(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) So we're getting back on to the series of the kings, and we're jumping right back in here. We left off with King Joash. So Joash was the king that was seven years old, and the whole story with Ahaziah being killed by Jehu, and then Athaliah taking over, and being that wicked queen there for six years. And so we're going to be jumping into Amaziah, which is the son of Joash. And we see here in 2 Chronicles 25, and this story also takes place in 2 Kings 14. But really, 2 Chronicles 25 is going to give us a lot of the information. And as we saw throughout the kings of Judah, the book of 2 Chronicles is really geared toward Judah. And the book of Kings is geared toward Israel, so that's why when we're going through the kings of Israel, we're heavily in the book of Kings. And now you can see that we're a lot of times in Chronicles to get more information. And so that's kind of why we're doing that. But in verse 1 there, it says, 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 Jehoaddin of Jerusalem, and he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. So we see here that he's twenty-five years old, reigns for twenty-nine years. That means he would be fifty-four when he died. So we're going to see that he didn't die of old age. But he reigns for twenty-nine years, which is a pretty good reign if you think about all the other kings. Some of them reign for longer than that, but some of them are reigning for just three years or something like that. But we have our chart here, and I'm going to print off some more of these so that you can have, if any of you don't have a chart in this size. But we have a link that you can go to and just get the PDF of this, but we see Amaziah is right here in the light blue. And so Joash reigns for forty years, and Amaziah is going to reign for twenty-nine years. And you can see where he's at. He's over here, and he's starting to reign when Joash of Israel is reigning. So that's where you get this confusion of Joash and Joash. And you had Azariah and Azariah, you had Jehoram and Jehoram, and you got these kings that are crossing over where they have the same names. But he is starting kind of at the beginning of the reign of Joash, the king of Israel, which is not his father, obviously. It's a different Joash. But then he's going to be going into the reign of Jeroboam the second. So Jeroboam the second, which is, you have Jehu, his son Jehoahaz, then Joash, and then Jeroboam the second, and then his last generation, that fourth generation. You know, then they're going to be wiped out. But Amaziah, twenty-nine years that he reigns. And honestly, his son Azariah, which is better known as Uzziah, is one that's brought up a lot when you're in the minor prophets. And so Uzziah is kind of one of those kings that we're going to see a little more information about and kind of a little more famous. I say famous with every king, it seems like, or every passage in the Bible, but they're not all like that well known. But Uzziah is one of those. But Amaziah is Uzziah's father. And that's who we're dealing with today. So it says here that he did write inside the Lord. And we know that Joash did write inside the Lord until the end of his reign. And so basically besides Azariah, Jehoarim and Azariah, the kings of Judah have been doing pretty well. Rehoboam kind of had to get things right and get his things in order and he started serving the Lord at the end of his reign. Then you had Abijah, right? And he did good things for the Lord. He was a good king. And then Asa was a great king. And then Jehoshaphat was a great king. And then you had this little lull of wickedness where they were in with the house of Ahab. That's where you had Jehoram and Asaiah. And then Joash and Amaziah are kind of coming back out of that. And then we're going to see Uzziah is kind of the same way. He's a good king. But then he messes up. And that's what we see with a lot of these kings is they start off good and they're doing great things. And then they just, you can't keep it going for some reason. But go to 2 Kings 14 because it says that he did write inside the Lord. But not with a perfect heart. And I want to just explain what that means. You know, with a perfect heart. Because we know that perfect doesn't mean without sin as far as like, you know, because everybody, no one did write inside the Lord and never messed up. But it does talk about how David followed God with a perfect heart. And that's kind of the marker you look at as far as what did David do that made it to where he followed God with a perfect heart. And in 2 Kings 14 dealing with Amaziah, it brings up David. And so that's why I bring this up as far as why the perfect heart is associated with him. In verse 3 it says, Needed that which was right inside the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did according to all the things as Joash his father did, albeit the high places were not taken down, as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense unto the high places. Do you remember what happened at the end of Joash's reign? He ended up killing Zechariah because they were worshipping idols. And Zechariah got up and said, what are you doing? And so basically Amaziah is kind of falling into that suit a little bit. And it's going to explain, you know, I'm just going to jump ahead in the story a little bit. Oh, actually, you know, I want to explain the perfect heart. Then I'm going to jump ahead of the story to show you, you know, why it's saying he didn't follow him with a perfect heart. Because I don't believe it was at the very beginning that he fell into that. Okay, I think he started off good and he was following the Lord. But then he's going to fall into idolatry. Okay, now go to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11 because Solomon is a good example of someone that did great things for God and was the wisest man upon earth. But then it says that his heart wasn't like his father David's. And it's going to explain what that means. Okay. Because David obviously messed up. You know, he committed adultery. He had Uriah killed. But one thing David never did was fall, he didn't get into idolatry. Okay. He didn't start worshipping false gods. So that's the thing that if I were to go look at it and say, okay, why weren't they following, you know, why does it say that they did right in the eyes of the Lord but not perfect like David? Okay. Because