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Episode 600: In this episode, we delve into the biblical narrative of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, as we explore 2 Chronicles chapter 17. Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, is portrayed as a king who is deeply committed to following God and leading his people in righteousness. Unlike his father, who left some pagan practices intact, Jehoshaphat takes decisive action to remove these influences from Judah, demonstrating his commitment to God’s ways.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Six six zero, six hundred episodes, six hundred episodes of the Bible Guys. Yeah, not just of HG Daily, that's right, because how many we have those? Well, all together, I was just looking that up. Let me find it again, all together between. You may not know we started this as a small group kind of thing, and we did a bunch of episodes on HG Daily, not really ever intending to continue. Yeah, so with HC Daily and The Bible Guys combined is six hundred and fifty eight episodes. We only did fifty eight episodes of the HID. Seven hundred I'm sorry, seven hundred and fifty eight episodes seven to fifty eight. Yeah, yeah, so we did I think so and. Fifty eight episodes of the HG Daily. Yeah, so it's either seven fifty eight or seven sixty three okay, yeah, but around there, Yeah, over seven hundred and six, let's say, seven hundred and sixty episodes also combined. But you and me just with the Bible Guys, six six hundred episodes, and it's this one. This is the six hundredth Yeah, and so hey, hey listen people, for those who've been listening a long time, we're gonna try really hard with this one, okay, right, you see we can finally get it right. We're gonna shoot above mediocrity. We just that's right, that's right. We're going to elevate the bar to you know, so so so. That's great. Yeah, yeah, that's our new commitment. We're all in on getting it so so. And today's Friday, Yeah, which is everybody's favorite day because it's the most likely day for us to celebrate everybody's favorite It doesn't always happen, but everybody's favorite episode. Our long term fans know everybody's favorite episode. Hey, listen, remember when I told you earlier this week that I met with some kids that used to be in my youth group and now they're married and they have four little girls. The little girls said that their favorite part is what made Chris mad? Is it really? And they're pretty sure they know all the things that made Chris mad. This week, I said, trust me, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what makes Chris mad. So so they're sitting here super excited. Girls yeah, here he is. Chris, what made you mad this week? Well, when I saw the question and I knew it was upon me, I immediately thought of something that happened on Monday. I looked at the sheet and said, oh, it's what made Chris mad this week? And you go, oh, I already know what it is. Yeah, you didn't even have to think twice. Yes, okay, So here it is. It comes down to one sentence, which is, have you ever been really super excited about something? Yes, and you you really wanted the other person to experience it as well. Like have you ever said, like, oh to your wife or something, You'd say, I can't wait till. You tea this week? Yeah you love this, I love this or this movie or you know what I mean. Or whatever it is, and they completely rejected and they don't even give it a time of day. That's this is what happened to me. So it happened with the movie Wicked. Okay, okay. So so now that you have that context, allow me to end. You are a massive fan of Wicked. It's a ten out of ten. It's a ten out of ten, just so just so everybody knows, there's probably less than twenty movies in my lifetime that I've given a ten out of ten. And Chris has seen all the movies. True, So there's twenty out of the gajillion movies that you've seen, and most. Of them you know who are that are phenomenal? They get nine? What are other ten out of ten? Everything that zach Efron's in, and then Wicked ten out of ten. No, No, I immediately can say that I've given Endgame and Infinity Wars both of. Those ten out of ten. Okay, So theo's are substantial. Those are significant. It has to be subsidci complexity of it, the scale of it. They intensity on it, editing out it. I don't want to get too much into it because I have a story here, but I do have a rating scale. Okay, but here's the thing. It has to be ten out of ten means. Like I would. It lacks nothing that's okay. And just so you know, when when Chris gives you a number of scales, if he thinks something is really good, he'll go, dude, that was a solid eight. Yes, and that's like a massive compliment for you to say it's a solid eight. Yeah. Five is neutral and you because you are stingy with nines and ten's almost never. Exists, right, That's see, like, for instance, a sermon on a Sunday morning and they come down and I think, I'm like, that is incredible. I'm like, dude, that was like an eight and a half. Yeah, yeah, right, Well you've given me a couple of sevens, which make me feel so incredibly incredibly honored. I've given you man alive, and so I've been super excited. Yeah. Nine is like life changing. Ten is something you'll never