2 Kings 14:11–12: “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.”

August 8th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

King Amaziah of Judah won a great victory over the Edomites, and it gave him a false sense of confidence. He brought back the Edomites’ idols, and then refused to listen to God’s prophets when they confronted him about them (2 Chron. 25). It is amazing what a little success can do to our ability to think critically. Still feeling confident and prideful, he challenged King Jehoash of Israel to a battle. Jehoash told Amaziah that he was overestimating his power, but Amaziah would not back down. Throwing caution to the wind, he confronted Jehoash head-on and got his clock cleaned.

God recorded these events so that as we look back at what led to Amaziah’s downfall, we might learn from him and spare ourselves from repeating his mistakes. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that all the things in the Old Testament were written as examples for our understanding. The 16th-century philosopher Edmund Burke said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” This is even more important for believers to remember. History is filled with fatal mistakes that were brought about by pride and over-confidence.

Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Titanic. Finished in 1912, it was the largest ship ever built at the time, 822 feet long. The captain was so confident of the ship’s invincible design that he ignored repeated warnings of huge icebergs floating off the coast of Newfoundland. One survivor quoted a crewmember as saying to a female passenger the morning the Titanic sunk, “Even God Himself couldn’t sink this ship, madam.” But on April 14, 1912 an iceberg slashed a 300-foot-long hole and flooded 5 compartments. In less than 3 hours, the ship sank in 13,000 feet of water. 1,503 people drowned because the owners didn’t want to “waste deck space for lifeboats they’d never need.” Today the name Titanic has come to mean a human disaster due to the over-confidence of man. For believers, the name King Amaziah should have the same ring to it.

“LORD, we desire to trust only in You and Your strength. Give us Your strength to walk the talk before others this day.”

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2 Kings 14 KJV

¹ In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah. ² He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ³ And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did. ⁴ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places. ⁵ And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father. ⁶ But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. ⁷ He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day. ⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. ⁹ And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that wasin Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. ¹⁰ Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this , and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?  ¹¹ But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. ¹² And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.  ¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. ¹⁴ And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and 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 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead. ¹⁷ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. ¹⁸ And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁹ Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁰ And 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, which wassixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.  ²² He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept 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 began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. ²⁴ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ²⁵ He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher. ²⁶ For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. ²⁷ And the LORDsaid not 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, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹ And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, evenwith the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.