Without unity, human beings working together cannot accomplish very much. Loyalty is the glue that holds people together, and is the character trait that binds God and His people. Why does God value loyalty so highly? To whom or what are you loyal?
Amaziah was a young king of Judah whose reign started out well enough, but ended in disaster, because he stopped obeying God. "Amaziah was twenty-five years old, when he became king, and he reigned twenty- nine years in Jerusalem.… And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart" (2 Chronicles 25:1–2). At first, Amaziah followed God's precepts scrupulously. Although he executed the men who had murdered his father, he spared their children, because he sought to do "as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, 'The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall die for his own sin'" (v. 4).
Always Check with God First!
When Judah was preparing to go to war against the people of Edom, Amaziah wanted to supplement Judah's 300,000-man army. So he hired 100,000 men of valor from Israel—without first asking God whether this was His will. "But a man of God came to him, saying, 'O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow'" (vv. 7–8). Amaziah then obeyed, and discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim. "Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger" (v. 10).
God gave Amaziah a resounding victory, in which the king's troops killed 20,000 Edomites. However, the discharged Israelites had been looking forward to taking the spoils of war, and felt cheated at having been dismissed. In revenge, they raided some of Judah's cities; they killed 3,000 people "and took much spoil" (vv. 11–13).
A Disloyal Heart Leads to Disaster!
How did Amaziah react to the victory God had given him over the Edomites? The king foolishly brought the gods of Mount Seir into Judah; he adopted them as his own gods, bowing down and offering burnt incense to them. "Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent a prophet who said to him, 'Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?'" (v. 15). Instead of confessing his sin and crying out for God's forgiveness, Amaziah rebelled further, saying to God's messenger: "'Have we made you the king's counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?' Then the prophet ceased, and said, 'I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice'" (v. 16). Amaziah failed to realize that anyone who rejects God's word will no longer have His help.
Angered by the raids on Judah's cities, Amaziah challenged Israel's King Joash to battle. Joash answered, saying: "Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall—you and Judah with you?" (v. 19). But Amaziah, because of his pride, fought against Israel; he did not know that God intended Judah to lose the battle "because they sought the gods of Edom" (v. 20).
In his defeat, Amaziah suffered the destruction of approximately 200 yards of Jerusalem's wall, between the Corner gate and the Gate of Ephraim, leaving the city defenseless (v. 23). "And he [Joash] took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria" (v. 24).
Amaziah lived another 15 years. but did not repent of his turning to idols in rebellion against God. "After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there" (v. 27).
Amaziah knew the law, but did not love God with a loyal heart, as King David had done. His disloyalty caused his power to be humbled and Jerusalem's wealth to be lost. In the end, Amaziah's servants who had joined him in rebellion were not loyal to him, and he ultimately lost his life because of his sins, as the messenger sent by God had foretold.
Asa Became Disloyal
God is not mocked. Every sin brings a penalty. Repeated sin brings a curse, and total rebellion will bring death. When he began his reign over Judah, Asa did much to restore the true worship of the Creator— and God blessed the land with peace and prosperity. Because Asa put his trust in Him, God gave Judah victory over a million-man army that invaded from Ethiopia (2 Chronicles 14). Afterward, God sent a prophet to meet the king. "Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: 'Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you'" (2 Chronicles 15:1–2). God clearly saw in Asa's heart the potential for disloyalty, so He sent the king a warning to remain faithful.
In the 36th year of Asa's reign, King Baasha of Israel threatened to invade Judah. Asa forgot what God had done for his kingdom against the Ethiopians; instead of trusting in the Lord to fight for him, Asa hired Syrians to help him in the coming war against Israel. In response, God sent the seer Hanani to Asa, with a message: "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars" (2 Chronicles 16:9). God, in His longsuffering, sent Asa this good advice. However, instead of becoming humbled, Asa's pride increased. "Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time" (v. 10).
After rejecting God's counsel, things only became worse for the king. "And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign" (vv. 12–13).
Although Asa had begun with high prospects for success, and for God's blessing and protection, he ended his reign in failure because he lacked a trusting and loyal heart toward his Creator. In the end, Asa had sought deliverance from men, no longer looking to God as his Savior.
Loyalty Must Never Waver
Although he spent ten years in danger of losing his life because of King Saul, David was never disloyal toward God, nor to the one He had anointed as ruler over Israel. After Saul and his sons died, Israel's army responded to the loyalty and dedication David had shown. "All these men of war, who could keep ranks, came to Hebron with a loyal heart, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were of one mind to make David king" (1 Chronicles 12:38).
