As a young boy, Amaziah was educated in the Five Books of Moses. He read the history of Joshua, Judges and the stories of the kings and prophets before him.

When Amaziah became king, he had to consolidate his power since his father had been assassinated by servants working in the palace. Once he felt secure, he ordered the execution of the perpetrators.

He supported worship in the temple in Jerusalem, but failed to destroy the high places of Baal worship. Amaziah wanted to please the godly people and still be on good terms with the Baal crowd. Amaziah was just like any modern Christian, observing certain things in the Bible, but living a life of compromise.

He knew that he should trust God for all things, but lacking adequate faith, he made the same mistake as King David in numbering his troops. As a result, he hired 100,000 mercenaries from the northern kingdom.  

He was confronted by a prophet and begrudgingly sent them back to Israel, all while complaining about the money he had lost. God blessed him in the war with Edom, but once it was over, he killed survivors and had them thrown over a cliff to be crushed against the rocks below.

Amaziah became curious about the groves of the Edomites and decided to return to Jerusalem with them. He opened himself up to demon possession and wasn’t too happy when a prophet of God told him his days were numbered.

He decided to do something religious to make the situation better. What did he choose to do? Declare war on Israel! Amaziah challenged King Jehoash to a fight in order to stem the tide of Baal worship in Israel. He was subsequently defeated and led back to Jerusalem as a captive. Jehoash plundered the temple and the palace and tore down a 600-foot section of the city wall.

The people lost confidence in Amaziah and descended to a dark personal place where he walked away from the Lord. A conspiracy against his life forced him to flee to Lachish, but the assassins caught up to him. His dead corpse was tossed on a horse and that is how he returned to Jerusalem. This is a tragic story of a man who had a lot of potential but wasted his time on earth.

Print out the sermon outline and let's examine the Scriptures together Sunday morning at 9:00 AM PST.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John S. Torell