Amon Did Evil in the Eyes of God and Did Not Humble Himself
A reoccurring phrase in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles is about people who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” In these four books it appears thirty-two times, including eight times in 2 Chronicles.
Most of these occurrences reference kings, evil kings who rebelled against God and led their people to follow their wrong path away from him and his expectations for right living.
The phrase applies to Amon in today’s text, as well as to his father Manasseh. Talk about teaching the wrong things to your kids. As the saying goes, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
But there was one thing Amon didn’t learn from his dad that he should have. Though King Manasseh spent his life doing the wrong things, once he was confronted about them he made a U-turn.
He humbled himself. Today we might say he repented.
Years later King Amon ends up in the same situation. He is an evil king just like his dad, but instead of turning things around, he persists in the wrong path he has chosen for his life.
His pride keeps him from a humble response. In doing so, the Bible says he “increased his guilt.”
God may not give everyone a second chance, but if he does we had better take it. However, an even better approach is to live our life in such a way as to not need a second chance.
May we live a life and leave a legacy where we “did right in the eyes of the Lord.”
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 2 Chronicles 31-33, and today’s post is on 2 Chronicles 33:22-23.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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