The Eighteenth King.
You can read King Amon’s story in 2 Kings 21:19-26 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.
When I, Amon, son of the great Manasseh, became king of all Judah, I did the usual stuff. I worshipped the idols and gods my father had worshipped, I abandoned the LORD, blah blah blah.
I thought I was destined for a long and healthy reign. I guess my pride got the better of me. Only a few verses into my majestic rule, I heard my officials conspiring. This isn’t good.
Amon, son of Manasseh and Meshullemeth, becomes king at age twenty-two, and reigns for a record-short two years.
He’s a flat-out copy of his father, with one twist: he doesn’t repent. Since Scripture gives us next to no info on this king, today we’ll also examine how the people of Judah were influenced by their kings.
Amon: The Beginning.
“He abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors, and he refused to follow the LORD’s ways.”
– 2 Kings 21:22
Amon does exactly what we’ve grown to expect. He rejects God and walks in sin, committing acts equally as bad as those of his father. The people of Judah follow suit. Without godly leadership, a nation falls into ruin. Our natural state isn’t to pursue righteous living or help one another; it’s to copy the culture and pursue sinful lifestyles. This is why we need godly leaders. They may not have the capacity to successfully transform their people single-handedly, but they’ll make a big difference.
Godly leadership isn’t everything, but without it, Judah only falls deeper into idolatry. Furthermore, wicked people will only find their sin amplified by wicked rulers. For example, Amon.
Amon: The Middle.
“But unlike his father, Amon did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, Amon sinned even more.”
– 2 Chronicles 33:23
Today we’re learning lessons that the smartest 21st-century minds haven’t yet grasped. Society tells us that 2 Chronicles 33:23 should go: “But unlike his father, Amon did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, he cast aside those outdated ideologies, lived out his own truth, and became a better person.” Yeah, no. Humbling ourselves before God is the key to character growth.
Why didn’t the people of Judah understand this? Well, the life they were living seemed to give them what they wanted. You see, sin tempts us because it appeals to our human desires. When everyone around us, including our king, is doing what we want to do – even though it’s wrong – it becomes easy for us to also fall into sin.
Think about our culture. When the government tells us that sinful practices are okay, and when the entire culture affirms it, we tend to give in. If only we had leaders who feared God above men. As we’ll find out next week, good kings have the power to transform nations.
Amon: The End.
“Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.”
– 2 Chronicles 33:24
Shortly thereafter, Amon’s officials hatch a plot to kill him. Once he’s out of the picture, the people revolt. They kill Amon’s assassins and place his son, Josiah, on the throne. Amon is buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza.
What Defined Amon?
Amon’s reign was short. His lack of leadership brought to light the reason we need godly leaders. Humans lean towards pride and sinfulness, and these traits are only amplified by faulty leadership. I also learned that…
~ Humans Love Revolution ~
“But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.”
– 2 Chronicles 33:25
Humans follow a pattern. If we’re not happy with leadership, we revolt. Amon revolted against God, his officials revolted against him, and the people revolted against them.
You’ll find this pattern throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Again and again, we tried to overthrow various governments. We hoped the new leaders would be better. Time and time again, it failed. Maybe things got better for a time, but pretty soon we realized that worldly governments will fail us. Human governments aren’t the solution.
The people of Israel asked for a king. They got one. Then the kingdom split. Then they overthrew their king. Then they assassinated their king. What gives? Could it be that – important as political leaders are – they can never replace God? When we begin to idolize leaders, we make them into mini gods. Soon we’re basing our decisions on a leader’s actions, rather than the Higher Power they stand for. So when we see our king living wickedly, we assume it’s okay for us to do that too.
And when we don’t like what our king is doing, we overthrow them in the hope that the next leader will be better. In the process, we totally forget that our true King is God.
The LORD knows this. He deliberately held off on giving Israel a king so that they wouldn’t make this mistake. Now, eighteen kings in, He has a new plan. One day, God will orchestrate the greatest revolution in history. A revolution spearheaded by one Man. A revolution in which the last king of Judah would, yet again, be murdered. Only this time, the King’s death would change everything. Forever. The greatest revolution of all time. Coming in a few hundred years…
Good/Bad.
Amon’s sin only served to teach us about human nature. We want to sin. We want to do what’s wrong. Bad leadership makes it easier. Fortunately, God doesn’t plan on leaving us trapped in sin. Unlike Amon, we have hope.
Which is why we need to put Amon in his place on the Kings Chart…
Buckle up, because next week, shockwaves are rippling through the kingdom. Even if all Judah has forgotten the LORD, God has not neglected His promise from Deuteronomy 31:8…
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
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