1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Good morning, faithful listeners. This is Jen with 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: the Bible Explained podcast. We are in Second Chronicles twenty 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: seven today talking about a very short passage, but it's 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: discussing this king named Jotham, who we really don't know 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: a lot about because Scripture mentions almost nothing about him, 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about why that might be, 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: and also a fatal flaw that Jotham ends up doing 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: to Judah, even though Jotham himself was a religiously devout man, 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: and unfortunately that flaw that Jotham does is something that 10 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: many many Christians to this day also do. So we 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: will get into that in just a moment as normal, 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: faithful listeners, Here is a quick word from a sponsor. 13 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: Then we can get into today's episode right after that. 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: All right, grab your Bible and also your kupacne or 15 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: your cup tea this morning, and we're going to read 16 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: this tiny little passage of scripture, Second Chronicles twenty seven. 17 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: It's only nine verses long, so this is a rare 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: short chapter from the book of Second Chronicles. Normally the 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: books of Second Chronicles are quite long, but there's not 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: a lot of information about King Jotham. Here, so we'll 21 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: get into why that is in just a second. As usual, 22 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the web version, but of course 23 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: feel free to grab the version of the Bible that 24 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: you prefer this morning, and once you grab that, let's 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: go ahead and read Second Chronicles twenty seven together. Jotham 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: was twenty five years old when he began to rain, 27 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name 28 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadik. He did that which 29 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: was right in Yahwei's eyes, according to all that his 30 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: father Uziah had done. However, he didn't enter into Yahway's temple. 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: The people still acted corruptly. He built the upper gate 32 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: of Yahway's house, and he built much on the wall 33 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,919 Speaker 1: of Ofel. Moreover, he built cities in the hill country 34 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers. 35 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: He also fought with the king of the children of 36 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: Amine and prevailed against them. The children of Amin gave 37 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: him that same year one hundred talents of silver, ten 38 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: thousand cores of wheat, and ten thousand cores of barley. 39 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: The children of Amin also gave that much to him 40 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: in the second year, and in the third, so Jotham 41 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,679 Speaker 1: became mighty because he ordered his ways before Yahweh his God. 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all 43 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,679 Speaker 1: his wars and his ways behold, they are written in 44 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. He 45 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: was twenty five years old when he began to reign, 46 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. Jotham slept with 47 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: his fathers and they buried him in David's city, and 48 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: AHAs his son reigned in his place. Considering the fact 49 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: that Jotham seems to be such a good king, it's 50 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: kind of curious why there's very few verses about him 51 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: in scripture. Even in Second Kings fifteen, there's only a 52 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: few short verses about King Jotham. And my best guess 53 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: for why there's such little information about him is because 54 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: he more so just maintained what his father had started. 55 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: So even though he was notable in the fact that 56 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: he didn't let things fall apart, he also didn't accomplish 57 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: a whole lot on his own. Like he accomplished some things, 58 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: which is what our passage for today mentions, but he 59 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: didn't go out of his way. It seems like to 60 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: accomplish much more. More so, he maintained the state that 61 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: Judah was already in. In fact, it kind of alludes 62 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: to that in verse two where it says he did 63 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: that was right in Yahwah's eyes, according to all that 64 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: his father Uzaiah had done. However, he didn't enter into 65 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: Yahway's temple, but the people still acted corruptly. So that 66 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: shows right there that the sickness that was in Judah 67 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: was still growing and Jotham was doing nothing to stop it. 68 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: Even though Jotham in his own personal life walked in 69 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: the ways of Yahweh, he was not a good spiritual 70 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: leader for his people. Now, don't get me wrong. We 71 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: just talked on Monday about how the king cannot be 72 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: the high priest. We know that because we mentioned how Uziah, 73 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: Jotham's father, had gone into God's temple tried to take 74 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: that power for himself. You know, he was insolent against 75 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: God because he became so prideful since he was such 76 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: a powerful king, that he thought he could go and 77 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: get more power for himself by becoming the high priest. 