obviously David messed up in his life and he made mistakes. But notice what it says in verse 4. So 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 4, it says, So I believe that when you're talking about David's heart being perfect before God, it's talking about the fact that he didn't have any other gods before him. Okay. He didn't have any graven images, nothing like that. And Solomon was like that at the beginning but then his wives turned him over to these other false gods. And I believe Solomon was saved. I believe he got into that sin of idolatry. And, you know, basically that's not what David did though. David went, he died worshipping God and him alone and didn't get into idolatry. Okay. Whereas when you look at these other kings it says, well, they did right inside the Lord but not perfect like David. I believe that's what it's talking about. And actually every time you see that they're worshipping idols at some point. Okay. Now, to look at that, just to kind of jump ahead in the story there in 2 Chronicles chapter 25, we're going to see that he starts burning incense to the gods of Edom. Now this is just kind of hilarious because he just got done destroying them. And that's where God comes in and says, why are you worshipping gods that couldn't deliver Edom? You know, it's kind of this weird, like, where's your logic? You know, why would you worship these gods that couldn't even deliver, you know, the gods couldn't deliver you out of their hands? Why in the world are you worshipping them? Anyway, so in verse 14 there, so 2 Chronicles chapter 25 verse 14, it says, 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. Okay, so this is the sin, this is the downfall of Amaziah, okay. And it's the same thing with Joash. Remember when Jehoiada died, and then everything started going downhill, and Joash started taking the counsel of the princes of Judah, and that's when they brought in all this garbage into the house of God, and that's when Zechariah preached against them, and then they ended up, you know, murdering one of God's priests, you know, and so, it's a common thread. Now, Amaziah doesn't murder a prophet or anything like that, like Joash, but you can see how he's coming down, he's doing the same thing his father did, okay. And, you know, it comes after this, and we're going to get into this, that right after this is going to bring up the fact that, that the children are not to be put to death for the sins of the fathers, neither are the fathers to be put to death for the sins of the children, but it doesn't mean that the sins of the fathers don't go down into the next generation, because what it comes down to is that Amaziah didn't have to follow the sins of his father, but you're more prevalent. The proclivity for you to do what your father does is very strong, okay. So, if your dad drank, your proclivity is going to be to drink. If your dad smokes, your proclivity is going to smoke, and it's just something that you grow up with it, and you're going to tend to do what your parents do, okay. And that sin tends to take maybe a few generations before it finally snuffs itself out to where you kind of get a refresh to where you're not doing that anymore, okay. And so, something to think about, especially as fathers with our children, is that we need to set that good example so that our sins, you say, well, it's just affecting me. No, it's not. It's going to affect your children, and it can affect their children and then their children, even through the fourth generation it talks about. Now, going on to verse 3 of chapter 25, 2 Chronicles 25, verse 3, it says, Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father. 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 father shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin. Okay. Now, you say, well, what is this talking about? Well, Joash, they had a conspiracy against them and killed them, okay. So that's how Joash dies, is that they have a conspiracy, you know, and conspiracy doesn't mean that it's not real, okay. In today's age, you're like, oh, it's a conspiracy theory. This happened, okay. The conspiracy means that basically people got together behind the king's back and decided that they're going to take him out, okay. And in the story, he's basically saying that he took out those people that killed his father, but he didn't kill their children, okay. And what he's making a point here is that the children aren't to be put to death for the sins of their fathers. And this goes back, go back to Deuteronomy 24, because he's saying as in Moses, right, as in the law in the book of Moses. So I want to show you where that's stated at. So you can see that, you know, Amaziah, he knows the law a little bit, doesn't he? You know, he's setting a wrong, you know, he's setting this wrong right, so to speak, where he's getting, you know, taking care of these murderers, but he also isn't taking it too far, you know, where he's like, I'm taking out your whole house. And so in verse 16 there, so Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16 says, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. So that's the law he's referring to, is back in Deuteronomy, basically saying that same fact there. So, but going back to 2 Chronicles chapter 25, with Amaziah here, so basically he starts reigning and he gets rid of those people that killed his father. I would imagine that's what I would do, right. If my father was murdered and then they set me up to be king, I'm going to get back at those people, I'm going to have some justice for murder. Now, was Joe Ash worthy of death? Yeah, I mean he killed, he had a man of God killed, you know, murdered him. But is that the way it should have been done, through some backhanded conspiracy, right? No, it should have been brought to the law and he should have been judged accordingly, okay. And then you can have the death penalty in there and that's the right way to do it, okay. The wrong way is to take it into your own hands and deal with it that way, okay. But going on here in 2 Chronicles chapter 25 verse 5, it says, Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together and made them captains over thousands, captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers throughout all Judah and Benjamin. And he numbered them from 20 years old and above and found them 300,000 choice men, able to go forth to war that could handle spear and shield. So now we see that his army