1
00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,200
I'd like to invite your 
attention to the book. 

2
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,700
First of all, a First Kings 
chapter, 16, we'll have two 

3
00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:08,700
passages that were read for our 
text this morning, first of 

4
00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:12,800
which First Kings chapter, 16 
and will begin reading in verse 

5
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:20,600
29 And in the 30th and 8th year 
of Asa, king of Judah began 

6
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,700
Ahab, the son of Omri to Reign 
Over Israel and Ahab. 

7
00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:29,500
The son of Omri reigned over 
Israel in Samaria, 20, and two 

8
00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:34,000
years and Ahab. 
The son of Omri did evil in the 

9
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000
sight of the Lord above all that
were before him. 

10
00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,800
And it came to pass as it had 
been a light thing for him to 

11
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,100
walk in the sins of jeroboam, 
the son of nebat that he took to

12
00:00:45,100 --> 00:00:50,200
wife Abell the daughter of f 
bail King of the zidonians and 

13
00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,800
went and served Baal and 
worshipped him and he reared up 

14
00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,300
an altar for bail in the house 
of Baal, which he had built in 

15
00:00:57,300 --> 00:01:00,500
Samaria and Ahab made a Grove 
and Ahab. 

16
00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:05,400
Did more to provoke the Lord God
of Israel to anger than all the 

17
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,200
kings of Israel that were before
him. 

18
00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:13,100
The second passage is found in 
First Kings, chapter 22, and 

19
00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:16,600
we'll begin reading there in 
verse 41, First Kings chapter 

20
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:22,500
22, beginning in verse 41. 
And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa. 

21
00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:26,300
Began to Reign Over Judah. 
In the fourth year of Ahab, king

22
00:01:26,300 --> 00:01:29,500
of Israel. 
Jehoshaphat was 30 and 5 years 

23
00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:31,600
old. 
When he began to Reign and he 

24
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,600
reigned twenty and five years in
Jerusalem. 

25
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,900
And his mother's name was a 
zuba, the daughter of she'll 

26
00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:42,500
high and he walked in all the 
ways of Asa his father. 

27
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,000
He turned, not aside from it 
doing that, which was right in 

28
00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,200
the eyes of the Lord. 
Nevertheless, the high places 

29
00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,900
that were taken Away were not 
taken away for the people 

30
00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:58,200
offered and burnt off in sense. 
Yet on high places and 

31
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,900
Jehoshaphat made peace with the 
king of Israel. 

32
00:02:01,900 --> 00:02:05,200
Now, the rest of the acts of 
Jehoshaphat and his might that 

33
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,900
he showed and how he Ward are 
not written art thou they 

34
00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:12,200
written excuse me. 
Are they not written in the book

35
00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,100
of The Chronicles of the kings 
of Judah and the remnant of the 

36
00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:19,400
sodomites which remained in the 
days of his father Asa. 

37
00:02:19,900 --> 00:02:24,400
Took out of the land barring my 
mistakes correctly, read reads, 

38
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,400
those passages of scripture, 
that will introduce three kings 

39
00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:33,500
for us in our study this 
morning, one of which is Asa and

40
00:02:33,500 --> 00:02:35,600
ASA. 
As we have on the board, rain 

41
00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,000
for 41 years, and ASA reigned 
over Judah and he was considered

42
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,300
a good King. 
What we're going to find out 

43
00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:45,700
though is even though that he 
was a good King, he made 

44
00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:49,800
mistakes like you and I 
sometimes make mistakes when we 

45
00:02:49,900 --> 00:02:54,800
look to our own wisdom and our 
own might and our own knowledge.

46
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,600
Sometimes we take matters into 
our own hands. 

47
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,700
ASA is a perfect example of how 
we ought not to do that. 

48
00:03:01,900 --> 00:03:06,600
Secondly his son, Jehoshaphat 
rain, 25 years also over Judah 

49
00:03:06,700 --> 00:03:10,900
and he too was a good King. 
And finally Ahab, the one that 

50
00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:15,500
we know quite well, I'm sure the
one that married Jezebel an evil

51
00:03:15,500 --> 00:03:19,000
King that reigned over Israel 
for 22 years. 

52
00:03:19,300 --> 00:03:21,500
We'll talk. 
These three kings and some 

53
00:03:21,500 --> 00:03:25,800
specific things that we can 
learn from their lives from the 

54
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,700
from our history. 
You know, when the Bible says 

55
00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:32,100
that the things that were 
written aforetime were written 

56
00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:36,200
for our learning sometimes. 
When I put together these 

57
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,600
studies from the Old Testament, 
by way of History, sometimes I 

58
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,100
don't know how much detail that 
I should put in regarding each 

59
00:03:43,100 --> 00:03:46,900
King and so forth and so on. 
And so I really don't want us to

60
00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:50,900
get lost in all the little 
details of their life. 

61
00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,200
What I want to be able to do is 
to leave here and learn 

62
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,700
something about the good points 
of Asa. 

63
00:03:57,700 --> 00:04:01,200
The good point, It's of 
Jehoshaphat and also their 

64
00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,000
negative points. 
And secondly, when the Bible 

65
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,500
says that regarding Ahab that he
provoked, God to anger, more 

66
00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:11,800
than all the kings of Israel, 
what was it about him? 

67
00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,700
And what were the things that he
did that made him so corrupt and

68
00:04:15,700 --> 00:04:18,700
so evil. 
So that we can leave this place 

69
00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,600
and learn something from these 
stories. 

70
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,300
First of all, regarding ASA with
the Bible, would record that ASA

71
00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:30,100
was truly a righteous man. 
And because of that Judah 

72
00:04:30,100 --> 00:04:34,200
enjoyed peace for the first 10 
years of his Reign ASA. 

73
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,300
Used this good this time for 
good Advantage as well. 

74
00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,000
For example, he reformed Judah 
by destroying the idols which 

75
00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,000
had been built during the years 
of Rhea boehm and abide Jam. 

