Context No. 2727 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 28:14-21: in context

14So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the princes and all the assembly. 15The men who have been mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the plunder clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them sandals, gave them something to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble of them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria. 16At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17For again the Edomites had come and struck Judah, and carried away captives. 18The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and also Gimzo and its villages; and they lived there. 19For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, because he acted without restraint in Judah and trespassed severely against the LORD. 20Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came to him and gave him trouble, but didn’t strengthen him. 21For Ahaz took away a portion out of the LORD’s house, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria; but it didn’t help him.

This is one of the more surprising scenes in Chronicles. Northern Israel has just beaten Judah and dragged home thousands of captives, but a prophet confronts the victors, and the leaders relent. Then the soldiers do something remarkable: they clothe the naked prisoners, feed them, anoint them, set the weak ones on donkeys, and carry them back to their own people at Jericho.

Right beside that mercy stands King Ahaz of Judah. In his trouble he does not turn to God. He sends to Assyria for help and strips the temple to pay for it, and Chronicles notes flatly that it did not help him. Two responses to the same crisis sit side by side. Enemy soldiers show the kind of care that reads like the good Samaritan centuries early, while God's own anointed king trusts a foreign army and robs God's house. Faithfulness showed up where no one would expect it and failed where everyone assumed it was secure.

Do I show unexpected mercy to those who fall into my power, or, like Ahaz, run to any help but God when I am in trouble?

Sources

Luke 10:34: "Bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn."
2 Chronicles 28:15: "Clothed all who were naked among them... and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers."
Isaiah 31:1: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help... but they don't look to the Holy One of Israel."