Immerse: Chronicles Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 94
82
IMMERSE
•
CHRONICLES
2C
| 24:25–25:12
The Arameans withdrew, leaving Joash severely wounded. But his own
officials plotted to kill him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest.
They assassinated him as he lay in bed. Then he was buried in the City of
David, but not in the royal cemetery. The assassins were Jozacar, the son
of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a
Moabite woman named Shomer.
The account of the sons of Joash, the prophecies about him, and the record
of his restoration of the Temple of God are written in The Commentary on
the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became the next king.
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned
in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Je
rusalem. Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not
wholeheartedly.
When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who
had assassinated his father. However, he did not kill the children of the
assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by M
oses
in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of
their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving
to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”
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. He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000
experienced fighting men from Israel.
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! 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.”
Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to
hire the army of Israel?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more
than this!” So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back
to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned
home in a great rage.
Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of
Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. They captured
ImmerseChronicles_NLT.indd 82
6/21/2017 10:01:33 AM
