Happy Wednesday to you. Welcome back Bible reader, and let's just start with the elephant in the room. Pastor PJ's not here and yet he has the audacity. To have a birthday. How dare he. He's gone. We can't celebrate him right now, but you still can. If you have his cell phone number, let me encourage you to take a few moments a day to give him a text. I know he would love to receive a text from you. Yes. You the one who's listening. So if you have that information, please feel free to use it. If you don't have it, I can't promise it. I'll give it to you and I can't even promise that I'll put it in the show notes 'cause I know he would absolutely hate if I did that. As tempted as I am, I. But you can, if you have his information, text him or he has Facebook, I think you can go there and say a few nice things to him if you care about that, and I'm sure he would appreciate it nonetheless. So happy birthday, pastor pj. Everyone here misses you. We hope that you come back soon. We hope that you have a great time in California and we hope that you come back several shades darker. We think that'd be really fun. And in fact, if you and I competed for the darkest guy on staff, I think that would be cool. Just saying, okay. Happy birthday, pastor pj. For the rest of us, we still have work to do, and in fact, we have a lot of territory to cover today. So let's jump on in Today we're gonna cover Second Kings Today we're gonna cover First Kings chapter 15, and then second Chronicles 13, 14, 15, 16. In one Kings chapter 15, we actually have the tale of four kings, two of them are from Judah. Remember, Judah is the Southern Kingdom comprised of Judah and Benjamin, and two of them are from the northern kingdom. The Northern kingdom is comprised of the 10 other tribes of Israel, and so you have a ten two splits. Judah is the kingdom that God has promised to bless. They're the ones that carry the Davidic promise. The Northern Kingdom, on the other hand, doesn't have the same things, which is why you'll see that Judah has at least several good kings in her lineage, where Northern Kingdom Israel, on the other hand. Yeah, everybody's bad. A couple episodes ago I said, I'm not sure. I think there's nobody. I'm confident. I went and did my research. I confirmed and double checked. There is no one good in the northern kingdom. It starts off pretty poorly. Jira Bo does not set them off in a good trajectory, and of course no one behind him really cares to do any better. They all are pretty terrible. And so in chapter 15, we have two kings and in fact, the first two kings, Abba Jim, also known as Abba Ja. And Asa are kings that we're gonna see a lot more of in second Chronicles. So just a few brief sketches here. A Baja here in One Kings 15, also known as a Baja in Second Chronicles says here he walked in all the sins that his father did before him. And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God as a heart of David, his father. So this is the verdict on his entire kingship. He didn't do well. In fact, if you go to any of the Kings of Israel and Judah charts, you're gonna see a thumbs down for this guy because of words like this. Even though he had a couple potentially good things to his name, he didn't do well overall. Even still, verse four says, for David's sake, the Lord gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him. And this of course, is what God has promised to do throughout the whole kingdom of Judah, because they needed a Davidic ruler to sit on David's throne. This is gonna be important because ultimately Jesus is the son of David who sits on David's throne in the fullest sense. He is the true king, the true son of David. In verses nine and through about 24, you have Asa's reign. Now Asa has a long tenure where Aja only rules for three years. AA rules for 41 years. Can you imagine that a reign that long? And he's not even the longest. We're gonna get to a longer one in just a few chapters, but it's a very long tenure. And notice here in verse 11, ASA did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. In fact, scripture likes him so much that we're gonna spend several chapters talking about his reign. So we'll put a pause in that for a second and just recognize that Asa is a well-regarded king in the tribe of Judah, in the line of the kingdom of David. But we have two kings from the northern kingdom in one Kings 15, and that's Nadab and Beau Nadab is the direct descendant of Jira Boem, the first Jira Boem. Remember, he's the one who initiates all these evil practices. In chapter 14, he sets up the golden calves. He's the one who initiates his own feasts. He does his own thing, not following God. It's actually. One Kings chapter 12, where you see all this take place. So after him, his son, Nadab, takes a throne. His row is his. His reign is not very long. It's just two years. And notice in verse 26, he does what is evil on the side of the Lord and walked in the way of his father in the sin in which he made Israel to sin. And beha the son of Aja, of the house of Issachar conspired against him. So it's not long into NAB's reign. This is naab, the son of Jeroboam. Before we have a conspirator, someone who wants the throne and successfully deposes the king. And he