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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Amaziah's reign, recorded in this chapter, was not one of the worse and
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yet for from good. Most of the passages in this chapter we had before
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more briefly related,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+14:1-22">2 Kings xiv.</A>
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Here we find Amaziah,
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I. A just revenger of his father's death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. An obedient observer of the command of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:5-10">ver. 5-10</A>.
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III. A cruel conqueror of the Edomites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>.
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IV. A foolish worshipper of the gods of Edom and impatient of reproof
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for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>.
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V. Rashly challenging the king of Israel, and smarting for his
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rashness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:17-24">ver. 17-24</A>.
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And, lastly, ending his days ingloriously,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:25-28">ver. 25-28</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Amaziah's Reign and Victories.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 838.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Amaziah <I>was</I> twenty and five years old <I>when</I> he began to
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reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his
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mother's name <I>was</I> Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
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2 And he did <I>that which was</I> right in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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but not with a perfect heart.
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3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him,
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that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.
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4 But he slew not their children, but <I>did</I> as <I>it is</I> written
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in the law in the book of Moses, where the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded,
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saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall
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the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his
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own sin.
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5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them
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captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to
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the houses of <I>their</I> fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin:
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and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found
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them three hundred thousand choice <I>men, able</I> to go forth to
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war, that could handle spear and shield.
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6 He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of
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Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
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7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not
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the army of Israel go with thee; for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> not with
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Israel, <I>to wit, with</I> all the children of Ephraim.
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8 But if thou wilt go, do <I>it,</I> be strong for the battle: God
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shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to
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help, and to cast down.
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9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for
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the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And
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the man of God answered, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> is able to give thee much more
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than this.
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10 Then Amaziah separated them, <I>to wit,</I> the army that was
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come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their
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anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home
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in great anger.
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11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people,
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and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir
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ten thousand.
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12 And <I>other</I> ten thousand <I>left</I> alive did the children of
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Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the
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rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all
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were broken in pieces.
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13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that
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they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of
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Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote three thousand
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of them, and took much spoil.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The general character of Amaziah: <I>He did that which was right in
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the eyes of the Lord,</I> worshipped the true God, kept the temple
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service a going, and countenanced religion in his kingdom; but he did
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not do it <I>with a perfect heart</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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that is, he was not a man of serious piety or devotion himself, nor had
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he any zeal for the exercises of religion. He was no enemy to it, but a
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cool and indifferent friend. Such is the character of too many in this
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Laodicean age: they do that which is good, but not with the heart, not
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with a perfect heart.</P>
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<P>
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II. A necessary piece of justice which he did upon the traitors that
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murdered his father: he put them to death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Though we should suppose they intended to avenge on their king the
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death of the prophet (as was intimated,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:25"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 25</A>),
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yet this would by no means justify their wickedness; for <I>they</I>
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were not the avengers, but presumptuously took God's work out of his
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hands: and therefore Amaziah did what became him in calling them to an
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account for it, but forbade the putting of the children to death for
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the parents' sin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. An expedition of his against the Edomites, who, some time ago, had
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revolted from under the dominion of Judah, to which he attempted to
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reduce them. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The great preparation he made for this expedition.
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(1.) He mustered his own forces, and marshalled them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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and found Judah and Benjamin in all but 300,000 men that were fit for
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war, whereas, in Jehoshaphat's time, fifty or sixty years before, they
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were four times as many. Sin weakens a people, diminishes them,
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dispirits them, and lessens their number and figure.
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(2.) He hired auxiliary troops out of the kingdom of Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Finding his own kingdom defective in men, he thought to make up the
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deficiency with his money, and therefore took into his pay 100,000
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Israelites. If he had advised with any of his prophets before he did
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this, or had but considered how little any of his ancestors got by
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their alliances with Israel, he would not have had this to undo again.
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But rashness makes work for repentance.</P>
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<P>
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2. The command which God sent him by a prophet to dismiss out of his
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service the forces of Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
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He would not have him call in any assistance at all: it looked like
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distrust of God. If he made sure of God's presence, the army he had of
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his own was sufficient. But particularly he must not take in
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<I>their</I> assistance: <I>For the Lord is not with the children of
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Ephraim, because they are not with him,</I> but worship the calves.
