Were the people in the
Bible any different to us today?
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Or ordinary
people like you and me?
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What can we find
out from their lives
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that will help us?
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Find out with
Pastor Geoff Youlden
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and Rosemary Malkiewycz
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here on People Just Like Us.
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We're glad you joined us today
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to explore
another Bible character.
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This time we'll be
studying a very important topic
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of being ruined by prosperity.
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It sounds like we'll be looking
at a very interesting person.
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So, Geoff, who is it?
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Uzziah,
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not Isaiah that
we're all familiar with,
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but Uzziah.
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Uzziah?
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He's actually got
two names in the Bible.
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In the Book of Kings.
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It's Azariah. Right.
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But in the Book of Chronicles,
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it's Uzziah.
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And he started his
reign at the age of 18
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and continued for 52 years.
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Boy, that was a
long reign for a king.
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Yes.
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He was an old
man when he finished,
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and it's interesting
that he was a good man,
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a very, very good king.
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But, like so often...
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I don't like that word. Yeah.
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But some things
happened in his life.
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And that's what we
want to study about
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because his life was
ruined by prosperity.
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That's true.
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In fact, let me just read you,
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this is 2 Chronicles 26:5.
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It says, "He sought God
in the days of Zachariah."
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Mm-hmm. All right.
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"He sought God in
the days of Zachariah,
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who had understanding
in the visions of God,
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and as long as
he sought the Lord,
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God made him prosper."
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I mean, that's
a wonderful lesson
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for us all, isn't it?
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As long as.
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As long as he sought the
Lord, then God prospered him.
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But his life ended in tragedy.
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You see, when he became king,
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the young Uzziah had
outstanding character traits
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and wonderful
abilities, amazing actually.
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And things were
very bad in the kingdom
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when he came to reign.
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Everything was at
a very, very low ebb.
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And the first
thing he needed to do
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was to subdue the Edomites
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who were the
descendants of Esau,
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Jacob's brother.
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And he took the port of Eloth,
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which was down on the Red
Sea that enabled the commerce
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that operated in
the days of King Solomon
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to actually be revived again.
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Yes.
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So he was an amazing man.
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Then he
attacked the Philistines,
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capturing Gath and Ashdod.
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Then he captured
two other nations
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that had been
thorns in Israel's flesh,
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the Amorites and the Arabians.
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And this conquest gave Uzziah
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great standing
among the nations.
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In fact, his name was feared
all the way down to Egypt.
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So that'll give you some idea
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the extent of his reign.
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At home, he restored
the defenses of Jerusalem,
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building strong
towers on the walls
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to resist any besieging army.
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He also
invented military engines
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like the
catapults of the Romans.
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And the purpose of that was,
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of course, to hurl
the arrows and darts
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and to cast stones down
upon any besieging army.
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He organized a
great standing army
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of 307,000 men
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and had a special crack troop
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like David's mighty men,
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except that Uzziah's numbered,
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not 600 like David had
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that he had crack troops 2,600.
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Wow, that's a lot more.
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A lot more.
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Uzziah was also a
great agriculturalist.
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And I think that
would be a real asset
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for any leader of the people.
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The Bible says
he loved husbandry.
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He cultivated
vineyards in the mountains
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and operated cattle
stations in the low country
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and on the plains.
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And for their
defense and their food,
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he built towers to protect
them and sunk wells for water.
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So such was the reign of Uzziah.
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So he was a warrior
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and inventor and agriculturist.
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Yes.
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He was interested in his people.
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Yes, such was his forte
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because he loved God
and was a great leader.
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He was also a
great general conqueror
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and as you said,
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a great inventor and
a great agriculturist
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and a great organizer.
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Amazing.
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This is what the
Bible says about him
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in 2 Chronicles 26:15.
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"He made devices in Jerusalem
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and invented by skillful men,
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to be on the
towers of the corners,
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to shoot arrows
and large stones."
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So you can imagine the wall,
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and he's talking about
the corners of the wall,
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to shoot arrows
and large stones.
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"So his fame
spread far and wide,
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for he was marvelously helped
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till he became strong."
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We get those words, don't we?
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Till, but, until.
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Till he became strong.
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And, unfortunately,
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verse 16, goes on
to say, the next verse,
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"But when he was strong
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his heart was lifted up,
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to his destruction,
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for he transgressed
against the Lord his God
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by entering the temple
of the Lord to burn incense
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on the altar of incense."
