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Speaker 1: Let us pray. And when he was come in, he

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Speaker 1: did not eat and drink, and he said, go see

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Speaker 1: now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is

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Speaker 1: a king's daughter Second Kings nine thirty four. As the

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Speaker 1: anointing of the Lord moves through me, I will not

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Speaker 1: stop until I pray and dismantle the works of the

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Speaker 1: enemy around me. I will not relent until I remove

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Speaker 1: any and all false gods and idols in my life.

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Speaker 1: I decree and declare that I will honor you with

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Speaker 1: my whole heart. Unlike yea who I will not walk

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Speaker 1: away from you or your presence. I will not settle

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Speaker 1: for a lukewarm relationship with you and your heart. Heavenly Father,

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Speaker 1: when I am weary of doing well, I will refresh

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Speaker 1: my soul by remembering all that you have done for me,

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Speaker 1: and by resting in your presence. Keep me through your

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Speaker 1: unfailing love, cover me with your outstretched arm, because I

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Speaker 1: know that it is only through your power that I

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Speaker 1: will be able to experience good success in Jesus name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: thank you for praying with me to day. Continue listening

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Speaker 1: for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible

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Speaker 1: in a year dot Com.

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Speaker 2: The end of a witch's story. In our last story,

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Speaker 2: Elishah anointed Jehu as the next King of Israel, Jee,

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Speaker 2: who embraced his role as God's cleansing instrument. Jehu killed

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Speaker 2: King Jardah, then King Aziah, and began his mission to

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Speaker 2: rid Israel of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel's evil influence.

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Speaker 2: Now we learn of Jee who's time as king. He

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Speaker 2: is used by God to heal Israel of all the

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Speaker 2: sickness and evil it has been plagued with under Jezebel

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Speaker 2: and Ahab. Jee who would fight for the freedom of Israel,

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Speaker 2: but would the evil be too much for his human heart.

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Speaker 2: Inspired by the Book of Second Kings.

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Speaker 3: Hello, This is pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of

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Speaker 3: the Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's scripture passage,

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Speaker 3: we saw how God anointed a new king. His name

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Speaker 3: was Jehu, and this new king ruled Israel with righteousness.

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Speaker 3: Jehu would avenge the blood of the prophets put to

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Speaker 3: death by Jezebel and would wipe out Ahab the wicked

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Speaker 3: king's family. Beginning with Israel's King Joram. God's desire was

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Speaker 3: all for his people to turn to him rather than

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Speaker 3: the idols they worshiped, and Jehu would be God's tool

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Speaker 3: to accomplish these purposes. Today we'll hear how the evil,

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Speaker 3: wicked Queen Jezebel finally faces the consequences of her evil,

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Speaker 3: and we'll learn how God began to use Jehu to

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Speaker 3: fight to free Israel from her bondage. But even as

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Speaker 3: God uses Jehu, evil is still present, threatening to infect

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Speaker 3: the new King's heart. So let's listen to the word

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Speaker 3: of God today.

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Speaker 2: The west wind howled furiously. Gray clouds rolled in like

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Speaker 2: waves on a shore. The sky was eerily dark. As

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Speaker 2: the witch Queen Jezebel loomed over her window. It was

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Speaker 2: open for cold wind to blow in. She stood up straight,

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Speaker 2: as if challenging the storm to draw closer. She had

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Speaker 2: heard of the king's demise. She had been told of

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Speaker 2: Jehu's anointing and how he sent an arrow through her

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Speaker 2: son's back. Now she waited for him. Her eyes were

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Speaker 2: painted dark and her hair was fixed for a pagan ritual.

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Speaker 2: She mumbled to herself silently, her gaze fixed on the

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Speaker 2: dark horizon. Thunder boomed in the distance as Jehu rode

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Speaker 2: towards the palace gates. He halted his horse when he

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Speaker 2: saw Jezebel's dark eyes staring down at him through the

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Speaker 2: palace window. Age had given her dark hair streaks of gray,

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Speaker 2: but she maintained a sense of authority and strange power.

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Speaker 2: Do you come in peace, king slayer, you murderous bastard,

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Speaker 2: she shouted. Jehu looked closely through the opening where Jezabel stood.

