2 Kings 16-25

Save us now, I pray thee 

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Hi, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Receivers Podcast. This week we're talking the scattering of Israel and Judah. And so this is going to be a history-filled week, okay? But luckily, luckily, because we're a little bit closer to, you know, time period, we're not talking 1200 BC anymore. We're talking 600 BC. And because we are dealing with such big empires, such as the Assyrians, the Babylonians, we actually have other historical records, sorry, the Egyptians, we have other historical records which help us know what was happening at the time. So there's not as much speculation. In fact, it's we we basically know what happened. There's still a little bit of question as to exactly what everything means, etc. But we have a lot more grasp on the situation, and hopefully we can explain it simply. Well, I can explain it simply. I don't know who we are, the royal we, but I can explain it simply so that when you're reading, you can understand this. This is also going to be very important. Why? This um week we are reading a lot about Hezekiah, and this is important because this is what is taking place when Isaiah is the prophet. And so this will give us a lot, a lot of context for what is going to be happening in the book of Isaiah. What the heck Isaiah is talking about. And we'll go over that more when we're in Isaiah. But this is important history. This is also history that was happening right before and during the time of Lehi and Nephi as they're in Jerusalem. And so this is very, very pertinent history. Um, that basically is the whole background for the Book of Mormon, the whole background for the scattering of Israel, the whole background for why they went to Babylon, why they came back for Jesus Christ's life. So this is a very, very, very important time period in Jewish history, in the history of Israel. So let's get started, shall we? The come follow me starts with this concept, um, a little, a little, um it's not. It's the thoughts to keep in mind. And it is Jesus will say to all of Israel, come home. And it talks about this scattering. And we will learn that that Israel, right, the ten tribes are lost. What does this mean? This does not mean that the twelve tribes went away and we don't know where they are, but more that the people forgot who they are. They basically got so integrated into other people's societies that they forgot who they are. And I love that because I think that that's a lot of what happens when we are lost to Christ, or we feel like we are lost, or other people are lost, right? It's because we forget who we are. It's not that the Lord ever forgets us. And that's what the this thoughts to keep in mind says, it, right? Um they um so the scattering of Israel is only half of the story. The Lord doesn't forget his people, nor does he abandon them, even when they have abandoned him. The many prophecies that the Lord would scatter Israel were accompanied by many promises that he would one day gather them. And so the reality is that Israel is the kingdom of Israel, right? At this time we've split between the kingdom of Israel in the north and the east, and the kingdom of Judah. And at this time we're going to get this split. The kingdom of Israel is the one that's going to be scattered first. Those are where the ten tribes are. And they are worshiping other gods. They are, you know, back and forth between worshiping other gods and then worshiping Jehovah, but not in the correct way, as given by Moses. Um, or not with the Levitical priesthood, right? So they're doing it not in the right way, the way that the Bible condemns. And they're also up in all this political intrigue about trying to gain the most, gain the most power. And so that leads them to be attacked by Assyria and eventually scattered. But they will one day be gathered again. It and as Nephi says, and uh in the Book of Mormon, and that's what this whole Book of Mormon thing is about. That's what Nephi and Lehi are learning as they are being taught by angels about Jesus Christ, as they are reading the scriptures and kind of coming to this realization, which is hey, the twelve tribes, the ten tribes were lost. And guess what? We're also going to be lost on the Isle of the Sea. But all of these prophecies that have been given for the last 120 years at least, since Isaiah, have all talked about this scattering, and yet that the Lord will gather again his people unto him. And Mephi says that this is both literal in that people will, you know, literally be gathered together again, and spiritual. It's both. And so that is what we can be seeing, and that's what we're dealing with in the latter days, is we're dealing with this gathering. We're helping bring people back into the covenant. It's more about the covenant than it is about an actual um literal lineage. Now, some people, right? Like we said, there's two parts to it. So some people probably will figure out that, oh, maybe they are connected with this tribe. Um, and some people might just be like, oh, I'm connected only spiritually to this tribe, to tribes of Israel, because I too have made a covenant. Either way, we are all coming together, and that is what the Lord is doing. It has taken a long time, and that is kind of the point of I think the Book of Mormon is that the Book of Mormon shows how much the Lord has this chesed, right? That President Nelson talked about about how he will do whatever it takes. We will never tire of his patience for us to he will never forget us that we've made this covenant with us. He will do that with everybody, but especially with his covenant people, because that's what he has covenanted to do for us. No matter how long it takes, he will gather us together and he will never forget us. And that's what we see in the Book of Mormon. He doesn't forget not only the Nephites, but he does not forget the