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“Superficial Righteousness!” • 8.27.17 • Calvary
Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro
- We have been
on a long journey. Sometimes, it's good to step back and recap. First and
Second Kings covers about 400 years of time.
- When King
Solomon died, the united Kingdom of Israel split into two divisions. The ten
northern tribes retained the name "Israel" while the two southern
tribes took the name of "Judah."
- Israel will
have twenty Kings, twelve of which we have studied. With the exception of Jehu,
few have had enduring dynasties and none have been godly. We are close to their
end.
- In the South,
all have come from the very same line, the line of King David and it's been a
mixed bag. We have studied eight Kings from Judah, Amaziah is the ninth.
- This morning,
we will examine his reign as we enter the half way point of Judah's royal line.
Let's pick it up in verse 1.
Text
• II Kings 14:1-4 : "In the second year of Joash the son
of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became
king. He was
twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the
sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he
did everything as his father Joash had done. However the high places were not
taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high
places." : The author introduces King Amaziah
and the Spirit records two summary facts about his reign.
- First, generally speaking, Amaziah did what
was right in the sight of the Lord. However, this "right" has to be
defined as being "right" like his Father Joash but not like his
ancestor David.
- What is the difference? You will remember Joash
from our study in II Kings 12. "He did what was right all the days in which
Jehoiada instructed him." (II
Kings 12:2)
- To some degree then, we can deduce that his
was an external righteousness which was motivated by self-interest. David's
righteousness stemmed from a righteous heart.
- David didn't need an external coach in
righteousness! He wasn't holy for anyone other than the Lord God. Joash
imitated what he saw, was motivated by who was watching.
- Amaziah knew what he was supposed to do, but
it seems that he wasn't clear on the "why!"
- Our actions are meant to be a love response
to God. He is our primary audience. When that isn't clear, we are more inclined
to have a Joash/Amaziah response.
- We'll do the right things for the right
people, so long as it benefits ourselves!
- Second, we can see that he also allowed the
people to continue their worship at the high or elevated places.
- These were platforms out in the wilderness
where God's people would bring a sacrifice to the Lord. They adopted this
practice from Canaanite culture and in express disobedience to God's Word.
- God had ordered their destruction and had
ordered His people to worship where He placed His Name. Like every King before
him, Amaziah allowed the compromise of convenience to remain.
- The Holy Spirit marks it, noting that he had
an opportunity to move the nation away from that practice, but did not.
- Please don't miss the exhortation: God is
calling His people to be right before Him, with a complete heart, and to
eliminate anything that would contradict that position.
- At best, Amaziah's righeousness and that of
the nation, was superficial. Verse 5.
•
II Kings 14:5,6 : "Now it happened, as soon as the
kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants who had
murdered his father the king. But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according
to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, 'Fathers shall
not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for
their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.'" : Amaziah came into his Kingdom suddenly, after the assassination
of his Father Joash.
-
His first task as the King would have been to settle those accounts, which he
did as soon as his Kingdom was firmly in hand.
-
Jozachar and Jehozabad, "Jehovah remembers" And "Jehovah
endows" respectively, led a conspiracy to assassinate the King while he
was at the Millo, a stronghold in Judah.
-
II Chronicles 24:26 identifies these
men as members of the Moabite and Ammonite tribes.
-
They recognized an opportunity to kill the King because of his actions against
Jehoiada's family, an action that Joash deserved. (v.25)
-
He reaped what he had sown, but their decision to act as vigilantes was not a justifiable
action. Aside from governmental, God-given authority, God reserves the right of
vengeance.
-
Consequently, they were justly executed for their crimes, but their children
were spared.
-
Amaziah could have easily "sent a message" or conformed to the
standard set by the rest of the ancient world.
-
Gratefully, he submitted what he might have wanted to do to the authority of
God's Word.
-
He instead chose to honor God's law in Deuteronomy
24:16. He did not hold the conspirator's children responsible for crimes
they didn't commit.
-
That is an admirable quality for every Christian to commit to. When what I want
to do and what the Word says to do conflict, who wins in your life? Amaziah
passed this test here. Verse 7.
•
II Kings 14:7 : "He killed ten thousand Edomites in
the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this
day." : The author marks this event
without offering any details. Thankfully, we have that as part of the record in
II Chronicles 25.
-
Verse 5 tells us that Amaziah
assembled three hundred thousand "choice" men from Judah and
Benjamin, signifying their expertise in war. He didn't feel this was enough.
