Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / 2 Chronicles 25:14-28 - Idolatry and Pride Are Always Linked

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2 Chronicles 25:14-28 - Idolatry and Pride Are Always Linked · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, hello and good morning friends and faithful listeners.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning into the Bible Explained podcast.
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  Speaker 1: We are in the Book of Second Chronicles today and
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  Speaker 1: we're going to finish out the life of King Amasia.
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  Speaker 1: He started out good, but it's not going to be
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  Speaker 1: a shock to you that he does not end good,
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  Speaker 1: because that is the story of every single Judite king
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  Speaker 1: in Juda's history for the most part. So we're going
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  Speaker 1: to talk about the end of Amasia's life today on
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  Speaker 1: the podcast, So faithful listeners, I am officially old. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: I went to the i doctor yesterday and found out
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  Speaker 1: that my eyes are quite bad. Well, I actually knew
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  Speaker 1: that my eyes were quite bad. I never wore glasses before.
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  Speaker 1: I have like nighttime driving glasses that I had to
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  Speaker 1: get a couple of years ago, but they didn't really
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  Speaker 1: seem to help me all that much. I went to
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  Speaker 1: the eye doctor yesterday and was appalled at my results. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: my eyes are so bad that I have to have
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  Speaker 1: glasses on twenty four to seven now. And my husband,
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  Speaker 1: who wears glasses all the time, he's like, oh, Jen,
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  Speaker 1: that's so sad, that's so sad. You have to wear
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  Speaker 1: glasses every single day, like he's making fun of me.
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  Speaker 1: But for me, it's a big thing. You know. I
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  Speaker 1: never had to wear glasses before, so this is gonna
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  Speaker 1: be a big change in my life. And here's what
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  Speaker 1: the eye doctor said to me, you know, because I'm
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  Speaker 1: asking him about all these things with my eyes, and
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  Speaker 1: he's like, well, you know, when we start to get old,
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  Speaker 1: this is just what happens. And I'm like, oh, man,
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  Speaker 1: you know I'm old, So I'm officially old according to
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  Speaker 1: the eye doctor. All right, let's go ahead and read
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  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles, chapter twenty five, verses fourteen through twenty eight.
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  Speaker 1: But as usual, before I begin today's episode, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to give a moment for a sponsor of the podcast
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  Speaker 1: to say a message. But while that's happening, this is
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  Speaker 1: a really great time for you to grab your Bible
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  Speaker 1: and also your cup of coffee or your cup of tea,
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  Speaker 1: or your eyeglasses for all of you oldies like me
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  Speaker 1: that need eyeglasses and can't read the Bible without them,
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  Speaker 1: and also your nice hot beverage, your cup of coffee
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  Speaker 1: or a cup of tea this morning as well. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: hopefully you got the chance to grab your Bibles and
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  Speaker 1: your cups of coffee, and let's go ahead and read
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  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles twenty five fourteen through twenty eight. As you
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  Speaker 1: guys know, I'll be reading from the web now. After
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  Speaker 1: Amasia had come down from the slaughter of the Edomites,
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  Speaker 1: he brought the gods of the children of Seer and
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  Speaker 1: set them up to be his gods, and bowed down
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  Speaker 1: himself before them and burned incense to them. Therefore, you
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  Speaker 1: always anger burned against Amasia. And he sent to him
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  Speaker 1: a prophet, who said to him, why have you sought
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  Speaker 1: after the gods of the people, which have not delivered
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  Speaker 1: their people out of your hand? As he talked with him,
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  Speaker 1: the king said to him, have we made you one
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  Speaker 1: of the king's counselors? Stop? Why should you be struck down?
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  Speaker 1: Then the prophet stopped and said, I know that God
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  Speaker 1: has determined to destroy you because you have done this
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  Speaker 1: and have not listened to my counsel. Then Amazia, king
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, consulted his advisers and sent to joe Ash
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  Speaker 1: the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: and said, come, let's look one another in the face.