78 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: And then God struck him with leprosy and pretty much 79 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: took everything away from him and gave it to Jotham 80 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: who were reading about today. The king could not become 81 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: the high priest that was reserved for the tribe of Levi, 82 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: which the king was not part of that tribe. But 83 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: a king did have to be a good spiritual leader nonetheless, 84 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: because he was leading his nation. We can see that 85 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: the best kings in Israel's and Judah's history were the 86 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: ones that followed Yahweh and encouraged the people also to 87 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: follow Yahweh. For example, the prime guy David. The reason 88 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: he was considered to be such a good king and 89 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: the standard for which all the other kings are supposed 90 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: to follow, was because David had a heart for God 91 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: and he wanted his people to also follow after God. 92 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: And we can see all of the things that David 93 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: did to achieve that. He set up worship services, he 94 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: set up singers to praise God at the ark of 95 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: the Covenant day after day. He did things to encourage 96 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: his people to worship Yahweh. And then Solomon, his son, 97 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: also encouraged the people to worship God as well by 98 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: building the Temple to God, giving them a place where 99 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: they could come and worship. And Solomon himself was a 100 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: very successful king. Also, however, towards the end of his life, 101 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: he also encouraged the people to worship other gods as well, 102 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: because he built a lot of altars and temple to 103 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: his wives' gods that were not Yahweh, which led the 104 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: people astray and that actually caused a civil war in Israel. 105 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: Directly after Solomon died, Israel was split in two, Northern 106 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: Israel and Judah the southern tribes. And then at that 107 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: point Israel had no good kings and Judah had a 108 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: few here and there. The next best king after Solomon 109 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: was Asa and what was he known for. He was 110 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: known for the religious reform he did in Judah. He 111 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: went and pretty much destroyed I think it was the 112 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: Asherah cult if I'm remembering correctly. He destroyed one of 113 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: the cults that was going on in Judah, and he 114 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: encouraged his people to worship God. And God gave Judah 115 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: success at that point in time because there was a 116 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: king that was a good spiritual leader. So the point 117 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: I'm trying to make is that the best kings in 118 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: Judah's history were the ones that didn't just follow Yahweh themselves, 119 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: but also encouraged the people to follow Yahweh as well. 120 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: And unfortunately, there's only a few kings that actually did that, 121 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: and Jotham, who we read about today, was not one 122 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: of them. He may have worshiped God himself, but he 123 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: only worshiped God to the extent that his father had 124 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: worshiped God. Is what it says right here in verse two. 125 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: He did that, which was right in Yahweh's eyes, according 126 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: to all that his father Uziah had done. However, he 127 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: didn't enter into Yahway's temple. As we know, Uziah got 128 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: struck with leprosy because he entered God's temple. Jotham thankfully 129 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: did not do that. He learned from that. And speaking 130 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: of that, you know, we don't see any particular sin 131 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: that Jotham did. There's nothing mentioned either here or in 132 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: the correlating passage of Second Kings fifteen. We don't see 133 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: a single sin that Jotham does, and yet it says 134 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: right here that he did follow God. So that makes 135 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: people wonder, like, why isn't there more written about Jotham 136 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: tying it all up in a bow? I think it's 137 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: because Jotham worshiped God but didn't encourage other people to 138 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: worship God. He allowed the corruption that was happening in 139 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: Judah to fester, and this, of course was not making 140 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: God happy. In fact, God talks about this festering wound 141 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: that his people in Judah had, how they were trampling 142 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: over widows and mistreating the fatherless and the orphans, and 143 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: murdering people, and sleeping with random women and committing adultery 144 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: against their wives. There were just so many terrible things 145 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: going on in Judah at this time that God was 146 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: so upset and angry with And unfortunately, Jotham did nothing 147 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 1: to try to correct some of these problems of corruption 148 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: that were going on in Judah. But he followed God 149 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: in his own personal life. It says in verse three 150 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: that he built the upper gates of Yahway's house, and 151 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: he built much on the wall of o Fell. Now 152 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: I believe the upper gate is referring to the connection 153 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: between the king's house and the Temple to God. You 154 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: may remember when Solomon first built the temple and his 155 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: own palace, he built them very close to one another, 156 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: and had this pathway going from his house to the 157 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: Temple of God. So basically easy access for the king 158 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: and for the king's household to get to God's Temple, 159 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: to worship there and to sacrifice there. This could be 160 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: what Jotham repaired was his access from his home to 161 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: the Temple of God. He repaired it and made it 162 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: beautiful again. And it sounds like he also repaired the 163 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: temple as well, to beautify it and bring it up 164 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: to date with any problems that were going on with 165 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: the temple at this time. He just beautified the temple. 