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Speaker 2: He could see two or three slaves behind her, cowering

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Speaker 2: in fear. Are any of you on my side? Jehu

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Speaker 2: shouted to them. If it is true freedom you desire,

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Speaker 2: throw her down. Before Jezebel could even turn round, the

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Speaker 2: three eunuch slaves burst towards the window, shoving Jezebel out

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Speaker 2: her window. Her witch like screams were drown out by

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Speaker 2: the distant thunder as she fell to her death. Her

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Speaker 2: body fell beside the stables, Her blood covered the walls

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Speaker 2: and the horses. Jehu rode towards her and crushed her

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Speaker 2: body under the hoofs of his horse. For minutes, Jihu

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Speaker 2: made his horse trample her body. The sound of cracking

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Speaker 2: bone and squishing flesh filled Jehu's ears. He paid no

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Speaker 2: attention to it. He and many others had suffered miserably

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Speaker 2: under Jezebel's wicked rituals. She had killed many people and

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Speaker 2: stolen the innocence of Israel. All of Jehu's righteous rage

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Speaker 2: that had been pent up for dozens of years unleashed

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Speaker 2: on her lifeless corpse. As the thunder boomed, Jehu's horse

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Speaker 2: delivered each blow with violent force. Finally, Jehu was finished,

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Speaker 2: panting heavily, Jihu gestured for his men to bury her. However,

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Speaker 2: all that was left of her body to bury was

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Speaker 2: her skull, feet, and hands. The old prophecy of Elijah

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Speaker 2: concerning Jezebel echoed in Jehu's mind. In the land of Jezreel,

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Speaker 2: dogs will eat Jezebel's body. Her remains will be scattered

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Speaker 2: like fertilizer, so that no one will remember her. A

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Speaker 2: reckoning was required of Ahab's entire lineage because of the

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Speaker 2: darkness he brought upon God's people. Jee Who's mission was

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Speaker 2: not yet complete because of Ahab's lewdness, he had sired

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Speaker 2: seventy sons, all of them resided in the capital of Israel, Samaria.

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Speaker 2: So Ji Whu sent messages to the elders of Samaria

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Speaker 2: saying I know the king's sons are with you. Also

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Speaker 2: with you are horses, chariots, fortifications, and weapons. Choose from

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Speaker 2: among Ahab's sons a king, and I will face him

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Speaker 2: in battle. The elders were dismayed at Jehu's lefs. Fears

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Speaker 2: shot up their spines. They knew Ji, who had slain

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Speaker 2: two kings himself, Ahab's weak sons could not face him,

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Speaker 2: let alone rule a kingdom. So they sent a response

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Speaker 2: to Jehu, saying, we and Ahab's sons are no match

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Speaker 2: for you. What can we do to serve you? J

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Speaker 2: who thought for a moment, he considered the cost of

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Speaker 2: sparing the lives of Ahab's sons. However, he knew that

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Speaker 2: the line must be eradicated. Too much generational wickedness flowed

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Speaker 2: through their veins. Israel had been sent into a dark

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Speaker 2: tunnel of despair because of that family. There was only

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Speaker 2: one way to cleanse Israel of its sickness. J Whu

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Speaker 2: sent a letter in return, saying, if you are truly

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Speaker 2: on the side of freedom, take the lives of your

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Speaker 2: master's sons by this time tomorrow bring me their heads.

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Speaker 2: The elders did as Ji Whu asked the men that

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Speaker 2: they had raised since birth were slain for their fathers sins.

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Speaker 2: Their heads were brought to Jihu and then put on

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Speaker 2: display in front of the gates for all to see.

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Speaker 2: It was a truly awful sight. No one relished in

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Speaker 2: the deaths of these men, not even Jehu. It was

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Speaker 2: the cost of evil. In the morning, Jihu cleared the

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Speaker 2: heads and gathered the people of Israel. He spoke with boldness. However,

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Speaker 2: he knew that the people were vulnerable. Right now he

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Speaker 2: must be reassuring. None of this is your fault. Jehu said,

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Speaker 2: I am the one who killed the king. You have

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Speaker 2: been victims of a wicked regime. This carnage is but

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Speaker 2: a cleansing of that wickedness. Rest assured that this fulfills

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Speaker 2: the words of God through Elijah. He prophesied that Ahab's

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Speaker 2: descendants would be cut off from the blessings of Israel.

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Speaker 2: The killing had taken its toll on Jehu, but it

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Speaker 2: was not over yet. More relatives, close friends, and advisers

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Speaker 2: had to perish before the stench of Ahab and Jezebel

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Speaker 2: was wiped clean. Even visitors from Judah who came to

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Speaker 2: see the sons of Ahab were taken and killed, more blood,

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Speaker 2: more killing. Jee Who's soul was beginning to feel the

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Speaker 2: weight of it all. He clung to God, He clung

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Speaker 2: to the healing of Israel. Soon, ji Who met a

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Speaker 2: traveler by the name of Jehonadab. He was the founder

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Speaker 2: of the Rikabites, followers of God dedicated to the pure

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Speaker 2: worship of their Lord. Both Jehu and Jehonadab detested the

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Speaker 2: pompousness of nobility and riches. Je Whu found great comfort

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Speaker 2: in his friend Jehonadab. The two of them were friends

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Speaker 2: for a long while, dreaming about a better Israel, in Israel,

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Speaker 2: where men and women lived freely to worship their God

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Speaker 2: and create a culture of flourishing. Yet, even though Ahab's

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Speaker 2: line had been eradicated, there was still a lingering sickness

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Speaker 2: in Israel. There were still the temples of bail. The

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Speaker 2: false prophets of the false gods still spread their poisonous

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Speaker 2: doctrine to innocent men and women. They fed lies of

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Speaker 2: prosperity whilst sucking the souls of those that came for help.

