WHO IS YOUR FATHER? 2 Kings 14

Who’s Child Are You?

INTRODUCTION

It’s the end of an era. 2 Kings 13, that we looked at last week, told the story of the death of the prophet Elisha. - the rock solid spiritual stability that the has been the skeleton holding together God’s people, no matter what kind of ridiculous, foolish, evil kings the nations of the northern and southern kingdoms had. With the death of Elisha … and the life-giving power of his bones in the grave

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PARTIAL HOLINESS, vv. 1-4

Our chapter begins by taking us back to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. We are introduced to Amaziah the son of Joash, as he steps up to the throne. Joash his father is the one who was rescued as a baby when his grandmother was killing every threat to her own power. Joash is the one who was mentored by Jehoiada the chief priest and who was a faithful king, as long as Jehoiada was around to guide him in God’s Word. Joash pushed for and oversaw the renovation of the temple that was showing its age and neglect. He pushed for decades to get that done. That’s the mark of a king who cares about God .... but when his mentor died, the king went off the rails and ended up assassinated by his own officials. It was a sad end to a mixed reign.

The people may have come to despise Joash, but his son was able to take the throne. And, by this time in our journey through this book - the first thing we have come to do, is to look at the text to see what kind of Divine ‘Review’ the king gets. Many of us have become used to looking at online reviews before we make up our minds about anything - whether it’s a book you want to buy, an item you want to purchase online, or even a restaurant you’re thinking of visiting - we all want to know - ‘what’s the verdict on this?”

Well the verdict on Amaziah is given to us in v 3, He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD (that’s the standard ‘check mark’ of approval, which is good! That means this is no apostate king) .... YET NOT LIKE David his father.”

That’s new. That’s interesting. Up until now, if a king of Judah was approved (there we NO approved kings in the northern Kingdom, but in the south, the mark of a good king was that …), it would be said of him, ‘he did what was right AS HIS DAVID HIS FATHER had done” (1 Kings 15:11). Well, Amaziah did what was right … but NOT like David his father .... no - “… He did in all things as JOASH his father had done.” What does that mean?

Verse 4 tells us: “ the high places were not removed. Those alternative worship sites - on the hills - where the Canaanites practiced their pagan worship, that the Israelites headed to - they were usually worshiping the true God, but they were worshiping there out of convenience - and were disobeying God’s command to worship Him at the temple in Jerusalem. These worship-sites of convenience were tolerated by king Joash AND they are tolerated by his son, Amaziah. We’ve heard this before, about other kings. In fact, we’ve heard it several times .... so that the temptation is to not even notice … to become numb to that shortcoming. See how God doesn’t become numb. He notices.

After three or four times we respond with, ‘Well, that’s about all you can expect from the kings of Judah. At least he’s not outright worshiping Baal or offering child sacrifices to one of the other trendy pagan deities.’ But that is not God’s attitude. Verse 3, “Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, YET NOT LIKE DAVID his father.” Amaziah did ‘pretty well - but he could have done better, so the Bible never gives him more than a three-star review. And that’s actually not really good enough. Heard from a small business owner recently - that online reviews really do make a difference to the company. They love to get good reviews. But only if the review is REALLY good. And that’s a problem for some people. Some of us grew up with a certain type of parent or we remember the marking philosophy of certain kinds of teachers - we think, “Well, I really liked that service - I’m going to encourage them with a 4-star review. Wouldn’t want to give 5 stars, because we wouldn’t want to be too enthusiastic … I’ll give them just a little room for improvement.” On behalf of small business owners and church leaders everywhere - don’t give a 4 star review unless you are trying to punish. The only reviews that do any good are the ones with FIVE STARS. God is after total devotion; he’s looking for another 5-star David; he’s satisfied with nothing less. Amaziah gets three.

He could have been a 5-star king, if only he would have followed the example of his father David - the big sinner, but passionate pursuer of God. Instead, he chose to follow the example of his father Joash … who followed God faithfully … to a point. Three stars. Can I ask you a question, this morning: “Whose child are you?”

