During David's Flight From Jerusalem" Zadok the Priest

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns.

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 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.

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.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

1,189.

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.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Lasting $4,000.

Less than $4 million.

$75,000.

Less than $99,000.

Less than $99,000.

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

800,000

less than 900,000

700,000

700,000

8,000

8,000

800,000

8,000

770, more than 770

780

790

790

less than 775

779

700,000

775

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

1500

1500

1500

1500

1500

1500

1500

1500

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

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

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

40

one more

one more

one more

one more

okay

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

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

oh

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.