2 Kings 21:19 - Meaning and Application

This is a brief account of Amon, the son of Manasseh, and his short, shameful reign. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and foolish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other sons, or whether the people refused them because they had been set apart for idolatry, Amon came to the throne as a son born only when Manasseh was forty-five years old.

We are told first that Amon’s reign was very wicked. He turned away from the God of his fathers (2 Kings 21:22), rejected the commands given to them, broke the covenant made with them, and did not walk in the Lord’s way. Instead, he followed the same path his father had once followed in his idolatry (2 Kings 21:20, 21). He copied his father’s false worship and brought back what his father had later torn down. This is a serious warning. People who set bad examples may repent themselves, but they cannot be sure that those they have led into sin will repent too. Often, it turns out otherwise.

We are told next that Amon’s end was tragic. Since he had rebelled against God, his own servants made a plot against him and killed him, probably out of personal anger, after he had reigned only two years (2 Kings 21:23). Those who should have protected him became his murderers, and the house that should have been his place of safety became the place of his death. He had filled God’s house with idols, and now God allowed his own house to be stained with his blood. However unjust the killers were, God remained just in allowing it.

After this, the people of the land did two things through their representatives. First, they punished the traitors who had killed the king and put them to death. Even though Amon was a bad king, he was still their king, and loyalty required them to avenge his death. In doing this, they cleared themselves of any share in the crime and gave a warning against such wicked deeds. Second, they acted for their own good by making Josiah, Amon’s son, king in his place. The conspirators likely wanted to keep Josiah off the throne, but the people supported him and established him as king. They may have been encouraged by signs, even in his youth, that he had a good heart. In this way, they made a blessed change from one of the worst kings of Judah to one of the best.

God was, as it were, giving them another chance with reform. If that reform succeeded, well and good. If it did not, then after that he would cut them down. Amon was buried in the same garden as his father (2 Kings 21:26). If his father had accepted that place of humiliation, the people would place Amon there too.