Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for you Lord God Almighty reigns.
When there is a love, when there is a love, you are holy.
Hallelujah, for you Lord God Almighty reigns.
When there is a love, when there is a love, you are holy.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for you Lord God Almighty reigns.
When there is a love, when there is a love, you are holy.
Hallelujah, for you Lord God Almighty reigns.
When there is a love, when there is a love, you are holy.
Alright, it's Tuesday night, whacked out, simple stuff.
What's the spiritual discipline focus right now for you guys?
Bible intake.
So we're going to talk about the Bible and we're going to do it in a fun and unique way.
Can you see Susan?
Anyone see her?
Alright, separating from the rest of the teenagers.
You came home from school with a fever, right?
Don't sit near anybody.
Move.
I'm not kidding.
He didn't actually have a fever.
Oh, he didn't have a fever?
Yeah.
Okay.
If you breathe on anybody, if he breathes on you, smack him.
No joke.
I think he's getting cold.
Alright, okay.
So I need a volunteer to come up here.
Come up here baby.
Baby, you're going to hold this poster.
You can read, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
So these are all facts about the Bible.
See all the facts?
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So Bailey is going to pick one of the facts on this poster.
You can go to the one you want.
Okay.
And then y'all as a group, I'll know the answer because I'm looking at the poster.
I might, some of them I would know, some of them I would not know.
So I would not know them all.
But I'll know the answer.
And then y'all are going to work together to come up with the correct answer.
All you got to do is point.
Point to point.
Take an even one.
It's our word.
Okay.
Alright, how many books are in the Bible?
66.
That's right.
66.
Nailed it.
Okay.
Got to jump right in there.
Jump right in there.
Okay.
Any other?
Okay.
What is it?
Okay.
How many chapters are in the Bible?
You can take a guess and we'll go higher or lower if you want.
Lower than 3,000.
More than 656.
2,000.
Lower than 1,200.
Lower than 2,000.
1,600.
You got close.
Lower than 1,200.
Okay.
1,000.
More than 900.
More than 1,000.
Listen, it's more than 1,105.
So it's between 1,105 and 1,200.
1,123.
More than 1,123.
1,155.
More than 1,155.
I got it.
1,189.
That is correct.
Look it up.
It ain't too good.
Okay.
All right.
Here we go.
How many, ready for this, words.
How many words in the Bible?
Four million.
Again?
Four million.
More than $66,000.
That's kind of very strange.
$75,000.
$99,000.
Lasting $4,000.
Less than $4 million.
$75,000.
Less than $99,000.
More than $99,000.
If you Google it you can't answer.
More than $1.5.
No, $1.5.
$994.
More than that.
Less than $1.
If you Google it, don't answer.
more than 1.5
no, 100
994
more than that
less than what?
if you google it, don't answer
less than 1 million
700,000
more than 400,000
more than 700,000
800,000
less than 900,000
700,000
8,000
800,000
8,000
770, more than 770
780
790
less than 775
779
700,000
775
775, we're in there somewhere
773
773 and
772
773 and something
772
773,692
words
and as RJ pointed out
it would vary by translation
how is no
that's not so hard
this time
that's a big number
that's a little
small
the writings of the bible
span how many years?
the writing of it
over how many years?
a little less than 2000
1000
now y'all should know this
1000
this book
says 1500 years
1500
1400
1500
what is the longest book?
the long book in the bible
jason said
psalm
another one
what is the longest chapter?
the longest chapter
psalm 119
psalm 119 is correct
what is the shortest verse?
the shortest verse
jesus what?
john 1135
jesus what?
what is the shortest chapter?
shortest chapter
what is the shortest chapter?
the shortest chapter
it's got to be one of the Psalms
the psalm has got like 4 verses
so what is that?
i don't know
there's only 150 of them
i know there's a psalm
no
psalm 117
would that be hard to guess?
what is the shortest book?
the shortest book
is it jesus?
no
in the right area
bible
so by leaving
competes for shortest
it's second job
and actually one of them has
the least number of words
and the other one has the least number of verses
i'm not sure what you wish
okay
how about that one?
how about
the number of writers?
number of writers
how many different people wrote
75,000
65
45
40
one more
okay
so stand with us
stand your hands
the motion leaders
children to the front
please clear some space
follow the motion
done this one many times
you should be able to do some of it at least
oh
few words that you might be just kind of assuming, and I'll bet you we don't, half of us know
a good definition of those words. And so the first word is holy. We sang in the first song
that we sang tonight, holy, holy, holy. And right now, going on in heaven, ongoing permanently,
is angels around the throne of God singing holy, holy, holy. And you know when they stop.
