Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

INTRODUCTION
The Godhead paused the virtual time run after Joash’s death. In just 44 years, Judah had gone through three monarchs. None of them died a natural death. All had been a disaster as far as the Godhead was concerned. The project to showcase the Godhead’s righteousness to the angelic population had become a laughingstock for Lucifer and the fallen angels and the holy angels groaned in disgust at the sinfulness of mankind.

The nation of Israel began as twelve united tribes but degenerated into two kingdoms:

• The northern kingdom of Israel had seen a dozen kings come and go – every single man a spiritual failure in God’s eyes.

• The southern kingdom of Judah did not have the greatest track record with only two good kings up to this point. The Godhead did not have a lot of hope for the next king, but they decided to give Amaziah a chance even though they knew Lucifer and his fallen angels were simply waiting to pounce upon the new king.

KING AMAZIAH
Amaziah started with the energy of a bull emerging from a rodeo pen. He was married with small children when he was crowned king at 25 years old. He tried to live and reign like King David, but failed to remove the high places of Baal worship. 2 Kings 14:1-4; 2 Chronicles 25:1

The Bible records that his heart was not perfect. verse 2

His grip on Judah was weak because he had to deal with the fact that his father had been murdered by palace servants. Amaziah did not know where to begin or who he could trust in the palace and among the military. It took some time to consolidate control over Judah and then he executed his father’s murderers. verse 3

Amaziah did not kill the family members of the men that assassinated his father. He followed the law of Moses, but like so many Christians, he obeyed some commandments and ignored others. verse 4

BUILDING UP HIS ARMY
If Amaziah had read about King David, he would have known it was not a numbers game when it came to fighting; the odds don’t matter when God is on your side.  1 Chronicles 21:1-3; 6-8

Amaziah decided to conduct a headcount of his soldiers. 2 Chronicles 25:5

He decided that his army was too small and hired an additional 100,000 soldiers from Israel. verse 6

The Godhead immediately dispatched a prophet to warn Amaziah about this action. He was instructed to send the men back north. Amaziah followed the prophet’s instructions but regretted the money lost in hiring the mercenaries. verses 7-9

The people of Judah paid for their king’s foolishness. verses 10, 13

A GREAT VICTORY
The Ammonites and Moabites had been at war with the descendants of Abraham for centuries and Amaziah was forced to fight them again. He was given the victory since he obeyed the Lord.

However, he decided to slaughter the surviving enemy soldiers after the battle. It was a horrible scene as the soldiers were forced marched up a mountain and thrown over the cliff to tumble down and painfully smashed on the rocks below. 2 Chronicles 25:11-12

AMAZIAH BECAME A FOOL
Amaziah had been instructed in the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For some reason he was struck with awe when he saw the heathen places of worship at Edom. There had been a lot of drinking, dancing, fornication and child sacrifice at these sites dedicated to Moloch and other demon gods.

Amaziah’s mistake was dismantling these places and returning to Judah with heathen artifacts. Powerful demons moved in and possessed him once he began to pack the idols of wood and metal. It is important to note that Lucifer was willing to sacrifice Ammonite and Moabite soldiers in order to get Amaziah into position to spring his trap and the king of Judah walked right into it. Amaziah was so infatuated that he abandoned the living God and began worshiping idols that could not breathe or speak.  2 Chronicles 25:14

The Godhead once again sent a prophet to pronounce judgment on him. verses 15-16

WALKING IN THE FLESH
Amaziah knew that King Jehoash of Israel was a Baal worshiper and for some reason he thought he could redeem himself by fighting against his idol worshiping kinsmen.

Jehoash poked fun at Amaziah and told him to go home. Amaziah insisted on fighting with the result that Judah was defeated and Amaziah was captured. He returned to Jerusalem as a prisoner, the temple and palace were plundered, and a 600-foot section of the city’s wall was demolished. A crushing defeat for a man with a lot of promise who challenged his northern rival and was robbed of gold, silver, and prestige. verses 17-24

A LAME DUCK KING
Amaziah was the laughingstock of Judah for the next 15 years. The Bible is silent for most of this time period. There is an indication that he continued to worship idols.  Political leaders faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob conspired against Amaziah and sought to execute him. Amaziah fled from Jerusalem to Lachish when he discovered the conspiracy. He lost all support and died at the age of 54 when the conspirators found him. His corpse was thrown on a horse and carried back to Jerusalem and subsequently buried. verses 25-28

SUMMARY
Amaziah acted like a fool and had no one to blame but himself. He started out well but never got around to removing the high places of Baal worship in Judah. From there on he made a number of poor decisions that eventually led to his death.

Amaziah was like a lot of modern-day Christians with a false type of worship that involves lip service to God, rejecting the commandments in the Bible, and relegating the Old Testament to the dustbin. They do not believe that a person must repent of his sins and be born again, reject the Holy Spirit, and do not believe the miracles recorded in the New Testament are true.

The prophet Hosea was given a message some 2,800 years ago that is still valid.
Hosea 8:1-7

We are living in a whirlwind that is ripping us into pieces. Does anyone care?