Commentary - 2 Chronicles 25:17-28

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we witness the bitter fruit of a divided heart. Amaziah, king of Judah, began his reign with a measure of obedience, but as the text says, it was "not with a loyal heart" (2 Chron. 25:2). After God grants him a stunning victory over the Edomites, this latent corruption comes to full flower. Instead of giving glory to God, he imports the impotent gods of the people he just conquered and bows down to them. This is not just foolish, it is high treason against the God of Heaven. His subsequent pride leads him to challenge Israel, a challenge that results in his utter humiliation, the sacking of Jerusalem, and his eventual assassination. The whole sorry affair is a textbook case of how pride, born from a victory God gave, leads directly to a devastating fall that God orchestrates.

The narrative serves as a stark warning. A man's heart can be lifted up by the very blessings God provides, causing him to forget the Source of those blessings. When a man begins to think he is a cedar, God has a way of reminding him that he is just a thorn bush, easily trampled by the beasts of the field, or in this case, the armies of a rival king. This is not just an unfortunate turn of events; the text is explicit that "it was from God" (v. 20), a divine judgment upon Amaziah's idolatry. The story ends with conspiracy and death, a fitting end for a king who turned away from the living God to serve dead idols.

Outline

Context In 2 Chronicles

This section of 2 Chronicles continues the Deuteronomic cycle of obedience leading to blessing and disobedience leading to judgment. The Chronicler is keenly interested in the heart of the kings and the purity of worship in Jerusalem. Amaziah's story follows that of his father Joash, who also began well under the tutelage of Jehoiada the priest but fell away into apostasy. This pattern of generational decline, where the son makes some of the same mistakes as the father, is a recurring theme. Amaziah's initial obedience was superficial, and his heart was not fully committed to Yahweh. His turn to the gods of Edom after defeating them is the height of absurdity and the pivot point of the narrative. The subsequent conflict with Israel is not presented as a mere political squabble but as the direct outworking of God's judicial sentence against an idolatrous king.

Key Issues

Commentary

17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.”

After a great victory, a man is tempted in one of two directions. He can fall on his face in gratitude, acknowledging the God who gave the victory, or he can puff out his chest. Amaziah, his heart already rotten with idolatry, chooses the latter. He "took counsel," but it was clearly the counsel of his own proud heart. The victory over Edom, a gift of God's grace, has become a snare to him. He now thinks he is a world-beater. So he sends a challenge to Joash, king of the northern kingdom. "Come, let us face each other" is the ancient equivalent of "let's step outside." It is a direct, testosterone-fueled challenge to war. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, and right here Amaziah is sprinting toward the cliff's edge.

18 And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.

Joash of Israel, though no great shakes himself spiritually, has a firm grasp of political and military reality. He responds not with a counter-challenge, but with a parable, a story dripping with contempt. The thorn bush, scraggly and insignificant, represents Amaziah. The cedar, majestic and strong, is Joash. The thorn bush gets delusions of grandeur and proposes a marriage alliance, a request far above its station. The punchline is brutal. Before the cedar even has to bother with a reply, a random wild animal comes by and crushes the thorn bush. Joash isn't just saying no; he is saying that Amaziah is so insignificant that he is beneath his notice. The challenge is not just rejected, it is mocked. This is a profound insult, designed to shame Amaziah into backing down.

19 You said, ‘Behold, you have struck down Edom.’ And your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke calamity so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?”

Joash now interprets his own parable, leaving no room for misunderstanding. He correctly diagnoses the root of the problem: "your heart has lifted you up." Pride. Amaziah has taken the credit for a victory God gave him. He has forgotten that he is a thorn bush and now imagines himself a cedar. Joash's advice is simple and sound: "Now stay at home." In other words, enjoy your little victory, put the trophy on your mantle, but don't get carried away. Don't pick a fight you can't win. The warning is stark. If you persist in this folly, you will "provoke calamity." And notice the scope of the disaster: "you, even you, would fall and Judah with you." A king's pride does not just endanger himself; it endangers his entire nation. This is a principle that runs throughout Scripture. The sin of a leader brings judgment upon the people.

20 But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might give them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom.