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So we find now
that he wanted to copy
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all the other nations
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because all the other nations,
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the head person of
the nation, the king,
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or whoever they call him
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was also the
head of the religion
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of the country.
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And Uzziah shoulders
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with all the
surrounding nations,
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and now he wanted to
also be the head pontiff.
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Yes.
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Interesting name, the pontiff.
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And he took that name,
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and he was about to
enter into the temple
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when there was a
problem, verse 17.
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"So Azariah, the
priest went in after him,
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and with him were
eighty priests of the Lord,
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valiant men."
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Now you can understand
why the Bible refers to them
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as valiant men in just a
moment because of what they did.
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"And they withstood King Uzziah,
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and said to him, 'It
is not for you, Uzziah,
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to burn incense to the Lord,
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but for the priests,
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the sons of Aaron,
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who are
consecrated to burn incense.
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Get out of the sanctuary,
for you have trespassed!
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You shall have no
honor from the Lord God.'"
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That's pretty
straight language, isn't it?
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It certainly is.
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And the king was
about to hit the priest
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because it says,
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"And they withstood
King Uzziah, and said to him,
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'It is not good for you,
Uzziah, to burn incense.'"
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And verse 19 says,
"Then Uzziah became furious,
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and he had a censer in
his hand to burn incense.
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And while he was
angry with the priests,
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leprosy broke
out on his forehead,
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before the priests in
the house of the Lord,
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beside the incense altar."
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In other words, he was
about to strike the high priest
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when suddenly leprosy break in.
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No wonder they were valiant men.
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They were.
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I mean, you think about it,
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they're confronting now the king
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who's has ultimate power.
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He could have
them all killed. Yep.
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And so here we find that
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these men confront King Uzziah
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for doing this dreadful thing.
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And it was presumption
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for him to go in
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and think that he could
do what God had said only
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the priests would
stand beside the altar.
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But once again, he was copying
the other nations, you see?
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That's the position they had.
So he wanted to be like them.
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You know, we've heard that
over and over and over again,
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you know, we wanna
be like everybody else.
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And he certainly
wanted to be like them,
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and he was thrown
out and became a leper.
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Now once he became a leper,
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of course, he was banished,
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and he could no
longer be the king,
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so he lost everything.
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And God did not
heal him of that leprosy.
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No. He died with leprosy.
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And I guess, Rosemary,
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it brings up the issue
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of the danger of prosperity.
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Because this only happened
towards the end of his life
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when he was
very, very prosperous.
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In other words,
God had blessed him
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over and over and over
and over and over again.
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And as he grew in prosperity,
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his pride grew at the same time.
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Yes.
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And this is what
led to him doing this...
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This dreadful thing.
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And, of course, in life,
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everyone wants to
succeed, don't they?
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I mean, we all
want to be successful
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in what we do.
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And there's
nothing wrong with that.
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But of course...
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It's what we do with it. It is.
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And it's whether
we allow ourselves
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to remain humble,
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and realize that every good gift
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that we have,
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that we inherit,
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all the way
given comes from God.
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James 1:17. Yes.
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And so there's a
perilous time with success.
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And I mean, I guess,
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we could recite
illustrations of people.
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We can.
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I remember a family
in Western Australia.
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They're just an ordinary family,
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and they moved to another town
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and got involved in a business
that became very successful.
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They built a huge home,
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started buying boats
and things like that.
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They stopped going to church.
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God was left out of the picture
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because now they
had all this wealth
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and everything
the heart can desire.
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And there was no
room for God anymore.
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It was very, very sad.
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I don't know
whatever happened to them.
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Whether they came back, whether
they continued that behavior,
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but that's what they were doing.
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Well, that's the danger.
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I guess, there's
so many illustrations.
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I mean, in the Bible, there's
lots of illustrations of men,
00:10:55.58\00:11:01.89
one that comes to my
mind is Nebuchadnezzar.
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Now you think of what
Nebuchadnezzar went through,
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and he became so
big in his own opinion.
00:11:09.06\00:11:12.77
In fact, he said,
"Look at this great Babylon,
00:11:12.80\00:11:15.04
that I have built."
00:11:15.07\00:11:16.40
With his hanging gardens. Yes.
00:11:16.44\00:11:17.77
"For my
prosperity and so forth."