76
00:04:46,300 --> 00:04:50,200
He also commanded the people of 
Judah to serve God. 

77
00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,500
You know, just as a historical 
aside, it's amazing to me that 

78
00:04:55,500 --> 00:04:58,400
within 20 years, following the 
death of King. 

79
00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:04,200
King Solomon and only 60 years 
after the death of David. 

80
00:05:04,300 --> 00:05:07,200
The greatest King that Israel 
had ever known. 

81
00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,600
It's interesting to me that 
every single Town Bar. 

82
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,500
None, in Judah had its own high 
place where incense was burned 

83
00:05:15,700 --> 00:05:19,200
and offerings were made to false
gods. 

84
00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:21,900
That is a picture of what can 
happen. 

85
00:05:21,900 --> 00:05:27,600
When error, enters the picture 
notice, 20 years, following the 

86
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,300
death of the Wisest man that 
ever lived save Jesus Christ and

87
00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:35,500
60 years after the death of the 
greatest. 

88
00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:40,100
King that Israel ever knew that 
there were high places in every 

89
00:05:40,100 --> 00:05:45,100
city in Judah where they offered
and burnt incense to false gods 

90
00:05:45,700 --> 00:05:51,000
ASA, destroyed, all of those. 
And as a result, the kingdom 

91
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,000
enjoyed peaceful times, the 
scripture says also that the 

92
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,700
faithful people that were still 
living in Israel. 

93
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,300
They Saw that God was with 
Judah. 

94
00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,600
And what they began to do is 
they began to migrate south and 

95
00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,600
the scripture says that large 
members from Israel joined ASA 

96
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,400
and his kingdom at this point in
time. 

97
00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,600
So the population of the two 
kingdoms is much closer in size 

98
00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:18,300
than at the beginning. 
You remember at the very 

99
00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:21,700
beginning when they were split 
between ten and two tribes, you 

100
00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,600
have Israel, having a greater 
population in the Kingdom that 

101
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,700
small Kingdom and you have quite
a Smaller number in, Judah to 

102
00:06:30,700 --> 00:06:32,800
the South. 
But because that there were 

103
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,200
still people in Israel, 
regardless of all of the 

104
00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,700
evilness and the wickedness of 
the kings that reigned over 

105
00:06:39,700 --> 00:06:44,500
Israel, there were still people 
in Israel that had a good heart 

106
00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:47,600
and wanted to serve God 
acceptably there were still 

107
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,100
people in Israel that were 
perceptive enough to see that 

108
00:06:51,100 --> 00:06:55,800
God was with Judah and they 
wanted to be among God's people,

109
00:06:55,900 --> 00:06:59,400
they wanted to be where God was 
and then I wanted to do that 

110
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,700
which was right. 
So they began to migrate south 

111
00:07:02,700 --> 00:07:06,000
and now you have the two 
kingdoms which were once 

112
00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:11,200
lopsided in size much more 
similar in size. 

113
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:16,900
Now after 10 years of Peace 
time, the calm was finally 

114
00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:21,200
broken by the invasion of a 
fearsome Army led by zura the 

115
00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,800
kushite or also the Ethiopians. 
You know what's interesting 

116
00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,400
about this if there's a picture 
Of armies that are going against

117
00:07:30,500 --> 00:07:32,800
one. 
Another that are picture of 

118
00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,600
David and Goliath is certainly, 
would be this. 

119
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,500
You have, the might you have the
power, you have the experience 

120
00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,300
to have the knowledge. 
You have all of that of the 

121
00:07:42,300 --> 00:07:45,300
Ethiopians or the cushion 
sheets, and they're going to 

122
00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:49,500
invade led by zura Judah. 
And you have little old Jutsu 

123
00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:52,100
there and here it is. 
The Bible says that they go to 

124
00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,900
take their stand against the 
could shites against those 

125
00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:59,100
Mighty Ethiopians now in 
Interesting. 

126
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,800
It's interesting what ASA 
decides to do. 

127
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,300
ASA does, the only thing he can 
do ASA? 

128
00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:11,300
Did what we just did a moment 
ago? 

129
00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,600
ASA, found himself desperate in 
ASA. 

130
00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:21,300
Prayed, the Bible says that he 
said these words, Lord, there is

131
00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:23,500
none as one translation, renders
it. 

132
00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,800
There's one tree, there's no one
like you to help the weak 

133
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,000
against the mighty we are 
counting on you. 

134
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,799
And in your name, we have come 
out against this vast Army, o 

135
00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:38,700
Jehovah, you are God. 
But notice what he says, he says

136
00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:42,000
do not let men Prevail against 
you. 

137
00:08:42,299 --> 00:08:46,600
Who. 
The heart of Asa was still on 

138
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:51,200
what God wanted desperate times 
sometimes, cause for us to take 

139
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,600
stock in the things that are 
going on around us. 

140
00:08:53,900 --> 00:08:57,300
Sometimes, we try to exhaust all
of our own wisdom and knowledge,

141
00:08:57,300 --> 00:08:59,500
and the wisdom and knowledge of 
all of our peers. 

142
00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,500
But listen, we need in Desperate
Times to do the only thing 

143
00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:07,300
that's going to do us some good 
and that is to do what ASA does 

144
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,200
and ASA. 
Pours, his heart out to God with

145
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,900
the Bible says that Aid that God
gave ASA and his army, a great 

146
00:09:14,900 --> 00:09:17,700
Victory. 
The Kush sites were destroyed in

147
00:09:17,700 --> 00:09:22,300
great numbers and they were 
crushed before the Lord and his 

148
00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:26,200
forces shortly after these 
events, the prophet Azariah 

149
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,500
comes to ASA with a message from
God. 

150
00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:32,900
And this is what he said. 
He says, listen to me ASA and 

151
00:09:32,900 --> 00:09:36,300
all Judah and Benjamin. 
The Lord has been with you 

152
00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:40,800
because you have been faithful 
if you continue to seek God, he 

153
00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,800
will be with you. 
But if you turn away from God, 

154
00:09:43,900 --> 00:09:48,500
God he will turn away from you. 
You know, this is the same exact

155
00:09:48,500 --> 00:09:52,500
message that God through Samuel 
told Saul. 