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  Speaker 1: Joe Ash, the king of Israel sent to Amasia, King
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, saying, the thistle that was in Lebanon sent
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  Speaker 1: to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, give your
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  Speaker 1: daughter to my son as his wife. Then a wild
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  Speaker 1: animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled down
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  Speaker 1: the thistle. You say to yourself that you have struck edom,
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  Speaker 1: and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay
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  Speaker 1: at home. Why should you meddle with trouble that you
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  Speaker 1: should fall, even you and Judah with you. But Amasia
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  Speaker 1: would not listen, for it was of God that he
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  Speaker 1: might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because
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  Speaker 1: they had sought after the gods of edom. So Joash,
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  Speaker 1: King of Israel, went up, and he and Amasia, King
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, looked to one another in the face at
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  Speaker 1: Beth Schemesh, which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel,
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  Speaker 1: so every man fled to his tent. Joe Ash, King
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, took Amazia, King of Judah, the son of Joash,
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  Speaker 1: the son of jehoahaz at Beth Shamesh, and brought him
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from
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  Speaker 1: the gate of Ephrium to the corner gate four hundred cubits.
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  Speaker 1: He took all the gold and silver and all the
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  Speaker 1: vessels that were found in God's house with obed Edom
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  Speaker 1: and the treasures of the king's house and the hostages,
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  Speaker 1: and returned to Samaria. Amazi, the son of Joash, king
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash,
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  Speaker 1: son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. Now the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the acts of Amazia first and last, behold, aren't they
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  Speaker 1: written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Now,
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  Speaker 1: from the time that Amazia turned away from following Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled
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  Speaker 1: to Lakeish, but they sent after him to Lakish and
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  Speaker 1: killed him there. They brought him on horses and buried
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  Speaker 1: him with his fathers in the city of Judah. So
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  Speaker 1: this is the sad fall of King Amazia, and the
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  Speaker 1: reason he fell was actually twofold. It says that he
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  Speaker 1: started worshiping foreign gods, the gods specifically of Edom, and
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  Speaker 1: he also refused to listen to the council of one
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  Speaker 1: of God's prophets. It says in verse fourteen that after
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  Speaker 1: Amasia had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he
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  Speaker 1: brought the gods of the children of Seir and set
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  Speaker 1: them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself
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  Speaker 1: before them and burned incense to them. Therefore, yahways Anger
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  Speaker 1: was burned against Amasia, and he sent him a prophet.
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  Speaker 1: So this is the typical response that we see from
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  Speaker 1: the kings of Israel and Judah. They struggle with idolatry
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  Speaker 1: so badly. It just seems like it never can leave
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  Speaker 1: Israel or Judah no matter what the good kings try
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  Speaker 1: to do. And Amasia did start out as a pretty
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  Speaker 1: good king, like a Yahweh follower. We saw how he
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  Speaker 1: tried to follow some of God's commandments during the beginning
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  Speaker 1: of his reign. But after he went to the country
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  Speaker 1: of Edom and had a big success there, like he
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  Speaker 1: slaughtered the Edomites, he had a big success. He ended
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  Speaker 1: up getting very prideful, and so he took the Edomite
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  Speaker 1: God's home with him to set them up as his
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  Speaker 1: own gods and worship them. What's really interesting is idolatry
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  Speaker 1: is often linked to pride, and why is that? Why
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  Speaker 1: is pride linked to idolatry? Well, the Heidelberg Catechism defines
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  Speaker 1: idolatry as having or inventing something in which we put
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  Speaker 1: our trust instead of, or in addition to, the only
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  Speaker 1: true God, who has revealed himself in his word. And
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  Speaker 1: I really like that definition because idolatry genuinely comes down
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  Speaker 1: to making a God for ourselves, which is why God
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  Speaker 1: tells us in the First and Second Commandments of the
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament that we should have no other gods before him,
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  Speaker 1: nor should we make any graven images. And as we've
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  Speaker 1: discovered in the Old Testament, people can absolutely ourselves included.
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  Speaker 1: We can make more than one God form ourselves. We
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  Speaker 1: can worship Yahweh while also worshiping other gods. Even Jesus
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  Speaker 1: said that in the New Testament. He said, you cannot
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  Speaker 1: serve both God and Mammon. Either you will hate one
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  Speaker 1: and love the other, or you will hold fast to
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  Speaker 1: the one and despise the other. So idolatry is creating
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  Speaker 1: an idol that you're going to worship in addition to
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh or in place of Yahweh. Essentially, idols are nothing
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  Speaker 1: but created things. And the reason idolatry is always linked
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  Speaker 1: to pride is because when we make an idol. We
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  Speaker 1: are saying that our standards should be God's standards, and
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  Speaker 1: if they're not, that there's something wrong with God. And
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  Speaker 1: so that is why idolatry is always linked to pride.