I suppose there is an analogous situation for some of us. We might call ourselves ‘evangelicals’ and yet there is little zeal after personal piety, little effort to teach and indoctrinate our families, not much passion to bear personal or public witness—or to raise our voice against unbelief in our church denomination. We’re evangelical—no need to go bonkers over it. Maybe it’s the Amaziah complex: we don’t see why righteousness must be rigorous or godliness aggressive.1

1 Davis, D. R. (2005). 2 Kings: The Power and the Fury (p. 205). Christian Focus Publications.

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2. LIMITED SUCCESS, vv. 5-7

The text does tell us that Amaziah does some things right - he has limited success. READ vv. 5-7.

Remember - Amaziah’s father was assassinated by his own servants. Whether you liked the king or not - he is the king - and the men who killed him are guilty of murder. It doesn’t matter what the motivations were - you can’t have a stable country if people keep knocking off the king, when they don’t like him.

This is a capital offence. So when verse 5 tells us that Amaziah gets control of his kingdom and then executes the servants who had strcuk down his father .... that’s justice - it’s law and order. The Bible doesn’t criticize him for being cruel .... it actually praises him for his restraint. Did you notice that in v. 6? “But he did NOT put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses.” Amaziah reads his Bible - and even though the popular thing to do in his day would be to wipe out, not just the guilty, but all of their family and friends too - just to send a message, to make people think twice about ever plotting an attempt on HIS life .... Amaziah doesn’t do that. Deuteronomy 24:16 ““Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.”

This is a king who knows how to put the breaks on a vengeful spirit. That’s a mark of success.

Another mark of success comes on the battlefield. David was a warrior king who protected the borders of the nation and since his death, at least one of the territories he had conquered had rebelled against the rule of his descendants and had gone their own way. Edom was one of those places. Well, verse 7 tells us that Amaziah got his army together, headed south of the Dead Sea, to the Akkabah - the Valley of Salt, in the direction of the Red Sea. The narrator doesn’t give any details here, except for the fact that Amakiah took SELA (maybe the site of the famous ancient city of PETRA). And he took the city, the verse emphasizes … ‘by storm’. It’s an emphatic win, but the whole story is over in one single verse here.

But the same story is told in 2 Chronicles 25:5-15 - and that account has a whole lot more detail. Turn there. Read 2 Chronicles 25:5-7 “Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites.”

See the king functioning like a General Eisenhower of his day - great military strategist - takes a census, drafts the able-bodied men 20 years and older and has an army of 300k fit and able men. Then he hires an additional force of another 100k men from the northern Kingdom. So now he has 400k fighting men, ready for battle.

One of God’s prophets warns him to send the mercenaries away - because they weren’t needed. This was a just war and God would give him the victory. “Trust me!”, God says. And Amaziah obeyed. He dismissed the troops from the northern kingdom and headed into battle alone.

2 Chronicles 25:10-12 tell what happened.“Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.”

It’s a massive victory!

At the end of this battle, for the first time in a long time … Judah has actually EXPANDED its southern border. This is definitely … SUCCESS.

If Amaziah had stopped there - he very likely would have died as a hero - maybe not a 5 star hero … but he would definitely get AT LEAST a 4 star review on his reign.

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3 PRIDEFUL EXCESS, vv. 8-22

Verse 8 tells us that the king is NOT content with the victories God has given. Amaziah calls in his ambassador-messengers and sends them to Jehoash, the king of Israel, with a message for that king.

READ vv. 8-10. “Come, let us look one another in the face”, says the king of Judah to the king of Israel. Now, what in the world does that mean? It’s very vague to us: is he missing his fellow king - member of his extended, extended family? Is he saying, “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other and I miss you - I can’t wait to see your face again?” Is he saying, “Let’s arrange a family reunion, so the kids don’t forget their identity in this big impersonal world?” No. The invitation may be vague to us, but it is clearly understood by Israel’s king Jehoash.