156
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,200
This is exactly the same message
that God through the prophet 

157
00:09:56,300 --> 00:09:59,700
told David it's the exact same 
message that God through a 

158
00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:03,400
prophet told Solomon. 
Nothing has changed. 

159
00:10:05,500 --> 00:10:08,200
You want to taste something, 
sometimes in this life? 

160
00:10:09,300 --> 00:10:12,300
Now, listen to me. 
I want to say something, 

161
00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:17,700
encouraging to you. 
Sometimes in this life, God's 

162
00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:24,200
people grow discouraged. 
Sometimes we just get 

163
00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:27,900
discouraged. 
You know, I realize that we have

164
00:10:27,900 --> 00:10:30,400
a strong number of folks that 
are here this morning. 

165
00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,300
We do we have a strong number. 
That's a member of this 

166
00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:35,000
congregation. 
We have some of our folks that 

167
00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,700
are visiting, other places. 
Some are ill and so forth. 

168
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,900
But if you took every single one
of us and you put us in this 

169
00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:44,800
building at the same time 
though, we would have a greater 

170
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:50,300
size crowd than we do today. 
It's quite small in comparison 

171
00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:53,600
to numbers that are found in the
religious world and in the world

172
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,300
itself. 
And sometimes God's people can 

173
00:10:57,300 --> 00:11:01,100
grow discouraged when it seems 
as though our efforts go, don't 

174
00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:04,900
go to fruition. 
Let me just say this though, the

175
00:11:04,900 --> 00:11:09,200
promise is still the same, God 
will never leave our side. 

176
00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:14,000
If we never leave God, you know,
when we talk about grow, Great 

177
00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,800
and Mighty Men of old like 
Samson. 

178
00:11:17,300 --> 00:11:20,800
You know, God was with Sampson 
on every single time, every 

179
00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,800
single thing, every single 
challenge, when it appeared, 

180
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,300
that he was standing alone. 
God was with him and God blessed

181
00:11:27,300 --> 00:11:31,700
him with Mighty strength and all
of that and courage and Valor. 

182
00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:37,100
But there came a day when he 
left God. 

183
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,900
And the Bible says that he knew 
not that the devil was that the 

184
00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:47,500
Lord was departed from him. 
The point is this God leaves us 

185
00:11:47,500 --> 00:11:50,200
when we leave him, it doesn't 
make any difference. 

186
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,500
How sad the circumstances. 
Look, hold tight of your faith 

187
00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:57,800
and hang on, because it's long 
as we never leave the Lord, he 

188
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,200
will never leave our side. 
That's exactly what the prophet 

189
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,600
was. 
Telling ASA if you stand by me. 

190
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,300
If your people stand by me, I 
will stand by you, but if you 

191
00:12:07,300 --> 00:12:09,800
depart from from me, I will 
depart from you. 

192
00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:16,000
When does God leave us only when
we leave God? 

193
00:12:16,900 --> 00:12:21,000
You know, there was about 14 
years of Peace after this 

194
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,600
particular event in history, 
after that battle of the 

195
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,400
Ethiopians. 
But you know, Ace does a human 

196
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,100
being. 
He showed great faith when it 

197
00:12:30,100 --> 00:12:33,600
came to this battle, he prays to
God, when it came to this 

198
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:38,300
battle, he 100% realized he's in
Dire Straits and he needs God, 

199
00:12:38,300 --> 00:12:43,300
14 years of Peace happen. 
From this point down to this 

200
00:12:43,300 --> 00:12:46,600
point when Basia a little King 
over. 

201
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:51,300
Real rain for a short time. 
He also was a wicked evil King 

202
00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:55,100
and while he was raining, he 
decides that he's going to go 

203
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,700
and attack Judah. 
You know, I don't know why in 

204
00:12:59,700 --> 00:13:03,100
the Bible, doesn't say just says
the facts, but I don't know why 

205
00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:07,400
that ASA didn't just trust in 
God, again, why didn't he do 

206
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,400
that? 
This time? 

207
00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,500
He does something else. 
In fact, the Bible says, instead

208
00:13:12,500 --> 00:13:16,800
of thinking about God and asking
God for God's help, he seeks 

209
00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,200
after another king Assyrian King
and he makes a deal with him on 

210
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,400
the side. 
And he tells this Syrian King, 

211
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,300
he says, basically, as I 
paraphrase, I'll give you silver

212
00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:31,400
and gold from the temple. 
Treasures, if you will go down 

213
00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,300
and attack cities of the north 
and west of a Sea of Galilee, if

214
00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:37,300
you'll do that. 
Now, the reason that that 

215
00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:41,000
happened was, and the reason 
that he contacted a Syrian King 

216
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,800
was Bay Asha, he got tired of 
all of those people leaving 

217
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,700
Israel going down into Judah and
he wanted to figure out a way to

218
00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:53,000
stop it, so he decides, he takes
all these building. 

219
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,500
Isles and he decides to build a 
fort between Israel and Judah to

220
00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:03,600
stop, the migration of people of
going south Instead of trusting 

221
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,900
in God ASA contacts, been. 
Hey Dad a Syrian King and he 

222
00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:14,300
says you attack the cities in 
the north and you attack the 

223
00:14:14,300 --> 00:14:18,400
cities and the west of the Sea 
of Galilee when he does. 

224
00:14:18,700 --> 00:14:22,900
The Bible says that though that 
bay Asha has to go and defend 

225
00:14:22,900 --> 00:14:24,400
himself. 
So what does he do? 

