The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 164: Tearing Down Idols (2023)

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

Fr. Mike points out the results of what happened to the kings who built idols, and what happened to the kings who tore them down. He encourages us to tear down the idols we've built up in our own lives by trusting God with our first fruits. Today's readings are 1 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 14-15, and Song of Solomon 3. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 164. We are reading from 1 Kings chapter 14, 2 Chronicles chapters 14 and 15, and we're reading the Song of Solomon chapter 3. As always, the Bible translation that I'm

reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, and you have not yet, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you want to subscribe to this podcast, you can. I don't know if you knew that, but you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe in whatever podcast application allows you to subscribe. As I said, it is day 164. We are reading first Kings 14, second Chronicles 14 and 15 and song of Solomon chapter three, the first book of Kings, chapter 14. Judgment on the house of Jeroboam. At that time, Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife,

Arise, and disguise yourself, that it may not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child. Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her. When she came, she pretended to be another woman. But when Ahijah

heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with heavy tidings for you. Go, tell Jeroboam, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. And yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes. But you have done evil above all that were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images provoking me to anger

and have cast me behind your back. Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will utterly consume the house of Jeroboam as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies

in the open country, the birds of the air shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it. Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die, and all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him. For he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates

because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin. The Death of Jeroboam Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Terza. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant, Ahijah the prophet. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warned and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And the time that Jeroboam reigned was 22 years, and he

slept with his fathers. And Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead. Rehoboam reigns over Judah. Now Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, and pillars, and asherim on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also male cult prostitutes in the land.

They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord drove out before the sons of Israel. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made, and King Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king's house. And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard bore them and brought them back to the guardroom. Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings

of Judah? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonites, and Abijam son, reigned in his stead. The second book of Chronicles, chapter 14. Asa's good reign over Judah. So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa, his son, reigned in his stead. In his days the land had rest for ten 10 years and Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and hewed down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the

cities of Judah, the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah for the land had rest. He had no war in those years for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the Lord, our God, we have sought him and he has given us peace on every side. So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah armed with bucklers and spears and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor. Judah defeats the Ethiopians. Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Merashah. And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley of

Zephathah in Merashah. And Asa cried to the Lord his God, O Lord, there is none like you to help between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you. And in your name we have come out against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God. Let man not prevail against you. So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah,

and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people that were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much booty, and they struck all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. And they struck the tents of those who had cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem. Chapter 15, Azariah's Prophecy.

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time, Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. But when in their distress, they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel and sought him, he was found by them. In those times, there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.

They were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. But you, take courage. Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. Asa has idols removed. When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah, the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month

of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They took oath to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire. And he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest round about. Even Maaka, his mother, King Asa, removed from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah.

Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was blameless all his days, and he brought into the house of God the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver and gold and vessels. And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa. The Song of Solomon, Chapter 3. Love Seeking the Bridegroom. Upon my bed at night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. I called him, but he gave no answer. I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares. I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not.

The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. Have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the deer of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please. What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of

the merchant? Behold, it is the litter of Solomon. About it are sixty mighty men, of the mighty men of Israel, all belted with swords, all experts in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against alarms by night. King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon. He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple. It was lovingly wrought within by the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Father in heaven, we praise you once again. We just give you glory for the love you have for us and the desire that you have for our hearts. Lord God, on our own, we offer so little to you. We offer nothing, almost nothing to you. And yet, even that little, even that nothing, you receive with joy. You receive us in a way that we don't deserve. You pursue us and love us, even to the point of giving up your own life so that we could have life, giving your spirit into

us so that we could be called truly your sons and daughters. And so this day, help us to live in your love, help us to receive that life, and help us to walk this day as your beloved sons and as your beloved daughters, because you are God, our father. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy spirit. Amen. Okay. So, okay. All the names, you guys, all of the names. So we, what we have is we continue to have this divided kingdom and we continue to have the extension or the living out, the fleshing out of all that's happening. So just keep in mind, in the north, we have the kingdom of Israel, right? The 10 tribes in the north. In the south, we have the kingdom of Judah. That's Judah and Benjamin. Back in the north, we have Jeroboam. And Jeroboam is coming to the end of his reign. Now, he reigned for 21 years,

