2 Chronicles 25:10

Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

The verse stands in 2 Chronicles 25 to Ezra 5, ground already covered by the record in Kings but retold here with interesting matters not given in the parallel books, above all a fuller history of the kings of Judah. It belongs to the history of the unstable Amaziah, a king who followed his own counsel instead of heeding the counsel of the prophet of the Lord. He was one who accepted prophetic testimony when it pleased him but resented prophetic reproof.

The verse records that Amaziah separated and sent home the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, the hundred thousand hired mighty men of Israel. He did this after a man of God and prophet warned him not to take them into battle with him. He followed the prophet's advice in sending home the Israelite troops who had joined his army.

Those dismissed troops had their anger greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned to their homes in great anger. Amaziah obeyed the warning despite the money already spent. He let go the hundred talents of silver already paid for the troops, trusting that the Lord was able to give him much more.

That separation from the idolatrous Israelites was the right course. The reason was that the Lord was not with Israel, which at that time was alienated from God. That alienated Israel stands for all aliens in all time excluded from God's chosen work.

God gave Amaziah victory without Israel. He prevailed over Edom in that battle. His reign as a whole shows that doing duty brought blessing and departing from God brought strife and captivity and great loss. It shows also that God was willing to turn to help His people and work mightily for them when they sought Him with all the heart.

The account proves that God has power to help and to cast down. Success in physical or material contests does not depend on numbers, discipline, efficiency, wealth or allied forces but on God alone. Leaning on arms of flesh, materialities and self-reliance brings ruin, while obedience to God brings success.

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