Steve Webb 0:00 If we do that we make a terrible mistake. Steve Webb 0:04 It's the Lifespring! One Year Bible and podcasting since 2004. I am your OG Godcaster. Steve Webb. It's history Tuesday. and our reading today is Second Chronicles 25 through 28. I'm calling this episode the pitfalls of pride. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact information at the end of the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we love you and we thank you for our time together. We pray that You would bless us as we read, I pray this in Jesus name, amen. Okay, let's begin. Steve Webb 0:42 Second Chronicles chapter 25. Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehovah din of Jerusalem. and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart. Now it happened as soon as the kingdom was established for him, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father, the king. However, he did not execute their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers, but a person shall die for his own sin. Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together and set over them captains of 1000s, and captains of hundreds, according to their fathers houses throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and he numbered them from 20 years old and above, and found them to be 300,000 Choice men able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield. He also hired 100,000, mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God came to him saying, Oh, King, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, not with any of the children of Africa, him. But if you go, be gone, be strong and battle, even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to overthrow, then Amazon has said to the man of God, but what shall we do about the 100 talents, which I've given to the troops of Israel, and the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give you much more than this. So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from F freedom to go back home. Therefore, their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger. Then Amaziah strengthened himself and leading his people, he went to the Valley of salt and killed 10,000 of the people of sere. Also, the children of Judah took captive 10,000 alive, brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were dashed in pieces. But as for the soldiers of the army, which Amaziah had discharged so that they would not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon, killed 3000 in them, and took much spoil. Now it was so after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of SEER set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah. and he sent him a prophet who said to him, why have you sought the gods of the people which could not rescue their own people from your hand? So it was as he talked with him that the king said to him, Have we may do the king's counselor cease? Why should you be killed? Then the Prophet ceased and said, I know that God is determined to destroy you because you have done this and if not heeded my advice. Now Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to Joash, the son of Jehovah has the son of Gu king of Israel, saying, calm let us face one another and battle. and Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, the thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, give your daughter to my son, his wife, and a wild beasts that was in Lebanon passed by and traveled the fissile indeed, you say that you have defeated the Edomites and your heart is lifted up to boast, stay at home now why should you metal was troubled that you should fall you and Judah with you. But Amaziah would not heed for it came from God that he might give them into the hands of their enemies because they sought the gods of Edom. So Joash king of Israel went out and he and Amaziah of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. and Judah was defeated by Israel and every man fled to his tent. Then Joash, the king of Israel captured Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehovah has at Beth Shemesh, and he brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephrem to the corner gate, 400 qubits, and he took all the gold and silver all the articles that were found in the house of God with Obed Edom, the treasures of the king's house at hostages and returned to Samaria. Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah lived 15 years after the death of Joash, son of Jehovah has king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, indeed are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lake ish, but they set after him to Lake ish and killed him there. Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his father’s in the city of Judah. Steve Webb 5:32 Second Chronicles chapter 26. All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. As I rebuilt the laugh and returned it to Judah after King Amaziah lay down in depth with his ancestors. Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to rule and he ruled for 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jack Elia from Jerusalem. He did what the Lord considered right as his father Amaziah had done. He dedicated his life to serving God in the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. As long as he dedicated his life to serving the Lord. The Lord gave him success. As I went to wage war against the Philistines, he tore down the walls of gaff, Jaffna and Ashdod. He built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him when he attacked the Philistines, the Arabs who lived in gerbil, and then the unites the Ammonites pay taxes to Uzziah. and his fame spread to the border of Egypt because he became very powerful. Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at corner wall Valley gate and the angle and he reinforced them. He built towers in the desert, he dug many cisterns because he had a lot of herds in the foothills in the plains. He had farmers and vineyard workers in the mountains in the fertile fields because he loved the soil. As I had an army of professional soldiers, they were ready to go to war in their companies based on the number organized by the scribe dial and the officer may Asiya. They were commanded by Hannah Nyah, one of the kings officials. The total number of family heads among these warriors was 2600. Under them was an army of 307,500 soldiers. They were a powerful force that could support the key against the enemy. For the entire army as I have prepared shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for slings. In Jerusalem, he made machines designed by inventive people. The machines were placed on the towers and corners to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. Design his fame spread far and wide because he had strong support until he became powerful. But when he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, he went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the incense altar. The priest Azariah went in after him with 80 of the Lord’s Courageous priests, they opposed King Uzziah they said to him, Uzziah You have no right to burn incense as an offering to the Lord. That right belongs to the priests, Aaron's descendants who have been given the holy task of burning incense. Get out of the holy place because you have been unfaithful. The Lord God will not honor you for this. Uzziah, who held an incense burner in his hand became angry. While he was angry with the priests a skin disease broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests and the Lord's temple as his eye was at the incense altar. When the chief priest Azariah and all the priests turned toward him. a skin disease was on his forehead. They rushed him away. Uzziah was in a hurry to get out because the Lord had inflicted him with the disease. King Uzziah had a skin disease until the day he died. Since he had his skin disease, he lived in a separate house and was barred from the Lord's temple. His son Joe thumb was in charge of the royal palace and govern the country. Everything else about Uzziah from beginning to end is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos Uzziah lay down in depth with his ancestors and was buried with them in a field containing tombs that belonged to the kings. People said he had a skin disease. His son Jonathan succeeded him as king. Steve Webb 9:15 Second Chronicles chapter 27. Jonathan was 25 years old when he began to rule he ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusalem daughter as a doc, he did with the Lord considered right as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike his father, he didn't illegally enter the Lord's temple. Nevertheless, the people continued their corrupt ways. Jonathan built the upper gate of the Lord's temple and did extensive building of the Wall at The Oval. He built cities in the hills of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded areas, he fought with the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year, the Ammonites gave him 7500 Pounds of silver 60,000 bushels of wheat and 60,000 bushels of barley. The ammonites gave him the same amount for two more years. Joven grew powerful because he was determined to live as the Lord his God wanted everything else about Joe thumb, all his wars and his life is written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was 25 years old when he began to rule as king. He ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem. Jonathan lay down in depth with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David, his son, he has succeeded him is king. Steve Webb 10:30 Second Chronicles chapter 28. He has was 20 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the bales. and he made offerings in the Valley of the Sun of him and burned his sons as an offering according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. and he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. Therefore, the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. For pica, the son of Rama Leia killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD the God of their fathers. In Zechariah, the mighty man of Ephram killed me a sia the king son, and as Vikram the commander of the palace, and El Khanna the next in authority to the king, the men of Israel took captive 200,000 of the relatives, women, sons and daughters, they also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there whose name was Odette, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, Behold, because the Lord the God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that is reached up to heaven. and now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female as Your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God. Now hear me and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. Certain chiefs also have the men of Ephram Azariah, the son of Joe Hainan Barraca, the son of Michela moth, to Hezekiah, the son of Shallum, and a mesa the son of handline, stood up against those who were coming from the war and said to them, You shall not bring the captives in here for you proposed to bring upon us guilt against the Lord, in addition to our present sins and guilt, for our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princess and all the assembly. and the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives and with the spoil, they closed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink and anointed them and carried all the feeble among them on donkeys. They brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees, then they returned to Samaria. At that time, King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help for the Edomites that again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. and the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Showfield and the Negeb of Judah, and it taken Beth Shemesh Aijalon get her off SOCO with its villages Timnah with its villages, and Gimpo this villages and they settled there for the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. So take left by leezar king of