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  Speaker 1: Whenever we see this, and in the case of Amasia
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  Speaker 1: right here, instead of giving thanks to God for this
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  Speaker 1: massive success that he had in Edom, he becomes prideful
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  Speaker 1: and he's like, look at what I did, and he
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  Speaker 1: takes these Edomite gods home, sets them up, burns incense
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  Speaker 1: to them, and bows down to them and starts worshiping them. Now,
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  Speaker 1: historically this was not super uncommon. More often than not,
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  Speaker 1: when a country was defeated, whoever defeated that country would
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  Speaker 1: go in and destroy all the gods to humiliate all
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  Speaker 1: of the people that lived in that country, to say
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  Speaker 1: that their gods were not as powerful. Which is why
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  Speaker 1: whenever we see Judah being trampled upon, where do they
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  Speaker 1: always go first? They always go to the temple of
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  Speaker 1: God to try to destroy it. So that was very common,
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  Speaker 1: But it wasn't completely uncommon for a country to take
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  Speaker 1: those gods home with them and start worshiping those gods,
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  Speaker 1: to give them thanks basically for helping them. Instead of
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  Speaker 1: their own people, and it kind of seems like that's
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  Speaker 1: what Amasia starts to do. Instead of worshiping and thanking Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: he's thinking these idols of this foreign nation, which, by
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  Speaker 1: the way, the main deity of edom at this time
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  Speaker 1: was called Kas QoS. And what's really interesting about Kas
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  Speaker 1: I found this out today. If you google Edomite god Kas,
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  Speaker 1: you're gonna see that most people nowadays, most scholars say
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  Speaker 1: that Kas is the same as Yahweh, as if the
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  Speaker 1: Edomites just had another name for Yahweh, similarly to how
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  Speaker 1: you know here in America we call God God, but
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  Speaker 1: in Mexico they call him Dios. And I was reading
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  Speaker 1: through all these things, including the National Catholic Register, and
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  Speaker 1: they pretty much agree that Kas is the same as Yahweh.
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  Speaker 1: And Kas was the main deity of the Edomites for
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  Speaker 1: a very very long time. But if that's the case,
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  Speaker 1: if Ks was just another name for Yahweh, why does
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  Speaker 1: God get so angry at Amasia for worshiping coasts. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the word Coas is not mentioned here, but that is
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  Speaker 1: definitely who Amasia would have been worshiping in this situation.
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  Speaker 1: It was the most famous Edamite god. Why does Yahweh's
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  Speaker 1: anger burn against Amasia. Why does God send him a prophet?
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  Speaker 1: Why does this prophet say, Amasia, why have you sought
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  Speaker 1: after the gods of the people which have not delivered
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  Speaker 1: their own people out of your hand? That makes it
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  Speaker 1: very clear that Yahweh is Yahweh and cos was something
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  Speaker 1: completely different. He was a fake god, something man made,
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  Speaker 1: something made up. Because this prophet goes to Amasia and
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  Speaker 1: he says, why have you sought after the gods of
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  Speaker 1: the people which have not delivered their own people out
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  Speaker 1: of your hand? He basically says to Amasia, these gods
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  Speaker 1: that you are now worshiping, these Edomite gods, they are
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  Speaker 1: doing nothing for you. They were unable to do anything
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  Speaker 1: for their people because here you are. You know, you
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  Speaker 1: just slaughtered the Edomites. So why are you work shipping
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  Speaker 1: these gods who have clearly been unable to help anybody
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  Speaker 1: or anything because they are fake? Why are you doing this?
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  Speaker 1: But Amasia instead of listening to this prophet, who by
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  Speaker 1: the way, could have been the same prophet that went
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  Speaker 1: to Amazia beforehand, we talked about that on Monday, where
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  Speaker 1: a nameless prophet went to Amazia and told him to
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  Speaker 1: be strong in battle and not to join forces with
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  Speaker 1: the Israelites because the Israelites were bad news at this time.
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  Speaker 1: And Amasia actually listened to that prophet and dismissed all
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  Speaker 1: the Israelites that he had hired and took courage because
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  Speaker 1: he had faith in Yahweh. But then directly after this battle,
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  Speaker 1: instead of thanking Yahweh, he becomes boastful and prideful to
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  Speaker 1: thank gods that are not Yahweh. And it says that
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  Speaker 1: as this prophet talked with Amasia verse sixteen, the king
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  Speaker 1: said to him, have we made you one of the
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  Speaker 1: king's counselors? Stop? Why should you be struck down? So
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  Speaker 1: basically he threatens this prophet and he's like, you better
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  Speaker 1: talking right this minute, or I will kill you. And
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  Speaker 1: the prophet did stop, and he says, I know that
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  Speaker 1: God has determined to destroy you because you have done
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  Speaker 1: this and have not listened to my counsel. So there
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  Speaker 1: you go. The Edomite god ks is not the same
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  Speaker 1: as Yahweh. Yahweh wants us to worship him and him
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  Speaker 1: only that is it. All these other gods are going
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  Speaker 1: to gain us nothing. That is what that prophet said
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  Speaker 1: actually to Amazia. He's like these idols couldn't even save
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  Speaker 1: their own people, So what makes you think they're gonna
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  Speaker 1: do anything for you. They can't do anything for you.
