2 Kings 14:8 - Meaning and Application

For several generations after the kingdom split, Judah suffered a lot from Israel’s hostility. After Asa’s time, it suffered even more from Israel’s friendship, because of alliances and family ties with them. Now we see those two kingdoms in open conflict again, something that had not happened for many years.

Amaziah, without any clear reason, challenged Joash to battle: “Come, let us face each other” (2 Kings 14:8). If he had challenged only Joash in a personal fight, the wrong would have stayed with him alone. But he put whole armies in the field, and thousands of lives on both sides would pay for his rash pride. He showed himself proud, overconfident, and careless with human blood. Some think he wanted to avenge the harm done by the dismissed Israelite soldiers when they went home (2 Chronicles 25:13), and that he also dreamed of conquering Israel and joining the two kingdoms again.

A foolish person’s words often start a fight, and his speech invites blows. Those who issue challenges are the ones who begin the trouble, like opening a floodgate. Anyone who is eager to fight, or eager to go to court, may get plenty of trouble quickly and be the first to regret it.

Joash answered with a serious rebuke and told Amaziah to back down (2 Kings 14:9, 10). First, he humbled Amaziah’s pride by comparing himself to a cedar, a noble tree, and Amaziah to a thistle, a worthless weed. He was saying that he feared Amaziah so little that he did not even consider matching himself with him, any more than a cedar would marry its daughter to a thistle. The old family of David, he thought, was not worth mentioning beside the house of Jehu, even if Jehu’s line was newer.

It is striking to hear two proud, harsh men try to outdo each other in insults. Next, Joash foretold Amaziah’s downfall: a wild beast had stepped on the thistle, so it was easy to end its deal with the cedar. In the same way, Joash believed his forces could crush Amaziah with no effort. He also showed the foolishness of the challenge. Amaziah had defeated Edom, but Edom had been weak, unarmed, and poorly trained, so Amaziah now wrongly thought he could also defeat Israel’s regular army. Joash said, “Your heart has made you proud.”

That is where sin begins, in the heart, and from there it spreads. It is not Providence, or events, or circumstances that make people proud, self-confident, or bitter. Their own heart does that. Amaziah was proud of his victory over Edom, as if that one success made him strong enough to face anyone. People deceive themselves badly when they praise their own achievements and, because they have had a little success and gained some reputation, think they are fit for anything.

Joash also urged Amaziah to be satisfied with the honor he had already gained and not to risk it by reaching for more than he could hold. Why should he stir up trouble for his own harm, as fools often do when they keep meddling? (Proverbs 20:3). Many people would have enough wealth and honor if they only knew when they had enough. Joash warned him that the result would be ruin, not only for himself, but for the kingdom he was supposed to protect.

Amaziah refused to listen, and the outcome was disastrous. He would have done better to stay home, because Joash met him in a way that brought him shame. Those who issue the challenge are usually the ones who lose. His army was defeated and scattered (2 Kings 14:12). Josephus says that when the armies came together, the men of Judah were so frightened that they did not even strike a blow, but ran for their lives.

Amaziah himself was taken prisoner by the king of Israel, and then he had enough of facing Joash. His family line is mentioned here rather suddenly, “the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah,” perhaps because he had boasted in the dignity of his ancestors, or because he was now suffering for their sin. The conqueror then entered Jerusalem, which gave in without a fight, yet he broke down part of its wall. Josephus says he even drove his chariot through the breach in triumph. He did this to shame them and to show that he could take their royal city whenever he wished.

Joash also stripped Jerusalem of its treasures, took everything valuable, and went back to Samaria with the spoil (2 Kings 14:14). Joash “did evil in the sight of the Lord,” while Amaziah “did what was right,” yet Joash still defeated him. Why? God was showing through Amaziah’s downfall that he resists the proud. Or perhaps the reason was that Joash had recently shown respect to one of God’s prophets (2 Kings 13:14), while Amaziah had insulted another (2 Chronicles 25:16). God honors those who honor him in his prophets, but those who despise them, and despise him in them, will be treated with contempt.