2 Kings 14
Kingdom, Come • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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If I Start a Series, I Like to Finish it
I Started a Series on Kings in February of Last Year
We Didn’t Quite Finish 2 Kings…
So I’ve Decided to Finish it Up on Wednesday Nights…
Since We’ve Begun a New Series on Sundays
We’ll Start Back in 2 Kings 14
But First, Let’s Do a Quick Recap
Joash is King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah
His Royal Lineage has Been Almost Entirely Wiped Out
His Grandmother, Athaliah, was Ruling Over Judah…
After Her Son, King Ahaziah, was Killed
She then Began Killing All of Her Grandsons Who would Take the Throne
But Her Daughter, Joash’s Aunt, Hid Him as a Baby…
And Raised Him with Her Husband, Jehoiada, the High Priest
When Joash was 7, Jehoiada Anointed Him as King
Joash was a Good King Until His Uncle, Jehoiada Died
Then He Began to Turn from God…
And Even Killed the Prophet Zechariah…
Jehoiada’s Son, the King’s Own Cousin
Because of this, Some of Joash’s Servants Assassinated Him in His Bed
Then His Son, Amaziah, Became King of Judah
We’ll Look at His Reign Tonight in Chapter 14
Chapter 13 Followed 2 Kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel
First, There was Jehoahaz
As with All the Kings Northern Israel Ever had…
He was Evil
So God Gave Israel into the Hands of the Arameans
He Didn’t Allow Them to Totally Wipe Out Israel…
But it was Pretty Close
Israel Barely has Any Military Left at All
After Jehoahaz’s Death, His Son Jehoash Became King in Israel
He, of Course, was a Wicked King as Well…
But God Still Blessed Israel Under Him
That Leads Us Up to Chapter 14
We’re Going Back to Judah to See about the New King, Amaziah
2 Kings 14:1–6 (NIV)
1 In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 5 After the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.
6 Yet he did not put the children of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the Lord commanded: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”
Amaziah was a Pretty Good King
He Did What was Right in the Eyes of God…
But, as 2 Chronicles Tells Us:
2 Chronicles 25:2 (NIV)
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.
But to Some Extent He was Trying to Rule Over Judah…
With Justice & According to the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 25:16)
2 Kings 14:7 (NIV)
7 He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.
I Highly Recommend Studying Kings & Chronicles Together…
Because There are Many Times When One will Quickly Summarize a Story…
Where the Other One will Go into Much More Detail
It’s Important to Get All the Details…
Because the Stories Become Much More Exciting & Engaging
Plus, Sometimes Chapters Like 2 Kings 14…
Don’t Make as Much Sense Without the Extra Details from Chronicles
You’ll See What I Mean in as We Move Forward
Kings Simply Tells Us that Amaziah Went to the Valley of Salt…
And Killed 10,000 Edomites & Captured Sela
Little Summaries Like that Don’t Mean Much to Us
They Don’t Add to Anything Major to the Story
But Notice How the Details in Chronicles Really Bring the Story to Life…
And Add to What We Know about Amaziah
2 Chronicles 25:5–13 (NIV)
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to handle the spear and shield.
6 He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.” 9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage. 11 Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he killed ten thousand men of Seir. 12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces. 13 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
Amaziah Hired 100,000 Israelites to Help in His Battle with Edom…
But God Said He would Cause Judah to Lose if He Used Them
So He Took the Great Loss (100 Talents of Silver)…
And Fought the Battle Without Them…
And God Gave Judah Victory
Amaziah Did What was Right & God Rewarded Him for it
But Remember, Amaziah isn’t Wholeheartedly Devoted to God
2 Chronicles 25:14–28 (NIV)
14 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. 15 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?”
16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Amaziah Turned from God So Easily…
And Began Worshiping the Gods of the People…
That the True God had Just Given Him Victory Over
Whenever God Sends a Prophet to Him…
He Threatens to Kill the Prophet if He Doesn’t Shut His Mouth
So the Last Thing the Prophet Says is:
“God’s Going to Bring You Down”
And the Rest of the Text Shows Us How
17 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come, let us face each other in battle.” 18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. 19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
23 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long. 24 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 26 As for the other events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, 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.
God Led Amaziah to Become Arrogant & Proud…
Which Led to His Foolish Challenge Against Israel…
Which Led to His Downfall & a Great Downfall for Jerusalem
Though King Jehoash of Israel Didn’t Kill Amaziah…
He Definitely Humiliated Him
Amaziah’s Death would Come 15 Years Later…
At the Hands of His Own People
Let’s Read the Rest of the Chapter:
2 Kings 14:21–29 (NIV)
21 Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
King Amaziah of Judah is Now Succeeded By His 16 Year Old Son Azariah
We’ll Study about Him Next Week in Chapter 15
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
Jereboam II Succeeded His Father, King Jehoash of Israel
He Carried on with the Wickedness of His Namesake
25 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. 26 The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. 27 And since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
28 As for the other events of Jeroboam’s reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 29 Jeroboam rested with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. And Zechariah his son succeeded him as king.
King Jeroboam of Israel is Succeeded By His Son Zechariah
Invitation
Invitation
Looking at 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles
I Want to Look at 2 Quotes from Our Text Tonight…
That Hold Some Good Lessons for Us
But First, Let’s Get a Little Context:
One of the Kings of Southern Judah Went to Battle Against Edom
He Paid 100 Talents of Silver for 100,000 Soldiers from Northern Israel
God Didn’t Want Him to Take Anyone from Israel…
Because Israel was Exceedingly Sinful
God Sent a Prophet to the King:
2 Chronicles 25:8 (NIV)
8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”
Lesson #1:
God has the Power to Help or Overthrow Us
When We Go with His Will & Seek His Glory…
He will Help Us
When We Go Against His Will & Seek Our Own Glory…
He will Overthrow Us
Seek God’s Will & Glory
This King was Upset Because He Paid a Lot of Money for These Israelite Soldiers
And Now, to Please God, He has to Take a Loss of 100,000 Talents of Silver
He’s How the Prophet Replied:
2 Chronicles 25:9 (NIV)
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
God is Worth Whatever Sacrifices are Necessary in Life
He can Give Us Much More Than We could Ever Give Up
Familial Sacrifices?
God can Give Us More Family
Social Sacrifices?
God can Give Us More Friends
Financial Sacrifices?
God can Take Care of Our Every Need
Physical Sacrifices?
God can Give Us Eternal Life
God can Give More than We could Ever Sacrifice for His Glory/Honor