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  Speaker 1: They won't do anything for you. But the prophet did
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  Speaker 1: stop talking, and nothing serious happened to him that we
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  Speaker 1: know of. It seems like he just left. So after this,
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  Speaker 1: Amasia does not listen to the words of this prophet,
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  Speaker 1: and he consults his advisers and sends to joe Ash
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  Speaker 1: in verse seventeen, the son of Jehohas, the son of Jehu,
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  Speaker 1: the King of Israel, saying, come, let's look one another
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  Speaker 1: in the face. So this is where things get a
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  Speaker 1: little bit confusing, because because there are two king joe
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  Speaker 1: Ashes very close together. Amazia, the King of Judah, had
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  Speaker 1: a father named joe Ash, who we talked about not
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  Speaker 1: too long ago. But now in Israel there is also
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  Speaker 1: a king named joe Ash, So this is talking about
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  Speaker 1: King joe Ash of Israel at this point. And don't forget,
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  Speaker 1: Amazia had just had a run in with the Israelites.
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  Speaker 1: We talked about all of that on Monday, but Amazia,
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  Speaker 1: unfortunately did not handle that situation the right way. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: he decides to go to battle with all of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: And so he sends a letter to King Joe Ash
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, and he's like, let's look one another in
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  Speaker 1: the face. And that is an old, old fashioned way
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  Speaker 1: of saying, let's go to war with each other. And
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  Speaker 1: so the King of Israel sends a letter back to Amazia,
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  Speaker 1: the King of Judah, saying this little poem. He says,
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  Speaker 1: the thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar
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  Speaker 1: that was in Lebanon, saying, give your daughter to my
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  Speaker 1: son as his wife. Then a wild animal that was
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  Speaker 1: in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. So
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  Speaker 1: basically what this guy is saying to Amasia, he's like, look,
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  Speaker 1: I am this beautiful cedar that lives in Lebanon, and
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  Speaker 1: you are like this little thistle. You are nothing, and
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  Speaker 1: you are demanding something great from this cedar. But you
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  Speaker 1: should not continue down this path because you are nothing
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  Speaker 1: but a little thistle, and a little thistle at any
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  Speaker 1: point in time can be trampled down by just an
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  Speaker 1: animal running through the woods. That's what he says to
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  Speaker 1: the king. And then he continues, he says, you say
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  Speaker 1: to yourself that you've struck eaedom and so now your
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  Speaker 1: heart lifts you up to boast. Stay at home. Why
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  Speaker 1: should you meddle with trouble that you should fall, even
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  Speaker 1: you and Judah with you. Now, it's really interesting. Joe
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  Speaker 1: Ash was not a good king of Israel. In fact,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: there are no good kings of Israel in all of
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  Speaker 1: Israel's history. But this was some really wise words, interestingly
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  Speaker 1: enough that joe Ash gave to Amazia. Now, he could
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  Speaker 1: have done without the snark and the little fable that
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  Speaker 1: he sent to Amasia, but still his response had a
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  Speaker 1: lot of great advice. His advice to Amasia was don't
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  Speaker 1: push your luck. You did strike Eatom, and you were
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  Speaker 1: successful in that, but don't become prideful and get too
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  Speaker 1: big for your breeches and try to come out to
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  Speaker 1: war against me, because if you do, something bad is
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  Speaker 1: going to happen to not just you, but all of Judah.
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  Speaker 1: So stay home and don't meddle. Amazia became prideful, he
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  Speaker 1: was pretty successful against his war with Edom, and now
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  Speaker 1: he thinks that he is going to take Israel back
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  Speaker 1: for David's bloodline. That's actually what Josepha says is that
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  Speaker 1: the reason Amazia did this was because he wanted Israel
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  Speaker 1: to become one nation again, and he wanted to be
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: the king of that nation. So Josephus the historian actually
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: says that this had nothing to do with the run
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  Speaker 1: in he had with Israel that we talked about on Monday.
