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The Book of 2 Kings Like You_ve Never Seen Before · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: The Book of Second Kings transports us to one of
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  Speaker 1: the most captivating periods in Israel's history. After King Solomon's death,
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom split in two, Israel in the north and
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  Speaker 1: Judah in the south. This division set the stage for
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  Speaker 1: political and spiritual instability. We're now in the final years
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  Speaker 1: of the divided kingdom, as the prophet Elijah is about
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  Speaker 1: to leave the scene and his successor, Elisha will step
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  Speaker 1: into a central role. It's a time of kings turning
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  Speaker 1: away from God, of courageous prophets speaking truth in the
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  Speaker 1: face of danger, and of extraordinary miracles revealing God's hand
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  Speaker 1: at work amid the chaos. The first eight chapters of
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  Speaker 1: the Second Kings recount striking events, from Elijah's dramatic departure
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  Speaker 1: to Elisha's astonishing miracles. It's as if God was intensifying
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  Speaker 1: his presence before the coming storms. Let's dive into this narrative,
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  Speaker 1: filled with drama, faith, and the ever present reminder that
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  Speaker 1: even in the darkest times, God never abandons his people.
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  Speaker 1: After King Ahab's death, his son a Haziah took the
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  Speaker 1: throne of Israel. This new king followed in the sinful
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  Speaker 1: footsteps of his parents worshiping bal In chapter one of
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  Speaker 1: Second Kings, we learned that a Hasiah suffered a serious
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  Speaker 1: accident in the palace. A Hasiah fell through the lattice
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  Speaker 1: of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. The
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  Speaker 1: fall left him bedridden, uncertain if he would survive. Instead
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  Speaker 1: of seeking the God of Israel, the king made a
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  Speaker 1: decision that revealed his heart. Go and consult bal Zebub,
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  Speaker 1: the God of Ekron, to see if I will recover
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  Speaker 1: from this injury. This choice showed that even as King
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, he trusted foreign gods more than the true God.
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  Speaker 1: Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to Elijah with
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  Speaker 1: a message, go up and meet the messengers of the
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  Speaker 1: King of Samaria and ask them, is it because there
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  Speaker 1: is no god in Israel that you are going off
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  Speaker 1: to consult bal Zebeb, the God of Ekron. Therefore, this
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  Speaker 1: is what the Lord says. You will not leave the
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  Speaker 1: bed you are lying on, you will surely die. Elijah
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  Speaker 1: obeyed and intercepted the messengers. After hearing the prophet's stern message,
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  Speaker 1: they returned immediately to the palace. The king was surprised,
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  Speaker 1: why have you returned? Their reply was direct. A man
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  Speaker 1: came to meet us and said, go back to the
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  Speaker 1: king who sent you, and tell him this is what
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  Speaker 1: the Lord says. Is it because there is no god
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  Speaker 1: in Israel that you are sending men to consult Balzebeb,
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  Speaker 1: the god of Ekron. Because of this, you will not
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  Speaker 1: leave the bed you are lying on. You will surely die.
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  Speaker 1: Curious about who this prophet was, Ahazir asked what kind
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  Speaker 1: of man was it who came to meet you and
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  Speaker 1: told you this? The description was enough. He was a
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  Speaker 1: man with a garment of hair and a leather belt
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  Speaker 1: around his waist. Immediately the king said that was Elijah
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  Speaker 1: the Tishbite. Instead of repenting, a Hasiah sought to arrest
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  Speaker 1: the prophet. He sent a captain with fifty men to
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  Speaker 1: capture Elijah. The captain found Elijah sitting on top of
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  Speaker 1: a hill and commanded, man of God, the king says,
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  Speaker 1: come down. Elijah replied powerfully, if I am a man
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  Speaker 1: of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume
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  Speaker 1: you and your fifty men. Instantly, fire fell from heaven
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  Speaker 1: and consumed them. A Hasiah still didn't give up. He
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  Speaker 1: sent another captain with fifty more men, who met the
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  Speaker 1: same terrifying fate. Incredibly, the king sent a third group.
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  Speaker 1: This time the captain acted with wisdom. He approached Elijah
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  Speaker 1: and knelt before him, pleading, Man of God, please have
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  Speaker 1: respect for my life and the lives of these fifty
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  Speaker 1: servants of yours. The Lord showed mercy. Go down with him,
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  Speaker 1: do not be afraid of him. Elijah went down to
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  Speaker 1: the king and delivered the final message. This is what
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  Speaker 1: the Lord says, because you have sent messengers to consult
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  Speaker 1: bal Zebub, the God of Ekron, as if there were
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  Speaker 1: no god in Israel to consult, you will not leave
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  Speaker 1: the bed you are lying on. You will surely die.
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  Speaker 1: And so it happened. Ahazir died according to the word
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Since he had
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  Speaker 1: no son, his brother Joram became the new king of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah's time on earth was coming to an end, but
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  Speaker 1: his departure would be nothing short of extraordinary. Chapter two
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  Speaker 1: of Second Kings opens with this announcement. When the Lord
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  Speaker 1: was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,
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  Speaker 1: Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Knowing
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  Speaker 1: what was about to happen, Elijah tried to say good
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  Speaker 1: bye to Elisha. Stay here, for the Lord has sent
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  Speaker 1: me to Bethel. But Elisha replied, as surely as the
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  Speaker 1: Lord lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.
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  Speaker 1: His loyalty revealed the deep bond between them. In Bethel,
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  Speaker 1: the company of prophets asked Elisha, do you know that
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is going to take your master from you today?
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  Speaker 1: Elisha answered yes, I know, but do not speak of it.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah tried again to go on alone to Jericho and
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  Speaker 1: then to the Jordan, but Elisha refused to leave his side.
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  Speaker 1: Fifty men from the company of the Prophets watched from
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  Speaker 1: a distance. At the Jordan, Elijah took his cloak, rolled
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  Speaker 1: it up and struck the water. Instantly, the water divided
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  Speaker 1: to the right and to the left, and the two
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  Speaker 1: of them crossed over on dry ground. This miracle echoed
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  Speaker 1: the great crossings of Moses and Joshua on the other side.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah asked, tell me what can I do for you
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  Speaker 1: before I am taken from you. Elisha's response showed his
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  Speaker 1: spiritual desire. Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah replied, you have asked a difficult thing, yet if
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  Speaker 1: you see me when I am taken from you, it
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  Speaker 1: will be yours. Otherwise it will not. As they walked along,
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  Speaker 1: something incredible happened. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and horses
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  Speaker 1: of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and
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  Speaker 1: Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha cried out,
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  Speaker 1: my father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: Then he tore his clothes in mourning. As Elijah disappeared,
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  Speaker 1: his cloak fell to the ground. Elisha picked it up
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  Speaker 1: and returned to the Jordan. There he struck the water
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  Speaker 1: with the cloak and cried, where now is the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: the God of Elijah. The waters parted again, and Elisha
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  Speaker 1: crossed over. The prophet, who had been watching, declared, the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. They bowed down
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  Speaker 1: before him, acknowledging him as the new prophetic leader. Even
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  Speaker 1: after witnessing the ascension, the prophets insisted on searching for
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  Speaker 1: Elijah for three days. They looked, but as Elisha had said,
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  Speaker 1: they found nothing. The Lord had truly taken Elijah to heaven.
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  Speaker 1: With Elijah's mantle on his shoulders, Elisha began his own
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  Speaker 1: prophetic ministry. His first miracles involved water, an essential element
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  Speaker 1: in Israel's dry region. In Jericho, there was a serious problem.
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  Speaker 1: The men of the city said to Elisha, as you
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  Speaker 1: can see, this town is well situated, but the water
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  Speaker 1: is bad and the land is unproductive. The town's water
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  Speaker 1: source was contaminated, leaving the soil barren. Elisha's solution was
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  Speaker 1: simple but symbolic. He said, bring me a new bowl
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  Speaker 1: and put salt in it. When they brought it to him,
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  Speaker 1: Elisha went to the spring, threw the salt into it
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  Speaker 1: and declared, this is what the Lord says. I have
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  Speaker 1: purified this water. No more death or unfruitfulness will come
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  Speaker 1: from it. The result was immediate and lasting. The waters
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  Speaker 1: of Jericho remained pure to this day, according to the
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  Speaker 1: word Elisha had spoken. Later, Elisha became involved in a
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  Speaker 1: military situation. Joram, King of Israel, along with Jehoshaphat, King
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, and the King of Edom, marched to fight
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  Speaker 1: against Moab, who had rebelled. After seven days trekking through
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  Speaker 1: the desert, they faced a critical issue. The armies and
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  Speaker 1: the animals with them had no water. The King of
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  Speaker 1: Israel saw this as a bad omen but Jehoshaphat asked,
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  Speaker 1: is there no profit of the Lord here through whom
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  Speaker 1: we may inquire one off said Elisha was present. The
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  Speaker 1: three kings went to Elisha, who initially expressed disdain for
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  Speaker 1: the King of Israel. What do I have to do
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  Speaker 1: with you? Go to the profits of your father and
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  Speaker 1: your mother. But out of respect for Jehoshaphat, Elisha agreed
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  Speaker 1: to help. To prepare to receive the word of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: Elisha asked, bring me a harpist. As the harpist played,
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  Speaker 1: the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha. He instructed,
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  Speaker 1: make this valley full of ditches. He explained, you will
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  Speaker 1: not see wind or rain. Yet this valley will be
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  Speaker 1: filled with water, and you, your live stock and your
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  Speaker 1: animals will drink. He also prophesied victory over Moab. The
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  Speaker 1: next morning, water came from the direction of Edom and
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  Speaker 1: filled the valley. This miracle saved the armies from thirst
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  Speaker 1: and prepared the way for their victory. When the Moabites
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  Speaker 1: saw the sun reflecting off the water, it appeared red
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  Speaker 1: like blood. Thinking the kings had fought each other, they
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  Speaker 1: rushed into the Israelite camp to plunder, only to be
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  Speaker 1: defeated by soldiers ready for battle. Elisha's ministry wasn't limited
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  Speaker 1: to national affairs. He used his gift to help ordinary people,
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  Speaker 1: showing that God cares about small problems just as much
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  Speaker 1: as big ones. A widow came to Alisha in a
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  Speaker 1: desperate situation. Her husband, one of the Prophet's disciples, had died,
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  Speaker 1: leaving debts. Now the creditor was coming to take her
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  Speaker 1: two sons as slaves. Your servant, my husband is dead,
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  Speaker 1: she explained, and you know that he feared the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: But now the creditor is coming to take my two
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  Speaker 1: sons as slaves. Elisha asked what she had at home.
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  Speaker 1: She replied, your servant has nothing there at all except
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  Speaker 1: a small jar of olive oil. With this humble resource,
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  Speaker 1: Elisha saw an opportunity for a miracle. He instructed her,
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  Speaker 1: go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.
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  Speaker 1: Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside, shut
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  Speaker 1: the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil
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  Speaker 1: into all the jars. The widow obeyed. She gathered as
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  Speaker 1: many jars as she could and began pouring oil. Miraculously,
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  Speaker 1: the oil kept flowing until every jar was full. When
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  Speaker 1: she told Elisha. He said, go sell the oil and
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  Speaker 1: pay your debts. You and your sons can live on
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  Speaker 1: what is left. The second story involves a wealthy woman
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  Speaker 1: from Shunem. Whenever Elisha passed through, she invited him to eat.
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  Speaker 1: Realizing he was a holy man of God, she and
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  Speaker 1: her husband built a small room for him on their roof.
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  Speaker 1: Elisha wanted to do something for her. In return, he
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  Speaker 1: asked his servant Gihazi, what can be done for her.
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  Speaker 1: Gehazi observed, she has no son, and her husband is
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  Speaker 1: old in Israel. Being childless was a great sorrow. Elisha
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  Speaker 1: called the woman and made a promise about this time
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  Speaker 1: next year, you will hold a son in your arms.
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  Speaker 1: Her reaction was disbelief. No, my Lord, man of God,
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  Speaker 1: don't mislead your servant. But exactly as Elisha had said,
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  Speaker 1: the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son
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  Speaker 1: the following year. Years later, the boy suddenly fell ill
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  Speaker 1: in the fields. My head, my head. He was carried
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  Speaker 1: to his mother, sat on her lap until noon, and
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  Speaker 1: then died. The Shnnemite woman didn't fall into despair. She
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  Speaker 1: laid the boy's body on Elisha's bed and rushed to
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  Speaker 1: Mount Carmel to find the prophet. When she found him,
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  Speaker 1: she clung to his feet in anguish. Alicia sent Gehazi
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  Speaker 1: ahead with his staff to lay it on the boy's face,
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  Speaker 1: but nothing happened. When Elisha arrived, he went into the
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  Speaker 1: room alone, prayed to the law good, and lay on
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  Speaker 1: the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands.
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  Speaker 1: The boy's body began to warm. Elisha got up, walked
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  Speaker 1: around the room, and then bent over the boy again.
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  Speaker 1: This time, the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Elisha called the mother, take your son. She fell at
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  Speaker 1: his feet in gratitude, took her son and left. Among
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  Speaker 1: Elisha's miracles, Naman's healing stands out. In chapter five, we
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  Speaker 1: meet Naman, commander of the army of the King of Aram,
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  Speaker 1: a great man in the sight of his master, and
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  Speaker 1: highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory
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  Speaker 1: to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy,
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  Speaker 1: A successful man with a devastating problem. Leprosy an incurable
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  Speaker 1: disease in ancient times. The path to his healing began unexpectedly.
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  Speaker 1: A young Israelite girl captured serving Naeman's wife said if
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  Speaker 1: only my master would see the prophet in Samaria, he
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  Speaker 1: would cure him of his leprosy. The message reached Nayman,
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  Speaker 1: who told the King of Aram. The king sent Naeman
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  Speaker 1: to Israel with a letter and expensive gifts ten talents
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  Speaker 1: of silver, six thousand gold coins, and ten sets of
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  Speaker 1: fine clothing. The letter read, with this letter, I'm sending
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  Speaker 1: my servant Nayman to you so that you may cure
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  Speaker 1: him of his leprosy. The King of Israel took it
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  Speaker 1: as a provocation. Am I God, can I kill and
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  Speaker 1: bring back to life? Why does this man send someone
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  Speaker 1: to me to be healed of leprosy? In anguish, he
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  Speaker 1: tore his robes. When Elisha found out, he sent a message,
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  Speaker 1: why did you tear your clothes? Send the man to
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  Speaker 1: me and he will know that there is a prophet
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  Speaker 1: in Israel. Nayman arrived at Elisha's house with his impressive entourage.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of meeting him personally, Elisha sent a messenger with
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  Speaker 1: it instructions, go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan river.
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  Speaker 1: Your skin will be restored and you will be cleansed.
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  Speaker 1: Naman was outraged. I thought he would come out to
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  Speaker 1: see me. Call on the name of the Lord his God,
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  Speaker 1: wave his hand over the affected area, and cure me
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  Speaker 1: of leprosy. Aren't the Abana and farpar rivers of Damascus
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  Speaker 1: better than all the waters of Israel? His servants wisely
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  Speaker 1: advised him, my father, if the Prophet had asked you
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  Speaker 1: to do something difficult, wouldn't you have done it? How
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  Speaker 1: much more then when he simply tells you to wash
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  Speaker 1: and be cleansed. Naya Man decided to obey. He went
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  Speaker 1: down to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times as
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  Speaker 1: the Man of God had instructed. His skin was restored
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  Speaker 1: and became as clean as that of a young boy.
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  Speaker 1: The healing was complete and instantaneous. Deeply moved, Naman returned
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  Speaker 1: to Alicia to express his gratitude. Now I know that
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  Speaker 1: there is there no God in all the world except
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  Speaker 1: in Israel. Naman tried to give Ilisha gifts, but the
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  Speaker 1: prophet firmly refused. Before leaving, Nayman asked, please allow me
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  Speaker 1: to take with me as much earth as a pair
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  Speaker 1: of mules can carry, for your servant will no longer
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  Speaker 1: offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any god but the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: He wanted to take Israelite's soil with him to build
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  Speaker 1: an altar to the God of Israel in his homeland.
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  Speaker 1: Elisha was not only a man of personal miracles, he
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  Speaker 1: also played a crucial role in Israel's national security. Supernaturally,
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  Speaker 1: he knew the enemy's military plans and warned the king.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter six recounts the King of Araum was at war
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  Speaker 1: with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, I
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  Speaker 1: will set up my camp in such and such a place.
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  Speaker 1: The Man of God sent word to the King of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: beware of passing that place, because the Aramians are going
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  Speaker 1: down there. This ability repeatedly frustrated the Aramian king's plans,
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  Speaker 1: so the King of Israel checked the place indicated by
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  Speaker 1: the Man of God time and again. Elisha warned the king.
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  Speaker 1: The King of Aram suspected a traitor and asked his officers,
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  Speaker 1: tell me who among us is on the side of
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  Speaker 1: the King of Israel. One of them replied, none of us,
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  Speaker 1: my lord the king, but Elisha, the prophet, who is
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  Speaker 1: in Israel, tells the King of Israel the very words
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  Speaker 1: you speak in your bedroom. Determined to capture Elisha, the
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  Speaker 1: king found out he was in Dothan and sent horses,
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  Speaker 1: chariots and a strong force. There. They went by night
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  Speaker 1: and surrounded the city. The next morning, Elisha's servant saw
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  Speaker 1: the army and panicked, Oh, no, my Lord, what shall
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  Speaker 1: we do. Elisha's response revealed a profound spiritual truth. Don't
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  Speaker 1: be afraid. Those who are with us are more than
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  Speaker 1: those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed, Lord open
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  Speaker 1: his eyes so that he may see. Then the Lord
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  Speaker 1: opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the
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  Speaker 1: hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
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  Speaker 1: As the Aramians advanced, Elisha prayed, strike these people with blindness,
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  Speaker 1: and the Lord struck them with blindness. Elisha told them
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  Speaker 1: this is not the road and this is not the city.
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  Speaker 1: Follow me and I will lead you to the man
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  Speaker 1: you are looking for. He led them straight to Samaria,
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  Speaker 1: the capital of Israel. Once they arrived, Elisha asked God
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  Speaker 1: to open their eyes again. The Aramian soldiers suddenly realized
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  Speaker 1: they were in the middle of the enemy's capital, completely vulnerable.
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  Speaker 1: The King of Israel asked, shall I kill them? My father?
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  Speaker 1: Shall I kill them? Elisha answered, mercifully, do not kill them,
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  Speaker 1: would you kill those you have captured with your own
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  Speaker 1: sword or bow, give them food and water so they
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  Speaker 1: may eat and drink, and then go back to their master.
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  Speaker 1: The outcome of this strategy was stunning. He prepared a
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  Speaker 1: great feast for them, and after they had eaten and drunk,
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  Speaker 1: he sent them away, and they returned to their master.
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  Speaker 1: So the bands of Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory, but
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  Speaker 1: peace didn't last forever. Some time later, Ben Hadad, king
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  Speaker 1: of Aram, laid siege to Samaria. The siege was so
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  Speaker 1: severe that it caused a horrific famine in the city.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter six describes the desperate situation. A donkey's head sold
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  Speaker 1: for eighty pieces of silver, and a quarter of a
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  Speaker 1: cab of doves dung for five pieces of silver. The
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  Speaker 1: famine became so extreme that unimaginable acts occurred. As the
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  Speaker 1: King of Israel walked along the city wall, a woman
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  Speaker 1: cried out to him, help me, my lord. The king,
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  Speaker 1: when he asked her what was she told a horrifying story.
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  Speaker 1: This woman said to me, give up your son, so
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  Speaker 1: we may eat him to day, and tomorrow we'll eat mine.
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  Speaker 1: So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day.
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  Speaker 1: I said to her, give up your son, so we
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  Speaker 1: may eat him, but she had hidden him. Horrified, the
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  Speaker 1: king tore his clothes in anguish. Underneath he was wearing sackcloth,
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  Speaker 1: a sign of mourning and repentance. The people couldn't see.
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  Speaker 1: But instead of turning to God, he blamed Elisha and
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  Speaker 1: vowed to kill him. May God deal with me, be
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: it ever so severely if the head of Elisha, son
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: of Shaffat remains on his shoulders. To day, while Elisha
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: was at home with the elders of Israel, the king
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: sent a messenger to execute him. But Elisha knew this
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: before the messenger arrived. Look that murderer has sent someone
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: to cut off my head. When the messenger comes, shut
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the door and hold it shut against him. Is not
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the sound of his master's footsteps behind him? While he
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: was still speaking, the messenger arrived, followed by the king himself,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: who declared, this disaster is from the Lord. Why should
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: I wait for the Lord any longer. At that crucial moment,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Elisha made a surprising promise. Hear the word of the Lord.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: This is what the Lord says. By this time tomorrow
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: at the gate of Samaria, a sea of the finest
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: flower will sell for a shekel, and two seas of
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: barley for a shekel. The king's officer doubted, even if
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: the Lord opened the flood gates of the heavens, could
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: this happen? Elisha replied, you will see it with your
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: That night, something extraordinary happened. Four lepers living outside the
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: city gates decided to surrender to the Aramians. If we
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: stay here, we'll die. If we go into the city,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: we'll die of hunger. Let's surrender to the Aramian army.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: If they spare us, we live. If they kill us,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: we die. At twilight, they went to the Aramian camp
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: and found it completely deserted. The Lord had caused the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Aramian army to hear the sound of chariots, horses and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: a great army, so they fled at dusk, abandoning their tents,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: horses and donkeys, They fled for their lives. The lepers
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: entered one of the tents and ate and drank, taking silver,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: golden clothes. Then they realized their responsibility. We are not
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: doing what is right. This is a day of good news,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and we are keeping it to ourselves. They returned to
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the city and reported the miraculous flight of the Aramians.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: The king suspected a trap and sent scouts to investigate.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: They confirmed that the Aramians had indeed fled, leaving behind
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: clothes and equipment along the road. The sou people rushed
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: out and plundered the Arramian camp, and Elisha's prophecy was fulfilled.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Food became abundant and cheap once more. And what about
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the official who had doubted The king had put him
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: in charge of the gate, But he was trampled to
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: death by the crowd, just as the Man of God
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: had foretold. The story of the Shunamite woman didn't end
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: with the resurrection of her son. In chapter eight, we
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: see how God continued to care for her years later.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Elisha had warned her leave with your family and go
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: live wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: famine that will last seven years. She obeyed and went
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: to live in the land of the Philistines, staying there
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: throughout the seven year famine. When she returned, she faced
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: a problem. Her house and land had been taken during
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: her absence. Determined to reclaim what was hers, she went
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: to the king to plead for her property. Coincidentally, at
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: that very moment, Gehazi Ilicia's servant was telling the king
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: about the great miracles his master had performed. He said,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: this is the woman, my lord the King, and this
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: is her son, the one Elisha brought back to life.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: The king asked the woman about it, and she confirmed everything.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Amazed by her story and struck by God's care for her,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: the king made a generous decision give back everything that
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: belonged to her, including all the income from her land,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: from the day she left the country until now. Thus,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: through an extraordinary divine intervention, the woman not only got
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: her property back, but also received all the prophets that
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: had been made during the seven years she was away.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: What seemed like a financial loss due to obedience to
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: the prophet's word, was abundantly restored. This story closes the
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: cycle of miracles connected to the Shunamite woman and shows
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: how God rewards faith and obedience. First, she received a
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: child when she least expected it. Then the child was
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: restored to life after dying, and finally her land was
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: restored when it seemed lost for ever, at every stage
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: God showed his faithful care while Jorham, son of Ahab,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: was reigning in Israel. The prophet Elisha summoned one of
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the young prophets and gave him a special mission. In
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Circuit Kings, chapter nine, we see how Elisha sent the
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: young man with clear instructions. In verses one to three,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: he said, take this flask of oil and go quickly
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: to Ramoth Gilead. When you get there, look for Jihu,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: son of Jehoshafat, son of Nimshi. Go to him. Take
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: him aside into an inner room, away from his companions,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: pour the oil on his head, and declare, this is
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: what the Lord says, I anoint you king over Israel.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Then open the door and run. Don't delay. The young
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: prophet obeyed and set out to complete his mission. When
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: he arrived at Ramouth, Gilead, he found the army commanders gathered.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: In verse five, he said, commander, I have a message
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: for you. Ji who asked for which of us, and
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the young man replied for you. Commander Jehu got up
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and they went into a private room. There. As verse
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: six recounts, the prophet poured the oil on Ji Whu's
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: head and declared, this is what the Lord, the god
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: of Israel, says, I anoint you king over the Lord's
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: people Israel. This anointing wasn't just a political act, it
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: was a divine mission. In verses seven to ten, the
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: prophet continued, you are to destroy the house of Ahab,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: your master. I will avenge the blood of my servants,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: the prophets, and all the Lord's servants shed by Jezebel.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: off from Ahab every last mail in Israel, slave or free.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: I will make the house of Ahab like that of
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Basha,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: son of Ahijah. As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: on the plot of land at Jezrael, and no one
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: will bury her. After delivering the message, the young prophet
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: opened the door and fled, just as Elisha had instructed.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: When Jihu returned to the other commanders, they were curious.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: In verse eleven, they asked, is everything all right? What
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: did that madman want with you? Jehu tried to brush
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: it off, you know, the kind of man and the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: sort of things he says, but they weren't convinced and
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: pressed him, that's not true, tell us what he said. Then,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: in verse twelve, Jihu revealed, he told me, this is
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: what the Lord says, I anoint you king over Israel.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: The action was immediate and enthusiastic. Verse thirteen describes how
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: they responded. They quickly took their cloaks and spread them
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: out on the bare steps in front of Jehu. Then
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: they blew the trumpet and shouted, Jihu is king. This
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: spontaneous proclamation confirmed Jihu's authority and set the stage for
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: his revolt against the royal house. Without delay, Jihu mounted
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: his chariot and set out for Jezreel, where King Joram
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: was recovering from wounds sustained in battle. Jehu's driving style
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: was so distinctive that the watchman in Jezreel recognized it
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: from Afar. In verse twenty, the watchman reported, the messenger
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: has reached them, but he isn't coming back. The driving
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: is like that of Jihu, son of Nimshi. He drives
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: like a madman. The decisive confrontation happened at the vineyard
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that had once belonged to Naboth, the man Ahab and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Jezebel had ordered killed years before, when Joram met Jehu.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: He asked, do you come in peace? Jehu? The reply
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: was devastating. In verse twenty two, Jihu declared, how can
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: of your mother Jezebel abound. Sensing the danger, Joram tried
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: to flee, shouting to Ahaziah, treachery Ahaziah, but it was
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: too late. In verse twenty four, Jihu drew his bow
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and he collapsed dead in his chariot. Joram's death was
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: only the beginning of Jihu's vengeance. He ordered that the
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: body be thrown onto the field of Naboth, fulfilling the
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: prophecy that Ahab's family would be punished in that very place.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Jehu then pursued and killed a Haasiah, king of Judah,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: who had come to visit Joram. The most dreadful fate, however,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: was reserved for Jezebel. When Jihu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: put on make up, styled her hair, and looked out
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: the palace window. In verse thirty, she taunted him how
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: are things, Zimri, murderer of your master. But Ji, who
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: was undeterred, he looked up and shouted, who is on
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: my side? Who? Two or three eunuchs looked down at him,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: and Jihu commanded throw her down. They threw her, and
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: After going inside to eat and drink, Ji who gave
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: the order to bury Jezebel, saying in verse thirty four,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: take care of that cursed woman and bury her, for
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: she was a king's daughter. But when they went to
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: bury her, all they found were her skull, her feet,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: and her hands. The rest had been devoured by dogs,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: just as the prophet Elijah had foretold years before. With
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Joram and Jezebel dead, Ji Whu turned his attention to
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: the rest of Ahab's family. Seventy of Ahab's sons were
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: living in Samaria under the care of the city's leaders.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: In chapter ten, Jehu sent letters to these leaders challenging
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: them to pick one of Ahab's sons to be king
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: and fight him. In verse four, we see how terrified
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the leaders were. Two kings couldn't stand up to him,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: how can we? So they sent this reply to Jehu.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: We are your servants and will do whatever you say.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: We will not appoint anyone as king. Do whatever you
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: think is best. Ji Whu sent a second letter demanding
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: proof of loyalty. If you are on my side and
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: will obey me, bring me the heads of your master's
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: sons by this time tomorrow in Jezreel. The next day,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's sons
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: and sent their heads in baskets to Jehu in Jezreel.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: When the heads arrived, Jihu ordered them to be piled
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: in two heaps at the city gate until morning. The
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: next day. He addressed the people and said, in verse nine,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: you are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: But who killed all these? With these cunning words? Ji,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: who made it clear that the prophecy against Ahab's house
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: was being fulfilled. The lord has done what he promised
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: through his servant Elijah. Jehu didn't stop there. He killed
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: every one remaining of Ahab's family in Jezreel, including officials,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: close friends, and priests. He left no survivors, completely fulfilling
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: the prophecy against Ahab's house. But the most cunning. Part
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: of Jeho's plan was still to come. After securing his power,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: he made a bold announcement in verse eighteen. Ahab served
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Bail a little, ji who will serve him much. This
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: seemed to suggest that ji Whu would be even more
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: devoted to bail worship than his predecessor to demons. Straight
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: this supposed devotion, Gi Whu summoned a great assembly in
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Bale's honor. Ahab served Bail a little, but j Whu
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: will serve him much more. Call all Bal's prophets, all
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: his ministers, and all his priests. Let no one fail
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: to come, for I am going to offer a great
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: sacrifice to Bail. Whoever fails to come will not live.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Verses nineteen to twenty one show how Jihu, with great cunning,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: gathered all the bail worshippers proclaim a solemn assembly in
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: honor of Bail, and they did. Jehu sent messengers throughout Israel,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: and all bail worshippers came. None were missing. They filled
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Bale's temple from one end to the other. Before the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: ceremony began, ji Whu took precautions to ensure that only
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: bail worshippers were present. In verse twenty two, he ordered
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the wardrobe keeper bring robes for all the worshippers of Bail.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Once they were all dressed in ritual garments, Jihu and Jonadab,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: son of Rechab, entered the temple. Jhu warned them in
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: verse twenty three, make sure there are no servants of
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord among you, only Bail worshippers. This gave any
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: faithful Israelite a chance to escape, but also ensured that
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: only true Bail followers remained. When the sacrifices began, ji
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Whu stationed eighty men outside and instructed them, if any
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: one of you let someone escape, you will pay for
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: it with your life. As soon as the offering was done,
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Jehu gave the order in verse twenty five, go in
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: and kill them, let no one escape. The soldiers went
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: in and struck them all down with their swords. They
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: then dragged out the sacred pillar from Baal's temple and
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: burned it. They destroyed the sacred stone and demolished the
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: temple itself, turning it into a latrine, a purpose it
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: still served at the time the text was written. Thus,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: through this bloody cunning, Jihu wiped out bail worship from Israel.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: In verse twenty eight, we read, so Jihu destroyed bail
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: worship in Israel. While these dramatic events unfolded in the
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Northern kingdom, a different kind of tragedy struck Judah. When Ahaziah,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, was killed by Jehu, his mother Athalia
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: saw an opportunity to seize power for herself. In chapter eleven,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: verse one, we see Athalia's cruel action. When Athalia, the
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: mother of Ejaziah, saw that her son was dead, she
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. Ithaliah was the
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and the wife of the
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: late king Jehoram of Judah. Now with her son Ahaziah dead,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: she was determined to eliminate any possible heir to the
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: throne and rule alone. This massacre nearly wiped out the
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: entire royal lineage of David, which would have been a
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: spiritual and historical catastrophe for Israel. But providentially, one courageous
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: person stepped in to save a surviving heir. In verse two,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: we see how Jehoshiba, sister of Ahaziah and daughter of
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: King Jehoram, but from a different mother than Athalia, acted
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: swiftly and wisely. But Jehoshiba, the daughter of King Jehoram
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, son of a Hsiah,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: and stole him away from among the royal princes who
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: were about to be killed. She put him and his
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athalia so
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: he was not killed. Joash was just a baby when
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: he was rescued by his aunt Jehoshiba, who was married
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: to the high priest Jehoiada. Verse three tells us he
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: remained hidden with his nurse at the Temple of the
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Lord for six years while Athalia ruled the land. For
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: six years, Athaliah reigned over Judah, unaware that a rightful
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: heir from the House of David was alive and being
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: sheltered in the temple. She promoted Baal worship in Judah,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: following the footsteps of her parents Ahab and Jezebel. A
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: temple Tubaal was established in Jerusalem, and the worship of
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: the True God was neglected. This was one of the
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: darkest periods in Judah's history. The Davidic lineage, from which
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: the Messiah would come hung by a thread represented only
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: by a hidden child. But God remained faithful to his
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: promise to David, preserving young Josh so that at the
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: appointed time he could rightfully take his place on the throne.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: After six years under Athelia's tyrannical rule, the high priest
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Jehoiada decided it was time to restore the rightful Davidic
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: line to the throne. In Chapter eleven, verse four, we
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: see how carefully he planned the restoration. In the seventh year,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Jehoiada sent for the kommandandas of units of a hundred,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: the carts and the guards, and had them brought to
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: him at the Temple of the Lord. He made a
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: covenant with them and put them under oath at the
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Temple of the Lord. Then he showed them the king's son.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: Jehoiada divided the soldiers into three groups a scene in
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: verses five to eight. He gave them detailed instructions. A
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: third of you, who come on duty on the sabbath
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: are to guard the royal palace, a third at the surgate,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: and a third at the gate behind the guard who
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: take turns guarding the temple and you who are in
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: the other two companies that normally go off duty on
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: the Sabbath, are all to guard the temple for the king.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Station yourselves around the king, each of you with weapon
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: in hand. Any One who approaches your ranks is to
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: he goes. The soldiers were to surround the young king
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: weapons in hand, ready to kill any one who tried
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: to harm him. They were to accompany him wherever he went.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: On the appointed day, the commanders did exactly as Jehoyada
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: had instructed. Verse nine says the commanders of units of
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: a hundred did just as Jehoyada the priest ordered. Each
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: one took his men, those who were going on duty
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: on the sabbath and those who were going off duty,
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: and came to Jehoiada the priest to properly arm the guards.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Jehoyada gave them spears and shields that had belonged to
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: King David and were kept in the temple of the Lord.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Verse eleven paints the scene. The guards, each with weapon
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: in hand, stationed themselves around the king, near the altar
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: and the temple, from the south side to the north
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: side of the temple. Then came the solemn moment of coronation.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: In verse twelve, we read Jehoiada brought out the king's
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: son and put the crown on him. He presented him
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: with a copy of the Covenant and proclaimed him king.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: long Live the King. When tutan Athalia heard the commotion,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: she went to the temple to see what was happening.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Her horrified reaction is recorded in verse fourteen. She looked,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: and there was the king standing by the pillar, as
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: was the custom. The officers and the trumpeters were beside
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: the king, and all the people of the land were
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: cried out treason, treason. The high priest Jehoiada ordered that
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Athalia be taken out of the temple and executed. Verse
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: sixteen tells us so they seized her as she reached
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: the place where the horses enter the palace grounds, and
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: there she was put to death. After Athaliah's execution, Jehoiada
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: made a covenant between the Lord, the King and the people,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: binding them to be the Lord's people. He also established
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: a covenant between the king and the people. Verse seventeen
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: states Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: the king and people that they would be the Lord's people.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: He also made a covenant between the king and the people. Next,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: all the people went to the temple of Bal and
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: tore it down. They completely destroyed the altars and idols,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: and killed Matan, the priest of Bal, in front of
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: the altars. Finally, Jehoiada and the people brought King Joash
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: from the temple to the royal palace, escorted by the guards.
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: Joash took his place on the royal throne and all
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the people rejoiced. The city was calm because Athaliah had
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: been killed with the sword at the palace. Verse twenty
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: one ends this dramatic episode with a simple yet powerful statement.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Joash was seven years old when he began to reign.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: A seven year old boy now sat on David's throne,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: preserving the Messianic line and restoring true worship in Judah.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Returning to the Northern kingdom, ji Whu received divine commendation
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: for destroying Ahab's dynasty. In chapter ten, verse thirty, the
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Lord said to Jihu, because you have done well in
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: to the house of Ahab all I had in mind
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: to do. Your descendants will sit on the throne of
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Israel to the fourth generation. This promise was fulfilled, as
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: Jihu's dynasty lasted five generations, Ji Who Jehoah has Jehoash,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam the two and Zechariah. However, despite wiping out Baal worship,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Jihu was not fully faithful to the Lord. Verse twenty
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: nine states. Nevertheless, he did not turn away from the
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: Israel to commit. The worship of the Golden Calves at
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Bethel and Dan Dugu got rid of one form of idolatry,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: only to maintain another. The golden calves had been set
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: up by Israel's first king, Jeroboam the Fir, to prevent
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: the people from going to worship in Jerusalem. This idolatry
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: remained the official religion of the Northern kingdom throughout its history.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Because of this partial faithfulness, the Lord began to diminish
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Israel's territory, as Verse thirty two says, in those days,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazaeel
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory. The powerful king of
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: Syria Hazael, conquered all of Israel's land east of the
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Jordan River in the regions of Gilead and Bashan. After
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: reigning for twenty eight years, Jehu died and was succeeded
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: by his son, Jehoahaz. Verse thirty five says Jihu rested
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria, and Jehoahaz,
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: his son, succeeded him as king. The reign of Jehoahaz
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: eight of seventeen to eight hundred b C. Was marked
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: by even more military defeats and Syrian oppression. In chapter thirteen,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: verse three, we read, so the lord's anger burned against Israel,
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: and for a long time he kept them under the
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: power of Hazael, king of Aram, and ben Hadad, his son.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: The situation became so desperate that in verse seven it
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: says nothing was left of the army of Jehoahaz except
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, For
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: the King of Aram had destroyed the rest and made
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: them like the dust at threshing time. In his desperation,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: Jehoahaz turned to the Lord. In verse four we read,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: then Jehoahas sought the Lord's favor, and the Lord listened
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: to him, for he saw how severely the King of
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Aram was oppressing Israel. The Lord, in his mercy, sent
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: a deliverer to Israel, giving them some relief from Syrian oppression.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: After Jehoahas his son Jehoash eight hundred seven eighty four BC,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: became king, he continued the idolatrous practices of his predecessors.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: In verse eleven we read he did evil in the
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: any of the sins of Jeroboam's son of Nabat, which
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: he had caused Israel to commit. He continued in them. However,
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Jehoash did manage to secure some military victories against Syria.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: Before he died. The prophet Elisha had predicted that Jehoash
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: would defeat the Syrians three times. In verses eighteen and nineteen,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: Elishah instructed Jehoash to take some arrows and strike them
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: on the ground. Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Elisha became angry and said, you should have struck the
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: ground five or six times, then you would have defeated
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Aram completely. But now you will defeat it only three times. Indeed,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: in verse twenty five we read, then Jehoash, son of Jehoahas,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: recaptured from ben Hadad, son of Hazael, the towns he
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz three times.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: After Jehoash, his son Jeroboam the second seven ninety three
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: to seven fifty three b c. Became king. Under his reign,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Israel experienced remarkable prosperity and territorial expansion. In chapter fourteen,
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: verse twenty five, we read he was the one who
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: restored the boundaries of Israel from Liebo Hammath to the
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah, son
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: of Amitai, the prophet from Gath Heifer. This marked the
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: golden age of Jihu's dynasty, during which Israel reclaimed much
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: of its former land and prosperity. However, this prosperity did
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: not bring the people back to the Lord, idolatry and
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: social injustice flourished, as denounced by the prophets Amos and Hoseiah,
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: who ministered during this time. Jeroboam, the second son Zechariah,
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: was the last of Jihu's line to reign. His rule
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: lasted only six months before he was assassinated by Shalem,
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: fulfilling the Lord's promise that Jihu's descendants would reign to
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: the fourth generation. During the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehosh,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Elishah continued his prophetic ministry, influencing Israel's political affairs and
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: proclaiming the word of the Lord. In chapter thirteen, verse fourteen,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: we see that Elisha was already old and ill. Now
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: Elishah was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash,
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: King of Israel, went down to see him and wept
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: over him. My father, my father, he cried the chariots
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: and horsemen of Israel. Even on his death bed, Elisha
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: had one final prophetic message to deliver. He instructed King
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: Jehoash to open the east facing window towards Syria and
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: shoot an arrow. When the king did so, Elisha declared
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: in verse seventeen the Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: of victory over Aram. You will completely destroy the Aramians
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: at Affhek. Then, as already mentioned, Elisha told the king
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: to strike the ground with the arrows. The king struck
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: three times and stopped. Elisha became angry with him for stopping,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: explaining that now he would only defeat Syria three times
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: rather than achieving total victory. Verse twenty records Elisha's death.
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: Elisha died and was buried, but even after his death,
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: God's power continued to manifest through him. A remarkable story
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: as told in verses twenty and twenty one. Now, Moabite
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once, while
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: band of raiders, so they threw the man's body into
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Delicia's bones, the man
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: came to life and stood up on his feet. This
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: posthumous miracle served as a powerful reminder of the divine
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: power that had worked through Alisha during his life. It
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: also symbolized the hope that even in times of invasion
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: and uncertainty, God's power to bring life remained present in Israel.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: After the death of Zechariah, the last king from Jehu's dynasty,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Israel entered a period of extreme political instability. In about
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: thirty years, six kings sat on the throne, most of
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: them rising to power through conspiracies and assassinations. Shalam, son
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: of Jabesh, assassinated Zechariah and seized the throne, but he
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: reigned only one month in Samaria. In chapter fifteen, verse fourteen,
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: we read, then Menahem's son of Gadi, went from Tisa
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: up to Samaria. He attacked Shalam, son of Jabesh and
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: killed him in Samaria. Then he succeeded him as king.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: Menahem ruled for ten years seven fifty two seven for
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: two b c. But his reign was marked by extreme cruelty.
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: When the city of Tifsar refused to open its gates
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: to him, he attacked it and ripped open all the
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: pregnant women. During his reign, Assyria began threatening Israel. In
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: verse nineteen, we read, then poll king of Assyria invaded
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: silver to secure his support and strengthen his own hold
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: on the kingdom. To raise this massive amount Menahem imposed
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: a heavy tax of fifty shekels of silver on all
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: the wealthy men in Israel. After Menahem, his son Pekahia
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: reigned for two years until he was assassinated by one
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: of his officers, Pecca, son of Ramalia, who conspired against
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: him with fifty men from Gilead. In verse twenty five,
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: we read that Pekah entered the citadel of the royal
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: Palace at Samaria with Argob and Arieh with fifty men
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: from Gilead. He assassinated Pecahia and succeeded him as king.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: Pekah reigned for twenty years seven fifty two seven thirty
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: two b c. And during his reign the Assyrian threat intensified.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: In verse twenty nine, we read in the time of Pecca,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: King of Israel, Tiglath Piliser, King of Assyria, came and
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: took aijon Abel, Bethmacha, Genoah, Kadesh and Hazel. He took
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naftali, and
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: deport the people to Assyria. This marked the first large
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: scale deportation of Israelites to Assyria, a foreshadowing of what
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: was to come. Eventually, Hoshea, son of Elah, conspired against
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Pekar and assassinated him, becoming the last king of Israel.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: In verse thirty, we read Hoshea, son of Elah, conspired
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: against Peka, son of Rimalia. He attacked and assassinated him,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: and then succeeded him as king. Hoshea reigned for nine
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: years seven thirty two seven twenty three b c. And
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: it was during his reign that the Northern Kingdom met
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: its final disaster. Hoshea's reign marked the end of the
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: Kingdom of Israel. In chapter seventeen, verse three, we read Shalmanes,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: a king of Assyria, came up to attack Hoshea, who
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: had been Shalmanesa's vassal and had paid him tribute. This
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: vassal relationship with Assyria seemed to offer some protection to
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: the weakened Northern Kingdom. However, Hoshea made a fatal mistake
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: in trying to free himself from Assyrian Domination verse four
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: reveals his desperate gamble. But the king of Assyria found
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: to so King of Egypt, and he no longer paid
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: tribute to the King of Assyria. Hoshea had sought an
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: alliance with Egypt to help him rebel against Assyria, and
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: had stopped paying the required tribute. Shalmanes's response was swift
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: and brutal. Still, in verse four we read, therefore the
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria seized him and put him in prison.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: With the king captured, the path was clear for a
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: full conquest of Israel. Verse five describes the beginning of
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: the end. The King of Assyria invaded the entire land,
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: marched against Samaria, and laid siege to it for three years. Samaria,
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Israel's heavily fortified capital, held out for three long and
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: desperate years. Finally, in verse six, we witnessed the tragic end.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: In the ninth year of Hochea, the King of Assyria
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. The year
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: was approximately seven hundred and twenty two b C, marking
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: the end of the Northern Kingdom after more than two
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: hundred years as an independent nation. The Assyrians were known
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: for their policy of mass deportation, relocating conquered populations far
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: from their homelands to break resistance and prevent future rebellions.
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: Verse six continues with the fate of the exiled Israelites.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: He settled them in Halla, in Gozan, on the Harbor River,
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: and in the towns of the Medes. This practice of
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: forced relocation had a twofold purpose. It weakened the national
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: identity of the conquered peoples and created mixed communities that
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: were easier to control. For the Israelites. It marked the
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: beginning of a diaspora that scattered the ten northern tribes
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: so thoroughly that they became known as the Lost Ten
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: Tribes of Israel. The biblical narrative does more than just
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: report historical events. It also provides a theological explanation for
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: Israel's fall. In verse seven begins a long reflection. All
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: from under the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: worshiped other gods. The list of sins continues in the
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: following verses idle worship. Adopting the practices of the nations,
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the Lord had driven out, building pagan altars in every town,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: setting up sacred stones and a share of poles on
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: every high hill. Burning incense on all the altars, and
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: engaging in all kinds of wickedness that provoked the Lord
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: to anger despite his repeated warnings. Perhaps the saddest part
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: is found in verse fourteen, which summarizes the people's attitude.
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: But they would not listen and were as stiff necked
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: their god. Verse fifteen ads. They rejected his decrees and
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: idols and themselves became worthless. The climax of this theological
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: indictment comes in verse eighteen. So the Lord was very
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: the tribe of Judah was left to repopulate the now
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: empty land. The King of Assyria brought in people from
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: other conquered regions. In verse twenty four, we read the
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria brought people from Babylon Kutha, av Hamath
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: and Cepha Vaim, and settled them in the towns of
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over sir Mehia
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: and lived in its towns. These foreign settlers brought their
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: own gods and religious practices. When they began to suffer
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: attacks from lions, they interpreted it as a sign that
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: they did not know how to worship the God of
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: the land. The King of Assyria then sent back one
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: of the exiled Israelite priests to teach them how to
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: worship the Lord. However, the result was a syncretistic religion.
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: As we see in verse thirty three, they worshiped the Lord,
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: but they also served their own gods in accordance with
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: These mixed peoples worshiping a mixture of gods would later
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: become known as the Samaritans, despised by the Jews of
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: the South for their mixed ancestry and syncretic religion. The
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: narrative ends with a somber observation in verses thirty four
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: and forty one. To this day they persist in their
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: the decrees and regulations. Even while these people were worshiping
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day,
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: their children and grandchildren continued to do as their ancestors did.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: Thus ended the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The ten tribes
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: were scattered among the nations, losing their distinct identity and
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: never returning as a unified people to the Promised Land.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: Only the Southern Kingdom of Judah remained as the bearer
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: of the divine promise and guardian of the Messianic lineage.
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: The fall of Israel stands as a solemn warning about
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: the consequences of persistent unfaithfulness to God for generations. God
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: had sent prophets to call the people back to the Covenant,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: but they refused to listen. Divine patience, though long, eventually
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: gave way to judgment. The Assyrian conquest was not merely
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: a political or military event. It was the fulfillment of
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: divine warnings dating back to the days of Moses, when
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: he cautioned about the consequences of disobedience, including exile from
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: the Promised Land. While the Northern Kingdom was living out
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: its final days, something extraordinary was happening in Judah, the
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: Southern Kingdom. In Second Kings Chapter eighteen, we are introduced
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: to a young king who would change the course of
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: his people's history. Hezekiah, son of Ahaz King of Judah,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: began to reign in the third year of Hoshea, son
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: of Elah, King of Israel. He was twenty five years
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: twenty nine years Second Kings eighteen one two. Unlike many
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: of his predecessors, Hezekiah chose a completely different path. Verse
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: three tells us he did what was right in the
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: This simple statement marks a significant turning point in Judah's history.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: After a string of kings who had done evil in
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: the Lord's sight, a ruler had finally arisen who was
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: determined to walk in the ways of David. Hezekiah wasted
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: no time. As soon as he took the throne. He
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: initiated deep reforms in Judah's worship. In verse four we
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: see the extent of these changes. He removed the high places,
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the ashera poles.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: For up to that time, the Israelites had been burning
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: incense to it. It was called Nehushtan. This action was
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: truly remarkable. The bronze serpent had a significant place in
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: Israel's history. Back in the days of Moses, when venomous
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: snakes attacked the people in the wilderness. God instructed Moses
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: Whoever looked at it would be healed. It was a
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: legitimate symbol of divine salvation. But now, nearly seven hundred
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: years later, the object had become an idol. The people
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: had begun to worship the object itself rather than the
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: God it represented. Hezekiah had the courage to destroy even
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: this historic artifact once he realized it had become a
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: spiritual stumbling block. This reveals his deep resolve to eliminate
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: every form of idolatry, even those with apparent historical or
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: religious justification. Hezekiah's faith was exceptional. In verse five, the
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: Bible makes a striking statement, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel. There was no one like him
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: among all the kings of Judah, either before him or
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: after him. This high praise places Hezekiah in a unique
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: category even among Judah's righteous kings. His devotion to God
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: was not just a matter of sentiment. It was expressed
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: in concrete obedience. Verse six continues, he held fast to
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: the Lord and did not stop following him. He kept
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: the commands the Lord had given Moses. Hezekiah returned to
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: the original source of Israel's faith, the Law of Moses,
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: instead of adhering to corrupted traditions that had developed over time.
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: He sought to re establish worship according to the divine standards.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: The result of this faithfulness was God's blessing. In verses
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: seven and eight, we read, and the Lord was with him.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: He was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: the King of Assyria and did not submit to him.
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines as
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: far as Gaza and its territory. This rebellion against Assyria
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: was a bold move. Assyria was the superpower of the time,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: and few dared to defy its might. But Hezekiah's confidence
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: was not in human strength, it was in God's power.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: His religious reforms were accompanied by crucial political and military
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: decisions that allowed Judah to recover a measure of independence
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: and national dignity. While Hezekiah was implementing his reforms, a
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: catastrophic event was unfolding near by the fall of the
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: Northern Kingdom of Israel. In Chapter eighteen, verse nine, we
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: read in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Ila, King of Israel, Shalmanizer,
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: king of Assyria, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: This event must have had a profound impact on Judah.
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: From the perspective of Jerusalem, witnessing Samaria, the Northern Kingdom's capital,
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: being besieged by the Assyrians, must have caused alarm and
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: deep unease. Verses ten and eleven continue the narrative. At
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: the end of three years, the Assyrians took it, so
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: Samaria was captured. In the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign,
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: which was the ninth year of Hoshea, King of Israel,
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: the King of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: settled them in Hullah, in Gozan, on the Hubba River,
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: and in the towns of the Medes. As the people
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: of Israel were carried off into exile, the people of
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: Judah witnessed the fulfillment of the prophetic warnings that had
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: been proclaimed for generations. Verse twelve gives the theological reason
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: for this tragedy. This happened because they had not obeyed
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: the Lord, their God, but had violated his covenant. All
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, they neither
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: listened to the commands nor carried them out. For Hezekiah
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: and the people of Judah, the fall of Samaria served
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: as a powerful object lesson the destruction of their northern
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: kin confirmed the consequences of disobedience and idolatry. As the
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: people of Israel marched into exile, Judah faced a clear
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: choice follow the same rebellious path or learned from their
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: brother's failure. The contrast between the two kingdoms became increasingly stark.
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: While Israel under Hoshea's reign reaped the consequences of generations
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: of rebellion, Judah under Hezekiah's leadership was experiencing a time
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: of spiritual renewal and reform. Hezekiah seized this critical moment
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: to further strengthen his religious reforms. The devastation of the
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: Northern kingdom underscored the urgency and importance of purging idolatry
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: and restoring true worship in Judah. For the people witnessing
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: their neighbours being led into captivity. The link between obedience
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: to God and national survival became painfully clear. Despite his
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: religious reforms, Hezekiah knew the Assyrian threats still loomed. Assyria
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: had just conquered the Northern Kingdom and would soon turn
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: its attention to Judah. In verse thirteen, we see this
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: threat become reality. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Senakarib,
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: king of Assyria, attacked all the fortified cities of Judah
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: and captured them. Before this attack, Hezekiah had taken practical
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: steps to strengthen Jerusalem. Although the Book of Second Kings
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't detail all these preparations, we know from second chronicles
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: and archaeological discoveries that Hezekiah reinforced Jerusalem's walls and carried
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: out a remarkable engineering project to secure the city's water
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: supply in case of a siege. One of Hezekiah's most
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: impressive achievements was the construction of the tunnel that now
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: bears his name. This tunnel, carved through solid rock, redirected
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: did water from the Gihon Spring into the city walls
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: all the way to the Pool of Saloam. At five
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty three meters about one thousand, one hundred
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: fifty feet in length, it's a masterpiece of ancient engineering,
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: especially considering it was dug from both ends and met
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: in the middle. An inscription found inside, known as the
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: Siloam Inscription, describes the emotional moment when the two teams
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: of diggers finally met. The workers heard each other's voices
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: and dug toward the sound until their picks broke through.
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: This tunnel ensured that Jerusalem would have access to fresh
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: water even during a prolonged siege, a vital preparation for
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: the war to come. In addition to physical preparations, Hezekiah
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: also sought political alliances. In chapter eighteen, verse twenty one,
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: we see a reference to his alliance with Egypt when
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: the Assyrian official mocks, in what are you basing this
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: confidence of yours on? You say you have counsel and
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: might for war, But you speak only empty words. On
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: whom are you depending that you rebel against me? Look,
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: you are depending on Egypt. That splintered reed of a
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: staff which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it.
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: This alliance with Egypt was part of Hezekiah's strategy to
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: resist Assyria. He knew that Judah alone didn't have the
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: military strength to stand against the powerful Assyrian army, so
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: he sought support from the other major regional power. This
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: diplomatic move reflects Hezekiah's political acumen. He used every available
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: means religious reform, military preparation, and international alliances to protect
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: his people. Yet these preparations weren't enough to prevent the
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: Assyrian invasion. When Senakarib attacked, he quickly captured most of
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: Judah's territory. In verse fourteen, we see Hezekiah attempt a
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: diplomatic solution. So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent this message
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: to the King of Assyria at Lakish, I have done
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: wrong withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: demand of me. The King of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah,
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: talents of gold. To pay this enormous tribute, Hezekiah had
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: to use all available resources. Verses fifteen and sixteen state
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: so Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: in the Temple of the Lord and in the treasuries
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: of the royal palace. At this time, Hezekiah stripped off
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: the gold with which he had covered the doors and
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: door posts of the Temple of the Lord and gave
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: it to the King of Assyria. This desperate act shows
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: how serious the Assyrian threat was. Heseki Kakiah was forced
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: to strip the very temple he had purified and restored,
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: just to try to appease the invader. But as we'll
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: see next, even this massive payment wasn't enough to remove
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: the danger. Despite the heavy tribute, Senakarib was not satisfied.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: He sent three high ranking officials with a large army
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: from Lakish to Jerusalem to demand the city's complete surrender.
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: In verse seventeen, we read the King of Assyria sent
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: his supreme commander, his chief officer, and his field commander
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: with a large army from Lakish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: of the Upper Pool on the road to the Washerman's Field.
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: The choice of location for this confrontation was no accident.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: The aqueduct of the Upper Pool was part of the
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: very water system Hezekiah had built to strengthen the city.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: The Assyrian officials positioned themselves there as a symbol sabolic
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: threat to cut off Jerusalem's water supply, the very project
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: Hezikiah relied on to survive a siege. The Assyrians summoned
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: the king, but Hesikiah did not meet them personally. In
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: verse eighteen we read they called for the king and
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: Iliakim's son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary,
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: and Joah, son of Assaf, the recorder, went out to them.
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: Then the Assyrian field commander began delivering a message, a
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: psychological speech carefully crafted to demoralize Jerusalem's defenders. He spoke
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: loudly in Hebrew, not Aramaic, the diplomatic language of the time,
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: so that everyone on the walls could understand. His goal
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: was clear, to destroy the people's trust in Hezikiah and
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: in God, and thus force a surrender without a prolonged siege.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: In verses nineteen twenty, he directly questions Hezikiah's strategy. The
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: field command said to them, tell Hezekiah, this is what
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: the great king, the king of Assyria, says on. What
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: are you basing this confidence of yours? You say, you
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: have counsel and might for war, but you speak only
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: empty words. On whom are you depending that you rebel
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: against me? He then attacks each pillar of Judah's confidence,
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: first the alliance with Egypt, then Hezekiah's religious reforms, and
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: finally the God of Israel himself. In verses twenty two
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: twenty five, he says, but if you say to me
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: we are depending on the Lord our God, isn't he
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: the one whose high places and altars? Hezekiah removed, saying
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: to Judah and Jerusalem, you must worship before this altar
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. Come now, make a bargain with my master,
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: horses if you can put riders on them. How then
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: can you repulse one officer of the least of my
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: chariots and horsemen. Furthermore, have I come to attack and
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: me to march against this country and destroy it. This
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: final argument was particularly disturbing to the listeners. The Assyrian
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: official was suggesting that the very God of Israel had
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: sent the Assyrians to destroy Jerusalem. This was a direct
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: attempt to undermine the people's faith in the God whom
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah had restored as the center of national life. Hezekiah's
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: representatives recognized the danger these words posed to the morale
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: of the people. In verse twenty six, they plead, please
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it,
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: the people on the wall. But this request only confirmed
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: to the Assyrian official that his tactic was working. In
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, he replied, was it only to your
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: master and you that my mind sent me to say
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall, who,
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: like you, will have to eat their own excrement and
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: drink their own urine. Then, raising his voice even more,
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: he continued his speech directly to the people on the wall.
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: In verses twenty eight thirty five, the high ranking official
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: makes a direct appeal to the people of Jerusalem, urging
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: them not to trust Hezikiah or his God. Do not
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: let Hesikiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand.
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: Do not let Hezikiah persuade you to trust in the Lord.
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: Do not listen to Hesikiah. This is what the king
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: of Assyria says. Make peace with me and surrender. Then
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: each of you will eat from your own vine and
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: fig tree, and drink water from your own cistern until
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: I come and take you to a land like your own,
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: a land of grain and new wine, a land of
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey.
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: Choose life and not death. This speech was a cunning
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: mixture of intimidation, false promises, and attempts to undermine religious faith.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: It was a classic example of psychological warfare aimed at
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: defeating Jerusalem not through military force, but through fear and demoralization.
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: The people's response, however, was remarkable. In verse thirty six,
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: we read, but the people remained silent and said nothing
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: in reply, because the king had commanded do not answer him.
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: This silence demonstrated the people's loyalty to Hezekiah and their
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: refusal to give in to Assyrian propaganda. But the challenge
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: had been made, and now Hezekiah and his people faced
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: a crucial decision to surrender or to resist the seemingly
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: invincible Assyrian war machine. When Hezekiah's officials returned and reported
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: the words of the high ranking officer. The king reacted
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: with humility and faith. In Chapter nineteen, verse one, we read,
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord.
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: Tearing one's clothes and wearing sackcloth were traditional signs of sorrow, mourning,
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: and repentance in Israel. Hezekiah recognized the gravity of the
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: situation and humbled himself before God. He didn't rely on
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: his own strategies or the political alliances he had made.
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: He sought help in the temple, the same temple he
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: had restored as the center of true worship in Judah.
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah also sent an official delegation to the prophet Isaiah.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: In verse two, we read he sent Eliakim, the palace administrator, Shebner,
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sacloth to
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: the prophet, Isaiah's son of a mos. The fact that
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: they were all wearing sacloth showed that all of Judah's
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: leadership shared the same spirit of humility and desperation. The
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: message Hezekiah sent to Isiah reveals both his distress and
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: his hope in verses three, before he says, this is
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: what Hezekiah says, This day is a day of distress, rebuke,
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: may be that the Lord your God will hear all
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: the words of the field commander, whom his master, the
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the Living God,
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: and that he will rebuke him for the words the
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: Lord your God has heard. Therefore, pray for the remnant
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: that still survives. Hezekiah acknowledged that the situation was desperate.
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: They were like a woman in labor with no strength
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: to deliver the child, but he also expressed hope that
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: God would hear the Assyrian blasphemies and act to defend
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: his own honor. His man concern wasn't himself, but for
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: the remnant that still survives, the few in Judah who
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: had not yet fallen under Assyrian rule. Isaiah's response was
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: swift and reassuring. In verses five to seven, we read
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: when King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them,
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: tell your master, this is what the Lord says. Do
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: not be afraid of what you have heard, those words
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: blasphemed me, listen, I am going to put such a
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: spirit in him that when he hears a certain report,
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: he will return to his own country, and there I
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: will have him cut down with the sword. This divine
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: promise must have brought enormous relief to Hezekiah. God had
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: heard his prayer and responded through the prophet, assuring him
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: that the Assyrians would not succeed and that Senecarib himself
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: would meet a violent end. Meanwhile, the situation on the
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: battlefield was evolving. The Assyrian commander returned to Senacarib and
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: found him fighting against the city of Libna. Having left Lakish,
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: news arrived that Tirhaka, king of Kush Ethiopia, was marching
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: out to engage the Assyrians. This military movement forced Senakarib
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: to reconsider his campaign in Judah, but before withdrawing, Senacarib
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: sent messengers with letters to Hezekiah renewing his threats. In
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: verses ten to thirteen, he writes, do not let the
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: God you depend on deceive you when he says Jerusalem
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: will not be given into the hand of the King
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: of Assyria. Surely you have heard what the kings of
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely.
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: nations destroyed by my predecessors deliver them? Gods of Gozan,
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: Harn Rezef, and the people of Eden who were in
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: Tellasar are Where is the king of Hamath or the
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Cepharvaim,
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: Hena and Iva. This letter represented yet another direct challenge,
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: not only to Hezekiah but to the very God of Israel.
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: Senacharib placed the God of Israel in the same category
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: as the powerless gods of the nations already conquered, suggesting
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: he too would be unable to save Jerusalem. Hezekiah's response
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: was exemplary. In verse fourteen, we read Hezekiah received the
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: up to the temple of the Lord and spread it
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: out before the Lord. This symbolic act demonstrated Hezekiah's total
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: dependence on God. He literally laid the problem before the Lord.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: Then Hezekiah offered one of the most beautiful and theologically
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: profound prayers in the Bible. In verses fifteen to nineteen,
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: he prayed, and Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, Lord, the
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: God of Israel, enthroned between the Cherubim, You alone, our God,
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and here open your eyes, Lord,
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: and see. Listen to the words Senacarib has sent to
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: ridicule the Living God. It is true, Lord, that the
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them,
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: for they were not gods, but only wood and stone
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord, our God, deliver us
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: earth may know that you alone, Lord, our God. This
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: prayer reveals Hezekiah's mature faith. He acknowledged the true nature
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: of God as the sole creator and Lord over all
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: the earth. He admitted the reality of the Assyrian conquests
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: and even agreed that the other gods could not save
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: their nations, but he clarified that it was because they
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: were not true gods, only idols made by human hands.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: The answer to Hezekiah's prayer came swiftly through the prophet Isaiah.
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: In verse twenty we read then Isaiah, son of Amas,
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: sent a message to Hezekiah. This is what the Lord,
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, says, I have heard your prayer
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 1: concerning Senacarib, king of Assyria. Isaiah then delivered a lengthy
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: divine message in which God mocked Senecareb's arrogance and affirmed
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: his sovereignty over all nations, including Assyria. In verses twenty
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: one to twenty eight, God speaks of Jerusalem personified as
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: the daughter of Zion, mocking Senecarib. Who is it you
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: have ridiculed and blasphemed against whom have you raised your
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: One of Israel. God confronts Senacarib's pride. He boast did
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: of his military conquests, as though they were achieved by
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: his own power alone. But in verses twenty five and
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: twenty six, the Lord declares, have you not heard long ago?
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: I ordained it, in days of old, I planned it.
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 1: Now I have brought it to pass. Their people, drained
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: God makes it clear to the Assyrian king that all
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: his victories occurred only because God allowed them. Sir Nacharib
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: was merely an instrument in the hands of the Divine
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: used to fulfill greater purposes. Then, in verses twenty nine
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: to thirty one, God gives a sign to Hezekiah and
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: the people of Judah that year they would eat what
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: grew by itself, and in the second you're what sprang
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: from that. Only in the third year would they sow
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. This sign
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: promised not just immediate survival, but the eventual restoration of
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: normal life, when the people would once again work their
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: land in peace. The divine promise concludes in verses thirty
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: two to thirty four with a specific guarantee of Jerusalem's deliverance. Therefore,
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: this is what the Lord says concerning the King of Assyria.
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here.
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: He will not come before it with shield, or build
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: he will return. He will not enter this city, declares
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: the Lord. I will defend this city and save it
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: The promise was clear and decisive. Jerusalem would be spared.
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: Not a single Assyrian soldier would enter the city, no
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: arrow would be shot, no sea ramp would be built.
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: God would protect Jerusalem, not because of the people's merit,
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: but to uphold his own honor and fulfill his promise
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: to David. Then came the miraculous fulfillment of that promise.
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: In verse thirty five, we read that night the Angel
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: of the Lord went out and put to death one
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: the people got up the next morning, there were all
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: the dead bodies. This extraordinary event completely changed the situation.
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: In a single night, without any battle, the mighty Assyrian
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: army was decimated. One hundred eighty five thousand soldiers died
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: not by human swords, but by the Angel of the Lord,
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: an invisible agent of divine judgment. Some theories suggest a
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: plague or disease may have spread quickly through the camp,
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: but the biblical text clearly attributes the event to God's
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: direct intervention. Sanakarib's response was immediate. In verse thirty six,
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: we read so Senacarib, king of Assyria, broke camp and withdrew.
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. The great conqueror,
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: who had subdued so many nations and boasted of his power,
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: was forced to retreat in humiliation, without ever having captured Jerusalem.
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: Senacaribs and was as tragic as his defeat before Jerusalem.
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: Verse thirty seven tells us one day, while he was
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: worshiping in the temple of his God in Israk, his
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: sons Adramleek and Shariza killed him with the sword, and
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: they escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddan, his son,
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: succeeded him as king. His death at the hands of
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: his own sons fulfilled Isiah's earlier prophecy, I will put
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: a spirit in him. He will return to his own country,
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: and there I will have him cut down with the sword.
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: Second Kings nineteen seven. The powerful king who had in
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: so many nations did not die in glorious battle, but
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: was treacherously assassinated while worshiping his false God. The miraculous
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: deliverance of Jerusalem remained in the memory of Judah's people
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: for generations. This divine intervention showed God's care for those
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: who trust in Him and the futility of relying on
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: human strength, no matter how powerful it may seem. Shortly
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: after the victory over Assyria, a new crisis arose, this
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: time affecting King Hezekiah personally. In Chapter twenty, verse one,
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: we read in those days, Hezekiah became ill and was
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah's son of Amas,
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: went to him and said, this is what the Lord says.
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: Put your house in order, because you are going to die.
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: You will not recover. This news must have been devastating
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: for Hezekiah. He had just experienced a major spiritual and
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: military victory, leading his people through one of the most
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: critical crises in their history. Now, at the height of
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: his leadership, he was told he was about to die.
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's response was immediate and emotional. In verse two, we
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: read that Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: prayed to the Lord. This posture reflects both his emprivacy
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: and the intensity with which he sought God. His prayer
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: was brief, but sincere. Remember Lord, how I have walked
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and have done
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: what is good in your eyes. Verse three. After this,
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah wept bitterly. The king's prayer touched God's heart. Before
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: Isaiah had even left the central courtyard of the palace,
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord instructed him to return with a new message.
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: In verses five and six, God said, go back and
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, this is what
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: the Lord, the God of your father David, says. I
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: heal you on the third day. From now you will
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: go up to the temple of the Lord. I will
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: you and this city from the hand of the king
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: and for the sakay of my servant David. This response
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: shows God's compassion and his willingness to hear sincere prayers.
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 1: He didn't just promise healing, but a specific extension of
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: life fifteen more years and continued protection of Jerusalem from Assyria.
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: To confirm this promise, God offered a miraculous sign. Isaiah
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: asked Hezekiah, what shall be the sign that the Lord
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: will heal you. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps?
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: Or shall it go back ten steps? Verse nine. This
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: lightly referred to some kind of sun dial or staircase
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 1: that measured time by the position of a shadow. Hezekiah replied,
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: it's a simple matter for the shadow to go forward
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: ten steps, rather have it go back ten steps. His
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: choice reflected wisdom, as it would be far more remarkable
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 1: to see time literally go backward than forward, which happens naturally.
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: As the day progresses. In verse eleven, we see this
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: miraculous sign fulfilled. Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord,
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: This extraordinary miracle confirmed God's promise and strengthened Hezekiah's faith
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: in his recovery. The specific method of healing is also mentioned.
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: In verse seven, Isaiah said, prepare a poultice of figs.
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: When they did and applied it to the boil Hezekiah recovered.
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: It's interesting to note that God used a natural remedy,
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: the fig poultice together with his supernatural intervention. Both medicine
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: and miracle had a role in the healing process. This
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: episode in Hezekiah's life reveals several important spiritual truths. God's
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: willingness to hear sincere prayer, the possibility that his decrees
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: can be altered in response to such prayer, and his
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: compassion for those who serve him faithfully. It also highlights
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's humility. Though a powerful king, he did not hesitate
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: to cry out to God in his distress. The news
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: of Hezekiah's illness and miraculous recovery spread beyond the borders
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: of Judah. In verse twelve, we read at that time
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: Maduk Baladan's, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: and a gift to Hezekiah because he had heard of
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's illness and recovery. This diplomatic contact from Babylon was
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: significant for several reasons. Babylon was not yet the superpower
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: it would later become, but it was already a major
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: force in Middle Eastern politics. At that time, Babylon was
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: trying to strengthen its position against Assyria by seeking potential
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: allies who shared its interest in weakening Assyrian power. For Hezekiah,
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: receiving this delegation must have been deeply gratifying. After years
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: of being threatened and humiliated by Assyria, he was now
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: recognized and courted by another important power. It was a
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: sign that his standing in the international arena had improved significantly. Unfortunately,
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah failed to discern the true motives behind this diplomatic mission.
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: The Babylonian envoys were likely more interested in assessing Judah's
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: wealth and military resources than expressing sympathy over the king's recovery. Naively,
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah gave them full access to his kingdom. In verse
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: thirty we read, Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: all that was in his storehouses, the silver, the gold,
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: the spices, and the fine olive oil, his armory, and
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: show them. This was a serious diplomatic blunder. By revealing
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: all his resources, Hezekiah exposed both his wealth and his
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: potential military vulnerabilities. In a world where information was power,
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: he was handing strategic advantages to a kingdom that would
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: later become a mortal enemy of Judah. The prophet Isaiah
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: quickly recognized the mistake and came to question the king.
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: In verse fourteen, he asked, what did those men say
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 1: and where did they come from. Hezekiah replied they came
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: from a distant land, from Babylon. Then Isaiah asked, what
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: did they see in your palace? And Hazekiah admitted, they
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: saw everything in my palace. There is nothing among my
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 1: treasures that I did not show them. Isaiah's response was
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 1: solemn and prophetic. In verses sixteen to eighteen, he said,
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: hear the word of the Lord. The time will surely
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: come when everything in your palace and all that your
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord,
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: and some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood,
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: who will be born to you, will be taken away,
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: King of Babylon. This prophecy was both tragic and far reaching.
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: The treasure that Hezekiah had so proudly displayed to the
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: Babylonians would one day be taken away by those very
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: same Babylonians and the royal sons of Judah would not
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: reign as kings in Jerusalem but serve as eunuchs in
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: the Babylonian court. Hezekiah's response in verse nineteen is surprising
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: and has been interpreted in various ways. The word of
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: the Lord you have spoken is a good Hezekiah replied,
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: for he thought, will there not be peace and security
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 1: in my lifetime? Some view this response as callous selfishness,
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah caring little for what would happen after his death
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: so long as he could enjoy peace during his own life.
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: Others interpret his words as a humble acceptance of divine judgment,
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: acknowledging that the sentence could have been far worse and
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: might have fallen on him personally. Whatever the correct interpretation,
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: it is clear that Hezekiah accepted the prophetic word without protest.
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: This final episode reveals an important facet of human nature.
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: Even the best leaders are prone to lapses in judgment. Hezekiah,
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: who had demonstrated great faith and courage in the face
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: of the Assyrian threat, now appeared naive and perhaps even
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: prideful in the face of Babylonian flattery. The Bible presents
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: its heroes in full view, without hiding their flaws, reminding
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 1: us that even the great men and women of faith are,
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: in the end still human. Isaiah's prophecy of the Babylonian
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: captivity would begin to be fulfilled about a century later,
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: when nebukud Nezza took the first captives from Judah to Babylon.
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: Among them was Daniel and his friends, young men of
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: royal lineage, who served in the Babylonian court, just as
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: Isaiah had foretold. When Hezekiah died after completing the fifteen
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: additional years that God had granted him, his son Manassa
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: ascended the throne. Unfortunately, manasse did not follow in his
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: father's footsteps. He reversed many of Hezekiah's religious reforms and
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 1: led Judah back into idolatry, deepening the cycle of revival
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: and regression that marked the kingdom's history. Yet Hezekiah's reign
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: remains one of the high points in Judah's story, a
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 1: time of spiritual renewal, political independence, and divine protection that
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: showed what was possible when a king and his people
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: wholeheartedly chose to walk in the ways of the Lord.
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: After the faithful king. Hezikiah's death, his son Manasseh took
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: the throne of Judah. In Second King's twenty one we
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 1: see that he was very young when he began to reign.
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: Manassa was twelve years old when he became king, and
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: he reigned in Jerusalem fifty five years Second King's twenty
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: one one. This long reign of over half a century
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: would be marked by a dreadful reversal of the reforms
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: his father had made. Unlike Hezekiah, who had served God
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 1: with all his heart, Manassa chose an entirely different path.
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: Verse two leaves no doubt about his conduct. He did
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: the Israelites. Manassa not only ignored his father's good example,
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: he actively worked to undo everything Hezekiah had accomplished. Verse
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: three describes his actions. He rebuilt the high places his
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: father Hezekiah had destroyed. He also erected altars to bale
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: and made in a share of poll as Ahab, King
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: of Israel, had done. He bowed down to all the
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: starry hosts and worshiped them but the young king didn't
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: stop at building pagan altars in the high places outside
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: the city. He brought idolatry into the sacred temple itself.
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: In verses four and five, we read, he built altars
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: in the Temple of the Lord, of which the Lord
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 1: had said, in Jerusalem, I will put my name in
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: the two courts of the Temple of the Lord. He
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: built altars to all the starry hosts. His religious practices
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: became increasingly extreme and abominable. Verse six reveals he sacrificed
• 1:39:13
  Speaker 1: his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens,
• 1:39:17
  Speaker 1: and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord. Arousing his anger to complete
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 1: his desecration of the temple, Manassa placed an idol in
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: the sanctuary itself. Verse seven records this sacrilegious act. He
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 1: took the carved asherapole he had made and put it
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: in the temple of which the Lord had said to
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: David and to his son Solomon. In this temple and
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 1: tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. All
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 1: of these actions represented a complete rejection of the covenant
• 1:39:54
  Speaker 1: God had made with Israel. Manassa's idolatry was not just
• 1:39:59
  Speaker 1: a religious issue, who it struck at the very foundations
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: of Judah's national identity as God's chosen people. On top
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: of all this, Manassa became known for his cruelty. In
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 1: verse sixteen, we read moreover, manasse also shed so much
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end,
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit,
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: The phrase shed innocent blood likely refers to the persecution
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: and execution of God's faithful worshippers, including prophets who opposed
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: his practices. An ancient Jewish tradition not recorded in the
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: Bible claims that the prophet Isaiah was killed during this
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: period sorn in two on Manass's orders. God's response to
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 1: these abominations came through his prophets, whose words are recorded
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: in verses ten fifteen. The Lord declared that because of
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 1: Manas's sins, he would bring upon Jerusalem and Judah a
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: disaster so severe that it would make the ears of
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 1: everyone who hears of it tingle. God promised to wipe
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: it upside down. Manassa's actions sealed Juda's fate. Even though
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 1: later kings would try to bring reform, the spiritual damage
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: caused by this long reign of apostasy proved irreversible. Verse
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: nine summarizes the impact of his influence. Manassa led them astray,
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: so that they did more evil than the nations the
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. The Book of Second
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: Kings does not mention Manassa's repentance, but this part of
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: the story is told in Second Chronicles. In chapter thirty
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: three of that book, we see that the consequences of
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: Manass's sins came swiftly. Verse eleven states, so the Lord
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: brought against them the army commanders of the King of Assyria,
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: who took Manassa prisoner, put a hook in his nose,
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: This humiliating capture marked a turning point in Manassa's life.
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: Taken as a prisoner to Babylon at the time under
• 1:42:13
  Speaker 1: Assyrian control, he finally faced the consequences of his rebellion
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: against God. The hooks mentioned in the text likely refer
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: to metal rings inserted into the noses or lips of prisoners,
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 1: by which they were led with ropes, a typical Assyrian
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: method for humiliating conquered kings. In the depths of his suffering,
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: Manassa finally turned to the God he had abandoned. Verse
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: twelve describes this change of heart. In his distress, he
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: sought the favor of the Lord his God, and humbled
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. Surprisingly, the
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: Lord heard his prayer. Verse thirteen recounts, and when he
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: and listened to his plea. So he brought him back
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manassa knew that
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 1: the Lord is God. Restored to his throne in Jerusalem,
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: Manassa tried to undo some of the harm he had caused.
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the temple,
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: tore down the altars he had built, and restored the
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: altar of the Lord, offering fellowship and thanksgiving sacrifices. Verse
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: sixteen reports then he restored the altar of the Lord
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 1: told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. However,
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: despite these late efforts, the spiritual damage had already eben done.
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: Verse seventeen notes that people, however, continued to sacrifice at
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: When Manassa died, his son Amon became king and quickly
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: returned to the path of idolatry. In Second Kings twenty
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: one twenty twenty one, we read he did evil in
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manassa had done.
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 1: He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: idols his father had worshiped and bowing down to them.
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: Amon's reign was short, only two years before he was
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: assassinated by his own officials. Manassa's repentance, though sincere came
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: too late to change the course he had set for
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 1: his kingdom. His long reign of wickedness had shaped a
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: generation of idolators, and the brief reform at the end
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: of his life was not enough to reverse that influence.
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: The story of Manassa shows that while God is always
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: willing to forgive a repentant sinner, the consequences of our
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: actions often remain. The personal forgiveness Manassa received did not
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 1: erase the national judgment his leadership had brought upon Judah.
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: After Amon's brief and wicked reign, his son Josiah ascended
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 1: to the throne. In Second Kings twenty two one, we
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: read Josiah was eight years old when he became king,
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty one years. This boy,
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: who assumed the throne at such a young age, would
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: become one of Judah's most remarkable religious reformers. Unlike his
• 1:45:21
  Speaker 1: father and grandfather, Josiah chose to follow the ways of David.
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 1: Verse two says he did what was right in the
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 1: eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 1: his father David, not turning aside to the right or
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 1: to the left. In the eighteenth year of his reign,
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: when Josiah was twenty six, he initiated a temple renovation
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 1: that had been neglected during the previous reigns. In verses
• 1:45:46
  Speaker 1: three to seven, we see that he sent his secretary
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: Chaffon to the temple to oversee the repairs, using the
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: money that had been collected for this purpose. During the
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: restoration work, something extraordinary was discovered. Verse eight reports Hilcaia,
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 1: the high Priest said to Chaffen, the secretary, I have
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 1: found the Book of the Law in the temple of
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord. He gave it to Chaffon, who read it.
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 1: This Book of the Law was likely a copy of
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 1: the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, or
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: at least the Book of Deuteronomy. During the long years
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: of apostasy under Manasse and Ammun, God's Law had been
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: so neglected that even this foundational document had been lost
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: in the temple. When Schaffon returned to the king, he
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: gave a report on the repairs, and then said, Hilkia,
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: the priest has given me a book. Chaffin read it
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: aloud to the king. Josiah's reaction was dramatic. In verse eleven,
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: we read when the king heard the words of the
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: Book of the Law, he tore his robes. This act
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: of tearing one's clothes was a cultural expression of extreme
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: grief and distress. Josiah was horrified to realize how far
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: his people had strayed from God's commandments. Immediately, the king
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: ordered his officials to inquire of the Lord about what
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: the book meant for them. Go and inquire of the
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 1: Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: about what is written in this book that has been found.
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us, because
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 1: those who have gone before us have not obeyed the
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: words of this book. They have not acted in accordance
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: with all that is written there concerning us. The officials
• 1:47:35
  Speaker 1: went to consult the prophetess Hulda, who lived in Jerusalem.
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: Her response, recorded in verses fifteen to seventeen, confirmed Josiah's fears.
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 1: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says,
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: Tell the man who sent you to me. This is
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: what the Lord says, I am going to bring disaster
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: on this place and its peace people, according to everything
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: written in the book the King of Judah has read. However,
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: because of Josiah's humble response, God also sent a personal
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 1: word of comfort to the king. In verses nineteen to twenty,
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: the prophetess declared, because your heart was responsive and you
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: humbled yourself before the Lord, I will gather you to
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 1: eyes will not see all the disaster I am going
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: to bring on this place. Strengthened by this prophetic word,
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: Josiah redoubled his reform efforts. In Chapter twenty three, we
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 1: see that he assembled all the leaders and the people
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: of Judah at the temple, where he read to them
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: the entire book of the Covenant. Then he made a
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: covenant before the Lord, committing to follow the Lord and
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: keep his commandments. All the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: Josiah then launched a tireless campaign to purified Judah from idolatry.
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: He removed all idolatrous objects from the temple, deposed the
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: pagan priests, tore down the high places, and destroyed altars, ashera, poles,
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: and every symbol of false worship. His reform was the
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 1: most extensive and profound since the days of David dot
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 1: In verses twenty four and twenty five we read a
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 1: powerful summary of his actions. Furthermore, Josiah got rid of
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols, and
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem.
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 1: He did this to fulfill the requirements of the law
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: written in the book that Hilcaiah the priest had discovered
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: in the temple of the Lord. Neither before nor after
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: Josiah was there a king like him who turned to
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: the Lord, as he did with all his heart and
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: with all his soul, and with all his strength, in
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: accordance with all the Law of Moses. Discovery of the
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: Book of the Law and Josiah's obedient response marked the
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: last great spiritual revival in Judah before the exile. It
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 1: was a time of returning to the roots of the
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: faith and renewing the covenant with God. One of Josiah's
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 1: most remarkable accomplishments was the celebration of an extraordinary passover,
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 1: surpassing any held since the time of the Judges. In
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty three, Verse twenty one, we read the king's command.
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 1: The King gave this order to all the people, celebrate
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 1: the passover to the Lord your God, as it is
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: written in this Book of the Covenant. This was no
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: ordinary observance. It was a return to the precise observance
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 1: of the Law of Moses. Verses twenty two and twenty
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: three emphasized the uniqueness of this passover. Not since the
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: days of the judges who led Israel. Nor throughout the
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: days of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 1: Judah had any such passover been observed. But in the
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: eighteenth year of King Josiah, this passover was celebrated to
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 1: the Lord in Jerusalem. What made this passover so special?
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: In Second Chronicles thirty five we get more details. Josiah
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: personally provided from his own herds thirty thousand lambs and
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: young goats for the passover offerings, along with three thousand cattle.
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: His officials also gave voluntary contributions of animals for the people,
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: the priests and the Levites. The priests and levites prepared
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: themselves ritually, and all the services were conducted in strict
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: accordance with the Law of Moses. The e Levites slaughtered
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: the passover lambs, set aside the consecrated portions, and distributed
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: them quickly so that everyone could participate. In Second Chronicles
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 1: thirty five eighteen we read again the passover had not
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: been observed like this in Israel since the days of
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 1: the Prophet Samuel, and none of the kings of Israel
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: had ever celebrated such a passover as did Josiah. The priests,
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were there with him,
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: and the people of Jerusalem. The celebration of the Passover
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: was particularly significant because it marked a return to Israel's
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 1: historical roots. Passover commemorated the deliverance of the people from
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: slavery in Egypt, the founding event of their national identity.
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 1: By restoring this celebration in all its purity, Josiah was
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: reminding the people of who they truly were, the chosen
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: people of God, rescued from bondage to serve him. This
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 1: extraordinary passover also represented a renewal of the covenant between
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 1: God and his people. By participating in this ancient ritual,
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: the people reaffirmed their commitment to God's commandments and their
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: identity as his special people. The Bible's emphasis that no
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: passover like this had occurred since the time of the Judges,
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: not even during the reigns of David or Solomon, highlights
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: the purity and faithfulness to the law with which it
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: was conducted. Josiah did not improvise or modernize the ritual.
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: He meticulously followed the original instructions given by Moses. Sadly,
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 1: despite this return to faithfulness, under Josiah's leadership, the hearts
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: of the people of Judah were not truly changed. In
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: Second Kings twenty three, twenty six to twenty seven, we read, Nevertheless,
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: the Lord did not turn away from the heat of
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: his fierce anger which burned against Judah, because of all
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. So the
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 1: Lord said, I will remove Judah also from my presence,
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 1: city I chose, and this temple about which I said,
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: my name shall be there. Josiah's reform, though sincere and
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: far reaching, came too late to change the course of
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: Judah's history. God's judgment had already been set. Even so,
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: this extraordinary passover stands as a powerful testament to what
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: is possible when God's people returned to his word with
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 1: sincerity and obedience. Despite his faithfulness to God, Josiah met
• 1:54:27
  Speaker 1: a tragic and premature end on the battlefield. In chapter
• 1:54:31
  Speaker 1: twenty three, verse twenty nine, we read, while Josiah was king,
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 1: River to help the King of Assyria. King Josiah marched
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 1: out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: and killed him at Megido. This brief passage conceals a
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 1: more complex story. The broader historical context was the decline
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: of the Assyrian Empire and the rise of Babylon. The
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 1: Assyrian king was under attack by the Babylonians, and Pharaoh
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: Necho was marching to assist him. This Egyptian Assyrian alliance
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: was not in Judah's interest, as the nation had long
• 1:55:12
  Speaker 1: suffered under a Syrian oppression. Josiah decided to intercept the
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 1: Egyptian army at Megido, a strategically located city in a
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 1: narrow pass where the Carmel Mountains meet the hills of Galilee.
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: It was a natural choke point on the main route
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: connecting Egypt to Mesopotamia. In Second Chronicles thirty five we
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: get more detail about this fatal encounter. Pharaoh Necho sent
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: messengers to Josiah, saying, what have I to do with you,
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 1: King of Judah. I'm not coming against you at this time,
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: but against the house with which I am at war.
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: God has told me to hurry, so stop opposing God
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 1: who is with me, or he will destroy you. Surprisingly,
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: the text tells us that these words actually came from God,
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: but Josiahiah did not recognize them. Instead of backing off,
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 1: he disguised himself and entered the battle, ignoring the divine warning.
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: During the confrontation, Egyptian archers struck King Josiah, and he
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: told his officers, take me away, I I am badly wounded.
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 1: They removed him from his chariot, put him in another,
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 1: buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 1: and Jerusalem mourned for him. The death of Josiah at
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: Megido marked a turning point in the history of Judah.
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: With him died the last hope for genuine reform. His son, Jehoahaz,
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: who succeeded him, did not follow his righteous ways, and
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: within a few months Judah fell under Egyptian domination. The
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: prophet Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and all the singers,
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: both men and women, continued to speak of Josiah in
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: their lamentations to this day. The unt timely death of
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: this faithful king was a national tragedy and a prelude
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: to even greater disasters to come. The irony of this
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 1: story is that Josiah, who had been so meticulous in
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: following God's law in religious matters, appears to have failed
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: to seek divine guidance in this critical military decision. His
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: choice to oppose Egypt, though politically understandable, went against the
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 1: specific direction God had given through Pharaoh. His death serves
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: as a sobering reminder that even God's most faithful servants
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 1: are not immune to lapses in judgment with tragic consequences.
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: After Josiah's death, Judah entered a period of rapid decline
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: under kings who were little more than puppets of foreign powers.
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: The first of these was jehoah Has, Josiah's son. In
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: sex King's twenty three thirty one, we read jehoah Has
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: was twenty three years old when he became king, and
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. His reign was
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: as short as it was unrighteous, for he did evil
• 1:58:07
  Speaker 1: in the eyes of the Lord, just as his ancestors
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 1: had done. Jehoahas his control over Judah ended swiftly when
• 1:58:15
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh Neko captured him and took him to Egypt, where
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 1: he later died. Verse thirty three reports Pharaoh Necho put
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 1: him in chains at Rebla in the land of Hamath,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: and a talent of gold. To replace him, Neko installed
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: another of Josiah's sons on the throne, changing his name
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: from Eliakim to Jehoiakim, a symbolic gesture of Pharaoh's authority
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: over the new king. Verse thirty five shows how subservient
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 1: Jehoiakim was to Egypt. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Neko the silver
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 1: and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 1: taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 1: the people of the land according to their wealth. Jehoiakim
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: reigned for eleven years, and like his brother, he did
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: ancestors had done. During his reign, the regional power structure
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: shifted dramatically. In chapter twenty four, verse one, we see
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 1: Nebukud Nezar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim became
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: his vassal for three years, but then he changed his
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: mind and rebelled against nebukud Neza. This rebellion proved to
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: be a fatal mistake. Nebukud Neza sent raiding bands from Babylon, Aram, Moab,
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: and Ammon to destroy Judah, just as the Lord had
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: foretold through his prophets. After Jehoiakim's death, his son Jehoiakim,
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 1: also called Jekoniah, became king. In verse eight we read
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: Jehoyakin was eighteen years old when he became king, and
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 1: he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. His short reign
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: coincided with the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Soon after, he
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: surrendered to nebucud Nezar, who took him captive to Babylon,
• 2:00:14
  Speaker 1: along with the Queen mother, his officials, and many of
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 1: Judah's nobles and skilled artisans. The last king of Judah
• 2:00:21
  Speaker 1: was Zedekiah, Jehoiakin's uncle, whom nebucud Naza placed on the
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: throne as a vassal. Verse eighteen says Zedekiah was twenty
• 2:00:30
  Speaker 1: one years old when he became king, and he reigned
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem for eleven years. Like his predecessors, he did
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: had done. Despite his position as Babylon's vassal, Zedekiah eventually
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: gave in to political pressure to rebel. Verse twenty tells
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 1: us it was because of the lords Anger that all
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: he thrust them from his presence. Now zedeki Kaiah also
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: rebelled against the king of Babylon. This sequence of puppet
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: kings Jehoah has under Egypt, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah under Babylon
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 1: demonstrates the degradation of the Davidic monarchy. Once independent rulers
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: who led a nation allied with God, Judahs kings had
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 1: become mere instruments of foreign powers, powerless to shape their
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: own destiny. Moreover, none of these final kings displayed the
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: faithfulness to God that had characterized Josiah. Rather than learning
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: from the tragedy that befell their kingdom, they persisted in
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: the very sins that had brought about divine judgment. The
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 1: cycle of idolatry, injustice, and rebellion against God, which had
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: marked much of the monarchy's history, continued to the bitter end.
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 1: The fall of Jerusalem didn't happen all at once, but
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 1: in three distinct stages or waves, each more dear devastating
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: than the last. This gradual process gave the people multiple
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: opportunities to repent, opportunities they sadly ignored. The first stage
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 1: occurred during Jehoyakim's reign around six oh five b C.
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: Although Two Kings doesn't provide many details about this event,
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: we know from Jeremiah and Daniel that during this initial campaign,
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: nebukud Nezar took some of the temple treasures and a
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 1: select group of young men from the Jewish nobility to Babylon,
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 1: including Daniel and his friends. The second and more severe
• 2:02:39
  Speaker 1: stage came in five ninety seven BC during Jehoyakin's brief reign.
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 1: In Chapter twenty four, verses ten to sixteen, we read
• 2:02:47
  Speaker 1: that nebukud Neza personally came to Jerusalem and Jehoyakin surrendered.
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: The King of Babylon carried off all the treasures of
• 2:02:56
  Speaker 1: the Temple of the Lord and of the Royal Palace.
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: As the Lord had declared. Nebucud Nezza removed all the
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: gold articles that Solomon, King of Israel, had made for
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: the Temple of the Lord, in addition to the material
• 2:03:10
  Speaker 1: treasures Nebukudnza deported the elite of Jewish society. He carried
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 1: into exile all Jerusalem, all the officers and fighting men,
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: and all the skilled workers and artisans, a total of
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: King Jehoyacin, the Queen Mother, his wives, his officials, and
• 2:03:30
  Speaker 1: the leading men of the land were all taken captive
• 2:03:33
  Speaker 1: from Judah to Babylon. Also taken were seven thousand soldiers
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: and one thousand craftsmen and artisans, all strong and capable
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 1: for war. This mass deportation left Judah critically weakened, deprived
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 1: of leadership and technical skills. The only ones left were
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: the poorest people of the land, who were scarcely able
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: to mount any meaningful resistance. The third and most devastating
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 1: stage took place in five eighty six BC, after Zedekiah's rebellion.
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 1: In chapter twenty five, we read that nebicon Neza returned
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 1: with his entire army and laid siege to Jerusalem. In
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: verse one, the text gives us the exact date, so
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: day of the tenth month, nebicon Nezza, a king of Babylon,
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 1: marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: the city and built siege ramps all around it. The
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: siege was long and terrible. In verses two and three,
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 1: we read the city was kept under siege until the
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: the fourth month, the famine in the city had become
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 1: so severe that there was no food for the people
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: to eat. This means the siege lasted roughly a year
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 1: and a half, during which the hunger inside the city
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: became unbearable. Eventually, the city fell. A breach was made
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 1: in the wall, and all the soldiers fled by night
• 2:05:06
  Speaker 1: through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden.
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 1: Even though the city was surrounded by the Babylonians. They
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: fled toward the Araba, but the Babylonian army pursued the
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: his soldiers deserted him. Zedekiah's punishment was brutal. In chapter
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 1: twenty five, verse seven, we see the horrifying fate of
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: Judah's last king. They killed the sons of Zedekiah before
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 1: his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him
• 2:05:38
  Speaker 1: with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. This punishment
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 1: was typical of Babylonian cruelty, calculated and deliberate. Forcing Zedekiah
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: to witness the execution of his sons ensured that his
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: last sight would be the most horrifying imaginable. Then by
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: blinding him, the Babylonians insured that this nightmare would be
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 1: seared permanently into his memory, never to be replaced by
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: any new image. With the king captured, all organized resistance
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: came to an end, and the Babylonians were free to
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 1: complete Jerusalem's destruction. In verse eight, we read on the
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 1: seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year
• 2:06:22
  Speaker 1: of Nebucad Nezar, King of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, commander of the
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 1: Imperial God and official of the King of Babylon, came
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan oversaw the complete destruction of the city.
• 2:06:36
  Speaker 1: In verses nine and ten we see the extent of
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 1: the devastation. He set fire to the Temple of the Lord,
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 1: the Royal Palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: important building, He burned down the whole Babylonian army under
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 1: the commander of the God, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: This was a moment of indescribable tragedy for the people
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: of Judah. The temple, built by Solomon, the center of
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 1: worship for nearly four hundred years, was completely destroyed. The
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 1: royal Palace, symbol of the Davidic dynasty, was reduced to ashes.
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: The walls that once protected the city were torn down,
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: leaving it permanently vulnerable. After that, Nebuzaradan deported the remaining population.
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: He carried into exile the people who remained in the city,
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 1: along with those who had gone over to the King
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: of Babylon and the rest of the population. Only the
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 1: poorest were left behind to work the land as farmers
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 1: and vine dressers. The Babylonians also took all the remaining
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: valuables from the temple, the bronze pillars, the movable stands,
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 1: and the large bronze basin that had been in the temple.
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 1: They also took away the utensils used in temple service, bowls, shovels,
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: wick trimmers, dishes, and all the bronze articles verse fifty ads.
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 1: The commander of the guard also took away the censes
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 1: and sprinkling bowls, everything made of pure gold or silver.
• 2:08:09
  Speaker 1: The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the basin,
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: temple of the Lord was so great it could not
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: be weighed. Each pillar was about eight and a half
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: meters tall, and its capital was decorated with a network
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: of interwoven chains and pomegranates, all of bronze. The second
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: pillar was identical to the first. The Babylonians also executed
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 1: the remaining leaders of Judah. Nebuzaradan arrested Sirriyah, the chief priest, Zephaniah,
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 1: the second priest, and the three door keepers. He also
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 1: seized the army officer in charge of the men of war,
• 2:08:50
  Speaker 1: five royal advisers, the chief officer who had been in
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: charge of conscripting the people, and sixty men still in
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 1: the city. They were all taken to the King of
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 1: Babylon at Riblah, where they were executed. Thus Verses twenty
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: and twenty one solemnly conclude this section. So Judah went
• 2:09:09
  Speaker 1: into captivity away from her land nebucad Neza, King of Babylon,
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 1: appointed Gadalia, son of Ahikam, the son of Shafan, to
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 1: be over the people he had left behind in Judah.
• 2:09:22
  Speaker 1: These three waves of invasion and deportation fulfilled the prophecies
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: that God had long spoken through his prophets. The great
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: nation established by David and strengthened by Solomon had come
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 1: to its earthly end. The temple was destroyed, the royal
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: lineage was broken, and the people were scattered. God's covenant
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: with David appeared to be in crisis, and many wondered
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: if his promises had failed. After the destruction of Jerusalem
• 2:09:50
  Speaker 1: and the deportation of most of its inhabitants, only a
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 1: small remnant of the poorest people remained in the land.
• 2:09:58
  Speaker 1: Over them. Nebukudn Azza appointed Ghadalia, a Jew from a
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: noble family who apparently had supported surrendering to the Babylonians.
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: In chapter twenty five, verse twenty two, we read about
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 1: his appointment. Nebucadnza, King of Babylon, appointed Gadalia, son of Ahikam,
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 1: the son of Shaffhan, to be over the people he
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 1: had left behind in Judah. Gadalia set up his headquarters
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 1: in Mizpah, a town a few kilometers north of Jerusalem.
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: He adopted a conciliatory policy and encouraged the people to
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 1: submit to Babylonian rule. In verse twenty four we see
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 1: his advice to the Jews. Gadalia took an oath to
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: reassure them and their men, do not be afraid of
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: the Babylonian officials. He said, settle down in the land
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: and serve the King of Babylon, and it will go
• 2:10:52
  Speaker 1: well with you. For a brief moment, it seemed a
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 1: minimal degree of stability might return to devastated ji Yudah.
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 1: Many Jews who had fled to neighboring lands during the
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 1: war began to return. In verse twenty three we read
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 1: when all the army officers and their men heard that
• 2:11:11
  Speaker 1: the King of Babylon had appointed Gadaliah as governor, they
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 1: came to him at Mispah, including Ishmael son of Nethaniah,
• 2:11:18
  Speaker 1: Johannan son of Korea, Sirayah son of Tanhumath from Netapher,
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 1: and Jazaniah, the son of the Makathite, along with their men.
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 1: This period of peace however, was short lived. In the
• 2:11:32
  Speaker 1: seventh month, Ismael, the son of Nethaniah and a member
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 1: of the royal family, came with ten men and assassinated Gadalia.
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: Verse twenty five describes this act of betrayal. But in
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 1: the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishima,
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 1: who was of royal blood, came with ten men and
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 1: struck down Gadealia, along with the Jews and the Babylonians
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: who were with him at Misbah. This this assassination was
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 1: likely driven by nationalist resentment against Gadalia's policy of collaboration,
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: or perhaps by Ishmael's personal ambition to restore the Davidic monarchy.
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: Whatever the motive, the result was disastrous for the remnant
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 1: left in Judah. Verse twenty six shows the immediate consequence.
• 2:12:20
  Speaker 1: At this all the people from the least to the greatest,
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 1: together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 1: of the Babylonians. This flight to Egypt symbolized a return
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: to the very slavery their ancestors had escaped under Moses leadership.
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: Now the cycle had come full circle. The people who
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: had been delivered from Egypt to worship God in the
• 2:12:43
  Speaker 1: promised Land, were now fleeing that land back to Egypt.
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: The prophet Jeremiah, who was still alive at this time,
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 1: strongly opposed this move to Egypt. He warned the people
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 1: that they should remain in the land and submit to
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 1: Babylonian rule as godd had commanded. But the people did
• 2:13:02
  Speaker 1: not listen to the voice of the prophet. Instead, they
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 1: forced Jeremiah himself to go with them to Egypt, where,
• 2:13:10
  Speaker 1: according to tradition, he was eventually martyred. With this flight
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: to Egypt, the story of Judah as an independent political
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 1: entity came to an end. The land promised to Abraham,
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 1: conquered by Joshua, unified by David, and glorified by Solomon,
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: was now nearly desolate, its cities in ruins, and its
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 1: temple destroyed. Yet the Book of Second King's ends with
• 2:13:38
  Speaker 1: a glimmer of hope. In verses twenty seven to thirty,
• 2:13:43
  Speaker 1: we read of an act of mercy toward the captive
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 1: king jehoyacin in the thirty seventh year of the exile
• 2:13:49
  Speaker 1: of Jehoiac and King of Judah in the year evil
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 1: Merodach became king of Babylon. He released Jehoiacin from prison
• 2:13:57
  Speaker 1: on the twenty seventh day of the twelfth month. He
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 1: spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: honor higher than those of the other kings who were
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 1: with him in Babylon. So Jehoyakin put aside his prison
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 1: clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 1: at the King's table day by day. For the rest
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: of his life, the king gave Jehoiakin a regular allowance.
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: This final note, though seemingly small, carried great theological and
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 1: historical weight. Jehoiakin was a direct descendant of David, and
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: his release from prison and restoration to a position of
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: honor kept alive the hope that the Davidic line and
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 1: the divine promises tied to it had not ended permanently
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: for God's people in exile. This news served as a
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 1: reminder that even in the midst of severe judgment, God
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 1: had not completely rejected his people or his promises. The
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: Davidic dynasty still existed, even if only as a king
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 1: without a throne in a foreign court. And in fact,
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: it would be through this very dividic line traced from
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 1: Jehoyakin that the Messiah would eventually come, fulfilling the ancient
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: promise made to David that his throne would be established forever.
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 1: So even in the ashes of the Kingdom of Judah,
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 1: the first signs of hope and renewal could already be seen.
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: The time of judgment would be long, seventy years of exile,
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 1: as the prophet Jeremiah had predicted, but it would not
• 2:15:28
  Speaker 1: be the end of God's story with his people. What
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: an incredible journey we've just taken together through the Book
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 1: of sut Kings. We've seen faithful and unfaithful kings, powerful prophets,
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 1: astounding miracles, and finally the fall of a kingdom that
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 1: had strayed from its purpose. This story isn't just a
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 1: historical account. It speaks directly to us today. We've seen
• 2:15:52
  Speaker 1: how leaders who trusted God found guidance and protection, while
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 1: those who followed their own ways faced devastating in consequences.
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: We've seen God's patience, sending profit after profit, giving chance
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 1: after chance before judgment finally came. And even in the
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: darkest moment, when Jerusalem was in ruins and the people
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: were scattered, we saw that small ray of hope, a
• 2:16:19
  Speaker 1: descendant of David, freed from prison, keeping alive the promise
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: that God had not abandoned his plan. If you enjoyed
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: this journey through the Book of Second Kings, I want
• 2:16:30
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• 2:16:33
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• 2:16:36
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• 2:16:41
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• 2:17:07
  Speaker 1: for another amazing adventure through the pages of the Bible.