Second Chronicles 24:20

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 24:20-22, “And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.[21] And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.[22] Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.” Jesus mentioned Zechariah as a prophet who had been murdered by the Jewish people. Notice that it says in verse twenty that “the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah.” It appears that in the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon some believers once in a while, but in the age in which we live, the age of the New Testament, every believer has the indwelling Spirit as a constant companion. Having the Spirit of God is one of the benefits of knowing Jesus as Savior. All of us rely upon the Holy Spirit in order to have power in witnessing and speaking the truth and preaching the Word of God. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

When you have the power for the Spirit, your words will glorify God, and your words will touch people’s hearts. That does not mean that they will accept what you say. They might hate what you say, but they will be touched. They hated Zechariah, and they killed him. Why did King Joash kill Zechariah? Apart from the fact that Joash was involved in false religion and did not want to repent, notice that it says in verse twenty-two, “Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son.” We are not talking about a small kindness. The kindness of Jehoiada to Joash lasted years and involved saving Joash’s life. Never forget who has helped you. Never lose that appreciation and thankfulness. Joash was king by the grace of God and through the help of many people, especially Jehoiada. And now Joash murders Jehoiada’s son. It does not get much worse than that. An unthankful person is an evil person. But notice Zechariah’s last words at the end of verse twenty-two, “The LORD look upon it, and require it.” In other words, the Lord knows, and the Lord is Judge. And the judgement was very severe and swift.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 24:23-27, “And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.[24] For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.[25] And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.[26] And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.[27] Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.” It says in verse twenty-three that “the host of Syria came up against him.” Why did an army come against King Joash? Was it just because that army wanted to attack them? No, it was the hand of the Lord. Joash was going to reap from God the consequences of false religion and murder. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay. Then Joash became bedridden with “great diseases,” and while he is in bed, his servants killed him. Evidently, the people did not think much of this wicked and weak Joash either because it says in verse twenty-five, “they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.”

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 25:1-2, “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.[2] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.” We see often that when a new king is announced, his mother is also named. We also see a pattern that when the mother is associated with the family of the wicked king Ahab, that the new king becomes a wicked king. But when the mother is from Jerusalem and has not her lineage from Ahab’s family, that the new king becomes one of the good kings. This emphasizes the importance and the value of a good mother. Being a mother is such an important responsibility. The old saying has a lot of truth to it: “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the nation.”

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 25:3-4, “Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.[4] But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.” Murderers should get the death penalty, and that is exactly what happened. But only those who were guilty were punished: not their relatives or their children. The moral principle is this: everyone is responsible for their own actions. That is because everyone makes their own decisions in life. That is an important principle to remember in regards to child-rearing. A parent is responsible for being the best parent they can be and teaching the children what is right, but in the end each child decides what kind of person they are going to be. It is not the parent’s fault what the child decides: it is the child’s fault.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 25:5-9, “Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.[6] He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred 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.[9] 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.” Amaziah makes a big mistake that other kings of Judah had made. He starts to make an alliance with the wicked kings of Israel. Of course, a prophet comes and tells him that he has made a mistake. But by this time, Amaziah had already paid a lot of money to hire the soldiers of the northern kingdom of Israel. He wasted all that money. He lost all that money because he made a foolish decision to pay the soldiers of the wicked king. That can happen in life to be unwise regarding finances. Money is like water and can run through your fingers quickly. But notice what the prophet said to Amaziah concerning money in verse nine, “The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.” Amen. We can always trust in the Lord for our finances even though we made foolish decisions to get us to this point. God owns everything. Put Him first and He will take care of you. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

But Amaziah had other sins too: especially his decision to get involved in false religion. The prophet tells Amaziah to go ahead and get ready for battle, but that he would fall in battle because God decides who wins and who loses, and God has already decided that Amaziah would lose in battle.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 25:10-16, “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.[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.[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.[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 Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.[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.[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?[16] And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.” Once again we see how violent the times were in the Old Testament: 10,000 killed in battle and another 10,000 thrown off a cliff. But King Amaziah sinned greatly because he took the idols of the people of Seir, and Amaziah bowed down and worshipped those idols. He was not only wicked, but he was stupid. Did he think he was going to get away with that when God said in the first of the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In verse sixteen Ahaziah threatens the prophet, but the prophet gives the truth of God’s message anyway. Hopefully, we have believers today who will do the same thing.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 25:17-28, “Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.[18] And Joash 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 thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.[19] Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?[20] But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.[21] So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.[22] And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.[23] And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.[24] And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.[25] And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.[26] Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?[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.[28] And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.” The first thing said about Amaziah back in verse two was that “he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD.” But he fell. He fell away from God to the point of being like the wicked kings, and judgment came against him. Back in verse two it also said that at the start Amaziah did not have “a perfect heart.” That means that he was somewhat weak in his determination to serve the Lord. We must serve the Lord Jesus with our whole heart. If we do not, something will draw us away from Him, and our loss will be terrible just like Amaziah.

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