226
00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:29,200
He takes all of his men and he 
leaves the fort on the scene, 

227
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,300
then comes a say in his man and 
he steals all of their 

228
00:14:32,300 --> 00:14:34,500
buildings. 
Adding materials and he takes 

229
00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:38,100
those building materials and he 
takes it back to fortify his own

230
00:14:38,300 --> 00:14:41,800
cities, you know, I would 
imagine if you're talking about 

231
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,900
war and you're talking about 
from a fleshly standpoint, I 

232
00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:48,100
would imagine you're talking 
about people that would admire 

233
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:52,700
what ASA did, but God did not 
admire him at all. 

234
00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:56,700
In fact, the Bible says that he 
sent a prophet to him and told 

235
00:14:56,700 --> 00:15:01,500
him this he says, because you 
did not trust in me because you 

236
00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:07,100
trusted in a Ian King, instead 
of me you have War now, from now

237
00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:13,600
on Can you imagine that he was 
living in 14 years of peace? 

238
00:15:14,900 --> 00:15:20,200
Before that there was ten years 
of Peace, one little battle that

239
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,300
he wins. 
You're talking about 24 years of

240
00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:28,200
Peace time and now the profit 
comes to him and says because 

241
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,000
you didn't trust in God and you 
sought after a Syrian King, 

242
00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:37,500
You've Got War now from now on 
Ace of so angry at the property.

243
00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:41,800
Throws him in prison. 
He's going to have battles now 

244
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,200
now, interesting, this was a 
righteous man. 

245
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,500
This was a good King, that 
messed up. 

246
00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:52,800
There was another time to that. 
God was displeased with Asa. 

247
00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,000
The Bible says that at some 
point in time, as he was 

248
00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,200
elderly. 
I believe it was in the 38th 

249
00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,400
year of his Reign, I don't know.
All there is to know about it 

250
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,500
but the scripture says he had 
disease feet. 

251
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,400
Now, I can just imagine what 
disease feet were. 

252
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,500
We can think about all manner of
things, you know, my father was 

253
00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:13,100
a diabetic and he had problems 
with his feet and had to have 

254
00:16:13,100 --> 00:16:16,200
toes removed and so on, 
sometimes people can have all 

255
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,200
manner of things wrong with 
their feet and so forth. 

256
00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:20,800
I don't know what was wrong with
him. 

257
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,500
All I know is the Bible says 
that he had diseas'd feet. 

258
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,800
What does he do? 
What did he do that? 

259
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,700
Made God. 
So angry and God, so displeased,

260
00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:41,300
simply this He sought help of 
the Physicians only and not God 

261
00:16:41,300 --> 00:16:45,000
at all. 
You know, a minute ago we prayed

262
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,200
for sister, Claire red. 
Now, we believe in prayer. 

263
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,700
tomorrow Lord willing all goes 
well, she will go into surgery 

264
00:16:53,700 --> 00:16:58,500
and have hip replaced All the 
praying in the world with 

265
00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:01,400
nothing else to be done is not 
going to remove that old hip and

266
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,000
put the new one in. 
You need a doctor for that. 

267
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,800
I do believe that God uses means
to. 

268
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,599
And when we pray to God, for 
someone to get better, that's 

269
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,200
been sick, we pray that whatever
means you choose, whatever it 

270
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,000
is. 
I want to do a man that thought 

271
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,500
he said this to me one time he 
says you can't be a man of faith

272
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:26,099
and believe in doctors. 
How absurd is that? 

273
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,400
In fact, he said this, he says 
the doctors and the 

274
00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,300
pharmaceutical companies are 
from the devil and the 

275
00:17:32,308 --> 00:17:36,800
university and not from God. 
This is what he said to, he 

276
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,100
said, they're all in it 
together. 

277
00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,400
I said how, so he said it all 
begins with the farmer. 

278
00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:44,000
The farmer, puts it in the 
ground, and all of a sudden, the

279
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,400
crops come up, then they have 
pesticides that have to come in.

280
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,400
So the plane sweep in and they 
bomb the the crops out with 

281
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,900
these pesticides, chemicals, 
designed to specifically, make 

282
00:17:54,900 --> 00:17:59,800
you, and I sick on purpose, then
what's going to happen, we grow 

283
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,100
up, we eat this stuff. 
We get sick, we go to the 

284
00:18:02,100 --> 00:18:03,900
doctor, doctor makes a whole lot
of money. 

285
00:18:03,900 --> 00:18:06,600
They're all in it together. 
Doc sure sends us to the 

286
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,300
pharmacy and the pharmaceutical 
companies, give us medicine. 

287
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,100
They get the most amount of 
money and they're all in it 

288
00:18:13,100 --> 00:18:16,700
together. 
I'll tell you what folks, if I 

289
00:18:16,708 --> 00:18:19,800
get sick or if Tanner gets sick 
or Taylor. 

290
00:18:20,900 --> 00:18:24,100
Or Tina. 
We're going to the doctor 

291
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:31,200
praying, the whole way. 
God uses means to we pray. 

292
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,000
For the doctors that they'll 
make the right judgments. 

293
00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:36,600
We pray for the doctors that 
they'll make the right 

294
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,400
decisions. 
We pray for those that are in 

295
00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:43,000
that are caring for our loved 
ones when they're sick. 

296
00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:45,800
What was the matter then? 
With what he did? 

297
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,800
He went to the doctor. 
What was wrong is the Bible says

298
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:54,700
he ignored God in doing. 
So he took God completely out of

299
00:18:54,700 --> 00:19:00,500
the picture and he trusted in 
the It's only and God was not 

300
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:06,100
pleased. 
Is a truly was a righteous King 

301
00:19:06,900 --> 00:19:11,600
and God bless Judah in his day, 
yet he was rebuked on occasion, 

302
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,600
for not relying upon God as he 
should have. 

303
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,500
He didn't turn away from God to 
serve Idols, but he did not rely

304
00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:23,600
on him in all the circumstances 
in his life, like he should have

305
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,000
done you. 
And I can learn lessons from 

306
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,300
this story, the story of Asa, we
can learn lessons because 

307
00:19:29,300 --> 00:19:32,900
sometimes we do that, too. 
Sometimes things look dire some 

308
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,600
Sometimes things look difficult.
What do we do? 

