2 Kings 14: 1 – 29
Com ’on put em up
14 In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. 2 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. 3 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. 4 However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 5 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. 6 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.” 7 He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 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?” 11 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. 12 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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? 16 So Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. 17 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19 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. 20 Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at 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 rested with his fathers. 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 25 He restored the [j]territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through 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; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. 27 And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but 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—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 29 So Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. Then Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
When you look at today’s title what do you think about? If you said, the Wizard of Oz you win a cookie. In today’s study we are going to read about a good king, but he allowed his pride to get the best of him. In a way I kind of saw the cowardly lion in this action. Let me share some of these pointed lines and when we come to the interaction of the king of Judah trying to pick a fight with the king of Israel see if you recognized some familiar traits.
Dorothy: Do you suppose we'll meet any wild animals?
The Tin Man: Mm, we might.
The Scarecrow: Animals that eat... s-traw?
The Tin Man: Some, but mostly lions, and tigers, and bears.
Dorothy: Lions?
The Scarecrow: And tigers?
The Tin Man: And bears.
(A lion comes out of the woods toward the group)
The Cowardly Lion: Put 'em up, put 'em up! Which one of you first? I'll fight you both together if you want. I'll fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I'll fight you standing on one foot. I'll fight you with my eyes closed... ohh, pullin' an axe on me, eh? Sneaking up on me, eh? Why, I'll... Ruff!
The Cowardly Lion (at the tin man): Oh, scared, huh? Afraid, huh? Ah, how long can you stay fresh in that can? Ha ha ha ha.
The Cowardly Lion: Come on, get up and fight, you shivering junkyard!
(goes over to the Scarecrow)
The Cowardly Lion: And put your hands up, you lopsided bag of hay!
The Scarecrow: Now that's getting personal, Lion.
The Tin Man: Yes. Get up and teach him a lesson.
The Scarecrow: Well, what's wrong with you teaching him?
The Tin Man: Well, I hardly know him.
The Cowardly Lion (sees Dorothy’s little dog): I'll get you anyway, Pee-wee.
(Chases Toto; Dorothy hits him on the nose)
Dorothy: Shame on you!
The Cowardly Lion: (sobbing) Why did you do that for? I didn't bite him.
Dorothy: No, but you tried to. It's bad enough picking on a straw man but picking on a little dog.
The Cowardly Lion: Well, you didn't have to go and hit me! Is my nose bleeding?
Dorothy: Well, of course not.
Dorothy: My goodness, what a fuss you're making! Well naturally, when you go around picking on things weaker than you are. Why, you're nothing but a great big coward!
The Cowardly Lion: (crying) You're right, I am a coward! I haven't any courage at all. I even scare myself.
(sobs)
The Cowardly Lion: Look at the circles under my eyes. I haven't slept in weeks!
The Tin Man: Why don't you try counting sheep?
The Cowardly Lion: That doesn't do any good, I'm afraid of 'em.
(sobs loud)
The Scarecrow: Aw, that's too bad.
(At the palace of the Wizard of Oz)
Dorothy: Your Majesty, if you were king, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?
The Cowardly Lion: Not nobody! Not nohow!
The Tin Man: Not even a rhinoceros?
The Cowardly Lion: Imposerous!
Dorothy: How about a hippopotamus?
The Cowardly Lion: Why, I'd thrash him from top to bottomus!
Dorothy: Supposing you met an elephant?
The Cowardly Lion: I'd wrap him up in cellophant!
The Scarecrow: What if it were a brontosaurus?
The Cowardly Lion: I'd show him who was king of the forest!
The Cowardly Lion: (singing) I'm afraid there's no denyin' / I'm just a dandy-lion / A fate I don't deserve / I'm sure I could show my prowess / Be a lion, not a mouse / If I only had the nerve.
The Cowardly Lion: Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?
Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man: Courage!
The Cowardly Lion: You can say that again! Huh?
