2 Chronicles 25:15

2Ch 25:15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?

Ver. 15. And he sent unto him a prophet.] When he might have sent him to hell with a thunderbolt; as the patientest man upon earth would have done likely, had he been in God’s place and power.

Why hast thou sought after the gods?] It may be that the Edomites had hid their tutelary gods, and that Amaziah sought them out. The word signifieth a diligent, narrow search.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 25:15. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah — And well it might; yet, before he sent to destroy him, he sent to convince and reclaim him, and thus prevent his destruction. He sent to him a prophet, who reasoned with him very fairly and mildly, saying, Why hast thou sought after the gods which could not deliver their own people? — Is this reasonable? Is it acting like a wise man? If men would but duly consider the inability of all those things to help them, which they have recourse to when they forsake God, they would not be such enemies to themselves.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He proveth that whatsoever cannot save himself nor his worshippers, is no God but an idol.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(15) Could not deliver.—Delivered not. (Comp. the boast of Sennacherib concerning the gods who had failed before him: 2Ki_18:33-35.) The king’s object may have been to win their favour, and so retain his hold on what was regarded as their peculiar territory. One of these gods might be Hadad (comp. 1Ch_1:46; 1Ch_1:50; 2Ki_5:18; 2Ki_6:24); another might have been Kôsh. (Comp. the Edomite royal names Qa-us-ma-la-ka, i.e., Kosmalak, “Kosh is king,” and Qa-us-gab-ri, i.e., Kosgabri, “Kosh is my warrior;” names which are like the Hebrew Elimelech and Gabriel respectively.) The Hebrew proper name, Kish, may be the same as Kôsh. Lastly, the name of a king of Edom mentioned by Sennacherib, Mâlik-rammu, i.e., “Moloch is exalted,” indicates that Moloch also was worshipped in Edom.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. which could not deliver] R.V. which have not delivered.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, art thou made of the king's council?.... He was not indeed one of his privy council, made so by him, but he was appointed a counsellor to him by the Lord, the King of kings, to expostulate with him about his idolatry, and to advise him to relinquish it, to whose counsel he ought to have hearkened:

forbear, why shouldest thou be smitten? bidding him hold his peace, and threatening him, that if he did not, he must expect to be smitten; that is, with death, as Zechariah the prophet was by the order of his father:

then the prophet forbore; left off speaking, only added this at parting:

and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee; being given up to hardness of heart, so as to pay no regard to the Lord and his prophets, which was a sure presage of destruction:

because thou hast done this; committed such idolatry, and persisted in it:

and hast not hearkened to my counsel; to reform from it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore thou art not only ungrateful and impious, but also ridiculously foolish, in offending that God whose power and goodness thou hast now found, and in worshipping such gods of whose impotency thou hast had late experience.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He sent unto him a prophet. We are again not told whom. The tone of the prophet, and the words given us as his in the latter half of ver. 16, would lead us to think it was the same "man of God;" but we cannot assert it, and had it been the same, it would more probably have transpired. The history now often reminds us of 2Ch_24:16.

The folly of irreligion.

The remonstrance addressed by the prophet of the Lord to Amaziah was well grounded; his argument was conclusive. We arc simply astonished at

I THE INFATUATION OF IDOLATRY. What insensate folly of the King of Judah to turn from the service of Jehovah, who had just granted him a signal proof of his power and his goodness, to the service and the worship of the gods of the very people he had defeated (ver. 14)! Well might he be reproached for conduct so culpable and so irrational. Any one who was conversant with the history of the Hebrew people, even up to this time, might have known that faithfulness to Jehovah was accompanied by victory and prosperity, and that, contrariwise, idolatry was attended with misery and disaster. And yet, such was "the deceitfulness of sin," we find king and courtier, priest and people, lapsing into disobedience and iniquity. We are not now under the temptation which proved too strong for Amaziah, but we may make a mistake as serious and as senseless as he made.

II THE FOLLY OF IRRELIGION, AND ESPECIALLY OF SPIRITUAL UNFAITHFULNESS. For what is it that we see?

1. A large number of men and women honouring various false gods; it is some form of temporal success; it may be physical enjoyment, or it may be

2. the possession of wealth, or it may be social position, or it may be political power, or it may be professional distinction.

3. These votaries are not blessed by the deities they are serving; for these"powers" are weakness itself; they "cannot. deliver their own people," their own adherents. They do not deliver them from failure, from disappointment, from heartache, from misery. They do not gladden the heart and brighten and beautify the life of those who are seeking and serving them. Even those who have reached the heights they set themselves to climb, who have grasped the goal towards which they ran, have confessed, again and again, that they have not found rest unto their soul, but rather disquietude, craving, envy a sense of dreariness and defeat. Why, then, should we add our souls to the number of the unblessed, of the deceived and the betrayed? Why, indeed, should we who have tasted of better things be so indescribably foolish as to abandon "our Rock" for "their rock"? (Deu_32:31) Why should we seek after the "gods that cannot deliver their own people"? And this folly is the greater when we take into our account

III THE PROVED WISDOM OF PIETY. For has it not been abundantly confirmed that "godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come"? Do not we who have followed Christ know, and can we not testify, that to be his true disciple, his faithful servant this is to be:

1. Gladdened with all joy.

2. Comforted in all sorrow.

3. Enlarged in all obscurity and lowliness of sphere.

4. Engaged in the best and noblest of all works the work of humanelevation.

5. Sustained by the most exalted hope the hope of everlasting life in hisown royal presence. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.