“In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king…. Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, ‘The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin’” (2 Kings 14:1, 5–6).
This passage is a beacon of light in a mostly dark history of Judah and Israel’s kings. In his early twenties, Amaziah witnessed the betrayal and brutal slaying of his father at the hands of his own servants (see 2 Kings 12:20–21 [21–22]). And when Amaziah finally had the power to take revenge upon his father’s murderers and their families, he chose the higher ground by obeying the command of the Torah not to put sons to death for the sins of their fathers (Deut 24:16).
Admittedly, Amaziah’s response to those who had taken the life of his father challenges my redheaded nature to the core. For I wonder what I would do if I had all the power at my disposal to inflict vengeance upon my enemies and upon those who continue to cause me harm. Would I still choose to obey Yeshua’s command to love and pray for my enemies (see Matt 5:44)? Would I obey Paul’s command to overcome their evil with good (Rom 12:21)?
Admittedly, King Amaziah is a great example of someone who was given the chance to vent his rage but chose to respond biblically. But we need far more than a good example in order to respond biblically to someone who has hurt us. For nothing inside us desires to follow Amaziah’s example or to do what we know is the right thing to do. We need supernatural power to obey God’s commandments. And this is exactly what God provides through the Son of David far greater than Amaziah, who died for us while we were still God’s enemies. For only through the gospel—and not grit and determination—are we empowered to love because God first loved us, and to forgive because God first forgave us.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph 4:31—5:2).
