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Episode 626: In this episode, we dive into the intriguing world of the Old Testament, specifically focusing on 2 Kings chapter 14. We explore the reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, who becomes king of Judah. We discuss his initial successes, including his military victories and the execution of his father’s assassins. However, we also highlight his shortcomings, particularly his failure to eliminate pagan shrines, which ultimately led to a weakened spiritual state for his people.
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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. Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of the Bible Guys. We're back. We can again. I just can't believe it. We have different outfits for the whole week every week we come back. Oh, which, by the way, most people actually don't watch, they listen. They listen. Yeah, that's about fifty to fifty now. But yeah, yeah, it's pretty closely, you're pretty close, pretty close, gotcha. Well, hey, listen, we're pretty excited. It's like a gazillion and a half people who watch and a gillion a gajillion and three quarters that listen. Yeah, it's real close. It's really close. Yeah really okay, but but but it slightly favors to listen, I think, so, yeah, I gotcha. Okay, Hey, we are going to dive directly into uh which, by the way, how many unique listeners do we have a month? Unique listeners? Like five or six thousand? I don't know. Let me look at what while you're talking already know the answer to this? Oh, go ahead, No, it's thirteen thousand unique listeners. Thirteen thousand unique listeners play just on YouTube. Yeah, that's just on you. That's the problem, right, that doesn't include the But you said listeners, not viewers. Oh we oh so that's what I was saying, just YouTube, Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, it's YouTubers. Yeah. Yeah, so because it averages out to be about one thousand listens a day. Yeah right, that's right. And then it's about that many more on the streams. Gotcha on Spotify and apples? Just in case you're wondering, like, you know, how big are we talking or how small are we talking? It's uh taking over the world, baby, it's it's smaller than most and bigger than some. That's right there, it is. So we're going to dive into a segment that's who's most likely And this is the idea, is we read these and then we just sort of instinctively say. Out loine, Yeah, okay, who's more likely to do these things? Okay, you go first? All right, here we go. Number one, who's most likely to spend hours watching cat videos? You? I refuse? Really? Your few to watch them? Or you? Yeah? Yeah, answer, honestly, my daughters no, I don't watch them. My daughter will. We'll sit there and she loves TikTok. You know everybody herge. Yeah, hey, look at this one. Hey, look at this one. I'm like, quich show me videos if I want to watch them, I sit down and watch me. I know TikTok exists. I just don't want to watch them it all the time. She said, I just want to hang over with you. I said, to hang out with me. What you want me to do is watch the video you just laughed at ten seconds ago. That's what I did, right, Yeah, so I just don't. Yeah, well then I'm not massive on watching cat videos for hours. But if we have to pick, I would pick me. You a little bit of a you're more of a TikTok Instagram and reels. I don't have TikTok no, no, but I have. I used to, but I get rid of it, but then I I do Instagram. Reels, Instagram reels. Yeah yah, yeah, so yeah. I'll pick me. Who's most likely to be an extra in a zombie movie? I would that's going to be you. I would definitely say that's going to be you. If I get a call right now for Mark, you leave from you leave right now the studio for a chance to put on makeup and just be in the background Michael Jackson thriller, and I would say, you see that top of the. Head of the fifth that was me. I have a friend that has been an extra in several movies. Yeah, and he had a speaking part to Meryl Streep, oh wow, and a thing and uh, he was all excited. And then when he watched the movie it got cut. He walked up to the table and walked away from the table. He was a waiter. Yet that's me right there, right, But yeah, that's okay, it's you. Okay, who's most likely to win an Emmy? You? What the heck? These are me? These are you? Because we love you? No, everybody loves you, Chris. She knows when she types in movie and Emmy and cats. Because she said love cats. Right, that's right, she shows through those three from me. Okay, that's you. Who's most likely to claim they saw Bigfoot? Well, that would definitely be you. That's me. You got to be in the woods to say big foot, And chances are this guy will be in the woods. That guy won't be Yeah, yep, yep, that'll be me. Although I have to say I sort of grew up in the woods. Uh. And that's a strange one. But I used to say that phrase all the time because in my hometown, Youngstown, Ohio, there's a historic park called Mill Creek Park and it's unlike probably unlike anything