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2 Kings Chapter
Fourteen
2 Kings 14
Chapter Contents
Amaziah's good reign. (1-7) Amaziah provokes Jehoash king
of Israel, and is overcome. (8-14) He is slain by conspirators. (15-22) Wicked
reign of Jeroboam II. (23-29)
Commentary on 2 Kings 14:1-7
(Read 2 Kings 14:1-7)
Amaziah began well, but did not go on so. It is not
enough to do that which our pious predecessors did, merely to keep up the
common usage, but we must do it as they did, from the same principle of faith
and devotion, and with the same sincerity and resolution.
Commentary on 2 Kings 14:8-14
(Read 2 Kings 14:8-14)
For some time after the division of the kingdoms, Judah
suffered much from the enmity of Israel. After Asa's time, it suffered more by
the friendship of Israel, and by the alliance made with them. Now we meet with
hostility between them again. How may a humble man smile to hear two proud and
scornful men set their wits on work, to vilify and undervalue one another!
Unholy success excites pride; pride excites contentions. The effects of pride
in others, are insufferable to those who are proud themselves. These are the
sources of trouble and sin in private life; but when they arise between
princes, they become the misery of their whole kingdoms. Jehoash shows Amaziah
the folly of his challenge; Thine heart has lifted thee up. The root of all sin
is in the heart, thence it flows. It is not Providence, the event, the
occasion, whatever it is, that makes men proud, secure, discontented, or the
like, but their own hearts do it.
Commentary on 2 Kings 14:15-22
(Read 2 Kings 14:15-22)
Amaziah survived his conqueror fifteen years. He was
slain by his own subjects. Azariah, or Uzziah, seems to have been very young
when his father was slain. Though the years of his reign are reckoned from that
event, he was not fully made king till eleven years afterwards.
Commentary on 2 Kings 14:23-29
(Read 2 Kings 14:23-29)
God raised up the prophet Jonah, and by him declared the
purposes of his favour to Israel. It is a sign that God has not cast off his
people, if he continues faithful ministers among them. Two reasons are given why
God blessed them with those victories: 1. Because the distress was very great,
which made them objects of his compassion. 2. Because the decree was not yet
gone forth for their destruction. Many prophets there had been in Israel, but
none left prophecies in writing till this age, and their prophecies are part of
the Bible. Hosea began to prophesy in the reign of this Jeroboam. At the same
time Amos prophesied; soon after Micah, then Isaiah, in the days of Ahaz and
Hezekiah. Thus God, in the darkest and most degenerate ages of the church,
raised up some to be burning and shining lights in it; to their own age, by
their preaching and living, and a few by their writings, to reflect light upon
us in the last times.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Kings》
2 Kings 14
Verse 4
[4]
Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice
and burnt incense on the high places.
High places — It
is hard to get clear of those corruptions, which by long usage have gained
prescription.
Verse 6
[6] But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which
is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying,
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put
to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Slew not —
Wherein he shewed faith and courage, that he would obey this command of God,
though it was hazardous to himself, such persons being likely to seek revenge
for their father's death.
Verse 7
[7] He
slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and
called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
Joktheel —
Which signifies, the obedience of God, that is, given him by God as a reward of
his obedience to God's message by the prophet, 2 Chronicles 25:8,9.
Verse 8
[8] 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.
Sent —
This challenge he sent, from self-confidence, and a desire of advancing his
glory. But he that is fond either of fighting or going to law, will probably be
the first that repents it.
Verse 9
[9] 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.
Saying, … — By
the thistle, a low and contemptible, yet troublesome shrub, he understands
Amaziah; and by the cedar, himself, whom he intimates to be far stronger than
he, and out of his reach.
Trod down —
And with no less ease shall my soldiers tread down thee and thy forces.
Verse 10
[10] 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?
Glory —
Content thyself with that glory, and let not thine ambition betray thee to
ruin.
Verse 12
[12] And
Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their
tents.