ever forget. Anyway, The point is, I'm not even into my story yet, please, is that I went to this person. I'm not going to tell you your name, but you. Know who you are. But you know who you are. I said, I go, you got to watch Wicked. It's just it's just it's just great. So she goes home, comes back and says, you know, I see her, you know the next time I see her, And she says, yeah, I just don't understand the hype, and it's you know it was it was okay. I said, well, were you into it or were you you know it was on it was in the background. I just get infuriated, I get inured. I said, what what do you mean. You're saying you turned it on and you didn't completely dedicate your entire attent. Next to three hours to it. It is three hours for the first half, for the first half, that's right, that's right. Now, the real Wicked only lasts two hours in the theater, but two and a half hours for sure. But we got to make this movie rightfully, So we go to make this movie six hours for the two and a half hour theater show. But that's okay, but rightfully so okay because for instance, I haven't seen it yet. When you when you create a movie, don't ruin it for me. What happens? No, No, when you create a movie. When you create a movie, like for instance, in the Wicked Broadway show, which I've I've seen five. Times, I've seen twice, Okay. They're like when they walk into OZ, they're like, oh look it's OZ. And of course the set isn't exactly that elaborate, right, but like, oh look we're in OZ. That's it. It lasts one second in the movie. They literally, because it's a movie, they have to create OZ and the splendor of OZ. Dude, that takes like seven minutes just for them to show you as right, and so naturally the movie's going to be way longer because it creates emotion and it creates character depth, so they take more time to give you more depth of. Them, so more than twice as long. So anyways, your friend headed on in the background. I'm giving you the whole argument. By saying phenomenal. Why it's ten Yeah, that's. Exactly right here it is. Okay, I'm gonna wrap this up. You have you have to live up to the Wizard of Stinking oz Right from nineteen thirty nine, one of the best movies revered ever made. So that's a tall order, and you're gonna make a sequel to that, good Luck. And then you're going to take on arguably one of. The best Broadway shows ever made, which is Wicked and by the Way, and then you're going to try to compete with the musical talent of arguably two of the greatest singers in the world, Kristin Chenowith and I did a Menzell. Right, So you got these three unbelievable things you're trying to tackle, and it's like, good luck with living up to all three of those things. Now on top of that, so not only are you taking on that challenge, but then you have to not only do that, but you have to elevate it. You have to make it better, right otherwise why do it? Because think about this, every live animations you ever see the remake, the live animation remake of the Little Mermaid? Don't ever see it. It's awful. It is a lesser version of the Little It's like a four out of It's like a three and a half four out of ten. Okay, because you know flounder of the fish. You can have big eyes when he's but when you when you have a real fish acting surprised, you can't make him with cartoon eyes. There's no expression. Right, It's a lesser version on every level. Okay, okay, okay, So not wicked. Wicked has to add character, depth and emotion on top of everything else. Okay, us why we make it? And so anyway, all that to say it, it surpassed my expectations in every category. And your friend said, and. My friend said, oh, I just didn't get it. And then I was so mad at the end when it was finally over, finally over, and it said to be continued, and I was like, what it was only part one, and I was like, are you kidding me? This movie stands on its own as is, and it is incredible. It's incredible. It surpassed everything. Okay, and I'm telling you one last thing. So how dare somebody have a different opinion than you about a movie? No, that is not that is that he's about. What I'm mad is is that you didn't give it the time of day. You just turned it on in the background, and you mean judged it. She gave it three hours. No, she said it was on in the background, and she's like, oh it was. It was just sort of on. But she made it to the end and saw that it was to be continued. And then decided to critique it. And then as I was trying to lift it up and explain the grandeur of this, of this feat that Wicked has conquered, she says, oh, I just didn't get it. I just it was terrible. Okay, she didn't use the word terrible, but still it was. Okay. Well, how dare she? Yes, it didn't mad? She clearly did not listen to you. And anybody anybody who listen. So he's mad that she didn't listen. When you want somebody to appreciate that what you appreciate, and they don't. And they don't they don't really put in that real effort. That's correct. I see that's what made Christmas. I see you understand, Yes, you understand now, ja I do understand. Okay, okay, all right? Or next time Chris wants me to do something, I better do it. Well, if I'm with all my heart, I better do it. Not just not just part way man, you can get in trouble. Yeah, with all