Lamanites either, because both of them are covenantal people. He tries to gather them both, right? When Jesus comes and he gathers everyone together, there is no Nephites or Lamanites. There are only people in Christ. And that's what the Lord is trying to get us to today in modern times, is to be able to reach that place of unity. It will take a long time, right? But that we are gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. We are part of this gathering that the Lord has been doing since 720 BCE, right? I mean, he has been, this has been cracked, but he will gather us all together, right? Um and President Nelson, you know, like I said, has really emphasized the fact that we are a part of this of this gathering, right? Um, anytime you do anything that helps anyone on either side of the veil take a step towards making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptism and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is simple as that. It's all about coming back home. Yes, you know, there have been instances, you know, uh in the recent what hundred years where people who ethnically may have may uh ethnically are are Jewish or Israel uh Israeli or Israelite, right, have come back to the literal home in which they've been in, but it's more spiritual than that, right? It's about coming back into the covenant. So let's talk about now how they were scattered, what that looked like, and then um, and like I said, this is going to be a lot of history. It's going to be a lot, and so if you need to take small chunks this week as we're going through, because there's gonna be a lot of history, but hopefully this gives us the context for what is happening. We'll be able to take some spiritual lessons from each thing that's happening, we'll be able to learn some really cool facts, we'll be able to learn a little bit more insight into the Book of Mormon and all that's happening there, and also this will help us understand Isaiah more, like I said, and I know that that is a big thing when reading the Old Testament. It's like, okay, how can I understand Isaiah more? Understand the scattering more. And in it, we will find Christ's love, right? Through all of this history, I want you to think about as as we're reading, as we're talking through it, how yes, they forgot the Lord and they were they were taken away from him. But as they remembered him, as certain righteous kings tried to bring them back, as we now, the Lord is still trying to gather them together. He loves these people just as much as he loves us. He wants everyone to be gathered to them, no matter how far they've gone or how many mistakes they've made. And that is true in our lives, that is true for the people on the other side of the veil, and that is true for every single person who has lived on the earth. The Lord's want them to come to him. And so let that be the overlying message today as we're talking about people who are going away. Know that the ultimate, that's not the end of the story. The end of the story is that they will eventually all be gathered in, right? By the Messiah. Not to be a magical kingdom on magical, uh a powerful kingdom on the earth, but rather a powerful kingdom greater than earth. Okay, let's begin. So, despite the fact that they had all of these wonderful prophets, right, that we learned about last week, Elijah and Elisha, the kingdom of Israel still rejected it, and unfortunately, so did the kingdom of Judah sometimes. So we begin in chapter 16 of 2 Kings, and we learn about Ahaz. Ahaz is one of the few sorry Judahite kings that is specifically mentioned as just being bad, bad, bad. So he's the king of Judah, and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, right? He walked in the ways of the king of Israel. He performed the Molech sacrifices. So, for those, if you do remember when we were talking about Deuteronomy, that's killing your son, maybe burning your children, um, for offering of a sacrifice. Um, and we don't know what extent that looked like and how many people were actually doing it, but it was a practice that was condemned. We know it was done, and it was a practice specifically condemned by the law of Moses, and yet he did it, right? He sacrificed on many high places like Solomon, right? But these were high places to other gods under every green tree. That's pointing back to Asherah. Also made an alliance with um with Assyria. So Assyria was a it's actually the Neo-Assyrian Empire, is what this was at this time, and the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire, it's over in Iran and Iraq, that area, um, more so Iraq, and they were coming over and they were the biggest empire at the time, and they're trying to come over and take up land over in the Levant. Why? It's close to the Mediterranean, so that makes great um shipping lands. It's also right next to Egypt, which was a big um competitor land, and you wanted to get to Egypt too. So he's trying to give all of the greater Middle East the Assyrians were. And this is the time when they were doing that, and all of the little countries, right, over in the Levant, meaning Edom, meaning Moab, meaning Aram, meaning Syria, meaning Israel, meaning Judah, were all afraid, and they were all dealing with it in different ways. Ahaz decided, and we learn in Isaiah that Isaiah says, Do not make an alliance with Assyria, and yet he does. And so then Israel and Edom and Aram are threatened by this because they're like, Oh, you're not gonna protect the little people, you're gonna join with the big guy, we're gonna attack you. And they did. But he and they're attacking him, and he said, Oh, you know what? I actually need help from the big guy. I guess they were just sorry, I did the wrong order. They were attacking him anyway because they wanted to attack Judah. They kind of made an alliance against him, and then Judah says, Oh, I can't fight these guys. I need to make an alliance with Assyria. That's what it