Tents —
Josephus says, when they were to engage, they were struck with such a terror,
that they did not strike a stroke, but every man made the best of his way.
Verse 13
[13] 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.
Ahaziah —
Amaziah's pedigree comes in somewhat abruptly, the son of Joash, the son of
Ahaziah: Probably because he now smarted, for the iniquity of his ancestors.
Verse 20
[20] And
they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in
the city of David.
On horses —
Or, with horses, in a chariot.
Verse 21
[21] And
all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him
king instead of his father Amaziah.
Azariah —
This Azariah is called Uzziah, chap. 15:30, both names signifying the same thing for
substance; that, God's help; and this, God's strength. But this was not done
till twelve years after his father's death: so long the government was in the
hands of protectors.
Verse 25
[25] He
restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the
plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the
hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of
Gathhepher.
The sea —
Unto the dead sea, once a goodly plain, Genesis 13:10, which was their southern border.
Verse 26
[26] For
the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was
not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.
Was bitter —
Whereby he was moved to pity and help them, though they were an unworthy
people.
Nor any left — Both
towns and country were utterly laid waste.
Verse 27
[27] And
the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven:
but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
Said not —
Not yet; he had not yet declared this, as afterwards he did by the succeeding
prophets.
Verse 29
[29] And
Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah
his son reigned in his stead.
Jeroboam — It
was in the reign of this Jeroboam, that Hosea began to prophesy, and he was the
first that wrote his prophecies. At the same time Amos prophesied, soon after
Micah, and then Isaiah in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Thus God never left
himself without witness, but in the darkest ages of the church, raised up some
to be burning and shining lights, to their own age, by their preaching and
living; and a few by their writings to reflect light upon us, on whom the ends
of the world are come.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Kings》
14 Chapter 14
Verses 1-22
Verse 1-2
In the second year of Joash . . . And he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord.
Amaziah
This is, in few but comprehensive words, the character of Amaziah,
king of Judah. The commendatory part of it is with the sacred chroniclers a
sort of general expression for the obedience of Jewish princes, to the laws of
God by Moses, especially to the preservation of the Jewish worship, and the proscription of
idolatry in their dominions; and governing their kingdom by these laws, was
doing right in His sight. Some monarchs have this commendation, qualified, or
with a notice added, that it must be in their case understood with some
considerable limitation or restriction. Thus it is said of King Jehoash, that
he did that which was right before the Lord, while he remained under the
direction of Jehoiada. Thus again, of Amaziah in our text, that he did that
which was right, yet not like David his progenitor; or not with a perfect
heart, with true sincerity and unreservedness of purpose. He was, at the best,
of a mixed character; unsound in principle, and thus unstable in well-doing. It
was the exhortation of Jehovah to the Jewish patriarch, that he should walk
before Him and be perfect; or, as the word means, unfeigned and upright, in
obedience to His commandments. Hezekiah pleads it in the extremity of his
affliction, that he walked before Him with a perfect heart. And Asa’s heart is
said to have been perfect with Him, or devoted to Him, while he sat upon the
throne of Judah. A deficiency, therefore, in soundness of religious principle
and feeling is denoted by a heart not perfect with Him. It is so denoted m the
case of Solomon,
upon his falling off to idol worship; as, in this place, of that unfaithfulness
of Amaziah which was manifest by his inconstancy of life.