166 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: And you know, this is all very good stuff. Giving 167 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: himself and his family easy access to the temple and 168 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: making it beautiful for the public. Once again, very good stuff. 169 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: It says that he also built much on the wall 170 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: of O'fell. Now, the hill of O'fell was in the south. 171 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: It was in the upper part of the old city 172 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: of David. So not only did he make repairs Jiahway's temple, 173 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: it says he also made repairs to the southern part 174 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: of Jerusalem as well. Moreover, verse four, he built cities 175 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests 176 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: he built fortresses and towers. Now, when I was reading 177 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: through the works of Josephus, who is a historian who 178 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: wrote widely about the kings of ancient Judah, he said 179 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: that the fortresses that Jotham built were essentially impenetrable. So 180 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: that shows that Jotham also had an interest in defense 181 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: and making sure that Israel was protected from all of 182 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 1: their enemies, because Israel or Judah rather had a lot 183 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: of enemies at this point in time, especially with what's 184 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: going on in Israel at this exact same time, So 185 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: it was good at Jotham to see what was happening 186 00:10:55,480 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: up there and take preparations himself for Judah. In fact, 187 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,719 Speaker 1: let's read about some of that. In Second Kings fifteen. 188 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: It says in verse thirty two that in the second 189 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: year of Piica, the son of Vermalia, king of Israel, Jotham, 190 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: the son of Usiah, King of Judah, began to reign. 191 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: He was twenty five years old when he began to reign, 192 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name 193 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadek. He did that which 194 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: was right in Yahweh's eyes. He did according to all 195 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 1: that his father Usiah had done. However, the high places 196 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned 197 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: incense in the high places. He built the upper gate 198 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: of Yahweh's house. Now, the rest of the acts of 199 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 1: Jotham and all that he did, aren't they written in 200 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 201 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: In those days, Yahweh began to send resin the king 202 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: of Syria and Piica, the son of Romalia, against Judah. 203 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: And then it mentions in verse thirty that Jotham slept 204 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: with his fathers. He was buried in David City, and 205 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: that kind of ends Jotham's life in Second Kings chapter fifteen, 206 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: But that little gives us some more insight into what 207 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: was going on in Judah at this point. Second Chronicles 208 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: twenty seven mentioned that the people were still acting corruptly. 209 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: In Second Kings fifteen, it mentions one of the reasons 210 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: how the people were acting corruptly is because they were 211 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: sacrificing on the high places, and Jotham had no interest 212 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: in taking these high places away. In fact, it seemed 213 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,319 Speaker 1: like most of the kings had no interest in these 214 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: high places. And these high places were places of idolatry 215 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: and idle worship. These were not places that the Israelites 216 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,680 Speaker 1: or the Judaites should have been worshiping Yahweh at all. 217 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: They should have been worshiping Yahweh either at a dedicated 218 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:51,839 Speaker 1: location where the levitical priests held a reading of some sort, 219 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: or they were supposed to go to the Temple of 220 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: God and sacrifice there. That was pretty much all they 221 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: could do. The high places where big no, no, because 222 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: that was a pagan tradition. In fact, it actually says 223 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: that when the Israelites moved in to the Promised Land, 224 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: they kept some of the high places that the Canaanites 225 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,439 Speaker 1: had already set up and were still sacrificing at a 226 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: lot of those high places. So this was a pagan 227 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: tradition to put a you know, worship location on the 228 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: top of a mountain or something along those lines. So 229 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: it was not something God wanted his people to participate in. 230 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: It was a pagan tradition that shouldn't have been going on, 231 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: But unfortunately Jotham did not have any interest in taking 232 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: away those high places and helping the people truly worship 233 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: Yahweh the way God wanted to be worshiped. It also 234 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: mentions that God started to send Resin the king of 235 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: Syria and Pica, the son of Romolia, against Judah. So 236 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,959 Speaker 1: this shows that Israel was starting to attack Judah, and 237 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: so was the king of Syria as well. Soh had 238 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: had some enemies during the days of Jotham, which shows 239 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: right there that yes, even though Jotham was a good king, 240 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: there were some serious problems beginning to happen in Judah. 