that's in Judah and Benjamin and obviously Judah and the tribe of Judah and Benjamin are the major tribe, those are the two major tribes that make up that southern kingdom of Judah. And it's basically saying they have 300,000 men that are ready to go to war. So that's a pretty big number. It's not the biggest number that we've seen though. If you remember, they had a number of a million with some of the kings before that. And so 300,000 though, that's a pretty good number. Then in some cases where we've seen Israel down to like 7,000 men that were going forth to war. But 300,000, that's a decent amount of men there. But then we see that he ends up hiring another 100,000 from Israel, okay. So this is interesting that he does this. But in verse 6 there, it says he hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for 100,000 talents of silver. And so it's kind of like, I don't really maybe understand why he's doing this, but what we're going to see here is that in this story, they're going to end up going against Edomites. And I think he's thinking that he needs more men to do this, and so he's hiring Israel. But in the end, he's going to end up going against Israel, okay. We're going to see kind of how this story progresses here. So it kind of starts off where he hires these men for 100 talents of silver. But notice this is the interesting thing where God sends a man of God to tell him, no, don't use these guys. In verse 7 it says, 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. 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. So he's basically saying, don't take these men with you. And if you do, he's basically saying go, but God's going to make you fall. So it's not going to help, and it's basically saying God is able to help you and to cast you down. So you need to do what God says. Now notice what Amosiah says here. Verse 9 says, And Amosiah 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. So you can understand where he's coming from, right. He's like, I've already paid him. I've already paid him a hundred talents of silver, right. And he's saying, you know, I'm just going to be throwing that out the window. And what is the reply? The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. And I think about this when it comes to, you know, when it comes to Christian life and you're getting rid of stuff that maybe is worldly or things that cost a lot of money. And you're just like, and you're just kind of throwing it out the window. And you kind of think of when you get saved and you have all this worldly music, all these CDs. And I know I'm speaking to an older generation here, but I had CDs, okay. But you had CDs of like certain music or, you know, anything like that, that you're just like, you know, I can't listen to this anymore, but I spent a lot of money on this. Or you spent a lot of money on certain things that you shouldn't be doing anymore or shouldn't be watching or whatever, right. You think of movies, you think of other things that you shouldn't be watching. And you're like, but I spent a lot of money on that. And I think of this story right here where God is able to give you much more than that. So when it comes to money, when you're getting rid of it because it's something that's going to get in the way of your walk of God and it's something that's going to bring you down, listen, God will take care of that money. Okay. So don't worry about that. Now in this story, you know, with that it kind of makes me think of Acts chapter 19. Go to Acts chapter 19. Now we'll be getting to this when we get to Acts chapter 19. But it makes me think of this group of people that get saved at Ephesus. Listen. So Acts 19, 19. It says, many of them, also which used curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before all men. And they counted the price of them and found 50,000 pieces of silver. That's a lot, okay. I don't know how much a piece of silver is worth, but I'll say this, it's probably worth more than a dollar. Okay. If you were to look at the price of a piece of silver today, I guarantee it's worth more than a dollar, right. That's 50,000 dollars at least that's being burned in a fire. So you think about that as far as the cost and they're just like nuts to it. See, they had the attitude that the man of God had here with Amaziah saying, listen, you know, God is able to give you much more than that. What's it worth to follow God and to not have the things of this world dragging you down? What are they going to do with these books of curious arts, right? So you got to think about that and you're like, well, why not burn them? Yeah, they're expensive, but burn them. Because books can be expensive, especially back then when they didn't have the printing press. I mean, they had those books and they had them printed, you know, have them written out and all that stuff. I'm sure it was expensive. But you got to be thinking about the fact of what's right and put money out the window when it comes to that. And God is able to supply. So and a lot of times you should be you should be dealing with this when you first become a Christian. You're kind of getting this stuff out. If you're if you're living as a Christian, you've been you know, you've been in a fundamental Baptist church and doing all that stuff. You should probably be worried about this because you should have already gotten rid of all those big things. So this is more so like if you get saved and you're like, all right, time to clean house. And you're kind of getting rid of all this junk that's in your way. OK. And I'm kind of not thinking of anything, really. I think of music, CDs, DVDs. I think of. Can someone help me worldly, worldly brethren? I'm just kidding. What would be something that would be really expensive that you would have to get rid of? I can't really think of anything off the top of my head. What's that? Clothes. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. We just talked about clothing standards. That's a great one because clothes are expensive. And you think about that, especially if you're preaching on you know, you hear a sermon about the length of a dress or even men. You know, when it comes to what you're wearing, whether it's a manly outfit or whether it's something that you should be wearing and clothes are expensive, especially the trendy ones. Right. You know, you think of Abercrombie and Fitch and like all this other stuff. I don't know. Is that one that's out there still anyway? But you think about these clothes that are like the labels and all that stuff. And, you know, if it's ungodly to wear, then, yeah, you got to get rid of it. And what you got to be thinking to yourself would be like, oh, that's expensive. God can give you much more than that. And especially if he sees that you're following him and that you're doing it out of following him. I guarantee with those those people of Ephesus, when they burned all those books, that God gave it back to them. For their obedience and their willingness to want to follow God and get rid of all that garbage that they don't need. And so I think about that with Amaziah. Now, Amaziah is actually going to take the man of God up on this. So this is where Amaziah is being a good king. You know, he made it. He should have never bought them. Right. Should inquire to the Lord and kind of had some smarts to say, hey, I shouldn't be messing with Israel. Kind of learn from the mistakes of Jehoshaphat. Right. And learn from those mistakes of like even wanting to deal with that northern kingdom. But once you made the mistake, sometimes you got to eat the cost. And he takes heed to that in verse 10. So Second Chronicles, Chapter 25 and verse 10. Amaziah is going to actually do what the man of God said. And in this case, there's going to be repercussions for him doing the right thing. So just because you do the right thing doesn't mean it's going to be easy afterwards. Doesn't mean that there's not going to be consequences for doing the right thing and repercussions. That doesn't mean that God can't help you with that and God can't get you through that. Because here's a great example of someone messing up and then doing the right thing. And then having to deal with the consequences of that wrong that he did and then trying to make it right. OK. Because notice in verse 10 it says, 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. OK. So this is going to be important later. But pretty much Ephraim's just really angry. I don't understand really why they got paid. You know, it's not like he asked for a refund here. He they just went home angry like, you know, you bought us. Why aren't you going to use us? Kind of like they got their feelings hurt. You know, like you don't want to use us. It'd be kind of like if you bought him, you're like, yeah, you're not really going to do the job well, you know, just go home. And it's just kind of I think they got their feelings hurt and they go home angry that he's not going to use them. And but then he goes after the Edomites and you can understand you can understand physically speaking why he wanted to hire more men. Because if you're going to go to battle, it's better to have more men than less. But that's what it really comes down to is that with God, it's not about the amount of people that you have necessarily. It's about the quality of people you have. OK. And I think about our church with this and the fact that our church isn't the biggest church that's out there, but the quality of people that are here is high, in my opinion. OK, when it comes to the people, when it comes to the people that want to follow the Lord, people that want to do the work, people that want to know God's word, that quality is high. And so in my opinion, I hold this church up higher as a fighting church than a church that's running 200. But the people in there, you know, they won't even hear the Bible preach. They want to have their ears scratched and they don't really care about soul winning and all that stuff. So I look at this and this is a modern, very often theme in the Bible when you deal with Gideon, when you deal with all these men of God that used a small group of people to do these great works for God. And this is a constant reminder that we should not be looking at those numbers like that. I mean, like we need more people. If only we had more people that we could do more. Yeah, I mean, we should pray for laborers, but we shouldn't be lamenting the fact that we're small. No, let's do great things for God as we're small. And, you know, I look at that as an opportunity to see God work when you have a small group of people and see what you can accomplish with that small group of people, because then it's kind of like when we're weak, then we'll be strong in the Lord. And you think about when we're small, then that's where God's going to really show his great power. And notice in verse 11, so Second Chronicles chapter 25, verse 11, he goes against the Edomites. It says, And Amaziah strengthened himself and led forth his people and went to the valley of salt and smote the children of Seir, ten thousand. Another ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive and brought them onto the top of the rock and cast them down from the top of the rock that they all were broke in pieces. This is crazy. You know, when you think about this story, when you go to Second Kings 14 in this parallel passage, it doesn't mention that second part. It just talked about them killing, you know, taking out or slaying ten thousand people. But then there's another ten thousand that's mentioned there. And just so you know that the children of Seir are Edomites because it says in Second Kings 14, verse 7, it says, He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand. And it says, and took Seilah by war and called the name of it Jochthiel unto this day. So Seir, Mount Seir, you know why it would say the children of Seir? Because Edom, you know, the capital of Edom is Mount Seir. And so, anyway, I'm not going to go back into Exodus and all that stuff to get into that stuff. But that's an interesting story. I mean, you start reading and you're like, oh, he took some captive. You know, he's being merciful. Then he throws them off a cliff. So he won the war on them. So, you know, it doesn't say, like, thus saith the Lord, throw them off a cliff. So I tend to think that this necessarily wasn't exactly what God was wanting him to do. Because you've got to think of the story where they take the, I think it's Elijah or Elisha, and I'm going to get it mixed up. But you remember where they brought their enemy into Samaria, and then that's where the king's like, should we kill them now? And it's like, are you going to kill those that have been taken captive? And to me, when I look at that, I have a feeling that they shouldn't have killed their captives, right? They're captives, and unless God said, you know, annihilate