WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.680 You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.440 couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in 3 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:12.480 practical ways. Hey, Jeff, say, good morning. 4 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.679 So Jeff took a bite of a kitcat Kitcat, and 5 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:20.320 all of a sudden, they're rolling in out. 6 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:22.199 All of a sudden, Zachary starts the. 7 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.239 Rolling Thanks for that. Yeah, it was a good cat. 8 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.359 It was. Hey, my name is Chris, this is Jeff. 9 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.600 Welcome to the Bible Guys, and we're going to jump 10 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.640 right into it. Okay. So Desiree has given us a 11 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.200 brand new challenge that she's never done before. Yeah. Uh, 12 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:40.840 and and I kind of like it. And I have 13 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:42.600 no idea how it's going to go. It may be horrible, 14 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:44.759 it may be a miserable failure. 15 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:46.880 So I was struggling with this one a little bit, 16 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.079 and so I asked chat GPT to help me. And 17 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:52.439 then I'm expanding off of that idea. 18 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.359 Oh okay, So Jeff, by the way, I saw this 19 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:57.880 no more than three minutes minute ago. 20 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.719 So I just typed in, Uh, give me a random 21 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:02.000 funny sentence to start a story. 22 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:06.079 Okay. And so this this, this this segment is called 23 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:08.159 the no Context Challenge. 24 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:09.519 I knew I was in trouble. 25 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.439 Wait, okay, explain the rules. Okay, Jeff, Sure is a 26 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:17.040 random sentence or event with absolutely no context, and then 27 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.120 Chris must create a story around it. 28 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.000 I knew I was in trouble when I woke up 29 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.359 in a chicken coop wearing a tuxedo and clutching a 30 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:26.280 rubbered chicken like it was my lifeline. 31 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:30.280 Are you kidding me? That's my challenge. Say that again. 32 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.400 I knew I was in trouble when I woke up 33 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.400 in a chicken in a chicken coop, wearing a tuxedo, 34 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:41.079 clutching a rubbered chicken like it was my lifeline. Wow, 35 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:42.159 that's a tough one. 36 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:43.599 Yeah. 37 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.000 So so what's the backstory? 38 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.599 Because the backstory is is that that's actually that's actually 39 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.599 a spy. A spy, Yeah, a spy. 40 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.200 You you were actually a spy because it's I woke. 41 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.920 Up okayologized, I missed the me. Okay. Yeah. So this 42 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:09.840 one time I got recruited by the government and they 43 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.240 wanted me to do a secret mission. And I said, well, 44 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.319 I don't understand. Why are you grabbing me. I'm just 45 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.000 an average Joe. And they said, well that's the point, 46 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:20.919 you're just in close proximity and we need somebody. And 47 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.080 we assessed the area, and what we assessed based on 48 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:28.680 our observation is you're the best looking, most talented, most 49 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.520 athletic looking person. And so they said, what we're going 50 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:35.039 to do is we're going to give you this secret 51 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:37.520 medicine that's going to take over. So don't ey morey 52 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.199 about it, because this secret medicine is going to allow 53 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:44.360 you to behave like a spy. And so I said, okay, 54 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.840 and and and and they said, okay, here's what you 55 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:48.840 got to do. And they told me that we have 56 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.840 to infiltrate this farm. And this farm was actually a 57 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.000 place where they were holding this secret meeting. And it 58 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.000 was so unbelievably you know, disguised, because who, after all, 59 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:00.319 who would have a secret meeting on a farm? 60 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:00.879 Right, that's right? 61 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.000 Yeah? And so then I took this medicine and I 62 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:08.240 and I was coming from a ball, like a fancy 63 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:12.599 like a fancy ball. So I went ahead and followed 64 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:14.759 the group from the ball back to this farm. So 65 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:17.199 I was wearing a texedo. I took this medicine and 66 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.319 then the next day, all of a sudden, it's just 67 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:22.919 light out. I had no memory of what had happened. 