you've seen, although you've seen a lot, but the park weaves through the entire town. Have you ever heard anything like that where you can. Go like from one end of the town to the other, like thirty minutes just. Through the park. Wow? Have you ever heard of that? Oh? You have? Okay, so I've never heard of that anyways. Cool. So, so I sort of grew up in Mill Creek Park, and I always say I grew up in the woods. In the woods rocks. And I just was with a bunch of Nepoli's, Yeah, and we were talking about trekking the base camp and I asked him if if yeties are real? And two this, so there are four of them. Two of them went oh, absolutely, and two of them went no, Right, that's hilarious. So I don't know who's telling the truth, but it was fifty to fifty yees. So I think Yadie's and Bigfoot, you know, our cousins or something. Sure, sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, they see each other a family reading. Yeah, Bob, that's funny. Who's most likely to participate in a historic reenactment? I'd have to. Say, Well, the historic part would be you, but the reenactment part would be me. When I look at him, I go, that'd be a fun hobby. Oh good. Then it would definitely be you. Have you seen I don't know who has the time or the money for it, right, it always looks like that. Have you ever seen a Sweet Home Alabama? With Reech Withersmoon and Patrick Dempsey. So she, uh, she's looking for her dad and every year back in Alabama, they do this reenactment of the Civil War, so she has to fight. She has talked to them right away. So she runs into the field and all of these soldiers right from the from the South are laying on the field and they're just there's gun smoke everywhere, and there must be one hundred of them and they're all dead. And so she goes, uh, she says Emmett Snooter and she's trying to admit I guess, And all of a sudden, one guy who's dad gets up and goes. Who you look him for? Darling? And he goes am it and then he goes, is there an emon here? And all of a sudden, one hundred people they left up and they gom it emmitt. Oh, he's over by the cannons. And then they all go PLoP and they all die. It's hilarious. So that's really great. Yeah, I would think it looks fun. Yeah it's it's always interesting, but I don't have time for it. Yeah. Really, well it's a camping and eating part. I think it's it's. My shock face. You don't have time for it. So hey, that was that was fun? Okay, Yeah, now we know. Yeah, so we know you're up for a zombie movie. Yep. And I'm gonna keep looking for big Foot. You're gonna look for Bigfoot. Keep so funny, keep looking. I'm not gonna start looking. Keep looking for big When you were young, did you actually like, oh I want to believe? Oh you do? I want to believe? What about wuckness monster? I want to believe? But I don't think it's real. Oh yeah it's you. Don't think Bigfoot's really there? I don't know, because it seems more believable. Well, we we would have proof. We've found, we've found just in the Look it up. The number of medium and large sized animals that have been found or discovered just in the last you know, fifteen or twenty years is pretty extordinary. Yeah. Well, but yet still no eyewitnesses. Yeah, well, lots of eyewitnesses, but only greeny fuzzy video. Yeah right, which is convenient. Did you ever hear who is it? Who's a comedian who said? What if Bigfoot is just blurry? Right? That's why all the pictures are blurry, because maybe he's blurry? Right, that's really funny. It might be right, Yeah, so anyways funny. Yeah, I don't think big It's blurry. No, No, I doubt that. But yeah, I mean you know all the alien spaceship videos are grainy too, right, Yes, look. At this object in the skuye. They might see all those weird things Lockness, monster, they might all just be blurry. Yeah right, that's so funny. I think who knows, well, I guess, say for much of a conspiracy guy that I am, I don't. I don't buy any of those. You don't believe in Bigfoot, no Orlockness or or spaceships. Speaking of conspiracies, we've been talking about a lot of Kings that have been conspiring to kill the others. Nice. Oh it spoke to me. Yes, that was good. And we're cruising through the book is Second Kings. Yeah, and today unfortunately there's no conspiracy to assassinate I don't think. Oh maybe maybe I take it back, I take it back. So what you were saying is speaking of conspiracy. There's no conspiracy. No, no, no, this this one, there is a conspiracy. He kills conspirators. Oh there you go, Yeah, there you go. Yeah. So that's it. So we are in Second Kings chapter fourteen today, and if you're new to the show and you're thinking, what the heck is this about, we'd love to try to find like the worst possible transition, yes, correct, between the beginning of the show and when we get into the devotional it's the. Most difficult part. But it's the part that I sort of enjoy the most. I think it's because it's on the spot thinking yeah, yeah, yeah, it's hard as we don't plan for it. No, right now, we don't plan for any of this. Correct, walked into the studios. I'm ready just go lights, camera action right here goes King's Chapter fourteen, says Amaziah son of joe Ash, began to rule over Judah in the second year of the reign of King Jehoash. Don't make those two up. I know Jehoash, I know, I know of Israel. Amaziah was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty nine years. His mother was Jehoyaden from Jerusalem. Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord's site, but did not like his ancestor David. No, but not like his but not like okay that I said, but did not like him. That makes sense. I hate my ancestor David. Okay, but not like his ancestor David. Instead, he followed the example of his father joe Ash. Amaziah did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there. When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord is written by Moses in the bok law. Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, or children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes. Amaziah was killed also killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and changed his name to Jockthel probably should have left it Cela, as it is called to this day. One day Amaziah sent messengers with this challenge to Israel's King joe Ash. Jehoash, the son of Jehoah has and grandson of Jehu come and meet me in battle. The King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story. Out in the Lebanon Mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree, give your daughter a marriage to my son. But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it. You have indeed defeated edom and you are very proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah. But Amazia refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amazia of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth Shemish in Judah. Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. King Jehoash of Israel captured Judas King Amaziah, son of Joash and grandson of a Haziah at Beth Shemish, and then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished six hundred feet Jerusalem's wall from the Ephraim gate to the corner gate. He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of the Lord. He also sees the treasures from the royal palace along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria. Wow, well, wow, Amaziah, you bit up more. You can choo buddy. Well, no, he's the one that won, didn't he. No, jeho Ash one is Jehoash the king of the North. Yes, that gummt. I'm reading it and I'm giving confused again. But because I'm I'm like, he went down and he raided. From the temple. You know what it is? It is It is the Jays. That's what confused me again. As stinking jas Amaziah was the son of joe Ash, and he went after joho ash. Oh wow, I'm telling you it's confusing. Is sometimes you made a comment last week off camera and you had said you believe that sometimes that's what trips people up from reading the bottle. I think so yeah, well I think we mentioned it on camera too. Yeah, yeah, I think we did it. Sometimes you get remember because I said, hey, sometimes people just will read. I have friends that will just read, you know, King A and and King J. Right, that's what it is are going through because it's hard to write. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So so wow, don't. Get bogged down by read the story. Don't get bogged down by the names. You say, this guy and that guy. Right, this guy, that guy so so he said a thistle to a cedar tree. So that was the warning. The warning was like, hey, you're the thistle and I'm the cedar tree. Right. That was kind of what that was. And he was saying, he was saying, uh, hey, let me tell you a little parable, right and the Lebanon mountains and uh you. Wiped out eat them, right, be happy with your little victory, your little victory. Don't come messing with the big cedars Elebanon. Right. It's hilarious. That's great. So he's warning him don't don't bite off, don't bite off more than you can chew. Well, which, by the way, hey, I just want to say this Sila here that they named jock deal. Yeah, is the ancient city of Petra. Oh for real? Card notes? Yeah? Well that's cool. Does it say anything else that's interesting or just that one? So the note says Sila was an ancient stronghold of Petra, a city carved into a rock cliff. It was not only a stronghold for eatam, but also a wealthy outpost for trade with India. So for those people who saw Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade and they saw the car Yeah, okay, so how does that at why was that building carved? And how does it connect to the Bible. They're not exactly sure. And that building would have been carved about the time of Jesus. Wow. Yeah, so another eight hundred years after this wow. But yeah. So the Manayans at that point had taken over not the Edomites. But that area is this really steep, rugged canyons, so the canyon floors are all sand and then you got this really heavy the Crescent moon yeah, exactly, yep. According to the movie. Yeah, and then after the Manaians, the Romans came in and took it. So it's kind of a Nabutens I'm sorry, not