Amaziah is looking for a fight. “Let us look one another in the face ...” is the 8th century BC equivalent of, ‘would you care to step outside? I’m going to take you down.”

It seems that the victory over Edom has puffed Amaziah’s chest out with pride so far that his buttons have popped right off of his shirt. Well, there’s a little more to it than that. Back to 2 Chronicles 25:13 gives some more background: “But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.”

To Jehoash’s credit, he wants nothing to do with this duel. He tells a story to paint a picture to try and talk Amaziah back to his senses. There is a thistle in the forest who has the confidence to tell a cedar that he wants the daughter of this mighty tree as a wife for his son - little Johnny Thistle. And before there’s even time for the cedar to laugh at the ridiculous request, a wild animal comes walking through the forest, looking for food probably - and without even realizing … without even noticing the thistle on the ground … the animal steps on it. Crunch! The thistle is crushed and the animal just keeps on walking.

“Do you see what a ridiculous proposal this is?”, asks the king of Israel. “You are the thistle and I am the tree.” To use another metaphor: “If you come looking to mess with this bull … be prepared to get the horns.”

Jehoash is patting Amaziah on the top of the head and telling him to go back to the playground and play with the other kids. “Enjoy your little victory over Edom and let the grownups run the world.” It’s not exactly a soft answer to turn away wrath.

Well, if Amaziah was looking for a fight before … now he’s insulted as well - his pride is wounded, so unsurprisingly, v. 11 tells us that ‘he would not listen.’

Jehoash marches his army down from Samaria. Amaziah leads his army out of Jerusalem, 15 miles to the southwest and the 2 armies meet in Judah’s territory, along the important commercial highway, leading up from the Philistine territory along the Mediterranean, at the pass of Beth Shemesh.

READ vv. 11-14.

As for the battle - it goes almost exactly the way the king of Israel had promised. It’s a rout. Judah’s solddiers abandon their battle formations - go AWOL and run for home. Israel’s soldiers chase them for 15 miles, asll the way back to Jerusalem.

And, ironically, King Amaziah, who started all of this by saying that he wanted to look Jehoash in the face .... well, he gets his wish - he gets captured and brought to see the face of Jehoash, but not as an equal … as a prisoner of war.

It gets worse - when Israel’s army gets to Jerusalem, obviously the welcome mat has been taken inside and the city gates are closed. So, what do the advancing commanders do? They bring out the army corps of engineers and breach the seemingly impregnable wall of the city that once was the capitol of the united people of God. The separate army of Israel attacks, punch a hole in the stone wall that is 4 hundred cubits - 600 feet - 2 football fields wide. That’ more than big enough to drive a truck through. It’s more than large enough to leave the city vulnerable … and it’s more than enough to provide a clear path to the valuables of the city - wherever they are held inside. Sure enough … V. 14, the forces of Israel, once inside the city of Jerusalem, they head for the temple/ palace neighbourhood and help themselves to, (v. 14) “all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house ...”. And as yo usee at the and of verse 14, the soldiers from Israel also grab hostages from inside the city before they turn and head for home.

This is a devastating defeat for Amaziah and for Judah.

Something you may not realize - that hits hard when you do realize it: This is the first time in the history of the people of God - where the capital of Jerusalem has fallen in any way … where the wall has been broken, where treasures have been taken and where its own people have been taken away as captives from home .... and it has fallen for the first time .... not to an enemy superpower like Egypt or Assyria .... it fell to its own separated brothers. The first enemy forces to sack Jerusalem … are from Israel.

This is a spiritual low point. Things have never been this bad before. Can you identify? Elijah is gone, Elisha is gone … and civil war has broken out among God’s people with the temple of the living God PLUNDERED by His own wayward people.

Now, this is the first time Jerusalem is sacked; it is definitely not the last time. In fact, fast forward to the end of this book of Kings (which we WILL get to before too long, believe it or not) and the day is coming when Jerusalem will fall again .... this time it will be Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king of Babylon, at the gate and King Jehoiachin will be the one carted off as God’s backslidden people are sent into exile. This is a preview of that terriblee day.