They stop singing holy, holy, holy. It says in Revelation they stop singing that when
the Lord pours out His wrath on the earth. Okay? And so they are still singing holy,
holy, holy. So what does the word holy mean? I'll jump at once. Okay, good. Different,
set apart, completely different. And obviously when we're talking about God, we mean holy
like God, and only like God, right? So no one else is really holy like Him, although
Scripture does tell us to be holy as He is holy. And so even though we can't be holy
exactly like them, and it's not telling us to be holy, Scripture is not telling us to
be exactly holy like God is holy, but even though that's true, it's saying that we should
be holy, which means we should be different. We should be set apart. We should not, teenagers
should not be like other teenagers. Dads who are Christian dads should not be like other
dads. Family members, friends, workers, teachers, doctors, pastors, you know, that we should
be different. We should be different in that God has made us unique and for Him. And so
realize that what makes us all equal is that we are all unique. And if you are not unique,
if you're just following the crowd, following somebody else, just doing what somebody else
is doing, then you're not equal. You're actually a slave. If you think about it. If you have
to do what other people are doing, you follow social media, follow the news, follow magazines,
follow whatever your friends at school are doing. If you have to do things because other
people are doing those things, then actually you're becoming a servant, you're becoming
a slave. It's outside your control. And that's why the Bible says, do not be conformed to
the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So you're going to realize you
are unique and it's okay to be unique. And sometimes you'll feel alone because you're
unique and God is holy. He is completely different. We should be holy as He is holy. And then
the other one will take it, which is a pretty easy word, but people don't really use it
all that much more, which is hallelujah. So what does hallelujah mean? No, not exactly.
So whenever in the Old Testament you see a word that ends in Yah, Yah, J-A-H or something
like that, that's always God. It's Lord. It's a derivative from the word Jehovah. And Jehovah
is the Hebrew word for Lord. So if it's hallelujah, then the last part is Lord, then what does
it mean? Pretty much, yeah. Praise the Lord. Praise be to God. Praise be to the Lord. And
so halal is a certain kind of praise. Do you know what kind of praise it is? Hallelujah
is composed of halal to God. So in order for you to hallelujah, you got to know what kind
of praise halal is. Is that the one where you're surrendering to Him? Nope. Is that
the other one? I mean, there's seven of them, so it's one of the other six, right? Halal
is this kind of praise. Woo! Did you see that? It's loud. It's boisterous. But it's pointed
in the right direction. We know we were excited, but you realize that… Listen, listen. Do
you realize that the God of the universe that created everything is literally working on
your behalf right now? So if you had a good lawyer and you were going to court, you'd
be like, I got a good lawyer. I'm going to do well in court because I got a good lawyer.
If you have a good doctor, you get sick, you go to your doctor, you really trust him, you
know, he's a really good doctor, then you're like, wow, I'm going to get help. If you
have a good dad and you have a problem and you go to your dad, you're like, hey, I'm
going to get help. If you have a good wife and you feel lonely, you go to your wife,
and you're like, hey, I'm not going to feel lonely anymore. I have a wife. The God
of the universe is a holy God, completely different from men and all of his creation.
He can wash the entirety of his creation, all the stars, all the planets in his hand
with a tiny bit of soap if he wanted to. He's God. He's bigger than it all. He's
lasted before all of it ever began. And if it all was destroyed, which it won't because
he'll sustain it, but if it all was destroyed, he would still be left. And he's on your
side. Is that not awesome? That is something to be excited about. And so when we praise
God, when we say hallelujah, praise the Lord, that's not praise the Lord like this. Draw
me close to you. Never let me go. No. Right. That's not hallelujah. Hall- hall- is bold,
right? It's not, Lord prepare me. It's, Lord prepare me. Right? Let's get some voice going.
Let's get our lungs moving. Right? You got a little kid that doesn't pay attention, you
raise your voice. God's not a little kid. He does pay attention, and he expects you
to raise your voice. Praise the Lord. Do you know how many times it says praise the Lord
in Psalms? I don't actually know how many times it says that, but I know it says it
a lot. All right? And so, and that's halal almost every single time. There are others,
and when we study worship, we'll talk about the other six ways that God says praise Him.
Right? But hall- hallelujah is to get excited, pointing your attention at God. So we're not
excited about football. Other- do people get up and, oh man, he just picks six, right?
He's running back, he's clear. My team's going to win the Super Bowl, my team's going
to win the national title, and they're jumping up and down in front of their couch. Yes!
A touchdown! Yes! And they're halal NFL. Or halal Michigan State University. Right? But
we're not halal that. We're halal- There you go. All right. So now we're passing on that
now. We're moving on to the worksheet. We have time, because the worksheet will go quickly.
This is an easier one. We're going to look at an interesting character. His name is Zadok.
