2 Chronicles 25:1 - Meaning and Application

Amaziah’s general character was that he did what was right in the Lord’s eyes. He worshiped the true God, kept the temple service going, and supported religion in his kingdom. Yet he did not do this with a whole heart, meaning he was not deeply devoted to God himself, nor did he show much zeal for worship. He was no enemy of religion, but he was a cool and distant friend to it. Many people are like that in a lukewarm age, doing what is good, but not with a sincere heart.

He also did an important act of justice when he punished the traitors who had murdered his father. Though they may have meant to avenge the prophet’s death, that would not excuse their sin. They were not appointed as avengers, but had wrongly taken God’s work into their own hands. Amaziah did right in calling them to account, and he also obeyed God’s law by refusing to put their children to death for their fathers’ sin.

Amaziah then prepared for war against the Edomites, who had long since broken away from Judah’s rule. He first reviewed his own forces and found that Judah and Benjamin had 300,000 fighting men. That was far fewer than in Jehoshaphat’s time, about fifty or sixty years earlier, when they were four times as many. Sin weakens a people, lowers their strength, and reduces both their numbers and their standing. He also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel, because he thought his own army was not enough. If he had asked a prophet first, or remembered how little good Judah had ever gained from alliances with Israel, he would not have had to undo this later. Rash decisions often create work for repentance.

God sent him a message through a prophet, telling him to send away the soldiers from Israel. The king was not meant to depend on extra help at all, because that would show distrust in God. If he truly relied on God’s presence, his own army would have been enough. But he especially must not use Israel’s help, because the Lord was not with the children of Ephraim, that is, the northern tribes, since they had turned to calf worship. It was a poor choice to depend on people who did not have God with them and whose plans lacked his blessing. It is far safer to work with those we have reason to think belong to God, and dangerous to join hands with those from whom the Lord has turned away. The prophet warned him that if he insisted on taking these idolatrous Israelites with him, they would become a burden and a snare. God could make him fall before the enemy even with them beside him, because God had power both to help him without them and to cast him down with them.

Amaziah objected because he had already paid 100 talents to the men of Israel as advance money. If he sent them back, he would lose that money, so he asked, “What shall we do about the 100 talents?” People often make the same kind of excuse for disobeying God, fearing the loss it may bring. The prophet answered that the Lord was able to give him much more than that. God would not let him lose by obeying him. A strong faith in God’s full power to support us in duty, and to make up for all loss in his service, makes his yoke easy and his burden light. Trusting God means being willing to risk loss for him, with confidence that he will repay what we give up for his sake. He is both just and good, and he can fully meet every claim.

Amaziah then obeyed God. He chose to lose the money, offend his allies, and send away a large part of his army rather than displease the Lord. He dismissed the troops from Ephraim and sent them home. They went away angry, feeling insulted and treated as if they were useless. They may also have been disappointed at missing the plunder they hoped to gain by fighting Edom. People often resent anything that hurts their profit or pride, even when it frees them from trouble.

Still, Amaziah won a great victory over the Edomites. He killed 10,000 men on the battlefield and took another 10,000 prisoner. Then he cruelly threw those prisoners down from a high, rocky cliff and killed them all. We are not told what provoked such harsh treatment, but it was certainly severe. The soldiers he had sent home from Israel then turned on the cities of Judah as they returned, or soon afterward. Angry that they had been dismissed, they chose to plunder Judah if they could not share in Edom’s spoil. They attacked several border cities and killed 3,000 men who resisted them. Yet God allowed this for a reason. Though the men had been sent away in obedience to him, he still used them to discipline Judah, especially the cities most influenced by Israel’s idol worship. The people of Israel had corrupted them before, and now they became a plague to them. Satan both tempts and torments.