my heart, Chris, Okay, that's it. Okay, talking about with all my heart. Ooh uh. Jehosha Fat becomes king and he wants to lead just like his dad did with all his heart, with all his heart in Israel. Heart. I like it. Was that a good transition. I like it. Okay. So in Second Chronicles, chapter seventeen is where we're at in this yes and Uh, it says this Jehasaphat Jehosha Fat, Yes j e h O s h A p h A T. It's a rapper's name. It's ridiculous, that is what it is. It's like a rapper name, right, yeah, Fat Fat Jehosh I don't know jehoshaha saying, Rapper, it's fat pepj Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. Jehosha, fat Ace's son became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. The Lord was with Jehashafat because he followed the example of his father's early years and did not worship the images of Bail. He sought his father's God and obeyed his commands instead of following the evil practices of the Kingdom of Israel. So the Lord established Jehoshaphat's rule kingdom and control over the Kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehashaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed. He was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord. He removed the pagan shrines and a share of polls from each from Judah. In the third year of his reign, Jehashapat sent his officials to teach it in all the towns of Judah. These officials included ben Hale, Obadiah, Zachariah, Nathaniel, and mike Ayah. He sent levites along with them, including Samaiyah and Nathaniah zebediah Assahl, Shemramoth Jeha on the then Ada Nija, Tobijah, and Toba Nija. There'll be a quiz after by the way. He also sent out the priests Alishama and Jehoram that took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah teaching the people. Then the fear of the Lord fell over all the surrounding kingdoms, so that none of them wanted the declare war on Jehashapah. Some of the Philistines brought him gifts and silver is tribute, and the Arabs brought seventy seven hundred rams and seventy seven hundred male goats. So Jehashapah became more and more powerful and built fortresses and storage cities throughout Judah. He stored numerous supplies in Judas towns and stationed in an army of seas and troops at Jerusalem. His army was enrolled according to ancestral clans. From Judah, there were three hundred thousand troops organized in units of a thousand, under the command of aDNA. Next in command was johannan N who commanded two hundred and eighty thousand troops. Next was Ameasiah, son of Zikar, who volunteered for the lord's service, with two hundred thousand troops under his command. From Benjamin, there were two hundred thousand troops equipped with the bows and shields, and they were under the command of Elieda, a veteran soldier. Next to the command was Jehosah Bad, who commanded one hundred and eighty thousand armed men. These were the troops stationed in Jerusalem to serve the king, besides those Jehoshaphat stationed in the fortified towns throughout Judah. Wow, that's a lot of names, dude, Dude, I. Told you this a long time ago. I told you this actually during the break in between podcasts that early on. Yeah, I said, I want you to be the one who reads, because number one, you have a really great. Voice, you really do, and you read very well. But it's mainly because I would slam I don't want to say anything. It's the main reason why I was like, hey, you do the reading, because I would butcher all of those, and yet you got through them. And sometimes when you burn through those, like you really read those fast. I would have paused and I would still be on that section right now. I would be like Toebedja, well, I thought it was funny talking about the names Adamnija, Tobaija and toeb Adanaija, which is what is that about? Right? Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I don't know. And uh sher Ramoth. Yeah, yeah, that's terrible. That's terrible. But let's just they might all be in heaven going come on, man, say my name right, just just one time, one preacher, say my name, right, that's because yeah, anyways, say my name, my name. Hey. Jehoshaphat was ASA's son, Yes, he became the next king. Asa was a pretty good king, and Jehasha Fat became a better king. Yeah, better king. And remember how it said that Asa never tore down the temples, Yes, and you said that he almost went. All the way. Yeah, I wished he did. Yeah, And Josha Fat went all the way. He did. He was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord, and he removed the pagan shrines and a share of polls from Judah. That's it. Yeah, that that's the verse six. Yep. And so he so he actually, uh, he's like, hey, my my dad was good. My dad was a good man. And but I'll tell you what. I would do. I'll tell you what I would do. I would I would go all the way, and I would. As a family, we have some unfinished business. That's right. Yeah, yeah, And he did, and and so you know, and guess what happens, shockface. He gets blessed, right, he gets blessed. They prosper, he gets stronger, he has more influence, and and God blesses them and honors him. I love the fact that Jehosha saw his dad at his best and he saw his dad at his worst. True. And you know, all of us have grown up with adults in our lives where we saw the best and the