Verse 6.
•
II Chronicles 25:6-8 : "He also
hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred
talents of silver. But a man of God came to him, saying, 'O king, do not let the
army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. But if you go, be gone! Be strong
in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power
to help and to overthrow.'" : Amaziah enlists
100,000 more men from the North for a hundred talents of silver. That is 7.5
million pounds of silver! That's quite a financial commitment.
-
That is when God sends the King a messenger, an unnamed man of God.
-
By the way, for those that are politically concerned, God is always able to get
a man to the King of the land when He has a message for them! We never have
cause to doubt God's ability!
-
We do need to pray for the politician's receptivity! This man's message is
abundantly clear and certainly not going to be popular."Don't let Israel
go with you for the Lord is not with any of them!"
-
Amaziah thought that their numbers would strengthen his effort, but the
opposite was true.
-
God was able to make a large force that wasn't dedicated to Him fall before the
enemy! You don't want to mingle godly people with ungodly people, because God
can either help or overthrow!
-
If you want His help, He gets to decide who is on the team and He never
endorses a mixed group of saved and unregenerate people! Amaziah objects in verse
9.
•
II Chronicles 25:9,10 : "Then
Amaziah said to the man of God, 'But what shall we do about the hundred talents
which I have given to the troops of Israel?' And the man of God answered, 'The Lord is able to give you much more than
this.' So
Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back
home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they
returned home in great anger." : I wonder
if you have ever been reluctant to let go of a relationship that God wasn't
pleased with because of all that you have invested into it?
-
Amaziah had already paid a significant price and God is asking him to cut his
loses! The prophet assures him and us that the Lord is always able to replace
what He asks us to forego!
-
Remember these words when there is a relationship that God deems unhealthy:
"The Lord is able to give you much more than this!"
-
To the King's credit, he obeyed and dismissed the Ephraimites, who are always
known for their bitterness whenever we see them in scripture. He was now free
to go into battle.
-
Amaziah, by the strength of God, defeated Edom and took the area we know as
Petra, which he renames "The Blessedness of God."
-
It's interesting because it's in his victory that he goes completely wrong!
Look at verse 14.
•
II Chronicles 25:14-16 : "Now it
was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought
the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down
before them and burned incense to them. Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and
He sent him a prophet who said to him, 'Why have you sought the gods of the
people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?' So it was, as he talked with him,
that the king said to him, 'Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why
should you be killed?' Then the prophet ceased, and said, 'I know that God has
determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my
advice.'" : Amaziah's turn from the Lord to
the gods of Edom is puzzling. These gods had just failed the Edomites and here
he is bowing before them and burning incense to them!
-
Remember when the author told us that he followed in the way of his Father and
not King David? David, despite his many troubles and scandals, never turned to
idols!
-
Eventually, Amaziah's superficial righteousness gave way to outright idolatry.
-
When one is only committed themselves to God in a half hearted way, isn't it
easy to see them move in any direction spiritually? Friend, you will move away
from God! Amaziah did!
-
As a result, God's anger burned against him. God again sent His prophet to the
King, who was suddenly unwilling to listen to the Prophet.
-
He had listened to the Prophet and dismissed the Ephraimites. He took the loss
of a significant amount of silver and then won the victory. Why the sudden change
of heart? Verse 13.
•
II Chronicles 25:13 : "But as
for the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so that they would
not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth
Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much spoil." : The Ephraimite soldiers didn't just want the King's silver.
They wanted to go to war for the spoils that would come to them. What they
didn't get from Edom, they would take from Judah!
-
On their way home, they spoiled Amaziah's cities and killed three thousand of
his citizens.
-
Can you see Amaziah's rationale now? "I listened to God and He let me
down! I trusted Him and this is what He allowed to take place?" I can't
help but think that the two are connected.
-
A half hearted believer is kept by feelings of accomplishment. If they feel
that God is blessing them, they will continue feeling like they should worship
Him.
-
Unlike Job, they are unwilling to accept relative cursing to God's blessing.
This is where true Christians and false converts depart from each other!
-
Amaziah's irrational allegiance to Edom's gods and his willful ignoring of the
prophet that God sent to him leads him to his doomed foolish actions in verse 8.
