THE CROWN: Divided Heart
Speaker: Pastor Neil Lindwall
Additional Resources: Additional study resources are on this page and appear indented like this. Extra resources are also available at this link.
Bible Engagement Project Memory Verse April 21-May 19, 2024:
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – NIV
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.
“Wholeheartedly” = 8003 shālēm (adjective from 7999a/shālem, "be whole, at peace – because wholly accounted for and hence sound; in "a condition which is complete" (M. Unger, 71) – at full capacity") – properly, complete, safe, at peace. See 7999a (shālem).
“He was not an enemy to religion, but a cool and indifferent friend. He was not a man of serious piety; for his heart was not whole with God.” – Wesley’s Explanatory Notes.
Without Wholehearted Devotion, Allegiance & Obedience Are Divided. A Heart Lacking Integrity & Conviction.
2 Chr 25:3-4 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 4 Yet he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”
“Exectued” = הָרַג hârag, haw-rag'; a primitive root; to smite with deadly intent:—destroy, out of hand, kill, murder(-er), put to (death), make (slaughter), slay… – Strong’s Definitions.
2026 hārag̠ – kill, slay, "implying ruthless violence" (Gesenius) – typically, violent slaughter like killing done outside of legitimate court procedures or on a battlefield … ; slaughter, carnage. The noun, 2027 (hereg̠) refers to people richly deserving judgment – … ["In a few instances 2026 (hārag̠) is used of judicial putting to death . . . emphasizing the severe necessity for such punishment" (Butler, 257). … – HELPS Lexicon.
Deuteronomy 24:16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.
צָוָה tsâvâh, tsaw-vaw'; a primitive root; (intensively) to constitute, enjoin:—appoint, (for-) bid, (give a) charge, (give a, give in, send with) command(-er, -ment), send a messenger, put, (set) in order. – Strong’s Definitions.
2 Chronicles 25:5-6 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to handle the spear and shield. 6 He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
2 Chronicles 25:7-8 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and fight courageously (Hazaq) in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”
Power = kōaḥ –rock-wall strength "be a wall"… preeminently used of God protecting those walking in His covenant (Ps 111:5-8).
2 Chronicles 25:9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
“Convinced sinners, who have not true faith, always object to self-denying obedience. They are like Amaziah; they say, But what shall we do for the hundred talents? … Many endeavor to quiet their consciences by the pretense that forbidden practices are necessary. The answer is, as here, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. He makes up, even in this world, for all that is given up for his sake.” – Matthew Henry.
To Live a Halfhearted Devotion Is to Risk a Total Loss.
Matthew 16:28 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
2 Chronicles 25:10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.
John 15:18-25 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’.
2 Chronicles 25:11-12 Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he killed ten thousand men of Seir. 12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.
11. valley of salt—This ravine lies to the south of the Dead Sea. … "from the top of the rock" [2Ch 25:12]. This rock might be situated in the neighborhood of the battlefield, but more probably it formed one of the high craggy cliffs of Selah (Petra), the capital of the Edomites… The savage cruelty dealt out to them was either in retaliation for similar barbarities inflicted on the Hebrews, or to strike terror into so rebellious a people for the future. The mode of execution, by dashing against stones (Ps 137:9), was common among many ancient nations. - Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.
2 Chronicles 25:13-16 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
Troops = 1416 ged̠ûd̠ – a raiding party, marauding band, expeditionary striking force – sometimes destroying defenseless people by quick raids and speedy departure to avoid reprisal – like the Amalekite raid on David's city of Ziklag (see 1 Sam 30:8,15,23). – Helps Lexicon.
2 Chronicles 25:14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them.
2 Chronicles 25:15-16 The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” 16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Those that are deaf to reproof, are ripening for destruction. – Matthew Henry.
Those Deaf to Correction are Ripe for Destruction.
2 Chronicles 25:17-19 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come, let us face each other in battle.” 18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. 19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Luke 14:28-31 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
2 Chr 24:20-24 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.
430 (̓Elōhîm) expresses Yahweh is in charge of every circumstance as the Creator, the all-powerful One establishing all the physical scenes of life. This divine title in an emphatic plural in Hebrew to dramatically convey Yahweh as always in charge – whose plan always triumphs! … /̓Elōhîm ("the circumstance-Maker"), always plural, accords with God's tri-personal nature – the three eternal Persons in one Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. – From the HELPS Lexicon.
2 Chronicles 24:21-24 So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long. 24 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 24:25-28 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 26 As for the other events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 He was brought back by horse and was buried with his ancestors in the City of Judah.
Give Your Whole Heart To God. Believe & Obey Wholeheartedly. Live With Christ-Confidence & Christ-Esteem.
Our Wholehearted Savior Deserves Wholehearted Followers.
Additional Resources
Additional study resources are on this page and appear indented. Extra resources can also be found here.