Here is the theological center of the passage. Why does Amaziah reject this perfectly sensible, albeit insulting, advice? Why does he press on in his suicidal course? The text tells us plainly: "it was from God." This is not to say that God forced Amaziah to sin. Amaziah's pride and folly were his own. But God in His sovereignty hardened Amaziah's heart in his foolishness, using his sinful desires to bring about a just judgment. This is the doctrine of judicial hardening. When a man or a nation repeatedly rejects God, there comes a point where God gives them over to their sin, using their own choices to bring about their destruction. The reason for this judgment is stated explicitly: "because they had sought the gods of Edom." Idolatry is the poison, and this humiliating defeat is the bitter medicine God prescribes.

21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent.

The inevitable collision occurs. Joash, having had his reasonable warning rebuffed, marches south. They meet at Beth-shemesh, in Judah's own territory. The battle is a rout. The men of Judah, whose king had trusted in the gods of the Edomites, are soundly defeated by the men of Israel, whose king at least had the sense to see the folly of Amaziah. The soldiers of Judah break ranks and run for home, "each to his tent." The proud army is scattered. The king who initiated the conflict is left exposed and alone.

23 Then Joash king of Israel seized Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.

The humiliation is total. Not only is the army defeated, but the king himself is captured. Joash then marches his prisoner to Jerusalem, the holy city. To add insult to injury, he demolishes a huge section of Jerusalem's defensive wall, about 600 feet of it. This was a profound act of shame. It left the city vulnerable and served as a visible, permanent reminder of Judah's weakness and Amaziah's foolish pride. The thorn bush has been well and truly trampled.

24 And he took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

The sacking is complete. Joash loots the Temple, taking the sacred vessels, and he plunders the royal treasury. The very treasures that should have been dedicated to the glory of God are now carried off to the idolatrous capital of Samaria. This is what happens when God's people turn to other gods; God removes His hand of protection and allows their enemies to plunder them. Joash also takes hostages, ensuring Judah's future compliance. Having thoroughly humiliated Amaziah and plundered his kingdom, Joash returns north, his point emphatically made.

25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

Amaziah is apparently released at some point, and he outlives his conqueror by fifteen years. But these are not years of glory. He is a diminished king, ruling over a humbled nation with a broken-down wall. His legacy is one of failure and shame. The Chronicler, as is his custom, points his readers to the official records for more details, his own purpose having been accomplished. He has shown the direct line from idolatry and pride to national disaster.

27 Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28 Then they carried him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

The end of the story is grim. The king who turned from God finds that his own people have turned from him. A conspiracy forms against him in his own capital. He who once proudly marched out to challenge the king of Israel now flees for his life. But there is no escape. The conspirators are relentless, hunting him down in Lachish and assassinating him. The man who provoked calamity finds that it has finally caught up with him. He is given a royal burial, but it is the end of a tragic and cautionary tale. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a whole heart. And that "not" made all the difference.

Application

The story of Amaziah is a perennial warning against the subtle poison of pride. It is particularly a warning for those who have experienced some measure of success or blessing from God. It is precisely at the moment of victory that we are most vulnerable to thinking that the victory was our own doing. We win a battle against Edom, and suddenly we think we are a cedar from Lebanon. We must learn to receive God's blessings with a humble and grateful heart, always remembering the Giver.

Secondly, this passage demonstrates the utter insanity of idolatry. Amaziah worships the gods of the people he just defeated. This is like a winning quarterback deciding to switch to the losing team's playbook. Our modern idols are less obvious, they are not stone figures from Edom, but they are just as foolish. We chase after money, approval, power, and pleasure, gods that have consistently failed everyone who has ever served them. We must be ruthless in tearing down the idols in our own hearts, lest God do it for us in a much more painful way.

Finally, we see the sovereignty of God in judgment. Amaziah's downfall was not an accident. "It was from God." God is not a passive observer of human history; He is its author. He uses the sinful choices of men to accomplish His righteous purposes. This should be a cause of fear for the unrepentant, for no one can thwart the judgment of God. But for the believer, it is a cause for comfort. The same sovereign God who judges the proud is the God who has promised to save all who call upon the name of His Son. Our only safety is to abandon our own pretensions and hide ourselves in Christ, the true King who was humbled on a cross so that all who trust in Him might be exalted to eternal life.