•
II Kings 14:8-10 : "Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash
the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, 'Come, let us
face one another in battle.' And Jehoash 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’; and a wild beast that was in
Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. You have indeed defeated Edom, and
your heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should
you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?'" : Amaziah feels that he must avenge the loss that he absorbed
from the Ephraimites.
-
Remember that Israel had been decimated by the Syrians. He feels that he should
act now.
-
He has no word from the Lord, no counsel from the elders. From a human
perspective, he's striking at the right time. Jehoash, for his part, was
incredibly gracious in his response to Amaziah.
-
The King of Israel tells the King of Judah that he is not in his league!
Jehoash wisely tells Amaziah to content himself with his victory over Edom.
-
His single victory, by the hand of God no less, caused his heart to lift up, to
carry him away. Amaziah was far too impressed with himself.
-
Jehoash warns him to be pleased at home with his victory. Why should he stir up
trouble for himself? That is a good enough question.
-
Amaziah's arrogance and foolishness, which are byproducts of worshipping
oneself through idolatry, was a profound danger that threatened him. That is
bad enough.
-
When you engage in a value system that places your interests at the center of
your activities, you will end up arrogant and foolish, needlessly stirring up
trouble that should never come to you.
-
But that is not where the danger ends. Jehoash adds in that Judah would fall
right alongside of him. An entire nation of people have been forced to put
their trust in his decision making.
-
Their need is for their head, their representative, to make choices that serve
the best interests of the nation.
-
How many families, nations and companies have suffered because one parent fell
off the path of Christ worship to embrace the path of self-worship? Amaziah
should have listened. Verse 11.
•
II Kings 14:11-14 : "But Amaziah would not heed.
Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah
faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel,
and every man fled to his tent. Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the
son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh; and he went to Jerusalem,
and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner
Gate—four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were
found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and
returned to Samaria." : Predictably, Amaziah rushes
in and was routed by Israel's army.
-
Then, Israel came in to Judah, to the very wall of Jerusalem, and broke down a
significant portion of the defenses in Judah's capital city.
-
Amaziah thought that he had the advantage of numbers and the righteousness of
cause. What a horrible and dismal reality to end in defeat and retreat.
-
Far from gaining ground, they find themselves left with a broken defense
structure. Jehoash wasn't finished. He took robbed all of the valuables that
were in the Temple and the King's house!
-
He left him impoverished and the people of God caught in his clutches! Amaziah
and his people suffered needlessly because of his arrogance. Verse 15.
•
II Kings 14:15-22 : "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash
which he did—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? So Jehoash rested with his fathers,
and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son
reigned in his place. Amaziah
the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash
the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. Now the
rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah? And they formed a
conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent
after him to Lachish and killed him there. Then
they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in
the City of David. And all the people of
Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king
instead of his father Amaziah. He built Elath
and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers." : Jehoash and Amaziah are lumped together in this summary, significant
of how their reigns intertwined.
-
When Jehoash died, his son Jeroboam reigned in Samaria. There's something to be
said for a person that names their child after a great villain. It would be
akin to naming your child "Judas!"
-
I suppose that lets you know just what sort of track the northern Kingdom of
Israel will be on. As for Amaziah, he lived for a few years past Joash's death
living under the shadow of his humiliation.
-
Some have even suggested that Amaziah was living in captivity when his son
Azariah was made King by the people!
-
When it was clear to him that he was not going to re-ascend to the throne, he
fled to Lachish but the people wouldn't let him live in that condition, so they
assassinated him.
-
At least one commentator mentions that the sons of his Father's assassins,
assassinated him! Talk about irony if that was the case!
-
Azariah's first accomplishment was to build the city of Elath and restore it to
the people of Judah after his Father was laid to rest.
-
For those who have not heard of Azariah, don't worry about it. He also goes by
the name "Uzziah" and he will have one of the longest reigns of the
South.
-
This also means that you might want to start getting a little reading done in Hosea, Joel, Amos and Isaiah before we start up again, to get
a clearer picture of what was going on spiritually.
Conclusion
- If the Bible were being written today and you were the central character, would God write, "This person did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but . . ."?
- If the Bible were being written today and you were the central character, would God write, "This person did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but . . ."?
- As you listened today, did you recognize
yourself? Are you willing to follow God while the world looks on and while
things are going well for you? Be careful.
- The only safe place is to be fully devoted to
the Lord and fully committed to expressing your love to Him. Those lives don't have
any "howevers" attached to them! Let us consider that this week!