretty good king who at least at the beginning, worshiped God and tried to do what was right. But I think where Amaziah went wrong is that he focused so much on being a strong king and building his kingdom, that he lost sight of the God who made him strong. Our identity as children of the Most High King is so much more important than doing things for the Kingdom. We can’t let performance anxiety and trying to be strong and do big impressive things, keep us from resting in the assurance that we are the Lord’s beloved, and at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that really counts.
And before we judge Amaziah too harshly for his foolish idolatry (which WAS pretty foolish!), let’s take a minute to examine ourselves and remember what happens when we fall into focusing too much on our performance or worrying too much about what others think. Because that is when we start falling into the sin of pride, which really is a worship of self. When we’re so insecure that we feel like we have to prove our worth, not only are we failing to rest in our identity in Christ, but we are making our lives about us instead of about Jesus.
When Amaziah brought those idols home, it was as if they were his trophies that he could use to prove that he had won the battle. Whatever we hold up as the thing that makes us feel like we have worth, that thing becomes the idol that we worship. Our worth HAS to come from knowing that we are chosen, adopted, anointed, and appointed sons and daughters of God, whom He dearly loves and in whom He is well-pleased. If we start placing our sense of significance in anything less than that, we become guilty of idolatry.
And since we are covered with the blood of Jesus, I know God still looks at us in love. But I imagine that sometimes He also shakes his head and thinks, “WHY would you put your worth in things that clearly can’t satisfy like I can? I AM the One who makes you strong, who gives you ability, who made you who you are, who gives you worth, who gives you victory, who helps you overcome, who gives your life meaning and purpose, and who gives you significance. Worship ME!”
Another thing that stands out to me from Amaziah’s story, is the part where he was concerned about losing the money he had spent hiring the Israelite troops. He was worried about what it was going to cost him, if he did things God’s way. Sometimes trusting in God means letting go of something else we’ve been depending on for security. But we often struggle with what feels like the heavy cost of surrender. What we gain when we follow Christ, is so much greater than anything we could ever lose. But when God asks us to surrender something that we’re clinging onto too tightly, it can feel like the most costly thing to lose it and to be willing to let it go. But as the man of God wisely told Amaziah, “God can give you much more than that.” When we let go of what’s in our hands, it frees them up for God to give us something better. And when we humble ourselves to do things God’s way, instead of trying so hard to prove we can do it ourselves, He is able to do for us immeasurably more than what we could ask or imagine, much less what we could ever do in our own strength or with our own resources.
Amaziah was so determined to hold on to his pride and self-respect that he couldn’t see the folly of his own ways, and he couldn’t even act with the common sense that even his wicked counterpart could see. If we want to walk in confidence in who we are in Christ, and not give in to insecurity, not be people-pleasing, not be performance-driven and not be overly focused on our own success, accomplishments, and reputation, then we have to be willing to count the cost of laying down our will, our agenda, and our false sources of security and self-worth. We have to realize that God can give us so much more than what we strive and strive to attain for ourselves, if we only lay our lives down in willing surrender to receive the love and grace that He has for us. He is not out to make us suffer by losing all our hard-earned investments, and the things that seem most precious to us. He came to give us life and life abundant! But we can’t receive all the good things He has for us, if we’re too busy holding onto the idols of our hearts.
Amaziah’s story makes me wonder...if someone were to write a one-sentence summary about the way I’ve lived my life…what would they say? Would they say, “Stephanie did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”? Or upon closer examination, would they have to add the clause, “But not wholeheartedly.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to give Jesus halfhearted devotion, while chasing after lesser things in an attempt to satisfy a need to get attention, or win approval or prove my worth. I want to give Jesus my everything. I want to count the cost. I want to live in utter abandon to His desires. I want to be fully, and completely surrendered to my Father’s good and perfect will. I want to do things His way every time, not just when it’s easy or convenient or doesn’t cost me too much. I want to give God my whole heart. I want to be able to rest in the assurance that God’s love is enough for me, so there isn’t anything left for me to prove. I want to live confidently knowing who I am and what I am worth in the eyes of my Creator and King.
Let’s make it our goal to be the “wholehearted” kind of kings and queens.
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