them, and then they took them captive. You know, kind of like the Amalekites, they're supposed to kill everybody, and then they didn't kill the kings and stuff like that. I have a feeling that they shouldn't have thrown them off this cliff, right? But it's just kind of this story when you're reading through it, and you're like, oh, he took some captive. Oh, he threw them off a rock, you know, like, what in the world? And you're like, that took a, that, you're like, that escalated quickly. You know, but I don't know, I don't know about you, but I'm reading through the Bible. Sometimes I see things like that, and I'm reading through it, and then it just takes this turn. You're like, whoa, wasn't expecting that. And honestly, you know, reading through this and studying this, this is the first time I really remember even seeing this, right? And I've read through the Bible scores of times, but there's certain little things that you kind of read over. And especially when you're reading, like, the parallel passage in the kings, and you get to this, and you're like, I've already, you know. When you're going through the chronicles, you're kind of like, yeah, you know, going through it again. And you can tend to just kind of gloss over what's being said, because you're like, I just read this in the kings, now I'm going through it again. But this isn't in the kings, so this is kind of a little extra tidbit there. But again, he brought them onto the top of the rock and cast them down from the top of the rock that they all were broken pieces. That's 10,000 peoples, my friend. That's a lot of people to be thrown off a rock and to meet their demise there. I think I'd rather just be killed, like, with a sword in battle than be captive and be like, alright, we're going to be alright. And then they just throw you off a cliff. So anyway, with that, I think that he was a little harsh with that. I think that when you take people captive, in general, unless God is saying annihilate them, that you're supposed to be giving them quarter and not just taking them captive to go, like, kill them in some other manner or whatever. But going on from that, this story with the valley of salt, the valley of salt is actually brought up in another place in the Bible. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 8. These valleys that you have this battle in. You think of the valley of decision, the valley of Jehoshaphat, and how that correlates with end times and all that. Don't worry, I don't really have an end times correlation with this. But I did think, you know, valley of salt is something that's brought up with David. Back in the day with David, there was this great slaughter that was done by him. So you kind of see where Amaziah is kind of fitting in with David. He's kind of paralleling David a little bit here. And if he would have just kept on that course, he could have, you know, died saying, hey, he followed the Lord and he was perfect in his heart, just like David, his father. And he even had a battle that was similar to David. But in 2 Samuel chapter 8 and verse 13, it says, And David got him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. And he put garrisons in Edom, throughout all Edom, put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants, and the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. And so, and this is also in 1 Chronicles 18. In 1 Chronicles 18, it actually tells us that Abishai, the son of Zeruiah. So if you remember, you had Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Those are the three brothers that were the sons of Zeruiah. So Zeruiah is David's sister. Abigail and Zeruiah were David's sisters. And those three men were mighty men of valor that he had. Joab is kind of the one you always remember, the captain and the host. But Abishai was also up there. And Asahel is the one that Abner killed. And if you remember, Joab took it out on Abner and ended up killing Abner because of that. But Abishai, it says, Moreover Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand. Now, you say, well, it said Syrians in one, it says Edomites in the other. Well, it could just be the fact that the Syrians became Edomites. Or, you know, you're dealing with the fact that, you know, it's kind of like Simon the Canaanite. But he was also a Jew. And he was of Israel and stuff like that. So it's kind of showing their nationality a little bit of the Edomites down there in Mount Seir. But, just a little more information with that. But they killed eighteen thousand. How many did Amaziah kill? Well, twenty total. Because ten they slew in battle and then ten they threw off a cliff. So, I don't know. Okay? And this has nothing to do with really doctrine here. But maybe he killed ten thousand. He's like, well, David killed eighteen thousand. It's time to throw these ten thousand off a cliff so that we can do better than David. But, anyway, those are the two places where I see the valley of salt mentioned. And it's just interesting, especially when you're dealing with Amaziah, who did write in the sight of the Lord, but not perfect like David his father. And how this battle kind of mirrors, you know, those two men. And, obviously, hundreds of years of difference in time there. So, we're going on from the valley of salt. So, at this point, Amaziah is doing right. You know, he, besides the fact that he hired those men of Israel, but he reckons that and he gets that right once the man of God comes to him. So, he kind of messed up a little bit there where he shouldn't have hired these people to begin with. But, in the end, he's following God, trying to do right. Well, while he's at the valley of salt doing this battle, those men that he hired and sent home, they're going to take it out on him. They're going to revolt against Amaziah. In verse 13, so in 2 Chronicles chapter 25, verse 13, it says, 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. So, they basically came in. What's interesting about this, though, is that they fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria, even unto Beth-horon. So, no, Samaria is, at this point, under Judah's control. Right? So, that's very interesting. You know, and we saw that happen with the other kings of Judah, where they took some of those places of Ephraim and all that. And so, basically, Judah, really, they're taking out the cities that were the northern kingdom cities, but still, they killed three thousand of their men. So, this is the consequence