Episode 41: Hebrews and 2 Kings

Pastor Rodney and Pastor Samson walk through Hebrews 6–13, 2 Kings 12–25, and Proverbs 14. From “Jesus is better” to the fall of kingdoms, they discuss spiritual maturity, enduring faith, godly leadership, and why sometimes growth comes with a little mess—but it’s always worth it. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Good day, everyone, and welcome to North Bible Recap. I believe this is episode number 25 of this year, 2026. And of course, we get a lot more from when we started back in 2025. And I hope that you will take just a moment to help us out because we want to get the word out. We want more people uh listening, tuning in, talking about uh this podcast. And so subscribe wherever you're listening. Um, and then also love, like, and then share. And if there is a review opportunity, please review us, and five stars would be absolutely the best. Five stars. Come on. Five stars. Hey, so so glad uh to have Pastor Samson. That's right. I'm happy to be here. It's fun. Let's do this. And so we got uh this episode, we're gonna talk about Hebrews chapter six through thirteen, and then also second kings chapter twelve through twenty-five. Come on, closing out those books, closing up those books, and then also the book of Proverbs. So we're gonna be closing out Hebrews and Second Kings and then Proverbs uh chapter number 14. No Psalms today for this episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Okay, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Why don't we jump into it? Let's go. So Hebrews chapter 6 through 13. Uh Jesus is better. That's the whole point. If you've if you're reading through, if you go back to even, I'm sure, last week's uh uh podcast on Hebrews, uh, Hebrews really showing how Jesus is better and superior to all of the things that the Jewish people, the Jewish audience that the author of Hebrews is writing to uh has kind of put their hopes in. Uh Jesus is better than the angels, he's better than Moses, he's better than the high priest and the Levitical system. Jesus is greater. And so don't drift back. There's a temptation to go back. Um, and so the whole letter is one long argument of when you're tempted to go back, remember that Jesus is better. So I I think of it this way, Pastor. Uh, I don't have you ever had buyer's remorse? Oh, yeah. Yeah, where you bought something, you're like, oh, I don't know if I should have done it. Uh we had this recently. Uh we bought a puppy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Oh, that's I could have told you that in advance.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

We have four kids. Adding a puppy to the equation was a lot. Um, but uh, you know, here's the thing. I always I at least can go back to it wasn't my idea. My wife, it was her idea, okay? And we kind of fell back into hey you want to help your marriage out?

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Just don't say it and edit this podcast or just make sure that she doesn't actually see this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

We'll just fast forward this part for her, okay. But my wife was like, maybe we can just after we got this puppy, we can't get her to you know poop outside. So she's pooping inside regularly. And so she's like, listen, we have way too many people pooping inside the house. We're gonna have to figure out what so our plan was to give her to Hope's sister, T T. And uh, but when we explained that to Charlie and Louis, our two boys, that we're gonna do that. Well, they're like, no, we can't do that. She's part of the family now. And to them, giving away the puppy is like giving away one of their siblings. And so there's no going back. And so I bring that up because when you are now in the family of Christ, the author of Hebrews helping us understand once you're part of the family, you can't just go back, right? You can't just un you know, uncut cut yourself out from this thing that you are in. Uh, but no, it's it it takes maturity, it it takes some growing up. So that takes us to Hebrews chapter six.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yeah, which is really dives into the idea that we got to grow up. So if you're part of the family, you're gonna believe in the family, there's nowhere else to go, uh, then well, let's grow in the family. Let's become like our Lord and Savior. Let's become like the one who has He's the one that has given us access into this family. And so let me just read uh these two verses. Yeah, Hebrews chapter number six, verse one and two, and then I'll let you take it from there uh just to kind of get us started. So let us stop going back to the basic, let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, the author of Hebrews is challenging us as believers that we have to grow up, we have to mature. Uh, there's some things that it's okay when you first get into the faith, that you have to ask all the questions and you know, should do we believe what do we believe? But uh there's a point where your reality uh meets or reality tests your theology, right? When when reality and actually what happens in life test what you really believe about God, and that's when you know it's time for maturity. We all know somebody that is you know found Jesus and they're super hyped up and everything is good, church is their favorite time of the week or whatever, but then man, bad times come, and then their reality hits their theology, and they're like, I don't know if I'm about this anymore. And this is when maturity is introduced. Um, and so the author of Hebrews gives us deep teaching to help us understand the kind of faith that it takes to move forward in our faith. He gives us an example.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Oh, yeah. No, you go right into chapter number seven. He dives in deep with the um the question of Michelzedek. Who is this dude? So I'm I'm waiting for you to tell me a little more about him because I want to learn something.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Well, Melchizedek, Melchizedek, however you want to say it, okay? He is this mysterious figure. We don't know exactly where he came from, and that's kind of the point that the author of Hebrews is saying. Uh Genesis 14, he shows up. Abraham, uh, whenever he wins the battle uh against uh the the five kings, he gives a tithe, a 10% of all of his winnings, if you will, the spoils from battle, he gives it to the king of Melchizedek, uh, king Melchizedek, uh the king of Salem, which is would be Jerusalem, right? And so he gives it to this king. And we don't know why, other than that this king is a I'm sorry, this king is also a priest who is the high priest of Yahweh. And so it kind of gives us a clue that there were other people other than Abraham who believed in Yahweh at that time, who believed in this one God, not multiple gods, but one God. And he is both a king and a priest, and he is the first high priest in all of the Bible. And so we see this uh that the author of Hebrews is saying there's before there was a Levitical system, there was already a system of high priests uh and a king who's a high priest, because those those two offices had been separated in in the Jewish way of thinking things. Um, but he's saying Jesus is not, I understand Jesus is not a Levite, he isn't born into the tribe of Levi, but he is from the lineage of Melchizedek in a way, because he is uh both a king and high priest. And so that is that is where Jesus gets his authority.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