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This was a good reason why he should not make use of them, because he
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could not depend upon them to do him any service. What good could be
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expected from those that had not God with them, nor his blessings upon
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their undertakings? It is comfortable to employ those who, we have
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reason to hope, have an interest in heaven, and dangerous to associate
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with those from whom the Lord has departed. The prophet assured him
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that if he persisted in his resolution to take these idolatrous
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apostate Israelites with him, in hopes thereby to make himself strong
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for the battle, it was at his peril; they would prove a dead weight to
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his army, would sink and betray it: "<I>God shall make thee fall before
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the enemy,</I> and these Israelites will be the ruin of thy cause; for
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God has power to help thee without them, and to cast thee down though
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thou hast them with thee."</P>
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<P>
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3. The objection which Amaziah made against this command, and the
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satisfactory answer which the prophet gave to that objection,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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The king had remitted 100 talents to the men of Israel for
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advance-money. "Now," says he, "if I send them back, I shall lose
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that: <I>But what shall we do for the 100 talents?</I>" This is an
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objection men often make against their duty: they are afraid of losing
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by it. "Regard not that," says the prophet: "<I>The Lord is able to
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give thee much more than this;</I> and, thou mayest depend upon it, he
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will not see thee lose by him. What are 100 talents between thee and
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him? He has ways enough to make up the loss to thee; it is below thee
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to speak of it." Note, A firm belief of God's all-sufficiency to bear
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us out in our duty, and to make up all the loss and damage we sustain
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in his service abundantly to our advantage, will make his yoke very
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easy and his burden very light. What is it to trust in God, but to be
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willing to venture the loss of any thing for him, in confidence of the
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goodness of the security he gives us that we shall not lose by him, but
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that whatever we part with for his sake shall be made up to us in kind
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or kindness. When we grudge to part with any thing for God and our
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religion, this should satisfy us, that God is able to give us much more
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than this. He is just, and he is good, and he is solvent. The king lost
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100 talents by his obedience; and we find just that sum given to his
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grandson Jotham as a present
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+27:5"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 5</A>);
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then the principal was repaid, and, for interest, 10,000 measures of
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wheat and as many of barley.</P>
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<P>
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4. His obedience to the command of God, which is upon record to his
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honour. He would rather lose his money, disoblige his allies, and
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dismiss a fourth part of his army just as they were going to take the
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field, than offend God: <I>He separated the army of Ephraim, to go home
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again,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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And they went home in great anger, taking it as a great affront thus to
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be made fools of, and to be cashiered as men not fit to be employed,
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and being perhaps disappointed of the advantages they promised
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themselves in spoil and plunder by joining with Judah against Edom. Men
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are apt to resent that which touches them in their profit or
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reputation, though it frees them from trouble.</P>
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<P>
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5. His triumphs over the Edomites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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He left dead upon the spot, in the field of battle, 10,000 men; 10,000
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more he took prisoners, and barbarously killed them all by throwing
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them down some steep and craggy precipice. What provocation he had to
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exercise this cruelty towards them we are not told; but it was
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certainly very severe.</P>
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<P>
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6. The mischief which the disbanded soldiers of Israel did to the
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cities of Judah, either in their return or soon after,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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They were so enraged at being sent home that, if they might not go to
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share with Judah in the spoil of Edom, they would make a prey of Judah.
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Several cities that lay upon the borders they plundered, killing 3000
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men that made resistance. But why should God suffer this to be done?
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Was it not in obedience to him that they were sent home, and yet shall
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the country thus suffer by it? Surely God's way is in the sea! Did not
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the prophet say that God was not with the children of Ephraim, and yet
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they are suffered to prevail against Judah? Doubtless God intended
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hereby to chastise those cities of Judah for their idolatries, which
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were found most in those parts that lay next to Israel. The men of
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Israel had corrupted them, and now they were made a plague to them.
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Satan both tempts and torments.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Amaziah's Idolatry.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 826.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the
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slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the
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children of Seir, and set them up <I>to be</I> his gods, and bowed
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down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
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15 Wherefore the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was kindled against Amaziah,
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and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast
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thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver
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their own people out of thine hand?
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16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that <I>the king</I>
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said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why
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shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I
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know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast
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done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The revolt of Amaziah from the God of Israel to the gods of the
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Edomites. Egregious folly! Ahaz worshipped the gods of those that had
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conquered him, for which he had some little colour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+28:23"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 23</A>.