Z-O-K. Okay? His name is Zadok. And we're starting in the upper left-hand corner, and
then it's just basically three rows. So you're going to go from the upper left, straight
down, then we'll go to the row in the middle, go straight down, then we'll go to the row
on the right, straight down, and then if you'll notice, it says Isaiah 1-1 down there. That's
just a little side note, something I thought you'd think was interesting. Okay? So that
isn't even part of the lesson. It's just there. So you're going to go straight down, and then
straight down, and straight down in three rows. So the first thing we have is the rest
of the conference. So we're going to talk about the time when David was ousted from
Jerusalem like we did last week. So does anybody know the book and chapter already? Okay. 2nd
Samuel's right. What's the chapter? Nope. You can flip one page back in your notebook,
probably, and find it. Nope. Keep going. 15. Okay? So we're on 2nd Samuel 15. And really,
2nd Samuel 15 verse 24 really starts the process of David being, is right in the 20s there
where David is being ousted from Jerusalem. So the reference is 2nd Samuel 15, and then
we're going to look at verses 24 to 29. Okay? And then the very first word starts with a
Z. So anybody want to take a stab at what that might be? Zadok. Right. Or Zadok. I don't
know how you want to pronounce it. All right. So yeah. So the very first word is Zadok.
So we're going to find out about. Say that again. Okay. Zadok is spelled Z-A-D-O-K. Again,
I gave that a few minutes ago. Okay. So Zadok, 2nd Samuel 15. I'm going to read and almost
everything on this page is going to come out of what I'm about to read. So listen closely.
All right. Will not necessarily be word for word. All right. So here we go. Starting in
verse 24. Zadok also was there and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of
the covenant of God. Okay. And so basically David is leaving. It says in the verse before
that, the king was crossed in the Kidron Valley. The valley is outside Jerusalem. So if you
look, use your imagination a little bit and look beyond all these words. You see a picture
on the page beyond the words. Everybody see it? That is Jerusalem. It's a sketch basically.
It's not actually a good picture of Jerusalem and nobody has one because this was a long
time ago. All right. And the valley in question is on the backside of Jerusalem. And as the
king's leaving Jerusalem, Zadok what? C-O what did he do? Came out. Zadok came out.
And the next word is and. Say it again. Okay. Let me read it because I think actually I
didn't go quite far enough to get the full piece. Zadok also was there. Oh no I did.
Listen. Zadok also was there and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant
of God. All right. So all the Levites with him and all the Levites with him. What's a
Levite? They were in charge of the chalene. Yeah. They're in charge of worship. They're
in charge of the temple. Priests. So in order to be a priest, you just. Say excuse you.
Thank you. In order to be a priest, you need to be a Levite. All right. And so not all
the Levites were priests but they were all families of which, out of which could come
priests. So Zadok came out and all the Levites with him. Now the next guy you know, we talked
about him a little bit last week. Does anybody remember him? Hushai?
There's one dude that David is. David's son trusted. Yes. But not the one we talked about.
I think you're thinking of Ahithophel. Yeah. Yeah. So that, nope. That's Ahithophel. Okay.
So let me read the reference for him real quick. David said to him, if you go away with
me, you will be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and tell Absalom, I will
be your servant. My king, previously I was your father's servant, but now I will be your
servant. Then you can counteract Ahithophel's counsel for me. So Hushai was the man who
was loyal to David and then switched and said he was loyal to Absalom when Absalom replaced
David. Okay. We're not looking in deep at him yet, but we did talk about him a little
bit last week. And he goes back and he makes his promises to them. Also, then when he sends
him back, the story goes on a little bit. Let me read the whole thing straight through
so we get all of these at one time. All right. So we have, he comes out, Zadok was also there
with all the Levites with him. We're carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set the
Ark down. Abbiathar offered sacrifice until the people had finished marching past. Then
the king instructed Zadok, return the Ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the
Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place.
However, if he should say, I do not delight in you, then here I am. He can do with me
whatever he pleases. The king also said to Zadok, the priest, look, return to the city
in peace and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Abbiathar's son Jonathan.
Remember I'll wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me. So
Zadok and Abbiathar returned the Ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there. Okay. Now you
know a little bit of the story from before, from what we studied last week. Okay. So we'll
see if we can fill that in. Skip down to the bottom one for a second and we'll come back
up to where it says Hushai. So David was saying to Hushai and to Zadok for them to go back
into the city. And then David said, I'm going to go by the water and I'm going to, it says,
I will wait. David said, I will wait by the water. So that's the next one below that.
