2 Kings Chapter 14 – Failure & Success
One of the very few Chinese proverbs I remember from my years of school is this: 失败是成功之母 (shi bai shi cheng gong zhi mu).
Why I remember this is because of how funny it sounded literally: “Failure is the mother of success”. It was also a lofty promise that nursed much reassurance (failure is not a bad thing) and hope (success is around the corner) for a student fumbling through school.
But this progression from failure to success is less easily mastered than the proverb suggests. In 2 Kings 14, we meet Amaziah king of Judah, for whom this proverb is reversed. His success comes before his subsequent failure.
For Amaziah, success comes first when he kills 10,000 Edomites and takes their city Sela, also known by its Greek name, Petra (2 Kgs 14:7). Why Amaziah succeeds is not only due to military adroitness. He had displayed submissiveness to God.
Prior to this battle, Amaziah had hired 100,000 mighty men of valour from Israel, effectively expanding his army by 33%. Yet the Lord told him to let Israel’s mercenaries go even after paying them, for God was not with Israel. Amaziah obeyed (2 Chr 25:6-10).
Imagine footing the full bill for a contractor (say, for home renovations), and not having him do any work for you! God saw Amaziah’s actions and gave him victory.
But this is when Amaziah fails.
Not only does Amaziah fail to recognise the source of his success, what he does next is shocking: he brings home the gods of the Edomites and worships them (2 Chr 25:14). We wonder if his heart of obedience to God earlier was sincere.
Baffling, isn’t it? The gods of the Edomites did not even save them!
Yet in our pursuits for success, we too might make such baffling choices in our faith.
In difficulties, we may make impassioned pleas for God to help us. Our trial may even sober us in our faith and empower us to make resolutions for the Lord: attend all Sabbath services more regularly, pray longer, read the Bible more.
We are desperate for God to help us succeed.
And so do we do what we think will move Him to help us?
Now you may think, hang on, I obey God because I also want to grow in faith. It’s true, but our intentions may not always be as clear as we think. Instead of having godliness that centres around God, does our godliness centre around ourselves?
Once God helps us succeed, suddenly, we forget Him. Like Amaziah worshipping Edom’s idols, we give our hearts to the worldly rewards we have reaped, whether the accolades, the wealth, the friends, the ego boost…
And a narrative is composed as we raise ourselves on a self-aggrandising pedestal. I was struggling, even working through late nights, so stressed, so busy, till a clever idea came to me, and I worked at it, and I, I, I, me, me, me…
After we succeed, in our speech and thoughts, is God anywhere to be seen?
Because Amaziah turns away from God in his success, God pursues him. God sends a prophet to call him back. But unwaveringly, Amaziah still walks away from God.
And so in Amaziah’s next pursuit for success, this time in a battle against the Israelites, failure comes hard and fast.
Because of Amaziah’s spiritual failure, God is no longer on his side. Amaziah loses mightily, and he is even taken captive. God gives him into his enemy’s hands (2 Chr 25:20, 16).
“As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.”
(Psa 103:13-14 ESV)
Just as the Lord remembers our frame, let us also remember what we truly are: dust. Then as we recall the Lord’s compassion, whether in failure or success, we will give glory not to ourselves, but to our Almighty God.