The Cowardly Lion: (singing) If I were king of the fore-e-e-est / Not queen, not duke, not prince / My regal robes of the fore-e-e-est / Would be satin, not cotton, not chintz / I'd command each thing, whether fish or fowl / With a r-r-ruff and a r-r-ruff, and a royal growl - R-R-Ruff! / As I click my heels / All the trees would kneel / And the mountains bow / And the bulls kowtow / And the sparrow would take wing / If I, if I were ki-i-i-i-ng! / The rabbits would show respect to me / The chipmunks genuflect to me / Though my tail would lash / I would show compash / For every underling / If I, if I were king / Just ki-i-i-i-ing!
As with many kings of Judah Amaziah’s reign was ‘right in the eyes of YHWH’, although with a decided ‘but’. The ‘but’ explains why he was partly successful, and partly not. It is made clear that on the whole he walked in accordance with the law of Moses (not fully because he did not rid the land of ‘high places’), but that that did not prevent him from foolish pride which led to his downfall, and yet once again the loss of Judah’s treasures. It was probably this foolhardy escapade, and the subsequent loss of treasure, that began the dissatisfaction that would fester on, probably accompanied by more backwardness, until it resulted fifteen years later in the popular insurrection that led to his assassination and replacement by his capable son Azariah (Uzziah).
14 In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king.
Amaziah the son of Joash of Judah began to reign in the second year of Joash of Israel, the latter being the son of Joahaz (a shortened from of Jehoahaz).
2 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.
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, Jehoaddan, the name of the new queen mother, means ‘YHWH has given pleasure’.
3 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.
Like his father Joash he did what was right in the eyes of YHWH. In other words, he ensured that the worship of YHWH was conducted in accordance with the Law of Moses, and that he and the people, at least outwardly, walked in obedience to the covenant. But it was not with the same zeal as his ‘father’ David, for David had stamped out worship in the pagan high places and had ensured pure worship at two authorized sanctuaries.
4 However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Solomon committed the abominations of building religious sites for pagan gods in our Holy Father’s land. Every descendent of Solomon never asked Adoni Yahweh if he missed stamping out any sin that he missed. I like David’s words in Psalm 130 verse 23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties” I am trying to do this personal inventory with my Holy Master and King Jesus Christ daily. Would you also like to try?
Like his father Joash, and a few kings before him, Amaziah had not stamped down on the high places YHWH worship was carried out, often at hillside sanctuaries associated with Baal and Asherah.
5 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.
What he also did was by seeking justice on his dad’s murderers, in accordance with the Law of Moses which prescribed the death penalty for murder. This was only possible after a period of civil war in which he was finally triumphant. The Jerusalem party, who had assassinated his father, having failed to obtain the backing which would enable them to take the throne.
6 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.”
In carrying out the sentence he was careful to ensure that he obeyed the Law of Moses in what it said about not punishing the children for the father’s sin. (Deuteronomy 24.16) This demonstrated that a further good point concerning Amaziah was that he was seeking to follow the Law of Moses.
7 He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.
For his attempt at faithfulness to our Holy God Yahweh, it was apparent that YHWH was with him because he was able to invade Edom and slaughter ten thousand warriors in the Valley of Salt which was the marshy plain in the Arabah south of the Dead Sea. Furthermore, during that war, he captured Sela (which means ‘the Rock’) permanently enough for it to be renamed Joktheel ‘to this day’. Renaming a city was a comparatively rare occurrence and indicated permanent occupancy. By this means he was seeking to redress the previous failure of Jehoram (8.20-22).
This invasion probably took place because, in view of the military problems that Judah had been having due to Hazael’s incursion, and the unrest that had led to Joash’s assassination, Edom had seen an opportunity of interfering with the trade routes, or even trying to take them over. Important trade routes ran through the Negeb from the King’s Highway towards Egypt, and to the port of Elath on the Red Sea, which gave access to south Arabia, both of which could be affected by Edom.
8 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.”
Having succeeded in his invasion of Edom Amaziah was now emboldened to take on Israel. He may have known how weak it was in the days of Jehoahaz and not have recognized how Jehoash of Israel had rebuilt its strength. He was now feeling like a tough guy and like the cowardly lion was say to the king of Israel, ‘put em up.’
9 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. 10 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?”