I will wait. Okay. And then it says, send me word. Do you remember the story from last
week? Ahithophel gave advice, right? Well, actually he gave pretty good advice, but his
advice was thwarted, right? Because Hushai gave contrary advice and then Absalom went
out with him and that's when Ahithophel went home and hanged himself. So remember that
was from last week. So David went out and he's waiting for the word. All right. And
then we have two characters, Zadok and there was another name. Did you hear the other name
in there? Starts with an A. Abbiathar. Zadok and Abbiathar will bring. Okay. But they would
be in the capital. These are two priests. They would be in the capital and they would
be here. And so they heard Hushai and Ahithophel's advice. Okay. And then they are going to try
to get that to David. And how are they going to get it to David? We read it. They each
have somebody that they can use to get a message to David. They're two sons, right? So if you
look at the next blanks, two sons, word. Okay. So I'll slow down a little bit. I will wait.
Send me word. It's all from David. Zadok and Abbiathar will bring two sons, the word. And
the result is from last week, what happened? Nope. What happened after Ahithophel gave
advice, Hushai gave advice, they followed Hushai's advice, David was warned and then
David what? Yeah, he escaped or he evaded them. Okay. It is an E. It's capital E in
a certain font that I wrote because sometimes I do that. Okay. So then someone reported
to David, this is verse 31, then someone reported to David, Ahithophel is among the conspirators
with Absalom. We read all about him last week. We know a lot about Ahithophel. I kind of
summarized it for you already, but if you don't remember, you can go back to your worksheet
on the previous page. Okay. And then it says, still verse 31, Lord, David pleaded, please
turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. There's the actual verse. Right? And so we've
got two A's there. The first one's capitalized and it is Ahithophel. And then Ahithophel
gave what? Starts with an A. Advice. Very good. Okay. Now the next one, you need the reference
it was in what we read. And I'll go back and find it real quick. Okay. Verse, the reference
is 1525. And this is what it says, the king instructed Zadok, return the Ark of God to
the city. And so if you'll notice there, those letters all work perfectly for that. Can we
stop here one second and just ask the question, what is the Ark of God? So does anybody know
anything else that might've been in there? Possibly might've been in there. The tablets
of the Ten Commandments were written on the replacement tablets, right? Cause the first
one's Hithrodot got in anger and broke and then he went back and wrote with God wrote
more. I don't think so. Not at this point. So we've got the tablets, the rod of Aaron,
which had budded and tumors. Nope, those come later. So I think at this point it would just
be those two things. The tablets and the rod of Aaron. Later they'll put the tumors and
the rats from the Philistines when they have to, they capture the Ark and then they get
it back again. Is that later than this or is that before this? I can't remember. Don't
quote me on that part. But anyway, the point is, so it's the Ark of the Covenant. Why is
the Ark of the Covenant such a big deal? Anybody see the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie? They
took some license with that movie, but yeah, it melts faces. Yeah. Go ahead. Yes. So the
Ark of the Covenant is the footstool of God in the temple. So it represents God's presence.
So wherever the Ark of the Covenant goes, God's presence goes theoretically. Okay. Now
what is the problem with that? Does anybody kind of creeped out by that a little bit?
Oh yeah, definitely not. Right? And actually, is there anything when you said before the
Levites would carry it? Actually, it was the Korahites that carried the Ark of the Covenant,
but they were kind of blended in and considered Levites, but they weren't. It was a different
tribe, different group of people that were assigned to carry it. The Levites weren't
allowed to touch it. No one was really allowed to touch it. Carried it on poles. So why is
it, why does that a little weird? If it's the footstool of God and you're going to take
it out with David. So what would that be saying? If they take the Ark of the Covenant with
David, then what does that say? God's presence is with David. Right? And then David says,
send it back to the city. So why does he do that? I agree. I think David understands that
you don't have to have the Ark of the Covenant to have God with you. And it's worse than
that because why? If you can have the Ark of the Covenant and you can make God be somewhere,
then God can be with somebody who's not on God's side. So whoever has the Ark of the
Covenant becomes the boss of the world. That's what the movie, The Raiders of Lost Ark was
all about. It was all about the Germans wanting to use the Ark of the Covenant as an item
of war to destroy all their enemies. And of course it didn't, it destroyed them. Right?
But interestingly enough, he says, take the Ark of the Covenant back to the city. And
I think Caleb nailed it on the head when he said he realized God was already with him.
Right? It doesn't require the Ark of the Covenant. If you had the Ark of the Covenant, then only
how many other people could gather around the Ark of the Covenant? That's the only people
who could ever have God's presence. Right? That's extremely limiting to God. Okay. So
then you're in the middle box, in the middle of the page. David said, take the Ark of the
Covenant back. Okay. And then this is what he says next. If I find favor in the Lord's
eyes, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place. Okay.
So you've got an I, which is an if. Then you've got an I, which is an I. Then what? Find favor.