God kept David safe, and gave him glory, wealth and honor. But David then broke faith with God, killing Uriah the Hittite in order to have this faithful soldier's wife. Seeing David's disloyalty to the commandments—and his disregard for the innocent life of a faithful soldier who had been loyal to him—God sent Nathan the prophet to confront the king about his horrible sin. "Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon" (2 Samuel 12:9; see also 11:12–21).
Though David's life was not forfeited for that sin, Nathan pronounced the punishments God had ordained he would suffer the rest of his life. "'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; [two of David's own sons were among those who rebelled against him] and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor [David's son Absalom], and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun [see also 2 Samuel 16:21–22]. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.' [David would live, but his child by Bathsheba would not]. 'However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die'" (2 Samuel 12:10–14).
Hezekiah's Loyalty to God
Of all the kings of Israel and Judah, few ever came close to displaying such loyalty as Hezekiah showed to God. At age 25, this young prince came to the throne in Jerusalem "and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him" (2 Kings 18:3–7).
Although Hezekiah had paid a tribute of gold and silver in repentant apology for rebelling against Assyrian overlordship, King Sennacherib sent an army to conquer Jerusalem and deport its people. The Assyrian Rabshakeh, seeking to frighten Hezekiah and his people, then insulted the God of Creation, and listed all the cities and gods the Assyrians had destroyed. "Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" (2 Kings 18:33–35).
How did the king of Judah respond? When Hezekiah received a threatening letter from Sennacherib, he took it to the temple and laid it before his Creator, praying: "O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone" (2 Kings 19:15–19).
God answered Hezekiah's prayer by destroying the Assyrian army that was besieging Jerusalem. He sent Sennacherib away to his death at the hands of two disloyal sons. "And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword" (vv. 35–37). Sennacherib, who had been disloyal to his repentant vassal Hezekiah, found that his pagan gods could not protect him, and he became the victim of disloyalty that arose from within his own family.
Later, facing terminal illness, Hezekiah reminded God that he had always been loyal to Him, and that he would trust Him for deliverance. "In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord: "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live."' Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, 'Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly" (Isaiah 38:1–3).
Seeing his faithfulness to his Creator, God had mercy on Hezekiah and extended his life. "And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 'Go and say to Hezekiah, "Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: 'I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years'"'" (vv. 4–5).
What Does God Expect from Us?
What lessons should God's people today learn from the successes and tragedies that touched the lives of these four kings—before and during their reigns? We should see that God expects our loyalty to Him to be constant, from the day we are called to the day we die, no matter how great the obstacles and temptations. Jesus Christ wants us to endure. "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).
We should appreciate that loyalty to God brings blessings. Though we may fail in perfect obedience, and may incur penalties, God is faithful to forgive us when we repent and return to following His ways, as David did.
Finally, we should recognize that when we are not loyal, we hurt not only ourselves but also those around us—and thus hinder the Work that God has called us to do (Malachi 3:7–10; Matthew 6:21).
No group of individuals—whether in families, companies, nations or God's Church—can function effectively without loyalty. Loyalty to our Creator and Savior—to God's laws and His government—must always come first. On the human level, we must remain loyal not only to those we support, but to those who support us in the various chains of authority God has established. Husbands and wives must be faithful to each other, and their children must be loyal—both to one another and to their parents. Employees must be loyal to their employers, and employers must be loyal to those who work for them. Loyalty, when practiced faithfully within God's law and will, brings about a unified family, workplace, nation and Church.
God's word requires Christians to be loyal even when others are not loyal to them. "Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh" (1 Peter 2:17–18). The word "harsh" is translated from the Greek skolios, which has as its base meaning "warped" or "winding" or "perverse"— or, as used in the KJV, "crooked" or "froward" or "untoward" (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #4656).
When Lucifer failed to obey his Creator with a loyal heart, he fell away and became Satan. God tests our loyalty to ensure that no future adversaries will arise from within the spiritual family He is creating. As we approach the end of the age, God's people will face challenges similar to those that confronted Amaziah, Asa, David and Hezekiah. How will we respond—individually, and as a Church? Will we turn away from God and seek our safety in human beings? Or will we humble ourselves in deep, heartfelt repentance and trust in our King and Creator—standing strong in faith, loyalty and unity with Him and with our brethren?