is. And with Tilgoth Pelazer of Assyria, TP3 is what we know him as. Tilgoth Pelazer. It's so sort of I've studied this man for three years and I still can't say his name. Tilgoth Pelazer III. TP3. That's how I remember him. Great guy. Not really, but he came over and he was very, very um successful in his military operations. So what happened was he comes in and he fights for them, right? He listened to him, he marched up against Damascus, so against um Syria and Aram, and he came and he took it. And so TP3 came in clutch for those four Ahaz. But and so Ahaz went up and thanked him, and as he was up there, this is in chapter 16, he sees this beautiful altar. He sees the Assyrians' worship, and he's like, This is a great altar. I'm jealous, I want that. How many times in our lives have we seen other people and we become jealous? Right? We're becoming jealous, and he thinks about more about what he wants and the greatness of that than he does about following the Lord. I have been very guilty of this in my life as well, right? But he does it, and so he decides to um removing the sea of the brawn oxen and put on a pediment of stone, right? So he's making a covered portal. He's changing the temple because he wants it to be great, like the other places, and this is condemned, and ultimately he dies. Um, and so Ahaz is condemned as being not a very good king, and we'll learn more about him in Isaiah. But um, basically, he makes the the allegiance with Assyria, which was condemned by Isaiah as being a bad thing because he says, actually, the Lord can save you, not Assyria. They will not, you know, they will not Edom and Damascus, meaning Aram or Syria, will not come over you, and yet he was got afraid, right? He trusted in earthly powers more than he trusted in the Lord. Which again, I'm guilty of that. But can each of us take Ahaz's bad example and be like, okay, how can I trust in the Lord more than earthly powers? How can I put trust in the Lord's prophet more than earthly powers? Then we get Hoshea. So Hoshea is ruling over Israel now. Now we're moving on to Israel, right? We're not in Jude anymore, we're in Israel. And he, and now we're dealing with a new king. We're not dealing with TP3 anymore. We are dealing with my king, Shelemans. Well, Shalman Shalman wow gosh, Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser, is that even a real name? Yes, okay. So, or Shalmaneser, Shalmanaser, he is now the king of Assyria, and he is fighting against Israel. But No Shia is like, no, I uh and and Assyria had this thing where they were coming, they were known as being very scary. Okay, the Assyrians were scary, they were cutting off people's heads and putting them on poles as you would walk in, so you would know what they would do. Like Assyria was known as being a scary, scary, scary empire. So it's also no surprise that people are turning to them for help. Or um, and then what they would do is they would conquer you, and then you would become their vassal, meaning you would pay tribute to them and basically be under their thumb. Under their thumb. So that's what is happening here. But the king of Assyria, right, found treasury in Hosea. Hosea actually goes against his uh his vassalship and tries to go with the king of Egypt, and that's not a good thing. He's like, you know what? Actually, I will so it's kind of two competing empires at this time. We have Assyria, right, in the east, and we have Egypt. And Hosea is basically like, I don't like Assyria, they're scary, they maybe require too much of me. I'll go to Egypt instead. Maybe Egypt will make me free, um, and I won't have to pay them as much money. And so he turns to Egypt, and Assyria didn't like that. They heard about it, so they come and attack. And it's ultimately because of this that Israel is scattered. And so it gives but it this the book doesn't give as much of a theological reason why Israel was scattered. I mean, that has that comes from Isaiah as he talks about, you know, it is because of your sins that this will happen. But again, maybe it's also just a natural consequence of having a king who is not is is trying to do for his own powers rather than than following God, right? And so ultimately uh Assyria is taken captive to Israel is taken captive to Assyria. So this is when they are then scattered. They are they're taken away, um, some up into various cities that are actually named. And so the concept or the idea that these these uh people were scattered and we don't know where they went, and they all went together to a place. I don't know, I've heard some interesting things like uh which which is fine. Um it's just kind of a uh a little bit of a misunderstanding of what is happening, and so it's not that they all went as ten tribes and went up to like the north pole or or the center of the earth, right? What it is is that different groups were were dispersed so that they could not join together and rise up against the king. This is what Assyria would do is that they would send you away into a different place, so then you basically have to rely on them and you can't all rise up again against them, and they would resettle other people that they've conquered in your land. So that's what they're doing. And as they're there, um, lions actually come down upon these new people who have been resettled there by Assyria. And Assyrians, based on their ancient way of thinking, think, okay, this is because they're not worshiping Jehovah, right? Jehovah is the god of the land, right? Not that Jehovah is the only God or the great God, but hey, he's the God of the land, so we need to be worshiping him. So they actually bring an Israelite priest, and he comes in and he teaches the people how to worship Jehovah. And this group of people, some people were left there, right? Not every uh citizen of the kingdom of Israel was taken away. Some people were left there to resettle and or to continue there, and then other people were brought