2 Kings chapter 14

Amaziah becomes king in Judah. Jeroboam II becomes king in Israel.

 


 

AMAZIAH BECOMES KING IN JUDAH

 

VERSE 1. In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah began to reign.

 

VERSE 2. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

 

VERSE 3. He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, yet not like David his father. He did according to all that Joash his father had done.

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes. This is very unusual for a king. It is a welcome change.

yet not like David his father. By this point in the biblical narrative, David is already looked back upon as the greatest king.

However, as we have seen, both David and his kingdom were littered with disastrous errors.

 

VERSE 4. However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.

 

VERSE 5. As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his father,

Joash. The new king’s first accomplishment is murder.

He goes through the palace and murders whoever he thinks murdered his father.

 

VERSE 6. but the children of the murderers he didn’t put to death, according to that which is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

fathers shall not be put to death for the children. Parents should not be executed for the sins of their children.

nor the children be put to death for the fathers. Children should not be executed for the sins of their parents.

Deuteronomy 24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

 

VERSE 7. He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day.

He killed ten thousand Edomites. The new king’s second accomplishment is to kill ten thousand more people.

 

VERSE 8. Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s look one another in the face.”

Come, let’s look one another in the face. Amaziah king of Judah initiates a war with Jehoash king of Israel.

Whenever the tribes do not have external enemies to fight, they turn to infighting. They turn on each other.

Like Christians of today. We no longer have an evil Roman Empire to oppose. And so we oppose each other.

 

VERSE 9. Jehoash the 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.’ Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.

Give your daughter to my son as wife. This is part of a worldview that sees women as property.

 

VERSE 10. You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you fall, even you, and Judah with you?”

 

VERSE 11. But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

 

VERSE 12. Judah was defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent.

Judah was defeated by Israel. Amaziah king of Judah lost the war with Israel.

 

VERSE 13. Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh and came to Jerusalem, then broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

four hundred cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

 

VERSE 14. He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the LORD’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

 

VERSE 15. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

 

VERSE 16. Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash slept with his fathers. That is, he died.

 

VERSE 17. Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years.

 

VERSE 18. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

 

VERSE 19. They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.

Amaziah. He too is murdered by his own people.

 

VERSE 20. They brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in David’s city.

 

VERSE 21. All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

All the people of Judah took Azariah. In previous generations, only the prophets could designate the king.

Now that has been lost.

Now any self-designated gang can anoint a new king. They do not need to say anything about the revealed will of the LORD. It is merely the seizing of power.

 

VERSE 22. He built Elath and restored it to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers.

the king slept with his fathers. That is, he died.

 

JEROBOAM II BECOMES KING IN ISRAEL

 

VERSE 23. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years.

 

VERSE 24. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.

He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. Jeroboam II is yet another evil king in a long line of evil kings.

 

VERSE 25. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.

 

VERSE 26. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel.

 

VERSE 27. The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

 

VERSE 28. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

 

VERSE 29. Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

Jeroboam slept with his fathers. That is, he died.

 


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2 KINGS

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

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