"But Amaziah would not listen," so Jehoash king of Israel went up and faced him in battle at Beth-shemesh (a paraphrase of 2 Kings 14:11).

Notice that Amaziah, king of Judah, did not listen to the counsel of Jehoash, king of Israel, not to pick a fight with Israel. What we are not told in Kings is that this stubbornness was not only from Amaziah but from the Lord. Listen to the parallel account in Chronicles: Amaziah would not listen, "for it was of God," in order that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom (a paraphrase of 2 Chronicles 25:20).

God allowed Amaziah to remain stubborn, for God intended him to fight Israel and be defeated, because God was angry with Amaziah for embracing the gods of Edom.

This should not surprise us, for God also hardened Pharaoh's heart in the days of Moses, so that Pharaoh repeatedly refused to let Israel go, even though he witnessed many disastrous plagues on Egypt. In that case, God did this so that He might display His great and awesome works through him.

Friends, here is a frightening thought. When a person turns away from the Lord, God may even give them over to their disobedience, so that they not only do not obey the Lord, but cannot.

As I have shared earlier on this passage, Amaziah likely turned from God because he was angry with God. He had initially obeyed God by not using mercenaries from Israel to fight Edom, but those dismissed mercenaries then raided the cities of Judah while he was fighting Edom. Although this was a tragedy, Amaziah could have faced a worse one had those mercenaries turned against him in battle. Regardless, Amaziah should not have turned from the Lord to the gods of Edom because of it. Even in the face of misfortune, he should have trusted the Lord.

Sometimes we have the foolish notion that we can hurt God for hurting us. We think something like, "If God isn't going to do this for me, why should I keep serving Him?" It is foolish because we forget that God is not a man whom we can bribe or punish by withholding our obedience or affection. We only harm ourselves. Instead, even if He brings misfortune on us, the best thing we can do is still praise Him, for He alone is God and there is no other. This is why, when Job faced every misfortune a man could face, he did not curse God, but declared, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away" (Job 1:21), and, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him" (Job 13:15).

Friends, the Lord alone is our hope. Whatever our circumstances in life — easy or hard, poor or rich, with everyone for us or against us — let us faithfully praise Him, trust Him, and obey Him with all our hearts.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Amaziah's story in 2 Chronicles 25 contains one of the Bible's most practical lessons about obedience and cost. When he had already paid a hundred talents of silver to hire soldiers from Israel, a man of God told him to send them home, because "the Lord is not with Israel." Amaziah asked the obvious question: "But what shall we do about the hundred talents?" The answer: "The Lord is able to give you much more than this" (25:9). He obeyed — and won a great victory over Edom. The tragedy is what came next: he brought back the gods of the Edomites he had just defeated and bowed down to them (25:14), prompting the prophet's incredulous question, why he had sought gods "who did not deliver their own people from your hand" (25:15).

Scripture's statements that God hardened hearts or that stubbornness "was of God" are always set alongside human responsibility. Pharaoh hardened his own heart repeatedly (Exodus 8:15, 32) before God confirmed the hardening, and Romans 1:24–28 describes God "giving people over" to what they had already chosen. Theologians describe this as judicial hardening — God's judgment in allowing persistent rebellion to run its course. The comment's warning is sobering, and Scripture pairs it with an invitation: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15).

Then Elisha said, "Take the arrows," and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground," and he struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said that he should have struck five or six times; then he would have struck Aram until he had destroyed it, but now he would strike Aram only three times (a paraphrase of 2 Kings 13:18–19).

When I read this account of Elisha and Joash, king of Israel, I think of the game "Simon Says." Elisha is Simon, and he tells the king to do various things. The last thing he tells him to do is take the arrows and strike the ground. Joash strikes the ground only three times and then stops. Elisha scolds him for not striking more times. It is as if he were telling him, "Simon did not say 'Stop.'" As a result, Joash would not completely defeat Aram.

I feel there is a lesson here. How many of us obey the Lord in this way? We perform some token act or service to the Lord and then stop. We stop, though God did not tell us to stop.

Some time ago, I had the privilege of overseeing the small group leaders at a certain church. At the time, they had in place a policy of a sabbatical (rest from ministry) after about two years of service. What I observed was that those who went on sabbatical not only "rested" from serving as small group leaders but stopped serving altogether. So I told them I was getting rid of the sabbatical. I told them that when you serve, you are signing up to serve indefinitely — that is, until God directs you into some other ministry. Why set an arbitrary time frame of one or two years of commitment?

Someone asked me what they were to do if the Lord called them to do something else. I did not hesitate to tell them to go and do it. It is not our business to commit people to programs and timetables but to commit them to the Lord. And just as in "Simon Says," you do what Simon says until he says something else. We ought to serve the Lord this way, in whatever capacity He puts us, until He directs us into something different.

