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2 Chronicles 15 - How Can God "Forsake" Us When It Says He Will Never Leave Us or Forsake Us? · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, hello and good morning friends and faithful listeners,
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  Speaker 1: and welcome to the Bible Explain Podcasts on this lovely morning.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm so excited that you're starting your week off
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  Speaker 1: well with listening to the Bible this morning with me
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  Speaker 1: and also sharing a delicious cup of coffee. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to be talking about Second Chronicles, chapter fifteen and more
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  Speaker 1: of ASA's religious reform that he does in Judah, and
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  Speaker 1: we'll also talk about how it says God will never
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  Speaker 1: leave us nor forsake us, but in Second Chronicles fifteen
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  Speaker 1: it says that God will forsake those who forsake him.
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  Speaker 1: So how can those two things be true at the
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  Speaker 1: same time. We will talk about that in just one second. Now,
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  Speaker 1: faithful listeners, before I begin this podcast episode, go ahead
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  Speaker 1: and help me out by listening to this word from
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  Speaker 1: one of our sponsors. Okay, So, like I said, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to be talking about Second Chronicles fifteen today and
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  Speaker 1: discussing the entire chapter. So grab your cup of coffee
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  Speaker 1: or your cup of tea this morning, and let's go
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  Speaker 1: ahead and jump into scripture together. As always, I'll be
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  Speaker 1: reading from the web. The Spirit of God came on
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  Speaker 1: Azaria the son of Odad. And he went out to
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  Speaker 1: meet Asa and said to him, hear me, Asa, and
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  Speaker 1: all Judah and Benjamin. Yahweh is with you while you
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  Speaker 1: are with him, And if you seek him, he will
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  Speaker 1: be found by you. But if you forsake him, he
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  Speaker 1: will forsake you. Now, for a long time Israel was
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  Speaker 1: without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.
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  Speaker 1: But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the
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  Speaker 1: God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
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  Speaker 1: In those times, there was no peace to him who
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  Speaker 1: went out, nor to him who came in. But great
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  Speaker 1: troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. They
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  Speaker 1: were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city.
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  Speaker 1: For God troubled them with all adversity. But you be strong,
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  Speaker 1: don't let your hands be slack, for your work will
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  Speaker 1: be rewarded. When Aesa heard these words and the prophecy
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  Speaker 1: of Odd the Prophet, he took courage and put away
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  Speaker 1: the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin,
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  Speaker 1: and out of the cities which he had taken from
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  Speaker 1: the hill country of Ephriam. And he renewed Yahwei's altar
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  Speaker 1: that was before Yahwe's porch. He gathered all Judah and
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  Speaker 1: Benjamin and those who lived with them out of Ephriam, Manassa,
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  Speaker 1: and Simeon, for they all came to him out of
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  Speaker 1: Israel in abundance when they saw that Yahweh, his God,
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  Speaker 1: was with him. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: In the third month in the fifteenth year of Ace's reign.
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  Speaker 1: They sacrificed Yahweh in that day of the plunder which
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  Speaker 1: they had brought seven hundred heads of cattle and seven
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  Speaker 1: thousand sheep. They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: the God of their fathers, with all their heart and
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  Speaker 1: with all their soul, and that whoever would not seek Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether
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  Speaker 1: small or great, whether man or woman. They swore to
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and
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  Speaker 1: with cornets. All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they
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  Speaker 1: had sworn with all their heart and sought him with
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  Speaker 1: their whole desire, and He was found by them. Then
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh gave them rest all around. Also Maka, the mother
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  Speaker 1: of Asa the King. He removed from being queen mother
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  Speaker 1: because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah.
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  Speaker 1: So Asa cut down her image, grounded into dust and
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  Speaker 1: burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places
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  Speaker 1: were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart
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  Speaker 1: of Asa was perfect all his days. He brought the
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  Speaker 1: things that his father had dedicated, and the things that
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  Speaker 1: he had dedicated silver, gold, and vessels into God's house.