but in 1 Kings chapter 14, his son, Abijah, which is super confusing, right? Because Rehoboam also had a son named Abijah who became king. So the son, Abijah, the is super confusing, right? Because Rehoboam also had a son named Abijah who became king. So the son, Abijah, the son of Jeroboam falls sick and Jeroboam sends him to Ahijah, the prophet, or actually sends his wife to Ahijah, the prophet to inquire, is my son going to die? Is he going to live? He's desperate. And one of the things that it shows us, right, is that even though here is, you know, person could be a king, they could be a queen, they could be a billionaire. And yet the reality of life is that even billionaires get sick, even kings and queens get old, that every one of us experiences loss. And so here is Jeroboam, the king of the north,

whose son Abijah is sick. And here he is, you know, it's interesting. He doesn't turn to the temples that he built. He doesn't turn to the altars that he built. He doesn't turn to the priests that he established. He turns to Ahijah, who's actually a true prophet. So in that sense, you know, when we're free to kind of choose what we want, because we're in a time of abundance, we're in a time of peace or a time of comfort. Yeah, we like, oh, yeah, when it comes to worship of God, well, I'll give him whatever I want.

But when it comes to those desperate times, when we realize, okay, our back is up against the wall and I need an actual, an actual prophet of God, I need an actual worship. Isn't it interesting how in those times, in desperate times, we actually forget about our preference when it comes to worship. We forget about our preference when it comes to our. We forget about our preference when it comes to our living. And we realize, oh, I need to turn back to the Lord. Now, Jeroboam does this by sending his wife to Ahijah, but he doesn't actually turn back to the Lord. As it goes on to say, it says that one of the, among the things that Jeroboam had done is he had done evil. It's what Ahijah says, you've gone and made for yourselves other gods, molten images provoking me to anger. You've cast me behind your back.

And therefore, there's evil that's come upon the house of Jeroboam. He's gonna get cut off. And so that's what happens. And by the end of chapter 14, by the middle of chapter 14, Jeroboam has died. And his kingdom is at an end. It passed off to someone else.

Nadab, his son, is gonna be the next king. Meanwhile, in chapter 14 of 1 Kings, we have Rehoboam. And Rehoboam was 41 years old. And we have the story of how Rehoboam himself was horrible. Now, we didn't get necessarily all the details of Rehoboam's, the horrible things he had done in Chronicles. We do get here in 1 Kings. And it says that he leads the people of Judah into incredible sin.

In fact, he describes it like this. It says that Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked him to jealousy with their sins, which they committed more than all their fathers had done. What did they do? Verse 23, it says, they also built for themselves high places. Those high places are the places of worship of false gods, high places, pillars, asherim on every hill and under every tree.

They also had male cult prostitutes in the land. And they did according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord drove out before the sons of Israel. Remember when the people of Israel, the whole people, all 12 tribes came to the land of Canaan, those are the practices that were happening. And if you remember the book of Leviticus, it talks about stay away from these things, not just now and not just for you, Israel, but always because these things are always going to be thoroughly evil.

Here's Rehoboam who established these things again. And yeah, it's just, it's horrible. And now, thankfully, after Rehoboam dies, his son Abijah reigns. And we're going to get more of Abijah's story tomorrow, just a brief, but we'll also go from Abijah to Asa. So in 2 Chronicles, launch over to 2 Chronicles chapters 14 and 15, which we read today, we have the story of, so after Abijah lived, Abijah is going to be an okay king, right? He's going to be the one that we read about yesterday, that Jeroboam came out against him, and Jeroboam was going to have an ambush against Abijah, but Abijah had already turned

back to the Lord by this point. And so even though they had an ambush, Abijah and the men of God cried out that the Lord is the one they're serving, the Lord is faithful. And so they had a victory there. So Abijah is going to be okay in the sense that, yeah, he's going to turn back to the Lord and repent of a lot of the things that his father Rehoboam had done. But at the same time, we also know that his son Asa was good, like thoroughly good in terms of faithfulness. Remember how we gauge the goodness or badness of these kings is, are they faithful and lead the people towards faithfulness? Or are they unfaithful and lead the people towards unfaithfulness? Because in second Chronicles, we get the story of how here's Asa and what does he do?

