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Hey, hey, hey, don't skip. We're a couple days away from the end of our reading plan, which means you're about to be a part of the 6% of Christians that have actually read the entire Bible cover to cover. So stay tuned until the very end of this episode to hear about something special that we have planned just for you Bible nerds. Let's dive in to today's episode. Family, welcome to day three, six, two, day 362. We are in second chronicles, chapters 25 through 27. We've been looking at four chapters at a time for, I feel like the last couple days, at least. Today we've got three chapters on the docket and three kings to examine, three kings to look at, and I'm going to give you a theme up at the top of the episode. Lukewarm and lucky. These three kings are lukewarm, and we're going to get a lukewarm report on all of them. Like, they're good, but they could have been better. They're not terrible. Like, they're definitely better than the kings from yesterday. This would definitely be on the. If. If there's kings that are. That actively decline Judah and then kings that actively reform, I would say we're on the incline, but definitely not at reform. Anywh. Who. If you haven't done the reading for the day, how about you stop this video, pause the audio, go get the reading done. We've got chapter 25, which is going to cover King Amaziah, chapter 26, which is going to cover King Uzziah, and chapter 27, which is going to cover King Jotham. So three chapters, three kings. The action is actioning, the script is scripting, the narrative is moving. And for all of us that have done the reading, let's jump in. All right. Context for the day is that in terms of the historical moment that these three kings find themselves in, honestly, we are in recovery mode, and we're in kind of like a second golden age. Okay. If you actually take the kingdoms of the north and the south combined, their actual land area would be equal to David and Solomon's reign. So these guys are not, like, terrible, but they're all just very, like, lukewarm. Okay, so I'll. I'll read my context clues straight from my notes on my laptop. Judah under these three kings was bigger, richer, and more powerful than it had ever been. All right, Think second golden age. But this was not due to their righteousness. That's the caveat. As Israel also expanded during this time, reaching A high point under Jeroboam ii, the golden age of Israel. In fact, if you added Jeroboam II and Uzziah's territory, it would cover the same area as the kingdom of David and Solomon. Now, just in terms of a geopolitical reality, okay, to put these three kings into their historical context, these gu represent Judah in the house of David's political recovery after the disaster of the intermarriage between the house of David and the house of Omri. That would be the marriage to Athaliah. Big mistake. I mean, big mistake. So they take place in a space in history, a space between expansions of the Assyrian empire. All right? Again, it's not because of righteousness. It's just kind of like they got lucky, okay? And here's what I mean by they got lucky. Assyria hasn't really come into the story yet, as up until this point, Israel had more interaction with the Assyrian threat. But Assyria had a series of weak kings, okay, which may correspond to the ministry of Jonah to Assyria. So the empire contracted rather than expanded. So Assyria's just not on the move. Like, Assyria is not pumping on all cylinders at this point in Israel's story, which just. That's just how. That's the luck of the draw, okay? It's not because of Israel's righteousness. It's just. That's just what's happening geopolitically in the world. Assyrius is not that serious of a threat. This added to the weakness of the Arams of Aram and Syria also meant that both Israel and Judah had space to recover without a great threat. An outside threat, that is. And so, beginning in Amaziah's reign and then finding a climax in Uzziah's reign, Judah recovered all the lands it had lost since the time of Rehoboam. Judah under these three kings was bigger, richer, more powerful than it ever had been. Okay? So we're going to experience a golden age. And I call this just lukewarm and lucky. That's going to be my theme for our context, for our nerdy nuggets and our timeless truths for the day. Last bit of context by this point in Chronicles, we're also starting to get the ministry of the written prophets. So Micah and Isaiah would be active during these chapters right here, especially when we get to Uzziah, right? The famous passage in Isaiah, which is in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. I believe that's Isaiah, chapter six. And so by the Time to this point. In Chronicles, there are prophetic ministries that are 100% up and running. So just wanted to put that in context as well. And I think that's all the context that we need for today's episode. Let's dive into our nerdy nuggets. I'll try to give you one per chapter. Okay? Chapter 25. Amaziah's story starts off great. Like, I mean, it's kind of like, all right, this kid goes somewhere. Okay, so let's read chapter 25. It says this in verse two, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. We get like, I don't know if I'm grading that. If I'm, like, translating that into, like, a letter grade, I'm like, ah, it's a C minus. Like, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. So let's. Let's dig in. What does that actually mean? For whatever reason, Amaziah is obedient to the Lord, and he actually is going to pay some Israelites to fight along with him, and he gets a prophetic word that he shouldn't trust foreigners. Again, I need you to see that. That the nation of Israel in the north, which are ethnically Jews, are not going to be considered to be, like, brothers and sisters. They are 100% going to be treated as foreigners. Okay? They are literally regarded as a foreign power. And Amaziah obeys. So, like, this dude is showing so much potential. It's like. And he's obeying in a moment that has the potential to cost him a ton. But there's a really, really cool thing that he says here. And honestly, I would use this for an offering appeal, to be honest. Chapter 25, verse 6 says this. He also hired 100,000 fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of SIL. So 100 talents of silver is on the table. But a man of God came to him and said, you, Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel. Like, they are essentially foreigners. Like, you cannot, like, be in bed with them at all. Like, in any way. Not with any of the people of Ephraim. So they also let us know it's the tribe of Ephraim, okay? Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy. For God has the power to help or to overthrow. And so many stories in Second Chronicles have already proven that. That, like, like, God just has the ability to, like, win battles just like, do stuff militarily. That's absolutely illogical. Like, totally, like, can't even make it. It's kind of like, like the math is not mathing. Okay, Amaziah asked the man of God, but what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops? The man of God replied, the Lord can give you much more than that. So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage. Okay, so Amaziah proves that he has the ability, the capacity, the willingness, the faith to trust Yahweh, to obey Yahweh, and literally goes out to the battlefield, is successful, and then wants to take on the gods of the group that he just defeated. Now that's odd. Verse 14. Then Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites. Okay, so he's defeated the Edomites. He brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them, and burned sacrifice to them. This is odd because in the ancient world, the God who represented the victorious army was seen as the stronger, more dominant, the successful God. And so I don't understand why he wants to worship a God who just lost. That makes absolutely no logical, reasonable, why sense. But alas, here we are. And so Amaziah, however, would not listen. Verse 20. For God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash because they sought the gods of Edom. So this whole deal with the gods of Edom, big, big thing, it is going to be his downfall. Okay? Jehoash, King of Israel, captured Amaziah, King of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. So don't skip. Don't skip. Hey, if you are in the home stretch of reading your Bible, first of all, I'm so proud of you. Second, you probably know this, but you're my kind of people. I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with Bible nerds. So I've got exciting news for you, and it's called the six percent Club. For anyone that has finished their entire Bible in a calendar year, we have exclusive content, newsletters, giveaways, live events. Oh, yeah, live events, baby. And more all throughout the year. You can find out about all of that if you go to thebibledepartment.com club to officially join the 6% club. Why do we call it the 6% club? Because only 6% of Christians have actually read their entire Bible cover to Cover. And every year, Bible nerds like you finish our Bible reading plan, and we get asked, what's next? Well, we've got an answer, and you don't want to miss out. So head over to thebibledepartment.com forward slash, club, or click the link in the description to get access. We'll see you in the club. Let's go. He gets captured, and that's the end of that. Okay. He lived for 15 years after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, in King of Israel. As for the other events, essentially it's going to say you can, you know, go read about it in the Book of Kings. Like, you know, the Book of Kings, A great book. Okay. And then he turned away from following the Lord. They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. He was brought back by horse and was buried with his ancestors in the city of Judah. Okay, so Amaziah starts out great, and then it just unravels. Okay, but here's just a. I guess a detail. His heart posture towards Yahweh changes after victory. And, you know, a professor in college used to always say this. The way that you respond to great failure and great victories both reveal what you believe about God, because those are the hardest moments to walk with the Lord. During great failure, you feel abandoned by God. You feel like, I'm disappointed with God. But then in moments of great success, you feel like you don't need God. And so both of these extremes have to be intentionally experienced. You have to walk through these extremes in an intentional way, like as a believer. And that could be a timeless truth for the day. It's not the one that I have written down, but it's a helpful one. That success really does make you and I susceptible to pride and arrogance. And pride become. Pride always comes before the fall. Okay, so that's the big idea in chapter 25. Big idea in chapter 26 is Uzziah is now king versus three and four. Says this Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. And he reigned in Jerusalem 2052 years long reign. 52 years. That's incredible. His mother's name is Jekaliah. He was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. Wait a second. Amaziah started strong, ended bad. So is that a clue that that's exactly what's about to happen with uzziah? Okay, verse 16. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. Golly, he's going to win, he's going to become successful, he's going to be powerful. And now all of a sudden, he wants to exert a certain level of control over the temple. And you already know when it comes to Ezra, in this temple, they don't play. Okay, so leprosy breaks out on his forehead. Verse 21. King Uzziah had leprosy. Until the day he died, he lived in a separate house, leprous and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham, his son, had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. Okay, so now we get a new king. Jotham comes into leadership. And so we've got a president, a king that starts off strong and then ends bad. Starts off strong and then ends bad. Jotham is going to be another lukewarm king. Okay? Listen to what the text says about him. In chapter 27, verse 2. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. But unlike him, he did not enter the temple of the Lord. Okay, so great. He didn't disrespect God's temple. He didn't dishonor God's temple. That's awesome. We'll take it, Jotham. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. Golly, dude, you didn't have the chutzpah to do anything good or bad. So this is just another passive, lukewarm leader. He doesn't do anything super bad, but also doesn't do anything incredibly good either. Just, ah, just kind of like a leader. And so we got three kings. Neither of them finish well. Two of them start really well. And the link between all of them is either pride or passivity. Pride or passivity. And I've learned in leadership that if you're not putting the car in drive, it will. It will go in reverse. Like, there is no neutral. And so passivity is not a game you can really afford to play. Like, passivity is not something that you can really afford to do in the kingdom. Okay, so Jotham is passive. It's not that he's evil. It's not that he's bad. It's just that he's passive. It's passive, but it seems like personally, he leads his own life. Fine. Says this in verse 6. Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord is God. So it doesn't say that he did anything wrong or bad or evil. It just also didn't say that he does anything good. And this is where I would say, when we define leadership, I would say leadership is character and charisma combined. You know, and there's a lot of people who have great character. That means they lead themselves well. The only issue is they don't have any kind of influence to lead others. Well, they have integrity, but no influence. On the other end of the spectrum, there's a lot of people with a lot of charisma, a lot of influence, but they're able to lead others, but they don't lead themselves well. And the reality is that, you know, Jotham seems to fall in this category where he's not going to do anything wrong, but he's not going to actively influence other people to do the right thing, which means he's not a leader. Leadership does not mean you know how to steward yourself. Well, that's a part of leadership. But leadership is your active ability to influence those around you for, like, to make godly decisions. So in terms of drive and initiative, my man Jotham just doesn't seem like the guy for that. Which leads us to our timeless truth. All three of these leaders are lukewarm. They're neither hot nor cold. They're just kind of lukewarm. But they get lucky. They just so happen to be leading in a time where it's not that hard to lead. And I think this is a valuable lesson for all of us. I think that sometimes we can experience success and we just assume that the success that we're experiencing is a blessing from the Lord or favor from God. But there's over and over and over and over and over again throughout two Chronicles where when God's pleased, it'll say that there's a cause and effect relationship happening. But there is none of that here. It's not saying that yeah, in Israel prospered or Judah prospered because of this king's decision. It's kind of just more like Israel and Judah are prospering because there's just a season for prospering right now. I'll say it this way, a broken watch still correct at least twice a day. So sometimes we attribute success to look how much God has favored us, look at how much the Lord is blessing us. But sometimes it's just, you got a lucky hand. You just got dealt a lucky hand. You're lucky that the Assyrians are not at full power right now. You're. You're just. You're lucky, and that's okay. And if the wisdom literature has taught us Anything, it's that luck's real. Luck is 100% real. So these guys, all three, lukewarm, but lucky. And I think that's a valuable lesson for us. For us to learn that every single time there's a success, especially in a ministry context, doesn't mean that God was pleased. It just means that you did something that was successful. And these guys are actually building nations that are wealthy, that are strong, but they just. It's not because of them. It's because of events that are completely outside of their control. And I think it takes a lot of discernment to know when you're in a season of man. It's not necessarily God who's helping us to win right now. It is just like the circumstances of life have. Have positioned us to be lucky. And our goal isn't to know whether or not we're successful based on. Or. Or think that we're blessed based on whether or not there's earthly success. Like, that's way too simple of an equation. And the wisdom books have taught us that life is just way more complicated than that. I was listening to a documentary of a church that kind of imploded, had a big moral failure, and they were like, yeah, like, you know, we all knew there was kind of sketchy things happening, but we would all just celebrate. Look how many people getting baptized. Look how many. Look at our attendance. And, like, clearly God's pleased because look at this. But it's like, there could be a lot of reasons why church attendance is increasing. There could be a lot of reasons why there's so many people getting baptized. To immediately just jump to this is a sign that God's pleased. I don't think it's consistent with the testimony of scripture as a whole. It could be an exception to the rule, but it doesn't feel like the rule to me. All right, that's our timeless truth for the day. Because I don't think that that's just true for Jotham or for Uzziah, for Amaziah or for Ezra, for that matter. I think that is true for you and me. I think it's a timeless truth. Tomorrow we got two Chronicles, chapters 28, 29, and 30. Ooh. Tomorrow's day three. 63 here on the podcast. It's our final week together. I am so excited. I'll see you tomorrow right here, same time, same place. Love you. Proud of you. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible department podcast. Hey, we're almost there. I bet you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're towards the end of the year and I'm so proud of you. If this episode and this year of reading through the Bible was helpful, how about you invite a friend to join you on the journey next year? To learn more about the show, head to thebibledepartment.com and to learn more about the 6% Club, make sure you go to thebibledepartment dot com Club. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.