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  Speaker 1: This was everything to do with his pride in himself
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  Speaker 1: and his bloodline. And that's why the answer joe Ash
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  Speaker 1: gave to Amazia was very good. And Amazia should have listened,
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  Speaker 1: because he wasn't just putting his life on the line
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  Speaker 1: by going out to war. He was putting the lives
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  Speaker 1: of every single fighting man in Judah on the line,
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  Speaker 1: and not to mention his own people as well. But
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  Speaker 1: in verse twenty, Amazia would not listen, for it was
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  Speaker 1: of God that he might deliver them into the hand
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  Speaker 1: of their enemies because they had sought after the gods
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  Speaker 1: of Edom. So because Amazia refused to worship Yahweh and
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  Speaker 1: started worshiping other gods, and then when God sent Amazia
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  Speaker 1: a warning and said, hey, stop worshiping these other gods
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  Speaker 1: because bad things are going to happen to you, Amasia
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't listen. He became too prideful, and there was even
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  Speaker 1: a second warning. He got from King joe Ash, who
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: said essentially the exact same thing. Stop doing what you're doing, Amasia,
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  Speaker 1: or you're going to be destroyed. Things are not going
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  Speaker 1: to go well for you. God gave Amazia two warnings
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  Speaker 1: to repent before something bad happened to him, but Amasia
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  Speaker 1: would not listen, it says, so joe Ash, king of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: went up, and he and Amasia, king of Judah, looked
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  Speaker 1: one another in the face at Beth Schemesh, which belongs
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  Speaker 1: to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel, so every man
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  Speaker 1: fled to his tent. And this is interesting because I
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: bet you that King Amazia thought that this battle was
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: a piece of cake, because don't forget what the Prophet
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: had told him about the Israelites. When we talked about
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: all of that on Monday, the Prophet came to Amazi
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  Speaker 1: and was like, the Israelite are bad news and God
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  Speaker 1: is not with them, so don't go to war with them,
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  Speaker 1: don't make any peace treaty with them. So Mazia was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: probably thinking, well, God is going to be on my
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  Speaker 1: side because he already said he's not with the Israelites,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: so this is a piece of cake. And I'm gonna
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: take Israel back for the line of David once again.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: But it's said because Amazia forgot the other part of
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the warning that that prophet gave to him. Going back
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: to verse seven of the same chapter, it says a
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: man of God came to Amasia saying, O, King, don't
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: is not with Israel with all the children of Ephrieem.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: But if you will go take action and be strong
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: for the battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: For God has power to help and to overthrow. Now
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: that was a warning to Amasia that if he doesn't
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: listen to the call of God, that God has the
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: power to either help or to overthrow. Which one will
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: you choose? And Amazia forgot that part. He's like, God
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: helped me in the battle with Edamite, so certainly he'll
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: help me here because he's not with the Israelites. But no,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: God has the power to overthrow as well, and that
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: is what that prophet warned Amasia, and he forgot about
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: all that. So now Judah has been defeated by Israel.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: It says that joe Ash, the King of Israel, took Amazia,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: king of Judah, the son of joe Ash, the son
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: of Jehoah has At Beth Schamesh, and brought him to
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: gate of Ephriem to the corner gate four hundred cubits.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: So this was a devastating, devastating defeat for Judah because
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: the wall that surrounded Jerusalem to keep foreign invaders out
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: is now pretty much destroyed. Anybody can just come right
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: in now. Going back to the historian Josephus, Josephus mentioned
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: that Amazia allowed this to happen because he was terrified
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: for his life, so he actually had his people stand
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: down and allow King joe Ash of Israel to just
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: sort of walk right in. And when joe Ash got in,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: he ordered his men to destroy part of the wall.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: So now joe Ash and the Israelites are in Jerusalem.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: And it says that joe Ash took all the gold
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: and silver and all the vessels that were found in
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: God's House with obed Edom and the treasures of the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: king's house and the hostages and returned to Samaria. Once again.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: Whenever there's a foreign invader, they always go to God's
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: house first and just like pillage it, probably because it
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: was very beautiful and everybody knew it was very beautiful,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: but also because it was a way to humiliate anybody
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: that worshiped Yahweh. So that's the first place that joe Ash,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: the King of Israel, goes. He takes all the gold
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: and silver from the treasures of God's House and the
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: vessels that were with obed Eatam. Obed Eaedom was probably
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: somebody that worked in the temple took care for all
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: of these vessels. But what's really interesting is his name
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: obed Eatom, that actually means the servant of Edom. And
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: where did all of Amazia's problems start when he went
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: to eat them and started serving the gods that were there.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: So it's just kind of an interesting little thing right
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: here where the guy that took care of God's house
