2 Kings 14:8-12 Pride cometh before a fall!

 “Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.” And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?” But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.”

‭‭II Kings‬ ‭14‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Come, let us face one another in battle: Proud from his success against Edom, Amaziah decided to make war against the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

i. Again, 2 Chronicles 25:5-16 gives more background to this event. When Amaziah sent away the Israelite mercenaries, they were not happy – even though he paid them for not fighting against Edom (they probably counted on receiving much more from the spoil of battle). As they returned to Israel, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much spoil(2 Chronicles 25:13). This was the political motivation for Amaziah’s attack against Israel.

ii. He had reason to believe he would be successful. He had recently assembled a 300,000 man army that killed 20,000 Edomites in a victory over Edom (2 Chronicles 25:5, 11-12). Jehoahaz seemed very weak, having only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers after being defeated by the Syrians (2 Kings 13:7).

b. The thistle that was in Lebanon: The reply of Jehoash king of Israel was both wise and diplomatic. With this little story and its application, he counseled Amaziah to glory in his previous victory over Edom but then to stay at home.

i. “The thistle, imagining himself to be equal with the cedar, presumptuously suggested a marriage alliance between them. The difference between the two was made obvious when a wild beast passed through and crushed the thistle underfoot. Of course the beast was powerless to injure the cedar.” (Dilday)

c. Why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall – you and Judah with you: Amaziah should have listened to this word from Jehoash, but he didn’t. He provoked a fight he should have avoided, and did not consider both the likelihood of success and the effect his defeat would have on the whole kingdom of Judah. (Guzik)

Pride cometh before a fall!

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭BSB‬‬

All our talents, gifts and skills are given to us by God. Therefore God deserves the credit for everything that we do and accomplish! When we become prideful we dishonor God!

Years ago when I converted my father’s 8mm film to DVD I had noticed from several films of Christmas, gifts given to my older brother and I were toys which later represented our adult professions. I asked my father jokingly if he was brain washing us. He said no, that the gifts were what we wanted. So our parents encouraged our skills!

I believe that these were skills were given to us by God before we were born because the Bible says:

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We need to give God all the glory for everything we do and accomplish. Don’t let Satan whisper in your ear any prideful thoughts because if we do the Lord God will remind us how lowly we really are without Him!

Blessings 

2 Kings 14:7 His gods!

 “He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.”

‭‭II Kings‬ ‭14‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He killed ten thousand Edomites: This shows the military might of Amaziah, and that he successfully subdued the weaker nations surrounding Judah.

b. And took Sela by war: Some believe this was the ancient rock city in the desert also known as Petra; others believe it was a different place. One way or another, this was a significant victory for Amaziah.

i. 2 Chronicles 25:5-16 gives more background to this event. Amaziah gathered a huge army in Judah to go against Edom – three hundred thousand choice men, able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield. He also hired 100,000 mercenary soldiers from Israel. But a prophet came and warned him not to use the soldiers from Israel, because God was not with that rebellious and idolatrous kingdom. Amaziah was convinced to trust God, send the mercenaries from Israel away, and accept the loss of the money used to hire them. God blessed this step of faith, and gave them a convincing victory over the Edomites.

ii. Amaziah trusted God for the victory over Edom; but immediately after the victory his heart turned from God: Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. (2 Chronicles 25:14) (Guzik)

His gods!

After trusting God his heart turned from God! “that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them.”(Guzik)

But we are no different! We leave church renewed and refreshed in Jesus and when we get home our hearts turn from God and we turn to our gods and idols! Television, smartphones, news, sports, social media and the like! 

Oh, when we meet Jesus face to face will we see how much time we wasted instead of using it wisely for His kingdom!

I confess that I spend too much time with my gods, my smartphone and with television!

What have become your gods?

Blessings 

2 Kings 14:5-6 Faith and Courage!

 “Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king. But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.””