68 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:25.479 But all I know is I was in trouble because 69 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.240 I did not know, you know, if everybody was dead 70 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.360 or alive. But I was laying in this chicken coop 71 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.120 holding a rubber chicken. And then later on, you know 72 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.439 what they told me. They told me that I used 73 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:39.599 the rubber chicken to beat everybody up and subdue them. Yeah. 74 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:41.759 I was hoping that like the secret message or something 75 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:42.759 was in the rubber chicken. 76 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.360 Oh were you? I was well, I was doing the 77 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:46.840 best I could. 78 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:48.400 How did you know? How did you know what it was? 79 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.120 You just woke up right? Yeah? 80 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.439 Right? Yeah, So after all, that's what the story indicated. 81 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.479 It makes sense to me. So it's the it's the 82 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:00.879 handsome part and the talented got your recruited. That's really 83 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:02.680 something that was hard. 84 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:05.280 That is hard because you said, you said, I woke 85 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:09.280 up as if he had no memory, right of a 86 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:10.560 rubber chicken and a chicken. 87 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:11.960 Car clutch clutching rubber chickens. 88 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:15.199 So it's either two options. You're drunk well as as 89 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:16.439 you don't remember it. 90 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:24.560 Yeah, as evil farmers do after after a ball, they 91 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:27.600 go back to their farms. To plot some kind of 92 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.000 evil global takeover, believe it or not. 93 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:32.560 Like, have you ever seen the movie Get Smart? Yes, okay, 94 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.720 Get Smart. I used to watch Get Smart the show, yes, yes, yes, 95 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:39.439 and I remember episode yeah, but but you remember it 96 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.199 Gets Smart. They were at this ball at this mansion, right. 97 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:44.000 What they do is they leave there and they go 98 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:45.560 to this you know, random shot. 99 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:47.839 Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's it's the evil farmers 100 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.720 of the world. They're uniting, yes, to take over the 101 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.680 world or something. But they have a ball first. Yes, 102 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:57.399 they always have balls, so I can imagine you know, 103 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:58.800 that's why you were wearing the tuxedo. 104 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:03.120 Yes, Jackie Chan and Jennifer love Hewett rivet riveting in 105 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.079 the movie called the Tuxedo. What did they do? They 106 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:07.800 went to a place where you had to go to 107 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:11.000 a dance where you know, where all the hob knobs, 108 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.959 all all the villains are. Right then, what does he do? 109 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:14.160 He goes to listen. 110 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:17.160 Have you ever noticed how many how many balls? 111 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:17.959 Uh? 112 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.079 And and parties like that? The big dances and fancy 113 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:22.560 dresses that villains have. 114 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:26.000 Dude, think about it, about this? Every mission impossible. 115 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:30.279 Yeah, there's always some kind of big fancy ball. Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, 116 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.240 Well that was riveting, Chris, thank you. That was a 117 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:33.680 tough one. 118 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:34.319 It was tough. 119 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:35.759 It was a tough on every level. 120 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:40.040 I think if I would have had maybe perhaps minutes 121 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.680 to think about it, I could have told the story better. 122 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:46.600 I was just sort of rambling, right, But I liked it, 123 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:47.720 ok I was. 124 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:48.480 I was riveted. 125 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:49.319 Okay, thank you. 126 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.839 Okay. So, speaking of riveting stories, oh, in Second Samuel 127 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.759 or Second Chronicles, chapter sixteen, like it? I like it 128 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:02.720 is a riveting story about King Basha. Ooh, and Asa 129 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.959 invading ASA's territory. Ooh, remember we said it's thirty five 130 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:10.360 years no war, right, yes, well, all good things come 131 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:11.000 to pass. 132 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.519 Yes, as to all bad things, all good things. Yep. 133 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.160 So in first our Second Chronicles, chapter sixteen, verse one, 134 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.680 it says, in the thirty sixth year of ASA's reign, 135 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.639 King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Rama in 136 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.160 order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Ace's 137 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:29.800 territory in Judah. Asa responded by removing the silver and 138 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.680 gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord 139 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.480 in the Royal Plat Palace, and he sent it to 140 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.000 King Ben Haydad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, 141 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:42.040 along with this message, let there be a treaty between 142 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.680 you and me like the one between your father and 143 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.519 my father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. 