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  Speaker 1: There was no more war to the thirty fifth year
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  Speaker 1: of Ace's reign. I don't know if you guys remember
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  Speaker 1: what happened in the last chapter, but essentially Asa became
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  Speaker 1: the king, and he was a good king. He followed
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh all of his days, so he was a Yahweh
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  Speaker 1: worshipper through and through. Now his dad was not who
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  Speaker 1: was the previous king, Abaijah Abijah was actually a terrible
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  Speaker 1: king and introduced a lot of idolatry in Israel. But
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  Speaker 1: as soon as Asa became the king, he actually started
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  Speaker 1: this religious reform. And it says in Second Chronicles fourteen
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  Speaker 1: the previous chapter that Asa took away out of all
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  Speaker 1: the cities of Judah, the high places and the sun images,
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  Speaker 1: and the kingdom was quiet before him. So yes, he
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  Speaker 1: started this religious reform that spread across Judah. And because
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  Speaker 1: he was seeking Yahweh and encouraging Judah to seek Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: God actually gave King Asa rest, so no wars for
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  Speaker 1: ten whole years. But then after ten years, this Ethiopian
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  Speaker 1: army of a million men come up against Israel. And
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  Speaker 1: the Ethiopians during this time and history, were actually like
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  Speaker 1: on a rampage. They had taken control of a lot
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  Speaker 1: of Egypt at this point, and they were kind of
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  Speaker 1: going on a conquest across all of the ancient world.
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  Speaker 1: So they set their sights on Israel and King Asa.
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  Speaker 1: King Asa with his five hundred thousand men, is going
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  Speaker 1: up against an army of a million men. So Asa
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  Speaker 1: cries out to God, as does all of the army,
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  Speaker 1: and God a actually defeats the Ethiopian army for King
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  Speaker 1: Asa and for Judah. And so now we are up
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  Speaker 1: to date. In Second Chronicles fifteen, it says in verse
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  Speaker 1: one that the spirit of God came on Azaria, the
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  Speaker 1: son of Odaed. Now we don't know really who Azaria
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  Speaker 1: the son of Oded is. He's very briefly mentioned in scripture.
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  Speaker 1: He's one of the lesser known prophets, but he was
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  Speaker 1: a prophet who received a special word from God specifically
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  Speaker 1: for King Asa. So it says Azaria went out to
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  Speaker 1: meet Asa and said to him, hear me, Asa and
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  Speaker 1: all Judah and Benjamin Yahweh is with you while you
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  Speaker 1: are with him, and if you seek him, he will
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  Speaker 1: be found by you. But if you forsake him, he
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  Speaker 1: will forsake you. The first time I ever read that
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  Speaker 1: verse years ago, it actually really struck me, particularly the
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  Speaker 1: phrase if you seek him, he will be found by you.
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  Speaker 1: The people who are truly looking for God, they're going
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  Speaker 1: to find him. God is not hiding. He actually wants
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  Speaker 1: you to know him. He wants to be in a
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  Speaker 1: relationship with you. But if you forsake him, he will
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  Speaker 1: forsake you. And that's the part of the verse that
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  Speaker 1: I think maybe confuses a lot of people because there
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  Speaker 1: are so many verses in scripture that say I will
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  Speaker 1: never leave you or forsake you. For example, let's go
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  Speaker 1: ahead and read Deuteronomy thirty one one through eight, And
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  Speaker 1: this was while his people were still in the wilderness,
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  Speaker 1: right before Moses dies and Joshua takes over, and they're
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  Speaker 1: about to go into the promised land. Here's what God
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  Speaker 1: says to the people. Verse one. Moses went and spoke
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  Speaker 1: all these words to Israel. He said to them, I
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  Speaker 1: am one hundred and twenty years old. Today I can
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  Speaker 1: no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said
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  Speaker 1: to me. You shall not go over this Jordan. Yahweh
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  Speaker 1: or God himself, will go over before you. He will
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  Speaker 1: destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them.
