So as soon as I see “Amaziah king of Judah” I immediately need to look at my visual”. The two reads fit like a puzzle piece. So if you already read and totally got it you can skip today’s post. It is just a recap of the read.
Amaziah of Judah reigned over Judah for 29 years (796-767 B.C.). He began reigning when Jehoash was king over Israel and died during the reign of Jehoash’s son and successor Jeroboam II.
One of Amaziah’s acts of goodness that the writer of Kings included was his obedience to the Law in the matter of not executing children for their fathers’ crimes (Deut. 24:16). Kings of other ancient Near Eastern countries commonly practiced such executions. Amaziah instead trusted God to control the potential rebels.
Amaziah was victorious over Edom and become prideful. (Have they not learned that any victory they have is from the Lord…oh wait…have I?. So Amaziah (Judah) picks a fight with Jehoash (Israel). So like children, they tease each other and Jehoash calls him a little thistle compared to himself as a cedar in Lebanon. (Listen, I am on Summer Break! I feel like I am back with my school kids!) He warns him not to pick a fight but to just go home. (In my head I can see people standing around saying “fight fight fight”.”)
God permitted this situation to punish Amaziah because after subduing the Edomites, he had brought some of their idols into Jerusalem and worshipped them. (2 Chron. 25:14, 20) The army of Israel took Amaziah prisoner.
When Jehoash died, they released Amaziah who returned to Judah. But….we end on a sad note:
From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, (a former royal city) but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 He was brought back by horse and was buried with his ancestors in the City of Judah.
Jeroboam II’s reign of 41 years was the longest in Israel’s history (793-753 B.C.).
“He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher”.
Soooo guess what book we read tomorrow??? Jonah and the Big Fish God!
Reading the Bible - 2021 