00:11:17.81\00:11:20.74
It was all centered on him.
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And God had to
humble Nebuchadnezzar.
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You know, the
story it's recorded
00:11:25.51\00:11:26.85
there in the Gospel of Daniel,
00:11:26.88\00:11:29.78
and this great Babylon...
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I mean, it's true as you said,
00:11:32.29\00:11:34.06
he built the
hanging gardens of Babylon,
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which is still recognized
00:11:36.56\00:11:37.89
as one of the
wonders of the ancient world.
00:11:37.93\00:11:39.26
That's right.
00:11:39.29\00:11:40.63
He married this Median princess
00:11:40.66\00:11:42.63
who had been brought up
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in the high
country in the hills...
00:11:44.23\00:11:46.07
In the
mountains. In the mountains.
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And, of course,
when he married her
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and brought her
down to the hot desert
00:11:50.31\00:11:55.24
in Iraq today.
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You can understand that
she wasn't used to that.
00:11:58.68\00:12:00.62
So he tried to make her happy.
00:12:00.65\00:12:04.15
And he built the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
00:12:04.19\00:12:06.25
Now whether he made his
wife happy, we don't know.
00:12:06.29\00:12:09.76
But he certainly
built one of the wonders
00:12:09.79\00:12:11.13
of the ancient world.
00:12:11.16\00:12:12.63
And, in fact, it's
recorded in Daniel.
00:12:12.66\00:12:16.20
Let's just go over to
Daniel Chapter 4, where it's...
00:12:16.23\00:12:22.70
Daniel Chapter 4.
00:12:22.74\00:12:27.04
And this is after his
seven years eating grass,
00:12:27.08\00:12:32.45
like the cattle...
00:12:32.48\00:12:33.98
And being rained on.
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And being rained on
00:12:35.38\00:12:36.72
and being just like
an animal in verse 37,
00:12:36.75\00:12:40.39
when he came to his
senses and his madness left him.
00:12:40.42\00:12:45.19
It says, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
00:12:45.23\00:12:48.26
praise and extol and
honor the King of heaven,
00:12:48.30\00:12:51.83
all of whose works are
truth, and His ways justice.
00:12:51.87\00:12:58.04
And those who walk in pride,
00:12:58.07\00:13:01.38
He is able to put down.
00:13:01.41\00:13:05.58
So, you know, Nebuchadnezzar
recognized the dangers.
00:13:05.61\00:13:09.78
That's a different
man. Different man.
00:13:09.82\00:13:12.29
He was not like that before
00:13:12.32\00:13:14.02
where he would
force people to worship
00:13:14.06\00:13:15.76
whatever he
wanted them to worship,
00:13:15.79\00:13:17.33
and he was always
bragging about himself.
00:13:17.36\00:13:21.33
This time, he's
praising the God of heaven,
00:13:21.36\00:13:24.10
who does all things.
00:13:24.13\00:13:25.47
Yes.
00:13:25.50\00:13:26.84
Well, we believe
that Nebuchadnezzar
00:13:26.87\00:13:28.24
was a converted
man, as a result...
00:13:28.27\00:13:31.57
And sometimes, the Lord,
00:13:31.61\00:13:32.94
you know, when we
think about our lives,
00:13:32.97\00:13:34.31
sometimes the
Lord has to allow us
00:13:34.34\00:13:35.68
to go through bad experiences
in order to keep us humble.
00:13:35.71\00:13:41.55
Because the
natural tendency of us all,
00:13:41.58\00:13:44.42
you know, it's
not just some people,
00:13:44.45\00:13:46.92
all of us, battle
with this matter of pride
00:13:46.96\00:13:50.33
and the more success we have,
00:13:50.36\00:13:52.49
and the more successful we
are, the greater is the danger.
00:13:52.53\00:13:57.07
And it's not just
prosperity being money.
00:13:57.10\00:14:00.70
No. Prosperity can be success.
00:14:00.74\00:14:03.20
It can be
popularity, it can be power.
00:14:03.24\00:14:06.84
Yes.
00:14:06.88\00:14:08.21
There's a number
of different things
00:14:08.24\00:14:09.84
that we can
think of as the person
00:14:09.88\00:14:11.58
is being
prosperous or successful.
00:14:11.61\00:14:14.92
It can be many different things
00:14:14.95\00:14:17.32
that take people's
hearts away from God.
