17 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 18 As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
19 And conspirators plotted against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. 20 They carried him back on horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
21 Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22 Azariah was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.
23 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash over Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria forty-one years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.
25 This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher. 26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel, 27 and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
28 As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, along with all his accomplishments and might, and how he waged war and recovered both Damascus and Hamath for Israel from Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
29 And Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. And his son Zechariah reigned in his place.
REFLECTIONS
Written by Elise Beck
Sometimes when I read grim Old Testament stories like this, I read them so quickly that I forget how horrible and evil these things really were. Amaziah king of Judah is hunted down and murdered by conspirators; and Jeroboam II king of Israel carried on the idol-worship of the first Jeroboam.
But amazingly, God remains near his people! I wonder how you picture God. Do you imagine him as powerful but far away? I was struck by the words in verse 25 about what God had spoken through his prophet Jonah. Even after his people had turned away from him, God still spoke, and he kept his word. Then in verse 26, we read that the Lord had seen how bitterly his people were suffering. They had no one to help them, and in verse 27, God saved them through Jeroboam.
It’s easy to focus on the evil in this passage and miss what it shows us about God. He sees the sin of his people, and he sees their suffering. Their sin matters to him, and so does their pain. Even after they turned away from him, he had compassion on them and acted to save them.
As I reflected on my own sin and the things I’m struggling with, I found that so comforting. God sees me. He cares about both my sin and the suffering that weighs me down. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he came near and entered our suffering, and he also made a way for our sin to be dealt with and forgiven. I’m so thankful that I have a Father in heaven who sees me and cares for me, and that I can come to him honestly with both my sin and my suffering.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elise is one of our Ministry Apprentices.