1. The first thing which requires notice in the history of Amaziah,
is his conduct in the punishment of those who slew his father, Joash. Amaziah’s
conduct in this instance received unqualified approval. He discharged with
fortitude the duty of a prince, in bringing the criminals to justice; and as
they were men of power and credit in the realm, it was attended with some
danger; hut he avoided all indulgence of revenge, and was content with
punishing the murderers alone, although, according to the practice of those
times, he might have sacrificed their children also to his vengeance; and in
this he had respect, we are informed, to the provision of that law of God, a
law in those days greatly disregarded, which forbids that children should be
punished for the crimes of their parents. It may always be considered a hopeful
sign, when a regard is felt and manifested for the precepts of the word of God
as opposed to common practice; and it is still more hopeful, if, in such a
case, the influence of strong passions is on the side of custom, and prompts to
the breach of God’s commandments. The moderation of this young prince, on
religious grounds, was a presumptive evidence that he was partly sincere,
although but partly, as appeared soon after. And thus many who prove afterwards
unsound, have, in early years and in important instances, perhaps given proof
of some hopeful principles, and promises of a life of piety and true obedience
to God. And the conclusion to be drawn from this fact is, that the promise thus
held out by favourable beginnings, or on some particular occasion, is not to be
too confidently trusted. The more mixed and chequered any character is found to
be, the more doubtful the evidence of its Christian integrity.
2. The next incident on record of the conduct of this prince is one
in which we have a glimpse of a wrong disposition even while he in act obeyed
the command of God, and this is a point of some importance. Being engaged in a
war against the Edomites, and having raised three hundred thousand men of his
own kingdom for this purpose, he proceeded further to augment his force by
hiring a large army of Israelites. That people, being at this time idolators,
lay under the displeasure of God; and on this ground, when the expedition was
about to march, a command was sent from Jehovah by a prophet to the king,
enjoining him, as he expected the Divine protection, to dismiss these hired
legions; for the Lord, said the messenger, is not among them. “But, if thou
wilt go, do it, and be strong for battle. God shall make thee fall before the
enemy.” And here it was that feelings were betrayed which indicated Amaziah’s
weakness. A considerable sum was given in part of payment of these hired
troops; and the first thought in his mind upon receiving such a message was the
great loss to which his obedience would expose him. A mind truly devoted to the
service of God would not have harboured such a thought; and much less would it
have dared to urge such an objection in reply to the Divine command. This
showed that worldly motives were of weight with him against religious
principle: a disposition was evinced to weigh the loss or inconvenience with
the clear duty of obeying. There was not that prompt decisive resolution which
a heart upright before God would have conceived and taken on these
circumstances. And although he did at length comply on being promised
compensation, yet his hesitation in complying was at least an unfavourable
symptom. He thus manifested that defect as well of soundness as of firmness of
religious principle which led afterward to fatal errors. It will happen
frequently that men who are but half sincere, give certain indications of this
state of mind before they yield to temptation. There is inclination shewn, as
in the instance now before us, to raise difficulties and to make objections; to
indulge complaints and murmurings perhaps, rather than yield at once, and with
the singleness of a devoted and an upright heart, to the authority of God in
His commandments. “What will the consequences then be if I obey? Am I to lose
the pains and cost I have been at in forming such a project; or some plan,
suppose for profit, pleasure, or ambition, which must not be carried further?
How is such and such a detriment to be repaired: or such and such an
inconvenience to be avoided. How am I to be set free from the connections, or
get rid of the engagements, I unhappily have formed for purposes which I am
called on to abandon? On what plea, or with what credit, can I now recede,
being committed as I am, in such a matter? How, in short, shall I escape
embarrassing vexation, if I yield to God and to my conscience?” Such are
frequently the feelings with which His precepts are obeyed by persons of the
character before us. Nay, at last, perhaps, it is fear only which inclines the
scale upon the side of duty. Amaziah, we are told, was threatened with defeat
if he persisted in his project. Fear of the wrath of God will, indeed, very
commonly remain when every trace of apparent love and obedience to Him has long
ceased to be visible. They may, indeed, in a sense, do what is right as to the
outward action; but not doing it from a real desire to conform to the will of
God, their doing wrong may be expected speedily, nay, is but one step further
in declension.