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But to worship the gods of those whom he had conquered, who could not
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protect their own worshippers, was the greatest absurdity that could
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be. What did he see in the gods of the children of Seir that could
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tempt him to set them up for <I>his gods</I> and <I>bow himself down
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before them?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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If he had cast the idols down from the rock and broken them to pieces,
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instead of the prisoners, he would have manifested more of the piety as
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well as more of the pity of an Israelite; but perhaps for that
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barbarous inhumanity he was given up to this ridiculous idolatry.</P>
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<P>
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II. The reproof which God sent to him, by a prophet, for this sin.
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<I>The anger of the Lord was kindled against him,</I> and justly; yet,
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before he sent to destroy him, he sent to convince and reclaim him, and
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so to prevent his destruction. The prophet reasoned with him very
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fairly and very mildly: <I>Why hast thou sought</I> the favour of those
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gods <I>which could not deliver their own people?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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If men would but duly consider the inability of all those things to
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help them to which they have recourse when they forsake God, they would
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not be such enemies to themselves.</P>
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<P>
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III. The check he gave to the reprover,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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He could say nothing in excuse of his own folly; the reproof was too
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just to be answered. But he fell into a passion with the reprover.
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1. He taunted him as saucy and impertinent, and meddling with that
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which did not belong to him: <I>Art thou made of the king's
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counsel?</I> Could not a man speak reasonably to him, but he must be
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upbraided as usurping the place of a privy-counsellor? But, as a
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prophet, he really was made of the king's counsel by the King of kings,
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in duty to whom the king was bound not only to hear, but to ask and
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take his counsel.
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2. He silenced him, bade him forbear and say not a word more to him. He
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<I>said to the seer, See not,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:10">Isa. xxx. 10</A>.
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Men would gladly have their prophets thus under their girdles, as we
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say, to speak just when and what they would have them speak, and not
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otherwise.
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3. He threatened him: "<I>Why shouldst thou be smitten?</I> It is at
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thy peril if thou sayest a word more of this matter." He seems to
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|
remind him of Zechariah's fate in the last reign, who was put to death
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for making bold with the king; and bids him take warning by him. Thus
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he justifies the killing of that prophet by menacing this, and so, in
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|
effect, makes himself guilty of the blood of both. He had hearkened to
|
|
the prophet who ordered him to send back the army of Israel, and was
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|
ruled by him, though he contradicted his politics and lost him 100
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|
talents,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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But this prophet, who dissuaded him from worshipping the gods of the
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|
Edomites, he ran upon with an unaccountable rage, which must be
|
|
attributed to the witchcraft of idolatry. He was easily persuaded to
|
|
part with his talents of silver, but by no means with his gods of
|
|
silver.</P>
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<P>
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|
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IV. The doom which the prophet passed upon him for this. He had more to
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|
say to him by way of instruction and advice; but, finding him obstinate
|
|
in his iniquity, he forbore. He is <I>joined to idols; let him
|
|
alone,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:17">Hos. iv. 17</A>.
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|
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|
Miserable is the condition of that man with whom the blessed Spirit, by
|
|
ministers and conscience, <I>forbears to strive,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:3">Gen. vi. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
And both the reprovers in the gate and that in the bosom, if long
|
|
brow-beaten and baffled, will at length forbear. So I <I>gave them up
|
|
to their own hearts' lusts.</I> The secure sinner perhaps values
|
|
himself upon it as a noble and happy achievement to have silenced his
|
|
reprovers and monitors, and to get clear of them; but what comes of it?
|
|
"<I>I know that God has determined to destroy thee;</I> it is a plain
|
|
indication that thou art marked for ruin <I>that thou hast done this,
|
|
and hast not hearkened to my counsel.</I>" Those that are deaf to
|
|
reproof are ripening apace for destruction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+29:1">Prov. xxix. 1</A>.</P>
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|
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|
<A NAME="2Ch25_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch25_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Amaziah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 825.</TD></TR>
|
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash,
|
|
the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying,
|
|
Come, let us see one another in the face.