So he gives us some deep teaching to think about, and that gets us into chapter 8 and 10, which is the better covenant that's being established and the once and for all sacrifice that is crucial to understand. Um, because really, when you when you dive into that, the old covenant was a copy and a shadow of what was to come. Yeah. And which was actually realized in who? Jesus. And Jesus becomes that perfect sacrifice that would once and for all deal with all other sacrifices, so that we don't got to be repeating these things on and on. That's what he's emphasizing here in chapter number uh eight. And um when you have a perfect sacrifice, there's only one offering that has to be made. Yeah, and that's what Jesus was, and that's where when Jesus was made that sacrifice on the cross and breathed his last that it is finished. Uh, what happened that was signifying uh literally because the Bible says in Romans chapter eight is that all creation groans, yearning for the day of redemption, longing for that day for things to be restored. Well, the first part of that happened when Jesus said it is finished, because it says that the earth shook and a great earthquake happened, and then the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. And most believe that that veil of that temple, based upon descriptions in the Old Testament and what we knew about in historical writings in Scripture, and then also outside of uh external writings outside of Scripture, that that that was somewhere between probably about 50 feet tall, yeah, in a thickness that was layered over and over again, and that it was literally ripped from top to bottom. It's almost like God Himself stretched out of heaven and just said, whoosh, yeah, no longer do you need that. So now you have access to the throne of God. Hebrews talks about that a little bit later, yeah, is through the blood of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Absolutely. He creates the way. That's Hebrews 10, 22. Let us go right into the presence of God because the veil is torn. We are now brought in. And I think the author of Hebrews also answers for us a kind of an age-old question of how can the Bible say, how can the New Testament writer say that Jesus is the Savior of all people if there were people that existed before Jesus? And the author of Hebrews gives us the answer to that question. They're all saved, because it kind of clues into chapter 11. They're all saved because they had faith in the promise that God gave in the garden that he would bring about salvation, um, a seed of the woman. They had faith in that and they followed God almost blindly uh without knowing and or seeing what that the fruition to that faith would be. And they believed in Jesus. Uh, and so um, you know, I I use this illustration, you've used uh this illustration too, Pastor Rodney, of of uh how all of our sins are forgived in Jesus, whether you're an Old Testament saint or a you know a new covenant believer like we are, uh, that all of our sins are washed away by Jesus. Um and I I think of it like the heavenly IOU system, but you kind of used it on not too long ago about kind of like a credit card, how our sins, right? Like uh it you you swipe the credit card and for eternity, you know, or for for centuries before Jesus, you know, they would sin, right? And then that a sacrifice would be offered. And it says very clearly in the old testament that God isn't that the blood of animals doesn't, you know, somehow magically wipe away the sins of people. No, it was the faith that they they used, they they had they were approaching God honestly. And so it was merely kind of like they swiped a credit card every time they offered a sacrifice, uh, because someone else would have to come to truly pay that bill at the end of the, you know, at the end of the month, if you will. And that's Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. So his blood on the cross is the fulfillment of the faith transactions, if you will, in the old test. Every sacrifice made in the old testament, asking for forgiveness for sin to be made right in in the presence of God, that is fulfilled in Jesus. That is how Jesus forgives sins, you know, in the Old Testament and New Covenant believers, New Testament believers, like we are.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

