Amon

2 Kings 21:19-26

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

²⁰ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

²¹ He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.

²² He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

²³ And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.

²⁴ But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁶ And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

As we read last time, the reign of Manasseh is filled with evil. He leads the people back into rampant idolatry and further away from God. Upon his death, he is followed by his son, Amon. This man is just as wicked as his father and reigns a brief 2 years. His own officials murder him (in 640 b.c.), which is followed by an apparent uprising by the people, who in turn execute Amon’s officials.  

Although the Scriptures give no reason for the conspiracy, its cause may lie within the tangled web of revolts that Ashurbanipal [the ruler of Assyria – on of the final leaders during Assyria’s dominance before the Babylonians took over] suppressed from 642–639 and that caused him to turn his attention to the west. Certainly his menacing advance took him as far as Phoenicia. At this time, too, he may have resettled newly deported elements in Samaria (cf. Ezra 4:9–10). Amon’s death may thus reflect a power struggle between those who wished to remain loyal to the Assyrian crown and those who aspired to link Judah’s fortunes to the rising star of Psammetik I (664–609) of Egypt’s Twenty-Sixth Dynasty.¹

^[1] Patterson, R. D., & Austel, H. J. (1988). 1, 2 Kings. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (F. E. Gaebelein, Ed.) (281). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Imagine little Judah, parked between Assyria and Egypt. What they needed most was a strong godly leadership. But that is not what they received in either Manasseh or his father. Instead these two guys led the people deeper into evil ways and God was not just forgotten but actually despised. 2 Chronicles 33:21–23 reveals that Amon had problems with pride just as his father had. Pride always gets in the way of God, just as Satan knew back in Eden when he stroked Eve’s pride and sin entered the world. (In fact, pride was the first sin exhibited not by Adam and Eve but by Satan himself! See Ezekiel 28:13-19)

Our story will continue with Josiah, a man who actually followed God. Amazingly enough, even though his father and grandfather had no time for God, Josiah will prove that changes can be made by the next generation!