A common misinterpretation is that God directly compels people to sin or act wickedly, as if He forces the mercenaries' vengeful attack, whereas the text describes God disposing or permitting their pre-existing hostility to result in judgment on Amaziah's folly, not authoring their evil intent; another error views it as arbitrary divine caprice unrelated to Amaziah's choices, ignoring the context of his repeated refusal to heed God's prophet, or twists it into proof of fatalistic predestination without human responsibility.
II Chronicles 25:20
King James Version (1769)
20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
This verse highlights God's sovereignty in judgment over those who reject His prophetic counsel; King Amaziah ignored divine warnings against allying with idolatrous Israel and provoking its mercenaries, so God sovereignly ordained Amaziah's defeat by those very men as a consequence of his disobedience, demonstrating that persistent rebellion invites divine permission for enemies to prevail as a form of discipline to humble the proud king before his people.