“Much More Than That”

II Chronicles 25:5–10

“Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to handle the spear and shield. He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.” Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The LORD can give you much more than that.” So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.”

“For God has the power to help or to overthrow (v. 8)”, indeed our success only happens when God moves with and within us, it is the LORD who allows how events unfold irrespective of whether we think it is beneficial or not to us nor whether we think it glorifies Him or not. The unnamed man of God tells King Amaziah that no matter his efforts, “if you go and fight courageously in battle”, it is God who determines the outcome. That is not exactly to say that all our efforts do not matter, but only that our work (and prayers) afford much when in line with the will of the Author of Life™. In fact our efforts can go further with God behind it; the least of peoples Israel succeeded not because of their own strength but that God was with them (Deut 7:7). A little town, Bethlehem was similarly by no means unimportant: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel' (Matt 2:6)." The man of God tells the king when he begins to think about the resources (that will be wasted) he already invested to try to guarantee victory, “the LORD can give you much more than that (v. 9).” Let us believe in the LORD our provider. “The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it (Prov 10:22).” It is Him, “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3:20).”