The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 165: The Lover and the Beloved (2025)

Episode Date: June 14, 2025

Fr. Mike connects today's reading from Songs to the teachings of St. John Paul's Theology of the Body. He also points out how helpful it is to track the timelines of the kings of Israel and Judah as we read from Kings and Chronicles simultaneously. The readings are 1 Kings 15-16, 2 Chronicles 16-17, and Song of Solomon 4. 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.

Before we get started, I just wanted to offer a quick thank you to all those who have supported the Catechism in a Year or the Bible in a Year podcast. We hear stories every day about how those shows have transformed people's lives and because of your prayers and financial gifts, you are a significant part of that. You might ask a question though. The question is, what does Ascension do with these financial gifts? Great question. The answer is, we make authentically Catholic podcasts and videos and other digital content

to help people know the Catholic faith and grow closer to God And we do it all for free if you found this podcast be helpful in your life And would like to help us continue making free Catholic content we can post online Please consider making a financial contribution an ongoing financial contribution by going to ascensionpress.com Support that's ascensionpress.com slash support. That's ascensionpress.com slash support. Thank you and God bless. 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. Today is day 165. We are reading from 1 Kings chapter 15 and 16, 2 Chronicles chapters 16 and 17, and the Song of Solomon chapter four.

That's a lot of chapters today. That's five chapters today, so that's gonna be great. So buckle up and hang on. We are reading from the Bible translation called the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to get your own Great Adventure Bible from Ascension, you can go to ascensionpress.com.

You can also go to Amazon or wherever you find Bibles are sold and get those there. If you want to download your own free Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you wanna subscribe to this podcast, you can by clicking on subscribe. As I said, it is day 165, which is so good. You guys, congratulations.

This is remarkable. I imagine for the last 165 days or at least 165 times you've allowed God's word to shape your mind and shape your heart and to shape the way in which you see the world. It's so good, what a gift. So day 165, reading 1 Kings 15 and 16, 2 Chronicles 16 and 17, and the Song of Solomon, chapter four. The first book of Kings, chapter 15.

Abisham reigns over Judah. Now in the 18th year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, Abisham began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maaka, the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins which his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David's sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting

up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem. Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the Acts of Abisham, in all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abisham and Jeroboam. And Abisham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Asa reigns over Judah. In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and he reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maaka, the daughter of Abishalom, and Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed Maaka, his mother, from being Queen Mother because she had an abominable image made for Asherah, and Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days,

and he brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver and gold and vessels. War between Asa and Baasha. And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days. Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or to come in to Esau the king of Judah. Then Esau took

all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hands of his servants. And King Esau sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Taprimon, the son of Hesion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, Let there be a league between me and you, as between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your league with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Ma'akah, and all Chinaroth, and all the land of Naphtali. And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the

stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built Giba of Benjamin and Mizpah. Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet, and Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead. Nadab reigns over Israel.

Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his stead. And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of

Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed until he had destroyed it according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shalunite. It was for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord the God of Israel Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel and there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days Baasha reigns over Israel in The third year of Asa king of Judah Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel. In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, began to reign over all

Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. Chapter 16. And the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house,

and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat. Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah and Elah his son reigned in his stead. Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also

because he destroyed it. Elah reigns over Israel. In the 26th year of Asa king of Judah, Eilah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots conspired against him when he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah who was over the house of Tirzah. Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the 27-seventh year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his stead. When he began to reign as soon as he had seated himself on his throne he killed all of the house of Baasha

He did not leave him a single male of his kinsmen or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha according to the word of the Lord which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son which they sinned, and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. Now the rest of the Acts of Elah and all that he did are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Conspiracy and Death of Zimri

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbathon, which belonged to the Philistines, and the troops who were encamped heard it and said, Zimri has conspired and he has killed the king. Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

So Omri went up from Gibbathon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house, and burned the king's house over him with fire and died, because of his sins which he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? Omri reigns over Israel and builds Samaria.

Then the sons of Israel were divided in two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginnath to make him king, and half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginnath to make him king, and half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibne the son of Ginnath, so that Tibne died, and Omri became king. In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and reigned for twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.

He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemar for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemar the owner of the hill. Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him, for he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and in the sins which he had made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord the God of Israel to anger by their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his

stead. Ahab reigns over Israel, and does evil. In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all that were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.

He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria, and Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jer Jericho and laid its foundation at the cost of Abraham his firstborn and Set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub according to the word of the Lord Which he spoke by Joshua the son of none The second book of Chronicles chapter 16 alliance with Syria with Syria Condemned. In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah

and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, Let there be a league between me and you as between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your league with Baasha, King of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ejon, Dan, Abel-Mayim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease.

Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Giba and Mizpah. At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with exceedingly many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He gave them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move back and forth throughout the whole earth to show His might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless before Him.

You have done foolishly in this, and from now on you will have wars." Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. Asa's Disease and Death The Acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe.

Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought the help from physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. They buried him in the tomb which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a beer, which had been filled with various kinds of spices, and prepared by the perfumers' art. And they made a great fire in his honor. Chapter 17. Jehoshaphat's Reign.

Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had taken. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. Because he walked in the earlier ways of his father, he did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments and not according to the ways of Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat,

and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord, and furthermore he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. In the third year of his reign, he sent his princes, Ben Ha'il, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah, and with them the Levites, Shemaah, Nathaniah, Zebediah, Asahel, Shimei-Reymoth, Jehonathan,

Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadenaijah, and with these Levites the priests Elishamah and Jehoram. And they taught in Judah, having the book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the land that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabs also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 he-goats. And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities,

and he had great stores in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor in Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by father's houses, of Judah the commander of thousands, Adna the commander with 300 hundred thousand mighty men of valor and next to him Jehohanan the commander with two hundred and eighty thousand and next to him a messiah the son of Zikri a volunteer for the service of the Lord with two hundred thousand mighty men of valor of Benjamin Eliada a mighty man of valor with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield,

and next to him Jehoshaphat, with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. The Song of Solomon, chapter 4. The Bride's Beauty Extolled. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of

which bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like the halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. Your neck is like the Tower of David, built for an arsenal, whereupon hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of gazelle, that feed among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will hasten to the

mountain of Myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are all fair, my love. There is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. Come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Ammona, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride.

How much better is your love than wine and the fragrance of your oils than any spice. Your lips distill nectar, my bride, how much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice? Your lips distill nectar, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue, the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon. A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed. Your chutes are an orchard of pomegranates, with all choicest fruits, henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. A garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from

Lebanon. Awake, O North Wind, and come, O South Wind, blow upon my garden, let its fragrance be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits. Father, we give you praise and we love you. Please receive our love, please receive our praise. In Jesus' name, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, one note on the song of solomon as we noted this is the love song between god and his people and it's about human love as well and there's a couple things that pope john paul the second when he Wrote this thing called the theology of the body A series of teachings that he had given for the space of roughly five years on wednesdays Over in the vatican he would come out and he would teach every Wednesday for roughly I think it was like 135 Wednesdays not in a row but consecutively or you know over the space of five or so years and at one point he

reflected on the song of Psalms song of songs song of Solomon and he noted he said that we caught this I think a couple days ago where here's the lover and the lover knocks on the door and It's the beloved. It's the woman she can answer or she can't answer It's hers though. It's he can knock and any weights and if she answers that's great He can come in if she doesn't answer Then he doesn't force his way in and John Paul the second made this point about when it comes to love between a Man and a woman between the love of the husband and wife, he says that the woman always remains a master of her own mystery.

She always remains a master of her own mystery, meaning that even if they're married, her husband, every time he approaches her, every time he initiates intimacy with her, he knocks essentially, and she can say no. John Paul II goes on to say, he says, this is the man's risk. He always risks when he initiates, even as a husband.

He's like, no, she's not mine to just use or not mine to my own pleasure. He knocks and he risks. He knocks and he waits. And she can always refuse because she remains, in John Paul's words, the master of her own mystery. In fact, we see this in chapter four, where it says, a garden locked is my sister, my bride.

She's a garden locked. Another way to say it, he says, a garden fountain, my sister my bride. She's a garden locked another way to say it He says a garden fountain a well of living water and she's a garden locked meaning that he can't force his way in Meaning that the woman always always has possession of herself She gives of herself to the man or she doesn't but she gets to choose whether she gives of herself or not and he approaches And he approaches with love he approaches also with tenderness knowing that again it's a risk and she can refuse because she is a garden locked another thing to note is it says a garden locked is my sister my bride and John Paul again points out he says one

of the things it reminds us of is that every time we approach those with whom we might even have a romantic relationship so whether that be a man to his wife here my sister my bride or a woman to her husband, my brother, my husband, my brother, my groom, John Paul points out, he says, that it's always my sister first. And he says, why is that? Because you think I don't have a sexualized view

of my sister. And in John Paul essentially says, yes, exactly. You first approach your bride as sister. You first approach your bride as one, you first approach your bride as one who exists for love for her own sake. She exists for her own sake, not as your bride first, she first exists as herself. Does that make sense?