144 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.800 Break your treaty with King Basha of Israel so that 145 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.040 he will leave me alone. Ben Haydad agreed to King 146 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.720 ASA's request and sent the commanders of his army to 147 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.439 attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of 148 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:04.800 I John, Dan, Abobeth, Maka, and all the store cities 149 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.759 in Naphthali. As soon as Basha of Israel heard what 150 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.920 was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Rama and 151 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.319 stopped all work on it. Then King Asa called out 152 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:17.079 all the men of Juda to carry away the building 153 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:20.160 stones and timbers that Basha had been using to fortify Rama. 154 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.040 Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Giba 155 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:26.839 and Mizba. At that time, Hanani the Seer came to 156 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:28.720 King Asa and told him, because you have put your 157 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.360 trust in the King of Arim instead of in the 158 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.879 Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the 159 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.680 army of the King of Aram. Don't you remember what 160 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.480 happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army 161 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:41.399 with all of their chariots and chariot tears. At that time, 162 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.120 you relied on the Lord, and he had them over 163 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.279 to you. The eyes of the Lord searched the whole 164 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.000 earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully 165 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.959 committed to him. What a fool you've been. From now on, 166 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.199 you'll be at war. Asa became so angry with Hanani 167 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:56.279 for saying this that he threw him into prison, put 168 00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:00.399 him in stocks. At that time, Asa also began to 169 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:08.199 oppress some of his people. There you go and Asa Asa, he's. 170 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:09.519 Like Solomon here a little bit right. 171 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.920 Yeah, he makes a mistake. He doesn't go, he doesn't 172 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:16.240 go worshiping other gods, gods. He just deviates from what 173 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:18.560 he always had done in the past, and that was 174 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:19.639 completely rely on God. 175 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:24.480 So I'm wondering about why did he react to what's 176 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:30.040 this guy's name, Hana I Yeah, and Hanani Hanani? Okay? 177 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.840 Why did he react to him? But would he get angry? 178 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:34.519 Why did he throw him in the stocks? 179 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:39.240 Well, because the phrase exists in English, don't kill the 180 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.639 messenger right, it's because we don't like bad news. Yeah, 181 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:43.440 that was it. 182 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:47.440 Yeah, But like, okay, so for instance, Asa had heard 183 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:52.000 the prophet last chapter right as Ariah, son of obed 184 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.600 O dead. He was the one that said, you know, hey, listen, repent, 185 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:59.720 do all these things turn from these multiple gods? And 186 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.200 so and so what does he do? Sa gets totally 187 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:07.840 inspired from from Azariah. And now here we have Hanani 188 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.480 whatever his name is. He comes over and it says 189 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:15.039 he's a seer rich by the way, a seer. That's crazy. 190 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.159 Yeah, it could have been a prophet. They would call 191 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:19.840 prophet seers, would they Yeah. 192 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:23.799 Okay, yeah, because I was wondering about that. But anyway, 193 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:28.080 either way, Hanani has he had this incredible message, right, 194 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.360 and the message is, hey, you screwed up, and what 195 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.000 you should have done is trust to God. And that's 196 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.519 sort of a sermon in there talking about we should 197 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.039 allow people to challenge us in our lives. Yeah, right, 198 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.159 you know we should. We should allow people to come 199 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.200 up and and and and just say, hey, Chris, I've 200 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.720 noticed that you're behaving in a certain way, and uh, 201 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.039 here's what's true, and uh, you know, I'm going to 202 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.720 challenge you from either a mistake you've made or you 203 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.080 know you reacted poorly to this person. You need to apologize. 