Latest / The Living Freed Podcast / Genealogy of Jesus part 8: Rehoboam and Abijam

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Genealogy of Jesus part 8: Rehoboam and Abijam · The Living Freed Podcast

0:20
Hey besties! I hope that you're doing great because
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I'm kind of surviving. I'm just kidding. it's
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just raining outside and if i had to guess it's
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probably cold as well i have refused to step
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outside though i'm not doing it i was supposed
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to wake up and go straight to the gym and i thought
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um maybe take a rest day i do not need a rest
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day from the gym y 'all i've only gone twice
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this week so far so that says a lot about me
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um anyways uh so i'm gonna just record this podcast
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edit it and then do all the other things I need
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to do today. Truthfully, I need to deep clean
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my room so bad. I haven't even gone through my
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Christmas gifts and we're in mid February. Still
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the beginning of February, but we're here. We're
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doing it. So I need to go through that and I
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need to start going through clothes and just
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things for various reasons that I will reveal
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later. just not yet because there's still a lot
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of prayer going into life but yeah anyways um
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so i just got back gosh a week ago from florida
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i know i told you all i was going down there
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to see serena and then i got kind of snowed in
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kind of quote unquote i was supposed to come
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home saturday the snow started saturday they
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cancelled my flight After conversations and just
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like hesitancy about flying and driving we thought
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better safe than sorry come home Tuesday night
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So step coming home Saturday. I came home Tuesday
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and everything worked out so well I got to spend
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amazing time with my best friend and then I got
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to come home and hang out with all my other friends
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I got to see Nikki for lunch and Actually oh
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and then it was sydney's birthday so then i got
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to hang out with sydney and that group and yeah
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my nose is still stuffy if you can hear it i
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don't know what is wrong side note i do not know
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what is wrong with me i have not been able to
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get fully past this little colder agitation and
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now i'm thinking like does my apartment have
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mold is that the problem is that why i've been
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constantly stuffy for the last Kid you not, three
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months I've had this little head cold. Three
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months, I have not felt normal, y 'all. That's
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crazy to even, like, consider. So, I know. I'm
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taking vitamin C. I'm trying to sweat it out,
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but the best I ever felt was when I was in Florida
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and it was warm outside and I was able to, like,
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kind of work through it all. And then I got home.
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and one it was freezing I was frigid out so that's
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never good for me because again I'm self -diagnosed
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allergic to the cold and two I just wonder like
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is it something in North Carolina or is there
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mold in my apartment or is my immune system really
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that bad right now that I'm still sick I just
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can't believe it anyways Yeah, here I am still
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sounding like this. I took off like two whole
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weeks from recording Hoping to give y 'all a
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better voice and here I am. I still can't sing
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in church Still can't really sing in the car
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can't sing at all and every once while I get
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a coughing fit It's fine. It's whatever not that
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big a deal one day Probably not but one day I
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am hopeful to be back to normal Yeah, so if you
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think about me pray over it, please. Okay, so
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Yeah, home from Florida, lunch with Nikki, dinner
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for Sydney's birthday. Today is this girl Claudia's
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birthday that I work with and go to church with
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and I sound like I don't like her. I love her.
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She's a sweetie pie. She turns 21 today, so everyone
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tell her happy birthday. I mean, it'll be a day
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late when you hear this, but we're taking her
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to sushi and to get her first legal drink. I
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hope her parents aren't mad that I'm taking her
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and they're not. We'll see. I don't know them,
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so it won't affect me. um yeah and i think that's
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it i don't know if i have any other updates for
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y 'all it's really been not crazy oh i also need
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to go to raleigh tomorrow and i need to my dad
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is moving so i have to go get my stuff from his
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place bring it here which i also have to work
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through and then i'm gonna go see my old bosses
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for dinner i need to text my cousin see if i
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can take her kids to ice cream I'll probably
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text my sister and see if she's available and
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spend some time with her. We'll see. I need to
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kind of cut her down today and get organized
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with that as well. Alright, well now that y 'all
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have listened to me ramble for the hundredth
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millionth time, let's dive into this week's episode.
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I know it's been a hot minute, but we are picking
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back up with the lineage of Jesus. Whether you
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love it or you hate it, here we are. Some of
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you have been listening to it. Some of you have
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avoided it like the plague. I kind of get it,
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like going through the genealogy is not fun,
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but I will say hearing each person's individual
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story is interesting to me. So I'm sorry if you're
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hating it. I've grown to love it. I really have.
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So anyways, that's on you, not on me. We're picking
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up with Rhea Boam, who is the son of King Solomon,
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the wisest king to ever grace this earth outside
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of Jesus. And y 'all, let me tell you now, this
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guy was a mess up. Like, I usually would use
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a different word, but we all know I'm working
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on not cursing. He was like the old 2000 movies
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where it was a high school outcast that just
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can't seem to get anything right, except this
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guy wasn't an outcast. He was Quite frankly,
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just stupid and super popular. Yeah, like he
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was a prince who became king, so not quite an
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outcast. But for every ounce of wisdom his father
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had, Ray of Bone had the opposite. Just, mm,
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opposite size of the scale these two were on.