309
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,900
We fret about those things? 
We worry about those things, we 

310
00:19:38,900 --> 00:19:42,400
talked to each other about those
things and we failed to talk to 

311
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,900
the one that can help. 
We fail to speak to God, the 

312
00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:50,100
only one. 
That can help. 

313
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,900
Somebody said, one time, that 
prayer is like a well Who's some

314
00:19:55,900 --> 00:20:01,300
people stand draw and drink? 
And others stand and die of 

315
00:20:01,300 --> 00:20:05,000
thirst. 
You got to dip it in the well. 

316
00:20:06,100 --> 00:20:10,200
The Bible says, you have not 
because you ask not unclaimed. 

317
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,600
Promises are like uncashed 
checks. 

318
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,700
We pray to God for everything. 
We pray to God with for 

319
00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:21,800
everything that we have, we rely
upon God, for whatever. 

320
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,600
Means he chooses to help us. 
And then we roll up our sleeves 

321
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,800
and do our part. 
That's how we get through this. 

322
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,000
I'm going to say something we 
can get through anything in the 

323
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,100
world. 
If we have God and each other, 

324
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:38,800
that is truly a fact, ASA rain, 
for 41 years, he died. 

325
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:40,900
And he was buried. 
The Bible says, in the city of 

326
00:20:40,900 --> 00:20:44,500
David, the people came and 
burned an enormous quantity of 

327
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,300
spices and Blended perfumes in 
his honor. 

328
00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:51,500
This was truly a great man in 
the people loved him because of 

329
00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:56,100
his service and Devotion to God.
So then on the scene, now comes 

330
00:20:56,100 --> 00:21:00,300
another king, his son, by the 
name of Jehoshaphat, his Reign 

331
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:03,500
was 25 years. 
He also was considered a good 

332
00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:06,500
King. 
He was truly a righteous man to 

333
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,100
he followed in the ways of his 
father ASA. 

334
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,500
He continued the reforms that 
his father had begun. 

335
00:21:12,700 --> 00:21:16,600
He removed the male shrine. 
Prostitutes or the King James 

336
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:21,100
version says he removed the 
sodomites that had reappeared in

337
00:21:21,100 --> 00:21:24,400
the land during his father's 
last year's. 

338
00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:28,800
What was the problem? 
The problem was the people were 

339
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,700
not completely and thoroughly 
devoted to God. 

340
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:38,000
That sounds familiar. 
Sometimes we as God's people 

341
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:43,300
aren't truly thoroughly and 
completely devoted to God. 

342
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:49,100
When Jehoshaphat was on the 
throne, he recognized that fact 

343
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:54,000
he recognized that people were 
not totally devoted to God. 

344
00:21:54,300 --> 00:21:57,900
There does come a time though 
when we have to rise up and walk

345
00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:02,000
little, Claire was born not long
ago, it's cute. 

346
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,800
We're sitting there and her 
mother is holding her and caring

347
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,400
for her and we'll walk out of 
this building carrying her. 

348
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,200
That's all natural. 
We like all that because that's 

349
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,400
the way it needs to be, but 
there comes a time when she has 

350
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:19,200
to rise up and walk on her own. 
There comes a time when you have

351
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,900
to make the determine resolve, 
I'm going to be devoted to God 

352
00:22:22,900 --> 00:22:25,200
for the rest of my life. 
I'm going to be a member of the 

353
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,900
Lord's church and I'm not going 
to fall and I'm not going to 

354
00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:29,300
give up and I'm not going to 
quit. 

355
00:22:29,300 --> 00:22:33,100
In fact, I don't have any other 
plans for the rest of my life 

356
00:22:33,100 --> 00:22:37,100
than to be a Christian. 
I think we have to make that 

357
00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:43,100
determined resolve in our life. 
The question is, how is somebody

358
00:22:43,100 --> 00:22:45,900
today? 
Truly devoted to God. 

359
00:22:45,900 --> 00:22:48,200
How do we demonstrate that 
sometimes? 

360
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,400
People would say well it's how 
it's when you talk about God in 

361
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,000
a favorable way or it's when you
feel good in your heart, about 

362
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,300
spiritual things, these are 
wonderful things. 

363
00:22:58,300 --> 00:23:00,500
And these are byproducts, that's
true. 

364
00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:04,600
But the way that we demonstrate 
our devotedness to God is in our

365
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:05,900
service. 
To God. 

366
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,700
That's how we demonstrate. 
How we are devoted to God? 

367
00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:13,900
By our attendance of services by
our study of God's word by are 

368
00:23:13,900 --> 00:23:16,800
visiting, the Sick by our 
encouraging one another by us 

369
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:21,900
growing in the faith. 
There were three things that 

370
00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:24,400
Jehoshaphat did. 
That was noteworthy one. 

371
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,400
He strengthened his kingdom. 
Edom was under the control of 

372
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,400
Judah. 
At this time in the Bible says 

373
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,600
that a deputy administered, the 
territory of Edom for 

374
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,900
Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat 
stationed, his troops and 

375
00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:41,500
Garrison's throughout the land 
of Judah and in certain cities 

376
00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:45,000
of Ephraim, which ASA had taken 
from Israel. 

377
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,200
But the main point was, this 
Jehoshaphat sought the Lord 

378
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,100
instead of bail. 
So, God strengthened his hand 

379
00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:57,000
and he brought him riches and he
brought Honor and he brought him

380
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,700
all of those things in 
abundance. 

381
00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:03,800
You know, because that's not 
what he was after. 

382
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,100
Remember when Solomon prayed 
Solomon oh Solomon was led away,

383
00:24:09,100 --> 00:24:11,400
we'll touch on that in just a 
moment, just briefly. 

384
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,700
But before Solomon's heart was 
pulled away. 

385
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,300
When Solomon looked to the job 
of being King. 

386
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,700
When Solomon look to all the 
things that he was going to do 

387
00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:29,100
now and be the successor of his 
father, he felt himself to be a 

388
00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:33,000
rather small man in comparison 
to the task at hand. 

