2 Kings 14:1-29
14:1-4 Joash's son, Amaziah, becomes king and reigns twenty-five years in Jerusalem. Amaziah is a decent king, he is a righteous man though like his father, he he has allowed people to continue to sacrifice and offer incense on the high places.
14:5-6 Amaziah kills the men who betrayed and murdered his father. But Amaziah does not kill their sons; Amaziah wishes to remain faithful to scripture which requires that children should not be punished for the actions of their parents. Each person is responsible for their own actions. (This scripture, Deuteronomy 24:16, reminds us that God deals with each king according to his own heart, not his father's.)
14:7 Amaziah enforces a strong military against the Edomites and claims the land of Sela (2 Chronicals 25:5-16).
14:8-10 The king of Judah, Amaziah, challenges Jehoash, king of Israel. Through analogy, Jehoash warns Amaziah not to compete with him because he will be defeated.
14:11-14 Amaziah does not listen. The two armies battle in Beth Shemesh, land in Judah, and Judah is defeated. Jehoash captures Amaziah, breaks down the wall of Jerusalem and raids the house of the Lord and the king's house. He takes hostages and then returns to Samaria. Amaziah is soundly defeated in a battle he was warned not to start.
14:15-16 Jehoash eventually dies and is buried in Samaria; his son Jeroboam becomes king.
14:17-20 Amaziah lives fifteen years longer than Jeoash; he is killed in Lachish, unloved and un-trusted by his people, and buried in Jerusalem.
14:21-22 The people of Judah make Azariah, Amaziah's sixteen year old son, king. Azariah builds Elath and restores Judah. The name Azariah means: God has helped.
14:22-24 In Amaziah's fifteenth year as king, Jeroboam son of Joash becomes king in Israel. He reigns forty years but is a corrupt king.
14:25-27 Despite the king's corruption and Israel's unfaithfulness, God protects them out of compassion. God sees that the affliction of Israel was very bitter and He chooses not to ignore their pain.
14:28 Jeroboam is an active king, making war, recapturing land for Israel. But he does not live righteously.
14:29 In 2 Kings 10:30, God prophesied that Jehu's dynasty would last four generations. As Jeroboam dies, the fourth comes into power: Zechariah, his son.
