And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, Why dost thou seek after the gods of a people who have not delivered their own people out of thy hand?
Amaziah has just crushed Edom, and he comes home carrying Edom's gods. Here God reacts: anger, and then a prophet with a question that answers itself.
The record of Amaziah's start already noted what God saw under the surface.
He did what was right in the sight of the LORD. But the Lord looks deeper and knows the heart of man. He knew that it was "not with a perfect heart." He dealt out justice to the murderers of his father, and he kept close to the law of God.
Listening to a prophet had already saved Amaziah once. What broke him was not defeat but success.
Amaziah, up to a point, walks with God, but weakly and with an unsteady step. He leans on an arm of flesh, but he listens to the prophet, and this saves him from defeat... The victory he had won over Edom lifted him up. He takes the gods of Seir, which could not deliver their own people, and bows down before them. He then turns a deaf ear to the prophet who rebukes him. But pride goes before confusion, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
One writer weighs Amaziah's act against what even a pagan would do, and finds only one explanation for it.
Now comes the most amazing folly. He returns victorious over the Edomites, and with extreme stupidity worships the gods of the people he had defeated. One could perhaps better understand a pagan bowing down to the gods of his conquerors. But Amaziah began his reign well, though not with a perfect heart. That he should worship the idols of those he had conquered is an act of folly and stupidity. It can only be explained this way: Satan was behind it all, hurrying king and people to their ruin, and God in judgment allowed blindness to fall on them.
The prophet does not argue theology. He points at the record: these gods could not save their own people from Amaziah's hand.
A child might understand such reasoning.
The question landed on the king. Another writer shows what he did with it.
Amaziah's conscience was stung by the plain force of these words. But he was determined to silence his own conscience, so he arrogantly answered the prophet, "Have we made you the king's counsellor? Stop! Why should you be killed?"
Notice the order in the verse: the LORD is angry, and the first thing His anger does is send a prophet. One writer sees a pattern in it.
In this part of the history we should notice the goodness of the Lord, who keeps stepping in through prophets.
So the reproof itself was mercy.
And so the merciful message from God, sent to show him his sin and folly, is met with threats. "Stop," said the king, and the prophet ceased, and the message of merciful reproof was pushed away. He could refuse the mercy and shut the prophet's mouth; but he would have to hear God's judgment with no mercy mixed in.
The instinct to silence an unwelcome messenger did not die with Amaziah.
Amaziah is only a sample of man. There is a message of mercy from God now, and still the spirit of the world says "Stop," or listens only to an authority that men appointed... And all such do stop, rather than offend the world. God's awful judgment on those who do not obey the truth is not announced as God gives it. It is toned down, so that no one applies it to himself.
- Heart. Amaziah did what was right, but not with a whole heart. God looks deeper than conduct, and He saw the crack first.
- Victory. His fall dates from his win, not his loss: lifted up by beating Edom, he bowed to Edom's gods.
- Folly. Bowing to the gods of a people you just conquered is folly no reason can explain. One writer traces it to Satan, hurrying king and people toward ruin.
- Voice. God's anger acts first by sending a prophet. The reproof was plain enough for a child, and it came as mercy before judgment.
- Answer. Amaziah's conscience was stung, and he silenced the messenger instead of the sin. Refuse the mercy in a reproof, and all that is left to hear is judgment with no mercy mixed in.
And it came to pass as he talked with him, that [Amaziah] said to him, Hast thou been made the king's counsellor? Forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbore, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.
Amaziah has just come home from beating Edom, and he has set up the gods of that beaten people as his own. A prophet comes to ask him why, and the king cuts him off mid-sentence.
The prophet's argument had no answer, so the king questioned his standing instead.
God sent a prophet to reprove Amaziah for his amazing folly. The prophet asked why he had sought after gods that could not deliver their own people out of his hand. The king had no answer to this stinging reproof. In effect it told him that he was worshipping the gods he had defeated. But if the king cannot answer he can threaten. That is the world's resource for stopping the mouths of God's witnesses. "Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Have you authority to speak? Have you been properly appointed as one of the king's counsellors?
The king's question was not concern for the prophet's safety. It was a threat, and one writer ties it to an earlier killing.
The plain force of these words stung Amaziah's conscience. But he was determined to stifle his own conscience, so he answered the prophet arrogantly: "Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Apparently he thought that, since Joash had killed Zechariah, he could kill this prophet just as easily.
The abruptness of "Stop!" suggests a man tired of hearing the same thing.
"You have done this" — that is, he sought after the gods of Edom, and afterwards he did not listen to the prophet's counsel. That counsel had perhaps been given often before this time. The harsh, impatient word "stop" suggests that this was not the first time the prophet had reproved the king. But this was the occasion for uttering God's determination. "I know that God has determined to destroy you." To sin is to deserve condemnation. But to refuse mercy and reproof brings out God's determination to destroy (Prov. 1:24-31).
The prophet obeyed the king and stopped. But the one thing Amaziah could not silence was the verdict.
"Stop," said the king, and the prophet ceased, and the message of merciful reproof was pushed away. He could refuse the mercy and shut the mouth of the prophet; but he must hear God's judgment without any mingling of mercy. And when God determines to destroy, can man escape?
The king mocks the prophet as a counsellor, and the prophet's last word is about counsel. Amaziah did not end up without advisers. He only changed whose advice he took.
So God let him take other counsel, since he refused His own, and that counsel led to his ruin.
Earlier Amaziah had listened to a prophet, and listening saved him. Now the same man closes his ears.
Amaziah, up to a point, walks with God, but weakly and with an unsteady step. He leans on human strength. Yet he listens to the prophet, and this saves him from defeat… Then his victory over Edom lifts him up. He takes the gods of Seir, which could not deliver their own people, and bows down before them. He then turns a deaf ear to the prophet who rebukes him. But pride goes before confusion, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
One writer takes the king's reply as more than ancient history.
Amaziah is only a sample of man. God sends a message of mercy now, and the spirit of the world is still saying "Stop." Or it listens only to an authority that men themselves appointed… People do not announce God's awful judgment on those who do not obey the truth as God gives it. They tone it down, so that no one applies it to himself.
- Counsel sent. God met his idolatry with a plain question, and Amaziah had no reply.
- Counsel silenced. Unable to argue, the king attacked the messenger's standing and hinted at his death. Threats are the world's way to shut the mouths of God's witnesses.
- Counsel repeated. The impatient "Stop!" suggests this prophet had spoken before. Mercy refused again and again brought out God's determination.
- Counsel replaced. He refused God's counsel, so God let him take other counsel — and that counsel ruined him.
- Counsel unheard. He could stop the prophet's voice, but not the sentence. Mercy refused leaves judgment with no mercy mixed in.