does. So when the king is distracted, and in verse 29, you find out that beha, the new king to the throne kills all the house of Jeroboam. Now, this is important because just a few chapters ago in chapter 14, verses 10 and 14, we have God's promise that that's exactly what he was gonna do. And so let me refer you back there. One Kings chapter 14, verse 10. Therefore, behold, I will bring harm upon the house of ome and it will cut off from ome every male, both bond and free in Israel. And I will burn up the house of ome as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. This in response to. Jira Bo's wife asking AIA the prophet whether or not her son would recover. He says, no, he's not gonna recover, but there's something pleasing in him, remember? And so he's gonna get a burial where everyone else in Jira, Bo's family line would not get that. Well enter Beha in chapter 15. He's the one who takes out the whole house of Jira Beum. This is a coup. He takes over and he installs himself as king. But the verdict on NAB's reign is a negative one. He does not do well. He ends poorly. There's nothing to commend about his reign. Beha enters at the very end of chapter 15. He's gonna reign over Israel at Terraza, so he's in a different city. He's inza. But notice in verse 34, we already know what to expect from him. He does what's evil in the side of the Lord and walks in the way of ome and in his sin in which he made Israel to sin. So nothing different there. It's a new dynasty because he cuts off JIRA's line, but the dynasty's gonna be the same in that there's gonna be sin to be expected. What you see in a lot of these uprisings and these changes of the guard here is a couple things. Number one, God is in control of all these movements, even though it can get a little confusing about which kingdom we're talking about and which King is doing what. What I need you to see is God is sovereignly, orchestrating all of human history, especially his kings and Judah and Israel, but all of human history is under his control. In fact, I think it's Proverbs 22, maybe Proverbs 21, I can't remember right now, says the King's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he will. And what I'm trying to get to you is that everything that's happening here, even though it's terrible to read some of this, it's under God's control. Secondly, even though that's true, man is responsible for what he does under God's provision, under God's care and direction. Therefore, even though these kings are still under God's sovereign purposes and under his control, they are still fully responsible for the works that they choose to do. Their freedom to choose is clearly evident. God doesn't say, well, I made them do the evil thing and therefore they're not guilty. We see here that God does hold them accountable. They do what's evil. God judged them for their evil and they're turned over largely. That's true in the Northern Kingdom. A little less so in the southern kingdom, although we will see that. Two Chronicles chapter 13. Here we have Aja. We're gonna have a little more to read about Aja because there's more to say about him here. Well, there apparently was a fight, a war between Aja and Jbo. This is Jira Bo the first. So we're going a little bit back in history here. Aja has a fight with Jira, and it seems like Jira Bo is the aggressor because he kind of has his stump speech here. He gets up and he starts preaching, he starts speaking to the, the people of Israel and says, essentially, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed. That's what he says in verse 12. But little did he know as he's giving his stump speech. In verse 13, JIRA Bow had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. So there's troops in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked, behold the battle was in front and be behind. Now, at this point in time, they might be tempted to throw their hands in the air and perhaps surrender. But notice in your Bible, they cried to the Lord and the priest blew the trumpets. Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout, and when the men of Judah shouted God defeated Jira Bowman all Israel before Eja and Judah. This is interesting because they showcase the kind of faith that I think God still wants from us. When we see ourselves surrounded by the enemy, by evil, our first reaction should not be to react with terror or fear, at least not all by itself, but to react with a deference to God, crying to the Lord. Letting the Lord know what's happening. Now, he knows he's not oblivious to what's happening in your life, but to turn to him and to call to the Lord and say, Lord, we need your help, Lord, please help me. A lot of people do this quite naturally, even atheists. You heard the saying, there's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole. I. But I wonder if often we can practically live as atheists because we don't give the Lord the kind of attention that he deserves. In fact, we see here that in verse 15, the men of Israel fled before Judah and God gave them into their hand. God responded to their prayers of desperation. Now, God doesn't always respond in this way. The response may not be positive. I. At least positive as we see it, but