‭‭II Kings‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He executed his servants who had murdered his father the king: This was both just and in the best interest of Amaziah. It was good for him to eliminate those who found the assassination of the king a reasonable way to change the kingdom.

i. It also fulfilled God’s command to punish murderers with execution, first given in Genesis 9:5-7.

b. But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: It was the standard practice of the ancient world to execute not only the guilty party in such a murder, but also his family. Amaziah went against the conventional practice of his day and obeyed the word of God instead (Deuteronomy 24:16). (Guzik)

i. “Wherein he showed some faith and courage, that he would obey this command of God, though it was very hazardous to himself, such persons being likely to seek revenge for their father’s death.” (Poole)

Faith and Courage!

Like king Amaziah when were called by the Lord to adoption we had the faith and courage to follow through with the Lords plan for our lives and our son whom we adopted. It wasn’t easy but the Lord provided the support we needed!

Has Jesus ever called you to do something that required faith and courage?

Blessings 

2 Kings 14:1-4 Limitation in Loyalty!

 “In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he did everything as his father Joash had done. However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” II Kings‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD: Amaziah, son of the great reformer Joash, continued the generally godly reign began by his father.

i. “He made a good beginning in thus adhering closely to the law. Happy would it have been for him and for his kingdom had he continued as he began.” (Knapp)

b. Yet not like his father David; he did everything as his father Joash had done: Compared to Joash, Amaziah faithfully continued his policies. Yet some of those policies allowed compromises, such as the allowing of continued sacrifices and incense offerings on the high places. Compared to David – the greatest merely human king to reign over the people of God – Amaziah did not match up favorably.

i. “The constantly repeated story of limitation in loyalty is told again.” (Morgan)

(Guzik)

Limitation in Loyalty!

The Old Testament kings limitation in loyalty to the Lord should be a warning for every Christian! For Jesus said: ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I pray I finish the race as well as Paul did with loyalty to Jesus!

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What about you?

Blessings 

2 Kings 13:24-25 Wished!

 “Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.” ‭‭II Kings‬ ‭13‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Three times Joash defeated him: Elisha had promised Joash these three victories over the Syrians. We can suppose that, especially after the third victory, King Joash wished he had shot more arrows through the window at the invitation of Elisha.

Wished!

Like king Joash who wished he had shot more arrows, when we examine our lives will we have regretted and wished we had accepted Jesus sooner and accomplished more for His kingdom than we did?

Unfortunately we may never know unless we have death staring us in the face! 

It’s at that moment that you realize that you are mortal and life is short and precious!

I wish I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior sooner, do you?

Blessings 

2 Kings 13:22-23 But!

 “And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.”

‭‭II Kings‬ ‭13‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel: This was allowed – even planned – by God as a way to discipline this wayward nation. In 2 Kings 8:12, it records Elisha’s prior knowledge of the calamity Hazael would bring upon Israel.

b. But the LORD was gracious to them: Israel deserved this discipline, yet God refused to forsake them. He gave them many blessings and saved them from many problems and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence. (Guzik)

But!

Discipline was allowed, even planned by God! But the Lord was gracious to them! Yet God refused to forsake them!

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

‭‭II Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When we see the word “but”, we need to pay attention and ask ourselves……

What is the Lord trying to teach me?

Blessings 

2 Kings 13:20-21 Brought to Life!

 “Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” II Kings‬ ‭13‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Then Elisha died: Perhaps he expected or hoped that he would be carried up into heaven after the dramatic pattern of his mentor, Elijah. Yet that was not God’s plan or will for Elisha. Like many others, he simply became old, sick, and then died.

b. When the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet: This is one of the more strange and unusual miracles in the Bible. There is little explanation and the silence of the record suggests that there was not inherent power in the bones of Elisha to resuscitate others. This seems to be a unique, one-time miracle to bring honor to the memory of this great prophet.

i. “This is the first, and I believe the last, account of a true miracle performed by the bones of a dead man; and yet on it and such like the whole system of miraculous working relics has been founded by the popish Church.” (Clarke)

ii. We can also be brought to life by our contact with these dead prophets.

(Guzik)

Brought to Life!

When I first read Clarke’s comment I chuckled but then had to lookup the word “popish” but still chuckled because I was raised in that church! 🤣

This comment is true and noteworthy! “We can also be brought to life by our contact with these dead prophets.” (Guzik)

The Lord wanted us to study the dead prophets for a reason!

Have you figured it out?

Blessings