00:14:17.35\00:14:20.16
Exactly.
00:14:20.19\00:14:21.52
Where they are
looked up to be fame.
00:14:21.56\00:14:24.26
I was just
thinking of this verse
00:14:24.29\00:14:25.63
over here in
Deuteronomy, you know, Moses...
00:14:25.66\00:14:28.00
I love the Book of Deuteronomy
00:14:28.03\00:14:29.56
because it's
really Moses' sermons.
00:14:29.60\00:14:32.23
And he was
preaching to the people
00:14:32.27\00:14:33.94
and over here in the
Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy,
00:14:33.97\00:14:37.31
he makes the statement,
00:14:37.34\00:14:38.67
and you would
think, I mean, so relevant.
00:14:38.71\00:14:41.98
You know, the Bible's
such a wonderful book,
00:14:42.01\00:14:43.98
and it's so real.
00:14:44.01\00:14:46.21
Listen to what Moses now
00:14:46.25\00:14:48.25
is admonishing the children
of Israel, and he says this.
00:14:48.28\00:14:52.42
Look, this is 8:11.
00:14:52.45\00:14:56.96
"Beware that you do not
forget the Lord your God
00:14:56.99\00:15:03.06
by not keeping His commandments,
00:15:03.10\00:15:05.40
His judgments, and His statutes
00:15:05.43\00:15:07.14
which I command
you today, lest..."
00:15:07.17\00:15:09.70
You know, that word, you
know, like the but or the lest.
00:15:09.74\00:15:13.07
"Lest when you
have eaten and are full,
00:15:13.11\00:15:17.18
and you have
built beautiful houses,"
00:15:17.21\00:15:20.15
this is like your illustration,
00:15:20.18\00:15:22.12
"and dwell in them,
00:15:22.15\00:15:23.59
and when your herds
and your flocks multiply,
00:15:23.62\00:15:27.29
and your silver and
your gold are multiplied,
00:15:27.32\00:15:30.63
and all that you
have is multiplied,
00:15:30.66\00:15:34.56
when your heart is lifted up,
00:15:34.60\00:15:36.60
and you forget the Lord your God
00:15:36.63\00:15:39.90
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt,
00:15:39.93\00:15:42.14
from the house of bondage,
00:15:42.17\00:15:45.44
who led you through that
great and terrible wilderness,
00:15:45.47\00:15:48.44
in which were fiery serpents
and scorpions and thirsty land
00:15:48.48\00:15:53.21
where there was no water,
00:15:53.25\00:15:54.78
who brought water for
you out of the flinty rock,
00:15:54.82\00:15:57.92
who fed you in the
wilderness with manna,
00:15:57.95\00:16:00.92
which your fathers did not know,
00:16:00.96\00:16:02.69
that He might humble you
and that He might test you,
00:16:02.72\00:16:07.23
to do you good in the end,
then you say in your heart,
00:16:07.26\00:16:13.54
'My power and
the might of my hand
00:16:13.57\00:16:17.11
have gained me this wealth.'"
00:16:17.14\00:16:19.71
How insightful was Moses
in making those statements.
00:16:19.74\00:16:24.45
Because, as I said,
00:16:24.48\00:16:25.81
we could go through the Bible
and through life, all of us,
00:16:25.85\00:16:28.98
I'm sure, know of people,
00:16:29.02\00:16:31.82
that when
they've had prosperity,
00:16:31.85\00:16:35.82
when they're in a simple
way, their heart is toward God.
00:16:35.86\00:16:39.29
And we see this today
in the developing world.
00:16:39.33\00:16:43.37
Yes.
00:16:43.40\00:16:44.73
People flock to hear the Bible.
00:16:44.77\00:16:50.34
But when we get to countries
like the developed world,
00:16:50.37\00:16:54.38
the Western world, it's a
very, very different matter.
00:16:54.41\00:16:57.81
Everybody's got
enough. Why is it?
00:16:57.85\00:16:59.71
Because we're rich
and increase with goods.
00:16:59.75\00:17:03.52
In fact, we're
in need of nothing.
00:17:03.55\00:17:04.92
Why do we need God?
00:17:04.95\00:17:06.29
And that's, of course,
00:17:06.32\00:17:07.82
here what Moses was
warning the people about.
00:17:07.86\00:17:11.99
It's interesting
there in verse 16.