204 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.240 Whatever it is, somebody needs to call you out. And 205 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.559 if they're a trusted friend, you know this person is 206 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.559 a title of a seer and hopefully it's a prophet. Yeah, 207 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:08.240 and if they are, then Asa should have received the 208 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:11.080 news then, right, you should have allowed himself to be challenged. 209 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:22.600 So Asa, it's not wrong to work channels of diplomacy, correct, Right. 210 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:24.960 So he reaches out to the king who is in 211 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.799 Damascus at the time, which is modern day Syria now, 212 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.679 and he reaches out to him and says, hey, break 213 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:38.759 off your treaty with Baasha and help me fighting. That's that, 214 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:43.600 in and of itself, good diplomacy from kings. Solomon had 215 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.679 great diplomacy. You have lots of kings that figure out diplomacy. 216 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:50.960 It's a good thing. It's not a bad thing. Where 217 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:54.720 Asa gets off track is that is not how he 218 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:59.360 wound up having success in his kingdom. He had turned 219 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:02.960 his people back to God. When they go to war 220 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.960 against the Ethiopians, when they go to war against the 221 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.840 what was the other group? This wasn't Algerians. There's another 222 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:14.200 group that he mentions there the Libyans, right, same thing, God, 223 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:15.960 we don't have anywhere to turn, but yeah we don't. 224 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.799 We don't have anybody but you to trust in. Yeah right, 225 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:22.440 we don't have any any anywhere else to turn. And 226 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.799 so he had led the people we only win when 227 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:29.399 God's on our side. So this isn't so much like 228 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:33.600 an overt rebellion against God. It just shows a spiritual drift. 229 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.440 There was a time he was really on fire, totally 230 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.240 dialed in, and the only place he turned for help 231 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:43.879 was God. Yeah, and God promised. Because God didn't promise, Hey, 232 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.559 I'll send you some help. God said, I am the help. 233 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.399 And so you see, now there's kind of a spiritual 234 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:52.559 drift where I'm a pretty clever king. God, I don't 235 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:54.360 need your help on this one. I can handle it well. 236 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.919 And let's not overlook the fact that he removed the 237 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.240 silver and gold from the temple of the. 238 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.559 Lord, right, the stuff he had dedicated to God. 239 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.799 Yes, that's that's the real crime here, right. I mean, 240 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.519 if you think about it, he had uh you know, 241 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.480 he probably didn't have uh you know, he didn't have 242 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.960 an excess of silver and gold elsewhere obviously because he 243 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.320 had to dip into the temple. But he's thinking, okay, 244 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.360 what do we have left, Well, we have the silver 245 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.960 and gold in the temple. So he sort of desecrates 246 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.399 the temple and grabs all the silver and gold to 247 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.440 use this as a bribe for the treaty, right, and 248 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.840 so yeah, if you think about that, that's sort of blasphemous. 249 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.039 These things were set apart for God, they were holy, 250 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.639 and they got then he used them to navigate his 251 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:35.519 own problem. You know, he was trying to do the 252 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.320 right thing the wrong way. Yeah, that's right, that's what happened. 253 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.399 Yeah. Hey, by the way, since now that we've taught 254 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:41.879 and we were all serious, do you know where that 255 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:46.399 quote was from the Libyans? No, it's back to the future. 256 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:47.840 Oh that's right. Do you remember? 257 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:49.840 Yeah? I remember that. 258 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.080 Yeah, they found me. I don't know how, but they 259 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:53.440 found me. Who found you? 260 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.000 That's right? So uh I forgot that. 261 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:05.279 Yeah. So so yeah, so Asa has blown it right 262 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.360 at the end there, And again he hasn't worshiped other gods, right, 263 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:11.399 just like Solomon has compromised. Uh. But yeah, at the 264 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.360 same time, uh, you know, he goes ahead and he 265 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.759 does these things and then and then Hanani Hannah and 266 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:22.279 I whatever his name is, he says, you will always 267 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.320 from now on, you always be at war. This guy 268 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.480 has to be a prophet, right, because he's not just saying, hey, 269 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:29.240 you behaved in this way, let me call you out. 270 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:33.519 He's actually saying, this is now what what God will decree? Right? 