And here is a word to pastors and small group leaders. Why try to persuade someone to keep doing a ministry for which God has given them neither ability nor zeal? When we say something like, "I have no one to replace you right now," or "Can you at least serve out the rest of the year?", or use some other inducement, is this right? Is this trusting in the Lord, who, the Bible says, supplies the church body with gifted people as and where they are needed (cf. 1 Corinthians 12)? Shouldn't we rather encourage believers to pray, discover their gifts and calling, and then zealously pursue whatever God has for them? When we use worldly commitments and inducements, we are not following the Lord but running a business.

My friends, God is not glorified in this. Let us be mindful.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The setting adds weight to the scene. Elisha is on his deathbed, and Joash has come weeping over him, crying out the same words Elisha once cried over Elijah: "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" (2 Kings 13:14; cf. 2:12). The arrow shot eastward is named the Lord's arrow of victory over Aram (13:17). The half-hearted striking comes immediately after a promise, which is what makes Elisha's anger intelligible — the king has been told what God intends and still stops short.

The comment's observation about sabbaticals turning into permanent withdrawal is a real pattern, and its point about not guilting people into roles they are not gifted for is a good one. It is worth holding alongside it the biblical pattern of rest within service. Jesus told the returning apostles to come away to a quiet place and rest a while (Mark 6:31). God met an exhausted Elijah with sleep and food before giving him a new task (1 Kings 19:5–8). Even the land was given a sabbatical year (Leviticus 25:4). Churches that build in rest periods are usually trying to prevent burnout rather than set arbitrary limits, and wise leaders weigh both concerns — rest that renews versus rest that becomes quitting. The underlying question the comment raises is the right one: is the pattern of our service set by the Lord's direction or by our own convenience?

Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: "Come, let us face each other in battle." (2 Kings 14:8 NIV)

Here we find Amaziah, King of Judah, picking a fight with Jehoash, King of Israel? Why? Certainly there may be a bit of overconfidence after just defeating the Edomites. However, there may be more to this than meets the eye. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 25 gives a more complete picture. There we are told that Amaziah had initially hired soldiers from Israel to fight alongside Judah against Edom:

He (Amaziah) also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. (2 Chronicles 25:6 NIV)

But he did not use these troops because "a man of God" told him that God would not give him victory over the Edomites if he did this because God was not with Israel. The king complained that he had already spent a lot of money to purchase their services. The man of God tells him that God can give him much more than this (2 Chronicles 25:9). So Amaziah obeys the word of the LORD and sends the Israelite mercenaries away. And we are told that these mercenaries were enraged by this.

Then we find out what happens after this. Amaziah defeats the Edomites; however, while he is slaughtering the Edomites, the Israelite mercenaries begin slaughtering the people of Judah, even three thousand of them, and they also steal from them "great quantities of plunder" (2 Chronicles 25:13). We are not told this, but I imagine that word of this gets to Amaziah on the battlefield. We are not directly told how he reacts, but perhaps we are indirectly told.

We discover that Amaziah then takes the gods of Edom and brings them back with him and begins to worship them. Though the text does not spell out the connection, perhaps the reason why Amaziah turns away from the LORD is because he felt the LORD betrayed him with respect to the Israelite mercenaries. After all, since he obeyed the LORD in sending them away, he lost the hundred talents he paid them, they killed 3000 of his people, and they took a great deal of plunder from Judah.

Now, this would also explain his challenge to the king of Israel to fight. After all, the men from Israel had just murdered and plundered his people, and they did this in a most ignoble way; namely, while the troops were away fighting a battle with Edom.

Now, I write this to give perspective. By my explanation, we may understand Amaziah's behavior, but it does not excuse it or make it right. He was wrong to turn away from the LORD to worship the gods of Edom. The indictment of God's prophet still holds true:

The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, "Why do you consult this people's gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?" (2 Chronicles 25:15 NIV)

Even though God's counsel may seem to have led to the Israelite mercenaries getting angry, raiding, killing and plundering the people of Judah, this does not take away from the power, authority and reality of God. King Amaziah needed to understand that God is worshipped not because He gives them victory over their enemies and provides them peace and prosperity. God is worshipped because He is God. David was angry with God on more than one occasion, but he did not for that reason turn away from the LORD. Job was angry with God for taking away his wealth, his children, and his health without just cause, but he did not for that reason turn away from the LORD. Instead he acknowledged,

Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:21 NIV)

Friends, let us also learn this lesson from Amaziah. Let us worship the LORD because He alone is God, not because of the benefits we receive, whether earthly or eternal. Let us serve Him because He is eminently worthy of it and not simply because of the particular benefits we think we'll receive if we do. Will we turn away when our life gets hard? Will we turn away if God takes a loved one from us? Will we turn away if we face suffering? Aren't we called to suffer for His Name, for this is what Paul writes:

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, (Philippians 1:29 NIV)

Some people say that God has called them to this or that mission or to this or that work or even to this or that person in a relationship, but then when things don't turn out to be "successful" with respect to wealth, popularity, happiness, etc., then it is thought to be no longer from God. How many testimonies have you heard where someone followed the LORD but lost their money, their status, or even their life? Yet, this is the normal heritage of many of the faithful people in the Bible. It is not without reason that Paul writes,

As it is written:"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:36 NIV)

Let us understand this. We worship the LORD because He alone is God. We serve Him simply because He is worthy of it, and not because of the earthly benefits we will receive. Let us understand that our faith does not make God more real. This is backward. It is God who makes our faith real. Let us understand that God does not need us at all. We desperately need Him. God has no responsibility to us but only to Himself. But we are responsible to God, who has both created us for Himself and redeemed us for Himself.

