Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Apart from Jesus, There's Nothing | Historical Books | 2 Kings 21:19-26

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Have you forgotten what it was like before you met Jesus? Is Gen Z coming back to church? What are today's idols? In today's episode, Keith shares how 2 Kings 21:19-26 reminds us that apart from Jesus, there is nothing. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Kings 21:19-26

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. As a church I pastor, we've been seeing something really cool happen in our college ministry of the last few years. Every Tuesday night, over a thousand college students gather in our auditorium to worship Jesus. That's a significant increase compared to even a few years ago. And this isn't just a fluke.

Churches all over the country are seeing the same thing. Gen Z is showing. up in the church. Now that's not what we were told would happen. Everyone assumed Gen Z would be the first fully post-Christian generation. Raised on TikTok and trained to be skeptics, they were too digital, we were told, too distracted, too disinterested. It seems that the generation is split. Many in Gen Z are irreligious and consider themselves among the nuns, N-O-N-E-S, those who don't identify with any particular religion. But others are showing up to churches in droves. Hands raised in worship, desperate for something real.

The other day, my daughter-in-law who works with the church sent me a video of students at the University of Missouri filing into the center of campus for an outdoor worship night. Tons of young people packed into a plaza, not for a concert, not for a party, but to sing to Jesus. And as I watched that video, I felt something click inside of me, like I was starting to realize why Gen Z is interested in Jesus. It's a simple reason, but it's one I forget a lot in my own life. and that's this. Apart from Jesus, there is nothing. I've been a Christian for a long time now, and sometimes I forget what it was like not to be a Christian. I forget what it was like to be unsure of who I was, or what I was doing, or whether any of it really mattered. I forget the pressure

of trying to make my own meaning for my life, the ache of trying to prove myself, the confusion of not knowing where to place my guilt or what to do with my shame. But that video reminded me, and maybe you need to be reminded, too, that with that, Without Jesus, it's all empty. Before we hop into today's passage, let's take a second and just pray for Gen Z. Let's pray that God would continue to make the gospel known to them, that they would believe and find life in Jesus. Lord, thank you for the work you're doing in the lives of young people today.

I pray that you would continue to use people, use churches, use podcasts, use anything to help more people in Gen Z believe that Jesus is more. may they know that they are loved, that they have a purpose in life that you gave them, that you died for their sins so that they might have life in you. Lord, help us to be the kind of people who are encouraging young people in our lives to follow you more closely. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, in 2nd King 21, we meet a king, Amen. Amen became the king of Israel at 22 years old, and he inherits the throne of his father, Manasseh, who is one of the most wicked kings in Israel's history.

And instead of choosing a different path from his father, Amen doubles down on sin. Verse 21 says, He followed completely the ways of his father, worshipping the idols his father had worshipped, and bowing down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.

Amen forsook the Lord, the God who made him, the God who sustained him, the God who delivered his people, the God who gave them the land, the covenant, the promises, he walked away from the true God and bowed down to idols. Instead of living life full of the joy of the Lord, Amen chooses emptiness. But what good did those idols do him? See, that's the thing about idols. They promise everything and deliver nothing. Our culture has

them too. Idols demand your life, but give you nothing in return. The idol of achievement tells you to work harder, to hustle more, to optimize everything, and then maybe finally you'll be enough, but you won't, you'll burn out, and it'll whisper, you're not quite there, you're still quite not enough. The idol of beauty tells you that if you just get the right body, the right skin, the right clothes, then maybe you'll be loved, but it never lasts, and there's always someone prettier. The idol of approval tells you that if people like you, you'll finally like yourself, but it's a treadmill with no off switch. One mistake, one person's disapproval, and it all crumbles. The idol of pleasure tells you to numb the pain. Just scroll, just drink,

just hook up, just distract yourself. But the emptiness always returns, doesn't it? The idol of politics tells you that if you can get the right leader, the right system, the right political party, the right revolution, will fix everything. But here we are, more divided, more angry, more anxious than ever. Idols are loud, and they're also liars. They promise freedom but leave you anxious and enslaved. They offer comfort but deliver numbness. They whisper meaning, but when you lean in to listen, there's nothing there. And maybe that's why Gen Z is coming back to church. They've tasted what the world had to offer, the endless scroll, the curated identities, the casual hookups, the self-optimization hustle, and they found it all wanting. For a while,

it looked like meaning. For a while, it felt like control. But now, many of them are waking up to the hollowness. They're realizing these idols can't carry the weight of a soul. They can't offer forgiveness. They can't offer joy. They can't offer real love. So they're coming back. And not because church is cool. They're coming back because they're desperate for something true, something better. But not everyone gets there. King Eamon certainly didn't. He came to power young, just 22 years old, and In today's world, that's a college senior. His whole life was ahead of him. A chance to turn the page to do something different to write a better story, but he didn't. Why? Well, because Amon was comfortable, the idols were familiar. He knew how the system worked. Why surrender control

when you're in the palace? Why bow down to the true God when the false gods seem to be working just fine? But what Amon didn't realize is what so many of us forget. Just because something feels normal doesn't mean it's good. And just because something is comfortable doesn't mean it's safe. His comfort was killing him. And ultimately, that's what happens. Verse 23 says Amen's officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. In the middle of his luxury, in the middle of his comfort, in the middle of his sin,

Amon is killed. That's the end of his story. No repentance, no legacy, just betrayal, a short life, a wasted opportunity, a man who forsook the Lord and was forgotten. And I can't help but think, what a tragedy, because the very idols he trusted in couldn't save him. They never can, not in the end. Lord, would you open our eyes and help us see where we've made peace with idols, where we've followed the ways of our culture instead of following you? Lord, make us uncomfortable with our comfort. Expose the lies that feel so true, tear down the idols we've trusted in, even the ones that seem.

harmless. We don't want to waste our lives, Lord. We don't want to forsake you. So stir our hearts. Wake us up. Help us to long for something more, something real. Amen. Well, fortunately for us, Jesus came for people who forsook him. He came for idolaters and wanderers and skeptics and sinners. He came for overachievers who are exhausted. For the addicts who feel too far gone. For the religious people who are good at pretending. He came for all of us. and he didn't just come to inspire you, he came to die for you. The Son of God took on flesh and lived the life we couldn't live. No idols, no shortcuts, no sin.

He loved the unlovable. He welcomed the broken. He told the truth even when it cost him. And then he walked willingly to a Roman cross, bearing your guilt, your shame, your punishment. He died in your place. But he didn't stay dead. Jesus rose, and now he reigns,

and he's offering you everything your idols could never give you. He offers peace that doesn't depend on your performance. Jesus offers joy that doesn't rise and fall with your circumstances. He offers hope that stretches beyond the grave. He offers a love that won't let go, a mission that's bigger than yourself, a future that's better than you can imagine. Jesus is better than anything this world has to offer, and he's better than anything death can take away. So turn to him, not because you have to, but because there's no one like him. And no one so kind, no one so just, no one so holy, no one so strong and so gentle, so faithful and so free.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, over all creation. In him, all things hold together. And by his blood, we are forgiven. We are made new. Let's not miss what Gen Z is seeing. Let's not grow numb to what they're tasting. Let's remember what many of them are just now discovering. Jesus is better, and he's worth everything. Amen.