241 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: Usually in the Old Testament, when we see a king 242 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: and their nation doing very well, God protects them from 243 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: every single enemy on the planet. In fact, it even 244 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: says that God would put the fear of himself in 245 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: the other nations so that they did not even want 246 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: to attack Israel or even think about attacking Israel. That's 247 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: what God would do for his people. So this really 248 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: shows that a deep corruption was happening in Judah at 249 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: this point, that God is beginning to take his hand 250 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: of blessing off of his people, the Judaites, in spite 251 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: of the fact that they had a pretty good king. 252 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: But going back to Second Chronicles twenty seven, it does 253 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: say that God gave Jotham one success in battle. It 254 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: says in verse five also fought with the king of 255 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: the children of Amin and prevailed against them. The children 256 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: of Amen gave him that same year one hundred talents 257 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: of silver ten thousand cores of wheat and ten thousand 258 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: cores of barley. The children of Amin also gave that 259 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: much to him the second year and in the third year. 260 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: So as you know, a talent is about sixty six pounds, 261 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: so if there's one hundred talents of silver, that would 262 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: be sixty six hundred pounds of silver. That's a really 263 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: good amount of silver for a nation to send over 264 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: to Israel. And then a core. It says right here 265 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: that they gave him a ten thousand cores of wheat 266 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: and ten thousand cores of barley. That would be about 267 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: fifty five point nine US gallons or two hundred and 268 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: eleven liters or six bushels. So ten thousand cores of 269 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: wheat would weigh about sixteen hundred metric tons, and then 270 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: ten thousand cores of barley would weigh about thirteen hundred 271 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: metric tons. So that show's right there that Jotham had 272 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: a very big success against the Ammonites because they are 273 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: giving him so much wheat, so much barley, so much silver, 274 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: year after year. But yet there's signs that God is 275 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: taking his hand of blessing away. But God blessed Jotham 276 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: pretty significantly. It says that Jotham became mighty because he 277 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: ordered his ways before Yahweh, his God. Jotham truly did 278 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: worship God because God is called his God. And I 279 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: really like that. You know, sometimes in scripture, when somebody 280 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: is not really in line with Yahweh, the verbiage will 281 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: be something like, he obeyed Yahweh, the God of Israel, 282 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: or he obeyed Yahweh the God of so and so. 283 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: But it specifically mentions that God was Jotham's God, and 284 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: that is why God blessed Jotham. But God is not 285 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: going to overlook this deep corruption happened in Judah, even 286 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: if Jotham the king was on the right path with Yahweh. 287 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: Now it says right here in verse seven. Now the 288 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,199 Speaker 1: rest of the acts of Jotham and all his wars 289 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: and all his ways, behold, they are written in the 290 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. He was 291 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: twenty five years old when he began to reign, and 292 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. Jotham slept with his 293 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: fathers and they buried him in David's city, and AHAs 294 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: his son, reigned in his place. Now, if you jump 295 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: back to Second Kings fifteen. There's kind of an interesting 296 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: verse here that some people take as a contradiction of scripture. 297 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: It says, in verse thirty of Second Kings fifteen, Hoshea, 298 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: the son of Elah, made a conspiracy against Peka, the 299 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 1: son of Romalia, attacked him, killed him, and reigned in 300 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son 301 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: of Uziah. Another reason that's taken as a contradiction, you know, 302 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: disregarding all those names that I just read, it says 303 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: that all of this happened in the twentieth year of 304 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: Jotham the son of Uzia. And yet both in Second 305 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: Kings fifteen and also Second Chronicles twenty seven it mentions 306 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: that Jotham only reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. So why 307 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: would Second Kings mention that he reigned twenty years, that 308 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: all of this happened in the twentieth year of Jotham, 309 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: the king of Usiah. Well, because if you remember what 310 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: we talked about on Monday, we discussed how after Usiah 311 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:29,640 Speaker 1: was struck with leprosy, he was confined to a house 312 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: where he lived out the rest of his days, and Jotham, 313 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: his son during that time essentially became the king while 314 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: his father was still alive. And his father lived for 315 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 1: several years after first getting leprosy. He did not die immediately, 316 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: but he was still considered the king until his death, 317 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: so very well could be that. In Second Kings fifteen, 318 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,399 Speaker 1: when it says the twentieth year of Jotham, that was 319 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: probably considering the time that Jotham was taking over for 320 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: his father while Usiah was still alive, essentially reigning in 321 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: his place. Because Usiah was the king in name only, 322 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: Jotham was the true ruler during that time. So that's 323 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: probably why Second Kings fifteen, verse thirty says that Jotham 324 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: reigned for twenty years, whereas Second Chronicles twenty seven and 325 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: elsewhere in Second Kings fifteen it says that Jotham only 326 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. So I just wanted 327 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: to throw that out there as well. But the point 328 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: of this whole thing is to show that being faithful 329 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: to God in your own personal life is good. But 330 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: God also calls us to a mission, the Great Commission. Actually, 331 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: Jesus himself said it before he ascended up into heaven. 