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  Speaker 1: Joshua will go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon
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  Speaker 1: and Og the kings of the Amirits, and to their
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  Speaker 1: land when he destroyed them. Yahweh will deliver them up
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  Speaker 1: before you, and you shall do to them according to
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  Speaker 1: all the commandment which I've commanded. You. Be strong and courageous.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid or scared of them. For Yahweh or
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  Speaker 1: God himself is who goes with you. He will not
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  Speaker 1: fail you nor forsake you. Moses called to Joshua and
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  Speaker 1: said to him, in sight of all of Israel, be
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  Speaker 1: strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people
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  Speaker 1: into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers.
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  Speaker 1: To give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be
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  Speaker 1: with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged. And later on in
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  Speaker 1: the New Testament, Hebrews actually quotes this verse that God
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  Speaker 1: is never going to leave nor forsake his people. So
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  Speaker 1: how is it that if God promises he is never
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  Speaker 1: going to leave or forsake his people. That second Chronicles
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  Speaker 1: fifteen says that if we forsake God, he's going to
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  Speaker 1: forsake us. How can those two things be true at
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  Speaker 1: the same time. How can God both never forsake us
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  Speaker 1: and also forsake us. Well, first, let's go back to
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  Speaker 1: the Hebrew word for forsake. The Hebrew word is a zab.
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  Speaker 1: It means to leave, abandon, reject, dessert, be left behind,
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  Speaker 1: be freed, to be abandoned, YadA, YadA, YadA. So keep
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  Speaker 1: those definitions in mind as I present my arguments here. Well,
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  Speaker 1: first and foremost, God can never really leave us because
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  Speaker 1: of the prime reason that God is omnipresent. So, for example,
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  Speaker 1: in Jeremiah twenty three Versus twenty three and twenty four.
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  Speaker 1: God says this to his people. I am a god
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  Speaker 1: at hand, says Yahweh, and a god not far off.
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  Speaker 1: Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I
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  Speaker 1: can't see him? Says Yahweh. Don't I fill heaven and earth?
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  Speaker 1: And then if you turn to Psalm one thirty nine,
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  Speaker 1: one of my favorite psalms, here's what Verses seven through
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  Speaker 1: twelve says, where could I go from your spirit? Where
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  Speaker 1: could I flee from your presence? If I ascend up
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  Speaker 1: into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed
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  Speaker 1: and shoal behold, you are there. If I take the
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  Speaker 1: wings of the dawn and settle in the uttermost parts
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  Speaker 1: of the sea, even there, your hand will lead me,
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  Speaker 1: and your right hand will hold me. If I say,
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  Speaker 1: surely the darkness will overwhelm me, the light around me
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  Speaker 1: will be night. Even the darkness doesn't hide from you,
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  Speaker 1: but the night shines as the day. The darkness is
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  Speaker 1: like a light to you. So that's the Psalmist to David,
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  Speaker 1: saying that no matter where he goes, even if he
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  Speaker 1: went to the bottom of the sea, even if he
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  Speaker 1: went to the grave, even if he ascended up into
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  Speaker 1: heaven or the highest mountain, no matter where he goes
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  Speaker 1: in all of God's creation, God would be there because
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  Speaker 1: God is omnipresent. That means he is everywhere all the time.
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  Speaker 1: There is nothing hidden from him. But he can hide
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  Speaker 1: him self from us. So here's what Isaiah sixty four
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  Speaker 1: five through seven says. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned.
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  Speaker 1: We have been in sin for a long time. Shall
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  Speaker 1: we be saved? For we have all become like one
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  Speaker 1: who is unclean, and our righteousness is like polluted garments.
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  Speaker 1: We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like
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  Speaker 1: the wind take us away. There is no one who
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  Speaker 1: calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take
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  Speaker 1: hold of you, for you have hidden your face from
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  Speaker 1: us and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go. That entire passage Isaiah sixty four
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  Speaker 1: answers the question how can God forsake us? When he
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  Speaker 1: says He's not going to leave us or forsake us.
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  Speaker 1: Don't forget the word forsake in Hebrew has multiple meanings.