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Speaker 2: Jihu would have one final push to free Israel. Jihu

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Speaker 2: gathered some of the prophets of Bail for a feast.

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Speaker 2: He gathered them and told them to invite every man

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Speaker 2: and woman of Bail they knew, to a large gathering

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Speaker 2: There Jihu would sacrifice to Bail to pay homage as king.

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Speaker 2: So the prophets gathered every worshiper of Bail. They were

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Speaker 2: given special robes to identify themselves as loyal followers to

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Speaker 2: the false God. Then, while all the followers of bel

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Speaker 2: were in one place, Jihu and his men unsheathed their

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Speaker 2: swords and began to kill every last one of them.

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Speaker 2: The streams were tormented, Blood filled the room up to

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Speaker 2: Jew's ankles. Tears streamed down his face, but his mind

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Speaker 2: was resolute. With one final wave of strength, Jihu and

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Speaker 2: his men toppled the statue of Bail, dragging it into

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Speaker 2: the wilderness and set it on fire. The large temple

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Speaker 2: of Bail was dismantled and destroyed. In its place, Jihu

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Speaker 2: constructed a public toilet for all of Israel to use.

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Speaker 2: It would serve as a continual reminder that no honor

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Speaker 2: would be given to a false god. The Lord promised

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Speaker 2: to bless Jihu and his descendants for years to come. Ji,

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Speaker 2: who then reigned as king over Israel for twenty eight years.

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Speaker 2: It would be lovely to think Jihu rode off into

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Speaker 2: the future with a flourishing spirit, honoring God with his

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Speaker 2: whole heart. And fortunately, the king who cleansed Israel of

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Speaker 2: so much evil was exposed to his own inner darkness.

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Speaker 2: After the cleansing of Ahab's line and the worshippers of Bail,

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Speaker 2: Jehu's heart grew dark and calloused. He did not pursue

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Speaker 2: God's heart as David once did. Rather, he half heartily

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Speaker 2: ruled no vision, no obedience. The kingdom of Israel diminished

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Speaker 2: each year under Jehu's reign. His time as king served

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Speaker 2: as a reminder that finishing well was just as import

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Speaker 2: and as starting well. Jee Who's heart grew tired. He

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Speaker 2: denied evil, but he did not cling to what was good.

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Speaker 2: As a result, he was cut off from truly experiencing

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Speaker 2: the glory of God on earth.

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Speaker 3: As we begin today's passage, Jayhu still has business to

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Speaker 3: attend to. For starters, the most wicked of all, Jezebel,

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Speaker 3: was still alive, and her time for judgment had come.

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Speaker 3: Hearing that Jehu is in Jezreel, the Queen painted her

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Speaker 3: eyes and dressed like a queen. She knew her time

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Speaker 3: had come, but she would be defiant and whold to

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Speaker 3: her high position to the very end. From her window,

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Speaker 3: high above Jaehu, she greeted him with scorn, calling him

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Speaker 3: a killer and a murderer of his master. Jayhu did

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Speaker 3: not give thought to her words, but called up to

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Speaker 3: her window to the slaves, asking if anywhere on his side.

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Speaker 3: When two of the three eunuchs looked out the wind

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Speaker 3: to him, he told them to throw her down. The

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Speaker 3: once fearsome queen, who had killed hundreds of God's prophets

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Speaker 3: and led King Ahab in the nation of Israel into

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Speaker 3: utter darkness and idolatry, was summarily executed. As her slaves

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Speaker 3: tossed her from the window. Her body spilled its blood

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Speaker 3: on the ground below and was trampled by Jehu's horses.

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Speaker 3: He called for her body to be given a dignified burial,

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Speaker 3: for she was nobility, But then he was reminded of

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Speaker 3: God's words concerning her, and as his servants went to

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Speaker 3: fetch the body, they found that, just as God had said,

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Speaker 3: she had been carried off by dogs, her flesh consumed,

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Speaker 3: so there was no body to bury. Jezebel would not

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Speaker 3: stand as a pagan martyr. She became fertilizer for the

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Speaker 3: very land she terrorized with her evil. But Ahab's ungodly

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Speaker 3: line still needed to be cut off. Jehu had more

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Speaker 3: work to do. First, he sent word to the elders

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Speaker 3: of Samaria that he would face Ahab's sons in battle.