But for now - let the image settle firmly in your mind’s eye - the sight of Amaziah and the rest of the hostages and the gold and silver worship utensils from the once glorious temple of God … led away from home into captivity … by their own cousins.

Years before this battle, Amaziah’s distant father, David, had written Psalm 133: “Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! .... For there the LORD has commanded the blessing.” A God-inspired psalm holding high the glory of unified peace … and here are David’s descendants … God’s own people - destroying each other. This is a tragedy. If I were to ask the question this morning: ‘Do you think unity and peace among God’s people is important?’ .... there’s not a single person who would respond by saying, ‘No way. Not a big deal at all.’ We look around at a world in division, with so many people alienated from each other - so much hostility and we

Pursuing God’s Truth in HUMILITY ......

3 THE FATHER OF THE PROMISES

READ vv. 15-22

So Amaziah, after his capture and exile, outlives the king who beat him – for 15 years. Somehow, he gets back to Jerusalem. But when the king walks back through the city walls he doesn’t make an entrance like a beloved, king returning to his adoring people .... he is received home as a loser who started a needless war, who led his army to a bitter defeat, who impoverished the temple .... and who just generally lowered the status and standard of living of the people he was supposed to be protecting and providing for. The citizens of Jerusalem are NOT happy to see their king again. How could anyone be? You don’t celebrate the person who has presided over your decline.

It turns out, he was so UNPOPULAR that the people conspire against him, Verse 19 tells us about the conspiracy to take him out. Notice the vague description of the conspirators … “THEY made a conspiracy against him …”. Who’s they? The idea is that it could be anybody – this is a deeply unpopular king, just like his deeply unpopular father – Joash, not David. Remember the assassination? The pattern continues. They chase Amaziah, who runs all the way to Lachish ….an important fortified city. The king tries to hid there, it doesn’t work. He’s found, he’s captured, he’s assassinated … and his body is carried by horses back to Jerusalem and he’s buried with his fathers – in the city of David. An undignified conclusion for a man who had started out doing many things right in the eyes of God. Dale Ralph Davis describes Amaziah as making “a reasonably good start followed by unteachable arrogance, humiliating defeat, and bloody conspiracy.” Ultimately, the king died of self-inflicted wounds. Because of his proud ambition

This is the end of the king who was ‘Okay’ in God’s eyes: Just okay - because he was not like his father David, he was just like his father Joash. And as a result, he died the same death.

Verses 23 and 24 tell us about the king who takes over from Joash in the north: Jeroboam (the second). READ vv. 23-24. “… He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

You look at the divided kingdom - and kings ruling over them … and you can see the nation sliding further and further down the pathway of decline. The future looks more and more bleak. No Elijah, no Elisha and kings who are following the wrong fathers.

Does it remind you of our day?

1859 - Charles Darwin’s earth-shaking book, “On the Origin of Species” was released to widespread acclaim and massive applause. Here was an argument tailor made for those who wanted an explanation of everything that didn’t require a God at the beginning. The book was more than a scientific theory … it seemed to be a direct blow against the foundation and moral fabric of Western culture. It was a hard time for Christians.

It surely couldn’t have come as good news to Hudson Taylor, who at that very time was in the country of China. In 1854, he had left his home and everything comfortable back in England and, at with no formal training in theology or missions, had set sail for the massive, mysterious country of China, with the Chinese Evangelisation Society. He learned the language quickly, took 10 extended evangelistic journetys to the interior of the country. But after four years - he resigned from the mission organization because he had a deep and growing conviction that asking for money for the sake of Christ’s work - was wrong.

So in 1859 - he was alone, with his wife, in a distant country, basically unreached by the Gospel … and Charles Darwin’s work drops with a great splash basically declaring that there was no special creation of God, human beings are not made in His image … and there is no need for a Saviour.

To make it worse, just one year later - in 1860, Hudson and his wife Maria, had to sail back to England. he had hepatitis and was seriously ill - could this be the end of the road for his call to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost in China?

