2 Chronicles 25-27
Today we get:
- Amaziah as king
- Uzziah as king
- Jotham as king
2 Chronicles 25
1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
Amaziah, the son of Joash took over as king.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
This is part of the problems with modern christians. They do right, but not with a perfect heart. Like (former) pastor Ted Haggard, he routinely did the right thing in denouncing gays, but in his heart he still wanted to do crystal meth and suck dicks. It's one thing to follow the law, it's another to WANT to follow the law. One shouldn't just go through the motions, one must WANT, with all their hearts, to please the LORD.
3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.
He remembered that the children weren't to pay for the sins of their fathers. So he let the children live.
Amaziah put together an army of around 300,000 men. He also supplemented the army with 100,000 people from Israel that he bought for the fee of 100 talents of silver.
7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
8 But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
The man said, don't take the mercenaries, they aren't favoured by the LORD. So Amaziah let them go home.
10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
So why were these men mad? They got their money, and didn't even have to do anything to get it. For every 1000 men there was a talent of silver. So each man would have gotten 1/1000th of a talent. If a Talent is about 100 pounds, then each man would have been hired for a tenth of a pound of silver. Their anger would come because they wouldn't get a share of the spoil. The initial purchase price would only be a down payment, the rest would be "all that you can take away".
11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.
They killed 10,000 Seirians.
12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.
They took another 10,000 people captive, then threw them off the top of a mountain. Today that would be known as a war crime.
13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.
The angry mercenaries destroyed some cities and wound up taking their spoil anyway.
14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
What a mor
on.
15 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?
The prophet said, "why would you worship their gods when they weren't even strong enough to protect them?"
Amaziah decides he wants to meet with Joash, king of Israel.
Joash declines.
Joash decides to attack Judah, and he destroyed most of the Jerusalem wall.
24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
Joash looted the temple.
27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.
They then buried him in Judah.
2 Chronicles 26
1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
Uzziah became king at 16.
4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.
He probably didn't worship the gods that lost though.
6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
War against Philistines is a noble endeavor.
8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
Uzziah built towers, and wells and had a large army.
10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.
Husbandry is animal breeding. Uzziah loved to watch animals do it. Baby, you and me ain't nothing but mammals!
16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
Not just anyone can burn incense; no matter how much they love the LORD.
Azariah and 80 priests tried to stop him.
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.
Uzziah got mad, because of that, the LORD smote him with leprosy.
Then Uzziah died.
2 Chronicles 27
1 Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.
Next king of Judah, Jotham.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.
Jotham at least didn't burn incense where he wasn't supposed to.
5 He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.
Damn, are the Ammonites still around?
8 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
Yeah, you just told us that in verse 1. Was Jotham's reign that uneventful, that in order to fill out space and make a full chapter about him, that they have to retell that he was 25 when he became king and reigned for 16 years?
9 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
Apparently, he was that boring.
So what have we learned today?
1. Don't burn incense on the altar if you aren't a levite, otherwise you'll get leprosy.
2. Don't hire mercenaries, if you do, ensure you protect your borders after you fire them.
3. If you kill 10,000 people in a city during the war, it's ok to kill the other 10,000 people by throwing them off a cliff. Can you imagine the carnage at the bottom of the cliff, landing on your loved ones and dieing from the rocks that are protruding through their broken bodies. Saddam had nothing on this mass grave.
YIC
V