He did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord as God, took away the foreign altars, the high places, he broke down the pillars and hewed down the Asherim and he commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers and to keep the law and the commandment. And that is so solid. In fact, Asa was so faithful to the Lord that he not only did all these things when it came to the high places and the temples and worship and stuff, but even his mother, Maaka, King Asa, removed from being queen mother because she had made an abominable

image for Asherah. This is important that there was, you know, remember we talked about this, the Gebirah or the queen mother is, you know, who's the queen of the kingdom? Well, the queen of the kingdom is not the wife of the king, but the mother of the king. But in this case, Asa had noted that his mom had been unfaithful to the Lord and had made an abominable image for her Asherah. And so she was removed from being the queen mother. So Asa, as it says at the end of chapter 15, second Chronicles, his heart remained blameless all his days. And that's just so, so remarkable. One last note.

In this note of our invitation to be faithful, our invitation to give the Lord what he's asked for, and that means our hearts. And really not just our hearts, but our hearts. We can know we give the Lord our hearts by our actions, right? So I can say internally, oh yeah, I belong fully to the Lord. But if I don't act like that, then have I really given my heart fully to the Lord? And the answer, of course, is no. So how do we see that even Abijah in some ways and Asa have given their hearts more fully to the Lord? Well, one is they've removed idols from their lives. This is where we overtly turn away from God. And so they've removed that.

And so we have to ask the question, do I have idols in my life? Do I have temples in my life that need to be cut down? Do I have those high places that need to be cut down in my life? But I allow them to take my heart away from God. But yet God's love tolerates no rivals. God, for us, his relationship with us tolerates no rivals. This is going to be a theme that we're going to continue for the rest of Kings, for the rest of Chronicles, is that God's love tolerates no rivals. So question I have to ask myself, does God have any rivals in my life for my heart,

for his place in my heart? If so, like Abijah or like Asa, I need to cut those down. Next, when Abijah had victory, they took spoils, right? And what did they do with those spoils? They offered them to the Lord. When I have blessings in my life, am I willing to actually give? Am I willing to use those as worship? And remember, when David and when Solomon were alive, the kingdom was massively wealthy.

It had so much. There was an abundance that if you were to offer 6,000 lambs or 6,000 bulls, they'd be like, well, yeah, we have a million of these things. Well, to give God 6,000 is good, but I mean, it's also kind of dropping the bucket. But here are these other kings. And remember, they've been despoiled by the Egyptian king. A lot of their wealth was taken away. But when they got essentially booty, you know, spoils of war, when they went into battle, they were willing to give thousands upon thousands upon thousands of these spoils in worship to God. And that again reveals their trust of the Lord. Remember, God doesn't need these animals. He doesn't need these sacrifices. But when we give

them to him, one of the things we're declaring is God, you are God and we're not. Another thing we're declaring is God, thank you for victory. Another thing we're declaring is I trust in you because this would be a great start for building more wealth. But no, Lord, these are my first fruits. I trust in you. And thirdly, not only did they cut down the idols, not only did they give God worship, but then they, as it says, they followed him with their whole heart in their actions. By what? By obeying the commandments of God. And this is the key.

These three things to be able to, in our lives, to get what is God's rival for my heart, his place in my heart. Okay, get rid of that. Where can I give God worship? Where can I give God my first fruits to offer that? And where can I follow God's commandments? Where has he told me, here's how I am calling you, commanding you to live. And how can I do that today? If we do those things, we are like the good King Asa, who is able to be in the midst of a world where it is difficult to follow the Lord, but he's committed to following

the Lord. We can do that today too, but we can only do it with God's grace. And so, like always, we pray for each other, like always, right, you guys? Because this is a community of people who are praying for each other, letting God's word shape the way we look at the world, and letting God's word also purify our hearts, right? To get rid of those idols, to give him the worship he deserves,

and to do what he commands. So let's pray for each other. Please pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.