Jehoash's reign coincides with that of Amaziah of Judah and today we will be looking at a war that took place between them. We will learn some additional details about Amaziah later on when we study his reign but for now we will just study this war because the author of 2 Kings already brought the subject up in our last study session.
We have to look briefly at some background information to explain why the king of Judah challenged the king of Israel to a fight. Amaziah had amassed and trained a powerful army with which he won a very decisive battle against the Edomites. In addition to putting together his own army, he had hired mercenaries from the tribe of Ephraim to fight with him but he was warned by a prophet that the Lord would not be with him in his struggle against the Edomites if he fought with men from the northern kingdom of Israel. Amaziah wisely listened to the prophet and sent the men home, allowing them to keep the money without having to fight at all. But being let go enraged them and they began attacking cities of Judah, killing three thousand citizens of Judah and carrying a great deal of plunder out of the southern kingdom. This is evidently why Amaziah wants to fight against Israel. I think he has probably asked the king of Israel, perhaps more than once, to order the men of Ephraim to stand down and stop raiding the cities of Judah. Jehoash either lacks the desire to make the Ephraimites stop (either because he doesn't care or because he's receiving a percentage of the plunder they are taking) or he lacks the power to make them stop. 2 Chronicles 25:6 states that these Ephraimite mercenaries numbered 100,000 and Jehoash may not be able to control what this many men are doing. We will discuss momentarily why Jehoash's army may not be very large at this time.
"After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: 'Come, let us face each other in battle.' But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: 'A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?'" (2 Kings 14:8-10, 2 Chronicles 25:17-19)
The king of Israel replies to Amaziah's message with a parable. In this parable Amaziah is the "thistle" and Jehoash is the "cedar". Jehoash is saying that the king of Judah is trying to pick a fight with someone too big and powerful for him to defeat. Jehoash is comparing the army of Israel to a "wild beast" that will trample the army of Judah underfoot. He warns Amaziah that the victory of Israel will result in the deaths of many soldiers of Judah, possibly the death of Amaziah himself, and perhaps even the downfall of the entire nation of Judah. Basically he's saying, "Just because you fought the kingdom of Edom and won doesn't mean you can fight Israel and win. You've allowed your successful war against the Edomites to go to your head. You're asking for trouble---unnecessary trouble---by picking a fight with me. Stay home and bask in your success against Edom. Stay home and attend to the business of your own country."
We learned earlier in our study of the dynasty of Jehu that by the time Jehoash's father died the army of Israel had been severely reduced by having to repeatedly fight against the Arameans who kept attacking and subduing various areas of the kingdom of Israel. By the time Jehoash ascended to the throne, his late father's army had been reduced to fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. We don't know how big of an army Jehoash has been able to amass since he became king but the Bible tells us that Amaziah called up and trained an army of 300,000 soldiers. (2 Chronicles 25:5) Unless Jehoash has more men than Amaziah, which is difficult to imagine after so many Israelites were killed in battles against the Arameans just a short time ago, then comparing his army to a "wild beast" that will trample Judah underfoot seems like an empty threat. And it likely would have been except Amaziah has fallen into sin.
The Lord gave Amaziah victory over the Edomites but after this victory Amaziah and his men carried back to Judah the idols of the land of Edom. Amaziah began to dabble in idolatry with these images, bowing down to them and making offerings to them. We will learn more about this when we study Amaziah's life separately from his war with Jehoash, but it is because of Amaziah's idolatry that the Lord will not be with him in battle against the king of Israel.
The Apostle Paul is well known for making this encouragement statement to the children of God: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) Paul's statement is true; no one can overcome the one for whom God fights. But this does not mean that God fights for the one who is not on His side. The Lord is not obligated to fight on the side of one who has turned their back on Him. As the mighty warrior David once said to the Lord, "To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the devious You show Yourself shrewd." (Psalm 18:25-26) If Amaziah had been faithful to the Lord, no army could have defeated him. It was only before he fell into idolatry that the Lord was with him and his army in battle. After he becomes an idolater the Lord allows him to be defeated in battle as corrective discipline for his waywardness.
The Lord's intention with any form of discipline is to turn the person away from things that are going to hurt them. Amaziah is hurting himself by calling on the names of false gods. Amaziah is hurting the people of Judah by setting an ungodly example for them, thereby luring them into idolatry with him. The Lord doesn't want to destroy Amaziah or the nation of Judah; He wants to get the king and the people back onto the right track. Defeat in battle is intended to make them ask themselves, "Why were we victorious against the army of Edom but not against the army of Israel?" And this question is intended to lead them to this answer: "It is because we have not been faithful to God. It is because that, after our defeat of the Edomites, we turned to the gods of Edom. If the gods of Edom couldn't protect the Edomites, what can they possibly do for us? If our God gave us victory over Edom, why would we ever turn to another? We must repent, remove these idols from our land, and give our allegiance wholeheartedly to our God."
In tomorrow's study we will find Amaziah unwilling to back down from his challenge to Jehoash. He will fight against the army of Israel---and lose.
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