May 1, 2007
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"But what about..."
2 Chronicles 25:5-9...
Moreover, Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers' households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he took a census of those from twenty years old and upward and found them to be 300,000 choice men, able to go to war and handle spear and shield.
He hired also 100,000 valiant warriors out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver.
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 nor with any of the sons of Ephraim. But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down."
Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?"
A legitimate question, in my opinion. Here's a king who's faced with a choice. He's just become king, and he's about to go out to war. He's paid the equivalent of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to hire mercenary soldiers. But then a prophet of God comes and tells him that he should send them all home, because God will not support him if he sends this particular group to fight his battles. But what about all the money I would lose? asks Amaziah. It was a nonrefundable deposit!
How profound is the answer in return:
And the man of God answered, "The LORD has much more to give you than this."
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