00:17:12.03\00:17:14.00
It says that He
might humble you,
00:17:14.03\00:17:16.20
and that He might test you,
00:17:16.23\00:17:18.37
to do you good in the end.
00:17:18.40\00:17:21.67
That's right.
00:17:21.70\00:17:23.04
He's wanting to do good for us.
00:17:23.07\00:17:24.97
But sometimes He's got
to let us go through trials
00:17:25.01\00:17:27.61
because we have
built ourselves up
00:17:27.64\00:17:29.98
and trusting ourselves too much.
00:17:30.01\00:17:31.95
Yes. Thank you.
00:17:31.98\00:17:33.31
There's another
statement over here in Hosea,
00:17:33.35\00:17:35.55
which is a little
book after Daniel, Hosea.
00:17:35.58\00:17:39.72
And it makes this
statement which is same thing.
00:17:39.75\00:17:43.39
There's so much in the
Bible on this very subject.
00:17:43.43\00:17:48.20
This is Hosea
13:6, where it says,
00:17:48.23\00:17:53.44
"When they had
pasture, they were filled.
00:17:53.47\00:17:58.31
They were filled and
their heart was exalted.
00:17:58.34\00:18:02.48
Therefore they forgot Me."
00:18:02.51\00:18:05.31
Now that speaks volumes.
00:18:05.35\00:18:06.68
It does.
00:18:06.72\00:18:08.05
In other words, the
more God bless them,
00:18:08.08\00:18:10.82
the more God pour His
special blessing on the people,
00:18:10.85\00:18:13.89
the more tendency is to
forget God all together.
00:18:13.92\00:18:16.83
Prosperity and wealth
can be our worst enemy.
00:18:16.86\00:18:18.69
Yeah.
00:18:18.73\00:18:20.06
So there's very few of us,
00:18:20.10\00:18:22.20
I think that God can really
trust with a lot of money.
00:18:22.23\00:18:26.13
That's why God keeps
a lot of people poor.
00:18:26.17\00:18:30.01
Yes. We can be
thankful for that.
00:18:30.04\00:18:31.84
Yes, He knows.
00:18:31.87\00:18:33.54
Because there are
just too many illustrations
00:18:33.58\00:18:35.08
in the Bible of people
00:18:35.11\00:18:36.81
who have been blessed by God
and then turned their hearts.
00:18:36.85\00:18:41.78
Another good
illustration, Rosemary,
00:18:41.82\00:18:45.15
is the story of Hezekiah.
00:18:45.19\00:18:47.72
I mean, when you read
the story of Hezekiah,
00:18:47.76\00:18:50.26
his prosperity was wonderful.
00:18:50.29\00:18:52.79
In fact, when
you read his story,
00:18:52.83\00:18:54.70
there's not one
wrong thing recorded
00:18:54.73\00:18:58.27
against him in
all his early years
00:18:58.30\00:19:01.84
until he became sick and
near death, the Bible says,
00:19:01.87\00:19:06.78
and he was so upset to
think that when Isaiah came in,
00:19:06.81\00:19:10.31
he said, "Get your
house in order, Hezekiah,
00:19:10.35\00:19:12.75
because you're going to die."
00:19:12.78\00:19:14.35
And Hezekiah
being a man of prayer
00:19:14.38\00:19:15.92
got down on his
knees, and he began to pray.
00:19:15.95\00:19:18.59
And he prayed and prayed.
00:19:18.62\00:19:19.95
And God then chose to
answer Hezekiah's prayer
00:19:19.99\00:19:23.93
as Hezekiah wanted it
00:19:23.96\00:19:25.29
to be answered
to extend his life.
00:19:25.33\00:19:26.66
And you may
remember, he extended it
00:19:26.70\00:19:28.53
by what was it, 15 years?
00:19:28.56\00:19:29.90
Fifteen years. Yes.
00:19:29.93\00:19:31.27
Fifteen years.
00:19:31.30\00:19:32.63
Well, I thought about
that because it would be fine
00:19:32.67\00:19:34.64
while it was 15,
then in 14, and 13,
00:19:34.67\00:19:40.64
and then even 6, and 5, and 4,
00:19:40.68\00:19:45.75
I reckon the stress levels
will be starting to rise now.
