Amaziah became king… He did what was pleasing to the Lord, but did it reluctantly.
Sounds like he was looking back… (Luke 9:62)
…a prophet went to the king and said to him, “Don’t take these Israelite soldiers with you. The Lord is not with these people from the Northern Kingdom. You may think that they will make you stronger in battle, but it is God who has the power to give victory or defeat, and he will let your enemies defeat you.”
A bit simplistic, the reasoning, and clanish. King Jehoash of Israel wasn’t that bad.
When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought their idols back with him, set them up, worshiped them, and burned incense to them.
Seriously?! It’s one thing to jump on the bandwagon of something that works (2 Kings 16:10-11). But to jump on failure that you’ve seen with your own eyes?
…the Israelite soldiers that Amaziah had not allowed to go into battle with him attacked the Judean cities between Samaria and Beth Horon, killed three thousand men, and captured quantities of loot. the Lord angry, so he sent a prophet to Amaziah. The prophet demanded, “Why have you worshiped foreign gods that could not even save their own people from your power?”
“Since when,” Amaziah interrupted, “have we made you adviser to the king? Stop talking, or I’ll have you killed!”
…King Amaziah of Judah and his advisers plotted against Israel. He then sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel, who was the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu, challenging him to fight.
Amaziah has clearly turned his back on God. Bitter from the actions of the Israelite soldiers and the money lost in hiring them? After his big victory against the Edomites, he came to see the words of the prophets as weakness.
So King Jehoash of Israel went into battle against King Amaziah of Judah. …the Judean army was defeated, and the soldiers fled to their homes. Jehoash captured Amaziah and took him to Jerusalem. There he tore down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of two hundred yards. He took back to Samaria as loot all the gold and silver in the Temple, the Temple equipment guarded by the descendants of Obed Edom, and the palace treasures. He also took hostages with him.
A terrific example of making a bad decision worse. The money lost with the Israelite soldiers was a drop in the bucket to what Amaziah lost here. A good lesson: don’t go looking for battles that aren’t yours (2 Chronicles 35:20-24).