Maneyans, Nabuteans. And they were very sophisticated. And how they managed water. I mean, it's just such an inhospitable place. But they carved all these troughs in the in the rock to catch the few times it does rain, and then these giant basins to hold the water. And there were actually spouts that it would run down, and water would run run along the side in these troughs that they cut would run along the side of the mountain. You just scoop wa out. It was really amazing, it was It was a really incredible place. But that's this this area that Edomites would have been in the Valley of Salt. This would have been in the area of what is the southern portion of modern day Jordan. Wow. Okay, yeah, so that's where he goes down and wipes them out. And Amazi he's twenty five, he's feeling his oats now sure, he's ready to go, and he's like, hey, let's let's go get jeho Ash and he's going to march up there and whoop up on them because he thinks he can. And jeho Ash goes hey, just that it back, buddy, right, right. Right, And he was twenty five years old. And then what did say he reigned twenty nine years? Yeah? Wow, fifty four. Yeah, that's not too bad. And then okay, so again just for our listeners, we all understand that Israel was one uh, you know people, one land, right for a very long time, and then it's up into you know, uh, I think right around the time of Joseph, right, it was divided into twelve tribes. Right, it was given twelve tribes because those are representative of the twelve brothers of Joseph. Right, that's correct. So it's around that, yeah, or the sons of Jacob, Yes, twelve sons of Jacob. Twelve sons of Jacob. And then and then the southern part is Judah and Benjamin. Uh, and then the upper parts are And by the way, Judah wasn't he the first one born? He was the first one, Okay, I think so, I. Believe he was, and I think that Benjamin was the last. That's correct. Yeah, So it's interesting. So it's like it's like the greatest and the last, right yeah. And then and then the other ten tribes were the northern part of Israel, and they were divided for just centuries, right yeah, and then and eventually they do get back together and become one. So yeah, and then you have but they're fighting now, right, And joho Ash is smart. Listen, you know, sometimes it's just better to have peace, just be quiet. And Amaziah is his strength and his skills don't match. So he's got this tough army. They just come out of this great victory. He's got momentum. Let's seize this momentum. But you know there's a note here his strength and his ambition. His ambition was greater than his ability is the note. Oh wow, right, and and that can happen sometimes. So the sweet spot for anybody, if you're gonna make a ven diagram where you know, you draw the circles and try to get that sweet spot, the sweet spot would be where your your abilities and your strength and your ambition and opportunities all kind of converge. When they converge there, And so sometimes in your youth you want to get out ahead of yourself. And then and and you know, you're confident in the few victories you have had. But what he didn't do is, we don't see anything here where he's going and getting advice. He's not going and finding the wise elders that his father had because joe Ash, you know, didn't get defeated by Johoesh right in the later times in there thing. But Amaziah comes in his dad or you know, his son, and he's not looking for his dad's wisdom and the wisdom of the elders and that kind of thing. He just goes, hey, we won one, We're probably gonna win them all. And it can be surprising to a young person when you you lose the first time. And I remember the first time you lost. I remember, I remember it felt like everything I touch turned to gold until from like I don't know, thirteen fourteen on until like I don't remember losing a race during that window into my twenties, right, I remember it everything everything I did, I just I won it, and it became a custom at it was kind of a weird thing. And then I lost a job, I failed to class, I got really bad sick, and it all happened back to back to back within like two months, three months, and I remember thinking, what happened? I lost my mojo. I peaked. I peaked at you know, twenty, and now I'm going to be a failure of the rest of my life. And I kind of the only time in my life I remember really kind of spiraling into I think depression was during that time where I had these three back to back failures, and it was the first failures of my life really. I mean, I'd gotten in trouble before, but I had positivity I'm going to overcome it. But in those those things were outside of my control, quite honestly, and at that point I couldn't manage them. I couldn't figure ot how to control them, can manage them. I just thought, I've lost everything. I don't have any more, you know, God gave up on me or something. And so letting your abilities catch up with your ambition, I think is super important. And that's all that happened as I got way out ahead of myself, a little too prideful. And God will use those opportunities