2 KINGS 14 (SUMMARY OF A READING)
2 KINGS 14 (SUMMARY OF A READING)
There was that in Amaziah which was commendable and God helped him against Edom, but his heart was apparently lifted up and he entered on a conflict in which God was not with him. The result was that the testimony of God was weakened; the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the vessels of service were carried away. He had not the mind of God in going to war with Israel, for God was not against Israel at this time; He was sending prophetic ministry amongst them by Jonah. Indeed, it was a time when God was favourable to the world, and very ready to accept any evidence of repentance, as in the case of Nineveh just at this time.
There was a very great deal in Israel that was not right, and Amaziah might have thought that this justified going to war with Jehoash. But he had not God with him, and the result was that the testimony suffered and the service of God suffered. People in our time have entered into conflict without having God with them, and it has ended in a breach in the testimony, and vessels have been lost that should have been retained for the service of God. We see in Psalm 51 that if self-judgment has place with us the walls of Jerusalem will be built. The test of things is not how they appear at the time, but what they result in.
In Jeroboam we see a remarkable acting of God in relation to Israel, notwithstanding an evil condition. It was a time of long-suffering, which went on until chapter 17. And generally this characterises His attitude to the christian profession today: the time of spewing out has not [p. 182] yet come, though it is now imminent. God in His mercy and sovereignty used a man who was idolatrous to save His people, so that there was a measure of restoration and recovery of what had been lost. The prophetic word was there, and wherever the prophetic word is there is the presence of a power to restore and recover. The great evidence that God has not abandoned His people is that the prophetic word is not withdrawn from them.