Idolatry, Pride, and Defeat

2 Chronicles 25:17-28

    17 Now Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us face one another in battle."

    18 And Joash 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. 19 Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall—you and Judah with you?"

    20 But Amaziah would not heed, for it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went out; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 23 Then Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh; and he brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

    25 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, indeed are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.

Amaziah, the king of Judah, was led away from God by his idolatry and pride after defeating the Edomites.  His trust was in the illusion of his own strength instead of the reality and confession that all strength is from the LORD.  He called out Israel to do battle, presumably because the mercenaries he hired and fired to the battle with Edom at Seir led to their looting Judean cities on the way home.  No matter the rationale, Amaziah was set on attacking Joash and the Israelites to face the defeat prophesied about when he turned to the idols of Edom and threatened to kill the messenger of God sent to warn him.  He wanted to shoot the messenger because God had hardened his heart and sealed his fate in this time now with the mind set on warfare against God’s people.  Even Joash then warned him not to meddle with trouble because it would only lead to failure, to defeat.  Amaziah’s pride and God’s sentence married up and led to his demise.  The army of Israel under Joash captured the king, broke the walls of Jerusalem, and pillaged the valuables of God’s house of worship and sacrifice.  Though Amaziah outlived Joash, he eventually was conspired against and killed him for turning against the LORD.  We learn first of all that the first commandment is tantamount for worship and honor of a loyal heart of faithfulness.  We also see that the end of those who refuse God’s call to trust His message and messengers with repentance and obedience as a result, these will meet a tragic end of His judgment.  The work we are to do is to believe whom He sent, Jesus Christ, and not our own efforts or reasoning.  Repentance and faith like Abraham who believed God for righteousness to be reckoned to his account (Romans 4:3, James 2:23, Galatians 3:9), this is the call to all in rebellion and idolatry of self and other gods.  It was true for Amaziah, and just as true for us today, the difference being the clarity provided by the warning and hope of the gospel of Jesus the Christ in the message of the ultimate Messenger sent to us as Hebrews 1:1-2 reminds us.  Idolatry and pride against the Lord and His anointed (the Messiah, the Christ) only ends in eternal defeat after death; life, hope, and peace with God are found in hearing, actively believing, trusting in the work of Christ, and being reconciled by faith because we heed the Messenger.