worst. And I think right now we live in a culture where it's okay for us to choose to kind of a victim mentality because we saw the adults in our life at their worst. Yeah, but what about adopting the best? Right? Hey, that drunk father did he get up and go to work, did he keep paying the bills? Did he write, Yes, you saw the worst, but don't be a victim because of the worst. And I'm not saying that you weren't victimized. I'm not saying that I was victimized. As especially if it's serious abuse. Right, right, and and I went through serious physical abuse, right, that's right. And but I almost forgot. You have a pedestal stand on there a little bit, yeah, yeah, or not a pedestal platform, yeah, a platform. So, but you have a choice if bad things have happened in your life, or if you've seen the adults in your life before you do bad things, that doesn't give you the right to go ahead and be, you know, choosing this victim mentality of I'm never gonna achieve or these things are the things that hold me back, or this is why I'm miserable. Instead, what you see is Jehoshaphat saw his dad at his best and at his worst, and Jehoshaphat decided to embrace the god of his father's early days, right right, and then to lead the people. Well, he led the people. He tore down those temples, he tore on the a share of polls. He set up strong armies, and the people learn to love him, and they gave him all these these blessings because he decided, hey, my family has some unfinished business. So if you grew up in a world, if you grew up in a life where, hey, there were some really bad things that adults did around me, you know, you can decide to do the best parts of what they did, and it's you can at the same time simultaneously reject the bad things and say, my family has some unfinished business, and I'm going to be the one. So in my life, you know, my biological father was an alcoholic. I've told that story many times. There was a lot of violence, there were all these things, and so I just decided the unfinished business in my family's life was an alcohol based issue. So I decided an early age, I'll never touch it. I'm never going to drink it. And as a result, my children never hit under the bed, they'd never hid in the closet. My wife never ducks when I raised my hand, right because she doesn't, she doesn't have some kind of sense. I'm about ready to beat her. All that kind of stuff. There's a tremendous out of peace, and I decided, rather than being a victim of what he did to us, I decided, you know what, I'm going to embrace the good sides of adulthood and I'm going to go ahead and finish the business. I'm going to fix the thing that was broken in my family. And that's what you see Johasha fat do, right. And there's a choice here, that's what I'm saying. There's a choice. And he took the nation to the next level. Remember, he broke up all these these armies into tribes. They were very tribal, they were very family oriented. So the king really, oftentimes for the whole nation, really felt like the dad of the whole nation. That's what it felt like for them. That's why they just thought, we've got the best king, right is because we're all family. They're all family. And so then to have him rise up and go, no, we're not going to be oppressed. We're not going to do what the nation to the north of us are doing, and we're going to go ahead and finish the unfinished things. We're going to get better at what my dad did. We're going to reject the bad that he did. I'm going to set my peace people free. I'm going to set them up and prosper again, and we're going to follow God. I just I love everything about Jehosha Fatza early reign that way. Yeah, it's fantastic. Hey, I think this would be a funny thing to say. So during the Christmas services that we just had, so Heritage just got through what three weeks ago, twenty two Christmas services, and we had somebody making comment. Do you remember what I want to say here? Somebody making comment and you were out on the stage preaching. I was in the wings with the choir, and I was about to go out and jump in the choir and just you know, just be a part of it. And this lady makes a comment and she's watching you on the TV because on the side wings we call them the wings. She's watching you and you're preaching and you're giving the gospel, you know, you're doing candle lighting, and here I am acting like crazy goofy right and on the side, you know, laughing, yucking it up, you know, and jumping in the choir and all this. But I wasn't supposed to be in the choir. I never, I've never they had a uniform. Actually they were all wearing all black. You come out, you're just wearing like a normal shirt. And she goes, you know, she goes as two of our pastors of heritage. She goes two of our leaders. She goes, I look at him, and she points to the TV. She puts to you. She goes, he's like the dad. And she goes and you're sort of like the uncle. And I was like, what, I said, what do you mean? She's like, yeah, she goes, but I don't mean it in a negative weight. I'm like, oh, you don't. And I just thought it was one of the funniest things. I laughed so hard. I thought it was so funny. And she goes, well, yeah, she goes, the dad is going to be somebody who you know, uh, you know, he's probably not going