No, and that's it's very good. Some people have asked me, well, why did we have to why did they really why did God make them do those sacrifices in the Old Testament? Well, the Old Testament sacrifices obviously did not take care of sins, yeah, but it was still a it was an act of faith and obedience to God. And it was also a reminder. Every time that something died, it was a reminder that we are dying without God. Yeah, it was a reminder of what was God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, the day you eat of this, you'll surely die. Yeah. And your disobedience, you will die. And then what happened with Adam and Eve? They covered themselves, uh, their their nakedness, and but they that didn't work. And God shows up and he what does he do? He takes that off and he gives them uh skins of animals. Yeah, something died right then. That's right. They saw that, and then every sacrifice was made was a reminder of their sin, reminder of an and it pointed to the future that would come a perfect sacrifice. When would that be? They didn't know. Even when we take communion right now, it's a reminder. That's right. It's a reminder that our sins have been forgiven, that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. But the grace of God and the work of Christ is taking care of that. Absolutely. So the our communion is very similar to the Old Testament sacrifices, but that's different in that uh we're not remorsing uh knowing that it's we still got, I mean, uh our sins aren't forgiven. They are forgiven. Yeah, and you also mentioned it's very important to understand that I'm dealing with such a situation right now where there is a struggle between me and individual. And basically, to me, I've reconciled that relationship. I've forgiven even if they haven't. When God sent his son and died while we were still sinners, God reconciled us to him through his son Jesus Christ. Oh, so even the worst of sinners out there, God has already done the price to reconcile us to him.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

The question is, will you receive that reconciliation on the other end? Yeah. So that worst of sinner, whoever it is, or the best of sinners, but you're all sinners, yeah. Uh, will you receive the reconciliation that Christ has offered?

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Absolutely. Man, that is such a beautiful thought. That reconciliation is offered through the shed blood of Jesus. That brings us to Hebrews 11, which is sometimes called the Hall of Faith. Um, and there's a lot of famous people in the Bible that are quoted in it. Uh, and it's almost like a parade of, you know, from Abel to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, all people who acted in faith before they can actually see the payoff of what they were hoping and believing for. They were all awaiting Jesus. Once again, remember the author of Hebrews tells us Jesus is the greatest thing. He is the thing that everything has been waiting on, right? And so then he gives us a list of people that put their faith in Yahweh, believing that something, someone would come, a figure would come and fulfill it. It's like you're throwing a pass, right? And you're you're hoping the receivers on the other end to catch it. And and that's what that's what we see. And then if you would read Pastor Rodney, uh, verse 39, chapter 11, verse 39.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Yeah, and then on on into chapter number 12. Yeah, let me read all the way to verse number two, because when we talk about the separation of the chapters, that that didn't happen to around uh 1200 uh AD that that first initiate, and then it wasn't really adopted until like 15 to 1600 AD, and it's become a part of something that we just take for granted, but it was not originally written a separation of chapters and verses. So, but let me just pick it up, uh, verse number thirty-nine of Hebrews eleven. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised, for God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. Now, chapter twelve, verse one and then verse two. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, that's that hall of fame of faith he's talking about, and also many, many others that were not recorded into that list that he put in chapter eleven. Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up, and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