Jehoash of Israel tried to warn him off, probably not so much out of consideration for him as in order not to have to waste his own resources in fighting against Judah when the driving out of Aram was his prime concern. His warning was in the form of a parable and followed a well-known pattern (Judges 9.7-15). He was stressing to Amaziah both his arrogance and his smallness. Compared with Israel Judah was like a thistle contrasted with a cedar, a thistle that could easily be trodden down. Let him therefore continue to glory in his victory over Edom and not be foolish enough to take on someone as large as Israel, something which could only result in he himself being hurt.
11 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.
But Amaziah ignored the warning, and insisted on facing up to Israel in battle, so Jehoash went up to Beth-shemesh ‘which belongs to Judah’ and ‘looked him in the face’.
12 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.
The consequence was that Judah were defeated and had to flee the battlefield. Fleeing to their tents might be literal (fleeing back to their camp) or may indicate that they disbanded and made for their homes.
13 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.
Having captured Amaziah, Jehoash then began to teach him a lesson. He went with him to Jerusalem and broke down part of the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate (four hundred cubits is around roughly ix hundred feet) .
14 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.
Having done that, he took all the gold, silver and valuable vessels in both the Temple and the king’s palace complex, and along with hostages for Judah’s good behavior (who would be high level Jerusalem officials, princes and even wives), he returned to Samaria. This description of the striping of Judah of its treasures is regularly the author’s way of expressing YHWH’s displeasure. There is in it also a warning against trusting in fleeting riches.
15 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?
Further details of the campaign against Judah, and of Jehoash’s other exploits (some of which have already been described) were to be found in the official annals of the kings of Israel. This repetition of what had already been stated in 13.12 has the purpose of firstly relating the death of Jehoash to the death of Amaziah who survived him for a further fifteen years, and secondly of pointing to where the details of the battle with Amaziah, looked at from Israel’s point of view, could be found.
16 So Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
Judgment was to come on Jehoram in its own way, for eventually he ‘slept with his fathers’ and was buried in Samaria, leaving Amaziah to enjoy the continuation of his life for a further fifteen years. It seems clear that the author appeared to see this as YHWH’s punishment on Jehoash for his treatment of Amaziah.
17 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
This ties in with the fact that Jehoash of Israel reigned for sixteen years (13.10), Amaziah came to the throne in his second year and survived him for fifteen years, thus reigning for twenty-nine years (14.2).
The failures against Israel and the subsequent loss of the treasures of Judah may well have sowed the beginnings of discontent, and may be a pointer to the fact of how foolishly he continued to act, with the result that certain powerful parties in Jerusalem felt that it was time that he was removed and replaced by the capable Ahaziah, who would already be reigning as co-regent.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19 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.
Because of a conspiracy at the court Amaziah had to flee to Lachish, Judah’s second city, but so powerful were his opponents that he was not even safe in Lachish, and he was assassinated there.
20 Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
Nevertheless, his body was treated with due honor, and was brought back in solemn procession (‘on horses’) to Jerusalem where he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. This would probably have been more due to the influence of the ‘people of the land’ than to the conspirators.
21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
The fact that ‘all the people of Judah’ came together to make Azariah king probably indicates that they were not pleased at what had happened and came together to prevent a coup. They were determined that they would continue to be ruled over by a true son of David. The sixteen years old may refer to the age at which he had become co-regent. They had made him ‘king’ then, and they confirmed it now.
22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers.
Subsequently Azariah achieved what his father had failed to achieve despite his partial victory over Edom, and that was to capture Elath, rebuild it and fortify it, and restore it to Judah. This would enable an important extension of trade with south Arabia which would add to Judah’s wealth. The point of putting this statement here was to demonstrate that he had succeeded where Amaziah had failed.
The next fourteen verses very much bring out the method and aims of the prophetic author of the Book of Kings. They describe the magnificent reigns of two of the most successful and long-lived kings of Israel and Judah, Jeroboam II of Israel and Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah, kings in whose reigns Israel enjoyed wealth, power and prestige which were surpassed only in the days of David and Solomon. And yet they are dealt with summarily in only fourteen verses.