271 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:35.120 What a fool you have been? From now on, you'll 272 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:37.279 be at war. Right. So I'm gonna I'm gonna go 273 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:38.399 on a limb here and say. 274 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:40.759 Well that the notes in Life Application Study Bible call 275 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:41.519 him a prophet. 276 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:45.480 Oh, there you go, there you go. Yeah. So Asa 277 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:50.200 is still somebody to be revered and admired. Still, he 278 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:52.559 is still an unsung hero of the Old Testament. He 279 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:57.600 just you know, falls under pressure and gets scared and 280 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.399 thinks to himself, we're going to die unless we get creative. 281 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.919 So there's a note, you know, Life Application Study Bible. 282 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.519 There's a whole thing that describes, you know, kind of 283 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:09.120 the character of who Asa is. And it says here 284 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:11.000 along lines of what we were talking about a minute ago. 285 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:13.639 God does not condone the idea that the end justifies 286 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.639 the means, Right, he is just imperfect in all his ways. 287 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.919 People on the other hand, are far from perfect. That 288 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:22.559 a bond can exist between a loving and merciful Creator 289 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.120 and his rebellious creation is a great miracle as creation. 290 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:28.279 It is as great a miracle as creation itself. As 291 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:32.480 a king, Asa came very close to being good. He 292 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.080 traveled a long way with God before getting off track. 293 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.919 His sin was not so much deliberate disobedience, that's what 294 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:40.759 you said. His sin was not so much deliberate disobedience 295 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:43.480 as choosing the way, the easy way, rather than the 296 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:45.480 right way. That's what he did. He chose the easy 297 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.159 way rather than the right way when the when the 298 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.960 odds seemed impossible. In the battle with the Ethiopians, Asa 299 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.960 recognized his need to depend on God. Following that victory, 300 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.919 God's promise of peace based on obedience spurred the king 301 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.720 and people to many years of right living. But A 302 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.519 had to face a tougher test, years of animasi between 303 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:06.440 Asa and Israel's king Basha took an ugly turn. This 304 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:09.799 lasted a long time where Basha, even though inside of 305 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.159 Judah there was peace, all the time, Basha was always 306 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.399 causing pressure and problems. Right he was a bad guy. Basha, 307 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.960 a king of the rival Northern kingdom was building a 308 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.480 fourth that threatened both the peace and the economy of Judah. 309 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:25.159 Asa thought he saw a way out. He bribed King 310 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.440 ben Haydad of Aram to break his alliance with King Basha. 311 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.200 The plan worked brilliantly, but it wasn't God's way. When 312 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.600 God's prophet Hannah and I or Hanani or whatever confronted Asa, 313 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.159 he flew into a rage, jailed Hanani, and took out 314 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:41.840 his anger on his people. Asa rejected correction and refused 315 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.600 to admit his error to God. His greatest failure was 316 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.000 missing what God could have done with his life if 317 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.600 he'd been willing to be humble. His pride ruined the 318 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:53.200 health of his reign. He stubbornly held on to his 319 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:56.840 failure until his death. Right. That's the issue. It's not 320 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.639 so much that he overtly sinned against God. It was 321 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:01.919 that he decided to do the easy thing rather than 322 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:04.799 the right thing. That first promise from God is if 323 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.559 you keep me first, I'll keep giving you victory and prosperity. 324 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.600 That's what he said. And then he doesn't. He goes 325 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.240 and relies on another man instead of him. 326 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.519 Wanting you to finish it. Because the application turns. It says, 327 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:20.440 does this attitude sound familiar? Can you identify justifying the 328 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.159 means such a belief lends leads to sin and failure. 329 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:28.279 That the stubborn refusal to admit failure due to sin 330 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.519 can become quite a big problem because it can make 331 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:34.039 you spend It makes you spend time rationalizing rather than 332 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.399 learning from your mistakes and moving on. You know what 333 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:39.639 I actually think. I think I'm starting to need reader's glasses. 334 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.039 Yeah, well, you skipped part of a sentence there. 335 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.639 Yeah, I was having a hard time there. The lighting 336 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.440 is bad in here. But I think I'm going to 337 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.200 start to do that because this writing is really small. 