THE LORD CAN GIVE YOU MORE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 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.”

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. He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

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. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”

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.”

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.

2 Chronicles 25:1-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How often do we go seeking the things of the world and forget that we have all we need and more through God, our Almighty Father, the Maker of the heavens and the earth?

Too often I’m afraid.

This is why our scripture today from the 25th Chapter of 2 Chronicles is so valuable as we are reminded that no matter what the world might offer, the Lord can give us so much more.

As the chapter opens, we find a new king, Amaziah, son of Joash, coming into power over Judah at age 25. Scripture tells us that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not wholeheartedly as we’ll see as we move through this chapter.

One thing he did right was to avenge the death of his father Joash who was killed by his own officials. We read where Amaziah had them executed but spared their children to death, acting in accordance with what the Lord commanded in the Law written in the Book of Moses which stated, “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.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)

After setting the record straight with those who conspired against his father, Amaziah went about getting his fighting forces in order. We read where he 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. And to add onto the forces he already had, Amaziah decided to hire a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

Everything he had done was good in God’s sight, except the last thing. For scripture tells us that a man of God came up to Amaziah and delivered the following message from the Lord:

“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. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”

God was with the Southern Kingdom of Judah but against the Northern Kingdom of Israel, predominantly because of that kingdom’s choice to worship and follow false gods. If Amaziah allowed the Israelite troops to join him then it was as if it would be Israel fighting and not Judah – and God was not going to help overthrow any enemy if Israel was in the mix. In fact, the man of God told Amaziah straight up that if he continued with the Israelites within his Judean forces, then God would overthrow Judah before their enemies.

This seems simple enough right? God said to not do it and so we need to just not do it. But temptation has a funny way of creeping in and distorting our clarity. For no sooner had the man of God told Amaziah what he could expect if he continued to allow Israelites to fight within his army, that Amaziah started to think about the money he had spent for them. In other words, if they can’t fight, why did I spend a hundred talents for? Satan is just so good at skewing our focus right at the time God is trying to gain it.

But the man of God sets things straight with a simple statement:

“The Lord can give you much more than that.”

The Lord certainly can and does. From the dawn of creation, He has revealed His omnipotence over all things. Nothing is beyond the work of His hands. He is over all and thus all things submit to Him and Him alone. He is our sole Provider, Deliverer, and Savior through His Son Jesus Christ. The world cannot offer us anything that even remotely comes close to what He gives. Not now. Not ever.

Amaziah was about to compromise the integrity of his fighting force by allowing pagans into his fold. It wasn’t their fighting prowess that was in question but rather their loyalty to the Lord God Almighty, the supreme Commander-in-Chief. Amaziah was far better off having God with him with less men than he would have been had he lost God’s favor by multiplied his forces with pagans. In the end translation, it didn’t matter how mighty your forces were, if God wasn’t with you, you were not going to win. That’s the bottom line. Amaziah was smart enough to come to his senses and right things before God had to take action.

We would be well served to follow his actions. For no matter what the world might offer us within our life’s circumstances, if God isn’t part of the picture, then we’re destined to fail and fall. He is our very present help in times of trouble, able to give us what we need whenever we need it in order to carry out His will and way in life.

No one can give us what He can. No one can guide us like He can. This is because there is no one who is like Him. Period.

When it comes right down to it, we simply can’t make it through life without the Lord. We can try to make it on our own but we’ll always find ourselves back at this simple truth.

My prayer is that we all will just set this world aside and place our full reliance and trust in the Lord, the One who has given, is giving today, and will continue to give us far more than we could ever ask or hope for.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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