The only thing that he tells us about Azariah (Uzziah) is that he was skin-diseased. Had it not been for the prophets Hosea and Amos, and 2 Chronicles 26, we would have known little about their reigns. Why then was this? It was because, having depicted the follies of Solomon, the Holy Spirit laid no great store in power and glory. Solomon had demonstrated the foolishness of such things. What He was interested in was the activity of YHWH in history, and the obedience or otherwise of YHWH’s people to His covenant, combining that with a recognition of the downward trend of both nations, a trend which was leading them to disaster despite YHWH’s continuing efforts to bring them back to Himself. As he looked back he was out to explain what it was that had brought the people of God to such a low ebb. (But he also knew that the last word had not been said, for had not Jehoiachin the son of David been restored to favor in Babylon? (25.27-30). The house of David was not yet dead. His lamp was still burning).
Jeroboam II succeeded Jehoash of Israel at a time when Israel’s fortunes were rising. The might of the powerful kingdom of Aram, with its satellites, to the north had been broken by the incursions of the kings of Assyria, who had, however, having destroyed the power of Aram. Thus Israel, having initially paid light tribute to Assyria under Jehoash, was left free to prosper and expand with little interference. And this it accordingly did. Jeroboam’s might was such that he expanded the power and influence of Israel over the countries to the north as far as Lebo-Hamath, and to the south in Transjordan as far as the sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea?), while at the same time remaining on good terms with Judah. It was a period of expansionism. This meant that the trade routes (the King’s Highway in Transjordan, the routes through the valley of Jezreel, the Negeb trade routes, and the port of Elath/Ezion-geber) which were so often a great bone of contention between rival kings in the area, were now mainly under the control of Israel and Judah, resulting in a subsequent rise in prosperity for both. But sadly, as so often, prosperity did not lead to spiritual advancement, and thus in Israel especially, moral bankruptcy set in. The Laws of Moses, with their stern requirement of social justice, were being ignored, and the wealthy were making themselves even more wealthy by grinding down the righteous and the poor. Amos vividly summed it up in the words, “they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes” (Amos 2.6).
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.
Jeroboam II of Israel came to the throne in the fifteenth year of Amaziah, king of Judah, reigning in Samaria for forty-one years. We must, however, differentiate between the two figures. For the fifteenth year of Amaziah was in fact when he became sole king, while the forty-one years includes his co-regency with his father.
24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Jeroboam was no better than his fathers, for as they had done he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH by continuing the religious system of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. In other words, he made no effort to put away the golden calves and return Israel to the true worship of YHWH. So, Israel’s major problem was that their ‘Yahweh’ was heavily tainted with idolatrous ideas and customs, with the result that they had the wrong view of Him and took little regard to the covenant with YHWH.
25 He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.
Outwardly Jeroboam’s reign was successful, and this was because YHWH was with him despite his undeserving, something evidenced by the fact that our Father God sent His prophet Jonah (sound familiar?), the son of Amittai, from Gath-hepher to prophesy his success.
This same Jonah would later be sent by YHWH to Nineveh, probably in the days of Ashur-dan III, when, as a result of a combination of his preaching and his unusual appearance caused by his incarceration for a time in the stomach of a large fish (which would have made him look decidedly unearthly), the consciences of the people were so stirred that they cried to God for mercy.
26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel.
YHWH provided Jeroboam with this success out of compassion, because He had seen the bitterness of the affliction of Israel, including the fact that things had got totally out of control and that they had no one to help them in their sad situation. In mind here are the words of Deuteronomy 32.36, ‘YHWH will act as judge over His people, and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.’
27 And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
Such a thought is taken from Deuteronomy 29.20 where YHWH threatened to blot out from under Heaven the name of the one who thought that he could walk in the stubbornness of his heart without any repercussions. Thus, YHWH did not see them as having passed the point of no return which was why He had arranged for them a savior in the person of Jeroboam the son of Joash. First the Assyrians had been their savior (13.4-5), and then Jehoash (13.17-19, 23, 25) and now Jeroboam. It was YHWH’s last plea to His people.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
For further details of Jeroboam’s activities and might we are referred to the chronicles of the kings of Israel, with a reminder that these included the ‘recovery’ of Damascus, and the recovery of ‘that part of Hamath which had belonged to Yaudi’. In other words, it describes how he made them once again vassal states as they had been under David.
29 So Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. Then Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
Jeroboam died peacefully and slept with his fathers, ‘even with the kings of Israel’. It indicated being buried in pagan ground.