332 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 1: The last commandment he gave his disciples and effectively all 333 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: of us was to go out spread the Gospel to 334 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: every creature and make disciples and baptize them in the 335 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 336 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: Jotham did not do this. He did not do the 337 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: great commission. He worshiped God in his own personal life, 338 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: but kind of was just a live and let live 339 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: kind of king. And we can actually see that Jotham 340 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: was very hands off when it came to spirituality because 341 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,159 Speaker 1: of his son a Has. It mentions in verse nine 342 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: that after Jotham died, his son a Has reigned in 343 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: his place, and we're going to learn about a Has. 344 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 1: Turns out that a Has is the worst king in 345 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: Judah's history up until this point, the worst king. He 346 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: was an idolator through and through. He didn't care about 347 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: God to the day he died. Jotham did not teach anybody, 348 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: not even his own family or his own sons. He 349 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: dropped the ball in that area, and unfortunately Judah is 350 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: going to suffer for some of the bad mistakes that 351 00:20:54,800 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: Jotham made. So faithful listeners, the point of today's path 352 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: passage is that God requires us to spread the Gospel, 353 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,399 Speaker 1: to not just keep it to ourselves, but to tell 354 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: people about it. That is one of the things we're 355 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: required to do as Christians. We are required to evangelize. 356 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: And it's scary because you know, you don't want to 357 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,399 Speaker 1: get on people's bad sides. You don't want to come 358 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: across as if you're trying to force them to believe 359 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: in anything. But the Gospel is the good news. It's 360 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: the best news. It's the news that saves people's lives. 361 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: And think about it this way. You know, if you 362 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: knew that somebody was going to die if they did 363 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: the activity they were going to do that day, Like 364 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: say you saw into the future and you knew that 365 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: if this person that if this person got into their 366 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: car today and drove to work, that they'd get into 367 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: a serious car accident and they would die. You would 368 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: tell that person, don't get into your car, don't go 369 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,719 Speaker 1: to work today, like take the day off, because I 370 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: know what's going to happen to you if you get 371 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: into your car. Like certainly you would tell your friend that. 372 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: Even if your friend got super mad and was like, 373 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: well I have to go to work too bad, you 374 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: would do your best to tell them of their fate. 375 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: Now we can't read the future like that. But we 376 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: do know what God tells us about the eternity of 377 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: our souls, so we do know where people are going 378 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,719 Speaker 1: to end up if they don't believe in the Gospel message. 379 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,239 Speaker 1: And that is why we tell our friends and our 380 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: family members about it, because we love them and we 381 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: want them to have eternal security. We wish that for them, 382 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: and we know it's going to be the best thing 383 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 1: for them in the long run. And that's why we evangelize, 384 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: because it's the most important thing we can possibly do. Well, 385 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: Faithful listeners, I'm going to give you a quick announcement 386 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: from a sponsor, and after that I will wrap things 387 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: up on the podcast. Already, faithful listeners, tomorrow, we're going 388 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: to be in the Book of Titus and we're going 389 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: to start wrapping up the Book of Titus actually, because 390 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: this is the last chapter we will be in starting tomorrow. 391 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: So I told you guys, I said, we're gonna fly 392 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,640 Speaker 1: through the Book of Titus because it's only three chapters long, 393 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: and the chapters are not very long at all. So 394 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: definitely tune in for Titus chapter three tomorrow morning. But 395 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: faithful listeners, I hope you have a lovely rest of 396 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: your day. I will see all of you guys on 397 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: the podcast six am or whenever you choose to wake 398 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: up tomorrow morning, happy listening, and God bless. I just 399 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 1: want to take a second to thank the team at 400 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: Life Audio for their partnership with me on the Bible 401 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio dot 402 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: com you will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts 403 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, 404 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: and more.