“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