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Speaker 3: They were to choose one of his sons is king,

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Speaker 3: and he would fight them. But the elders knew Jehu

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Speaker 3: was too powerful, so their allegiance was quick to shift

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Speaker 3: to the new king. They professed loyalty to Jehu and

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Speaker 3: ask what they could do. It would have been tempting

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Speaker 3: for Jehu to rest then, knowing that the line of

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Speaker 3: the king Ahab was no longer in power, But God

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Speaker 3: had called him to wipe out the evil, and letting

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Speaker 3: Ahab's sons live would have been disobedient to God. So

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Speaker 3: he called for the heads of Ahab's sons and displayed

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Speaker 3: them at the city gates. It was a gruesome reminder

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Speaker 3: of the high price of sin and evil and judgment.

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Speaker 3: God's word would not return void, and Jehu continued to

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Speaker 3: wipe out Ahab's family and his friends and priests who

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Speaker 3: supported the king during his wicked reign. These passages, of course,

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Speaker 3: are very violent and perhaps difficult to understand, for son

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Speaker 3: so much killing, so much terror and horror, all coming

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Speaker 3: at the direction of God. But we must not forget

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Speaker 3: that our God is a holy God. He is a

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Speaker 3: righteous God and demands righteousness of his people. He will

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Speaker 3: fight fiercely to protect those that he loves. And God

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Speaker 3: loves Israel as he loves his church family. Today he

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Speaker 3: loves us with a fierceness that is unmatched. Back in

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Speaker 3: the day with Israel, these men who had led the

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Speaker 3: nation astray were a threat to God's children, and they

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Speaker 3: had to be dealt with firmly and fairly. Jay Who's

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Speaker 3: cleansing of Israel, continued as he struck down more and

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Speaker 3: more people, But along the way he encountered other righteous

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Speaker 3: men like Johanadab. The men shared a zeal for the Lord,

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Speaker 3: and Johannadab rode with Jehu an ally in the fight

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Speaker 3: for the very soul of Israel. The pathway of righteousness

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Speaker 3: can often be a lonely one, and we do well

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Speaker 3: to find those who share our passion to doing the

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Speaker 3: will of God. Just as Jehu found this man. Finally,

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Speaker 3: Jaehu called together the prophece of Bailed. He made them

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Speaker 3: he was turning to their false God. But as they

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Speaker 3: were all assembled, he had every last prophet of Bail

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Speaker 3: put to death. The pagan temple was destroyed and a

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Speaker 3: public latrine was placed there as a sign that idle

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Speaker 3: worship was despicable and vile and filthy. Jehu fought valiantly

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Speaker 3: for the Lord and accomplished great things for God, but sadly,

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Speaker 3: with time he grew numb and complacent, failing to walk

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Speaker 3: with the Lord. Though he had done much for God,

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Speaker 3: his legacy was sullied by his failure to hold fast

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Speaker 3: to God. It is a striking reminder that we are

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Speaker 3: to run hard the race that is set before us,

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Speaker 3: all the way to the end. We must commit and

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Speaker 3: never quit, and not grow weary in doing good. We

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Speaker 3: must always trust in God and live in the righteousness

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Speaker 3: that He provides us in Christ by the power of

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Speaker 3: His Spirit. Let's pray, Dear God, we thank you for

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Speaker 3: today's reading. As difficult as it is to hear, we

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Speaker 3: know that you are a God of righteousness and justice,

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Speaker 3: that you do judge the wicked, that you are angry

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Speaker 3: according to your word with the wicked every day. So

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Speaker 3: we pray that we will trust you in your judgment

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Speaker 3: of all things. May we be productive all the days

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Speaker 3: of our lives and faithful to you in every season

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Speaker 3: of life, that we would never turn away from letting

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Speaker 3: you have complete control of our lives. We pray this

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Speaker 3: in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so very much for

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Speaker 3: listening to Today's Bible in a Year podcast. We are

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Speaker 3: so very grateful for the millions of people who have

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Speaker 3: downloaded this podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham, and when you

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Speaker 3: download thepray dot com app and make it a priority

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Speaker 3: in your life to listen to God's word, your life

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Speaker 3: truly will be changed. We are hearing reports from so

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Speaker 3: many of the power of God's Word in their lives.

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Speaker 3: So let me encourage you to pass this podcast onto others,

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Speaker 3: to share it with someone you know, someone you care about,

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Speaker 3: because the Word of God truly will change lives. And

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Speaker 3: if you want more resources on how to experience God's

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Speaker 3: power in your life, be sure to visit Jack Graham

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Speaker 3: dot org. We would love to connect with you and

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Speaker 3: for you to connect with us again. That's Jack Graham

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Speaker 3: dot org. God bless you.