of when he hired these men of Israel and getting in league with them. But I'll say this. I believe that the consequence would have been a lot higher if he would have disobeyed God. If he would have said, no, I'm going to take them with me. That when he went to eat them, there would have been a lot bigger slaughter. They would have not won that battle, and there would have been a lot of people killed on his side. So, yeah, there's a consequence for trying to right a wrong, so to speak, where he messed up and hired these men. But then he made it right by not bringing them with him and kind of eating the cost. But the cost would have been a lot higher if he would have disobeyed God. So, you've got to be thinking about that. Yeah, at the beginning, there's some cost. And there's going to be some consequences. Because you messed up. You messed up, but you're going to get it right. There's going to be consequences. But, listen, the consequences are always going to be less by trying to do right in the end than if you just keep doing wrong to try to reconcile that wrong you did. Right? And so, but going on from that, we're going to see where we have the downturn of Amaziah. So, at this point, he's doing pretty good. But you can see why, you know, he's going to want to go against the king of Israel. Because when you're reading through 2 Kings, you're kind of like, it goes through this, and he's like, he takes out the Edomites, and then he's like, I want to meet you face to face, Joash. You know, let's meet on the battlefield. And you're like, where in the world is this coming from? But when you read through 2 Chronicles, you're like, I know where it's coming from. Because they just spoiled them and killed 3,000 of their men while they were at war with Edom. Okay? So, you know, that's where Chronicles comes in and kind of gives you a little more light on that. It's not just this, like, I just feel like going to battle. Let's go see what you're made of, Israel. You know, I don't think it's that, you know, that crazy where he's doing that. Now, in verse 14 there, we're going to see where this is his downfall. He brings these gods back with him. And we know that they're not gods, right? You know, those that are called gods, they're not really gods. You know, these idols, you know, they can't speak or hear or talk or anything like that. It says in verse 14, Now it came to pass, after that Amazigh 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. Wherefore, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amazigh, and sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why is thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thy hand? That's a valid question. I mean, if you're going to pick gods, right? If you're going to say, you know what, I'm going to start being an idolater, and I'm going to pick some gods, because I think it's cool and trendy, don't you think you'd pick one that's like a nation that you thought was strong, you know? You wouldn't pick the nation that you just destroyed. That doesn't make any sense. And that's a valid argument that's being made there. What are you doing? Like, this doesn't even make logical sense that you would pick these ones. And then he goes on from there and says, And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? For bear, why shouldest thou be smitten? So he's threatening this prophet, saying for bear. He's like, stand down. It's pretty much just like, you need to stop talking. And so he's closing his ears to this. Not like before, when they were telling him, you know, hey, send those armies back, and, you know, just eat the cost. No, now he's saying, you need to forebear. Said, art thou made of the king's counsel? He's saying, are you on the king's counsel? You know, who asked you? It's pretty much what he's saying here. Who asked you, you need to forebear, why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet, for bear. Okay, so he basically just, all right. And this is what he says, though. And said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. So, when it says that, you know, he forebear, it's not saying that he took it back. Okay, he's not saying like, okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Okay, it just means that he's not going to try to talk to him anymore. He's like, so that's basically what Amosiah is saying. He's like, I don't want to hear it anymore. I don't want to hear what you have to say. You're not on the king's counsel. And you need to forebear, lest you be smitten. Right, it's pretty much what he's saying, unless you want to be put to death. But he does get out one thing. He says, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. So, this makes me think of, you know, what the Bible talks about. People that will not hear correction. You know, the fool will not hear the rebuke of the wise. Go to Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs chapter 15. Listen, we need to all be able to hear some reproof. Even as a pastor, you know, listen, it says rebuke not an elder. That doesn't mean that you can't, like, say, hey, I have some grievance here. But it says entreat him as a father. Okay, so that's not saying don't ever say that the pastor's wrong, ever. Never, like, confront him with everything. If there's a legitimate grievance that you think that I'm doing something wrong, come to me privately. Take me aside and say, hey, listen, pastor, you know, I'm just concerned about this or that. And listen, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And even as a pastor, I should not be thinking, like, I, no, I'm sticking to my guns. I'm never going to hear a rebuke. I'm never going to hear a reproof. And, you know, that shouldn't be that way. Okay, because I'm a human just like anybody else. I can make mistakes just like anybody else. And so, but obviously with a higher up, you know, with higher authority, you should be, you need to be not as crass, if you will, and, like, call them out in front of the whole service and be, like, you're wrong about this, and this is why you're wrong. You know, like, that's where it gets ridiculous. That's where you're rebuking an elder. But even as a pastor, as anything like that, you need to be able to take rebuke. You need to be able to take reproof, okay. Now, in Proverbs 15, verse 10, it says, Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Sounds like Amaziah to me because he forsook the way and started following after other gods. And