389
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:37,400
So what he prayed for not 
riches, not honor, not power, 

390
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,800
not might not popularity, not an
easy life, he prays for wisdom, 

391
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,600
he wants to be able to have the 
wisdom and the knowledge to 

392
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,400
lead. 
God's people people better and 

393
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:52,300
to live his life as the king and
serve God's people better. 

394
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,800
And God says, not only am I 
going to give you that but 

395
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,300
because you didn't ask for 
riches and honor and all of 

396
00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:00,600
that, I'm going to give you that
too. 

397
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:02,200
I'm going to bless you, your to 
be wealthy. 

398
00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:03,900
You'd be the wealthiest man 
around. 

399
00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:08,300
The same was true with 
Jehoshaphat. 

400
00:25:08,700 --> 00:25:13,300
God blessed him monetarily 
because spiritually, he was 

401
00:25:13,300 --> 00:25:17,800
doing that which was, right. 
Secondly, Jehoshaphat sends out 

402
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,400
princes and Levites and Priests.
He realized that Judah was not 

403
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,900
serving the lord Faithfully that
they were ignorant of God. 

404
00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:30,900
You know, I really believe this 
today and talking about Society,

405
00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:34,300
I really believe that we are 
living in a Bible. 

406
00:25:34,300 --> 00:25:38,800
Illiterate Society, we live in a
society where people are more 

407
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:43,200
drawn to a doctor's name with 
all the titles after it in 

408
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,500
society. 
Now is what I'm talking about. 

409
00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:49,000
Then we are in society about 
what the grand old book. 

410
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,000
Has to say, there was a time 
though and days gone by when 

411
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,400
people that he didn't even have 
the truth, they at least made an

412
00:25:56,700 --> 00:25:59,700
Attempt to study or know about 
God's word. 

413
00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:04,300
But today we live in a Bible. 
Illiterate Society, is this 

414
00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:06,200
anything new? 
It's nothing new. 

415
00:26:06,300 --> 00:26:08,300
We can go all the way back to 
the kingdom of Judah. 

416
00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:11,500
When Jehoshaphat was on the 
throne and he recognized a few 

417
00:26:11,500 --> 00:26:16,100
things one, he noticed that 
God's people were not poor 

418
00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:19,700
people in Judah were not devoted
to God, then he realized why 

419
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,000
they were illiterate. 
They were ignorant of God, so he

420
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,000
sends princes and Levites to 
teach the people the law. 

421
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,400
I'm going to tell you something 
folks, when we're making bad 

422
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,800
decisions and wrong decisions, 
we need to turn back to the word

423
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,300
of God and have that burn deep 
within us. 

424
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,400
They went out and they taught 
among all cities of Judah. 

425
00:26:43,700 --> 00:26:49,200
This was done in only the third 
year of his Reign and thirdly 

426
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,300
Jehoshaphat grew in power. 
God gave Jehoshaphat peace. 

427
00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:57,400
His neighbor's, the Philistines 
and the Arabians. 

428
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,000
Brought him, great gifts. 
You know, this is a far cry from

429
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,000
the time when under the judges, 
the period of the judges. 

430
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,900
For example, when Samson was 
living and he was judging and he

431
00:27:08,900 --> 00:27:12,900
judged Israel, the Bible says, 
all of those years he had to 

432
00:27:12,900 --> 00:27:16,500
fight against the Philistines, 
David King, David. 

433
00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:19,700
As I already mentioned the 
greatest King Israel ever knew 

434
00:27:19,900 --> 00:27:23,500
the most charismatic personality
in all, maybe all of the Old 

435
00:27:23,500 --> 00:27:28,000
Testament, scriptures, the great
singer of Israel, the greatest 

436
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,100
poet, the world ever knew All of
that, the greatest military 

437
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:37,500
strategist that they ever knew 
and David had to fight against 

438
00:27:37,500 --> 00:27:39,800
the Philistines during his 
entire reign. 

439
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,800
Look what God's doing now God is
rewarding righteousness and 

440
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:53,000
faithfulness with peace with 
peace among enemies and these 

441
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,300
enemies of God's people that 
were once horrible fighting and 

442
00:27:56,300 --> 00:28:01,400
warring against God were 
bringing gifts to Jehoshaphat 

443
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:05,900
when he was on the throne. 
His army grew exceedingly, 

444
00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:11,400
Mighty also notice he had at his
disposal, an army of 1 million 

445
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:16,300
160,000 besides those on 
Garrison Duty. 

446
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:21,200
And the reason for it is because
God was on his side, it had 

447
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,200
nothing to do with his own 
power, his own might or his 

448
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,700
experience. 
It was because God was on his 

449
00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:30,200
side more on Jehoshaphat in just
a minute. 

450
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,700
But next, let's skip to Ahab. 
You know, the Bible uses the 

451
00:28:34,700 --> 00:28:39,500
strongest language to condemn 
the actions of Ahab, according 

452
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:42,200
to the text one of the worst 
things that he ever did was to 

453
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,000
marry Jezebel the daughter of f 
bail the king of the sidonians, 

454
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,900
the ACT would result in severe 
misery, for both Israel and 

455
00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:54,800
Judah as well. 
Urged on by his Pagan wife, 

456
00:28:54,800 --> 00:29:00,400
Jezebel Ahab makes Baal worship 
the official religion in Israel,

457
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,700
He also made an asscher a pole 
and had a temple built for bail 

458
00:29:05,700 --> 00:29:10,500
in Samaria because of all this. 
That's why the God said that 

459
00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:14,400
that Ahab, provoked him to anger
more than all the kings of 

460
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:19,100
Israel that were before him 
historical note here. 

461
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,000
Jezebel as I mentioned, just a 
moment ago being the daughter of

462
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,500
f bail the king of the sidonians
the names Jezebel and F bail 

463
00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:33,400
include the name of the false 
god Baal in them. 

