Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 14:8–14, “Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.”
Amaziah defeated a small desert kingdom and thought that he was a great king in Judah. He decided that it was time to take on a bigger foe and decided to go to war against the northern kingdom, Israel. Jehoash, Israel’s king, understood what was happening and told Amaziah that he was acting too big for his boots. In fact, he sent a parable to that effect. He talked about a thistle telling a cedar tree that he wanted the cedar tree to give the tree’s daughter to his son in marriage. Of course, this is ludicrous. While the thistle was waiting for the answer a wild beast walked past and destroyed both the thistle and his son. Jehoash didn’t have much respect for the Judean army and warned Amaziah not be foolish and risk everything because he has so much to lose. Amaziah didn’t take the good advice he was given and went to war anyway. The Israelis soundly defeated the Judeans battle and plundered all their wealth. The took great delight in taking the riches from the Temple so that their symbol of devotion to the Lord was reduced to poverty. This didn’t mean that the Lord was in any way insufficient to protect Judah. If just meant that Amaziah and taken the Lord’s Name in vain. He had used the Lord’s Name to justify a cause that the Lord didn’t support and suffered the consequences of that folly. When Solomon dedicated the Temple just after it was built he said, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (1 Kings 8:27) The Temple was the symbol of the Lord’s presence in Jerusalem and Amaziah had, implicitly, refused to acknowledge the Lord’s presence when he refused to take the good advice that he was given. The Lord’s prestige was not reduced in any way but Amaziah was left looking like the fool that he was.
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