2 Kings · chapter 14 of 25
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2 Kings 14 tells the reign of Amaziah of Judah, who does right but without David's devotion, defeats Edom and, puffed up with pride, challenges Jehoash of Israel, who beats him at Beth-shemesh and plunders Jerusalem. Amaziah is murdered at Lachish. The chapter closes with Jeroboam II, who reigned forty-one years in Israel and restored its borders by the Lord's compassion, according to the word of Jonah.
After the days of Hazael and the death of Elisha, 2 Kings 14 describes two kingdoms with few spiritual resources but some recovery. Judah and Israel clash with each other, and the chapter shows how pride leads to defeat. It also announces a period of outward prosperity in Israel, under Jeroboam II, that comes without the people's repentance.
Amaziah, son of Joash, becomes king of Judah at twenty-five and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He does what is right, but not like David his father, and he does not remove the high places. Once the kingdom is secure, he executes the servants who killed his father, but not their sons, according to what the law of Moses commands. He defeats ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, takes Sela and renames it Joktheel.
Puffed up, Amaziah sends messengers to Jehoash, king of Israel, to challenge him. Jehoash answers with a parable: a thistle in Lebanon asked a cedar to give its daughter to his son, but a wild beast of Lebanon trampled the thistle. He tells him to be content with his victory over Edom and stay at home. Amaziah does not listen. The two armies meet at Beth-shemesh, Judah is defeated and Amaziah is captured. Jehoash breaks down four hundred cubits of the wall of Jerusalem, takes the gold, the silver, the vessels of the temple and the palace, and hostages, and returns to Samaria. Jehoash dies and his son Jeroboam reigns in Israel.
Amaziah lives fifteen years more. A conspiracy is formed against him in Jerusalem, he flees to Lachish, and they pursue and kill him there. They bring him back on horses and bury him in Jerusalem. The people of Judah take Azariah, sixteen years old, and make him king. He rebuilds Elath.
Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, reigns forty-one years in Samaria. He does evil. He restores the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the prophet Jonah, son of Amittai, from Gath-hepher. The Lord sees the bitter affliction of Israel and, because he had not said he would blot out Israel's name, saves them by the hand of Jeroboam.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Amaziah does not put to death the sons of his father's murderers, in line with the law that forbade punishing children for their parents' sins. It is an example of respect for God's law, which limited vengeance.
Jehoash warns Amaziah that his heart has grown proud from defeating Edom, and that he should be content with his glory and stay at home. The warning illustrates how success can become a temptation to pride.
Jeroboam restores Israel's territory according to the word the Lord had spoken through the prophet Jonah, son of Amittai. This Jonah is the same as in the book that bears his name, and it shows the prophets speaking within the real history of Israel.
The Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by Jeroboam's hand. God acts out of his own faithfulness, not for the merits of a king who did evil.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Twenty-five years old. — 2 Kings 14:2
Answer: Because the law of Moses commanded that each person die for his own sin. — 2 Kings 14:5-6
Answer: Sela, which he renamed Joktheel. — 2 Kings 14:7
Answer: At Beth-shemesh. — 2 Kings 14:11-12
Answer: At Lachish, where he fled from a conspiracy. — 2 Kings 14:19
Answer: Jonah, son of Amittai. — 2 Kings 14:25
Amaziah won a battle and lost his humility. After a success it is easy to believe we are invincible and no longer need counsel. In a small group you can talk about how to guard the heart after a victory, thanking the Lord and listening to those who warn us.
The reign of Jeroboam II shows that God can grant times of relief even to a people who do not repent. His kindness is not approval of their sin but an opportunity to return to him. It is good to ask whether we use calm seasons to draw near to God or to drift away.
2 Kings 14 ends with Jeroboam II dead and his son Zechariah on the throne. In chapter 15 the kings of Israel follow one another rapidly amid conspiracies, while Judah has a long-reigning king, Azariah, who falls ill with leprosy.
Because the law of Moses, in Deuteronomy 24, established that parents were not to be put to death for their children nor children for their parents. The text points to it as an act of obedience to the law, unlike other practices of the time.
Jehoash compares Amaziah to a small thistle that dares to ask for an alliance with a great cedar, and shows that any beast can trample it. It is a taunt that warns Amaziah against arrogance. The battle confirms that the challenge was reckless.
He was a prophet from Gath-hepher, in Galilee, who announced the restoration of the borders under Jeroboam II. Tradition identifies him with the prophet of the book of Jonah, who was sent to Nineveh.