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: was the servant of Eaedom, Like just kind of interesting.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: But anyway, God's house has been pillaged as well as
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the King's house, and King joe Ash took hostages from
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem as well. Now, most likely joe Ash left Amazia
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem with this absolutely devastating defeat. He just like
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: left him there and took everything from him as well
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: as all of these hostages and stuff. So this shows,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: you know, Amasia should have listened to joe Asha his words,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: because this wasn't just bad for Amasia, this was bad
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: for all of Judah and all of Jerusalem who had
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: to deal with all of this crap. It says in
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: verse twenty five that Amazia, the son of joe Ash,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: of joe Ash, the son of jehoahas king of Israel. Now,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the rest of the acts of Amasia first and last, behold,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: aren't they written in the Book of the Kings of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Judah and Israel. So interestingly enough, joe Ash did not
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: kill Amasia. In fact, Amasia lived for much longer than
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: joe Ash did, fifteen years longer than joe Ash did.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Amazia's reign after this horrifying defeat from Israel was shattered,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and that's kind of proven right here that Amazia was
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: hated by his people. It says in verse twenty seven,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: from the time that Amazia turned away from following Yahweh,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: to Lakeish, but they sent after him to Lakish and
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: killed him there. So this was being planned for a
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: very long period of time, this conspiracy to kill Amasia.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: Amasia was very much like his father in many ways,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and Amasia and his father had the exact same end.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: There is a conspiracy against them where they were killed
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: by their own servants. It says in verse twenty eight
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: that they brought him on horses and buried him with
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: his fathers in the city of Judah. So that's the
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: only difference between Amasia and his father, joe Ash. Joe
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Ash was not buried in the tombs of the kings,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: but it sounds like Amasia was. So the story of
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Amasia is another lesson for us that we need to
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: be very, very careful because pride leads to idolatry. That's
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: why it says in scripture that God hates pride. It's
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: like the first thing on his list that he hates,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: even above murder. He hates pride because pride is the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: root of all evil. Pride causes so much destruction, and
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: it's linked to idolatry. Because we think that we can
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: make God, we think that our will should be divine will,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: that the things we want to do should be the
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: things that God wants to do. Idolatry and pride are linked,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: so we have to be very careful about that. Faithful listeners,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: I appreciate all of you guys leaving reviews on the podcast.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: It means a lot to me, and it's also just
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: fantastic for the podcast itself. It helps more people find
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the podcast. So I'm going to read a recent review
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: from one of you faithful listeners right after this sponsored ad.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: So this review is from Kimi Chan five, and it's
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: a recent review. I believe I've read a review from
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Kimi Chan before, at least the name sounds familiar. But
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Kimi Chan five says, this is one of my favorite podcasts.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: I love this show. I love the way gen te
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and the background context she brings to the verses. Plus
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: she seems to really enjoy doing it, and her joy
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: is infectious. I went back to the beginning, so I'm
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: only in numbers, but so far I love it. I
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: learned so much about Leviticus, which is a book I
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: never understood or enjoyed reading until listening to her explain it.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Highly recommend. I greatly appreciate that review. Thank you so much.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Kimmi Chan five. And you know what, if you are
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: not the first person to say that the Book of
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: levit Kiss is a difficult book to get through, and
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I used to feel that way too, But quite honestly,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: I loved teaching through the Book of levit Kiss because
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: once you get into the heart of why God was
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: giving those laws to his people and the cultural contexts
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: around them as well, the Book of Leviticuss just starts
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: to make sense and it turns into such a beautiful
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: book of God's love and his heart for his people.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: But Kimmi Chan, I am so glad that you enjoyed
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: going through the Book of levit Kiss with me. Now,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: faithful listeners, if you also enjoy this podcast, please leave
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: a review wherever you're listening from, and if I happen
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: to see it, I may read it here on the
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: podcast and thank you for it, or I might actually
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: put it up on my website as well as a testimonial.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: So leave those reviews. It's actually a shockingly good way
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: to spread the podcast to more people, and a great
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: way to evangelize as well, because we're talking about the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Bible here, So, faithful listeners, I hope you all have
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. I will
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: see all of you guys next time on the podcast
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning, six am or whenever you choose to wake
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: up and listen until tomorrow morning. Happy listening, and God bless.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: life audio dot com you'll find dozens of other faith
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Bible study, parenting, and more.