2 Chronicles 25:1-28
1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was establisheda to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.
4 But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.
5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.
6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
8 But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the armyb of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.
10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again:c wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.
12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.
13 But the soldiersd of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.
14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determinede to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistlef that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.
19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the cornerg gate, four hundred cubits.
24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?
27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.
28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.h
In chapter 25,
Amaziah [the son of Joash] began to reign, he was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. He reigned for twenty-nine years. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a complete heart. It came to pass, when the kingdom was established (2 Chronicles 25:1-3)
Actually, his dad was finally killed by a couple of his servants, and so he had the servants killed who had killed his father.
But he did not slay their children, because of the law of Moses that said, The children should not die for the sins of the parents, nor the parents for the sins of the children, but every man shall die for his own sin (2 Chronicles 25:4).
And Amaziah gathered together the people of Judah and they made an expedition against the Edomites. And they were successful in this war against the Edomites.
There came a man of God to the king (2 Chronicles 25:7),
Verse 2 Chronicles 25:7, prior to the battle. Because the king had used a part of the money, a hundred talents of silver. And he had hired a hundred thousand of the men of Israel to come with them to fight against the Edomites. So the man of God came and said, "Why are you leaning on the arm of flesh? Why are you trusting in the Israelites for help? You ought to trust in the Lord. Send them home, because they shouldn't be going into battle with you." He said, "Well, what shall I do? I've already given a hundred talents of silver." He said, "Just forget it. Count it as a loss. But send them back. Don't let them go into battle with you." Well, he listened to the voice of the prophet of God and he sent the men of Judah home, who were angry, the men of Israel home. They were angry and so they actually began to rip up some of the cities of Judah on their way home.
But Amaziah went down then against the Edomites and God gave the Edomites into his hands. But then, stupid guy, captured some of the gods of the Edomites, the little idols and he brought them back and set them up in his home and he began to worship these little idols, the gods of the Edomites.
Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, he sent to him a prophet that said, Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver them out of your hand? And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said, Did I hire you as a counselor? You better shut up; for why should I smite you? Then the prophet was quiet, and he said, I know that God hath determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and you have not hearkened to my counsel. So Amaziah the king of Judah sent a message to Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, he said, Let's come and face each other (2 Chronicles 25:15-17).
And so Jehoash, the king of Israel, sent a message back and said, "Look, young man, you went down and you had a victory over the Edomites. Now just stay home and enjoy that victory, for why should you meddle to your own hurt?" In other words, be satisfied with the victory you had over the Edomites and don't go looking for trouble. "Why should you meddle to your own hurt?"
But Amaziah would not hear (2 Chronicles 25:20);
And he demanded that they come out and meet face to face.
So the king of Israel came against him at Bethshemesh, and Amaziah and his troops were defeated. And the king of Israel came to Jerusalem and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, a space of about six hundred feet.
And he took all of the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, and the treasures of the king's house, and he took hostages, and he returned to Samaria. And Amaziah lived for another fifteen years. And the rest of his acts are found in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. Now after that time Amaziah turned away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; he fled to Lachish: but they came to Lachish and there they killed him (2 Chronicles 25:24-27).
Now this business of "why meddle to your own hurt?" is a good warning really, because many times people think that they can meddle with sin and not get hurt. They think that they can play with fire and not get burned. And it is interesting that many times our greatest dangers lie immediately following our greatest victories. Having a great victory can be a dangerous thing, because many times flushed with victory we begin to gain confidence in our flesh. We begin to almost go out looking for trouble. Looking for temptation so that we can conquer over it. Putting ourselves in a place of temptation or jeopardy in order that we might show how strong we are. Meddling around with things that we have no business meddling with. In places we have no business being. Meddling usually results in our own hurt.
And so they were defeated. But that wasn't all. A part of their defenses were destroyed. The king came and he destroyed a part of the wall of Jerusalem. When you fall into temptation, a part of your defenses are destroyed. The first time you came up against it, it was a real battle. You didn't fall easily. You really held your own for quite a while. But when you fell, a part of your defenses were wiped out. So the next time you faced that thing, you didn't have the same amount of strength to resist. It was a little easier to do it, because you've already done it once. You didn't have just that same inner strength against it. It was easier to fall the second time. The third time it was even easier yet, because a part of your defenses were destroyed.
And he took away the treasures. Whenever Satan defeats you, a certain amount of your treasures go with it. Treasures of purity and innocency robbed. Meddling to your own hurt. Don't meddle with sin. Don't meddle in the places of sin. Don't go to the enemy's territory looking for a fight. Looking to prove how strong you are, how tough you are, how righteous you are. How many people have been hurt by meddling.
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