|
|
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah,
|
|
saying, The thistle that <I>was</I> in Lebanon sent to the cedar that
|
|
<I>was</I> in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife:
|
|
and there passed by a wild beast that <I>was</I> in Lebanon, and trode
|
|
down the thistle.
|
|
19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine
|
|
heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest
|
|
thou meddle to <I>thine</I> hurt, that thou shouldest fall, <I>even</I>
|
|
thou, and Judah with thee?
|
|
20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it <I>came</I> of God, that he
|
|
might deliver them into the hand <I>of their enemies,</I> because they
|
|
sought after the gods of Edom.
|
|
21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one
|
|
another in the face, <I>both</I> he and Amaziah king of Judah, at
|
|
Beth-shemesh, which <I>belongeth</I> to Judah.
|
|
22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled
|
|
every man to his tent.
|
|
23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the
|
|
son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought
|
|
him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the
|
|
gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
|
|
24 And <I>he took</I> all the gold and the silver, and all the
|
|
vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and
|
|
the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and
|
|
returned to Samaria.
|
|
25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the
|
|
death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
|
|
26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold,
|
|
<I>are</I> they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and
|
|
Israel?
|
|
27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he
|
|
fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him
|
|
there.
|
|
28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his
|
|
fathers in the city of Judah.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here this degenerate prince mortified by his neighbour and
|
|
murdered by his own subjects.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Never was proud prince more thoroughly mortified than Amaziah was by
|
|
Joash king of Israel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This part of the story (which was as fully related
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+14:8-22">2 Kings xiv. 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c., as it is here)--embracing the foolish challenge which Amaziah sent
|
|
to Joash
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
his haughty scornful answer to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
with the friendly advice he gave him to sit still and know when he was
|
|
well off,
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),--
|
|
|
|
his wilfully persisting in his challenge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
the defeat that was given him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the calamity he brought upon himself and his city thereby
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>),--
|
|
|
|
verifies two of Solomon's proverbs:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>a man's pride will bring him low,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+29:23">Prov. xxix. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
It goes before his destruction; not only procures it meritoriously, but
|
|
is often the immediate occasion of it. <I>He that exalteth himself
|
|
shall be abased.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he that <I>goes forth hastily to strive</I> will probably not
|
|
know what to do in the end thereof, <I>when his neighbour has put him
|
|
to shame,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:8">Prov. xxv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that is fond of contention may have enough of it sooner than he
|
|
thinks of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. But there are two passages in this story which we had not before in
|
|
the <I>Kings.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>Amaziah took advice</I> before he challenged the king of
|
|
Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
But of whom? Not of the prophet--he was <I>not made of the king's
|
|
counsel;</I> but of his statesmen that would flatter him and bid him go
|
|
up and prosper. It is good to take advice, but then it must be of those
|
|
that are fit to advise us. Those that will not take advice from the
|
|
word of God, which would guide them aright, will justly be left to the
|
|
bad advice of those that will counsel them to their destruction. Let
|
|
those be made fools that will not be made wise.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Amaziah's imprudence is here made the punishment of his impiety
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>It was of the Lord;</I> he left him to himself to act thus
|
|
foolishly, that he and his people might be <I>delivered into the hands
|
|
of their enemies, because</I> they had forsaken God and <I>sought after
|
|
the gods of Edom.</I> Those that will not persuaded to do well for
|
|
their souls will justly be given up to their own counsels to do ill for
|
|
themselves even in their outward affairs.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Never was poor prince more violently pursued by his own subjects.
|
|
<I>From the time</I> that he departed from the Lord (so it may be read,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>)
|
|
|
|
the hearts of his subjects departed from him, and they began to form a
|
|
design against him in Jerusalem. It is probable they were exasperated
|
|
against him more for his rashly engaging in a war against Israel than
|
|
for his worshipping the gods of Edom. But at length the ferment grew so
|
|
high, and he perceived the plot to be laid so deeply, that he thought
|
|
fit to quit his royal city and flee to Lachish, either as a private
|
|
place where he might be hid or as a strong place where he might be
|
|
guarded; but they sent after him thither, and slew him there. By this
|
|
the putting of him to death seems to have been done deliberately, and
|
|
to have been the act, not of a disgusted servant or two, but of a
|
|
considerable body that durst avow it. How unrighteous soever they were
|
|
herein, God was righteous.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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