to kind of pull you back in line and correct you, so be humble and accept those corrections. Sometimes so because he was. Warned right and by the way side note, I played baseball for eleven years and from T ball with through high school, and I was always the second fastest. Oh really Yeah. We would have races and I was faster than just about everybody, and there was always it just seemed like that. I think maybe one year I was like tied, but I don't think I could ever claim to be the best or you know, in terms of speed. You know, we would race and it'd be like and one coach would go, dude, Zarba's the fastest, and I had another coach going, no, no, no, no, daved about you just the fastest, and he goes guys racing like this and he would just beat me by like just a hair. Was he a little bit taller? Did he have a longer stretch? Yeah? Probably, So that's it, right, it's probably in those being quick and being faster two different yeah, right, two different things right right now? Usually the state kid with those legs that are three inches longer than your is it just over the course of time? Get you right? Yeah, that's a crazy one. So then Joe Ash doesn't just come down and beat Amazia. He tears down six hundred feet of the wall, which is one incredibly shameful because it takes so long, so it brings shame on the king. It takes so long to rebuild, so it brings shame on the king. It brings embarrassment to the people, and it leaves them extraordinarily vulnerable to all the other enemies. Right, So Jehosh doesn't seem to be like he wants to just murder everybody in Jerusalem. He comes in and takes all the good stuff from the temple, right, but he leaves it open and some hostages, but he leaves it open to anybody else who wants to come in to wipe out Jerusalem. And they were very vulnerable. Now the ancient walls of Jerusalem still stand today. Yeah, right, so we understand that those walls are actually quite you know, formidable. Yeah right, right, So taking down six hundred feet of those walls took some time. It's something else. And how do you do that? How do you do that when you have no bulldozers, no records. I don't know, right, I mean they're formided? Is it the trolls? Do the trolls do it? Because like I saw, I saw Lord of the Rings. Yeah, yeah, I don't know, Yeah, I didn't love Lord of the Rings. I know, for being a movie guy. I know, it's crazy, isn't it. It's just there are some things that are just surprising about me. Well, I went on record last week saying I didn't like Wicked, that's right. So yeah, well, I mean, hey, some people like good movies. Hey, listen, those are two very different things, the trilogy and Wicked. So hey, so what's another sermon we have? We have maybe a minute or two to wrap up. So you talked about, you know, skills and ambition, right, we talked about humility. That's probably the biggest one. Isn't it. I think it is. It's it's it's probably humility. So you know, there are times where God will humble you. And here's this guy, he's twenty five, and uh, he's being warned by somebody older than him, who's wiser than him, that says, come on, young punk, right, be careful or be happy with your little victory. But there's a cedar, there's a thistle, don't don't go messing with the people in the north. And but he's like, no, I'm going to do it. So there's a there's a maybe another sermony in there. That talks about wise counsel or you know, just you don't know what you don't know, don't learn lessons the hard. Way, right, right. Well, I think the other one is and that we overlooked. It was at the beginning where it says Amaziah did that what was pleasing in the Lord's sight, but not like his ancestor David. Yeah, Instead he followed his father's example and did not destroy the pagan shrines. So the people still offered sacrifices and burden incense now, right, So he's following the Lord personally, he just didn't lead his people to do the same thing, right. And I know a lot of Christian parents that do that, that they follow the Lord personally, they just don't lead their children to do it right or whatever. And so there's this temptation to go, well, my faith is very private, you do you right, right, But as a leader, you should be leading people to Christ as anybody who has influence over somebody else, you should be leading them to God, right, and that is our responsibility. And so you saw all the people thrived under David because David would not tolerate any other false worship, and he pushed the people towards God through his own leadership, been through the fact that he didn't allow all these other things. He had the power to stop it, so he did. Uh Amaziah had the power to stop it, he just didn't, and so the people still kept offering sacrifices and bringing incense there. So he personally pleased the Lord, but he didn't lead his people to and that might have been one of the reasons why they had a weakness. God wasn't out there fighting in front of him. There's a bunch of sermons in here. Okay, well that's our time, so hopefully we will see you next time on the Bible. Guys,