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His daddy left him with the wealthiest kingdom
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to ever grace this earth, y 'all. Literally,
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his dad handed him life on a silver, actually
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take that back, on a gold platter and he basically
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threw it all away. How? You might ask. Well,
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let's start with his name. It means the people
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are enlarged in Hebrew. And I mean, let's think
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about it. When has that ever meant a good thing?
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And we're not talking enlarged as in there's
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a lot of people at them. It's like, oh, the crowd
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is enlarged. Like, they're coming for you. They're
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angry. Think more old English versus today's
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wording, I would say. So has that ever meant
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anything good? I would say never, literally.
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Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king.
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So he had plenty of time to watch his dad rule
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the kingdom, get to know his advisors, and you
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would think homie would have had time to pick
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up on a thing or two. But after his dad died,
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this other guy who had fled Judah and was scared
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of Solomon had come back thinking that he could
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get onto Rehoboam's good side, be in his good
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graces, and represent most of Israel. Which,
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there is a story about a prophet going to this
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guy in the field and being like, God's gonna
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use you and prophesied I won't get too much into
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it, so there's a reason why he did this and he
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thought he could do this. But things did not
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go as planned. The dude was like, your dad made
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us work too hard, too long, please make our life
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easy and we will be happier to serve you. and
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the new king said hold up let me talk to my dad's
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council and i'll circle back to you in a few
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days and the king did not like what his dad's
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council of old guys had to say to him when they
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told him that they agreed that he should make
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the people's life easier he fired all of them
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he said get out that's clearly you don't know
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how to rule these people i do so you're gone
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and he started chatting with his cool young friends
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And that's what was up. Or so he thought. After
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his chitchat with his friends, he went back to
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the other guy and was like, you think my dad
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was hard? Wait till you see what I do. You'll
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regret asking for an easier life. Basically,
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when you cry and your parents were like, I'll
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give you a reason to cry. That was his version
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of it. Oh, just my parents. Cool. Well, the people
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did not like the answer and the kingdom divided.
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Some served the new guy and others, well actually
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just the tribe of Judah and the Jemin stayed
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with Rehoboam. The other ten followed our new
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homie. Okay, so just so you have this scene set
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for you. But let's also remember that God told
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Solomon he would do all of this as a punishment
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for Solomon not being faithful when he married
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hundreds, almost thousands of women and started
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serving their gods and their idols. And I want
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to remind you that our actions can cause others
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to suffer the consequences. When we sin, sometimes
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we don't see the outcome. or the hurt or we get
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a portion of it but it also can affect other
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people like imagine or maybe you don't have to
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imagine if you've ever been cheated on yeah they
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cheated they're the one who sinned but you are
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the one suffering the pain from it or if you're
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married and you have children your children are
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suffering the pain from it as well like the actions
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you have or the actions others have can have
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consequences for the rest of us let's get back
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to the story So outside of 10 out of 12 tribes
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leaving Rehoboam's kingdom and establishing their
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own rule under the new guy, Rehoboam was doing
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okay. We see in 2 Chronicles chapter 12 that
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he was very established and strong, but as we
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know, the mighty must fall and be humbled and
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that's exactly what happens. He abandons the
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law of God and so did all of Judah with him,
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and the other 10 tribes were serving, believe
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it or not, two golden calves that had been made
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by the other guy yes yes we have seen this story
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play out before and the other two tribes were
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doing i guess whatever ray of bone was doing
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at the time which was not serving god and also
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serving other idols they just happened to not
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be the two golden calves because god was so mad
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in this man's fifth year of reigning that he
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had egypt come up against him As he's dealing
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with war from within and without, a prophet comes
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to visit and says, thus says the lord, you abandoned
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me, so I have abandoned you to the hands of the
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shack. I don't know if I said that name right.
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That looks right. Honestly, back then names are
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hard. Names be hard. In chapter 12 verses 6 and
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8 we see this play out. It says, Then the princess
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of Israel and the king, so the princess being
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Rehoboam's sons, the princess of Israel and the
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king humbled themselves and said, the Lord is
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righteous. When the Lord saw that they had humbled
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themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemachiah
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who was the prophet that had spoken to Rehoboam
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earlier and the other guy. And he said, They
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have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them,
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but I will grant them some deliverance, and my
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wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by
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the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall
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be servants to him, that they may know my service
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and the service of the kingdom of the countries.
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And in verse 12 he says, And when he humbled
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himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him.
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so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover,
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conditions were good in Judah. That word in Hebrew,
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the word good, means good things were found.