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  Speaker 1: He is never going to leave us or abandon us,
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  Speaker 1: but he will reject us, which is one of the
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  Speaker 1: other meanings of the word for sake, because we are
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  Speaker 1: not following after him. So that is how both things
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  Speaker 1: can be true at the exact same time. He won't
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  Speaker 1: leave us or abandon us because he's always around, but
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  Speaker 1: he will reject us if we refuse to follow after him,
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  Speaker 1: if we refuse to stop sinning, eventually his hand of
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  Speaker 1: blessing will get taken off of us. And that is
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  Speaker 1: what the prophet Azaria is telling Asa. In Second Chronicles fifteen.
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  Speaker 1: He says, Asa, pursue God. When you pursue him, he
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  Speaker 1: will be found by you. But if you forsake him,
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  Speaker 1: if you reject him, he is also going to reject you.
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  Speaker 1: But moving on to verse three of our passage for
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  Speaker 1: today now, for a long time Israel was without the
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  Speaker 1: true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. But
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  Speaker 1: when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
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  Speaker 1: In those times, there was no peace to him who
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  Speaker 1: went out, nor to him who came in. But great
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  Speaker 1: troubles were on all the inhabitants of the land. They
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  Speaker 1: were broken in peaces, nation against nation, city against city,
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  Speaker 1: For God truled them with all their adversity so I
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  Speaker 1: believe the prophet here is talking about the times right
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  Speaker 1: before the Kings. I don't know if you remember how
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  Speaker 1: crazy the Book of Judges was. It's one of my
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  Speaker 1: favorite books of the Bible because it's so interesting, but
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  Speaker 1: it also shows just the mercy of God over and
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  Speaker 1: over and over again, when Israel was so corrupt and
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  Speaker 1: so terrible during their early days, right before the Kings
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  Speaker 1: took over. Fantastic book, but it was exactly what Azaria
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  Speaker 1: is talking about in those times verse five. There was
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  Speaker 1: no peace to him who went out, nor to him
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  Speaker 1: who came in. But great troubles were on all the
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  Speaker 1: inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in peaces, nations
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  Speaker 1: against nation, and city against city, for God troubled them
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  Speaker 1: with all adversity. So I think the point of Azaria,
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  Speaker 1: this prophet telling Asa all of this is to remind
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  Speaker 1: him that when Israel or Judah does not follow after God,
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  Speaker 1: bad things start to happen. As Israel rejs God, God
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  Speaker 1: is going to reject Israel now. Of course, because of
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  Speaker 1: God's mercy, he always comes to the aid of his
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  Speaker 1: people over and over and over again, which is essentially
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  Speaker 1: what the Book of Judges was. About God always comes
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  Speaker 1: back to his people because again, he can never leave
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  Speaker 1: or abandon them, but he can reject them from time
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  Speaker 1: to time when they reject him. So this prophet who
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  Speaker 1: is receiving this word from God does not want Asa
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  Speaker 1: to make the same mistakes that the judges made and
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  Speaker 1: the kings before Asa had made. So depending on how
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  Speaker 1: you look at it, this is either a warning to
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  Speaker 1: Asa or it's a very encouraging message because the prophet
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  Speaker 1: ends by saying, you be strong, Asa, don't let your
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  Speaker 1: hands be slack, for your work will be rewarded. And
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  Speaker 1: it could be that Asa, you know, as the years
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  Speaker 1: go on, is starting to feel a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: fear because it says here in verse eight that when
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  Speaker 1: Asa heard these words and the prophecy of oded the prophet,
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  Speaker 1: he took courage and put away the abominations out of
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  Speaker 1: all the land of Judah and Benjamin, out of all
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  Speaker 1: the cities which he had taken from the hill country
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  Speaker 1: of Ephriam, and he renewed Yahwei's altar that was before
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  Speaker 1: Yahwe's porch. So you remember that early on in Aesa's
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  Speaker 1: reign he did have that religious reform. But now because
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  Speaker 1: of this prophet's words and other prophets. It looks like
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  Speaker 1: it also says that Odad the prophet came to Asa
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  Speaker 1: as well, which would have been the father of this
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  Speaker 1: other prophet, Azaria. These two prophets encouraged Asa to keep
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  Speaker 1: on going and spreading this religious reform on behalf of Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: so that the people would not worship all of these
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  Speaker 1: other abominable idols is what scripture calls them, but actually
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  Speaker 1: worship Yahweh fully and don't forget. You know, Asa had
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  Speaker 1: that big battle with the Ethiopian men, and after that,
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  Speaker 1: it looks like Asa had some more battles because it
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  Speaker 1: also meant that he took some land from the hill
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  Speaker 1: country of Ephriam. So after all of those battles happened,
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  Speaker 1: Asa no longer continued, it sounds like with his religious reform,
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  Speaker 1: but now he has courage to do it once again,
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  Speaker 1: and so all of these cities that he took, he
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  Speaker 1: removes all of the idols and everything that was causing
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  Speaker 1: Israel to fall away from Yahweh. And it also says
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  Speaker 1: that he renewed Yahwa's altar that was before Yahwe's porch,
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  Speaker 1: So I'd imagine that he repaired it in some way.
