25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem.
The next king of Judah was Amaziah. He was the son of the good King Joash, who later migrated into idolatry. His mother was Jehoaddan. Mothers were in charge of their children’s education, so the character of their sons often reflect upon the success or failure of their mother’s spiritual character.
Modern parents have a tremendous responsibility in educating their children. Throwing them into public school education unprepared is like throwing a child into Satan’s classroom. These children will be led and taught by Christ-rejecters, evolutionists, secular humanists, homosexuals, lesbians, and child molesters. It is the responsibility of Christian parents to protect their children from this kind of educational system.
25:2 He did what the Lord approved, but not with wholehearted devotion.
Amaziah was sometimes a good king, and other times a bad king. He often did what Jehovah commanded, but he did so for political reasons instead of religious reasons. Many politicians today will sometimes pass good laws only so that they can receive more votes and stay in power.
25:3 When he had secured control of the kingdom, he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.
Amaziah executed the political leaders who assassinated his father. These political leaders had violated the Mosaic Law by murdering an anointed king in the Davidic line. David would never assassinate Saul, even though David had several opportunities to do so. David believed that it was God’s responsibility, not man’s, to remove and replace kings.
25:4 However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. A man must be executed only for his own sin.”
Most secular kings would have executed the sons of the assassins as well. However, this execution policy was against the Mosaic Law. Fathers were to to be executed for their own sins. Children were not to be executed for the sins of their fathers.
25:5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of a thousand and the commanders of units of a hundred for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age equipped with spears and shields.
Amaziah drafted an army of 300,00 men. The army size of Israel and Judah was decreasing instead of increasing. In the meantime, the army size of Assyria was increasing.
25:6 He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for a hundred talents of silver.
Amaziah hired 100,000 mercenary soldiers from Israel.
25:7 But a prophet visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.
Israel was a nation who had rejected Jehovah and worshiped demonic gods. Jehovah did not want Judah making a treaty with a nation of satanists.
25:8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”
If Judah entered the battle with Israel, then God would discipline Judah by giving them defeat. It is Jehovah who decides the winner of each battle. Sometimes, God will allow the bad guys to win in order to enforce divine discipline upon the good guys.
25:9 Amaziah asked the prophet: “But what should I do about the hundred talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.”
Amaziah had already paid 100 hundred talents of silver to Israel's mercenary army. The prophet predicted that Judah would win the battle and receive more plunder than the 100 talents of silver that had already been paid out to Israel.
25:10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed.
Israel's mercenary soldiers were very angry, because possibly God had rejected them and/or they had lost their chance to gain additional plunder.
25:11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites.
The Edomites were defeated by the Dead Sea.
25:12 The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death.
The Edomites violated the Abrahamic Covenant. They received a kind-for-kind punishment. The Edomites wanted to kill all of the soldiers from Judah, but it was actually the Edomite soldiers who were killed.
25:13 Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.
While Judah was fighting the Edomites, the Israelite soldiers who were rejected by God attacked and plundered the defenseless cities in Judah.
25:14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir and made them his personal gods. He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.
Amaziah followed in his father’s footsteps. Man is totally depraved and evil. In his fallen condition, man will worship the creature rather than the Creator. This was the main opening accusation of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
25:15 The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following these gods that could not deliver their own people from your power?”
Jehovah sent a prophet to condemn Amaziah for his idolatrous leadership of Judah.
25:16 While he was speaking, Amaziah said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!” So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that the Lord has decided to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”
This prophet did not tickle the king’s ears. King Amaziah threatened to execute the prophet if he did not change the tune of his message. America is more modernized. Instead of capital punishment, they censor the Word of God in educational institutions.
25:17 After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers, he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.”
The King of Judah challenged the King of Israel to a one-on-one battle, similar to that of David and Goliath.
25:18 King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush.
The King of Israel sent back an insulting parable to the King of Judah. The thorn bush in Lebanon was King Amaziah of Israel. The cedar in Lebanon was one of the tallest and strongest trees in the ancient Middle East. The cedar tree represented the nation of Israel. The wild animal of Lebanon was the army of Israel. The message was that Judah was just a small and weak thistle compared to Israel, who was a large and powerful cedar tree.
25:19 You defeated Edom and it has gone to your head. Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”
The King of Israel commented that Judah’s defeat over Edom had given Judah too much pride. The King of Israel advised that Judah needed to stay in their palace and gloat over their Edomite victory. If Judah decided to attack Israel, then Israel would bring calamity upon themselves.
25:20 But Amaziah did not heed the warning, for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.
Amaziah was a king from the Davidic line, yet he led Israel in worshiping Edomite idols. Therefore, God led Judah into battle so that they could lose and be humbled.
25:21 So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield in Beth Shemesh of Judah.
Beth Shemesh means “the House of the Sun.” This was a former place of sun worship. Judah and Israel met for battle. Civil war places both nations in danger, because their armies and resources are depleted. At the same time, all of the surrounding nations increase their armies. As Israel and Judah were fighting each other and depleting their men and resources, Assyria was increasing her army and resources.
25:22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.
Judah was defeated by Israel. The reason for the defeat was that the Davidic line led Israel into the worship of idols.
25:23 King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about six hundred feet.
King Amaziah of the Davidic line of Judah was captured in battle by the King of Israel.
25:24 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.
Israel plundered Judah, making Judah a weak and powerless nation. Without an army and resources, Judah would now have to depend upon God for her protection.
25:25 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel.
The King of Judah from the Davidic line outlived the King of Israel by fifteen years.
25:26 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
This book was available to the author of the time of this writing, but it no longer exists today.
25:27 From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him and they killed him there.
Assassins killed Amaziah. Amaziah was a Judah king from the messianic seed line of David.
25:28 His body was carried back by horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David.
Amaziah was buried in the royal graveyard.