John Paul II said, as often as husbands and wives approach each other like this, first seeing each other as the other who exists for their own sake, for the Lord's sake, first as sister, first as brother, then they can truly give themselves as grooms, can truly give themselves as bride because they've entered into this reality, right?

They foresee each other for who they truly are, not who you are to me, if that makes any sense. So it maintains the dignity of the person before being spouse, before being that lover, essentially. So little reflection from John Paul the second when he talks about the theology of the body. If we could go back to our not necessarily confusing, here's what I invite you to do

when it comes to Kings and Chronicles is in this, write the names down. If you have the opportunity at all, if you have a great adventure Bible itself, this is where this Bible comes into handy in a massive way. Just so helpful because the timeline that Jeff put together shows so clearly, okay, this is the next king, and this is the next king, so we have some overlap, right,

with Chronicles talking about the reign of Asa, and then King's talking about the reign of Asa, and Jehoshaphat, and all these other different kings, and we're wondering, wait, is this the north, or is this the south? When you have that Great Adventure Bible timeline, even if you were to go online and order it from ascensionpress.com, that would be really helpful.

If you can't get your hands on the Bible that we have, you can also get the hands on this kind of fold-out timeline that can be critical in this time, because tomorrow even we're gonna be introduced to a prophet, a very famous prophet. We have other prophets we've already heard from, or Ahijah and some others, but the first really famous prophet's coming up,

Elijah, tomorrow. And so that's really helpful to know, oh, this is the context for that. So track down one of those great adventure Bible timelines or even just write the names of the kings, write the names of the prophets and write where they're at. You know, are they in the North or are they in the South? Little spoiler, if you haven't heard this already,

none of the kings in the North are gonna be good. And so as we ended today with the introduction of Ahab Ahab becomes like one of the the worst ones that we get to hear from none of the kings in the north are gonna be good They're all gonna be false and unfaithful to the Lord. They're all gonna lead people into into evil We talked about a couple good kings today though, and we had Asa remember Asa isn't he's known as a good king And yet he doesn't end well He's kind of like a story of kind of Solomon who starts out good doesn't end good and King Asa reigns really well for a long Time 35 years roughly but then you have this story where the king of Israel Baasha

He enters into a league covenant kind of agreement with the king of Syria and the king of Syria and he Basically say all right. We're not gonna allow Asa to come in or go out. And ASA has this great idea. He says, well, you know, we're taking a bunch of money and we can get this King of Syria on our side. And he does. And it's great. And from a human perspective, this is a really good idea. But then Hanani, the seer comes to ASA and says, okay, you relied upon the King of Syria. You did not rely upon the Lord. So because of that, remember, remember the Ethiopians. Do you remember yesterday when we had Asa

face down the Ethiopians? Asa had 500,000 troops. The Ethiopians had a million troops. It was two to one kind of a situation. And he got victory, why? Because you relied upon the Lord your God. But now, because you've entered in this agreement with Syria, you will now be fighting. fighting and now rather than taking his correction Asa

rebels against the Lord he's in a rage with the seer puts him in stocks it's horrible and then not only that but a couple years later Asa gets sick he has a disease in his feet and he doesn't again he doesn't, again, he doesn't seek the Lord, he seeks physicians. And basically, he spends like 35 years of really good being faithful to the Lord. And the last part of his life, he's less than faithful. And that's the big lesson, right? For all of us, we can spend so much of our lives being faithful, we will have to not just start well,

not just run well, we wanna finish well, we wanna end well. Now Jehoshaphat, son is gonna be someone who starts well and he reigns well and he runs well He's gonna he's gonna finish pretty well But keep in mind that we're gonna start following Jehoshaphat story as well as well as the story of Ahab Ahab the king of the north who spoiler alert as I said before is not gonna be a good king But Jehoshaphat will be a pretty good king who's in the south. So, you guys, hopefully you can follow these names and all this stuff.

Again, the great thing about reading Kings and Chronicles at the same time is that you hear the same story multiple times. Again, the bad thing about hearing Kings and Chronicles at the same time is you're at the same story and you're wondering, wait, did I hear this before? Did I not hear this before? So, keep track of it. Get that Great Adventure Bible Timeline or even simply just write down the names as you hear them because you can realize, oh, they're talking about this guy again. And that can be really, really helpful.

Anyways, gosh, it's been a long time. We gotta bring this episode, this day of the Bible to a close as we pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please, please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.