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  Speaker 1: Then in verse nine, he gathered all Judah and Benjamin
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  Speaker 1: and those who lived with them out of Ephria, Manassa,
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  Speaker 1: and Simeon, for they came out to him out of
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  Speaker 1: Israel in abundance when they saw that Yahweh, his God,
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  Speaker 1: was with him. So people were migrating out of Israel
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  Speaker 1: into Judah because Judah, you know, it is kind of
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  Speaker 1: going downhill from almost the immediate get go. But Judah
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  Speaker 1: under King Asa was actually flourishing, and so the people
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  Speaker 1: of Israel noticed this, so like, oh, you know, Judah
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  Speaker 1: is actually doing really well under King Asa, and so
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  Speaker 1: they all left, they immigrated into Judah, it says, And
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  Speaker 1: that could be why in the next chapter, King Basha
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  Speaker 1: of Israel was so irritated and angry at Asa and
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  Speaker 1: started all of these wars with him because he was
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  Speaker 1: losing his people in droves down to Judah. So it
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  Speaker 1: says that all of these people in verse ten gathered
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  Speaker 1: themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month in the
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  Speaker 1: fifteenth year of ASA's reign. They sacrificed to Yahweh that
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  Speaker 1: day of the plunder, which they had brought seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: heads of cattle and seven thousand sheep. It says that
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  Speaker 1: they sacrificed to Yahweh that day, and they entered into
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  Speaker 1: the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers,
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  Speaker 1: with all their heart and with all their soul, and
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  Speaker 1: that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: should be put to death, whether small or great, or
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  Speaker 1: whether man or woman. So they enter into this oath,
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  Speaker 1: this covenant, this promise. And you know, there's usually bad
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  Speaker 1: things associated with oaths in the Old Testament. It tends
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  Speaker 1: to burn the people in the end because they can't
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  Speaker 1: keep their end of the bargain. And I'm certainly not
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  Speaker 1: saying that every single oath is bad. It's not. It's
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  Speaker 1: not sinful to make an oath, it's just sinful to
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  Speaker 1: not keep the oath. So oaths are not inherently wrong,
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  Speaker 1: but generally people can't keep the oath that they make.