Therefore, let us simply align our wills to God's revealed will in His Word. Let us not worry about outcomes, results, or whether we feel God has been fair to us or not. None of these things will change the fact that He alone is God. Let us not become fools. With all your might worship the LORD!

AI-Expanded Reflection

Reading Kings alongside Chronicles supplies a fuller account of Amaziah’s conflict. He dismisses the hired Israelite soldiers in response to prophetic warning, and those soldiers then raid towns and cause serious loss. The original proposes that anger over this consequence helped explain his later idolatry and challenge to Israel’s king. That is a possible psychological connection, but the narrative does not explicitly state it. The name of the northern king is Jehoash, also called Joash; Jehoahaz was his father.

The distinction between explanation and excuse is valuable. Pain can help us understand why someone is tempted to distrust God without making the resulting worship of idols reasonable. Chronicles itself emphasizes Amaziah’s refusal of a prophet’s correction after his victory. The issue is therefore not merely disappointment but the response to a word that challenges him. A person’s earlier obedience does not create an entitlement to refuse further correction when events become costly.

The appeal to Job enlarges the lesson. Faith can include lament, protest, and questions without transferring allegiance to another god. Scripture does not require a sufferer to call a loss pleasant or to suppress grief as evidence of disloyalty. Nor does acknowledging God’s sovereignty mean that God has no commitments toward his people. He freely binds himself by promises and remains faithful to them. The original’s denial of human claims upon God is best distinguished from a denial of God’s own covenant faithfulness.

This matters when evaluating a calling. Difficulty does not automatically disprove it, and success does not automatically authenticate it. But perseverance is not a reason to refuse all reassessment either. Ask whether the task remains faithful to Scripture, whether its methods are sound, and whether wise counsel reveals a needed change. Amaziah’s story warns against turning disappointment into a justification for abandoning truth. It also directs us toward a form of trust able to name a real cost, receive correction, and continue obeying without demanding that God immediately make every consequence comfortable.

In 2 Kings 14, we read the story of King Amaziah. There is also a parallel account of his story in 2 Chronicles 25. Amaziah is the story of a man who "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly."

In the account of killing his father's slayers, he did good. 5 Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. 6 But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin.” (2 Kings 14:5–6) He followed the written word of the Law.

The next event describes his battle with Edom. He killed of Edom in the Valley of Salt 10,000...(2 Kings 14:7) However, the 2 Kings account doesn't tell the full story. The account in 2 Chronicles described what he did after the battle. When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. (2 Chronicles 25:14)

The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” (2 Chronicles 25:15)

Why would King Amaziah bow down to Edomite idols that could not even save his own people? It doesn't make sense! As I read this account it made me think about whether we are doing the same thing today. We follow some of God's laws and like to think of ourselves as righteous in what we are doing, but are we truly wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD or are we trusting in "gods" which can not save. Is our hope in our education? in our finances? In our children? In our physical appearance? We know that these do not save, but we still strive for these things more than striving toward living a life wholeheartedly devoted and obedient to the one true God.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Amaziah’s treatment of the assassins’ children deserves careful attention. Ancient royal vengeance could extend beyond the immediate offenders to potential future rivals. In 2 Kings 14:6, the written law places a limit on that impulse: children are not to be executed for their fathers’ crimes. The narrative therefore records a ruler submitting the use of power to a standard beyond personal fear or political convenience. His obedience in this matter is real and should not disappear from view because of his later failure.

Chronicles supplies the contrasting assessment that he acted rightly without a whole heart. The Hebrew language of completeness in such descriptions concerns wholehearted loyalty rather than a claim that a good king never committed any sin. Amaziah’s subsequent worship of Edomite gods exposes that divided allegiance. The prophet’s question is deliberately devastating: the gods he now seeks could not protect the people he has just defeated. Military success has not produced discernment. It has become the setting for a new form of folly.

The original’s comparison with modern objects of trust is helpful when the distinction between a good gift and an idol remains clear. Education, savings, children, and bodily well-being are not false gods simply because they matter. They become functionally idolatrous when we expect them to guarantee our worth or security in a way that displaces God. The issue is not possession alone but the allegiance expressed through decisions: what can we not bear to lose, and what are we willing to disobey in order to preserve it?

This passage invites examination without erasing earlier growth. A history of obeying God does not make a person immune to a new temptation, particularly after success. Neither does a failure make all previous obedience fictitious. The appropriate response is continued teachability. Welcome the question that exposes a contradiction before pride turns that question into an intolerable threat. A whole heart is shown not only by choosing rightly when the path is clear, but by receiving correction when cherished choices have begun to lead us elsewhere.