brought in, they intermixed, they have this Israelite priest come in and teach them the ways of worshiping Jehovah, and they are known as the Samaritans. That is where the Samaritans come from. Um, and so this is what kind of sets up the conflict that Jesus lives in, is that the Samaritans, the Jews, view the Samaritans as uh uh basically being not truly Israelite, right? Because they're of mixed ethnicity, being from the people who were resettled there. Also, that they do not worship Jehovah in the correct way because of it, it was an Israelite priest that came in, right? And not a Levitical priest that came in. They also, you know, by that time the Samaritan uh religion had kind of been like, well, you don't worship on the the Mount Zion or the or the where the temple was, but you actually worship on a different mountain. And so there was some difference in in worship things there, and that's what Christ comes into, right? Um, but this is where that comes from. And it's interesting because Christ teaches, you know what, there's not a difference, right? We're all children of God, he teaches the Samaritans, he he calls many of them to to worship the true and living God, while also saying, Yes, but the Jews but salvation is it with the Jews, right? And so he's saying, Yeah, but the Jews are teaching um what is it actually correct? Um, and I'm coming from the Jews, right? They um you know, and so he corrects them in a in a way, but he still Sees them right as one as the same doesn't see them as different as the Jews would have, and so that is uh a beautiful thing, and this is where that comes from. Okay, so now we're done with the the kingdom of Israel. It was um they came, they were conquered, and that's that, unfortunately. And so then uh um basically we get this period of time where the Assyrians, because Judah is aligned with them, they don't attack Judah, okay, we get some relative peace. Then we get come in with King Hezekiah. Now, King Hezekiah is just one of the most fascinating kings. So uh Hezekiah is at the same time as Hoshea, so he's at the uh contemporaneous time with Hoshea, and he, you know, is still kind of in this allegiance, but he with Assyria, but he also is trying to follow the Lord and so he goes through this religious cleansing, if you will, of all of the sites that have even crept into Judah's practice of um even worshiping or putting incest before incense before the bronze serpent that Moses made, right? That everybody would look to and live. Um, it turns out they had kind of started worshiping that object. And Hezekiah saw that as, or maybe, you know, and maybe they weren't, but maybe it was something that was going to be close to worshiping the object. So Isaiah, uh Hezekiah just got rid of it. He said, get rid of it. He got rid of all the extra temples that there were outside of Jerusalem. Um, all of the extra high places that were set up, all these things. Interestingly enough, we can see an altar in one place. Um, during that, during the time of Hezekiah, we can see this archaeologically was turned from an altar to a litrain, to a toilet. You can see that they literally put like a little hole in it and it became moved from an altar to a toilet. He literally, you know, he's like, No, this is what I think of your rituals, right? I think they're crappy. You know, there's a little bit of that there. And so Hezekiah comes in, he broke into pieces. He relied on the Lord. This is in 18.5. The Lord the God of Israel, so that there was no like him among the kings of Judah, after him, or among those who were for him. For he held fast to the Lord, he did not depart from following him, but hit kept his commandments that the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. And so the Lord was with him because he he chose to be in that relationship with him, right? He chose to be like, I'm not just gonna be the king and do this for my own benefit, but I'm going to do it because I'm with you, and I'm gonna rely on you. And I think a lot of times in my life I try to do it on my own. But Hezekiah is just such a great example of no, let me do it with you. And you've told me to do these things, so I'm gonna correct some things in my life, right? I'm going to fix them, and so he does. And then Hezekiah is here, and in the 14th year, Sennacherib comes in and he comes up against Judah, and this is probably because Judah had uh tried to break the agreement, break the vassalship with Assyria. Hezekiah was trying to move away from it because that is what again um a prophet had told him to do, what the Lord had told him to do, and so he tried. And then Assyria didn't like that, so they come and they send um a leader called Rab Shake Rabshaka. Rab Shake. Why is that? Rab Shake, Rab Shake, and he is that's a name of a position, that's not a name of a person, and that was confusing for a long time. But Rab Shake is just the name, the Rab Shake would be the correct thing. It is a general, and he comes in, and they're literally surrounded. Hezekiah must have known that they're coming because he actually set up Jerusalem to be independent in its walls, and he set up a tunnel because the one thing about Jerusalem is it's not next to any water sources, and so he made it so that a tunnel came in from the water source and came out and went into a bath. And so Hezekiah's tunnel is what it's called. I haven't seen it because I have not been to Israel, but I've studied a lot about it. He had it built, and it must have happened really fast because there wasn't that many many years between 721 and 701 when they um come in. And so it can't have it actually was even just a few years, it was even earlier than 701. And so he he's just like, okay, we're coming in. We need to scrape this all out, right? And so they build a tunnel, they get in the water, you can actually see the the marks where the people have met. They made a little thing that's like, oh, this is where we they had