Dive into chronicles.

Amaziah son of Joash began to rule over Judah in the second year of the reign of King Jehoash of Israel. Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. Amaziah did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight, but not like his ancestor David. Instead, he followed the example of his father, Joash. (2 Kings 14:1-3 NLT)

We’ve been following the kings of the north (Israel) and the south (Judah) throughout this series.  We’ve learned about the holiness of God, the patience of God, the justice of God, and the forgiveness of God by simply watching these kings.

Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel. (2 Chronicles 25:5-6 NLT)

We haven’t explored, however, the fact that there is another set of accounts of the lives of these kings.  In fact, there has been another set of accounts dating back to the days of king David.

But a man of God came to him and said, "Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the LORD is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for He has the power to help you or to trip you up."  (2 Chronicles 25:7-8 NLT)

These accounts are captured in the books named 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. (The book was originally just called “Chronicles” and spanned over two scrolls.) One of my Bibles is nice because it simply has the text of Scripture.  There are no distractions to my reading.  I have other Bibles that are nice, though, because they have notes that tell me about these parallel passages.  When I’m reading 2 Kings 14:1-22 about Amaziah my study Bible tells me that there is a parallel passage in 2 Chronicls 25:1-28.

Amaziah asked the man of God, "But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?" The man of God replied, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this!" So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage. (2 Chronicles 25:9-10 NLT)

When we are investigating the lives of these kings, Chronicles can be helpful in understanding more details about what really happened.  For example, 2 Kings only reports that Amaziah was a good king like his father Joash and that he later picked a fight with the northern kingdom, Israel.  This can leave us confused.  If he was a good king, why did he pick a fight with his cousins in the north?  Why did he end up losing that fight?  What went wrong?

When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! This made the LORD very angry, and He sent a prophet to ask, "Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?" But the king interrupted him and said, "Since when have I made you the king's counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!" So the prophet stopped with this warning: "I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel." (2 Chronicles 25:14-16 NLT)

Chronicles helps us see the rest of the story.  Amaziah didn’t follow the LORD his whole life.  When he turned away from God and started following false gods, then the LORD allowed Israel to defeat Judah in battle.  The story makes more sense when we dive into Chronicles.

How about you?  Do you have a Bible that allows you to read the text without distractions?  Do you have a Bible with study notes and cross-references?  Do you learn more details by diving into Chronicles?