guess what? Correction is grievous unto him. He doesn't like it because it hurts. Verse 31 of Proverbs 15 says, The ear that heareth reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuses to instructeth despises his own soul, but he that heareth reproof geteth understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. See, those things work hand in hand. To receive reproof, you have to be humble. You know, if you're proud, you're not going to receive it. If you're just like, I know everything. What could you teach me? That's proud. To think that if someone came up to me and said, you know, or if I said to you, there's nothing you guys can teach me. I can only teach you. That's ridiculous. It's actually hard to say to be that ridiculous to think that no one in here, you know, or that the fact is, the matter is that every single person in here could teach me something. And that's the matter that you should be thinking about is the humility. That doesn't mean that I'm going to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, okay? I mean, if you're going to teach me something, you better teach it to me. You better have a good reason, and you better show it to me out of the Bible, okay? So just because you're like, oh, I got this, you know, idea, you better prove it to me, okay? But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be open to it, okay? But going on from that, I mean, you think of 2 Timothy chapter 3. It's a very famous passage, all scriptures given by inspiration of God. And it's proper for doctrine, for what? For proof. For correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So this applies, I mean, you think about, back in this case, you have a prophet coming to him. But, you know, God who had sundry times and diverse manners, spake in time, passed unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. And we have the whole word of God right here, the scriptures, to reprove us and correct us, and we need to take it. And we need to take it on the chin sometimes, you know, where it's, you know, they're not going to like it. Sometimes you hear the reproof of the Bible. But, you know, you need to do that. Now, go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 25, and obviously, Amaziah doesn't do that. Because he should be rightfully rebuked and reproved for the fact that he is worshipping other gods. It'd be like this. If I said, you know what, I'm going to set up an idol over here, and we're going to burn incense to it. And then you said, no, pastor, that's wrong. Listen, who made you the council of the church here? You need a forebearer. You know what you need to do? Kick me out of the church! You know, get another pastor that's not worshipping idols, okay? Now, that's kind of a silly, crazy example there. But isn't that what's going on right there? I mean, the king's worshipping idols. And then the prophet's saying, no. And rebuking him for that, rightfully so, and he won't hear it. Now, in verse 17 there of 2 Chronicles chapter 25. Now, if you don't like me because my beard doesn't look good, that's not a reason to rebuke me, okay? Just forebear, okay? Deal with it. But in verse 17, it says, then Amaziah, king of Judah, took advice. Now, when you're reading fast through this, you can maybe think that he's taking advice from that man of God, or that prophet that God sent him. But I don't believe that's what's going on here. He took advice from somebody, okay? And I don't believe he took advice from the man of God, but he took advice and sent to Joash. So he took advice from somebody to go to Joash and basically challenge him to a fight. So he sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, come, let us see one another in the face. Now, this apparently is another way of saying, let's go fight, right? It's time to throw down, you know? And so, basically, when you look at this, when you're first reading, you're like, okay, we're going to have a discussion. That's not what it means, okay? When he says, let us see each other to the face, this means we're going to go fight, you know? We're going to go to war. And you say, well, how do you know? Because later on, what it says. But Joash is not under the impression that they're just going to have a discussion, okay? Because notice what he says. Verse 18, he kind of gives this parable, if you will. And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Jehu, 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. So, they're kind of going back here because basically what he's saying is, you're thistle and I'm the cedar, right? So, you can imagine, if you're in a fight, right, if you're saying, let's go, you know, face to face, and you're like, listen, you're thistle, I'm the cedar, who are you to tell me that we're going to fight? And so, you can kind of see where, okay, now Amaziah is like, yeah, we're going to fight. But, he's making a point here, and it says in verse 19, it says, thou sayest, lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites, and thine heart, thine heart lifted thee up to boast, abide now at home. Why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall even thou in Judah with thee? And 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. So, God's going to punish Amaziah for forsreating these gods, and he's basically causing it to where he thinks it's a good idea to go up the battle with Israel, okay? But, you can definitely see how Amaziah would look at this and be like, he's calling me a thistle, he's saying, I'm thistle, he's the cedar, and, you know, listen, your heart's lifted up because you took out Edom. He's like, but don't come up here, because you're just going to get hurt, son. You can see how that feels, right? It's like, listen, son, you're the thistle, I'm the cedar, just stay down there, you're going to get hurt, you know? And you can imagine how that feels, where you're just like, alright, it's time to go to war. And so, and sometimes you don't, when you're reading through the Bible, it doesn't say it like that, you know? But that's what I basically believe, that's how I believe he's saying this, he's kind of putting it in a more poetic, parabolic type of statement here. When he's saying that you're the thistle, I'm the cedar, but that's the way I kind of read it, that's the way I would look at it. Be like, alright, son, you had a little battle over there, you did good, don't let that think that you could take me out now, and, you know, all that. So, but