3. The next thing, accordingly, which stands on record of this prince
is, that he sinned wantonly and greatly against God, by the introduction of
idolatry among his subjects. It had pleased God to give him great success in an
expedition into Edom. He had ample compensation for his hundred talents by his
acquisition both of honour and of treasure in the contest. But instead of
feeling so much the more obliged to serve and honour the great Power who gave
him victory on this occasion, and pouring contempt upon those idols which were
unable to protect their votaries, he adopted them for his gods, and put contempt
upon Jehovah. For he brought the gods of Seir, says the inspired historian, and
set them up as his gods; he bowed down before them and burnt incense to them,
and built altars for them in his realms, as though it were to them, and not to
the Almighty, that he owed his splendid triumphs. The offence was also the more
daring on his part, because the king his father had fallen into this very
transgression, and was punished for it. But his heart was by these
circumstances “lifted up within him.” He was now set free from all restraint. He felt himself
above religious fears, and was resolved to do not that which was right in the
sight of God, but that which was so in his own eyes. It is here to be observed
how very easily a fatal turn of character takes place, when minds are in that
doubtful undecided state which we have seen was that of Amaziah. But a little
increase in the strength of his temptations; or a little more excitement of his
passions; or a little wider opening of the door to sin; or but a little more
encouragement from bad example; or a little stronger feeling of security, or
ground for a presumption of impunity in sinning; and then those who had at the
least till now been cautious; who had shewn some reverence for religion and for
God, and been unwilling utterly to disregard his word, or to expose themselves
to the certainty of his displeasure, may soon become the open violators of the
laws; nay, the contemners both of His authority and honour. It Is thus that
some, on entering the world, are found to break at once through the restraining influences of a
moral and religious education. It is thus that others, having set out decently,
and for a time maintained some appearance of godliness, are observed upon some
prosperous change of circumstances, or it may be in the course of an advancing
fortune, to reverse their life and habits, to neglect religions duties which
they were once careful in discharging, to forsake the sanctuary and profane the
Sabbath; to break off the intercourse with pious men, and to make light of
sacred things; to indulge openly in sinful pleasures, to adopt without scruple
the view and maxims of the world, which are subversive of religion; and to show
in these and many other ways, that they have utterly cast off their fear of God
and their regard to His commandments. Cases like these are very different from
those in which good men are, by the violence, or the surprise, or importunity
of a temptation, seen to fall occasionally into open sin against their honest
and decided resolutions. There the cause is inadvertence, or supineness, or an
infirmity, as St. Paul calls it, of the flesh; or a defeat, perhaps, such as
the best men have sustained, after long struggling with temptation. Then,
moreover, we see speedy recollection and repentance, and no settled change of
life and habits such as this under consideration. But in this the heart is
secretly disposed to all the sin which follows. There is no strong feeling or
resolve against it.
4. There was one step more, and only one, which could aggravate the
offences of this monarch. He had not yet openly defied the power of God, when
by His prophet He remonstrated against false gods. But the next thing which we
find in his unhappy history is, that he at length became so daring in impiety,
as to insult and even threaten one of the prophets who was sent to him upon
this very errand. “Why hast thou sought after the gods of Seir?” was the
awakening demand on this occasion. And it might have been conceived that
recollection of the past, and a consciousness of his extreme offence, would
have produced some feelings of compunction in a mind which once appeared open
to the influences of religion. But the answer was, “Art thou of the king’s
council?” Are affairs of state any concern of thine? or wilt thou prescribe
what gods the king shall adore, or shall set up for worship in his realms? Be
prudent and forbear. Why shouldest thou be smitten? which thou wilt be
certainly, as he evidently designed to imply, if thou persistest to speak
further of the matter. We see here how thoroughly all fear of God was conquered
in the mind of Amaziah, and what hardness and insensibility may be induced by
habits of sin, even where there were once hopeful appearances of piety. And was
this the man who, in his early life, had been so scrupulous in the observance
of God’s statutes? To despise the message and insult the messengers of Heaven
is an excess, on which many who still are great offenders might not venture.
Many retain even in their worst wickedness such a degree of at least servile
awe for religion as restrains them from such direct and positive affronts to it
and its great Author. Though they are not conscientious in obeying His
commands, they do not choose to brave His anger. Yet to such a fearful length
may sinners go, even though once fearful of offending; nay, disposed to suffer
loss rather than wilfully disobey Him. Let us then learn the danger of a heart
“not perfect,” not truly subdued to the faith of Christ and obedience to God.