Yep. That's an S. It's kind of sloppy. In the sight of the Lord. Okay. And then I put
an ellipsis there because you're skipping ahead a little bit. Okay. So if he finds favor,
there's some words in the verse that are skipped. Capital H. He, representing God. Right? He
will. God will bring me back. Perfect. Okay. So basically, David was saying he was willing
to let God be the one who decides. You follow? So he was saying, if I find favor in the sight
of the Lord, he will bring me back. And then the next box says, capital B. The capital
B as always. But, the worst capital B there is. But, if I find favor in the sight of the
Lord, he will bring me back. But, if not, then what? If I do not find favor in the sight
of the Lord, then what? That's an L. And capital H. Capital H is always probably him. It could
be he or him. In this case, it's him. So it's let him do. Let him do. As. Nope. As seems
good to him. Right? And who is he talking about? Talking about God. So this says a lot
about David. David is putting his fate in the hands of the Lord. But, moreover, he's
asking somebody else to do the same. Who is he asking to put his fate in the hands of
the Lord? Zadok. Especially Zadok. But Zadok and Abbiathar. You're right. It's both. And
they're two sons. So basically saying, God will use you to bring about his will. If it
is so that God finds, if I find favor with God, I'll get to come back and see the Ark
of the Covenant in the place where it belongs. But, if I do not find favor with God, then
let God do to me as seems right to him. Whatever God wants, is basically what he's saying.
Who does that sound like? It's almost like what Jesus was saying. And what did Jesus
say? Take this covenant with it. Not by my will, but yours. Your will be done. Not my
will, but not my will, but your will be done. So understand that later in David's life,
David will be called a man after God's own heart. And we know that Jesus was definitely
a man after God's heart. Right? And so if that's an example that you see in David and
in Jesus to say, the will of the Lord be done, then that ought to be us. And realize that
he was literally losing his kingdom. This is the day that he was fleeing from Jerusalem,
pursued by men who would take his life, losing his throne possibly forever. Right? And Zadok
comes out with the Ark of the Covenant, the power of God, the presence of God, and says,
we're with you, all the Levites. If all the priests leave Jerusalem, which is the center
place of worship, how could Absalom be king? That was the end of it. He'd have to make
more priests, which he could do because he's king, but they wouldn't be God's priests.
It would be the end of the faith as they knew it, or the end of Absalom as king. One or
the other. They'd have to choose. Everybody in Jerusalem would have to choose between
their faith and having David be king, or choose some other faith, choose some other method
and let David go, to side with Absalom. Now remember that Absalom became king because
a lot of people backed him. A lot of people began calling him king, and he rode on a chariot,
and so on, and it looked like he was king. Okay. So we're almost done already. We're
going to wrap it up in a nice, neat bow, and then ask some questions. All right? So, all
right. So then it goes on to the part about David sends Hushaiy back to town. 34 says,
but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, I will be your servant, my king. Previously,
I was your father's servant, but now I will be your servant. Then you can counteract Ahithophel's
counsel for me. Won't Zadok and Abbaothar the priests be there with you? Report everything
you hear from the king's palace to Zadok and Abbaothar the priests. Take note, their two
sons, Zadok's son Ahimaaz and Abbaothar's son Jonathan, are there with them. Send me
everything you hear through them. So Hushaiy, David's personal advisor, entered Jerusalem
just as Absalom was entering the city. Okay? So what role is David using Zadok for? He's
a priest, ten in the Ark of the Covenant leading worship and so on. What is he using him for?
A.S. He's a servant. Say it again. A spy or a seer. He's using him to know things he
cannot know. There's no way that David can know what's going on in Jerusalem, what advice
Ahithophel would give, what Absalom's plans are, right? But he sends him back in to use
him as a spy or a seer to see what David cannot see. Okay? And then he told him to return
and this is going to connect back in one second. Take your sons. Right? So it wasn't just Zadok's
son, it was also Abbaothar's son. They were the two, so at this time they're sharing the
high priesthood. They're both high priests. Okay? And they each have a son. And they're
going to return and take their sons. Now if you go all the way back over to the side to
the box that we skipped, Hushaii, 2 Samuel 15.35. Anybody want to try to fill it in now?
All the way back on the other side. Yep, the...I'll make it easy for you. The two sons will...nope,
that'd be one too many words. They will what? The two sons will bring word. That's correct.
Okay? What's interesting, I don't want to get off topic. What's interesting is this
young man, the young man that they use to bring the word becomes a messenger. He becomes
like there's another scene later that we'll look at, not today, when we have two more
really interesting, at least two more really interesting characters to look at in this
whole period of time. So don't just walk out of here tonight and forget everything we talked
about because it all connects together. It's like the general hospital or soap opera or
venture story that's going on. Everybody connects together. Right? So anyway, he becomes a messenger
and later he has to take a message. He really desires to take a message to David that's
going to cause a lot of trouble and he wants to take the message even though his father
doesn't want him to take the message. And so he becomes an interesting character at
that point in time. All right, so you've got one big box left down there on the right.