anyway, so they, they're going to end up going to battle here, and it's going to be to Amaziah's, you know, downfall here. But in verse 21, it says, 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 belonged to Judah, and Judah was put to the worst before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. So we see here that when they met each other to the face, we're talking about setting our battles in array, you know? We're not just having a quiet little discussion here, and Judah was set to the worst. So we kind of, we saw that happen, right? We saw that coming, and the fact that God was not going to be with them after he's following these other gods, and worshipping these other gods. Now in verse 23, and Joash, the king of Israel, took Amaziah, king of Judah, and the son of Joash, the son of Jehoaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and break down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, 400 cubits. And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edim, and the treasures of the king's house, and the hostages also, and returned to Samaria. And Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash, son of Jehoaz, king of Israel, 15 years. So we see that, you know, this isn't where Amaziah dies, because he's going to outlive Joash by 15 years, okay? So it kind of gives you a marker when this happens, you know, because we're kind of coming at the end of Joash of Israel's reign, and he's going to outlive him 15 years. But he does get spoiled, right? So they go to battle, and then he brings down the king, and he's just like spanking them down there pretty much, and just taking the stuff out of the house of God, and spoiling them, and, you know, basically putting them in his place is what's going on here. But this is of God. Now, is God for Israel? No, but God can use a wicked nation to do his purpose. And he does this many times in the Bible. He'll use Assyria, he'll use Babylon, he'll use a lot of wicked nations that, they weren't godly nations, but he's using them to punish the children of Israel, or the children of Judah, and so forth. Now, the end of Amaziah here, I need to finish this sermon, my throat is just getting really dry. So, we're almost done here. We're at the end here. So in verse 27 there, we're going to see that Amaziah is going to die, kind of the same way that Joash did. There's going to be this conspiracy. And in verse 27 there, it says, 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. And they brought him upon horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah. So, we see that Amaziah, same thing, right? Basically this conspiracy where they come and kill him. Now in this case, they're basically saying from the time, or after the time Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him. So, you know, the people of Israel are seeing that this isn't good. The people of Judah are seeing this isn't good, and they're like, we're going to take him out. Now, I'm not condoning this, and I don't believe that God necessarily condones what happens here, but you can see that the children of Judah are just like, what are you doing? The king's off his rocker, and ever since he brought these gods out from Edom, we've been spoiled from Israel. It's not been going well, okay? And they end up taking out Amaziah. So, Joash and Amaziah are both taken out by their own people. And so, you remember seeing that in Israel, right? Israel is just constant. We have a king, they're signed, conspiracy, boom, they're dead. Someone else takes, you know, then their son comes in, conspiracy, they're gone, and just conspiracy after conspiracy after conspiracy. But here's a couple places where you see Joash, who started off good, was a great king. While Jehoiada was alive and instructing him, as soon as Jehoiada died, just fell off the wagon. Then they end up killing him, you know, and then after that, Amaziah starts off good, and he's doing well. But he just doesn't follow the Lord like David did because he goes after other gods. And as soon as he does that, it's all downhill. And we see this over and over again with these kings. We're going to see the same thing with Uzziah. Uzziah's going to mess up, too. He's going to end up being a leper until the day of his death. And it's just like over and over and over again. And like I said, when it comes to these kings, the big thing that I see with this is, let's not be like them. Let's die faithful. Let's die. Let's just bring it to the end. I mean, he was in his 50s when he died. You know, bring it to the end. You know, just live out your life and live out your life serving God. And let's not be the case where we do great things for God and then we fizzle out and fall off the deep end. And we see this generation after generation. You see this in old Baptist churches where Baptist churches used to do great things for God. And then they just get older and then you just give up. It's like, did you just give up? Like, why not go to the end? And let it not be said about Mount Baptist Church that we started off strong. We were doing great things for God. But then we got comfortable. But then we just started, you know, not doing what we should be doing. And then we just fall off. Now, how about we go out stronger than when we came in? But at least be as strong as when you started. But I'd rather go stronger. Stronger than going the other direction. But that's Amaziah, king of Judah. Started off great. So it does say that he did right in the eyes of the Lord. I mean, so when you look at that, you know, for most of his reign or for a lot of his reign there, he's doing good. But then he kind of fell off. Same thing with Joash. He did right in the side of the eyes of the Lord. And, you know, a lot of the kings of Judah are kind of like that. We're going to see some wicked ones. But yeah. So continuing on, we will eventually get through, Lord willing, all the kings of Judah. And so let's end with the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for the souls that were saved. And Lord, just pray to be with us throughout the rest of this week. And Lord, just pray to be with our health. Help us to be healthy, to serve you. And Lord, I pray particularly for Miss Bethany and the Russell family. That you be with her and just pray for a miracle and the healing there. And Lord, just pray that you would again be with our church. Thank you for it. And we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.