The About-Face
Read 2 Chronicles 25:5-13
In the world, the assumption of having "gone too far to go back" will be bandied about to encourage persistence in even an unwinable situation. However, tenacity in the face of defeat is not always admirable. Foolish stubbornness can pass as stalwart commitment to principle. For example: there is no nobility in remaining steadfast because you don't want to acknowledge a failed investment in time, money, or affection.
Having hired out one hundred thousand mercenaries from the Kingdom of Israel, Amaziah wasted his downpayment when he renegged on using their services. But in relation to the 100 talent-loss, the good king of Judah was given the encouragement that "the Lord is able to give thee much more than this" (ver. 9b). This is the great principle of the passage: once an error in judgment is acknowledged and repented of, God is allowed to compensate for the setback.
Amaziah didn't ignore the prophet to avoid losing his investment of the 100 talents or to "save face" before his neighbors in Israel. He willingly purged the mercenaries from his army (bearing their disdain), and met the Edomites with a smaller, all-Judean force. For this reason, God gave him a decisive victory. Amaziah's example is still a model for us today: if we are humble enough to admit it when we've taken a wrong turn, we can ask God to show us the detour back onto the right road.
In the world, the assumption of having "gone too far to go back" will be bandied about to encourage persistence in even an unwinable situation. However, tenacity in the face of defeat is not always admirable. Foolish stubbornness can pass as stalwart commitment to principle. For example: there is no nobility in remaining steadfast because you don't want to acknowledge a failed investment in time, money, or affection.
Having hired out one hundred thousand mercenaries from the Kingdom of Israel, Amaziah wasted his downpayment when he renegged on using their services. But in relation to the 100 talent-loss, the good king of Judah was given the encouragement that "the Lord is able to give thee much more than this" (ver. 9b). This is the great principle of the passage: once an error in judgment is acknowledged and repented of, God is allowed to compensate for the setback.
Amaziah didn't ignore the prophet to avoid losing his investment of the 100 talents or to "save face" before his neighbors in Israel. He willingly purged the mercenaries from his army (bearing their disdain), and met the Edomites with a smaller, all-Judean force. For this reason, God gave him a decisive victory. Amaziah's example is still a model for us today: if we are humble enough to admit it when we've taken a wrong turn, we can ask God to show us the detour back onto the right road.
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Permalink Reply by NaSheila Gibbons Knox on
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Great teaching.
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