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So even in the bad, good can be found. At the
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end of chapter 12, we see Rehoboam did not seek
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God and did evil in the sight of the Lord. So
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after God showed grace, he still hadn't fully
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changed his ways or his heart. Now Rehoboam never
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saw the end of the war, but his son Abijah, who
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took his place on the throne, did. And 1 Kings
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15 verses 1 -8. Now let's read that. Now in the
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18th year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,
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Abijah began to reign over Judah. He reigned
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for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
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was Mecca, the daughter of And he walked in all
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the sins that his father did before him, and
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his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his
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God as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless,
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for David's sake, the Lord his God gave him a
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lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him
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and establishing Jerusalem. Because David did
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what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did
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not turn aside from anything that he had commanded
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him all the days of his life except in the matter
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of Uriah the Hittite. Now, there was war between
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Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
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The rest of the Acts of Adjaba and all that he
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did are they not written in the Book of Chronicles
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of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between
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Abja and Jeroboam. And Abbaja slept with his
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father, and they buried him in the city of David.
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And Azah his son reigned in his place." So in
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2 Chronicles chapters 13 and 14, Abbaja goes
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to war with the other guy, that being Jeroboam.
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And Jeroboam is the one that helped fulfill the
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promise that God had made about war and upset
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for Israel. And as we know, Abbaja wins the war.
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But before he wins the war, it's kind of funny.
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Like he makes a whole speech at the end of 14ish
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about how God had promised Israel to King David,
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his great grandfather, and how God will win this
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war for them because he's the rightful heir of
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it all. And I mean, he's not wrong. But it shows
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us that people can believe in God and not serve
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him. People can believe in God but not follow
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him. But also use that belief to serve their
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own agenda. God comes throughout, not for Abja
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of course, but for his people, as in God's people.
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They win the war and God strikes down the other
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guy. And Abja goes on getting stronger. He marries
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lots of wives and he has lots of kids. And Eiza
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takes over his throne one day and that's the
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end of that story. So who was Rehoboam? Well,
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definitely not a man after God's own heart, that's
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for sure. He was the grandson of David and the
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son of Solomon. He took reign at 41 years old
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and he was king for 17 years. So, it ended around
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age 58 years old for him. He did what served
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him. He held his own people hostage, made places
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of worship for idols. He listened to God when
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he had to. Wow, the audacity. How often do we
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do that? He was ransacked by Egypt. humbled himself
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to God when he needed to most, and God, in my
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opinion, showed him grace. He let his pride take
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his life again and did what was evil in the sight
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of God. So probably serving idols again. And
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then he died, with the kingdom divided and no
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healing. I think what we can learn from his story
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is one, Solomon's sins affected generations down
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the line. So once again, our sins can affect
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others and we can be affected by others' sins
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as well. But that we also serve a grace -giving
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God. And I believe if Rehoboam had sought after
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God and sought to serve God, that God would have
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allowed his kingdom to heal during Rehoboam's
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reign. 2. We see that it's so natural to sin.
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We then fall to the to the repercussions of our
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sin, so then we need God, so we seek him out
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and humble ourselves and when we get what we
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want or a little relief, we go right back to
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our original sin. For Rhea Boam, it was idols
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and pride. For you and me, it probably looks
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a little different. We see in this story that
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God is a god of his word. He keeps his promises,
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but he also gives grace and allows us to experience
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or find good even in the middle of the bad. like
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when your kingdom is at war. And, just briefly,
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who was Abijah? He was a short -term king who
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reigned three years. He was just a guy used.
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Not seeking God, not chasing after God, but God
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used him to remind Jeroboam that God established
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an everlasting covenant. A covenant of salt with
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David and his descendants, highlighting that
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Jeroboam's reign was a rebellion against the
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divine order. And God uses imperfect vessels.
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Let's pray. to send and come back to you and
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see the grace that you give. Thank you that repentance
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is a thing that we get to experience and your
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love is also one. Thank you for using imperfect
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vessels that are planted and based in you that
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get the job done just like Jeroboam was used
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and Ramones line continued down to Jesus. Thank
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you that all things come planned through you.
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and I ask that we continue to find the good and
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the grace in everything, every day. In your name,
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Jesus' name, amen. Alright, that's all I have
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for you today. Thank you so much for listening
19:45
to the Living Free Podcast. I would be so honored
19:49
if you would get connected with me on Instagram
19:52
at Hannah Liz D or email me at livingfreepodatgmail
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.com. If you have a subject you want me to cover,
20:00
feedback, then go ahead and email me at livingfreepodatgmail
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.com. And if you would leave me a review, y 'all,
20:07
I would be so honored, especially if you hit
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that subscribe button. It would be the biggest
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favor in the world. That's really all I have.
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Yeah. Alright. Again, thank you so much for listening.
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I hope you feel encouraged and lighter today
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and maybe a little educated. Bye, y 'all.