Okay? So we have a guy. His name starts with a J. I'll just give it to you. It's Jotham.
J-O-T-H-A-M. Okay? Does anybody know anything about Jotham? Have you ever heard the name
before? Okay. So Jotham or Jotham was a king later after all of this is done transpiring
in 2 Chronicles 27.1. It says this, Jotham was 25 years old when he became king and he
reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. So he became king at the age of 25 and he remained king
for 16 years. Okay? I'm going to skip the next verse for one second. I'll come back
to it. It says he did what was right in the Lord's sight as his father Uzziah had done.
So we know his dad was Uzziah. Okay? In addition, he didn't enter the Lord's sanctuary but unfortunately
the people still behaved corruptly. Jotham built the upper gate of the Lord's temple.
He built extensively on the wall of Ophel. He built cities in the hill country of Judah,
fortresses and towers in the forest. He waged war against the king of the Ammonites. He
overpowered the Ammonites and that year they gave him 7500 pounds of silver, 50,000 bushels
of wheat, 50,000 bushels of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years.
So Jotham strengthened himself because he did not waver in obeying the Lord his God.
Okay? And the rest of the events of Jotham's reign along with all his wars and his ways
note that they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was 25 years
old when he became king. He reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, rested with his fathers and
was buried in the city of David. His son Ahaz became king in his place. So this is an interesting
character. Why do you think I might be interested in this character considering we're actually
talking about Zodak today? Go ahead, sir.
He's a good king and ancestor of Jesus.
He is an ancestor of Jesus, that's correct. And so you filled out all the blanks. So you
want to go and fill them out now? You can. Jotham is a good king and an ancestor of Jesus.
But how does he relate to Zadok? Well, it's in the verse that I skipped. Here it is.
Yes, he is. His mother's name was Jerusha who was a daughter of Zadok. So here's what
happens. David is ousted from Jerusalem and the Levites rally together led by Zadok and
they all bring the Ark of the Covenant out to him. And David says, no, no, no, no, no,
he said, we must we have trust in the Lord. You take the Ark of Covenant back. And if
my if the Lord's favor is on me, then he'll bring me back so I can see the Ark of the
Covenant there where it belongs. But if it's not, then let him do to me whatever seems
right. So what is he saying? He's saying trust the Lord. You let the will of the Lord be
done. Don't use your position. Don't use your knowledge. Don't use your power, whatever
to try to put me back on the throne or try to protect me in any way. So you go back and
trust in God. So Zadok then does exactly that. He goes back and he acts as a spy or a seer
for David and allows David to escape. Now, still later, sometime later, David does come
back. He does become king. This is we're studying the period of time when David is ousted from
Jerusalem. But David does come back and Zadok serves as high priest. Right. So he continues
and then he has a daughter and her name, I read it and I forgot it, Jerusha. Jerusha
is his daughter and her daughter has a son and her son is Jotham, king. So he is a descendant
and he takes over ruling after David is long gone. Right. He's not even the next king.
He takes over ruling and he is a good king. And what does he teach the people? Trust in
the Lord. The Lord is with you if you trust in him. See the message of David through Zadok,
who was the high priest, who had access to the scripture, who was in charge of the Ark
of the Covenant. Right. David says to him, no, trust in the Lord. The Lord's will be
done. If God wants to punish me and get rid of me, fine. If he wants to bring me back,
which I believe he will, but he'll bring me back and then I'll see the Ark of the Covenant
where it belongs. Trust in the Lord. And then Zadok does that and then he has a daughter,
Jerusha, and Jerusha has a son, Jotham, and at 25 years old he becomes king. And not just
any king, but a king that calls the people back to trust in the Lord. Right. And then
you go into the New Testament in Matthew 1, 9, which is right there. The reference is
already on your page. I'm just going to read it to you real quick. I'm almost there. Matthew
1, 9 says, I'll go back to verse 8, it says, Asa father Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat father
Joram, Joram father Uzziah, Uzziah father Jotham, Jotham father Ahaz, Ahaz father Hezekiah,
and so on. And then you get down to the bottom and you hear, and Jacob father, Jacob father
Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. And so
what I want you to see is that that encounter between David and Zadok affects the line of
all the way down to Jesus. And Jesus would have known, as a devout Jew, even if he wasn't
God, he would have known that he had a lineage that went all the way back to David, and that
David said, no, trust the Lord, you trust the Lord, and the Lord will be with you. Who
do you want to judge you? Do you want the world to judge you? Because some days they
like you, some days they don't. Some days they have the same opinions of you, some days
they don't. Some days, like when I was hiring managers at Pizza Hut, I took a class on it,
whatever study up on it, and they said, don't hire people who are just like you, and don't
hire them just because they're just like you, and then don't hire people who are just different
from you. So you can't do either one of those things. You look at the job, what's needed,
and you hire the person that will do well in the job, whether they're like you or different
from you in whatever ways. You have to avoid those biases. And that's what David said to
him, avoid those biases. I understand that you're the priest, but I didn't make you the
priest, God did that. I understand that's the arc of the covenant and God's presence
is there, but God's presence is here too. And if God wants to spare me, He'll spare me.
