2 Chronicles 25-26

What’s Happening?

God always rewards humility and humiliates the proud. But Amaziah, the new king of Judah, only humbly obeys God up to a point (2 Chronicles 25:1-2). His reign begins well. He brings to justice the conspirators who murdered his father. And unlike so many kings before him, he submits to God’s laws and refuses to let revenge get the better of him (2 Chronicles 25:3-4). Amaziah then musters an army to attack the nation of Edom (2 Chronicles 25:5-6). While mustering his troops, Amaziah hires 100,000 mercenary soldiers from the treasonous northern nation of Israel. A prophet approaches the king and warns him that a military alliance with a nation that has abandoned God and his chosen king will most certainly end in defeat (2 Chronicles 25:7-8). So Amaziah dismisses the hired troops and goes to war without them, humbly trusting that God will recoup his financial losses and give him victory in battle. God honors Amaziah’s humility and he returns from battle victorious (2 Chronicles 25:9-12).

But on his return, Amaziah brings the idols of Edom’s gods with him and bows to them. A prophet approaches Amaziah and questions why he would bow to the gods that his God has just defeated (2 Chronicles 25:14-15). Proudly, Amaziah dismisses the prophet's critique. And the prophet tells Amaziah he will fall for his failure to listen to God’s counsel (2 Chronicles 25:16). Defiantly, Amaziah surrounds himself with his own counselors and they advise him to attack northern Israel. The king of Israel dismisses this threat. He even tells Amaziah his pride has gotten the better of him and implores him to stand down (2 Chronicles 25:17-19). Drunk on his victory over Edom, Amaziah rides into battle and suffers defeat. Israel invades Jerusalem, destroys its defenses, and plunders God’s temple. Proud Amaziah is then assassinated by his own men (2 Chronicles 25:20-24).

Amaziah’s son, Uzziah, takes the throne. Like his father’s early years he humbly obeys God and secures military victories and peace for his country (2 Chronicles 26:1-8). Uzziah uses his peacetime to refortify Jersulam’s fallen defenses, restore Judah’s agricultural lands, rebuild Judah’s army, and invest in new military technology (2 Chronicles 26:9-15). But at the height of his power, Uzziah becomes proud. He presumptuously marches into God’s temple and offers incense to God, a ritual only God’s priests are permitted to do. The priests warn him to stop what he’s doing but he, like his father, refuses to listen to their counsel. Immediately, a leprous spot breaks out on his forehead and he’s forcibly quarantined until the day he dies (2 Chronicles 26:16-23). 

Where is the Gospel?

The book of Proverbs famously says that pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). And Amaziah and Uzziah are two very clear illustrations of that truth. Both father and son begin humbly and God rewards them. But over time, both father and son treat God’s accomplishments as theirs. They presumptuously grasp for privileges that secure their own destruction. God always rewards humility and humiliates the proud. And the failures of Amaziah and Uzziah don’t just have personal consequences; they doom their whole kingdom. The Chronicler wants us to hope that a humble son of David will finally take the throne and lead God’s people out of the pride and humiliation their representatives have doomed them to. That humble son of David is Jesus.

Jesus spent his entire life on earth obeying God’s words and following his guidance (Luke 2:52; John 5:19). Jesus humbly obeyed even when it cost his life (Philippians 2:6-8). But because Jesus was a humble King, God rewarded him with the eternal throne promised to David (Philippians 2:9-10). Now everyone who humbly bows to King Jesus will be led out of and rescued from their pride and inevitable death. Pride might come before humiliation, but in Jesus, humiliation comes before resurrection. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who humbles the proud. And may you see Jesus as the humble king who saves God’s people from pride’s downfall.