people coming in from both sides, kind of like a transcontinental railroad moment. And then just like we have the golden spike, they have a little thing that says, Oh, this is where we met today. And it's at such an angle that water literally flows down to it. It's like within a centimeter, it's so perfect that it just gradually goes down and water flowed, and that's how they were able to be in a complete city. They didn't have to leave the city to get water or food. They were all locked, and because Jerusalem has walls, they were all locked in and locked in and safe in the land of Jerusalem. In the kingdom, um, and that was literally the only place that was safe at that point, um, was just the city of Jerusalem. And so they are all there, and other cities around it get destroyed by the Assyrians as they come in. Lakish destroyed. Um, we have we have literal uh writings there that have been found that Lakish, yep, they came, the Assyrians came, they're they're coming. Um, and then obviously it was destroyed. And so everything else has been destroyed but Jerusalem. And so this leader comes, the Rabshaka comes and says, like, on what base, like, do you think they're why why did you do this, right? And he's also speaking in um he's speaking in Hebrew. He's not speaking in Aramaic, which they ask him to speak, they say, Hey, would you mind speaking Aramaic? Because actually, we don't want the people to um know it, know what you're saying. And but he says, No, I'm gonna I know Hebrew, so I'm gonna say it. So he's mocking the people. He's mocking the people, he's trying to get the people to turn against Hezekiah. He says, If you say we rely on the Lord our God, is it not he who removed high places and the altar? Is it not him whose high places and altar Hezekiah has removed? And so he's saying, Okay, you say you're doing this, maybe you rely on Jehovah, but Hezekiah just destroyed all of these extra temples to him. So you think he's really gonna save you? Like he's trying to put doubts in their head. He's very much a Satan character in this, if you will, right? He's saying, Hey, he can't save you. Didn't he just destroy all these things? Don't trust in your king. But he continued speaking to them in in in Jewish, in in Hebrew, so that they could have this. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Israel, make your peace with me and come out to me, then every one of you will eat from your own vine and from your own fig tree. Okay, is this Hamilton? And drink water from your own cistern. Interesting, right? He's saying, Nope, don't worry, you know, like you guys are all you're gonna have great, it's gonna be great with the king of Assyria. He's gonna help you out. He'll he won't destroy you. Is this true? Is this a partial truth? Probably a little bit of both, right? Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying the Lord will deliver us. Have any of the nations of the god have any of the gods of nation didn't wow, gods of the nations ever delivered its land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? No other gods have done it, so I would yours. Why are you trusting Hezekiah? He's putting that down in. But the people were silent and answered him not a word. For the king's command was, do not answer him. We paid them no heed, if you will, right? A little bit of Book of Mormon there from Nephi. And so they just didn't listen to him. And we don't have to listen to these voices that might be telling us similar things. Why would you trust in the Lord? Why would you trust in Jesus? How do you know that that's real? How do you know that that's true? We need to rely on the testimonies that we have in the past, and questions might arise. I'm sure some people felt doubt. I'm sure some people were like, wait, this guy's making good points. But who we but they choose, they chose to trust in Hezekiah, and ultimately they were saved. Hezekiah also goes and consults Isaiah in this, and Isaiah um tells him that that it will be okay. Um Isaiah said to him, Say to your master, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid, because of the words that you have heard, which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. I myself will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear hear a rumor. Like, I've got you. And basically that's what ends up happening. Um, they leave, he he threatens them, um, but they end up leaving. Kind of just, they just leave. Um it says that this is in 35. We'll get back to Hezekiah's prayer in a minute, but in verse 35, uh 185,000 of the camp of the Syrians were dead. Maybe a plague went out of them, and so he had to leave. This is interesting because we actually get a record from Sennacherib of him telling this story, and he says, Yep, I destroyed Israel, I destroyed Edom on Damascus, and Hezekiah I have as a bird in a cage. So he says he didn't destroy them, but he did say he had them as a bird in a cage. And of course, this is going to be propaganda. He's also going to talk about the good things that he did, and so he doesn't say that he destroyed Jerusalem, or but he says, Hezekiah, I locked in a cage like a bird, locked in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage. That's how he saw it, right? But he left. He never destroyed Jerusalem. They were the only ones that were saved. Ironically enough, yes, the Lord did save them, even though all the other gods of the other nations didn't save them, right? Jehovah is is bitter, is bigger. He is the God out of all of his other gods, right? He is the God everywhere. Hezekiah's prayer that he gives is that, you know, he's prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord, the God of Israel who were enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone. You're the only one, not the other ones. Of the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, in here. Open your eyes. Zenakarib is mocking me, right? They have true, they they I I'm gonna summarize this, right? They have laid waste. Yeah, they really did destroy it, right? They've hurled their gods into the fire, but those weren't real gods, those were works of human hands. Save us, I pray you. He says, Oh Lord, our God, save us, I pray you, which in Hebrew is O Lord our God, Hosanna. Hosanna is actually what it is, but Hosanna, save us, please. From his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, oh Lord, our God alone, save us, Hosanna. Save us, please. And the Lord did, he heard the prayer of Hezekiah, he said, He's I love the Lord, right? Um He says, you know what? I'm going to this is the word I'm saying against Sennacherib. So he doesn't say anything against Hezekiah, but he actually just kind of is condemning Zenakib in the Lord's in his response through Isaiah. Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old, what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins. I know you're s 27. I know you're sitting and you're going out and you're coming in, you're raging against me. Because you have arrage against me, and your tongue of Aaron against has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, I will turn you back on the way which you have came. He says, You know what, you've done this to all the other places, but this is my place, right? You can't destroy me. Um, and also I planned this whole thing. You haven't done anything that I didn't already account for. And that wasn't already, you know, I can't use for my work and my glory. And I see that, and I think we need to remember, and this is in the component, everything is in the Lord's hand. He knows what's going to happen, and he can help us in every minute. We don't bring new information to him, right? It's not like when Hezekiah came and said, Hey, Senacrib's mocking me, the Lord was like, Oh, he is? Oh gosh. I didn't know that. Like, let me think about that. He said, Yep, I know, I know, but I've let him do all these things. It's in my hands. I've got you. Can we trust in the Lord enough to, even when the circumstances seem impossible or we're being mocked and reviled, to turn to him and to trust in him? That's what Hezekiah did. Then in verse uh in chapters 20 and 21, Hezekiah gets a sickness, and he again goes to Isaiah, and Isaiah says, You're gonna die. And Hezekiah says, Well, please just, you know. And then he prays. He rep, he wept bitterly. Um, but he then he pray, he prays and he says, Remember now, Lord, I implore you how I've walked before you in faithfulness with my whole heart and have done which is good in your sight. He says, You know, please, I've I've I've worked really hard, please. He does that action. Sometimes the biggest faith that we can do is just ask. We can't be like, he can't be like, Well, what can I do, Lord? He just says, Please, I've been as good as I can. And the Lord listened and decided to answer him in this way. Sometimes our prayers aren't always answered in this way, but he is answered, and the Lord will heal me. We Isaiah says, You'll be healed. And Messekai says, How will I know? And he says what do you want to know? And he said, Can you move the bat on the on the dial? Can you move the sun back? So the sun literally moves. The Lord moves heaven and earth to help us, literally, right? To help us and show us um what is his will and that he will heal us from everything. Um sometimes we just need ask. Sometimes the biggest leap of faith that we can do is ask. Sometimes it's to understand that the answer might be no, but we can ask. Okay, then we get King Manasseh. He's not a good guy. He's not a good guy. King Manasseh brings in Asherah into the temple, even though, as the scriptures say, it just says, um, this was the Lord's name was supposed to be here forever. Nope, he brings it in. Manasseh, not a good guy. And so he, and because of this, the Lord says, Okay, well, I'm going to do the same thing that I did to Israel when they were doing these things. You're you're gonna, I'm going to wipe Israel as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. Right? He's he says, Okay, well, this is the consequences of your actions. I told you that if you didn't do this, then you weren't gonna have my protection anymore. The covenant has been broken. And so that's what happens. But then we get Josiah. Josiah in chapter 22 is a king. He started when he was just eight years old, and seemingly in this time, they've done some temple renovations. And as they're doing the renovating, turns out that a prophet has found a book in their renovations. Maybe they found it as they were digging, who knows? He finds a book, and some people think this to be the book of Deuteronomy, and he's like, read it. And as Josiah, as this being is being read to Josiah, he goes, We need to do this. He literally rents his clothes because he realizes that this has not been done. So it makes you wonder, and we also again get this in the book of Mormon. When they try to go get the brought brought the brass plates, which have the stories of which have it's basically the Bible, right? The Old Testament. And they're reading it and they're like, Oh, we didn't know this. Oh, this is important that we know. Oh, I didn't even know, you know, Lehi's like, I didn't even know I was at the house of um Ephraim or Manasseh, he's Manasseh, and it's like, oh, like they didn't know. So it makes you wonder at what time were these records lost to them? We have no idea, but there seems to be this pattern that maybe over the time um they were more relying on oral traditions than written ones, or uh just because, right, that maybe part of the reason that Ahaz or Manasseh were making these new things was because conveniently they had made the Deuteronomy go away, right? Or it just had been lost, and so they weren't following it. But Josiah finds it and he says, Okay, we need to redo everything. So he again does what Hezekiah does, and he goes through and he destroys all of the other things that were built up by Manasseh, and he destroys it and sets it anew. He follows Deuteronomy. Along with that, he sets up a reading of the law. So he reads the law and he basically has them can recommit in this covenant making. He says, um, keep the Passover to your Lord as described in the book of the covenant. And so they do. Sorry, let me find the correct okay. So, yeah, this is in chapter 23. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant. All the people stood on the covenant, all the people joined in the covenant. They all joined in the covenant with him. This is a renewal of their covenant. This is interesting because it's very similar to what King Benjamin does in the Book of Mormon. In fact, many Book of Mormon scholars think that that is what uh King Benjamin was doing was very similar to what King Josiah is doing. Rather than a Passover, it might be more like the festival of tabernacles, but that's another story for another time. But it's a renewal of the covenant, just like Josiah is doing here. Very similar language is used. For example, follow the Lord with all of your heart and soul, right? And and keep the word, keep his commandments, and then you will be blessed, right? And then they perform Passover, right? So it's connected with a festival. Um turn to him with his uh, and this is again verse 25, with all his heart and all his soul and with all his might, right? Which is also Deuteronomy speech. And it's thought here that um this is also when 1st and 2nd Kings was kind of written, obviously, because 1 and 2 Kings also ends here. It talks so highly of Josiah, and that actually the whole history of Israel was kind of that we've just read, not from Genesis, but from um Judges on, was written with Deuteronomy in mind because it had just been refound, and with Josiah in mind to show that this is what as we keep the law of Moses, this is what will bless us, and this is why we've been blessed with Josiah, and this is why Josiah was such a great king, and now we're gonna follow on this path. We're gonna rewrite history to show this pattern. Not rewrite history, but we'll write down our history kind of showing this pattern, because it was a pattern, right? And it was there, which is everyone else has gone destroyed but us. And why is that? And we've just found this book, and you know what? You're right. Like, as we've kept this, as we look back on our history, as we've kept these things, you're right. We have been blessed, and all of Israel has always been blessed as we've kept these things. So this was a moment of reflection, which is what the scriptures can be to us. They can help us as we to repent, they can help us to reframe our lives, they can help us to find joy, they can help us to look back on other moments in our lives and think about them and contemplate them and see the Lord in them. They can do so many wonderful things, which is why we need the scriptures. The scriptures help us remember. And also reading history is important so that we don't make the same mistakes, right? And that's what the scriptures are for us as well, that we can learn from their successes and also from their mistakes. Now, Josiah, good guy, but he dies in battle. Why he goes and there's a big battle happening in 605. This is what We know exactly when Josiah died. 605 or why we think. Because the Battle of Carkimish is happening. Now, the Battle of Carkimish was a big battle that happened between Egypt and Assyria. Again, the two big things. And as Egypt was going up to fight him, it seems like Josiah, who maybe again had his alliance with Assyria, came up and was trying to fight Egypt, and ultimately was killed by Pharaoh Necho, who was going up to fight the king of Assyria. Ultimately, Egypt wins and Assyria uh falls. Assyria is no longer a power in 605. And then Babylon comes. So Assyria falls, but then a new uh kingdom arises as normally happens, coming from Iran rather than Iraq, Babylon. And this is notorious Babylon that we all know and love with Nebuchadnezzar, well, or Nebuchadrezar, depending on what you mean. We'll get into that when we talk Daniel. But they come in and they are now the new empire. Now they do similar things to what Assyria does, they're not nearly as scary, um, according to reports, but they do similar things where they will exile people or bring people back into their um kingdom. So it's very, very similar in the way that they practice. And um Babylon comes and they um destroy the kingdom of Judah. But they they ultimately will. But first they just attack and um then make it a vassal state. So they don't destroy the city of Jerusalem, they just make it a vassal state. King Nebuchadnezzar does. He makes he appoints new kings, he renames them, and he controls them. And um for example, I think this one is interesting. He changes um Eloyah Kim, which would be um God to Jehoiakim, which is Jehovah, right? And so he changes them to to focus on um Jehovah rather than God, maybe to kind of be like, no, I want you guys to voice uh Jehovah. And it means Jehovah King means literally Yahweh will be confirmed or established onstead of God will be established Yahweh. So again, maybe uh Nebuchadnezzar is trying to appeal to the greater community, but he's there, he's doing it, and but he is the one who's ultimately controlling. They're puppet kings, basically. And Zechariah was one of these puppet kings, um, which again is interesting because we know in his first year is when the Book of Mormon starts, the first year of the king of the king Zechariah, who's a puppet king to Babylon. And yet Laman and Lemu are Laman and Lemuel are convinced that Jerusalem will not be destroyed. If you think about it, it makes sense. I mean, Jerusalem was the only city around them, the major city that wasn't completely destroyed by the Assyrians. So they're like, hey, no matter what happens, the Lord's gonna protect us and will not destroy not destroy Jerusalem. So you're crazy