Scripture Daily

Context No. 1988 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 25:1-8: in context

1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem. 2He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, but not with a perfect heart. 3Now when the kingdom was established to him, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. 4But he didn’t put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.” 5Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and ordered them according to their fathers’ houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin. He counted them from twenty years old and upward, and found that there were three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go out to war, who could handle spear and shield. 6He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver. 7A man of God came to him, saying, “O king, don’t let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all the children of Ephraim. 8But if you will go, take action, and be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”

The record of King Amaziah gives him a mixed verdict: he did what was right in the LORD's eyes, but not with a whole heart. He obeyed God outwardly, in many things, and yet his heart was not fully in it; his devotion was real but divided, partial rather than whole. The rest of his reign would bear out this half-heartedness, as he wavered and eventually turned away. He did right, but not wholly, not with all his heart.

The verdict on Amaziah is a searching one: he did right, but not with a whole heart. It describes a real but deficient devotion, obedience without full commitment, doing the right things while the heart is not entirely in it. Amaziah was not a wicked king who defied God; he did what was right. But he did it half-heartedly, with a divided heart, and that half-heartedness proved to be his undoing. There is a warning here that touches many of us more than open rebellion would. It is possible to do right, to obey God outwardly, to keep up the practices of faith, and yet to do it half-heartedly, with a heart not fully committed, a divided devotion that gives God part but not all. We can serve God with one foot in and one foot out, obeying in many things while holding back our full heart, doing right without wholeheartedness. And Scripture treats this divided devotion as a real deficiency. God calls for the whole heart: serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, David charged Solomon. And Jesus warned the lukewarm church, neither cold nor hot, that half-heartedness is not what he wants. God is not satisfied with a partial, divided devotion, right actions done with a heart that is not fully his. This searches us. Is my devotion to God wholehearted, or divided, giving him part while holding back the rest? Do I do right, keep up the practices, obey in many things, but with a heart not fully committed, a half-heartedness that Amaziah shows can prove our undoing? God desires not merely right actions but a whole heart, undivided devotion, all of us given to him. Amaziah did right but not with a whole heart, and the divided devotion did not hold. The call is to more than outward obedience: to a wholehearted devotion, giving God not part but all, our whole heart fully committed to him, rather than the half-heartedness that does right while holding back. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, the great commandment says; and God desires the whole heart, not the divided one that does right while keeping part of itself back.

Is my devotion to God wholehearted, or divided, doing right and keeping up the practices of faith while my heart is not fully committed, giving him part but holding back the rest, and can I hear in the verdict on Amaziah, who did right but not with a whole heart, the call to a wholehearted devotion that gives God not part but all?

Sources