it'll be positive in the way that God understands that we think of Romans eight, verse 28. He works all things together for the good of those who love him, to those who are called according to His purposes. Everything that happens in the believer's life, therefore is for our good, even if we cannot immediately see what that good is or even define it. We trust that God is doing all things for his glory and for our good. They call out to the Lord. God delivers them. Aja is protected. And it says in verse 18, Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord the God of their fathers. And so God's commentary on his short reign, even though ultimately was considered a bad reign, was that he did good here. This is one of the highlights for Eja and for Judah, they trusted the Lord. God delivered them. That's the point for us. We ought to see that God is faithful to his people that trust him. God loves, and he's even attracted to humility. God looks to the humble. He cares about their plight, and he intercedes on their behalf. Now Asa gets one to three chapters. Asa gets second Chronicles 14 all the way through chapter 16. So a couple quickies here in chapter 14. You notice that ASA starts off his reign with rest. God blessed him by giving him rest for 10 years. This is just a foretaste and a hint of the rest that Christians will get as we trust in Christ. There is a future rest to be enjoyed, but here there is a rest that is physical. And this is in part because God bless them. Verse two, ASA did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, his God. And he demonstrates this by taking away the altars, breaking down the pillars, the Asim, and he commanded Judah. Notice this in verse four. He commands Judah to seek the Lord the God of their fathers and to keep the law and the commandment. And so consequently, verse six, here, the Lord gave him peace. The Lord interacts on their behalf. But in verse nine zero, the Ethiopian comes out against him, but Asa cries to the Lord. The Lord responds. We saw this in the last chapter. The Lord loves to. Help the humble. And so he says, help us. Oh Lord, our God, we rely on you and in your name. We have come against this multitude. And of course in verse 12, God defeats the Ethiopians on their behalf. Juda survives. They live to see another day because they relied on the Lord. They cried to the Lord. And this is the point. Yet again, we see that God is helping those who are humble. He's helping his kings who rely on him. Again, God loves, he's attracted to the humility that he sees in people. In chapter 15, the spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah, the Son of ODed. God sends him a messenger to give him a message of encouragement, and that's exactly the effect that takes place here. Azariah says, the Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. This is basically boilerplates old covenant. This is how God interacted with them. The Davidic covenant is with you. The Abrahamic covenant is with you. If you'll obey. If you'll do the right thing, if you'll seek the Lord with all your heart. And in fact, this is what Asa does. He sought him and he was found by them. Verse four says, as soon as Asa heard the words of Azariah, he took courage and he goes in earnest to take care of all the idols of the land of Judah and Benjamin. And he encouraged all the people that were from the land of Israel who joined them in the Southern Kingdom to do the same. He asked them, he encouraged them to seek the Lord with all their heart and with all their soul. Verse 12. And that's what they do. Verse 15 says, all Judah rejoiced over the oath where they had swarm with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. Notice the connections that are being made across multiple chapters here. God loves humility. God loves obedience. That is wholehearted whole life and God blesses these things. These are still true for us today. It is not exactly the same as Christians. Obviously, we're not luck. We're not talking about land. We're not talking about the kind of blessings that Israel or Judah enjoyed, but God does still bestow blessings on those who are humble, who seek him with their whole heart and their whole life and their whole soul, and this is what Asa does. So valiantly, he's great at this. In fact, in verse 16, he's even willing to depose Meka his mother, which is actually technically his grandmother. Removes her because she was the one encouraging idolatry. And so he says, you know what? Even though I love you, grandmama, you gotta get out, you can't be here. And I love that. And this is what Jesus says in the New Testament, right? If you're gonna love father or mother, sister, or brother more than me, you're not worthy of me. And here Acea showcases what it looks like to put Christ first. Obviously, that's an anachronism. Christ wasn't around at this point in time, but to put your faith in God as first and foremost, and so he was willing even to remove grandmama in order to fulfill faithfulness to the Lord. Verse 17, but the high places were not taken out of Israel. So there's a, a spot on his reign. It's not perfect. He says, nevertheless, the heart of AA was wholly true all his days. So God is blessing him because of