Key Verses:
(2 Chr 25:2 KJV) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
(2 Chr 25:9 KJV) And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.
Story in brief:
Amaziah was the King of Judah. In order to protect the people from the idolatrous Edomites, he needed to raise an army. He managed to enlist 300,000 men of Judah for the fight, but felt as if he still needed more help. Israel was a divided kingdom. Amaziah agreed to pay to the ten tribes of the King of Israel 100 Shekels of Silver if they could muster another 100,000 men to join with Judah in the battle.
Problem: The people of Israel had also become idolatrous. God sent a "Man of God" to Amaziah and commanded him to send the Israelite army back home. If he allowed them to join him in the battle, they would lose. Amaziah obeyed God.
Here is the great tragedy of the story: After God gave Amaziah the victory over the idolatrous Edmonites, he brought their very same idols back to the land of Judah and began to worship them! What an idiot!
As a Christian people, I wonder how many times we do the same? We know that the wages of sin is death and yet we persist in doing the very things that we preach against!
Let me now share with you seven steps to a perfect heart using King Amaziah and this text as our guide:
1. Do right even when you feel that you have been wronged.
To King Amaziah’s credit, he served God even though a great wrong had befallen his family. His Father, King Joash, had been murdered. Yet Amaziah chose to obey the Lord in his life.
2. Do right even when you feel unappreciated.
Although Amaziah did put to death the servants who had assassinated his Father, he obeyed God in not putting to death their entire families. It is doubtful that the children of the spared families fully appreciated this act of kindness of behalf of the king.
3. Do right even when it does not seem to make much sense.
Bigger always seems better, but God told Amaziah to send home the 100,000 soldiers of Israel. That act of obedience would take away one fourth of his total army. But he obeyed.
4. Do right even if it requires sacrifice.
Amaziah would ask the question, "What about my investment of 100 shekels of silver?" The response of the man of God, "God is able to give you much more than this!"
5. Do right even if it is not "politically correct."
After securing the victory, Amaziah continue to obey God by marching 10,000 Edomites to their death as they plunged over a mountainous cleft dashing upon the rocks below. He was seeing to it that the enemy was utterly destroyed. That act would have gone down as to being politically incorrect by today’s standards.
6. Do right and give God the praise when he has blessed you with the victory.
Herein was Amaziah great fault, rather than giving God the praise for the victory, he bowed down to the very idols that had destroyed his enemies. How foolish! Amaziah served the Lord but not with a perfect heart.
7. Do right even when it seems that there is no battle to fight.
Perhaps, Amaziah thought that he no longer needed the services of the God of Israel. He could take a vacation from war and worship the gods of the imagination. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Read:
(2 Chr 25:15 KJV) Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
Again our key verse:
(2 Chr 25:2 KJV) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
Conclusion: May we learn to serve God with a perfect heart.