Assyria came against Him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Or he has took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. In the time of his distress, he became yet more faithless to the Lord, this same King Ahaz for he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me, but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. and he has gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces, the vessels of the house of God, and He shut up the doors of the house of the Lord. and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah, he made high places to make offerings to other gods provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his father's. Now the rest of his acts and all his ways from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. and he has slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. Steve Webb 15:04 Well, beloved, in these three chapters, we read of the reigns of Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz. and each of these kings were descendants of David, of course. and as I've said in previous episodes coming from a believing family does not mean that the next generation will follow God. and the opposite is also true. Coming from a non believing family doesn't necessarily mean that the next generation won't follow God. We saw that in these kings, and I'm sure most if not all of us have seen this in our own families. The reason I'm pointing this out is that I believe that many of us, especially those of us that are parents, take it for granted when raising our children into believing home, that they'll follow us and accepting Jesus as their Savior. Beloved, if we do that, we make a terrible mistake, we can never assume that our kids will absorb our fate as their own, there will come a time when they have to choose to believe just as we chose to believe they're going to have to choose. As parents, we have to be very deliberate in showing them in 1000 different ways. Why believing in Him is the very best thing they could ever do. We have to let them see that our faith is real, that Jesus is the center of our lives, and that he matters, not just on Sundays, but every day. and we have to talk to them about our faith, and our talk has to match our walk. Our children are our most important missions field. Now back to today's chapters. As is common to most people, the first two of these kings, Amaziah and Uzziah had their good points and their bad points, their spiritual victories and spiritual failures. Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. It's the human condition. Romans 623 tells us though, that the wages of sin is death, anything less than perfection. Anything less than a completely sinless life means that we fall short of the glory of God. and that's why we need a savior. This is a common thread that was evident in the chapters we read today with the failures of Amaziah, Uzziah and Ahaz. Each one of them sinned in their own ways. But the common thread was pride. Pride invariably brings destruction even to people who showed great devotion to God. In their early days. Once we begin to believe that our accomplishments come from our own abilities, we're headed for a fall, it can happen to anyone at any age, I have discovered that my own susceptibility to sin is still alive, even after more than 50 years of being a follower of Jesus. If I take my eyes off him, if I begin to rely on my own goodness, quote, unquote, I quickly find that I cannot walk his path on my own. As the old hymn says, I need thee every hour. Bryan Duncan 17:47 I need thee every hour, Bryan Duncan 17:53 Most gracious Lord Bryan Duncan 18:00 no tender voice like Thine Bryan Duncan 18:06 can peace afford Bryan Duncan 18:12 I need thee Steve Webb 18:14 to his credit of the Four Kings we read about today, only Joe thumb seems to have had a lifelong record of following God's direction. Verse six of chapter 27 tells us Joe thumb grew powerful because he was determined to live as the Lord his God wanted, man, what a legacy. My legacy will unfortunately not be without a list of failures. But I'm determined to keep my eyes on the prize, because I longed to hear my savior say on that day, though, I finally see Him face to face. Well done, good and faithful servant. Steve Webb 20:00 is steve@lifespringmedia.com. Steve Webb 20:10 Today's album art is courtesy of Brother Scott. Thanks so much Brother Scot. and also thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner, Jason Paschall and Sister Brittaney. and thanks to you, beloved for spending time with me today. It's always great to be with you. and now until tomorrow may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb, bye Steve Webb 18:48 How marvelous it will be to hear those words. Can you think of anything better? Do you have any comments or questions? Let me know. Send me a Boostagram or hang around for other ways to contact me. Tomorrow. We'll be Psalms Wednesday, and we'll read chapters 122 through 124. We'll also have our last time of prayer until the lovely lady Liana and I get back from our vacation in the second week of August. So be sure to send in your praise report or prayer requests right away. So the Lifespring family can be encouraged by your praise report or so we can pray for you. Tomorrow, we'll also have an essential segment, and we're getting pretty close to wrapping up that series Speaker 1 19:26 Lifespringmedia.com sash supports. Steve Webb 19:33 Here's how to reach me. Besides sending a Boostagram with a modern podcast app, you can call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 Or if you have a comment or a question, go to comment.lifespringmedia.com if you have a praise report or prayer requests, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and remember tomorrow will be our last time of prayer on the show until I returned from my vacation and last my email address Announcer 20:33 the Lifespring media family of programs are made possible by the generous support of listeners like you. Thank you Transcribed by https://otter.ai