464
00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:37,700
That gives the first indication 
of how bad this marriage was for

465
00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:40,900
Ahab. 
Beyond that Jezebel was another 

466
00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:44,800
one of the foreign wives that a 
king of Israel married. 

467
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,300
And of course, the law of Moses 
repeatedly forbade such 

468
00:29:49,300 --> 00:29:52,800
marriages You know it's just 
like we're Solomon the wisest 

469
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,800
man that the world ever knew the
wisest man in the land, 700 

470
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,100
wives, 300 concubines and guess 
what? 

471
00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:07,400
Not one, not one was among God's
people, every single one of them

472
00:30:07,700 --> 00:30:12,300
was foreign that had Idol gods 
and so forth. 

473
00:30:13,100 --> 00:30:16,400
You want to talk about strength 
and power and might Solomon was 

474
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:18,400
a, was a strength. 
Was a strong man. 

475
00:30:18,500 --> 00:30:21,800
He was a strong man in so many 
ways of Very wise, man, made a 

476
00:30:22,100 --> 00:30:25,500
made a poor choice. 
Got tells me this to that. 

477
00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:29,600
God can bless us with wisdom, 
but we have to apply the wisdom.

478
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,500
He certainly didn't apply the 
wisdom regarding his wives and 

479
00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:36,800
what happened. 
The Bible says that those women,

480
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:41,600
those wives turned his heart, 
from the Lord and turned his 

481
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:47,600
heart away. 
That's what happens when we have

482
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,700
associations and relationships 
outside the body of Christ. 

483
00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:53,100
Need to be careful about that, 
but I wouldn't notice the 

484
00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:56,900
difference though between Baal 
worship and calf worship. 

485
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,800
We speak about calf worship. 
When we talk about jeroboam, we 

486
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,000
talk about all of those other 
things that we spoke about in 

487
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,300
times past what makes Ahab 
worse. 

488
00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:11,300
Regarding the worship of Baal. 
What is the worship of Baal? 

489
00:31:11,300 --> 00:31:13,700
What did they actually do? 
Who was this? 

490
00:31:13,700 --> 00:31:15,500
God? 
Well, there's a difference 

491
00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:18,000
between Baal worship and calf 
worship. 

492
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:23,000
Both, though did include Idols 
Baal worship though was worse in

493
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,700
its consequences because the 
rituals involved in the worship 

494
00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:35,200
were far more degrading bail. 
Get this and asherah, we're gods

495
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:41,100
of fertility. 
So, the sin of fornication was 

496
00:31:41,100 --> 00:31:47,200
part of their ritual In Worship.
The priest and the priestesses 

497
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,200
were male and female 
prostitutes. 

498
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,700
The morals of the people would 
plummet to the very depths when 

499
00:31:54,700 --> 00:31:59,000
they would turn to Baal worship 
now, calf worship on the other 

500
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,400
hand, now it was wrong and God 
did not accept it. 

501
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:07,200
But golden calves were 
theoretically, representative of

502
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,300
God. 
They still had their priests 

503
00:32:09,300 --> 00:32:11,900
whose function was to offer 
animals on the altar. 

504
00:32:12,100 --> 00:32:14,700
They still had their feast days 
and special occasions. 

505
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:18,100
It's similar to those found in 
the law of Moses, but God did 

506
00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:21,800
not accept the worship of golden
calves either, but the worship 

507
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,800
was not as destructive to the 
moles of the people that were 

508
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,500
involved. 
This is but a small picture of 

509
00:32:28,508 --> 00:32:33,700
the kind of King that Ahab was. 
I told you I was going to 

510
00:32:33,700 --> 00:32:37,300
mention Jehoshaphat again. 
Now, we're going to tie together

511
00:32:37,300 --> 00:32:42,300
a very poor choice so far. 
We're finding good things being 

512
00:32:42,300 --> 00:32:44,600
spoken about Jehoshaphat and 
wise things. 

513
00:32:44,900 --> 00:32:49,400
Spoken about this King all of a 
sudden now as these kingdoms 

514
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,800
were about were closer in size 
and terms of its population, you

515
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,900
have Jehoshaphat on the throne 
and Judah. 

516
00:32:55,900 --> 00:33:00,600
You have Ahab on the throne over
Israel and even though that they

517
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,700
didn't have a whole lot of 
active Wars and battle between 

518
00:33:03,700 --> 00:33:09,600
them on this particular occasion
of History, we find that Ahab 

519
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,900
and Jehoshaphat form a bond of 
peace. 

520
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,700
They form a bond of peace. 
This is the first time since the

521
00:33:19,700 --> 00:33:23,600
Kingdom's, had separated That 
official peace was to be made 

522
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:29,100
between them, even though there 
was very little open Warfare at 

523
00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:31,700
first glance, this would seem to
be a good move for the 

524
00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:34,000
Kingdom's. 
We would think that any time 

525
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,200
that you're going to have a time
of Peace, wouldn't that be 

526
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,600
great? 
No, not at all. 

527
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,900
It was not. 
Look at the contrast between 

528
00:33:41,900 --> 00:33:46,700
these two little kingdoms one. 
None of the kings that Judah had

529
00:33:46,700 --> 00:33:49,300
up until this point. 
We're extremely Wicked. 

530
00:33:49,300 --> 00:33:52,300
In fact, none of the kings of 
Judah had ever tried to 

531
00:33:52,308 --> 00:33:56,100
discourage faithfulness of those
who wanted to worship God 

532
00:33:56,100 --> 00:33:59,900
correctly, even when they were 
doing that, which was not 

533
00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:03,400
correct, you know, even when 
there were kings that 

534
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,700
sought-after idols and did 
things that were wrong in Judah.

535
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,500
They never tried to keep someone
else from doing that which was 

536
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:15,699
right. you know, I taste, you 
know, I thought about I thought 

537
00:34:15,699 --> 00:34:20,300
about what happens when we make 
a decision about our own soul. 

538
00:34:21,699 --> 00:34:26,199
When it affects everybody else. 
I think about the father that 

539
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:30,800
leaves the church and then one 
by one, the rest of his family 

540
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,600
due to I think of how sad that 
is. 

