Baldhead Bible Podcast

As King of Judah, can an 8-year-old child be the Greatest Of All Time? The greatest king Judah, and in fact, all of Israel ever had? The writer of 2 Kings thinks so. He wrote of this 8-year old King that "Neither before nor after . . . was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses" (2 Kings 23:25). Who was this fantastic elementary school kid? What was the name of this child King that put the adults around him to shame? Listen on to find out.

Hezekiah was a good King who followed Yahweh with all his heart. Though he did not end his reign on a high note, overall, he was a King who pleased God. And for eleven years his son Manasseh co-reigned with him, learning from his Dad how to lead the nation in a way that pleases God. And when his father died, at the age of twelve, Manasseh became the sole ruler of Judah. And you know what he did when he was finally on his own? He became one of the vilest, evil kings Israel and Judah had ever known. Why? What caused him to forsake everything his father stood for? And would he reject Yahweh for all of his reign? Listen to this week's story to find out.

This week we come to the end of Hezekiah's story. The GOAT of Judah, one of the greatest Kings Judah ever had, is coming to the end of his days. He is dying, and the prophet Isaiah has shown up to tell him that God wants him to get his house in order because he will die. But Hezekiah is not ready to die. He still wants to live, so he pleads to the Lord for life, to not die, and to live longer. He prays for God to remember all he has done for Him and to give him more time on this earth. And then God answers. What is the answer God gives him? You will have to listen to this week's episode to find out.

The great Assyrian King was threatening the very walls of Jerusalem. He had marched throughout the Samaritan region, destroying nations and taking many captive and exiling them to Nineveh and the cities of his Assyria. And he had one prize left, the city of Jerusalem, and he was primed to siege and take it and wipe out the nation of Judah forever. Judah's King at the time was King Hezekiah, and he had to face the threat of Sennacherib and his vast army. But how? Where is Judah's, God Yahweh? When will Yahweh show himself powerful and defend His people? Hezekiah cries out to God in desperation. Will He listen? Will he save the people of Judah from King Sennacherib? Listen to this week's story to find out.

King Hezekiah is the ruler of the southern Kingdom, known as Judah or southern Israel. Last week, Hezekiah cleansed the temple, reformed and reordered the priesthood, and now he calls all of Israel to come to the temple in Jerusalem to rejoice and worship the one true God Yahweh. He calls all that is left of the northern Kingdom to come and celebrate. Will any of them come? Will the Lord accept their worship? What will this celebration look like? Listen to this week's podcast to find out.

The greatest of all time, otherwise known as the GOAT. This week we meet for the first time the GOAT of the Kings of Judah, and his name is Hezekiah. Now it is not me making this claim of goatness for him, it is the Bible. Scripture says that there was no better King before or after him. And what made him so great? Well, for one thing, he was not afraid to take on super secret serpent cults. Listen to how he dealt with the cult of Nehushtan, and reigned in such a way that the Bible called him the greatest King of all time.

The end, That's all, folks. And they lived happily ever after. All stories come to an end, a conclusion. And we hope they are happy endings, that the story ends with the hero riding into the sunset having vanquished all their foes. But other stories end badly; they end on a sad note. And this week, we hear one of those stories. The end of Northern Israel does not end well. Their story concludes ugly, sad, and the worst part about it is that it could have all been avoided if the people of Israel had done one simple thing: obeyed. Hear the end of their story, and may it be a reminder to us all that the only path to joy is trusting and obeying Jesus.

This week we look at the story of King Ahaz and the famous prophecy that "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel." This prophecy was pronounced by Isaiah to King Ahaz and later used by Matthew to help explain the virgin birth of Christ. How can a prophecy of judgment against a rebellious King of Judah be applied to the birth of Jesus? Listen to this week's episode to find out.

One theme that keeps coming up as I tell these stories is the theme of obedience. God expects His children to obey His commands. And if we do obey Him, God promises that He will bless us. In this week's story, we hear the story of King Jotham and his choice to obey and to not waver in that obedience. By doing so, God blesses him and, by extension, the kingdom of southern Israel. Hear his inspiring story and the call God gives to all his children to live a life of obedience.

Pride is the original sin, and led to the downfall of Lucifer as he wanted to be like "the most High." From Lucifer's first prideful desires, humanity has always struggled with pride and its various sinful manifestations. In this week's story, we hear about two Kings, who let their pride rob them of the joy of following God, but it also led to their personal ruin and destruction. Their stories are a warning to our culture of the proper place of pride and how the greatest remedy to pride is found in giving God all the glory.