2 Chronicles 25:5-13--Amaziah's Victories

2 Chronicles 25:5-13
English Standard Version
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Amaziah's Victories
5 Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' 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 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8 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.” 9 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?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” 10 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. 11 But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. 12 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. 13 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 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.

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It's important to see what's missing in today's passage.  King Amaziah musters the men of Judah for battle, but it appears that he didn't consult with the LORD by way of the high priest or a prophet before going to war (like David was in the habit of doing).  Instead, it appears that Amaziah was trusting in the superior numbers of his troops to win the battle that day, but we've already seen many times over that vastly larger armies don't win when the LORD is not with them.

Thankfully, the LORD is gracious and sends a prophet to Amaziah to let him know not to ally with the northern kingdom of Israel for this battle as he intended to.  The LORD's fierce anger is on the northern ten tribes right now because of their idolatry and rebellion.  Even though he paid 100,000 men of Israel to fight for him, the king is told to send all of them home and not ask for the money back because Judah would lose the battle if Israel fights with them.  He is warned that if he allies with those that are enemies of the LORD that he and his men might get "cast down" too when the LORD defeats them.

Although the mercenaries from Ephraim were upset, they didn't get to fight that day, Amaziah obeyed the voice of the LORD spoken through his prophet.  He led out the med of Judah against the people of Edom (identified as Seir, the large mountain that their nation was known for).  They killed 10,000 of the Edomites and captured another 10,000 alive.  They took their captives to the top of a large rock and threw them down from the top of the rock so that they were dashed to pieces.

The spoils of war were only divided among the men of Judah who fought that day, but the Ephraimites that were sent home through they were entitled to some of the spoils, even though they did not fight in the battle.  So, they raided they formed raiding parties and raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took what they wanted.  None of that would have happened if Amaziah had consulted with the LORD first, and the victory doesn't feel like much of a victory after they come back to their cities raided and pillaged.  This isn't the end of this story either.  We'll pick here next time as we see a little more into the heart of Amaziah and it might explain why he didn't first seek counsel from the LORD.