And don't use your power or your authority or your voice or your charminess or your good
looks or your height or your strength or your violence or nothing. Don't use any of that
to bring about the will of the Lord. Let the Lord bring about the will of the Lord. And
then it got all the way down to Joseph. And before Jesus was born, we understand that
Joseph is technically not Jesus' biological dad, right? But before Jesus was ever born,
the angel came to Joseph and he said, don't put away Mary. It's okay for you to take her
as your wife because the child that she has in her is the child of God. And what do you
think Joseph does in that case? He has every right to do all kinds of other things. He
could ignore that dream. He could do anything that he wanted to legally because she betrayed
him as far as the world was concerned. But he listened to the angel in the dream and
followed. And then later, God sends him another dream and says, you need to flee and go to
Egypt because they're hunting. They're going to try to kill the child. And he takes the
gifts of the Magi, which were worth a lot of money, and they flee to Egypt. And all
of that to fulfill a prophecy where it was prophesied about Jesus, out of Egypt I've
called my son. What I'm saying is, this guy, Zodak, and there's a couple of other interesting
events that take place between here and there, but we're just looking at this and how the
events of David being kicked out of Jerusalem by his son Absalom, who was betraying him,
how Zodak's response in those days, now that affected everybody all the way down to Jesus
and therefore affects us. We would be wise to learn this very valuable lesson because
as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit in you. You know what the footstool of God is
now? It's us. This is a God that does not live in temples made with hands. He lives
in people. And so the Holy Spirit is in you. And you can go, I'm going to go force my will
on the world and I'm going to take God with me. Or you can say, no, I'm going to let God
have his way. And if God wants to bless me, prosper me, make me rich, make me poor, make
me healthy, make me sick, make me strong, make me weak, whatever God wants, that's what
I want. Because then that's how God gets the glory. And God's plan is going to still be
unfolding a long time after you or I are dead. So it just matters how we live this life so
that when God's plan unfolds in a hundred years from now, wouldn't it be cool if you
could say, you know, Brian Mitchell, Tommy's great, great, great, great, great, great,
great, great grandchild is faithful to the Lord. And you can look back and you can say
he's faithful to the Lord because our family has a legacy. Now there were people in the
chain that weren't as faithful as Jotham, but you could say that Tommy Mitchell, deacon
of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church, he was faithful to the Lord in 2025. And he
made decisions that affected us all the way down the line. And now we're faithful to the
Lord. That's what we need. My grandfather was faithful to the Lord. My dad was not. He
gave his life back over to the Lord when he was in his seventies. Okay. And so he had
a lot of decades in there. But my grandfather was faithful to the Lord all the time and
died faithful to the Lord. And I read, after I got saved, I read Psalms to him in his,
in his deathbed to my grandfather. I did the same thing for my dad. And so then there's
that little side point there. It's Isaiah 1, 1. Does anybody know why that what's that
C is? Anyone take a stab at it? Nope. So it's going to relate to Jotham. I'm almost there.
Okay. So Isaiah 1, 1 says this, the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah,
son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
So the word is contemporary. And so if you look at it, it's C-O-N-T-E-M-P-O-R-A-R-Y,
contemporary. If you look in the book of Isaiah, you will find some of the most obvious prophecies
about the coming of Jesus. Isaiah 53, for example, where it says, who has believed our
report, who has believed what we have heard and who has the arm of the Lord been revealed
to? He grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He didn't have
an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should
desire him. It's all talking about Jesus. He was despised, rejected by men, a man of
suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from. He was
despised and we didn't value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, carried our pains, but
we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. He was pierced because
of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities, punished for our peace was
on him and we are healed by his wounds. We all went away astray like sheep. We all have
turned in our own way and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep
silent before her sheers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression
and judgment and who considered his fate. He was cut off in the land of the living and
he was struck because of my people's rebellion. They made his grave with the wicked, with
a rich man at his death, although he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.
Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a restitution offering,
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days and by his hand the Lord's pleasure will
be accomplished. Get the last part. And by his hand the Lord's pleasure will be accomplished.
What did David say? If I should find favor with the Lord, then he will bring me back.
But if not, then let him do whatever seems right to him. See, the faithful people of
God have always recognized you can't force God to be anywhere God doesn't want to be.
