I often recall my father warning me in my teens, “Without the Lord, you’re no match for the devil.”
Unless you know everything, one sure path to failure is listening only to advisors who agree with you. An echo chamber is “an environment where a person only encounters opinions that reflect and reinforce his or her own.” So when another unnamed prophet stopped by the palace to warn Amaziah about his flight path heading into Mount Ego, the king retorted, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?” (2 Chron 25:16). As he turned away, the prophet left him with the words, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.” To which, in today’s vernacular, the king might have said, “Whatever.” But now Amaziah does seek advice, obviously from a palace sycophant. Should he throw down the gauntlet to Joash, king of Israel? Oh, yes, you’ll be spectacular! So off went the letter to Joash, “Let us face one another in battle” (v 17). After all, hadn’t HE just defeated the Edomites? The return mail is hilarious! Imagine a weed asking a cedar tree to make an alliance through the marriage of their offspring. While awaiting a reply, “a wild beast…passed by and trampled the thistle” (v 18). You sir, said Israel’s king, are in the minor leagues. Stay home and stay safe, or you and Judah will suffer. But Amaziah wouldn’t hear those who disagreed with him. Off he went for the showdown “at Beth Shemesh” (v 21). Not only was Judah’s army crushed, but Joash took spoils and captives, and removed Jerusalem’s whole northern wall, leaving it vulnerable. This is why we pray, “Do not lead us into temptation” (Mt 6:13). We aren’t always ready for struggles. If we foolishly engage our adversary at the wrong time, it could be catastrophic.