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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter
Speaker 1: twenty five and will be reading from the contemporary English version.
Speaker 1: Amaziah was twenty five years old when he became king,
Speaker 1: and he ruled twenty nine years from Jerusalem, the hometown
Speaker 1: of his mother Jehoedin. Even though Amaziah obeyed the Lord
Speaker 1: by doing right, he refused to be completely faithful. For example,
Speaker 1: as soon as he had control of Judah, he arrested
Speaker 1: and killed the officers who had murdered his father, but
Speaker 1: the children of those officers were not killed. The Lord
Speaker 1: had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the
Speaker 1: people who sinned were to be punished. Amaziah sent a
Speaker 1: message to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and called
Speaker 1: together all the men who were twenty years old and older.
Speaker 1: Three hundred thousand men went to Jerusalem, all of them
Speaker 1: ready for battle and able to fight with spears and shields.
Speaker 1: Amaziah grouped these soldiers according to their clans and put
Speaker 1: them under the command of his army. Officers. Amazia also
Speaker 1: paid almost four tons of silver to hire one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand soldiers from Israel. One of God's prophets said, your majesty,
Speaker 1: don't let these Israelite soldiers march into battle with you.
Speaker 1: The Lord has refused to help anyone from the northern
Speaker 1: Kingdom of Israel, and so he will let your enemies
Speaker 1: defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the
Speaker 1: one who brings both victory and defeat. Amaziah replied, what
Speaker 1: am I supposed to do about all the silver I
Speaker 1: paid those troops. The Lord will give you back even
Speaker 1: more than you paid, the prophet answered. Amaziah ordered the
Speaker 1: troops from Israel to go home, but when they left,
Speaker 1: they were furious with the people of Judah. After Amaziah
Speaker 1: got his courage back, he led his troops to Salt Valley,
Speaker 1: where he killed ten thousand Edamite soldiers in battle. He
Speaker 1: captured ten thousand more soldiers and dragged them to the
Speaker 1: top of a high cliff. Then he pushed them over
Speaker 1: the side and they all were killed on the rocks below. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the Israelite troops that Amaziah had sent home raided the
Speaker 1: towns in Judah between Samaria and Beth Huran. They killed
Speaker 1: three thousand people and carried off their possessions. After Amaziah
Speaker 1: had defeated the Edamite army, he returned to Jerusalem. He
Speaker 1: took with him the idols of the Edamite gods and
Speaker 1: set them up. Then he bowed down and offered them sacrifices.
Speaker 1: This made the lord very angry, and he sent a
Speaker 1: prophet to act. Ask Amaziah, why would you worship these
Speaker 1: foreign gods that couldn't even save their own people from
Speaker 1: your attack. But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted
Speaker 1: and said, you're not one of my advisers. Don't say
Speaker 1: another word, or I'll have you killed. The prophet stopped,
Speaker 1: but then he added, first you sinned, and now you've
Speaker 1: ignored my warning. It's clear that God has decided to
Speaker 1: punish you. King Amaziah of Judah talked with his officials,
Speaker 1: then sent a message to King joho Ash of Israel,
Speaker 1: come out and face me in battle. Jeho Ash sent
Speaker 1: back a reply that said, once upon a time, a
Speaker 1: small thorn bush in Lebanon arranged the marriage between his
Speaker 1: son and the daughter of a large cedar tree. But
Speaker 1: a wild animal came along and trampled the small bush, Amazia.
Speaker 1: You think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom, but
Speaker 1: stay at home and do your celebrating. If you cause
Speaker 1: any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will
Speaker 1: be destroyed. God made Amaziah stubborn because he was planning
Speaker 1: to punish him for worshiping the Edomite gods. Amaziah refused
Speaker 1: to listen to Jehoash's warning, so Jehoash led his army
Speaker 1: to the town of Bethshemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah
Speaker 1: and his troops. During the battle, Judah's army was crushed.
Speaker 1: Every soldier from Judah ran back home, and Jehoash captured Amaziah.
Speaker 1: Jehoash took Amaziah with him when he went to attack Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: Jehoash broke down the city wall from Ephrium Gate to Cornergate,
Speaker 1: a section about six hundred feet long. He carried away
Speaker 1: the gold, the silver, and all the valuable furnishings from
Speaker 1: God's temple, where the descendants of ovid Edom stood guard.
Speaker 1: He robbed the king's treasure, took hostages, then returned to Samaria.
Speaker 1: Amaziah lived fifteen years after Jehoash died. Everything else Amaziah
Speaker 1: did while he was king, he is written in the
Speaker 1: history of the Kings of Judah and Israel. As soon
Speaker 1: as Amaziah started disobeying the Lord, some people in Jerusalem
Speaker 1: plotted against Amaziah. He was able to escape to the
Speaker 1: town of Lakish, but another group of people caught him
Speaker 1: and killed him there. His body was taken to Jerusalem
Speaker 1: on horseback and buried beside his ancestors. Let's pray, Lord,
Speaker 1: we thank you for your word and for the privilege
Speaker 1: of being able to look at it today. And we
Speaker 1: thank you for the cautions that we see in this
Speaker 1: portion of scripture. And it's a repeated caution that we've
Speaker 1: seen ever since we began reading through the scriptures, the
Speaker 1: caution to avoid idols. Lord. So often our hearts gravitate
Speaker 1: toward the idols of this world. We think that falsered
Speaker 1: of comfort are going to satisfy and comfort our hearts.
Speaker 1: We think that false sources of victory can grant us
Speaker 1: the victory that really only you can grant us. And
Speaker 1: we buy into this kind of false thinking and false
Speaker 1: system of believing more often than we probably even realize.
Speaker 1: In most cases, our personal idols probably aren't physical statues
Speaker 1: or something of that nature, but usually they are things
Speaker 1: that we think will satisfy our hearts and fulfill our
Speaker 1: lives outside of your son, Jesus Christ and the truth
Speaker 1: of his gospel. Lord, forgive us for gravitating toward idols,
Speaker 1: and we pray that when you reveal to us that
Speaker 1: there are idols in our lives, that we would be
Speaker 1: willing to listen to your counsel and that we would
Speaker 1: repent of our idolatry. We're grateful, Lord for your love.
Speaker 1: We thank you for your presence with us, and we
Speaker 1: commit this day to your care and pray this all
Speaker 1: in Jesus's name. Amen.