#504 Thistles and Cedars

In the second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. 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.3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. 4 But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5 And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father. 6 But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”

7 He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash[a] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 9 And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 10 You have indeed struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

11 But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 13 And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,[b] from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.14 And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

15 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

17 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19 And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 20 And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

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, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher. 26 For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place. 2 Kings 14

Amaziah followed in the way of his father the reformer, not to the extent of a heart like David, for there is yet still this part that is held back, the high places. Many are they that see the benefits of good deeds, rule of law and Godly practices, so they sprout up quickly. He justly punishes the murder of his father in that whoso sheds mans life, by man shall his life be taken, but even more remarkably he follows not the rule of the old world nor it's tradition. He punishes the evil doer, but does not kill his children, as so many did in disobedience to the law of God, 

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. Deuteronomy 24:16

It is a great advantage to remove all that could oppose you in the future, but it was not what God commanded. Let every man stand before God for his own self, for the sins he has committed. God will judge the heart, the place of original sin, our natures, but men may only judge the actions. I will not be able to choose against my nature, to create a new one, but if my father is a murderer, and I am told that he did that which is wrong, though I may come across it in my heart, to think it, to desire revenge, I may still choose to leave that path alone. It is also given that the government does not bare the sword in vain, and I believe as well in the right of self defense, but that cannot be extended upon those related to your attacker, only to your attacker. We should pray that those who sympathize with them that do evil, do not seek revenge against justice, that they are convinced enough of the penalty. It is a good development, a great change forward in a society, but men do not evolve so much as many hope, and  there is this still in the mob, the mafia and they all so quickly become the Hatfields and Mccoys once again. 

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:3

After he does well against Edom, we must turn to 2 Chronicles to better understand what happens next. He is warned first by a prophet, to not use as mercenaries, Israel, for God is not with them due to their idolatries. He is in good standing by sending them home and accepting the loss of the wages he used to get them there, but that is his standing with God, not with Israel. The mercenaries are proud and feel slighted, so they sack Judah on the way home. Now Amaziah has good reason for retaliation, it would not be unjust revenge, for he did nothing against Israel that called for them to plunder and murder his people. But now he has lost his standing with God, for he has brought home and worshiped those idols of Edom that God hates. He has committed the crime for which Israel was not to be a partner with him. Now by the choice of one man, the nation is brought in to such sin, God has removed His blessing and left him to the gods of Edom. Now Amaziah will pick another fight, and he knows that he had to send Israel home because of her deeds, and he has become puffed up with his recent victory, but we only see as far as we want to see.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7: 1-5

At the end of this chapter we see Jeroboam the second come to power, and he stays with the sin of his fathers. Nevertheless, God has mercy on them and he uses this man to be their deliverer. Israel sees a time of great wealth and prosperity, but in such times of material blessing, when we should ask why, rather we ask what else? Give me more. Peace and prosperity, famine and war, the message is still the same, the need is still beyond what men will recognize.