You know, um, I was reflecting on this. Actually, I actually went back to my journal from last year. So uh I do kind of what you do, Pastor Rodney. Uh, each morning I read, and I'll write a usually something really short, maybe a paragraph or two paragraphs at most. But that particular morning, I went back and looked at my journal and I wrote this reflection on this passage. Uh, and I was, I thought about a friend, a conversation I had with a friend. So he was telling me how uh when he was uh much younger, when his kids were much younger, he took a job in ministry and it required him to quit his job that he had that was a well-paying job, uh, move to a different city to go be a part of a church plant. Um he because he was doing that, uh they needed a house because they had kids, and so they ended up, you know, having to, it was they were kind of buying this house at a loss. They had to bring money to closing, they didn't really have. And God just kind of showed up miraculously, and they had so little when they first started. And then, you know, now he's he's moved on his career, is you know, he's very well off. And he was telling me how he had taken his kids on vacation, they were and got to go stay at a lake house and how blessed they were. And he purposely took his kids aside and he told them the story back when they had nothing. And he's like, I felt like I needed to tell them that because when that was that season life, they were so small, they don't remember this. They have no recollection of the hard things that we did, how we serve God uh and when we had nothing and how he's blessed us now, they just see the blessing. And he said it was so meaningful to tell them about how it started. Good. And I think of this passage to me, as as much as it is telling us about this heavenly host of people who had come before us, um, who are great people of faith, it's also a reminder of the people who uh God is not ashamed to be called their God. They uh they hoped in something they could not see and they pursued Jesus without knowing it was Jesus. And the author of Hebrews, as he's talking to people who are feeling the weight of you know persecution and hardship, but he's saying you guys still have it so much better now, yeah, because you actually got to see, you get to know what it is, who it is that you are putting your hope in because Jesus has been revealed to you, and that is the same for us when we think about, and I think we do uh a disservice to our kids, especially for I'm I think about myself. Like I, you know, I had this huge story of how God saved my family and transformed. I I experienced that. My kids are growing up in this house where they're very stable, safe, loving home. Um, they don't know what it's like to not have parents who don't pray or read scripture or go to church, right? They don't know any of that. But they need to be reminded that this is part of their story. Yeah, this is part of their testimony too. And we do a service to our future generations of believers when we share the whole story of faith. Uh, and that's I think that's part of what the author of Hebrews is doing in this moment in chapter 11.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So good. Come on. So, Hebrews 12. Obviously, we started reading it. It's about running that race, it's about discipline. Uh, talk to us a little bit about that and why it's so important that God actually, he says there, one of those verses I don't like is that he he disciplines those that he loves. Yeah. So he must love me a lot.

unknown 20:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Absolutely. Absolutely. And yeah, and it's it's crazy because the kind of discipline that the people most likely that the author of Hebrews writing to, the the discipline they're going through is persecution for having believed in Jesus. Some of them are being thrown in prison, some of them are losing property. That's the kind of persecution that they're going through. And the author of Hebrews saying that is discipline from the Lord. It's making you stronger. And it feels unfair. Yeah. Some of the times we think of disciplines, we did something wrong, and so there's punishment. But there's times we just we didn't actually do anything wrong, but suffering still happens in this world. And do we have the maturity, like we talked about earlier, to see this as not just suffering for suffering's sake, but God is teaching me something in this. Good. The discipline is part of the development. A good coach is not the coach who's always kind to you and just you know says nice things. A good coach is the one who you know runs you through the drills, right? The ones that you hate, you know, to prove uh what you have inside of you and to show that he's invested in you. And that's what God does. He is challenging you uh to be a better version, to be more like Jesus every single day. And it happens whether it's discipline because you did something wrong or it's discipline because we live in a fallen world.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

That's good. In chapter number 13, it's one key verse that uh we can just pull out.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

And because again, there's so much to talk about. We can't dilight, but everything we're we're highlighting, some picking some main things, uh, some stuff that maybe spoke to us. But in verse number seven of chapter 13, he speaks about the value of godly leadership.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

And he says these words remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good. That has come from their lives and follow the example of their faith. And I tell you, I've got uh godly leaders in my life over the years that I want to celebrate, acknowledge, recognize. Uh some ministers that uh are even part of our church that have paved the way that are much more um years under the belt than I have. That we just I want to honor them, I want to say thank you, I want to hang around them, I want to applaud them, I want to realize that I am standing on the shoulders of someone else. Yeah. And that's very important to understand.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Yeah. Godly leadership is essential to our faith journey. We all need somebody to look up to and to imitate. And so we cannot minimize. Um, just like I look up to you, Pastor Rodney. Um, you look up to someone else. We we all need each other, we need someone to imitate in this faith journey because nobody came out just knowing everything. Nope. Okay, it's Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

Yeah. So um, yeah, but even Jesus submitted himself, became as a man to Hebrews 5. He learned. Hebrews 5, he learned. He learned through what he learned obedience through his suffering. That's what it says. That's right. Lord have mercy. Come on. Okay, so 2 Kings, um, chapter 12 through the rest of the book. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

