2 Chronicles 24:15-28:27

Here we are reading through the good and bad of the kings in this section. What do we find in these passages that could be used to grow our spiritual lives? I came across this devotional that takes just one verse from this passage and says it all. It comes from FB Meyer’s Daily Homily work. The last paragraph is my own. I hope you’ll grow through the reading and application of this passage today.
The wholehearted faith of Caleb was one of his most remarkable attributes. When he was one of only two spies to recommend entering the Promised Land, it was promised that he would live through the subsequent years of wandering “because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (Deut. 1:36). When that generation died off and the next entered the land, Caleb at age 85 was still there, as strong and vigorous and wholehearted as ever. He was given the city of Hebron, though he had to drive out the Anakites to take it (Josh. 14:6-14). His faith never faltered!
By contrast with Caleb, Amaziah in today’s reading is an anemic example of halfhearted faith. Second Chronicles 25:2 says it all: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.” On the positive side, he took limited vengeance on his father Joash’s killers, obeying the Law’s strict guidelines (vv. 3-4). On the negative side, his military ambitions showed pride. When he hired northern Israelite mercenaries, he may have hoped God would judge his actions differently from those of previous kings who had formed alliances with pagan nations. But through an unnamed prophet, the Lord let him know that putting one’s confidence in human strength was a bad move in any case. To this rebuke, Amaziah responded with some faith—he sent the hired soldiers home and even gave up their wages as a lost investment.
The king’s mixed actions led to mixed results. God gave Judah a victory over Edom. This victory, however, was marred by cruel murders of some prisoners-of-war and entirely undone by Amaziah’s astoundingly foolish worship of the Edomite “gods” he had just defeated.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries, furious that their lust for violence and booty had gone unsatisfied, took out their aggressions by plundering towns on the way home. This led Amaziah to another foolish decision—challenging Israel to a war. God engineered his defeat as a judgment on his idolatry, and like his father he ended up a victim of assassination.
Spend some time today to meditate on “wholeheartedness” versus “halfheartedness”—with Caleb and Amaziah as the instructive contrasts. You may think that you have always been wholehearted in following Jesus, but think through your last month’s moments. Have you done everything you could? Have you been the follower you could be? I know I could do much better in wholehearted following of Jesus. Let’s all practice wholeheartedness today. Let me know how it goes in the comment section below.

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