Day 13: There’s a hefty price to bad investments
In our story today we see one of the many Kings in the later part of Judah who were a little lukewarm when it came to their relationship with the Lord. Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was a bad king and was assassinated. Amaziah shows some potential for leadership, but also shows some weaknesses as well.
2 Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 2 Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.
3 When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. 4 However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”
5 Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. 6 He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel.
7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! 8 If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” 10 So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage.
Amaziah’s 300,000 troops were plenty to do anything God wanted to do. In fact, the way our God works, he didn’t even need that many. However, Amaziah went ahead and hired 100,000 men from Israel at 7,500 pounds of silver. I plugged that number into a silver calculator, and it came out to $3,020,937.50. God told him, through a messenger, that Israel is in the doghouse currently and God would not bless any endeavor with them. Amaziah actually cuts his losses and sends the Israelites home.
It was a bad investment. He jumped in thinking it would be the wise choice by a numerical standpoint, but he forgot the most important aspect of what makes decisions wise, the Lord. Many times in life, we jump into things because they look good up front and we do not take the time to consult the Lord. Any business endeavor, investment, or decision that you have first stop and ask the Lord, then wait for His answer.
As a side note, the men from Israel were furious, but they were paid to do nothing! Later you will see them pillaging Judah, which makes the decision even worse.
11 Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. 12 They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below.
13 Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
14 When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! 15 This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”
16 But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!”
So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.”
Wow. Sometimes I just do not understand people. Amaziah won a small battle with the Edomites and sacked their city of Seir and brought home the pagan idols and started bowing to them. It just doesn’t make sense! Kind of like watching some of the folks around us worshiping TSwift, Trump, Biden, or any other political or celebrity figure. It just doesn’t make sense.
Amaziah was so full of himself he interrupted the preacher! Don’t do that!! :) His disregard for God and disrespect of his Prophet costed Amaziah his kingdom. You see there is a hefty price for bad investments in your spiritual life too.
17 After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”
18 But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!
19 “You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it. But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”
20 But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom. 21 So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 22 Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. 23 King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom. He also seized the treasures of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.
25 King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. 26 The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27 After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, there was a conspiracy against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. 28 They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.
Because Amaziah turned from God, didn’t listen to His counsel, His reign was ended, Jerusalem was sacked, the temple was robbed, and he was killed. There is a hefty price for bad investment. Early in Amaziah’s reign he listened to the man of God, even though he didn’t consult the Lord before buying the mercenaries. He paid that hefty price, but at least he obeyed. As soon as he had one small victory under his belt, it was like he thought he didn’t need to hear from the Lord anymore. He was a little full of himself, and he quickly found out that was a mistake.
We can learn a few great lessons from Amaziah.
1) Always consult God before we act.
2) Remain humble, knowing the victory is the Lord’s now ours.
3) Our bad choices have consequences for more than just ourselves.
Another King, another array of life lessons.