for thinking this. And yet, it does happen. And Ephi's like, guys, it does make me laugh though, because it's like, guys, you barely got saved last time. The Babylonians attacked you, by the way, when Jehoiakim was reigning, so just barely, they attacked and took some of your elite people away. So you're thinking that it can't be destroyed? We're on that tack all the dates. We're we're continually getting attacked. Anyway, it just makes me laugh because I think it shows the pride of Laman and Lennial that I've been in, which is like, yeah, I know I've been close, and I know like both spiritually and physically, I'm like, oh yeah, but like sometimes we just don't think about the danger that is there. Um, because we we're not really we're not it's not clocking to us. And this is one of those things with Laman and Lemuel. It's like, listen, I know the Lord has protected Jerusalem, but he's saying that it's gonna be destroyed, like the prophets are. So, like and also you don't have a righteous king unless you're a leader like Hezekiah, we have a puppet king, you know. Anyway, very interesting. So there's many things of of um exile, um, meaning it they uh they're exiled not just one at a time, but they're exiled out in groups. The first deportation happens in 597, and that's where a lot of the elite people actually go to Babylon and are integrated there, which thought maybe this is where Daniel um went was at this time when Daniel went to uh uh Babylon, was actually during this first deportation, and so then they were able to kind of establish uh a real leadership and and connection in it um in Babylon. And then finally in 486 BCE, they come and actually destroy everything and then deport everybody. Some people stay there, again, the poor people, right? The farmers probably stay there, but everybody else was sent to Babylon, and that is where they are exiled. The kingdom of Judah has also been gone. And yet, this is the exile, this is what they were warned about. But even according to Isaiah and all the people, they will be brought back. And my final thought today will just be about how you know the gathering, the scattering may have been seen as a bad thing at the time, but ultimately it actually led to a greater gathering by the Lord, which is that because the Israelites were scattered, they were able to learn more about actually the concept of good and evil from the people who were worshiping in Babylon at the time, the Zoroastrianites. Um, and so this is actually a time period when Judaism itself changes a little bit. Um, their belief system changes. This is when the concept of Satan or a devil would really come into fruition was here because that's um what the people in Babylon were talking about. And so maybe they were even getting a little bit more revelation or understanding of God as they encountered other people's understandings and were like, hey, you know what? That actually fits in. And the Lord was able to speak to them. Um, they were able to create connections with new people and set up communities there that are still there now of strong, thriving Jewish communities. Um, and then they were people were able to come back to the exile, but it created a Jewish nation that spread across a lot of other nations and not just a small group. Um, and they were able to now see, and a lot of times we will see too with Isaiah that his concept of the temple was that all nations will then be gathered into the temple, right? And will be able to enter. But how would that be possible if Israel was always as isolated as it was? Now that it's spread out across all places, now truly all nations will gather into Israel because they know what Israel is, because the Israelites are scattered. And I see that in my own life, and I'll never forget that one time I was at the visitor center on my mission, and we saw one of the lost sheep. There's a mural of um twelve sheep. Um and one is particularly lost, but the light is shining upon it, and we would always say, you know, this represents that we can be found by the Lord. And I just remember uh a lady that we were talking to looking at it, and she just said, You know, I've had people in my life who have strayed away from from the gospel from Jesus Christ. She says, But I believe that they will be gathered back in, and when they do, they will bring in the people that they've met along the way that they couldn't have otherwise met, if not for the going away. And that's really stuck with me because I think I don't the Lord will never command us to leave him, but he may allow it and make it a part of his plan so that we can gather in additional people. And we and we don't have to leave the Lord to go out and find the people who are on the edges who don't know about him and gather them in. But maybe the I know the Lord uses all different ways and all of our own mistakes. He's not surprised by any of them, and he can use them for his own good. He can help gather all of us in, the ones that we've met as we've been lost, the ones that we go and try to find as we try to gather everybody in. We will all come closer to Jesus Christ. We will learn more about him from other people who and their experiences will help us come to know Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father better. I have seen this in my life time and time again, that I have been taught by other people who I didn't think were going to, but as I've humbled myself and learned from them, I've come to know my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more. And as the gathering of Israel comes, we'll be able to receive more information, more revelation about who our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are, how wonderful they are. And that is my testimony. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I hope that this, like I said, this was a historyful week. I rambled on a lot, but I hope that this was helpful, and we'll talk to you next week. Bye.