You can't force God to do anything God doesn't want to do. But if you trust in the Lord,
the Lord is with you. Okay, so any questions first of all? Everybody got every blank filled
out? Okay, I got candy. I'm going to go and ask a few questions and we'll be done. It's
a brand new bag of candy. You got the tiny little guys of fun. So you get two different
kinds every time. All right, here we go. Raise your hand if you know the answer. Don't shout
it out. Okay, you ready? Okay, so David sent Zadok back to Jerusalem so that he could use
him as a what? Jason? Correct. Zero out of two. Congratulations on the catch. All right,
let's go. How many sons of Zadok were involved in the conspiracy? That is incorrect. Are
you guessing? Is anyone not guessing? Just one. There's one son of Zadok and one son
of Abhiathar, right? Two sons total. One son of Zadok and one of Abhiathar. Okay. All right,
so what part did the two sons of Zadok and Abhiathar play in the conspiracy? What was
their job? Go. To bring the message. One out of two. That's better than Jason did.
Okay. Jotham was a king in the lineage. First of all, what was, and you won't find this
on your paper, what was Jotham's father's name? I said at least twice. Jason? Nope.
Josh? Uzziah is correct. Is that what you're gonna say? Nope. Okay. Gotta love an honest
man. Okay. During the ousting of David from Jerusalem, this guy would have gone with David,
but David sent him back to pledge his allegiance to Absalom. Jason? Haseeb? Hushai? Two for
two. Improved. Much improved. Much improved. Okay. This famous artifact came out with Zadok.
The Ark of the Covenant is correct. Raise your hand so I can call her. Jason had his
hand up too. Okay. I think David and Zadok were both hopeful that David might find this
in the Lord. Favors? Favors is correct. Jason had his hand up too, but he already got it
twice. She just can't get both of them in one shot. Okay. All right. Here we go. Natalie.
Are you ready? Okay. Describe the relationship between Jotham and Isaiah. Very good. I can't
pick it up. Doesn't have a handle on it. One out of two. Okay. Tashon. Ready? Yes! Jotham
was king for this many years. I said it at least twice. Not on the paper. He might be
right. 16? Sorry. Okay. All right. A couple of fun ones. Two. Hannah. How many books in
the Bible? Stop giving answers. Smack in your head. Say it to me because I'm... 66 is correct.
By committee, but correct. Okay. Oh, they're trying to drink candy. You can do that later.
Okay. Okay. Shortest book of the Bible. Anybody that raises their hand. Deltz included. Josh.
Second John is correct. I think you have both chocolate. I don't have any non-chocolate
up here, Josh. That was awesome. All right. Longest book of the Bible. Anybody? Zero for
two. Shortest chapter. This side of the room only. Okay. Must be over 30 years old. Shortest
verse in the Bible. Zero for two. I got one. Well, only because it hits you. Okay. All
right. Raise your hand if you just want a free tiny chocolate bar. I can't throw very
accurately today. Anybody over here? You didn't raise your hand, but I just give it to you
for fun. Okay. We're going to pray. I do have some snacks kept here. I didn't make any drinks
yet. I had trouble getting here and getting things done today. I was here, but I had trouble
getting things done. Ready? Father in heaven, we thank you for this story and David's devout
care, for everything we do. There's 100 percent. He was up here in Summit, shekance, the Apost için
We've got to realize that if we take it in our own hands and we make things go, even if we make,
force them to go, what we think is the way you want them to go, that's just not good enough.
Because we won't always know what the way you want things to go is.
We need to learn to submit them into your hands, to let them be the way you want them to be.
It's so easy as a young person to think that God wants this situation for me, or this would be
best for my career, or this would be best for my relationship. It's always so easy as a parent to
think, well, I know for sure what I want to have happen with my kids, what they need to do, how they
need to behave, what their future needs to look like. It's easy on the job to face some kind of
a trial, or desire a promotion, or something, and to figure a way to make a plan how we can get that
done. There just isn't place for all of that. We should be praying every single day, your kingdom
come, your will be done. We shouldn't just be praying, we should be learning to grow, to desire
it in everything. If we desire what you want, then we know that you will give us the desires of our
heart. Hopefully Lord, some years down the road somebody will look back at my life and say he
honored God. And in order for that to be true, I know I got to make good decisions, even better
decisions than I have thus far. So I pray that we'll all do that. We'll all submit to you. We'll
all recognize that your will being done is the most important thing. And if we should find favor
with you, then you will bring us into a place of power, or authority, or prosperity, or service,
or we'll be able to give like nobody else can give, or do like nobody else can do, to honor your name.
And Lord, if we don't find favor with you, then whatever seems good to you, help us endure it,
stand up under it, walk the way you have us. Bless us if you seek to heal our sick and hurting,
provide for us in finances. If this should be your will, Lord, then you know where we're hurting in
all these different areas and things, and we just pray that you'll just attend to every single one
of them. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen.