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The Story of the Book of 2nd Kings - From the Corrupt Kingdom to the Fall of Israel to Babylon · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Imagine a divided kingdom where chariots of fire cut through
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  Speaker 1: the skies and profits challenge kings. A time when a
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  Speaker 1: bloodthirsty queen orders the massacre of her own family, while
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  Speaker 1: a child hidden in the temple becomes the last hope
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  Speaker 1: of a millennia old dynasty. This is the setting of
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  Speaker 1: Second Kings, a book that narrates much more than history.
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  Speaker 1: It is an epic drama of power, betrayal and faith.
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  Speaker 1: Within its pages we find proud generals bowing before simple prophets,
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  Speaker 1: entire armies blinded by supernatural forces, and kings who melt
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  Speaker 1: down the temple's goal to pay tribute to conquering empires.
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  Speaker 1: It's a narrative intertwined with historical records from Assyria and Babylon,
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  Speaker 1: confirmed by archaeological discoveries such as the Moabite Stone and
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  Speaker 1: the reliefs of the Palace of Nineveh. From the streets
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  Speaker 1: of Samaria to the banks of the Euphrates, this is
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  Speaker 1: the story of how two brotherly kingdoms march toward their
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  Speaker 1: own downfall, ignoring prophetic warnings and abandoning their roots. It
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  Speaker 1: is a journey that begins with a king consulting a
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  Speaker 1: pagan God and ends with the greatest temple of the
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  Speaker 1: ancient world consumed by flames. Our story begins at a
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  Speaker 1: critical moment for the Kingdom of Israel. As told in
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  Speaker 1: Second Kings one one, Moab, a vassal kingdom that had
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  Speaker 1: long paid heavy tributes, rebelled against Israel shortly after the
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  Speaker 1: death of King Ahab. This was no small problem. Moab
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  Speaker 1: annually provided Israel with a massive tribute of one hundred
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  Speaker 1: thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
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  Speaker 1: Losing this revenue dealt a significant blow to the economy
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  Speaker 1: of the Northern kingdom. This rebellion occurred at a particularly
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  Speaker 1: vulnerable time. Ahab, despite his many spiritual failures, had been
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  Speaker 1: a competent military leader who kept neighboring nations under control.
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  Speaker 1: His son, a Haasaiah, did not inherit his fire's skills,
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  Speaker 1: and the surrounding kingdoms recognized his weakness. Moab's rebellion was
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  Speaker 1: only the beginning of the troubles to come. In the
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  Speaker 1: midst of this political crisis, a serious accident took place
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  Speaker 1: in the royal palace in Samaria. As described in Second
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  Speaker 1: Kings one two, King Ahaziah fell from the balcony of
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  Speaker 1: his upper chamber. The text does not provide details on
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  Speaker 1: how the accident happened, but considering the architecture of the time,
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  Speaker 1: with terraces used for rest and observation, it was likely
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  Speaker 1: a significant fall. His injuries were severe enough to leave
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  Speaker 1: him bedridden, unable to perform his royal duties at such
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  Speaker 1: a delicate moment for the kingdom. A Hasiah's response to
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  Speaker 1: this accident reveals much about the spiritual state of the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of seeking the God of Israel, who had demonstrated
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  Speaker 1: his power many times during his father's reign, including through
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  Speaker 1: the miracles of Illae Nijah, he sent messengers to consult
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  Speaker 1: bal Zebub, the god of Ekron. This decision was particularly significant.
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  Speaker 1: Ekron was one of the five major city states of
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  Speaker 1: the Philistines, known for its oracle. Bal Zebub, whose name
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  Speaker 1: means lord of the flies, was considered a powerful deity,
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  Speaker 1: especially sought for matters of illness and healing. Consulting a
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  Speaker 1: foreign deity was more than just a personal choice. It
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  Speaker 1: was a direct affront to the God of Israel and
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  Speaker 1: a clear violation of Mosaic law. As the son of
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  Speaker 1: Ahab and Jezebel Ahaziah continued his parents syncretic religious policy,
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  Speaker 1: blending the worship of Yahweh with pagan cults. This practice
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  Speaker 1: had become so common that the king did not even
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  Speaker 1: try to conceal his consultation of a foreign god. But
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  Speaker 1: the God of Israel would not remain silent. In second
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  Speaker 1: King's one Pace three tt four, the Angel of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord appeared to Elijah with a direct and severe message.
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  Speaker 1: The prophet was to intercept the King's messengers and deliver
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  Speaker 1: a piercing question, Is it because there is no god
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  Speaker 1: in Israel that you are going to inquire of baal Zebub,
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  Speaker 1: the God of Ekron. This rhetorical question exposed the absurdity
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  Speaker 1: of Israel's situation. Having the true God among them, they
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  Speaker 1: chose to seek help from foreign idols. The message continued
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  Speaker 1: with a definitive judgment. Therefore, this is what the Lord says.
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  Speaker 1: You will not leave the bed you are lying on,
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  Speaker 1: You will certainly die. This prophecy not only foretold Ahaziah's
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  Speaker 1: death but also directly linked it to his spiritual unfaithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: His punishment was not merely for the accident, but for
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  Speaker 1: his sinful response to it. The messengers shaken by their
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  Speaker 1: unexpected encounter with the prophet, quickly returned to the palace
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  Speaker 1: without complet eating their journey to Ekron. In Second Kings
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  Speaker 1: one to five six, when Ahaziah questioned their premature return,
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  Speaker 1: they reported their encounter with a man who had intercepted
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  Speaker 1: them with this stern message. The biblical text shows that
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  Speaker 1: the messengers were so impacted by Elijah's authority that they
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  Speaker 1: did not even attempt to challenge his command to turn back.
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  Speaker 1: Curious about the identity of this bold prophet, a Hasiah
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  Speaker 1: asked about his appearance in Tectain Kings one seven to eight.
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  Speaker 1: The description was enough for immediate recognition. 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. Upon hearing this, Ahsiah exclaimed, it is
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  Speaker 1: Elijah the Tishbite. The prophet's description is significant. His rough
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  Speaker 1: clothing and leather belt identified him as someone who lived
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  Speaker 1: an austere life, fully devoted to God, in stark contrast
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  Speaker 1: to the luxurious lifestyle of the royal court. The king's
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  Speaker 1: reaction reveals his hardened heart. Instead of humbling himself before
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  Speaker 1: the divine message, he decided to arrest the messenger. In
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  Speaker 1: seconded Kings one nine, he sent a captain with fifty
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  Speaker 1: men to fetch Elijah. They found the prophet sitting atop
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  Speaker 1: a hill, a position that symbolically placed him above the
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  Speaker 1: earthly authority that came to seize him. The captain, reflecting
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  Speaker 1: his king's arrogance, commanded, man of God, the king says,
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  Speaker 1: come down. Notice the contrast. He acknowledges Elijah as a
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  Speaker 1: man of God, yet still tries to assert authority over him.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah's response was dramatic, demonstrating who truly held power in
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  Speaker 1: that moment. As recorded in Second Kings one ten, he answered,
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  Speaker 1: if I am a man of God, may fire come
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  Speaker 1: down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men. Immediately,
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  Speaker 1: fire fell from heaven and consumed the entire detachment. This,
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  Speaker 1: the display of divine power, should have been enough to
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  Speaker 1: make the king reconsider his actions, but a Jasiah's hardened
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  Speaker 1: heart led him to send another group. The new captain
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  Speaker 1: in Second Kings one eleven was even more arrogant than
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  Speaker 1: the first, adding urgency to his command, Man of God,
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  Speaker 1: this is what the king says, come down at once.
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  Speaker 1: The result was the same, fire from heaven consumed this
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  Speaker 1: group as well. It is striking how even after two
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  Speaker 1: dramatic demonstrations of God's power, the king persisted in his rebellion.
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  Speaker 1: A third captain was sent with his fifty men. However,
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  Speaker 1: this officer was different. In Zangkings one thirteen to fourteen,
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  Speaker 1: he approached Elijah with humility, kneeling and pleading, Man of God,
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  Speaker 1: please let my life and the lives of these fifty
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  Speaker 1: servants of yours be precious in your sight. He acknowledged
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  Speaker 1: what the others had ignored, that true authority came from God,
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  Speaker 1: not the king. This attitude of humility saved their lives.
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  Speaker 1: The Angel of the Lord in Second Kings one fifteen
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  Speaker 1: told Elijah to go down with him without fear. This
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  Speaker 1: is a powerful lesson about how humility before God can
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  Speaker 1: bring grace while arrogance leads to destruction. Elijah then went
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  Speaker 1: to the king and personally delivered the message of death.
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  Speaker 1: As prophesied, Ahazir died, and since he had no son,
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  Speaker 1: his brother Jehoram succeeded him on the throne. This event
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  Speaker 1: marked the beginning of the end for Ahab's house. But
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  Speaker 1: before this story continued, a crucial moment in Israel's prophetic
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  Speaker 1: history was about to take place. In Zecca Kings Too,
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  Speaker 1: we find Elijah in his final moments on earth. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord had revealed that he would take Elijah up to
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  Speaker 1: Heaven in a whirlwind, and both the prophet and his disciple,
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  Speaker 1: Elijah knew that the time was near. What follows is
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  Speaker 1: a significant journey where Elijah tests Elisha's dedication three times,
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  Speaker 1: attempting to persuade him to stay behind. The journey began
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  Speaker 1: in Gilgal, a historic city where the Israelites had camped
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  Speaker 1: after crossing the Jordan with Joshua. From there, they went
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  Speaker 1: to Bethel, the place where Jacob had his vision of
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  Speaker 1: the ladder reaching Heaven. Then they moved on to Jericho,
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  Speaker 1: the first city conquered in the Promised Land, and finally
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  Speaker 1: arrived at the Jordan River. In each of these cities
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  Speaker 1: there was a community of prophets known as the Sons
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  Speaker 1: of the Prophets, who studied and preserved divine teachings. At
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  Speaker 1: each stop, the Sons of the Prophets approached Elisha with
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  Speaker 1: the same message as seen in Second Kings two three.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know that today the Lord will take your
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  Speaker 1: master from over you? Alicia's constant response was yes, I
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  Speaker 1: know keep silent. This response demon strates both his awareness
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  Speaker 1: of the situation and his determination to stay with his
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  Speaker 1: master until the very end. When they reached the Jordan,
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  Speaker 1: something extraordinary happened. As recorded in Second Kings two eight.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the waters.
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  Speaker 1: The waters parted, and the two crossed on dry ground.
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  Speaker 1: This miracle was not just a display of power. It
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  Speaker 1: was a re enactment of great moments in Israel's history
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  Speaker 1: Mooses parting the Red Sea and Joshua crossing the Jordan.
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  Speaker 1: It was as if God was affirming that Elijah stood
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  Speaker 1: in the same spiritual lineage as these great leaders on
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  Speaker 1: the other side of the river. In an intimate moment
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  Speaker 1: between Master and disciple, Elijah asked Elisha what he could
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  Speaker 1: do for him before being taken away. Elisha's response in
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  Speaker 1: Second Kings two nine reveals his deep spiritual understanding. Please
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  Speaker 1: let me in heap it a double portion of your spirit.
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  Speaker 1: This request was not for twice Elijah's power, but a
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  Speaker 1: reference to the law of inheritance, where the first born
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  Speaker 1: received a double portion. Elisha was essentially asking to be
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  Speaker 1: recognized as Elijah's spiritual successor. Elijah's answer was clear. If
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  Speaker 1: Elisha saw him when he was taken, he would receive
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  Speaker 1: what he asked for. Then, as they walked and talked,
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  Speaker 1: something spectacular happened. In Zeng's Kings two eleven to twelve.
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  Speaker 1: A chariot of fire with horses of fire separated the two,
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  Speaker 1: and Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind. Witnessing everything,
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  Speaker 1: Elisha cried out, my father, my father, the chariots of
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  Speaker 1: Israel and its horsemen. This cry reveals how he saw
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  Speaker 1: Elijah as a spiritual father and as the true military
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  Speaker 1: strength of Israel, more powerful than its armies. After Elijah's departure,
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  Speaker 1: Elisha picked up the cloak that had fallen from his master,
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  Speaker 1: a visible symbol of the transfer of prophetic authority. Returning
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  Speaker 1: to the Jordan, he struck the waters with the cloak,
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  Speaker 1: crying out, where is the Lord, the God of Elijah.
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  Speaker 1: The waters parted again, confirming that Elijah's spirit indeed rested
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  Speaker 1: upon him. This was not just a test of his authority,
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  Speaker 1: but a public demonstration that God had confirmed his succession.
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  Speaker 1: The sons of the prophets watching from Afar immediately recognized
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  Speaker 1: the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. However, perhaps because
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  Speaker 1: they had not witnessed Elijah's ascension, they insisted on searching
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  Speaker 1: for him. In Second Kings two sixteen to seventeen, they
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  Speaker 1: suggested that the spirit of the Lord might have dropped
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  Speaker 1: him onto some mountain or valley. Despite Alicia's protests, they
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  Speaker 1: searched for three days without success. This fruitless sir served
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  Speaker 1: to confirm definitively that Elijah had indeed been taken up
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  Speaker 1: to Heaven. In Jericho, Elisha performed his first public miracle
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  Speaker 1: as Elijah's successor. The city faced a serious problem with
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  Speaker 1: its water, which was bad and caused infertility in the land.
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  Speaker 1: In Second Kings two nineteen twenty two, Elisha asked for
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  Speaker 1: a new bowl with salt, went to the spring and
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  Speaker 1: threw in the salt, declaring the water healed in the
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  Speaker 1: name of the Lord. The water was purified, establishing Elisha
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  Speaker 1: as a prophet who, like his master, had the power
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  Speaker 1: both to judge and to bless. Shortly afterward, a disturbing
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  Speaker 1: incident occurred in Bethel. As Elisha was walking along the road,
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  Speaker 1: a group of youths came out from the city and
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  Speaker 1: began mocking him, saying go up, bald man, Go up,
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  Speaker 1: bald man. This was not a simple case of youthful teasing.
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  Speaker 1: Bethel was one of the main centers of the Golden
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  Speaker 1: Calf worship as dablished by Jeroboam the First, and this
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  Speaker 1: mockery represented a deliberate rejection not just of the prophet,
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  Speaker 1: but of his authority as a representative of the true God.
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  Speaker 1: As recorded in Say Kings two twenty three to twenty four,
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  Speaker 1: Elisia turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in
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  Speaker 1: the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out
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  Speaker 1: of the forest and mauled forty two of those young men.
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  Speaker 1: This severe judgment firmly established Delisha's authority as the prophet
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord, demonstrating that disrespect toward God's prophet had
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  Speaker 1: serious consequences. The number of young men involved suggests that
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  Speaker 1: this was not an isolated incident, but rather an organized
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  Speaker 1: demonstration of contempt for prophetic authority. With the death of
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  Speaker 1: Ahaziah and the succession of his brother Jehoram to the
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  Speaker 1: throne of Israel, a new chapter was about to begin.
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  Speaker 1: The Northern Kingdom continued its downward spiral of apostasy, but
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  Speaker 1: God had not completely abandoned them. Through Elisha, he would
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  Speaker 1: continue to manifest his power and mercy, giving the people
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  Speaker 1: more opportunities for repentance before the final judgment. In Second
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  Speaker 1: Kings two twenty five, Elisha left the site of the
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  Speaker 1: bear incident and went to Mount Carmel, a significant place
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  Speaker 1: where his master Elijah had confronted the prophets of Bale
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  Speaker 1: years earlier. From there he returned to Samaria, the capital
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  Speaker 1: of the Northern Kingdom, where he would begin his public
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  Speaker 1: ministry in a more intense way. This period marks an
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  Speaker 1: important transition in Israel's history. The kingdom now had a
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  Speaker 1: new king, Jehoram, brother of a Hasiah, and a new
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  Speaker 1: chief prophet, Elisha, as we see in Second Kings three one.
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  Speaker 1: Johoram began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat,
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  Speaker 1: a king of Judah. The text tells us that he
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  Speaker 1: did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not
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  Speaker 1: as much as his father Ahab and his mother Jezebel,
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  Speaker 1: for he removed the bile pillar that his father had made.
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  Speaker 1: Removing the bile pillar was a step in the right direction,
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  Speaker 1: but Jehoram did not completely abandon idolatry. He kept the
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  Speaker 1: golden calves that Jeroboam I had established in Dan and Bethel,
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  Speaker 1: thus perpetuating the sin that had divided the kingdom after
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  Speaker 1: Solomon's death. This half hearted reform would be a recurring
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  Speaker 1: pattern in Israel's history, superficial changes that never led to
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  Speaker 1: true spiritual transformation of the heart. Meanwhile, the rebellion of Moab,
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  Speaker 1: which had begun at the start of Our Huzaiah's reign,
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  Speaker 1: continued to be a serious problem. The new king would
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  Speaker 1: have to deal with this crisis, and the way he
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  Speaker 1: handled it would reveal much about the spiritual state of
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom. This would be the first major crisis that
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  Speaker 1: Elisha would face as Israel's chief prophet, setting the tone
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  Speaker 1: for future ministry. The crisis with Moab required an immediate
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  Speaker 1: response from Israel's new king. In Second Kings three four five,
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  Speaker 1: we learned the extent of the problem. Meisha, the King
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  Speaker 1: of Moab, was a sheep breeder who had paid the
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  Speaker 1: King of Israel an annual tribute of one hundred thousand
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  Speaker 1: lambs and the wull of one hundred thousand rams. After
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  Speaker 1: Ahab's death, he rebelled, causing a major economic impact on
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom. Jehoram could not ignore this defiance. As we
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  Speaker 1: read in Second Kings three six to seven, he left
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  Speaker 1: Samaria and mobilized all Israel for war. He also sent
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  Speaker 1: a message to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, saying, the King
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  Speaker 1: of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with
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  Speaker 1: me to fight against Moab. Jehoshaphat, maintaining the alliance that
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  Speaker 1: his father had with Ahab's house, responded positively, I will go.
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  Speaker 1: I am as you are my people, as your people.
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  Speaker 1: My horse is a your horses. The two kings, along
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  Speaker 1: with the King of Edom, who was a vassal of Judah,
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  Speaker 1: decided to attack Moab by way of the wilderness of Edom.
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  Speaker 1: In Sect Kings three nine. After seven days of marching,
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  Speaker 1: the army found itself in a desperate situation. There was
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  Speaker 1: no water for the troops or the animals with them.
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  Speaker 1: The situation was so dire that Jehoram exclaimed in Second
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  Speaker 1: Kings three ten, alas the Lord has called these three
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  Speaker 1: kings to deliver them into the hands of Moab. It
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  Speaker 1: was Jehoshaphat who demonstrated spiritual wisdom at that moment. In
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  Speaker 1: Second Kings three eleven, he asked, is there no prophet
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. One of the servants of the King of
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  Speaker 1: Israel informed them that Elisha, who had served Elijah, was present.
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  Speaker 1: Jehoshafat affirmed, the word of the Lord is with him.
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  Speaker 1: The three kings went to Elisha, but the prophet in
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  Speaker 1: the ly responded harshly to Jehoram. In Second Kings three
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  Speaker 1: thirteen to fourteen, he said, to the King of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: what have I to do with you? Go to the
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  Speaker 1: prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.
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  Speaker 1: Only out of respect for Jehoshaphat did Elisha agree to
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  Speaker 1: inquire of the Lord. He asked for a musician, and
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  Speaker 1: as the music played, the hand of the Lord came
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  Speaker 1: upon him. The prophecy that followed was extraordinary. In Second
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  Speaker 1: Kings three sixteen to nineteen, Elishah announced that the valley
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  Speaker 1: would be filled with ditches, and without wind or rain,
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  Speaker 1: it would be filled with water. Moreover, he promised complete
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  Speaker 1: victory over Moab the next morning. At the time of
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  Speaker 1: the morning sacrifice, water flowed from the direction of Edom,
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  Speaker 1: and the land was filled with water. When the Moabites
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  Speaker 1: rose early and saw the water reflecting the morning sun.
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  Speaker 1: It appeared red like blood. Humed that the three kings
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  Speaker 1: had fought among themselves and slaughtered one another. Confident, they
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  Speaker 1: went to the Israelite camp to plunder, but they were
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  Speaker 1: met with an army ready for battle. The defeat was devastating.
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  Speaker 1: The King of Moab, seeing that he was losing the battle,
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  Speaker 1: made one last desperate attempt with seven hundred men to
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  Speaker 1: break through to the King of Edom, but he failed.
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  Speaker 1: In an extreme act of desperation recorded in Second Kings
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  Speaker 1: three twenty seven, he took his first born son, who
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  Speaker 1: was to succeed him as king, and offered him as
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  Speaker 1: a burnt sacrifice on the city wall. This horrific act
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  Speaker 1: provoked great indignation against Israel, and the armies withdrew, returning
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  Speaker 1: to their own lands. After this demonstration of Elisha's prophetic power,
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  Speaker 1: his fame began to spread and many people started seeking
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  Speaker 1: him for help. In Second Kings four we find a
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  Speaker 1: series of miracles that demonstrate God's care for individuals in need.
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  Speaker 1: The first case is particularly touching. A widow of one
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  Speaker 1: of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha
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  Speaker 1: in the second King's four one to seven. Her husband
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  Speaker 1: had died, leaving debts, and the creditor was coming to
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  Speaker 1: take her two sons as slaves. Elisha asked what she
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  Speaker 1: had in her house, and she replied that she had
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: only a jar of oil. The prophet instructed her to
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors, go inside with
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: her sons, shut the door, and fill all the vessels
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: with the oil from the jar. Miraculously, the oil only
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: stopped flowing when there were no more vessels to fill.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Elisha then instructed the widow to sell the oil, pay
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: her debts, and live off the remainder with her children.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: This miracle not only saved a family from slavery, but
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: also demonstrated how God cares for the practical needs of
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: his people. Next, we meet a wealthy woman from Shunem
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: who frequently hosted Elisha whenever he passed through the town.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: In set Kings four eight to ten, she and her
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: husband even built a room on the rooftop specifically for
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the Prophet, furnishing it with a bed, a table, a chair,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: and a lamp. This act of hospitality would be rewarded
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: in an extraordinary way. Elisha wanted to repay her kindness
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: and discovered that she had no children and that her
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: husband was elderly. In Second Kings four fifteen sixteen, he
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: prophesied that by the following year she would embrace a son.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: The promise was fulfilled, but a few years later the
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: child suddenly died after complaining of a headache while in
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: the field with his father during the harvest. The Shunemite
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: woman displayed extraordinary faith. In Second Kings four twenty two
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: to twenty four, she requested a donkey and a servant
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to take her quickly to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: When her husband questioned the trip since it was neither
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: a new moon nor a sabbath, usual days to visit prophets,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: she simply replied, all is well. Her determination and faith
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: would be rewarded. As the woman approached Elisha sent his servant, Gehazi,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: to meet her and ask if everything was all right.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: She affirmed this to the servant, but when she reached Elisha,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: she clung to his feet in distress. In Second Kings
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: four twenty seven to twenty eight, she expressed her anguish
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: did I ask my Lord for a son? Did I
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: not say do not deceive me. Elisha sent Gehazi ahead
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: with his staff to place it on the boy's face,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: but the woman insisted that she would not leave without
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the prophet himself. In Zector King's four thirty two thirty five,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Elisha arrived at the house and found the child lying
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: dead on his bed. He shut the door, prayed to
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the Lord, and lay upon the child, mouth to mouth,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: eyes to eyes, hands to hands. The boy's body began
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to warm up. Elisha got up, walked around the house,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: and then lay on the boy again, who sneezed seven
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: times and opened his eyes. This resurrection miracle further established
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Elisha's authority and showed that the power that had rested
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: upon Elijah was now fully upon his successor. The news
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: of this wonder surely spread throughout Israel, leading more people
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: to seek the prophet's help. Later, during a time of famine,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Elisha was with the sons of the prophets in Gilgal
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: in Second Kings four thirty eight to forty one. Someone
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: unknowingly gathered a poisonous wild plant and added it to
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: the stew. When they began to eat, they cried out,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: there is death in the Poto. Man of God, Elisha
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: asked for flower, threw it into the pot, and the
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: food became safe to eat. Another miracle of provision occurred
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: when a man from Baal Shalishah brought first fruits of
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: bread to the prophet in Second Kings four forty two
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: forty four. With only twenty barley loaves and some fresh grain,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Elisha fed one hundred men, and there was even food
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: left over, fulfilling the word of the Lord. One of
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the most significant miracles of Elisha's ministry involved Narman, the
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: commander of the Syrian army in Second Kings five one
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: to two. He is described as a great man, highly
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: regarded and a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: A young Israelite girl who served his wife spoke about
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the prophet in Samaria who could heal him. With letters
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: from the King of Syria, Narman came to Israel seeking healing.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings five nine to twelve. He arrived with
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: his horses and chariots at Elisha's door, but the prophet
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: merely sent a messenger instructing him to wash seven times
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: in the Jordan River. Naeman was outraged, expecting a more
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: ceremonial treatment. And questioned why he could not bathe in
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the rivers of Damascus. Instead, it was his own servants
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: who convinced him to try, reasoning that if the prophet
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: had asked him to do something difficult, he would have
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: done it. In Second Kings five fourteen to fifteen, Nayman
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: dipped seven times in the Jordan, as the Man of
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: God had instructed, and his skin became as clean as
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: that of a child. He returned to Elisha, confessing that
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: there was no God in all the earth except in Israel.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: When Naaman offered gifts, Elisha refused to accept anything. However, Gehazi,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Alisha's servant, was overcome with greed. In Second Kings five
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven, he ran after Naemon and, lying in
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: his master's name, requested a talent of silver and two
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: sets of clothing. As a consequence of his greed and dishonesty,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Naeman's leprosy clung to Gehazi and his descendants forever. Elisha's
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: ministry continued to grow. In Second King six one to seven,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the sons of the prophets needed to expand their dwelling place.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: During the construction, one of them dropped a borrowed axe
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: head into the river. Elisia threw a piece of wood
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: into the water, and the iron floated, allowing the man
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: to retrieve it. Elisha's fame even reached Syria, which was
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: at war with Israel. In Second King six eight to twelve,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: the prophet revealed the Syrian army's battle plans to the
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: King of Israel, frustrating their ambushes. When the King of
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Syria discovered that it was Elisha who was revealing his secrets,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: he sent a great army to capture him in Dothan.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: The next morning, Elisha's servant was terrified upon seeing the
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: city surrounded, The prophet prayed in Second Kings six sixteen
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: to seventeen, O Lord, open his eyes so that he
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: may see. The servant then saw the mountain full of
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha. When the Syrians
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: advanced to seize him, Elisha prayed and they were struck
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: with blindness. The prophet then led them to Samaria, where
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: their eyes were opened. Instead of killing them, the King
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: of Israel, under Elisha's guidance, offered them a great feast
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and sent them back. As a result, the Syrian troops
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: stopped invading the land of Israel. However, some time later,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: Ben Hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria, causing a terrible
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: famine in the city. In Second King six twenty four
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: to twenty nine, the situation became so desperate that a
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: women even resorted to cooking their own children. The king
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: of Israeill, in his anguish, blamed Elisha and swore to
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: take his life. In Second King seven, Elisha prophesied that
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: by the next day there would be an abundance of
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: food in Samaria. A royal officer doubted this, and the
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: prophet declared that he would see it but would not
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: eat of it. During the night, the lord caused the
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Syrian army to hear a great noise of chariots and horses,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: making them flee in panic, abandoning their entire camp. Four
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: lepers who were at the entrance of the city gate
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: discovered the abandoned camp. After satisfying their hunger, they announced
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: the good news to the city. The people rushed out
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: and plundered the Syrian camp, fulfilling Elisha's prophecy. The officer
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: who had doubted, was trampled at the city gate and died,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: seeing the abundance but not partaking in it, just as
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the prophet had foretold. In Second King's eight Elisha advised
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the Shunamite woman to leave the country for seven years
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: due to an impending famine. When she returned, she found
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: her land occupied and went to the king to plead
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: for it. Providentially, at that very moment, Gehazi was telling
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: the king about how Elisha had resurrected her son. The
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: king was so impressed that he ordered the restoration of
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: all her property, along with all the produce of the fields.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: From the day she had left the land. Ilisha's ministry
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: was about to enter a new phase. In Damascus, Ben Hadad,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: king of Syria, was ill and sent his official Hazel,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: to consult the prophet regarding his recovery. In Second Kings
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: eight sevent ten, Hazael came to Elisha with a massive
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: gift forty camels loaded with all the best goods of Damascus.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: The prophet told Hazael that Ben Hadad would recover from
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the illness, but also revealed that despite this, he would
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: certainly die in another way. In Zexkis eight eleven to twelve.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Something extraordinary happened during this encounter. Elisha fixed his gaze
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: on Hazel until he became ashamed, and then the prophet
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: began to weep. When Hazel asked the reason for his tears,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Elisha replied that he was crying because he knew the
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: evil that Hazael would bring upon the children of Israel.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: men with the sword, crush their little ones, and rip
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: open their pregnant women. Feigning humility, Hazael responded, but what
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: is your servant a mere dog that he should do
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: such a great thing. Elisha then revealed, the Lord has
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: shown me that you will be king of Syria. This
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: prophecy would soon be fulfilled, for in Second Kings eight
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: fourteen to fifteen, when Hazael returned to Damascus, he suffocated
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Ben Hadad with a wet cloth and took his place
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: as king of Syria. These events marked an new phase
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: in the history of Israel and Judah. Elisha's ministry would continue,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: but now within a context of growing political and military tension.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: A new power was rising in Syria, and dramatic changes
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: were about to take place in both Hebrew kingdoms. The
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: time of judgment against the House of Ahab had finally come.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings nine to one, Elisha called one of
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: the sons of the prophets and gave him a specific mission.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: He was to go to Reimuth Gilead with a flask
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: of oil to anoint Jihu as the new king of Israel.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: The city of Ramoth Gilead was a strategic point where
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: the army of Israel was camped defending the border against
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the Syrians. Elisha's instructions were precise. In Second Kings nine
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: two three, the young prophet was to look for Jihu,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: son of Jehoshifat, son of Nimshi, take him into an
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: inner room away from his companions, pour the oil on
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: his head, and declare, thus says the Lord, I have
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: anointed you king over Israel. After that he was to
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: open the door and flee without delay. The young Prophet
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: found Jihu sitting with the other army captains in Second
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Kings nine five to six, he said, I have a
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: word for you, o captain. When Jihu asked for whom,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: the young man answered, for you, O captain. Leading Jihu
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: into the house he put the oil on his head
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: and delivered the full message from the Lord. The divine
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: message was clear and terrifying. In Second Kings nine seven
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: to ten, God declared that Jihu was to strike down
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the House of Ahab, avenging the blood of the prophets
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and the servants of the Lord that had been shed
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: by Jezebel. The entire house of Ahab would perish, cut
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: off down to the last mail, both free and slave.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: The House of Ahab would be like the House of
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam and the House of Bashot, other dynasties that had
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: been completely destroyed because of their sins. As for Jezebel,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: dogs would devour her in the field of Jezreel, and
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: no one would bury her. After delivering this devastating message,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the young prophet opened the door and fled, as Elisha
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: had instructed. When Jihu returned to his fellow officers, they
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: noticed that something extraordinary had happened. In Second Kings nine
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: eleven thirteen, They asked, is everything well? Why did this
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: madman come to you? Jihu's response was direct. He revealed
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: that he had been anointed king over Israel. The officer's
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: reaction was immediate and enthusiastic. Each of them took off
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: his cloak and placed it under Jihu's feet on the steps,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: forming a kind of makeshift throne. They blew the trumpet
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: and proclaimed Jihu is king. This quick acceptance suggests widespread
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: dissatisfaction with the House of Ahab among the military leaders.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Jehu acted swiftly. In Second Kings nine fourteen to sixteen,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: he conspired against Joram, who was in Jezreel recovering from
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: wounds received in battle against the Syrians. A Haziah, king
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: of Judah, was also there visiting the wounded king. To
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: maintain the element of surprise, Jehu ordered that no one
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: leave the city to warn Jezreel. Jehu's approach was dramatic.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: In Zacha Kings nine seventeen twenty, the watchman in Jezreel
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: saw a company approaching and alerted the king. Joram sent
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: a rider to ask if they came in peace. Jehu replied,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: what do you have to do with peace? Fall in
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: behind me? The watchman reported that the messenger did not return.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: A second messenger was sent, but he too did not return.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: The watchman then recognized Jehu's driving style, noting that he
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: drove furiously. Joram, King of Israel, and Haziir, King of Judah,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: each set out in their chariots to meet Jihu. In
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Second Kings nine twenty one twenty two, they encountered him
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: in the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite, a place of
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: deep symbolic significance, for it was there that Ahab and
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: Jezebel had committed a terrible crime years before. When Joram asked,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: is it peace, Jehu, the response was devastating, What peace,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: as long as the harl trees of your mother Jezebel
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: and her sorceries are so many. What followed was swift
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: and deadly. In Second Kings nine twenty three to twenty six,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Joram tried to flee, crying out treachery a Hasiah, but
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Jihu drew his bow with full strength and struck Joram
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: collapsed dead in his chariot. Jehu ordered his body to
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: be thrown into Naboth's field, fulfilling the prophecy that the
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: Lord had spoken against Ahab's house. Ahaziah also attempted to escape,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: but was wounded by Jehu at the assent of Gour,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: he managed to reach Megido, where he died in Second
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Kings nine twenty seven twenty eight. His servants carried him
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: in a chariot to Jerusalem, where he was buried with
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: his ancestors in the city of David. The next target
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: was Jezebel in Second Kings nine thirty thirty seven. When
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: she learned that Jihu was coming to Jezreel, she painted
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: her eyes, adorned her head, and looked out from the window.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: As Jihu entered the gate, she taunted him, saying, is
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: it peace Zimri, murderer of his master? Jehu looked up
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: and asked, who is on my side? Two or three
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: eunuchs showed themselves, and he commanded throw her down. They
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: threw her down, and her blood splattered against the wall
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: and the horses, which trampled her under foot. After eating
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: and drinking, ji Whu ordered that she be buried, for
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: she was a king's daughter. However, when they went to
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: retrieve her body, they found only her skulled feet and
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: the palms of her hands. Everything had happened exactly as
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: the Lord had spoken through Elijah. Dogs would devour Jezebel's
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: flesh in the field of Jezreel. The purge against Ahab's
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: house continued. In Second Kings ten one to seven, Jihu
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: sent letters to the elders of Samaria, where seventy sons
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: of Ahab lived. He challenged them to select the best
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: and most fit of their master's sons, place him on
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: the throne, and fight for their master's house. Fearing for
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: their lives, the elders replied that they were Jihu's servants
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: and would do whatever he commanded. Jugu then sent a
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: second letter demanding the heads of Ahab's seventy sons. The
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: elders killed them all and sent their heads in baskets
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: to Jezreel. In Second Kings ten fourteenji who encountered forty
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: two men from a Hasaiah's family who were traveling to
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: visit the royal family in Samaria. He ordered them to
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: be captured alive and then executed them at the well
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: of bethe Ked. No member of the royal house was spared.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: The next phase of the revolution focused on eliminating baal worship.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings ten eighteen to twenty eight, Ji Whu
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: used deception proclaiming Ahab served Bal a little, Ji Whu
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: will serve him much. He summoned all the prophets, servants,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: and priests of Bel for a great assembly, claiming he
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: would offer a grand sacrifice to Bal, ensuring that only
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Bal worshipers were present. He provided them with special garments
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: and filled the temple of Bail. As the sacrifice was
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: being offered, ji Who ordered his guards and captains go
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: in and strike them down. Let no one escape. Eighty
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: men were stationed, with the warning that if anyone allowed
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: an escapee, he would pay with his own life. After
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: the slaughter, they destroyed Baal's pillar, tore down the temple,
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: and turned it into a latrine, a fate that remained
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: for a long time. Despite this apparent religious zeal, ji
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: Whu was not a complete reformer. In Second Kings ten
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: twenty nine thirty one, the text states that he did
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, who had
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: led Israel into sin, as he continued to uphold the
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: golden calves in Bethel and Dan. The Lord commended Jihu
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: for executing what was right in his eyes concerning Ahab's house,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: promising that his descendants would sit on Israel's throne to
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: the fourth generation. However, Jihu did not commit himself to
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: walking in the Lord's law with all his heart. Ji
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Whu's kingdom faced external difficulties. In second kings ten thirty
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: two thirty three, the Lord began to reduce Israel's territory. Azael,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: king of Aram, conquered all the Israelite lands east of
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: the Jordan from a Roa to Gilead and Bashan territories
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: belonging to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and Manasse. After
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: reigning over Israel for twenty eight years, Jihu died and
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: was buried in Samaria, succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. With
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: his death, a bloody yet significant chapter in Israel's history
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: came to an end. Ahab's house had been completely wiped out,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: fulfilling every word the Lord had spoken. Official bile worship
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: had been severely struck down, though not entirely eradicated. However,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: ji Hu's reforms were incomplete, and his kingdom saw the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: beginning of a territorial decline that would continue in the
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: following generations. While the Northern kingdom underwent a bloody revolution
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: under Jihu An equally severe crisis was unfolding in Judah
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: in Second Kings eleven one, when Athalia, a Hasiah's mother,
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: all the royal offspring. Athalia was the daughter of Ahab
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and Jezebel, and had married Jehoram of Judah as part
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: of an alliance between the two kingdoms. Now, following in
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: her mother Jezebel's cruel footsteps, she sought to secure her
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: own power through murder. However, amid the chaos and violence,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: an act of courage would change the course of history.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings eleven two to three, Jehosheba, the sister
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: of King Ahaziah and wife of the priest Jehoiada, secretly
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: took josh the son of Ahaziah, from among the king's
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: sons who were being killed. She hid him along with
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: his nurse, in a bedroom, keeping him out of Athalia's
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: sight for six years. The boy remained hidden in the
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: house of the lord while Athalia reigned over them land.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: This six year period was a dark time for Judah. Athalia,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: having eliminated, or so she thought, all legitimate heirs to
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: the throne, ruled with an iron fist. As the daughter
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: of Ahab and Jezebel, she actively promoted the worship of
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Baal in Jerusalem. In Sega Chronicles twenty four seven, we
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: are told that she and her sons had broken into
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: the House of God and used all the consecrated objects
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: from the Temple of the Lord for the bales. During
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: this time, the priest Jehoiada carefully planned the restoration of
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: the legitimate dividic lineage in Second Kings eleven four eight.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: In the seventh year, he secretly gathered the centurions of
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: the royal Guard and the couriers and brought them to
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: the House of the Lord. He made a covenant with them,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: having them swear an oath, and then showed them the
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: king's son. Jehoiada's plan was meticulous and involved the regular
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: rotation of the temple guard on the sabbath. He divided
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: the guards into three groups. One third would guard the
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: royal palace, another third would station at the gate of Sir,
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: and the last third would stand at the gate behind
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: the couriers. Two additional groups, who would normally go off
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: duty on the Sabbath, were to remain in the House
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: of the Lord to protect the king. Jehoiada's instructions were precise.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: The guards were to surround the young king, each with
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: his weapon in hand, and any one who attempted to
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: break through the ranks was to be killed. They were
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: to remain with the king at all times, emphasizing the
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: real danger of the situation and the need for constant
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: protection Insecord Kings eleven nine twelve. On the appointed day,
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: the centurions did everything as the priest Jehoiada had commanded.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: Each took his men, both those coming on duty and
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: those going off duty on the sabbath, and they came
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: to the priest. Jehoiada handed the centurions the spears and
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: shields that had belonged to King David and were kept
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: in the house of the Lord, properly arming the guards.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: The moment of coronation was dramatic. The guards took their positions,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: each with his weapon in hand, from the right side
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: to the left side of the temple near the altar
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: and the sanctuary surrounding the king. Then Jehoiada brought out
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: the king's son, placed the crown on him, and handed
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: him the testimony lightly a copy of the law. They
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: anointed Joesh and proclaimed him king, clapping their hands and
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: shouting long Live the King. And Thalia, hearing the noise
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: of the people running, came to them at the house
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. In Second Kings eleven thirteen to fourteen,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: when she looked, she saw the King standing by the pillar,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: as was the custom, with the captains and trumpeters by
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: his side, and all the people of the land rejoicing
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: and blowing trumpets. Athalia tore her robes and cried out treason, treason.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: The priest Jehoiada acted swiftly to prevent the temple from
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: being defiled with bloodshed. In Second Kings eleven fifteen to sixteen,
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: he ordered the centurions to take Athalia outside the ranks
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: and to kill anyone who followed her. She was taken
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: along the route of the horse entrance to the royal Palace,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: where she was executed. After Athalia's execution, Jehoiada established a
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: series of important reforms. In Deggart's Kings eleven seventeen to eighteen,
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: he made a covenant between the Lord, the King and
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: the people, declaring that they would be the people of
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord. He also made a covenant between the King
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: and the people, restoring the constitutional order of the kingdom.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: The people responded enthusiastically to the reforms. They went to
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: the Temple of Bal and tore it down completely, smashing
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: its altars idols. They killed Matan, the priest of Baal,
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: in front of the altars. The priest Jehoiada, then appointed
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: guards over the House of the Lord to ensure its protection.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: The restoration of legitimate rule was completed with a solemn
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: ceremony in Second Kings eleven nineteen to twenty. Jehoiada took
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: the centurions, the royal Guard, the couriers, and all the
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: people of the land, and they led the king from
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: the House of the Lord to the royal Palace through
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: the gate of the Gods. Joash sat on the throne
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: of the kings, and all the people of the land rejoiced,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: and the city was at peace. After Athalia's death, Joash
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: was only seven years old when he began to reign,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: as stated in Second Kings twelve one, under the guidance
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: of the priest Jehoiada, he grew up with a strong
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: religious influence. In Second Kings twelve two three, the text
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: tells us that he did what was right in the
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: eyes of the Lord all the days that the priest
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: Jehoiada instructed him. However, the high places were not removed.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: The people still sacrificed and burned incense there. One of
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: the main accomplishments of Joash's reign was the restoration of
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: the temple. In Segos Kings twelve to four to six,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: he ordered the priests that all the money brought to
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: the house of the Lord as offerings should be used
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: to repair the breaches in the temple. However, by the
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: twenty third year of his reign, the priests had still
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: not repaired the breaches. Faced with this delay, Joash took
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: practical measures. In second Kings twelve seven to twelve, he
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: summoned the priest Jehoiada and the other priests and questioned
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: them about the lack of progress in the repairs. A
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: new system was established. A chest with a hole in
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: its lid was placed next to the altar, and all
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: the money brought to the house of the Lord was
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: deposited there. When there was a large amount of money
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: counted and bagged the money, handing it directly to the
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: supervisors of the work. The money was used to pay
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: the carpenters, builders, masons, and stonecutters, as well as to
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: purchase wood and cut stone for the repair of the temple.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings twelve thirteen, it is interesting to note
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: that the money was not used to make silver utensils
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: for the temple. All of it was directed toward the
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: structural restoration work. However, the reign of Joash faced external challenges.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: In Sega Kings twelve seventeen to eighteen, Hazael, king of Syria,
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: marched to fight against Gath and captured it. When he
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: turned to attack Jerusalem, Joash took all the sacred things
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: that his ancestors had dedicated, all the gold found in
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: the treasuries of the House of the Lord and the
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: Royal Palace, and sent everything to Hazael. With this paiment,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: he managed to make the Syrians withdraw from Jerusalem. The
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: end of Joash's reign was tragic. In Second Kings twelve
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: twenty to twenty one, his servants conspired against him and
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: killed him at the House of Milo, which goes down
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: to Sillah. Jozakar, son of Shimeith, and Jehozabad son of Shomer.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: His servants struck him down and he died. He was
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: buried with his ancestors in the city of David, and
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: his son Amasiah reigned in his place. In Desire the chronicles,
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: we find additional information about Joash's spiritual decline after the
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: death of Jehoyada. The text tells us that he abandoned
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: the house of the Lord and began serving as sherer,
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: polls and idols. When Zechariah, son of Jehoyada, rebuked him
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: for this, Joash ordered him to be stoned to death
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: in the courtyard of the temple, a shocking act of ingratitude.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: Considering that Jehoyada's family had saved his life and placed
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: him on the throne, Joash's violent death came as divine
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: judgment for these actions. It serves as a solemn reminder
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: of how even a reign that begins well can end
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: in tragedy when a king strays from the ways of
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord. The period of Athalia and Joash demonstrates both
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the danger of corrupt influences and the power of faithfulness
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: to God. It also highlights how external reforms, as important
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: as they are, must be accompanied by true heart transformation.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: Throughout this period, the Northern Kingdom under the dynasty of
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: Jehu continued its own journey of spiritual and territorial decline.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: The two sister nations were about to enter a new
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: phase of their history, where their interactions would become increasingly
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: complex and often hostile. The reign of Amesia in Judah
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: and the dynastic changes in Israel would bring new challenges
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: and conflicts to both kingdoms. In Said Kings thirteen one,
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: in the twenty third year of Joash, son of a Haziah,
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu, began to reign
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: over Israel in Samaria. His reign lasted seventeen years and
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: marked a period of great affliction for the Northern Kingdom.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: Like his predecessors, jehoahas did what was evil in the
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: sight of the Lord, following the sins of Jeroboam son
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: of Nibat, who had led Israel into sin with the
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: Golden calves. The consequence of this spiritual unfaithfulness was severe.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings thirteen three seven, the anger of the
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: the hands of Hazael King of Syria and into the
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: hands of ben Hadad, son of Hazael. Four. All those days,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: the oppression was so intense that Israel's army was reduced
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: to only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantrymen.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: The text tells us that the king of Syria had
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: destroyed the rest, making them like dust on the threshing low.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: In his desperation, Jehoah has sought the Lord's favor. In
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: Second Kings thirteen four, he prayed, and the Lord heard him.
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: Because he saw Israel's oppression and how the King of
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: Syria was oppressing them, God sent a deliverer. Though the
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: text does not specify who this deliverer was, it could
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: have been Jehoah, hazes and Joash, or possibly Jeroboam, the Second,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: under whose reign Israel would recover much of its territory.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: Despite this divine mercy, the people did not completely abandon
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: their sins. In Second Kings thirteen six, they continued walking
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: in the sins of the House of Jeroboam, and the
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: Ashera pole remained standing in Samaria. This persistence in idolatry
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: would continue to bring consequences to the kingdom after the
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: death of jehoahas his son Joash ascended to the throne
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: of his liad Israel in Zecond Kings thirteen ten to eleven.
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: He began to reign in the thirty seventh year of Joash,
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, and ruled for sixteen years in Samaria.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: Like his father, he did not turn away from the
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: sins of Jeroboam during his reign. A significant event took
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: place involving the prophet Elisha in Second Kings thirteen fourteen nineteen.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he would die,
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: and Joash, King of Israel, went down to him and
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: wept over him, saying, my father, my father, the chariots
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: of Israel and their horsemen. This was the same expression
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: Elisha had used when Elijah was taken up. Recognizing that
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: spiritual power was more important than military strength. Even on
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: his deathbed, Elisha had one last prophetic message for the king.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: He told Josh to take a bow and arrows, placed
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: his hands on the king's hands and instructed him to
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: open the window facing east and shoot an arrow, declaring,
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: this is the arrow of the Lord's victory, the arrow
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: of victory over Syria. For you shall strike the Syrians
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: in Affek until you have destroyed them. Then Elisha ordered
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: the king to take the arrows and strike the ground.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: Joe Ash struck three times and stopped. The prophet was
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: angered and told him that he should have struck five
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: or six times, then he would have completely destroyed Syria. Now, however,
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: he would defeat Syria only three times. Even after his death.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: God performed a miracle through Ilisia in Second Kings thirteen
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, when a man was being buried, Those
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: carrying the body saw a Moabite raiding party, and in
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: haste they threw the body into Elisha's tomb. As soon
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: as the dead man touched Elisia's bones, he revived and
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: stood on his feet. This posthumous miracle confirmed the power
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: of God that had worked through his prophet throughout Jehoah
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: Has his reign, Hazaiel, king of Syria, had oppressed Israel. However,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: in Second Kings thirteen twenty two, twenty five, after Haziel's death,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: Joash recovered from the hands of ben Hadad, son of Haziel,
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: the cities that Haziel had taken from his father. Jehoah
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: Has three times Joash defeated him and regained Israel's cities,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: fulfilling exactly Elisha's prophecy regarding the three victories. The conflict
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: between the brotherly kingdoms also intensified during this period. In
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: Second Kings fourteen eight to ten, Amaziah, king of Judah,
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: challenged Joash, King of Israel, to a face to face battle.
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: Joash responded with a sarcastic parable the Thislyn Lebanon sent
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: a message to the cedar in Lebanon, give your daughter
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: to my son in marriage. But a wild animal in
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: Lebanon came a long and trampled the thistle. It was
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: a warning for Amasiah not to become over confident. Amaziah
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: ignored the warning, and the result was disastrous for Judah.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings fourteen eleven fourteen, the two armies clashed
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: at Beth Schemesh, and Judah was defeated by Israel. Joash
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: captured Amasiah, marched to Jerusalem and tore down four hundred
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: cubits of the city wall from the Ephraim gate to
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: the corner gate. He seized all the gold, silver and
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: vessels found in the House of the Lord and the
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: treasuries of the royal palace along with hostages and returned
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: to Samaria. After Joash's death, his son, Jeroboam the Second
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: took the throne of Israel. According to the Second Kings
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: fourteen twenty three twenty five, he reigned for forty one
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: years in Samaria. Though he did what was evil in
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: the sight of the Lord, not turning away from the
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: sins of Jeroboam son of Niba. His reign marked a
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: period of great prosperity and territorial expansion for Israel. Jeroboam
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: the Second restored Israel's boundaries from the entrance of Hamath
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: to the see of the Arabah, in accordance with the
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: his servant Jonah, son of Amitai, the prophet from Gath Heifer.
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: This was a period of remarkable territorial and economic recovery
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: for Israel. In Second Kings fourteenth twenty six to twenty seven,
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: the text provides a divine perspective on this prosperity. The
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Lord saw that Israel's suffering was bitter. There was neither
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: slave nor free, nor was there anyone to help Israel.
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: And since the Lord had not said he would blot
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: out Israel's name from under heaven. He saved them by
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: the hand of Jeroboam, son of Josh. However, this material
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: prosperity masked a deep, spiritual and moral decline. The prophets
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: Ai Amos and Hoseiah, who ministered during this period, provide
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: a vivid picture of Israelite society. In Amos four one two,
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: the prophet denounces the wealthy women of Samaria who oppressed
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: the poor and needy. In Hoseiah four one two, we
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: find a list of sins that included perjury, lying, murder, theft,
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: and adultery. The prosperity of Jeroboam the Second's reign came
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: at a high social cost. In Amos five eleven twelve,
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: the prophet condemns those who trample the poor and accept bribes.
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: In Amos six four to six, he describes the luxurious
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: lives of the rich, who lay on ivory beds, feasted
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: on the best lambs and calves, but felt no grief
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: over Joseph's Israel's ruin. Hoseia in turn uses his own
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: marriage as a metaphor for the relationship between God and Israel.
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: In Hoseiah one two nine, he is command to marry
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: a promiscuous woman, symbolizing how Israel had prostituted itself turning
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: away from the Lord. The names of his children Jezreel,
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: lo Ruhamah not loved, and lo Ami not my people,
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: were prophetic messages about Israel's impending judgment. In Joseiah four
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: point six, we find one of the most serious accusations,
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Despite all
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: its material wealth, Israel had lost true knowledge of God.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: In Hoseah seven eight to nine, the prophet compares Ephraim
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: Israel to a half baked cake burnt on one side
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: and roar on the other, and says that foreigners were
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: consuming its strength without it even realizing. The message of
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: the prophets was clear judgment was coming. In Amos eight
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: eleven to twelve, he prophesies a time when there would
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: be a famine in the land, not for bread or water,
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: but for hearing the words of the Lord. In Hoseah
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: ninety three, the prophet announces that the people would not
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: remain in the Lord's land. Instead, Ephraim would return to
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: Egypt and eat defiled food in Assyria. After Jeroboam the
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: Second's death, the Northern Kingdom entered a period of rapid
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: decline and political instability. In Second Kings fifteen eight, his
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: son Zechariah reigned for only six months before being publicly
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: assassinated by Shalem, son of Jabesh. With his death, the
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: promise the Lord had made to Jihu that his descendants
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: would sit on Israel's throne for four generations was fulfilled.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: Zekariah's assassination marked the beginning of a chaotic period in
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: which Israel's throne changed hands rapidly through violence and betrayal.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: The prosperity of Jeroboam the Second's reign would soon give
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: way to a time of political instability and decline, culminating
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: in the fall of Samaria and the end of the
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: Northern Kingdom. The shadow of the Assyrian Empire was growing
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: ever larger over the land. The prophecies of Amos would
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: become increasingly relevant during this period. In Amos seven seven
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: to nine, the prophet had a vision of the Lord
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: holding a plum line, indicating that God was measuring Israel
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and would no longer tolerate its deviations. The Sanctuary of
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: Bethel would be destroyed and the House of Jeroboam would
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: be struck down by the sword. In Second Kings fifteen
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: thirteen to fourteen, Shalam, son of Jabesh, who had assassinated Zechariah,
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: reigned for only one month. In Samaria. Minahem, son of Gadi,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: came up from Tirza, entered Samaria, struck down Shalam, and
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: killed him, taking the throne in his place. The violence
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: that had marked the beginning of Jehu's dynasty had now
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: become a recurring pattern in Israel's royal succession. Menehem's reign
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: was marked by the growing influence of Assyria. In Second
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: Kings fifteen nineteen twenty, when Pull also known as Tiglath
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: Pileser Threur, king of Assyria, invaded the land, Menahem gave
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: him a thousand talents of silver to secure his support
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: and confirm his rule. To raise this money, he imposed
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: attacks of fifty shekels of silver on every wealthy man
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: in Israel. This was the first time Israel paid tribute
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: to Assyria, setting a precedent that would eventually lead to
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: its destruction. In Second Kings fifteen twenty two, after the
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: death of Menahem, his son Pekahiah took the throne, but
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: he reigned for only two years before being assassinated. In
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: Second Kings fifteen twenty five twenty six, Pekhar, the son
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: of Rimalia and one of his captains conspired against him
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: and struck him down in Samaria in the citadel of
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: the king's palace along with Argob and Arie. Peka had
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: fifty men from Gilead with him in the conspiracy. He
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: killed Pekahir and reigned in his place. Peka's reign would
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: mark a critical turning point in Israel's history. In Second
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: Kings fifteen twenty nine to thirty, during his days, Tiglath Pileazer,
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: the King of Assyria, came and captured iijon Abel Beth Maka, Janoah,
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: Kedesh Hazer, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naftali,
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: deporting the people to Assyria. This was the beginning of
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: the deportation process that would culminate in the fall of Samaria.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: Years later, political instability persisted when Hoshea, son of Ella,
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: conspired against Peka, son of Rhemalayah, struck him down, killed him,
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: and took the throne. Hoshea would be the last king
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: of Israel, and his reign would witness the end of
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: the Northern Kingdom. The shadow of Assyria, which had once
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: been a distant threat during the prosper as days of
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam the Second now became a devastating reality that would
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: forever change the fate of the ten Northern tribes. Hoshea's
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: reign would mark the final chapter in the history of
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: the Northern Kingdom. In Second King seventeen one two, he
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: began to reign in Samaria over Israel in the twelfth
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: year of Ahaz, king of Judah, and ruled for nine years.
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: The text states that he did what was evil in
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: the sight of the Lord, though not like the kings
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: of Israel who came before him. This observation suggests that
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: Hoshea may have implemented some minor reforms, but they were
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: not enough to prevent the impending judgment. Israel's political situation
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: had become extremely precarious. In Segia's King seventeen three, Shalmanisa,
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: king of Assyria, marched against Hoshea, who became his vassal
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: and paid tribute. The Northern Kingdom had effectively become a
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: puppet state of the Assyrian Empire, losing its political and
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: economic independence. However, Hoshea made a fatal mistake that would
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: hasten the kingdom's final destruction. In Zad Kings seventeen to four,
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: the King of Assyria discovered a conspiracy. Hoshea had sent
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: messengers to so King of Egypt and stopped paying the
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: annual tribute to Assyria. This attempt to play the two
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: great powers against each other, a common diplomatic strategy at
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: the time, ended up backfiring against Israel. The Assyrian response
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: was swift and devastating, as Second King seventeen four to
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: six recounts, the King of Assyria arrested Hoshea and imprisoned him.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: Then he invaded all of Israel, besieged Samaria, and held
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: it under siege for three years. This prolonged siege demonstrates
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: both the strength of Samaria's fortifications and the Assyrian's determination
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: to conquer it. In the ninth year of Hoshea, Sami
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: finally fell. In Second King seventeen six, the King of
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria, settling
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: them in Hallah, on the Huboor River, in Gozan, and
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: in the cities of the Medes. This mass deportation was
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: a standard Assyrian policy designed to break national resistance and
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: prevent future rebellions. The biblical text then pauses the historical
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: narrative to offer a theological explanation for this catastrophe. In
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: Second Kings seventeen seven to eight, it explains that this
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord, their God,
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: They feared other gods and followed the customs of the
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: nations that the Lord had driven out before them. The
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: list of sins is extensive and specific. In Second Kings
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: seventeen nine to twelve, the Israelites secretly did things that
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: were not right, against the law their God. They built
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: They set up sacred pillars and as cherapoles on every
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: high hill and under every leafy tree. They burned incense
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: on all the high places, like the nations the Lord
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: had removed before them, and they did evil things that
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: provoked the Lord to anger. In Secid King seventeen thirteen fifteen,
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: the text emphasizes that the Lord had warned Israel and
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: Judah through all his prophets and seers, saying, turn from
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes. However,
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: they did not listen, and instead stiffened their necks, just
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: as their ancestors had done. Refusing to believe in the
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: Lord their God, they rejected his statutes and his covenant
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: and followed worthless idols, becoming worthless themselves. Religious syncretism is
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: particularly highlighted in Sect King seventeen sixteen seventeen. They abandoned
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: all all the commandments of the Lord their God, made
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: two golden calves and an ashera pole, worshiped all the
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: starry host and served bail. They sacrificed their sons and
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: daughters in fire, practiced divination and sorcery, and sold themselves
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: to do evil in the Lord's sight. The consequence of
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: this unfaithfulness was divine wrath. In Second King seventeen eighteen,
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained. This
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: separation between the northern tribes and Judah had begun with
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: the division of the kingdom after Solomon, but now it
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: became permanent through exile. The text then makes an important
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: observation about Judah in Second King seventeen nineteen. Even Judah
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God. Instead,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: they followed the customs that Israel had introduced. This statement
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: serves as a foreshadowing of the future judgment that would
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: also come upon the Southern Kingdom. The narrative then returns
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: to the story of the kingdom's original division in Sect
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: Kings seventeen twenty one twenty three. When the Lord tore
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: Israel away from the House of David, they made Jeroboam,
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led Israel away from
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: the Lord, causing them to commit a great sin. The
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: Israelites continued in all the sins of Jeroboam and did
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: not turn away from them until the Lord removed Israel
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: from his presence, just as he had worn through all
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: his prophets. The Assyrian policy of deportation is then detailed
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: in Second Kings Chapter seventeen, verses twenty four to twenty six.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: The King of Assyria brought people from Babylon Cuthah, Ava, Hamath,
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: in place of the children of Israel. This transplanted population
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. At
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: the beginning of their settlement there, they did not fear
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: killed some of them. This problem was reported to the
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria with an interesting religious interpretation in Second
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: Kings Chapter seventeen, verses twenty six and twenty seven, it
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: was said to him, the nations you have deported and
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: customs of the God of the land. Therefore he has
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing in
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: them because they do not know the customs of the
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: God of the land. The King of Assyria then ordered
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: that one of the deported priests be sent back to
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: teach them the customs of the God of the land.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: The result was the development of a unique syncretic religion.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings Chapter seventeen, verses two twenty nine to
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: thirty three, each nation continued making its own gods and
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: placing them in the houses of the high places that
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: the Samaritans had built. The Babylonians made Sukoth Benoth, the
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: people of Cutha made Nergal those from Himoth made Ashima,
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: the Avites made Nibbahs and Tartak, and those from Sepha
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: Vam burned their children in fire as offerings to Adramalek
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: and Namelek. They feared the Lord, but they also served
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: their own gods. This religious syncretism continued for generations. In
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: Second Kings Chapter seventeen, verses thirty four to forty one,
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: even up to the time of the texts writing, they
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: continued following their old customs. They did not truly fear
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord, nor did they follow his statutes, ordinances, laws,
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: or the commandment that the Lord had given to the
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: children of Jacob, whom he had named Israel. The theological
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 1: conclusion is clear. Exile came as a direct result of
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: dias dis obedience to the Covenant. Prophetic warnings had been ignored,
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: idolatry had become endemic, and pagan practices had corrupted worship.
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: The deportation of the Israelites and their replacement by foreign
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: peoples marked the effective end of the Ten Northern tribes
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: as a distinct political and religious entity. The events that
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: led to the fall of Samaria and its consequences served
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: as a solemn warning for Judah. As noted in Second Kings,
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, verse nineteen, the Southern Kingdom was following a
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: dangerously similar path. The history of the Northern Kingdom would
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: become a cautionary lesson for future generations, demonstrating the consequences
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: of unfaithfulness to the Covenant with God. The region that
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: had once been the Northern Kingdom would now become known
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: as Samaria, and its inhabitants, a mixture of remaining Israelites
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: and foreign settlers, would become the Samaritans. This mixed population
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: would develop its own version of Judaism, accepting only the
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: Torah as sacred scripture, and establishing its center of worship
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem. The fall of Samaria
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: represented not only the end of a political entity, but
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: also a profound rupture in the history of the Covenant people.
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: The ten Northern tribes were effectively lost to history, though
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: traditions about their fate continued to circulate, the focus of
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: biblical history would now shift entirely to Judah, where the
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: Davidic dynasty continued and where significant reforms were about to
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: take place under the reign of Hezekiah Amid. These dramatic
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: changes in the north. The Kingdom of Judah faced its
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: own challenges. In Second Kings Chapter eighteen, verse one. In
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: the third year of Hoshea so Navelah, King of Israel, Hezekiah,
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: son of Ahaz, King of Judah, began to reign. His
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: reign would mark a period of profound religious reforms and
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: unprecedented political challenges. In Zeka's King's Chapter eighteen, verses two
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: and three, Hezekiah was twenty five years old when he
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: began to reign, and he reigned for twenty nine years
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: following everything that David, his father had done. This comparison
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: to David is significant as it marks Hezekiah as one
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: of Judah's most faithful kings. Hezekiah's reforms were comprehensive and radical.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings Chapter eighteen, verses four and five, he
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: removed the high places, broke the pillars, cut down the asherapol,
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: and smashed the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: until that time the children of Israel had been burning
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: incense to it and calling it Nahushtan. The text emphasizes
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: that he trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel,
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: so that after him there was no one like him
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: came before him. The destruction of the bronze serpent is
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: particularly significant. This object, originally made by Moses in the
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: wilderness to heal the Israelites, had become an idol. Hezekiah's
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: willingness to destroy even an artifact with sacred history demonstrates
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: his determination to eliminate any form of idolatry. In Tegas
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: Kings chapter eighteen, verses six and seven, we see that
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah clung to the Lord, did not depart from him,
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: and kept the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses.
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: The Lord was with him in everything he undertook. He prospered.
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: He rebelled against the King of Assyria and did not
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: serve him, demonstrating extraordinary trust in God in the face
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: of the greatest military power of the time. His confidence
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: was not unfounded. In Second Kings Chapter eighteen, verse eight,
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: he struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: its territories, from the watch tower to the fortified city.
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: These military victories showed that divine blessing was upon him,
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: just as it had been with David. However, the greatest
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: challenge of Hezekiah's reign was yet to come. In Zaga
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: King's Chapter eighteen, verses nine to twelve, the text pauses
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: to recall the fall of Samaria, which occurred in the
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: fourth year of Hezekiah the seventh year of Hoshea. This
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: reminder serves to contrast Hezekiah's faithfulness with the unfaithfulness that
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: led to the Northern kingdom's destruction. The first major test
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: came in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah. In Second
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: Kings eighteen thirteen to sixteen, Sir Nacarib, king of Assyria,
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Initially,
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah attempted to appease the King of Assyria by sending
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: a message of submission and offering to pay whatever tribute
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: was imposed. The tribute was heavy, three hundred talents of
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: silver and thirty talents of gold. To pay it, Hezikiah
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: had to use all the silver found in the house
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's palace,
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: even stripping the gold from the doors and door posts
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: of the temple. But this payment did not satisfy Sir Nacarib.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: In su Kings eighteen seventeen eighteen, he sent the Tartan,
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 1: the Rabsares, and the rab Shake with a large army
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: from Lakish to Jerusalem to King Hezikiah. These officials stopped
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on the road
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: to the washersfield and called the king. What followed was
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: an extraordinary psychological battle. In Second Kings eighteen nineteen twenty five,
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: the Rabshake, the Assyrian spokesman, delivered a speech calculated to
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: shake the confidence of the Jews. He questioned Hezekiah's reliance
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: on Egypt, calling it a broken red, mocked his trust
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: in the Lord, misinterpreting Hezekiah's religious reforms as an attack
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: on true worship by referencing the altars he had removed,
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: and even claimed that the Lord himself had sent him
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: to destroy the land. Hezekiah's officials, Eliakim son of Hilkia,
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: Assaf the recorder, asked the Rabshaka to speak in Aramaic
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: so that the people on the wall would not understand.
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings eighteen twenty six to twenty seven, the
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: Rabshaka's response was even more provocative, insisting on speaking in
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: Hebrew and threatening the people with the horrors of a siege.
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: The Rabshaki's speech to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, recorded in
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: Second Kings eighteen twenty eight to thirty five, was a
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: masterpiece of psychological propaganda. He warned the people not to
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: be deceived by Hezekiah, promised deportation to a land of abundance,
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 1: a beneficial exile, and directly challenged the power of the Lord,
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: comparing him to the gods of the nations that Assyria
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: had already conquered. The people's response following Hezekiah's instructions was
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: total silence. In Second Kings eighteen thirty six, they did
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: not answer a word, for the king had commanded do
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: not answer him. The officials returned to Hezekiah with their
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: clothes torn and reported the rab shakis words. Hezekiah's reaction
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: demonstrated his piety. In Second Kings nineteen one to four,
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: upon him hearing the blasphemous words, he tore his clothes
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: covered himself with sacloth and went to the house of
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: the Lord. He sent his officials, also dressed in sackcloth,
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: to the Prophet Isaiah, acknowledging that this was a day
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: of distress, rebuke, and blasphemy, and asking him to pray
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: for the remaining remnant. Isaiah's response was encouraging. In Second
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: Kings nineteen to five Dust seven, he assured them that
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord had heard the blasphemous words and promised that
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Senacarib would hear a rumor return to his land and
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: there be slain by the sword. This prophecy would be
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: fulfilled in detail the Rabshakeh and Senacarib fighting against Libna,
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: as he had already withdrawn from Lakish. In Zaca Kings
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: nineteen nine thirteen, upon hearing the Tirhkah, king of Ethiopia,
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: was coming to fight against him, Senacarib sent new messengers
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: to Hezekiah with a threatening letter, listing all the nations
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: he had destroyed and challenging the God of Israel to
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: save Jerusalem. Ezekiah's response to this letter reveals his deep faith.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: In Zehen Kings nineteen fourteen to nineteen, he went up
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: to the House of the Lord and spread the letter
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: before him. His prayer acknowledged the Lord as the one
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: True God, the creator of heaven and earth, and pleaded
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: for deliverance not just for Judah's safety, but so that
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone,
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: O Lord, are God. The divine response came through Isaiah
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: in an extensive and poetic prophecy. In Zashon Kings nineteen
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: twenty to thirty four, the Lord answered Senacarib's challenge, mocking
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: his arrogance and reminding him that all his military successes
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: were merely the fulfillment of God's plan. The prophecy promised
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: that Senacarib would not enter Jerusalem, would not shoot an
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: arrow there, would not raise a shield against it, nor
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: build siege ramps rounded. The fulfillment of this prophecy was
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: dramatic and supernatural. In Second Kings nineteen thirty five thirty six,
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: that very night, the Angel of the Lord went out
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: and struck down one hundred eighty five thousand Assyrian soldiers
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: in their camp. When the survivors awoke the next morning,
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: they found the dead bodies all around them. Senacarib withdrew
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: and returned to Nineveh. Senacarib's end recorded in Second Kings
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven, also fulfilled the prophecy. While worshiping in
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: the house of his God, Nisrok, his own sons, A
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: Dramlek and Shariza struck him down with the sword and
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: fled to the land of Araorat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: him as king. After this miraculous deliverance, Hezekiah faced a
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: personal crisis. In Second Kings twenty one to three, he
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah came to him with
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: a solemn message, set your house in order, for you
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: will die and not live. Hezekiah turned his face to
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: the wall and prayed to the Lord, recalling how he
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: had walked faithfully before him with a wholehearted devotion, doing
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: what was good in his sight, and he wept bitterly.
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: The divine response was immediate. In Second Kings twenty four
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: to six, before Isaiah had even left the middle courtyard,
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came to him, instructing him
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: to return and tell Hezekiah that his prayer had been heard.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: God promised to add fifteen years to his life and
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: to deliver both him and the city from the hand
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 1: of the King of Assyria. As a sign of this promise,
• 1:24:44
  Speaker 1: in Second Kings twenty eight to eleven, the Lord made
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: the shadow on the steps of a Hazis sun dial
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: go back ten degrees. This extraordinary miracle would be remembered
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: even by foreign nations, as we will see next. During
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: his recovery, he Zekiah received a significant visit. In Second
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty twelve to thirteen, Merodach Baladan, king of Babylon,
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah because he had
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: heard that he had been sick. Hezekiah was pleased with
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: the messengers and showed them his entire treasure house, the silver,
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: the gold, the spices, the fine oils, his armory, and
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: everything in his storehouses. This display of wealth would prove
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: to be a costly mistake. In Second Kings twenty fourteen
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: to eighteen, the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and prophesied
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: that days would come when everything in his house would
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: be taken to Babylon, and some of his descendants would
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: serve as eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon.
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's response in Second Kings twenty nineteen reflects a mix
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: of resignation and gratitude for the peace in his own days.
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's reign concludes with the summary of his accomplishments in
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: Second Kings twenty one. Among his notable works was the
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: pool and the tunnel that brought water into the city,
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: an impressive feat of engineering known to day as Hezekiah's Tunnel,
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: which can still be visited in Jerusalem. After his death,
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: his son Manassa reigned in his place, ushering in an
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: error that would undo much of the good Hezekiah had accomplished.
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: Manassa's assent to the throne of Judah marked the beginning
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: of the end for the Southern kingdom. In Second Kings
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: twenty one one two. He was only twelve years old
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: when he began to reign, and he ruled for fifty
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: five years in Jerusalem, the longest reign of any king
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: of Judah or Israel. His mother's name was Hefseiba. The
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: text is straightforward in its assessment. He did what was
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: evil in the sight of the Lord, following the abominations
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: of the nations that the Lord had driven out before
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: the children of Israel manassas long reign was a period
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: of profound spiritual and cultural transformation in Judah. In Second
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty one t three to five, he not only
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: reversed all his father Hezekiah's reforms, but also took idolatry
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: to new extremes. He rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: had destroyed, erected altars to bail, and made an ashera pole,
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: just as Ahab had done in Israel. His devotion to
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: astral worship was so intense that he built altars for
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: all the host of heaven in both courtyards of the
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: Lord's temple. The desecration of the temple reached unprecedented levels.
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings twenty one to six to seven, Manassa
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: made his own son pass through the fire, a practice
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: associated with the worship of Molek that involved child sacrifice.
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: He practiced divination, consulted omens and mediums, and multiplied provocations
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: against the Lord. The height of his offense was placing
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: a carved image of the ashe peropol inside the very temple,
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: the place God had chosen to put his name forever.
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: The Book of Second Chronicles provides additional details about this
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: period in Second Chronicles thirty three six nine. He not
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: only practiced these abominations, but also led Judah and the
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, causing them to do more evil
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: than the nations the Lord had destroyed before them. When
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, they did
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: not listen. The prophetic response to these actions was severe.
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings twenty one ten and fifteen, through his
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: servants the prophets, the Lord announced that he would bring
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: such disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah that it would make
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: the ears of those who heard it tingle. The metaphor
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: used is particularly significant. God would apply to Jerusalem the
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: same measuring line and plumb line used to judge se
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: Mehi before its destruction, like a dish that is wiped
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: and turned upside down, so God would wipe Jerusalem clean.
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: Persecution of the faithful reach terrible levels during his reign.
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings twenty one sixteen, Manassa shed so much
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from one end to
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: the other. Jewish tradition preserved in the Talmud states that
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: among his victims was the prophet Isaiah, who was said
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: to have been sorn in half, a possible reference to
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven thirty seven, which mentions prophets who were sorn apart. However,
• 1:29:37
  Speaker 1: Second the Chronicles presents a surprising aspect of Manassa's story.
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: In Second Chronicles thirty three eleven to thirteen, the Lord
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: brought against him the commanders of the Assyrian army, who
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: captured him with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: took him to Babylon. In his distress, he humbled himself
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: greatly before the God of his ancestors and pray. God
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: heard his supplication and restored him to Jerusalem. After his return,
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: Manassa attempted to reverse some of the damage. In Second
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: Chronicles thirty three fourteen to seventeen, he rebuilt the outer
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: wall of the city of David, removed the foreign gods
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: and the idol from the Lord's house, as well as
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: all the altars he had built on the mount of
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: the Lord's temple. He restored the altar of the Lord
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: and offered peace and thanksgiving sacrifices on it. However, the
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: people still sacrificed on the high places, though only to
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: the Lord their god. This late conversion of Manassa, though
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: genuine was not enough to change the course of history.
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: The spiritual and moral damage inflicted during his long reign
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: was too deep. In Jeremiah fifteen four, the Lord declares
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: that because of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, King of Judah,
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 1: and all he had done in Jerusalem, the people would
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 1: be handed over to exile. After Manassa's death, his son
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: Ahmon took the throne in Second Kings twenty one to
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty two. He was twenty two years old
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: when he began to reign and rule for only two
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Messhulimouth, daughter of
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: Harus from jotbah Amond completely followed the early example of
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: his father serving and worshiping the idols Manassa had worshiped,
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: abandoning the Lord and not walking in his ways. Amon's
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: reign was marked by violence and ended in tragedy. In
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: Second Kings twenty one twenty three to twenty four, his
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: own servants conspired against him and assassinated him in his house. However,
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: the people of the land executed all the conspirators and
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: placed his son Josiah on the throne. This popular action
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: suggests that despite the apostasy of the leaders, there was
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: still a strong sense of loyalty to the Davidic line
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: among the people. Josiah presented the last great hope for
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: reform in Judah in Second Kings twenty two one two.
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: He was only eight years old when he began to reign,
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: and he ruled for thirty one years in Jerusalem. His
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: mother's name was Jedidah, daughter of Adiah from Boscath. The
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: text presents him as an exemplary king who walked in
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: all the ways of David, not turning aside to the
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: right or to the left. In the eighteenth year of
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: his reign, a transformative event took place in Second Kings
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: twenty two three per seven, while overseeing restoration work in
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: the temple, the high priest Hilkier found the Book of
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: the Law. This discovery suggests the extent of neglect into
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: which temple worship had fallen. The very Law of God
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: had been lost or forgotten during the previous reigns. Josiah's
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: reaction upon hearing the words of the Law was dramatic.
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings twenty two eleven to thirteen, he shore
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: his robes in deep sorrow and immediately sent a delegation
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: to consult the Lord on what should be done. The
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: group sought out the prophetess Hulda, who lived in the
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: second District of Jerusalem. Hulda's response was both a warning
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: and a personal promise to Josiah. In Second Kings twenty
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: two fifteen to twenty, she confirmed that all the judgment
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: written in the book would come upon Judah due to
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: its persistent unfaithfulness. However, because Josiah's heart was tender and
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: he humbled himself before the Lord, he would be gathered
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: in peace and would not witness all the disaster that
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: God was bringing upon that place. Josiah's reforms were the
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 1: most comprehensive since the days of David. In Zagreb King's
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 1: twenty three four fourteen, he began with a thorough cleansing
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 1: of the temple, removing all the articles made for bal
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: Asherer and all the host of heaven. The idolatrous prests
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: were deposed, the houses of the cult prostitutes were destroyed,
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 1: and the high places were defiled. The reform extended beyond Jerusalem.
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: In tren Kings twenty three to fifteen to twenty, Josiah
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: destroyed the altar at Bethel the Jeroboam had built, fulfilling
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: a prophecy spoken three hundred years earlier. He removed all
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria,
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: demonstrating an effort to restore pure worship even in the
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: former lands of the Northern Kingdom. The climax of the
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: reforms was the celebration of Passover. In Second Kings twenty
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: three twenty one twenty three, Josiah commanded that the feast
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: be observed as written in the Book of the Covenant.
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: The text emphasizes that such a passover had not been
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: celebrated since the days of the Judges. Not even the
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: celebrations in the times of David or Solomon could compare
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: in terms of faithfulness to the requirements of the law law.
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: Josiah's spiritual evaluation is extraordinary. In Second King's twenty three
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: twenty five, no king before him had turned to the
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength according to
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: all the Law of Moses, nor did any arise like
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: him afterward. However, even this remarkable king could not reverse
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: the course of divine judgment in Zactin Kings twenty three
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: twenty six. The Lord did not turn away from the
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: fierceness of his great wrath against Judah because of the
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: provocations of Manasseh. Josiah's end was both tragic and premature.
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: In San King's twenty three twenty nine thirty he was
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: killed by Pharaoh Neko at Megido, as Neko was on
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: his way to aid the king of Assyria. His death
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: marked the beginning of Judah's rapid final decline. Less than
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: twenty five years after his death, Jerusalem would be destroyed.
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: The succession of kings after Josiah illustrates the king Kingdom's
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: accelerated deterioration. Verse came Jehoahaz, who reigned only three months
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: before being taken captive to Egypt in Second Kings twenty
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: three thirty one thirty three. He was twenty three years
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: old when he began to reign and did what was
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: evil in the lord's sight. Pharaoh Neko imprisoned him at
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: Ribla and imposed a heavy tribute on Judah. Pharaoh Neko
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: then appointed another of Josiah's sons as king, changing his
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim. In Second Kings twenty three
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: thirty four, thirty seven. Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years and
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: was an oppressive ruler who heavily taxed the people to
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 1: pay tribute to Egypt. He built his palace using unpaid
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: forced labour, as condemned by the prophet Jeremiah. The international
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: scene changed dramatically during Jehoiakim's reign. In Second Kings twenty
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: four one two, Nebuchadnezza, king of Babylon, invaded the land
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years before rebelling.
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: As a result, the lord sent raiding bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites,
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: and Ammonites to destroy Judah. After Jehoiakim's death, his son
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: Jehoyakin reigned for only three months before nebucud Nezar took
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: him captive to Babylon in sids Kings twenty four twelve
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: to sixteen. This first deportation was extensive. In addition to
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 1: the royal family, all the treasures of the temple and
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: palace were taken, along with all the princes, all the
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: mighty men, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths.
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: Only the poorest people of the land were left behind.
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: Nebucud Neza then appointed Mattanaia Jehoyakin's uncle as king, changing
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: his name to Zedekiah. In Seca King's twenty four eighteen nineteen,
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign,
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. Like his
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: immediate predecessors, he did what was evil in the lord's sight.
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: The end came when Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon. In Zegu's
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty five one per seven, Nebucadnza besieged Jerusalem with
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: his entire army. After a two year siege, the famine
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: in the city was so severe that there was no
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: bread for the people. When the Babylonians broke through the walls,
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: Zedekiah tried to flee at night, but was captured. His
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: sons were executed before his eyes, after which he was
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: blinded and taken in chains to Babylon. The destruction of
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem was methodical and complete. In second Kings twenty five
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 1: eight to twenty one, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Guard,
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: burned the temple, the royal Palace, and all the important
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: houses of Jerusalem. The walls were torn down and most
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 1: of the remaining population was taken in to exile. Only
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 1: a few of the poorest people were left behind to
• 1:39:04
  Speaker 1: be vineyard keepers and farmers. The final verses of the
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: book offer a small glimpse of hope. In Second Kings
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty five, verses twenty seven to thirty, after thirty
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: seven years of captivity, Evil Merodach, king of Babylon, released
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 1: Jehoyakin from prison and granted him a position of honor
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: above the other exiled kings, providing him with a daily
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: allowance for the rest of his life. This small act
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 1: of mercy suggested that even in exile, the Davidic line
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: had not been completely cut off, and that God still
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: had a future for his people beyond judgment. Thus ends
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: the Book of Second Kings, a powerful narrative that takes
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 1: us from the division of the Kingdom to the Babylonian exile.
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 1: It is a story that teaches us about the consequences
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: of our choices, the importance of faithfulness, and how God
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 1: remains faithful even when he people fail. We have seen
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: faithful and wicked kings, courageous prophets, extraordinary miracles, and ultimately
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: the tragic consequences of persistent disobedience. If you enjoyed this
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: journey through the history of set kings and want to
• 1:40:15
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• 1:40:20
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• 1:40:24
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• 1:40:28
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• 1:40:31
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• 1:40:36
  Speaker 1: of the Bible.