So now we're seeing the uh the slow motion collapse of two kingdoms. Uh, and so two dates to just kind of keep in mind if you're studying the Old Testament, it's just two helpful dates to remember. 722 BC, that's the fall of the northern kingdom. They fall to the nation of Assyria, um, who was this the superpower, the world superpower at that time. Then 586 BC is the fall of the southern kingdom. Um, and that's the they fall to Babylon, who's a superpower. So first the northern kingdom falls in 722, and then as you get closer uh to zero, because that's how BC works, as you get closer to zero, 586, that's when the southern kingdom falls to Babylon. I think of it this way. Last year, you know, I I do this where I record my Cowboys games, uh, and last year, obviously, Pastor Friday, they didn't do too good, uh, and so they lost a lot of games. But I would try not to pay attention to the score, okay? But so I'll be watching these recorded games, but like inevitably, someone will text me and be like, man, the Cowboys did terrible today. They lost. And I would I would know, and now I'm just watching them, and they'll be like, a great play. And even though I'm seeing a great play, I just know they already lost the game, right? And I'm watching with this realization. That's a little bit like reading first and second kings. Like, there are some highlight points where there's some good kings that just kind of just show up out of nowhere and you're like, Man, God is so good, but still, this is the story of the demise of the kingdom of Israel uh and the kingdom of Judah. Uh, and that that is the way it plays out.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Yeah, and so God keeps trying to warn them, and then you have the coming judgment. Talk about the um the northern kingdom, what happened?

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yeah. So the northern kingdom uh is uh they are given all sorts of warnings, um, and their capital city is this city of Samaria. So if you look at 2 Kings 13 through 16, uh you're seeing that they're running out of time. God sent them uh warnings. Uh they he sent them all sorts of people, prophets to speak to them. Um even Elisha, right? Uh Elisha, Elijah before him were prophets to this northern kingdom, but they never turn back. Uh, one last sign that they receive uh is when Elisha dies, um, there's a dead man that's thrown on his bones and comes back to life. Which, what a way to die and come back to life. That's a great story. Uh, but you see, it's it's it's that brief moment of hope, and you'll see it towards the end of this book of like, oh, there is still, there is still God is doing something. Even when things look dead, God is doing something. Um, Jeroboam II, um, who is you know not related to Jeroboam the first, but he's named after him. Um, there's prosperity, even though he's an evil king, but underneath it all is just spiritual cancer, right? It's terminal and there is no hope. And that brings us to chapter 17, is where we see the actual fall.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Yeah. I mean, and what you're saying is in chapter 17 and verse number 13, uh, you got the fall, but God says again and again, the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn but the people would not listen. Yeah. And that word listen, uh, we've said it before in this podcast, but just remind our audience when it speaks to uh the word listen um to the scriptures, listen to the word of God, it's not meaning just I hear the words. Yeah, it's it's it's an it's a call to action uh to set into motion that you're not listening if you're not obeying.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

And I think anyone that's been a teacher, a parent, you understand that too. And you say, Are you listening uh to your kids or to your students or whoever, it's not that they actually can't hear you or can't hear you, it's more of like, are you all gonna obey me? Yeah, and so they didn't. They chose, and it's it's it's a crucial chapter that really splits everything. And then of course you have the divide of the kingdom, and which the kingdom already divided, but then you have the fall of the kingdom. And um it's just a sad scenario. Um that again and again I see that with individuals in their lives, that people are warning them, people are saying, I mean, it's obvious to other people on the outside that are following Christ that they're headed to a dead end, they're headed to uh a bad place, but they just kind of keep going that way. And sometimes those individuals, you just gotta pray that uh that they get to rock bottom quick, and they'd be like the prodigal son who is in the pig pen, who is in the worst of dire situations, who will then look up and say, you know, realize that my hope is in God alone.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