(Christian Observer.)
Significant facts in God’s government
In this chapter we have a sketch of a succession of kings both of
Judah and Israel. Here are two kings of Judah, Amaziah and Azariah, and Joash,
Jeroboam, and his son Zachariah, kings of Israel. The whole chapter suggests
certain significant facts in God’s government of mankind. The first fact which
strikes us is--
I. The enormous
freedom of action which he allows wicked men. Here we learn--
1. That God allows wicked men to form wrong conceptions of Himself.
All these kings, although descendants of Abraham, who was a monotheist, became
idolaters. “The high places were not taken away, as yet the people did
sacrifice, and burnt incense on the high places.” Golden calves, symbols of
Egyptian.. worship, were erected at Dan and Bethuel, at the extremities of the
dominions. Terribly strange it seems to us that the Almighty Author of the
human mind should permit it to think of Him as some material object in nature,
or as some production of the human hand. What human father, had he the power, would
permit his children to form not only wrong but wicked impressions of himself?
For what reason this is permitted, I know not. Albeit it shows His practical
respect for that freedom of action with which He has endowed us. Here we
learn--
2. That God allows wicked men to obtain despotic dominion over
others. All these kings were wicked, Amaziah, Joash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah,
and yet they obtained an autocratic dominion over the rights possession, and
lives of millions. It is said of Jeroboam, who reigned forty-one years, that he
“did evil in the sight of the Lord, and departed not from the sins of his
father.” Antecedently one might have concluded that if a wicked man was allowed
to live amongst his fellows, he should be doomed to obscurity and to social and
political impotence, but it is not so, Why? Who shall answer? Another fact is--
II. God punishes
wicked men by their own wickedness.
1. A wicked man is punished by his own wickedness. Amaziah’s conduct
is an example. Elated with his triumph over the Edomites, he sought occasion of
war with the King of Israel. He sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of
Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, King of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another
in the face,” etc. (verses 8-14). About fifteen years after his defeat he fled
from Jerusalem to Lachish to escape assassination, but the assassin pursued him
and struck him dead. It is ever so. Wickedness is its own punishment. The
wicked passions of a corrupt man are his tormenting devils. Sin is suicidal.
2. A wicked man is punished by the wickedness of others. The
thousands of these despotic kings reduced to anguish, destitution, and death,
were idolators and rebels against Heaven, and by the hand of wicked men they
were punished. Thus it ever is: devils are their own tormentors. Sin converts a
community of men into tormenting fiends, man becomes the Satan of man. (David
Thomas, D. D.)
Verses 8-16
Verse 8
Come, let us look one another in the face.
Looking in the face
Let us look one another in the face.” Such was the message of a
king to a king. The whole transaction was hypocritical, and we cannot read of
it without loathing. Separate the words from the original surroundings,
however, and they contain most excellent advice. We may give them a practical
and seasonable turn.
I. Look God in the
face. Behold Him as He is. It is, alas, so easy to get wrong conceptions of the
Most High, and much enmity to Him has its beginning thus. “They hated me
without a cause.” If men knew God better, they would dread Him less and trust
Him more. “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord.” Concerning what?
why, the very point of which we have been speaking: false notions of the Lord.
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” You fancy Me to be harsh and hard:
get rid of that thought; I delight in mercy. To look God in the face is no
difficult matter now that Christ has come. He is “the image of the invisible
God.” See the one, and you see the other. The tenderness which said to a
desolate widow in Nain, “Don’t cry; I will raise your son”; the power which
subdued the crested waves and-hushed the roaring winds by a single word; the
holiness which took no taint from contact with publicans and sinners--reveal
the attributes of Jehovah. Agnosticism erect again the ancient Athenian altar,
and writes on it, “to the Unknown God.”; but Paul still cries, “Whom ye
ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.”
