UNROLL
Dawn over white salt flats and gravel south of the Dead Sea, red and purple sandstone mountains rising beyond, one thin line of camp smoke far off at their foot, under a calm pale sky.

The Book of

2 Chronicles 25

A king obeys a costly word, wins a war, and then bows to the gods of the people he has beaten.

28 verses≈ 7 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1SolomonWisdom asked at Gibeon
  2. 2–5The templeBuilt on Mount Moriah
  3. 6–7DedicationIf My people humble themselves
  4. 8–9Solomon's gloryThe queen of Sheba
  5. 10–16DivisionRehoboam to Asa
  6. 17–20JehoshaphatThe battle is God's
  7. 21–24Dark yearsJehoram to Joash
  8. 25–28Proud kingsAmaziah to AhazChapter 25
  9. 29–32HezekiahDoors opened, Passover kept
  10. 33–35Manasseh to JosiahMercy and the Book found
  11. 36Exile and returnMay he go up

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

Judah

Amaziah of Judah · 29 years

  1. King at twenty-five

    Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.

  2. His mother Jehoaddan of Jerusalem

    His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.

  3. did right

    Right, but not wholeheartedly

    And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.

2 Chronicles 25:2

As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

Amaziah’s Victories

Valley of Salt (site uncertain)Seir (Edom)JerusalemSamariaBeth-horonBeth-shemeshLachish

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Amaziah’s wars

Amaziah marched south-east to the Valley of Salt, probably in the Arabah below the Dead Sea, and struck the men of Seir, the land of Edom. Meanwhile the troops he had sent home raided Judah’s towns from Samaria to Beth-horon. Later Jehoash of Israel met him at Beth-shemesh, and in the end Amaziah fled to Lachish. The Valley of Salt’s exact site is uncertain.

Then Amaziah gathered the people of Judah and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and of hundreds. And he numbered those twenty years of age or older throughout Judah and Benjamin and found 300,000 chosen men able to serve in the army, bearing the spear and shield.

Noon in a palace courtyard in Jerusalem: royal stewards heap heavy silver ingots and rings on a cloth and weigh them on a great wooden balance before three Israelite officers in bronze-scale coats, the king looking on.

He also hired 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

The man of God

But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the Ephraimites. Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”

Amaziah

Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the troops of Israel?”

And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

2 Chronicles 25:9

and the army of Judah also captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.

Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had dismissed from battle raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon. They struck down 3,000 people and carried off a great deal of plunder.

Reflect

Much more than this

Obeying God cost Amaziah a hundred talents of silver, and the angry men he sent home cost Judah more. Obedience is not always cheap. What would it cost you to do the right thing you already know? Write it down, and beside it write the man of God’s answer: “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

Amaziah Rebuked for Idolatry

When Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the Seirites, set them up as his own gods, bowed before them, and burned sacrifices to them.

The prophet

Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”

Amaziah

While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?”

Late afternoon in a palace court: an older prophet in a dark cloak turns away mid-step, one hand still raised, while the king on a raised seat points sharply toward the gate and two guards stand with spears grounded.

So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

Question

Quick question

Amaziah came home from Edom and bowed to the gods of the Seirites. Then a prophet came with a question.

Why did the prophet say it made no sense to seek Edom’s gods?

Jehoash Defeats Amaziah

Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu.

Amaziah

“Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

Jehoash

But Amaziah would not listen, for this had come from God in order to deliver them into the hand of Jehoash, because they had sought the gods of Edom.

Dawn over a broad valley of wheat fields and olive groves under low mist, a small walled town on a low mound in the middle distance, and two thin lines of smoke rising from far-off camps on the slopes, under a calm pale sky.

So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his own home.

Dusk outside a city's north side: a long stretch of thick stone wall lies broken down into a sloping heap of rubble beside a plain gate, and far off a small line of laden donkeys heads away toward the hills.

There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of God with Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

0:28

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

The Death of Amaziah

Judah

Amaziah’s end

  1. Fifteen years after Jehoash

    Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

  2. Book of the Kings

    His acts recorded

    As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

Evening across rolling hills: a high, steep city mound with a sloping stone base, a double ring of plain walls, a broad gate and a massive platform on its summit, a road winding up to the gate.

From the time that Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. They carried him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.

Pray

Keep listening

Amaziah listened once, at real cost, and then stopped listening. Ask God for an undivided heart that keeps hearing Him after the first obedience. Thank Him that “The LORD is able to give you much more than this,” whatever you give up for Him. Ask for humility after success, and pray for leaders who began well, that they would finish well.

You’ve experienced

2 Chronicles 25

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A verse to carry with you

Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

2 Chronicles 25:9

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