his humility, his obedience with the whole heart. He enlists all the people. And so God looks favorably upon his reign. But with that, even though he had such a great season of faithfulness. Even the most faithful can have periods of stumbling and of faltering. Sadly, that's what Chapter sixteen's about in the 36th year of the reign of Asa means. He's been at this a long time. He's been doing the thing that he's always been doing, and I wonder if he got tired. Well, here's what happens. Beha, the King of Israel went up against Judah and built Rama. Rama is north in the Southern Kingdom. I think it's in the territory of Benjamin. And so he was trying to block people from entering in or coming out of Judah, and so he's trying to constrict the travel between the two by going to a major city and doing what he can to prevent that. Here's the Asa's fatal flaw. He doesn't cry out to the Lord like he did previously. He doesn't seek God with his whole heart like he did previously. Instead, verse two gives us an impression that he simply ran to his neighbor, Ben Hayad, king of Syria. Worse yet. He took all the silver and the gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord, which means that the temple, he took it out and he's like, let me just give this to this foreign king and let me ask him to break his covenant with Beha King of Israel and let me ask him to protect me and to partner with me. And that's exactly what happens. Beha King of Israel, listen to the king. He stops his partnership with Israel, and he begins to focus his efforts against him. And this successfully stops beha from building Rama he f flees. And at that time, God sends another messenger to let him know what he thought about this. So Hanani the seer came to King Asa and said to him in verse seven, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord or God. The army of the king of Syria has escaped you. In other words, you partnered with the enemy. This was not a guy that you were supposed to be in partnership with. You were supposed to be, you were supposed to be in league only with me. We were reminded in Second Corinthians chapter seven, not to be unequally yoked. This is one of those examples. He's not yoked to the right partner. God reminds him, haven't I taken care of you? Didn't I show that I was faithful to you when not when you relied on me? He says in verse nine, something that's super important. You ought to highlight this one for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. This is what I was talking about earlier, and there's this verse that I had in mind as I was encouraging you to seek the Lord with the whole heart and be humble. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. He's searching. He's looking to do what? To give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. Blameless does not mean perfect, but it does mean that there's a clear conscience because there is a humble submission and a humble repentance that characterizes your life. God is looking to support that person. He's on the prowl. He's eager to lend support to that kind of person. I wonder if you would consider yourself one who is hard, is blameless toward him. Well, Hanani tells him, you've done foolishly. This is not a good thing Asa because he's the king gets angry and says, you know what? For this information I'm gonna put you in stocks. And he does exactly that. Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. So ASA spirals out of control. He is now lost It. And in the 39th year of his reign, ASA was disease in his feast and the disease. This and the disease became severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from the physicians. He sought help from Ben, Hey dad. He sought help from the physicians. He did not seek the Lord. Oh, Christian man, if you are struggling, if you feel like God is opposed to you, I wonder if maybe he is. Maybe he is. Maybe it's time to repent of your sin and to seek the Lord not to rely on the physicians, not to rely on the bank account, not to rely on the clientele, but to rely on the Lord. That really is one of the predominant themes in Asa's reign. When he was humble and wholehearted man, things went well. 'cause the Lord was with him. It's when he turned and he began to rely on outside. Help Ben, Hey Dad, the physicians that things began to crumble for him. He did not rely on the Lord. Lemme challenge you today. Make sure your heart is relying on the Lord and not in anything less. Alright guys, thank you so much for joining me. Let's pray this out. God, we want to be humble and wholehearted. I can't think of anybody who calls himself a Christian who doesn't want that, and yet. Lord, we know how difficult that is. Please tenderize our hearts, draw us to you in love and in faithfulness, and never let us go. Help us to remain humble and wholehearted before you all of our days. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you for joining me today for another episode of the Daily Bible Podcast. I am honored to have you. Thank you for letting me lead you through the Bible, and I'll pray that you come back and join me tomorrow for another round yet again. Have a great day. I'll see you soon.

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