00:19:45.78\00:19:49.08
Three, two, and
in the last year,
00:19:49.12\00:19:52.09
I reckon the
stress levels would be up
00:19:52.12\00:19:53.46
and maybe it's best
00:19:53.49\00:19:54.82
that we don't know
when we're going to die.
00:19:54.86\00:19:56.19
That's right.
00:19:56.22\00:19:57.56
Because Hezekiah
was able to work it out
00:19:57.59\00:20:00.03
because God told him.
00:20:00.06\00:20:01.40
And remember, he
prayed for a sign.
00:20:01.43\00:20:04.83
And the sign that God gave him
00:20:04.87\00:20:06.43
was that he put
the sun back 10 degrees
00:20:06.47\00:20:08.44
which made the day longer.
00:20:08.47\00:20:10.21
And the people over in
Babylon and Assyria they,
00:20:10.24\00:20:13.14
of course, were
great sun worshipers
00:20:13.17\00:20:15.11
and they
discussed it and discovered
00:20:15.14\00:20:17.51
most of our mathematics today.
00:20:17.55\00:20:19.35
That's right.
00:20:19.38\00:20:20.72
They still use the system
that they had based on the six.
00:20:20.75\00:20:23.69
On the 60 system, yes.
00:20:23.72\00:20:26.55
And so they then came over,
00:20:26.59\00:20:30.03
when they heard that
it was the God of Hezekiah
00:20:30.06\00:20:34.33
that actually was
able to put their God back.
00:20:34.36\00:20:38.80
They sent a
delegation over to Hezekiah
00:20:38.83\00:20:43.20
to learn about this God
who could shift their God.
00:20:43.24\00:20:46.37
And so you can imagine all that.
00:20:46.41\00:20:48.14
Then poor Hezekiah when he heard
00:20:48.18\00:20:51.51
that the very best in
the world of smartest men
00:20:51.55\00:20:57.55
were all coming
over to sit at his feet.
00:20:57.59\00:21:00.02
Wow! That's a
privilege and an honor.
00:21:00.06\00:21:01.39
All his buttons on
his shirt popped off.
00:21:01.42\00:21:03.06
Yes. And his
head began to swell.
00:21:03.09\00:21:06.13
And it's interesting that
when you read the story in,
00:21:06.16\00:21:12.57
I think it is 2
Kings, when they came over.
00:21:12.60\00:21:16.10
2 Kings 20:13, it says,
00:21:20.08\00:21:22.64
"And Hezekiah was
attentive to them,
00:21:22.68\00:21:25.45
and showed them all
the house of his treasures,
00:21:25.48\00:21:30.49
the silver, the
gold, and all his armory
00:21:30.52\00:21:33.19
and all that was
found among his treasures.
00:21:33.22\00:21:35.46
There was
nothing in his dominion
00:21:35.49\00:21:38.19
that Hezekiah
did not show them."
00:21:38.23\00:21:39.79
In other words, this man who
had been such a man of prayer,
00:21:39.83\00:21:45.73
all through his life,
00:21:45.77\00:21:47.24
you know, the story of
Sennacherib coming down.
00:21:47.27\00:21:49.80
It's just marvelous the way
he prayed and trusted in God...
00:21:49.84\00:21:54.01
To deliver him
from the Assyrians.
00:21:54.04\00:21:56.51
But in this case,
there is no reference
00:21:56.54\00:21:59.11
that Hezekiah praying
to ask for God's guidance
00:21:59.15\00:22:02.08
when these men were coming over.
00:22:02.12\00:22:03.82
He had to show
them everything he had,
00:22:03.85\00:22:07.52
and how good he was
because he had them.
00:22:07.56\00:22:10.53
And God called Hezekiah
00:22:10.56\00:22:11.89
and He said, "Hezekiah, I
got something to say to you."
00:22:11.93\00:22:13.86
After the man went home,
00:22:13.90\00:22:15.80
"He said everything
that you've shown them
00:22:15.83\00:22:18.83
they're gonna come
down and take the lot."
00:22:18.87\00:22:21.27
And Hezekiah prayed, "Dear Lord,
00:22:21.30\00:22:24.77
then may it not be in my day,
00:22:24.81\00:22:26.61
may it be in my son's day."
00:22:26.64\00:22:28.61
You know, if I've
been writing the Bible,
00:22:28.64\00:22:30.05
I don't know whether
I would have put that in
00:22:30.08\00:22:31.58
because that
doesn't show Hezekiah up
00:22:31.61\00:22:33.15
in a good light, does it?