to let let you get away with much. Yeah. She told me, I'm not gonna let you get away with much. Chris is way more fun. She goes. She goes, but you know, she goes, well, the crazy uncle, yeah, probably, so, yeah, it's hilarious. One of the I'm going to do a memorial service tomorrow for a friend and he's young and his family He's kind of like the glue of the family, and it's a very extended Italian family, huge Italian family, and he was like the mentor to all the nephews and nieces and everybody's loved him. And so several of the moms, we were all around in the hospital and there's twenty five people in the hospital room. They're all telling stories, and several the moms were talking about how they would they tried to have rules, but Sam was always the one that would sneak and break the rules with the nephews and nieces, right, so they all knew the crazy uncle be there. So one of them one of my friends, she's fantastic. I'd known her for a long time. She's his sister, and she had a rule for a long time that her kids no chewing gum. She just didn't think gum was a good idea. And finally Sam always was chewing gum. So he finally was able to get her to let the kids have gum one time, and she said, okay, only with me, only with mom, and only on holliay of days. So then Sam finally knows he's got his foot in the door and he's the uncle he sent the next day, had thousands of pieces of bubblegum delivered to their home from Amazon, this huge box and with a note from Uncle Sam. It's a holiday somewhere every day. That's hilarious. So that's the difference between the parent and the uncle. The uncle's like, yeah, let's go have some fun. That's what she's saying, right, is that I'm the I'm the funny ditty. This is gonna make everybody tell the line, and you're the one that everybody's gonna have fun with. Well, there's both, there's both. There's both positives and big negatives with both of those, right, right, Because the. Dad's the dad's the. Better one of the choice. Yeah, for sure. So there's the positive side of it. So I'm just I'm just the crazy uncle. No, it's that she loves spending time with you and she has fun, right, That's it. And yeah, so it was even funnier in the way that she said it. The whole thing. That was just great. So we uhould get back to this. There's one more thing I wanted to highlight before we kind of finish up and remind ourselves again of the importance of deciding to keep going deeper in your relationship with God. All these names. Sometimes people ask why do they name so many names? Why? Really? So, the Holy Spirit inspired the author of Second Chronicles to name twenty five or thirty key people, and the Bible says, you know, Book of Romans says, give honor to whom honor is due. These are godly men that stepped up risk their lives to protect the people of God who were all trying to do the right thing, and they stepped in. It wasn't possible for Jehoshaphat's rain to be successful. It wasn't possible for Jehoshaphat's rain to have the kind of prosperity and peace without these guys being willing to put their lives on the line. And so God goes, hey, we're going to give you an honorable mention in the Bible. For thousands of years, we've been trying to plow through these goofy names and try to figure out who they are, because what they did really mattered, right, And so sometimes you know, you're not a king. I'm not a king. I don't know that anybody's going to remember our names too much. It's not like we transformed the whole world. Right, But man, would be nice to get an honorable mention in heaven. Right, you know what I mean? And that's what happens here is these guys did it. I love the one guy, a messiah son of Zickary, who volunteered for the Lord's service. I love the people time about saying, God, Jeff, I don't know what God wants me to do. What do you want to do for God? Go do that until he stops you. Right. I really still feel like I'm a pastor because of that. I don't know that I ever had a lightning moment where God said, Jeff, I want you to be a pastor. But man, I really wanted to serve the Lord in ministry. And I loved that verse. David says, you know, he'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, right, And I just remember going, That's what I want to do. And so I just pursued that God opened the doors. He's blessed it, and I think it's kind of the same thing. A messiah, the son of Zickary, volunteered for the Lord's servi us and he gets an honorable mention in the Bible because he led two hundred thousand troops to protect just Jehosephat's kingdom. It's pretty neat. Yeah, it's very neat. So if you haven't had a lightning bolt moment, go volunteer. Do a thing. What does your heart beat for for God? Go do that thing and do it until God stops you. That's great, that's great advice, and that's that's a great place to end. So our six hundredth episode. Yes, congratulations Chris Man. Hey, congratulations to you, Jeff, and thanks for being the one who carries the load. Well, but no, we do it together. I couldn't. I couldn't do any of the things you do on this podcast. That's true. That's true. You can't sing, No, I can. I just choose not to. You can sing, yeah, you just don't sing very right. All right, Hey, we will see you hopefully on Monday on the Bible. Guys,