338 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:53.159 It is small, but you don't have anything, but it's 339 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:54.919 really powerful. With the reading lessons, I can read it 340 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.759 up close, I can't see far away. Jeez at that 341 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:03.519 age aren't getting old? That's okay, it's the it's the old. 342 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.160 It's the old. Uh, it's our age that helps bring wisdom. 343 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:15.440 That's right, that's right wisdom. You know i'd mentioned I 344 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:18.519 think it was yesterday's podcast or maybe the days before. 345 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.880 Remember we talked about the priests. He says, you don't 346 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.720 have real priests, right r And he and he says. 347 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.160 He says, you need, you need to have a real religion. 348 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:31.559 This was I'm really I'm really bringing something up because 349 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.039 for you and me, this was only I go, like 350 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:37.839 thirty minutes ago, forty five minutes ago. For our listeners 351 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.319 who watched daily, this was yesterday or the day before. 352 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:44.039 You know what I wanted to say is I wanted 353 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.559 to say. You know what it reminds me of is 354 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:52.039 people who get ordained online. But when a church is 355 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.759 technically legally a church, but it's really not a church, right, right, 356 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.240 So for years and years and I think and I'm 357 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.480 just randomly bringing this up because we haven't or two 358 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:06.960 so so for years and years. Uh, God gave the 359 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:13.640 the ability or the responsibility of the church to marry people, right, 360 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:15.880 and so you know, separations of the church and states. 361 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.160 So now it's both captains and judges, right, they could 362 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.079 marry people. But the church has always it's always been 363 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:24.039 on the church side of things. It's always been held like, 364 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:29.000 you know, a pastor will be the one to control. 365 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.440 You know who they married, Yeah, because a Christian is 366 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.559 asking for God's blessing on the marriage. Yes, so they're 367 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.319 coming into God's leaders and saying, hey, would you give 368 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.200 God's blessing too? 369 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.240 Yes? And and uh and so consequently, the church would 370 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:45.160 sometimes say, hey, we're going to require marriage counseling. We're 371 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.519 going to require this, We're gonna require this in order 372 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.079 to have God a part of your wedding. Uh, you know, 373 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:52.240 you know, then then you've got to jump through the 374 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:55.839 hoops sometimes of of what the church decrease and then 375 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.680 and so I guess people didn't like that. They're like, 376 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.920 wouldn't it be great if you could have got a 377 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.559 part of your wedding and be married in a religious 378 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:08.359 fashion and yet not have to deal with the ridiculousness 379 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.839 of some churches. So here's what we're going to do. 380 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.400 We're gonna go online. We're going to establish and create 381 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.640 a church. Because it is easy to say we're going 382 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.759 to create a church, but they didn't really create a 383 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:21.359 real church. They created a church for the sole purpose 384 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:26.720 of selling the rights to be an ordained minister. Because dude, 385 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.599 you're an ordained minister. Yeah, in order to be ordained, 386 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:32.000 what did you have to go through? 387 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.599 Well, I was ordained at the end of my Bible 388 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:40.680 college time, so I'd had to have graduated and then 389 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:44.559 we had to go through an ordination council where there 390 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:48.480 was the challenge of you know, theology and biblical literacy 391 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:49.559 and all those things. We had to be able to 392 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:54.160 defend our faith and defend our theological positions to a 393 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:58.839 board of other ordained, highly trained pastors, and then they 394 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.880 gave a group approval and then laid hands on us 395 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:04.440 and prayed over us and ordained us. 396 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.359 And was that was that a private ceremony? Was that 397 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.559 public in front of people? That was public in front 398 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:10.599 of how many people? Yeah? 399 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.960 Yeah, the defense was private, the you know, just with 400 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:16.640 the others that were getting ordained. The the ordination was 401 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:19.279