Holding Steady in Heart to Lead

2 Kings 14:1-22
    1 In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. 2 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. 3 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. 4 However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
    5 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. 6 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."
    7 He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.  8 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." 9 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. 10 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?"
    11 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. 12 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 13 Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh; and he went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits. 14 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
    15 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did—his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 16 So Jehoash rested with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
    17 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19 And they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 20 Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.  21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers. 

Amaziah the son of Joash now reigned in Judah after his father passed the kingdom to him.  He did keep the spiritual status quo in how he ruled, not doing as well as king David, yet still doing what was right in the sight of the LORD as his father had done.  He did not do better, but at least did not slide away into doing evil as other kings before him in Judah or Israel.  There were still those not worshiping The LORD God, instead burning incense on strange altars.  Overall, however, Amaziah led his and God’s people well.  He began by executing judgment on the murderers of his father Joash (2 Kings 12:20).  He did not, however, kill their children because they were not held accountable for the sins of their fathers as the Law in Deuteronomy 24:16 clearly was written.  Each person is individually accountable to God for their sins.  The only seeming exception to this is that the original sin of everyone who is born is inherited from Adam and Eve, and we are all accountable for that fallen sinful nature.  Seeming, as our nature is not the same as individual acts of sin which we each do answer for - either for forgiveness obtained through confession and repentance (1 John 1:9), or for loss of reward in eternity (1 Corinthians 3:14-15).  Amaziah did pick a fight with Israel though, and would not relent from engaging in battle when it was refused.  The result was defeat for Judah and damage to Jerusalem;  six hundred feet of the wall was destroyed and the valuables from the LORD’s and king’s houses were taken, along with hostages, to be taken to Samaria where Israel was ruled from.  When Jehoash of Israel died, his heir Jeroboam assumed the throne.  Eventually, Amaziah was hunted down, killed, and his body brought back to Jerusalem for burial.  His son Azariah took over to rule Judah.  These events demonstrate how the people of God in both the northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah, were not drawing closer to the LORD, but maintaining in some respects and sliding away overall.  Their rebellious nature put other things over worshiping their God, things such as power and pride and self-serving pursuits.  This is a warning for us of the deceitfulness of sin (Mark 4:19, Hebrews 3:13) which can entangle us and pull us away fro serving our Lord and Savior with a full and loyal heart as the example set imperfectly by king David and completely by his seed, our Lord Jesus Christ.  For those of us called to lead, may we hold steady in heart to lead (Romans 12:8), and let all of us lay aside the sin which weighs us down and pursue Him, warning and encouraging each other together in this race towards conformity to Christ and eternity to be before His face without shame.