So yeah. Uh you know, it it's it's kind of sad because you see they have all the advantages in a sense. They have Yahweh, they have the covenant, and yet it all falls apart. Now, there's a bright spot, and that we get to chapter 18 through 20, and it's a story of a king named Hezekiah in the southern kingdom of Judah. Uh, and Hezekiah is a good king uh who is truly trying to live for Yahweh, and so he brings reform. Uh, he, you know, uh he trusts in Yahweh when he's attacked. Uh he he tries to live for God. And there's actually this particular situation where uh Hezekiah is threatened um by uh the king of Assyria, the king that had just defeated and destroyed the northern kingdom, uh, and now they're coming towards the southern kingdom, and Hezekiah receives a letter um from essentially the king of Assyria, and he takes this letter and he spreads it out in front of the in the temple, in front of Yahweh. And it's kind of like, man, you got a scary email, and you're just I'm just gonna hand this to a person that actually has power to do something with it. Yeah. Uh, and that's what he does um in verse if chapter 20, verse 16, Pastor, if you can read that. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, listen. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. No, I got ahead, I got ahead of myself. Sorry. We'll come back to that. We'll come back to that. But uh, you see, in that moment, he is saved. Uh, he's he's saved um from that. Uh the king of Assyria dies just the way that Isaiah prophesies. He goes back to his uh home nation and he's killed by his sons, and uh he's removed. Then Hezekiah gets real comfortable, and that's where we get to chapter 20, where he invites the Babylonian envoy, who Babylon's not quite the superpower it is until later on, but he invites him to kind of see everything, and then he gets this message.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Yeah. You know, it was an issue of pride. He was showing off his stuff. Yeah, he was taking on places they shouldn't, he was revealing uh, he was given full access to people he should not have been showing, the things he should be showing. But here's the guy who walked close with God, which is so such a warning for us that all of us can drift. And again, he's doing this later in his life. Younger in his life, he really was on fire for God. And later in his life, he's just getting a little comfortable, a little cocky, and it leads to his downfall. So, verse number 16 of 2 Kings chapter 20. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Listen to this message from the Lord. The time is coming when everything in your palace, all the treasures stored up for your ancestors until now, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. Some of your own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon's king. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, This message you have given me from the Lord is good. For the king was thinking, at least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

So sad. How sad is that? Yeah. Uh here is uh you're seeing the short-sightedness of a good king uh who gets and you know enamored with what he has, and he says, Well, at least things are gonna be good when I'm here. Uh when he hears the word, like his own sons are going to be turned into eunuchs and serve in the palace of the the Babylonians, he's like, Well, at least it's good for me.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

And just let me say for you that they're like thinking, what's a eunuch? Go just read up on a little bit. Yeah, it would not be a good thing to go through. No, and so I've made plenty of pigs eunuchs. Okay, growing up on the farm. Yeah, I know that you're freaking out. The person recording here is freaking out, but I've taken hundreds of pigs and made them eunuchs, and it's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

No, so yeah, just Google that one. There we go. Uh that brings 2 Kings 21, and you see one of the worst of the worst, Manasseh. And we won't spend a lot of time on Manasseh, but just know that this is Hezekiah's son, who was coincidentally born to him. So if you remember kind of the story of Hezekiah, God he prays to God to extend his life. God extends it 15 more years. During that time, he has a son, Manasseh, which would be the future king, and he would be the one of the worst kings in the southern kingdom, serving uh idols and worshiping and teaching the children of Israel to worship idols. Um and help us, Lord. And that that is what happens at towards the end of Hezekiah's life. And then you have like this, once again, hope uh that is brought through a guy named Josiah, chapter 22, 23. Um, and uh we all know the story. If if you're familiar with it, the they're cleaning the temple, uh, and when they clean the temple, they find the book of the law. Now think about this situation. This is the nation of Israel, this is the or the southern kingdom of Judah. These are people who are people of the law, of the Mosaic covenant, and they just found it for years.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

It has been and they were dusting off a book that was meant to be used every day that hadn't been used for a long time. How many Bibles and homes need to be dusted off, opened up, and read again, and then lived out.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

And that's where you see the hope of this young man who is a young king who reads the book and he tears his clothes. Uh, and that was a sign of mourning, that was a sign of sadness in their day. And so uh he he asks what should be done. Uh, and so they say, Hey, let's call a prophet, and they call a prophet, prophetess, uh, named Huldah, and she comes and speaks for the Lord. Uh, verse 15 of chapter 22, uh, she said to them, I'll read it, uh, the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. Go back and tell the man who sent you. This is what the Lord says. I'm going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true. For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I'm very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched. Now go out and tell the king of Judah who sent you this, uh who sent you to seek the Lord, and tell him, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just read. You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against the city and its people, that this land will be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance, and I have indeed heard you, says the Lord. So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace, and you will not see the disaster I'm going to bring on the city. So Josiah, because of his repentance, somehow slows the wrath of God that is coming. And for him and his generation, they do not see what is meant to come upon them. They slow the wrath, but once again, it's like going back to that cowboys game. You already know the loss is coming. You're just watching a good play, a good moment in a difficult game.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