Well it just so happens that, in ‘59, the same year that Darwin’s book was published, a revival broke out in Northern Ireland that led to a religious movement so pivotal in British religious history that it came to be called, “the Revival or ‘Awakening’ of ‘59”. Hudson Taylor and his wife missed the beginning of that revival, but his hepatitis got him home in time to reap the benefits.

Taylor remained recuperating in England for the next four years - and his burden for China only grew and grew and grew. He couldn’t shake the idea that a new mission agency was needed.

One Lord’s Day, on the beach near Brighton - God birthed in him a dream which he describes like this:

“On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people, rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony; and there the LORD conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to issues and consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him - His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once flowed into my burdened heart? There and then I asked Him for 24 fellow workers, two for each of 11 inland provinces which were without a (single) missionary, and 2 for Mongolia; and writing the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for months.”

That beach was the birthplace of the China Inland Mission. Hudson Taylor was 33 years old. The missionaries were to have no guaranteed salaries, they were not to appeal for funds, and they were to adopt Chinese dress and press the gospel to the interior. The advertising went out for anyone who may be interested.

Interested? In going to a far off country, with a culture that was completely foreign to anything you knew … and to go there without any guaranteed salary and you aren’t allowed to ask for money. WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THAT?!!

Well, it turns out that some people whose lives were changed in the revival of 1859-60 - just AFTER the publication of Darwin’s book … some of those people were interested in answering the call and on May 26, 1866, Hudson and Maria Taylor … along with their children - left England with the largest group of missionaries that had ever sailed to China - 16 besides themselves.

And the nation of China would never be the same. In fact the Asian world would never be the same. In more recent years, the mission changed its name to Overseas Missionary Fellowship and we just had a visit from one of our churches own missionary couples - Steve and Angel, who brought us up to date on people they are witnessing to and leading to Christ and discipling - today! They are investing their lives in serving the Lord across the ocean in the organization begun all those years ago - when things seemed so bleak.

How can we have hope? Because God is on the throne and He is building His Church ....

Look back at our text in 2 Kings 14. Here is the hopeless situation: A king of Israel - named Jeroboam - who is just like every other king to sit on the throne in Samaria: Verse 24, “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” We would expect nothing else. But then there’s the king in the Southern Kingdom - Amaziah, who started out okay, but ended up living as the child of his father Joash, instead of David … and he ended up suffering the same consequences.

How can God’s purposes continue, when His people are under THAT kind of leadership? How can God’s Church continue to grow, what hope is there for our children’s generation - when they are inheriting a country that rejects Christianity and where broad swaths of Christian leaders are signing away the Biblical historic Christian faith, that Christian men and woman have been standing for and dying for throughout history?! How can there be any hope for me? I am so often a child of Joash, when I want to be a child of David and passionately pursue my Saviour. What hope do my kids have with a parent like me?!

Ahhh - here’s the hope in the text. Look at 2 Kings 14:26-27 “For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”

The hope isn’t in the excellence of the kings at all. The hope is in the God of the promises

Yahweh had promised Jehu a four-generation dynasty (10:30); Jeroboam II is the fourth link in Jehu’s line. But Yahweh had promised David an unending dynasty (2 Sam. 7:12–16) and, in spite of a Judean conspiracy, Azariah is the current proof that that promise holds true. Just because obituaries seem dull we should not miss the point: Yahweh’s promises direct history, and, if there is order and stability in early eighth century Israel and Judah, it is because Yahweh’s promises rule.

But the David promise is abiding and still controls history. Even when the Davidic king was unseated at the exile (2 Kings 24–25), the Davidic line went on and resurfaces in Matthew 1 in Jesus who is called Messiah (1:16). He moves from ministry to crucifixion to resurrection to ascension to enthronement at the place of supreme authority and power in the universe (Eph. 1:20–22). And in its time that hidden reign will be visibly imposed and obvious to all (cf. Rev. 11:15).