When I read this verse, I thought of us today. God is gracious and merciful to us, not because of our "goodness", but because of our relationship to Him through Christ. Does He bless us when we follow Him - yes. But ultimately, none of us can live the Christian life. Even after we are saved, we fail Him over and over. It is only Christ who was blameless and sin free, and it is because we are "in Him" that we are blessed. That is why praise to God should always be on our lips, because of His goodness to us through Christ.
Under the leadership of the priest, Jehoiada, the people restored the temple of God. The next section tells what happened after his death:
2 Chronicles 24:5 Jehoiada lived to a very old age, finally dying at 130. 16 He was buried among the kings in the City of David, because he had done so much good in Judah for God and his Temple. 17 But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice. 18 They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Yet the Lord sent prophets to bring them back to him. The prophets warned them, but still the people would not listen.20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!”21 Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. 22 That was how King Joash repaid Jehoiada for his loyalty—by killing his son. Zechariah’s last words as he died were, “May the Lord see what they are doing and avenge my death!”
When the godly voice died out, the people decided to come up with their own plans. I think this shows the importance of attending a God honoring church and of listening to godly counsel, as well as studying God's word. We must get God's perspective on things in order to know how to follow Him.
2 Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.
5 Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. 6 He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel.7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! 8 If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”
So King Amaziah listened to that counsel and sent the troops he had hired away and God gave him the victory. But after that, this was how he responded:2 Chronicles 25:14-16 When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! 15 This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?” 16 But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!” So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.”
Over and over in scripture God warns us about not following Him wholeheartedly. The only thing we have to look forward to is punishment if we don't.
Amaziah could have succeded in all he did. He showed true faith, and may have become proud. Thus he was doomed to destruction
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