and he forsook Jehovah the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah.
One sentence of judgment sums up Amon's reign: he left the God his fathers had known, and he would not walk in His way. That raises the sharpest question in the story of Judah's kings. How does a man raised under a repentant father and a godly grandfather end up worse than the generation before him?
Amon had two family patterns in front of him, and he picked the wrong one.
Manasseh not only did evil, but "led them astray to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed." How was it possible then for Judah to remain in the land of the LORD? It became a moral impossibility. After Manasseh, Amon reigned; and Amon follows in the steps of his wicked father, not of his pious grandfather.
Older translations use the word "forsook" here instead of "abandoned." You cannot forsake what you never held.
He was probably born after his father's return from Babylon, so he must have had a godly upbringing. The words "he forsook the Lord" seem to show that in his earlier days he had professed to worship Him. His mother's name, Meshullemeth, means reconciliation, or, to be safe. It may point to his birth after her husband turned back to the Lord, or after his safe return from captivity in Babylon. He had such advantages, and that increased his responsibility. So it made his guilt greater.
Amon had watched what happened to his father. Putting a torn-down idol back up is not the same as inventing a new one.
Amon's short reign of two years is marked by the same ungodliness as his father's — even more serious, if that is possible. He had seen the judgment that fell on Manasseh, and had seen his repentance and his giving up of his idols. He should have taken the lesson for himself... To set up again idols that have been torn down is even worse in the eyes of the LORD than to set up new ones. It is an insolent despising of God. He has revealed Himself to us through His ways and His Word, so that He might make us forsake what dishonours Him. To return to such things is to act as though God did not exist and had not spoken... Amon "forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers"; such is his sentence. For him there was no place left for repentance. He died a violent death just like the last kings of Israel.
Manasseh humbled himself before God in the end. His son never did.
After his father's death Amon ruled as king and followed all the wickedness of his father Manasseh. The record of this lost soul is terrible. "He did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more" (2 Chronicles 33:23). He was murdered by his servants.
A godly family line saved Amon from nothing. People still lean on such things today.
There are those who boast of a godly ancestry. Others boast of links with religious bodies of good reputation and long standing, or with Christians whose teaching is scriptural. But none of these things will put us right or keep us right. There must be living, saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and constant, personal devotion to Him.
Amon's two years were short, but their direction outlasted him. Even Josiah's later reform could not reverse the sentence already passed.
God had already announced this judgment because of Manasseh's dreadful sins, and Josiah's piety could not change His just judgment. Judah still had a stretch of quiet. But their repentance under Josiah was only outward, and evil took the upper hand again as soon as he died. Amon only followed the evil ways of his father Manasseh.
- Forsaking — The word itself accuses him: you can only abandon what you once held. Amon once professed to worship Him, then walked away.
- Advantage — A father's repentance and a godly upbringing raised his responsibility, and so deepened his guilt.
- Rebuilding — Putting torn-down idols back up is worse than inventing new ones. It treats God as though He had never spoken.
- Hardening — Sinning against known light left him no place for repentance. He incurred guilt more and more, and died a violent death.
- Personal — Inherited religion keeps no one right. Only living faith in Christ and personal devotion to Him will.
And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
Amon's two-year reign ends with murder inside the palace. The killers were his own servants. How did a king of David's line come to be so hated by the men closest to him?
Amon began with every advantage a son could have, and wasted all of it.
Amon was 22 years old when he took the throne of Judah. He reigned only two years. His father had reigned 55 years. He followed his father's example of wickedness, but he never repented as his father did (vv.20-21). He did have the advantage of knowing of his father's repentance, but this had no effect on him. The Lord clearly knew that two years was enough time for Amon to repent. But the record says nothing good about him. He coldly refused the ways of God and chose idols instead, and his own servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house (vv.22-23). How sad an end for one who had a godly grandfather!
Manasseh had ended his life a changed man, clearing out the idols he himself had set up. Amon's first act was to undo that.
Manasseh had thrown the idols and idol altars he had made out of the city. Amon clearly brought them back. He sacrificed to all the images his father had made, making himself a slave to these detestable things. He must have known that his father had repented and completely changed his ways. Yet this had no proper effect on Amon. He did not humble himself at all, but sinned more and more… How sad that he learned nothing from his father's folly, and nothing from his father's repentance!
The killers were not foreign invaders. They were the men who served him daily — and the nation they served was already far from God.
There is not one bright spot in this king's character to lighten the darkness of his short record… He made himself so hateful, even to a people who had already turned away from God, that they got rid of him by the hand of assassins. "And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house." His subjects must have been desperate to break God's clear command — "Do not touch My anointed." Jeremiah and Zephaniah must have been young men around this time. It is easy to see why Jeremiah held back from the prophet's work God called him to, once you know the true state of Judah then.
Note the double wrong. Amon deserved nothing better. Yet killing the king still broke God's own command.
One rule runs through these deaths, whether a reign lasts fifty years or two.
Yet, whether the time is short or long, those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. This history of the kings declares that God is not mocked. Whatever one sows he will also reap (Gal. 6:7).
God judged Amon through his servants. Then He judged the servants through the people.
However, the people of the land still had some sense that it was wrong for servants to kill their master. They executed the men who had done it. So in both cases God shows that He has ways of bringing judgment on the guilty. Then the people made Josiah, Amon's son, king over Judah.
The people's action did more than restore order. The killers wanted the government, and they did not get it:
However, Amon's servants were not able to take control of the government… This looks like faith at work, because the people made sure that someone from the true line of David took the throne (v.24), even though Josiah was only eight years old.
Josiah would grow up to bring reform. But God had already decided Judah's future.
God had already announced this judgment because of Manasseh's terrible sins, and Josiah's godliness could not change God's just verdict. Judah still had a stretch of peace ahead. But their repentance under Josiah was only outward, and evil took control again as soon as Josiah died. Amon did nothing but follow the evil ways of his father Manasseh.
- Sown. Amon copied his father's sin and skipped his father's repentance. Two years was enough time to turn back.
- Reaped. The history of the kings declares that God is not mocked. Short reign or long, a man reaps what he sows.
- Sown again. The servants broke God's command not to touch His anointed. So they sowed their own destruction.
- Reaped again. The people executed them. God has ways of judging the guilty on both sides.
- Spared. The throne stayed with David's line. Eight-year-old Josiah took it.