From the lessons of historical kings to the modern practice of Bible journaling, this episode provides a wealth of spiritual wisdom. Discover how Amaziah’s mixed allegiance and Uzziah’s missteps offer guidance for our lives today. Alan J. Huth narrates his journey and devotion through the powerful practice of documenting Bible readings, encouraging listeners to engage more deeply with scripture.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 2 Chronicles chapters 25 and 26. We’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of these two chapters.
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2 Chronicles 25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoadim of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded…
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Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.
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Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by father’s houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward and found that they were three hundred thousand choice men fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and said,
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O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.
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And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?
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The man of God answered, ”The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”
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Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock and they were all dashed to pieces. But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth Horon, and struck down three thousand people in them, and took much spoil. After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir, and set them up as his gods, and worshipped them, making offerings to them. Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah, and sent to him a prophet, who said to him,
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Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?
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But as he was speaking, the king said to him, Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?
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So the prophet stopped, but said,
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I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.
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Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah,
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A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. You say, See, I have struck down Edom. And your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?
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But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the Ephraim gate to the corner gate. And he seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-Edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria. Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? From the time when he turned away from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. 2 Chronicles 26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechaliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabnah and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gerbaal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the angle, and fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds both in the Shephila and in the plain. And he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers fit for war in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor.
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And they withstood king Uzziah and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.
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Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead. And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. And king Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death. And being a leper, lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote, And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings. For they said, He is a leper! And Jotham his son reigned in his place.
SPEAKER 02 :
In 1983, I read 2 Chronicles 25-27 on the same day. Concerning these chapters, I wrote, He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. He worshipped other gods. As long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him. He became proud and unfaithful. In 1997, concerning 2 Chronicles 26-28, I wrote, Uzziah, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. He did well until pride overwhelmed him. He sacrificed in the temple, which only priests could do. So the priest kicked him out, and God made him a leper. And in 2009, concerning 2 Chronicles 26-28, I wrote, Uzziah reigned for 52 years, maybe longer than any king of Judah or Israel. He continued to seek God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him. That’s what I want, to continue to seek God and have prosperity in life from God himself. But when he became strong, his heart was proud and he acted corruptly. Lord, keep me humble. Those were my personal Bible reading entries from these two chapters. And the practical application from these two chapters is evident in those journal writings. First, do right in the eyes of the Lord with a whole heart. Secondly, when God gives us victory in life, praise Him and Him alone, and not other things like idols or your own strength. Third, don’t let your heart become boastful. Fourth, set yourself to seek God, and as long as you seek the Lord, God can make you prosper. But fifth, as you prosper, don’t become proud. Don’t become unfaithful. And lastly, do only the things that you should do, not the things others should do. Uzziah was not to go into the temple that was reserved for the priests. When he did, God was disappointed, made him a leper. So stay in your own channel. Do the things God has for you, and let others do the things God has for them. Father, thank you for these powerful lessons from 2 Chronicles 25 and 26. two more kings, two more servants of yours. And Lord, we are reminded that starting well is easy, but finishing strong is not. So help us stay the course. Help us finish strong for you. And thank you for prosperity as we seek you. May we never take it for granted. May we never boast. But may we always give you all the glory for our successes. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible today. You have probably noticed I refer to my personal Bible reading journals in AdBible. I took an honors English class in high school and learned about journaling. I kept a journal in high school probably related to that class, and then I quit. For some reason, I started journaling my Bible reading about 10 years later. I don’t know why I decided to journal my Bible reading, but my first journal is dated 1983. Back then, I bought spiral-bound notebooks from a retail store. Nothing fancy. But when I started the Ezra Project, I decided to publish Bible reading journals. You can find two of them on our website at ezraproject.net. Why journal? It will change the way you read the Bible. If you struggle with your daily quiet time, try it. If you know you’re going to write something down after you read, you will pay more attention to what you’re reading. It can be as simple as your favorite verse in the passage or the major point you got out of the passage. You decide. It’s your journal. And it’s not a personal journal. It’s a Bible reading journal. So you shouldn’t have to worry about someone finding it and reading it. I wanted to print a bumper sticker once called Real Men Journal. I figured it would look good on the back of the pickup trucks. Well, you know, I never printed it because I knew it wouldn’t sell. But get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