It's important to know Josiah. I'm gonna just note this. He came on as king when he was eight years of age. Yeah, eight. Yeah. He had a mom, Jedediah, who actually was very crucial to the formation and putting him in the right positions to be able to see him developed with the right mentors around him. That was very important. I'm just saying that to moms out there, and uh don't underestimate your influence and your power and your responsibility that you have, and to put your children in position to be able to hear from God and under the right mentors. And for that, just maybe maybe if if any of you have a husband that's not taking a spiritual lead, um you step in and you you be what you should be. Uh the Bible says that in the New Testament, it said that if if a husband's not a believer, that the the wife can still be the sanctifier of the home, yeah, and that you can provide the blessing for the home that is intended for it to have. And um, and so and then if you're here and you're listening to me and you're a single lady, um, then still you provide that covering and then begin to find godly men around that can uh at a church where they can connect and stuff and be put in positions where they can hear the word from men also that can help shape their lives. If if for for your little boys and girls uh to be around the right type of people.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you see uh the the fact that Josiah played an important role uh because of the influence of his mom. And then also, I mean, this this female prophet, uh, he humbled himself and listened uh to her words as well.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Well, yeah, when most people believe that the relationship between Josiah's mom and the and this lady prophet was very close.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Yeah, wow. So, and that brings us to the end of 2 Kings, which is 24 and 25. Uh that you see that you know, all the reform, all the things that Josiah does, doesn't it just slows the you know the punishment, but it doesn't stop it. So Babylon comes, uh they come in waves, uh 586 Jerusalem is burned, the temple is destroyed, that's the final attack, and you know, the the kingdom is completely dissolved. But there's one piece of hope. At the very, very end of chapter, the very end of the book, chapter 25, uh, you see that Jehoiakim, who is in the line of David, who is the king, uh, that was been brought into exile in Babylon. He was in jail, he's in prison. But in like the 37th year uh of his time in exile, he is brought out of exile, and the king, the the son of Nebuchadnezzar, speaks kindly to him, means that he speaks and welcomes him to the table. Uh, and so he's actually released and brought into the table of the king in Babylon uh and shown kindness. And so this you see this kind of flicker of hope, and there's something important that's happening here, is that God is preserving the line of David. Uh, he is preserving and pointing to the fact that there is still salvation and there's still hope that is coming, that God is faithful to the covenant that he made with David, and there is yet to be a figure in the line of David that is gonna be revealed soon, right? Or soon enough. Uh and so there's kind of it, even though it was such a tragic book, there is like this glimmer of hope that God hasn't given up on his people.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Very good. Very good. Okay, so that's Second Kings. Second Kings. Hebrews we've covered. We don't have any Psalms today, but we do have Proverbs. And so today I'm just gonna pick out one verse and um read. But I've again I've said this before that every single day in our reading plan, reading one and reading two, I read, I pick a verse out, and I write on that verse. Just thoughts that come to my mind, what it's speaking to me. Um Proverbs is just so awesome. Every I mean, it's just one after another, so good. So Proverbs chapter 14. I wrote this last June, June 15th, 2025. Okay. I picked out Proverbs 14, verse number four, and do you have it there? I got it. Read it.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

It says, without oxen, a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Sounds great. Yep. Sounds great. Um, I wrote stays clean. That's kind of my title. Here's what I wrote. You can be sure that the process, or excuse me, you can be sure that progress will involve some poop.

unknown 41:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

But proceed anyway. Whether you are learning a new skill, raising a family, managing a team, starting a business, investing for the future, or doing anything worth doing in life, don't despise the mess that comes with growth.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 41:37

Instead, be thankful that it's there because moving forward is necessary. While a clean life is simpler and easier, it's not fruitful and rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Come on. There you go. Hidden home to me, Pastor Rodney. My stable is not always clean at home right now, but we got a four-oxin kit.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

You got a four ox in the stable. A lot of poop. Come on, a lot of poop. Yeah. All right. Hey, um, Samson, thank you. Any final thoughts? No, stay in God's word. Stay share this thing with somebody. Let's do it. Let's do it. Hey, thank you for joining us again. Uh, let us know that you're listening to share it with somebody, talk about it. Sit down with people and discuss. Watch this, discuss, and read along with us, and then listen in on the weekend because we're preaching from God's word. Until next time, we'll see you on North Bible weekend.