541
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,500
You know, I would imagine that 
if a person wants to go to hell,

542
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,699
I would imagine I guess person 
has that, right? 

543
00:34:41,699 --> 00:34:45,000
I can't fathom that but I guess 
the poor person has that, right?

544
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,800
It's their choice. 
But the problem is the far 

545
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,199
reaches of our decisions, go way
beyond that. 

546
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,800
I have to make the right 
decisions in my life so that my 

547
00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,400
kids do the same thing. 
They're going to follow in my 

548
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,300
example, one day they really 
are. 

549
00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:09,300
It was different with Ahab 
because not only did Ahab bring 

550
00:35:09,300 --> 00:35:12,200
in Baal worship and I told you 
how disgusting it was and 

551
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,600
morally corrupted. 
It was he makes it the official 

552
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,700
religion and demands that the 
people would honor it. 

553
00:35:20,100 --> 00:35:23,500
That's different. 
No wonder, he provoked God to 

554
00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:28,500
anger more than anyone. 
Israel had gone down spiritually

555
00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:31,200
from the day it began. 
When we look at these two 

556
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,500
kingdoms, jeroboam right off the
bat, son of nebat. 

557
00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:38,500
The Bible says, right off the 
bat, what does he do? 

558
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,300
Brings in Golden calves brings 
in incense to burn on the 

559
00:35:42,300 --> 00:35:44,600
altars. 
He appoints. 

560
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,100
Any Vagabond that would to be a 
priest of a high places, they 

561
00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:50,700
went down, spiritually from day 
one. 

562
00:35:52,700 --> 00:35:56,600
But it was different for Judah. 
The kingdom of Judah was 

563
00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,500
prospering because Asa and 
Jehoshaphat had had sought to 

564
00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:04,500
bring people closer to God and 
God rewarded them. 

565
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,700
Ahab, not only allows Baal 
Worship in the land makes the 

566
00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:12,300
official religion. 
Any contact between Judah and 

567
00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:16,300
Israel could only prove to be a 
corrupting influence to Judah. 

568
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,800
And that's exactly what 
happened, you know, one of the 

569
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,400
great Mysteries and Bible 
History is, how could you host a

570
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,900
fat one of the greatest and best
Kings and ever reigned over 

571
00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:30,300
Judah, would Ally himself with 
Ahab. 

572
00:36:30,300 --> 00:36:33,600
The very worst king of all. 
We don't know. 

573
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,900
Well, as it was so often the 
case, the Treaty of Peace was 

574
00:36:37,900 --> 00:36:42,100
sealed with the marriage of 
Jehoshaphat son, jehoram and 

575
00:36:42,100 --> 00:36:46,100
ahab's daughter athaliah. 
Well, during this period of 

576
00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:50,200
time, God strove mightily to 
bring Israel back to his side. 

577
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,800
And it was during The Darkest 
Hours of Israel. 

578
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,800
The Darkest Hours they had ever 
seen as a nation that to Great 

579
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:02,200
prophets, come on the scene. 
One of them is Elijah and the 

580
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,200
other is Elijah, you know, much 
of the next times. 

581
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,000
And the next events that we read
about about Ahab the king over 

582
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,100
Israel is in dealings with these
two prophets. 

583
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,300
You know there are profits in 
the scriptures like Elijah and 

584
00:37:17,300 --> 00:37:21,100
Elisha we've noticed other 
prophets in our Bible Old 

585
00:37:21,100 --> 00:37:24,300
Testament narratives and so 
forth these were prophets but 

586
00:37:24,300 --> 00:37:28,100
they were not what we would 
consider literary prophets a 

587
00:37:28,100 --> 00:37:31,900
literary profit is simply that 
That it is a prophet that has 

588
00:37:31,900 --> 00:37:36,100
writings that bear their names. 
For example, there are 17 of 

589
00:37:36,100 --> 00:37:38,800
those in the Old Testament. 
There are five that are 

590
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,800
considered Major Prophets and 12
that are considered Minor 

591
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,500
Prophets. 
The Major Prophets are Isaiah. 

592
00:37:47,300 --> 00:37:51,400
Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel 
and Daniel the Minor Prophets 

593
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:56,600
are Hosea. 
Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah, Micah 

594
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,700
Nahum habakkuk Zephaniah, haggai
and Zechariah. 

595
00:37:59,900 --> 00:38:03,600
I am Malachi. 
Those are the 17 prophets that 

596
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,700
were considered literary 
prophets. 

597
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:07,700
They had writings bearing their 
names. 

598
00:38:07,700 --> 00:38:10,800
The major prophets were those 
that had longer writings the 

599
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,800
Minor Prophets had shorter 
writings, but these were two 

600
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,800
prophets that were in the grand 
scheme of things regarding God's

601
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:23,500
plan of trying to bring Israel 
back to him these prophets, come

602
00:38:23,500 --> 00:38:28,300
on the scene and miracles come 
to And that's the next thing 

603
00:38:28,300 --> 00:38:30,900
we're going to talk about is 
some of the history and some of 

604
00:38:30,900 --> 00:38:35,400
the events that transpired with 
these prophets regarding Israel 

605
00:38:35,900 --> 00:38:39,900
and King Ahab. 
We thank you for listening to 

606
00:38:39,900 --> 00:38:44,700
our podcast, put on by the 
Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.

607
00:38:44,700 --> 00:38:48,200
Road in Bakersfield, if you 
would like any additional 

608
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,500
information or you would like to
receive a free Bible 

609
00:38:51,500 --> 00:38:56,900
correspondence course by mail. 
Please email us at info at True 

610
00:38:56,900 --> 00:38:59,400
Church of Christ 
Bakersfield.com. 

611
00:39:00,100 --> 00:39:05,300
Our service times are on Sundays
at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 

612
00:39:05,300 --> 00:39:09,700
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. please 
make plans to join us. 

613
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:12,400
We would love for you to be our 
honored guest