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  Speaker 1: And I would imagine here this is probably an oath
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  Speaker 1: that the people cannot keep. And they may have done
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  Speaker 1: this out of the emotion they were feeling at the time,
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  Speaker 1: where they're like, God, we're never gonna leave you. In fact,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: we are going to dedicate our lives to you so
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: much that we will kill anybody who does not follow
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: after you. Now that being said, there were Old Testament
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: laws that said to put idolators to death because idolatry
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: was a spiritual sickness that would spread like wildfire across
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: all of Israel. However, in this verse, it says they
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: would put to death anybody who would not seek after Yahweh.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: And I find that interesting because I was pouring through
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament laws to see if there was one
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: that said to put to death anybody that doesn't seek
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: after God. It says that capital punishment is for those
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: who are actively worshiping other gods, breaking their covenant with God,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: and also encouraging other people to worship these idols as well.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: It could be that they made this vow without really
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: thinking about it, and that's what we see with vows
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: a lot of times in the Old Testament, is like
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: people will make them without really thinking this thing through,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: and that could be the case of what happened here.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: But again, it could also be that the people were
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: trying to follow after Yahweh genuinely had a heart of
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: wanting to worship God, wanting to seek after God and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: renewed their covenant with God because they had made a
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: covenant with God. You know, way back in the wilderness times,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: they said, God, We're going to worship you and you own.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: And so it could be that these people were truly
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: renewing that covenant with God, saying, for all of our lives,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: we are going to worship the one and only God.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: So it says that they swore to Yahweh with a
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with cornets. So
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: they had this big parade. All Judah rejoiced at the oath,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: for they had sworn with all their heart and sought
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: him with their whole desire, and He was found by them.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: It says that Yahweh gave them rest all around. So
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: after this entire religious reform ends up happening, it says
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: that God gave them rest from their enemies, and there
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: was so much rest actually that there is no more
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: war until the thirty fifth year of Ace's reign. So
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: approximately twenty years of peace happens for Israel after all
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: of this takes place, and that's because of Ace's courage
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: to actually finish what he started, this religious reform. It
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: also says in verse sixteen through eighteen which I have
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: to apologize because I mentioned a few episodes ago that
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles didn't mention Maka, Ace's mother that it does
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: right here, And again I didn't read forward enough to
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: see that Maka is in fact right here. So Maka,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: as we know, was the mother of King Asa, and
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: she was also the mother of King ASA's father, and
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: that is just disgusting. You know. Every single time I
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: read about this, I'm like, oh, okay, So Maka, the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: mother of Asa the king, who was also the mother
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: of ASA's father, was removed from being the queen mother. Okay.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: So Asa removed her because she had made an abominable
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: image for an Ashrah. So Asa cut down her image,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: grounded into dust and burned it at the brook Kidron.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: But the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the heart of Asa was perfect all his days, and
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: we did talk about that a few days ago, so
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to rehash that particular verse, but essentially,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: ASA's heart was always for God. You know, he never
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: worshiped any other God other than Yahweh. He was one
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: of the first kings to actually do this. It says
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: that he brought things that his father had den dedicated
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: and that he himself had dedicated silver, gold and vessels
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: into God's house and there was no more war to
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: the thirty fifth year of Ace's Rain. So yeah, Asa
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: was a pretty good king. He had his problems, as
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: we're going to find out soon enough, but he was
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: a good king for Israel. He started this religious reform
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that ended up helping Israel out for a very long
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: period of time because God was not rejecting Israel since
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Israel was not rejecting God. And so overall, Ace's Rain
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: pretty good one. But we'll talk about some of his
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: problems in the next chapter. But before I end this
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: podcast episode, go ahead and help me out by listening
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: to a word from one of our sponsors. So in
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the next chapter we will be talking about ASA's Rain,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: And normally I would do that this upcoming Wednesday, but
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: we're not going to have a regular scheduled episode on
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Wednesday because it's Christmas Eve and every single Christmas Eve,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: I do a special episode for you guys, A candlelit
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Christmas podcast episode is what I call it. So to
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: become coming out midnight on December twenty fifth, So make
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: sure to stay up nice and late. It's gonna be
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: a good family friendly episode that you can listen to
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: with your entire crew, and you can have your pjs
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: on and sit next to a fire and have some
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: nice hot chocolate and you can listen to the Bible
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Explained podcast special Candlelight Christmas episode. We're going to be
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: talking about the Mother Mary this year, and I'm also
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: going to be singing hopefully a lovely song for you guys.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: At least I hope it's going to be lovely, because
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: I've got a little scratchy throat right now and I'm like, oh,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I hope I can actually sing this song, So pray
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: for me for that. All right, faithful listeners, have a
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: fantastic and wonderful rest of your dad. I'll see you
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: guys tomorrow, bright and early for a regular episode from
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: First Timothy, Happy listening, and God bless. I just want
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: to take a second to thank the team at Life
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Audio for their partnership with me on the Bible Explain Podcast.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: In fact, if you go to lifeaudio dot com you
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.