II. Look yourself
in the face. “If any be a hearer of the word, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass.” by the light of Scripture we may see our own
characters; and this self-scrutiny is eminently important. Socrates said: “We
should not live a life which is not subject to examination.” for lack of this,
some are astoundingly ignorant of their true condition. What they say to others
might well be spoken of and by themselves, “I have not the pleasure of knowing
you.” Nathan proved this in respect of David, and the very church which thought
that it had need of nothing was pronounced by Christ “poor and miserable, and
blind, and naked.” As it is in the literary, so it is in the moral world:
authors are often bad judges of their own productions. John Foster wished that
he could write like Johnson or Young, hut the fact is that he wrote better than
either. Sir Walter Scott published the “Waverley Novels anonymously, lest they
should injure his fame as a poet; but posterity thinks more of his stories than
his verses. Something like this holds good of us: we may be ludicrously mistaken regarding
ourselves. To avoid such blunders, let us use “the balances of the sanctuary.”
We should employ the scales and weights which God has provided. Paul told the
Corinthians that they were “not wise,” because they measured themselves by
themselves, and compared themselves with themselves.
III. Look man in the
face. A needless counsel, some may complain. Don’t we do it? Nothing is so
common as the wish to see people’s faces. We all believe in the vis-a-vis
position. The pen is not enough; we want the countenance also. If you hear of a
great writer or preacher, you at once want to see him. When we visit friends we
call it “going to see them” Nevertheless there is need of the advice: see men.
We are much too isolated. English folk are what Matthew Arnold calls insular.
If the various classes of society had more intercourse with each other, it
would be better for us all round. Were the cultured and intellectual to mingle
with Philistines rather oftener, the latter would get a little of their
refinement. Communion between the rich and the poor would hardly fail in
producing sympathy on the part of the one and confidence on the part of the
other. Christians might learn a lesson here. They keep too much apart. Only
lately it was asked at a metropolitan meeting of our denomination--Where now is
the continuing in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship of which we read in the
early Church? One other thought. How many misunderstandings in social life
might be prevented or removed, if we looked each other in the face! You think
that a friend is cooler in his manner than of yore, or he has done something
which you interpret as hostile to you. Don’t brood over it. If you do, your
suspicions and imagination will blow the spark into a flame which will consume
your comfort. Visit him. Be candid. “Have it out,” as we say, and the
probability is that a few minutes’ plain dealing on both sides will put the
whole business right. (T. R. Stevenson.)
Challenge to combat couched in terms of peace
These are sweet words. What can they mean? Surely but one thing
only. Giving them transliteration and broadest meaning, they will sound thus:
We have been a long time estranged; let us burn down the barriers of
separation: we have hidden ourselves from one another when we ought to have
stood face to face, each beaming-with complacency upon the other; come, let us
make an end of this alienation, and fraternally and trustfully look one another
in the face. Was that the real meaning of the message? Not a whir! These
beautiful words were the velvet which hid the sword. These terms of supposed
approach and trustfulness are really a challenge. The right reading would be:
“Come, let us fight; let us see which is the stronger man.” Here again we keep
upon the same line as in the former instance--the line which points to the
right use of language. There is a morality of words. Men arc not at liberty to
put words into any shape they please; they must consider whether in putting
words together they are building a pillar, plumbed by the Eternal
Righteousness, and going, so far as they do go, straight up to heaven. But if
this were the rule, society would be dissolved. Who can speak truth with his neighbour--except
in some broad and general sense? Who can let his Yea be yea, and his Nay, nay?
When the Saviour delivered that injunction we thought it was elementary; in
reality it is ultimate; there is nothing beyond it. When Yea means yea, and Nay
nay, the millennium has come: men will not tell lies, nor will they act them; they will not
allow wrong impressions to be made upon the mind; there will be no grammatical
torture, no mental reservation, no putting out of words in the sense of putting
out a “feeler”; every heart transparent, every motive pure and generous, human
speech a human religion, and the human religion sanctified and cleansed by the
blood of Christ. But we live in lies; we tell them, we act them, we look them,
we suggest them. When David is reported in English to say. “All men are liars,”
he is misreported; the right reading is, “all men are a lie,”--a grander
speech; not a stone thrown at individuals, but an impeachment made upon human
nature. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 9-10
The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar.
The parable of Jehoash
I. three things
led to the utterance of this short parable.
1. A relative success.
2. An under-estimate of a superior.
3. An insolent challenge.
II. The parable by
which Jehoash reproved him conveys that king’s sense of his superiority by a
similitude drawn from nature. The contrast between the cedar standing in all
its glory upon the mountain of Lebanon and the worthless thistle which has
sprung up at its foot is very great, and conveys the King of Israel’s contempt
for his rival in forcible terms. The cedar of a thousand years could not be
uprooted or removed by the strongest earthly power, while the thistle of
yesterday was at the mercy of the first beast of the forest who passed by that
way. There is also a reference to Oriental custom. The man who asked the
daughter of another in marriage was expected to be his equal in rank, otherwise
the request was regarded as an insult. Therefore the proposal of the thistle to
the cedar is a declaration of supposed equality, and is placed by Jehoash on a
level with Ahaziah’s challenge to himself. The fate of the thistle sets forth
what would be the result of the self-esteem of the King of Judah if he did not
take the advice which is the application of the whole. “Tarry at home, for why
shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt” (2 Kings 14:10).
III. Note the
success and the non-success
of the parable. It was a success inasmuch as it was a true picture of the
character of the man whom it was intended to represent. If those who can give a
correct outline of the face upon canvas are regarded as successful artists,
those whose word-painting can show us the features of the soul are at least as
successful. But it failed in producing a beneficial effect upon the person to
whom it was addressed. Amaziah did not wish to see his own likeness. Those who
are deformed do not derive pleasure from seeing themselves reflected in a
faithful mirror. The parables of Christ often failed to gain the approbation of
His hearers on this account. Lessons:
1. One proud man may become, in the providence of God, the means of
humiliation to another. There was much arrogance in the man who compared
himself to a cedar, as well as in him whom he reproved.
2. Men who are prone to seek quarrels will find that, in so doing,
they have sought their own ruin. Nations and rulers who enter into war from
ambitious motives, will but hasten their own destruction. “With what measure ye
meet, it shall be measured unto you again.”
3. He that has achieved a fair measure of success by the exercise of
a fair measure of ability may lose what he has gained by attempting a task
beyond his capabilities. A gambler who has won a fortune in a contest with a
man no more clever than himself, will most likely lose it all if he attempts to
play with a much more skilful gamester. It would have been Amaziah’s wisdom to
have been content with his conquest of Edom; he would then have been spared the
humiliation of a defeat at the hands of the King of Israel.
4. Those who become proud and insolent by prosperity turn a blessing
into a curse, and thus defeat the Divine intention. Success in our undertakings
is intended to produce gratitude and humility; the fault is in us if these
effects are not produced.
5. The great lesson of the history is: that “Pride goeth before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). (Outlines from
Sermons by a London Minister.)
Verses 23-29
Verse 28
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam.
--
Life-Re-lived
There is a
moment when a man’s life is re-lived on earth. It is in that hour in which the
coffin lid is shut down, just before the funeral, when earth has seen the last
of him for ever. Then the whole life is, as it were, lived over again in the
conversation which turns upon the memory of the departed. The history of
threescore years and ten is soon recapitulated; not, of course, the innumerable
incidents and acts which they contained, but the central governing principle of
the whole. (F. W. Robertson.)
Record of sin
It is said that the Bank of France has an invisible studio in a
gallery behind the cashiers, so that at a signal from one of them a suspected
customer can instantly have his picture taken without his own knowledge. So our
sins and evil deeds may be registered against us, and we ourselves altogether
unconscious of the fact.
──《The Biblical Illustrator》