00:22:33.18\00:22:34.82
It's a very, very bad lot.
00:22:34.85\00:22:37.49
In fact, the Bible
over and over and over again
00:22:37.52\00:22:41.36
record statements like this.
00:22:41.39\00:22:43.49
Over in 2 Chronicles,
00:22:43.53\00:22:44.96
which is toward the
middle of the Bible more.
00:22:44.99\00:22:47.60
2 Chronicles, this is
a good verse, Chapter 32.
00:22:47.63\00:22:52.37
2 Chronicles Chapter 32
00:22:52.40\00:22:59.07
and verse 31.
00:22:59.11\00:23:00.44
This is a very
interesting verse where it says,
00:23:00.48\00:23:04.48
"However,
regarding the ambassadors
00:23:04.51\00:23:08.92
of the princes of Babylon,"
00:23:08.95\00:23:10.49
that's what we've
been referring to,
00:23:10.52\00:23:13.02
"whom they sent to him
to inquire about the wonder
00:23:13.05\00:23:16.89
that was done in the land,"
00:23:16.93\00:23:18.96
that's when the sun went back,
00:23:18.99\00:23:21.30
"God withdrew from
him, in order to..."
00:23:21.33\00:23:25.63
Test him.
00:23:25.67\00:23:27.00
"Test him, that He might
know all that was in his heart."
00:23:27.04\00:23:31.04
In other words,
this verse tells us
00:23:31.07\00:23:33.71
that sometimes God
gives us prosperity
00:23:33.74\00:23:37.25
and blesses us to test us.
00:23:37.28\00:23:40.75
That's right.
00:23:40.78\00:23:42.12
And unfortunately,
we often fail the test.
00:23:42.15\00:23:46.15
Yes, well, it's a strange
thing, isn't it, humanity?
00:23:46.19\00:23:50.03
That the very blessing
that God wants to give to us all
00:23:50.06\00:23:54.83
we often abuse and
turn away from God.
00:23:54.86\00:23:59.83
And so over and over again,
00:23:59.87\00:24:01.60
the Bible records the fact that
the tendency of the human heart
00:24:01.64\00:24:06.37
is to forget God
00:24:06.41\00:24:07.74
and they are just so many
illustrations in the Bible.
00:24:07.78\00:24:09.88
Solomon's one of the big ones.
00:24:09.91\00:24:12.38
Solomon didn't ask for
wealth, he asked for wisdom,
00:24:12.41\00:24:15.68
God gave him wealth as well.
00:24:15.72\00:24:17.42
So then even the drinking
vessels were all of gold.
00:24:17.45\00:24:21.06
His throne was ivory.
00:24:21.09\00:24:22.92
And the Bible says it was
overlaid with the best gold.
00:24:22.96\00:24:26.86
He had servants.
00:24:26.90\00:24:28.23
He had masses of food
every day at his table.
00:24:28.26\00:24:32.97
He turned away from God
because his heart became proud.
00:24:33.00\00:24:37.01
It's a tragic story, isn't it?
00:24:37.04\00:24:38.37
I mean, when you think of
the ability that Solomon had...
00:24:38.41\00:24:41.54
He turned out to not be
so wise in the long run.
00:24:41.58\00:24:44.15
Well, because he forgot God
00:24:44.18\00:24:46.78
and I think the
wonderful amazing lesson
00:24:46.82\00:24:49.68
that all of us need to
learn, both, you and I,
00:24:49.72\00:24:54.26
Rosemary, and our viewers,
that prosperity and blessings,
00:24:54.29\00:25:01.13
we must never,
00:25:01.16\00:25:02.50
ever forget that God is
the author of those things.
00:25:02.53\00:25:07.17
And that all that we have,
00:25:07.20\00:25:08.54
all that we ever will
be, is really to do with Him.
00:25:08.57\00:25:13.54
And we must pray a prayer.
00:25:13.58\00:25:18.08
"Lord, help us not
to make those mistakes."
00:25:18.11\00:25:20.62
Help us to remain humble.
00:25:20.65\00:25:21.98
There are too many illustrations
00:25:22.02\00:25:23.89
in the Bible of men and women
00:25:23.92\00:25:26.12
who have done exactly that,
00:25:26.15\00:25:28.32
to be under any illusion
that it could happen to us.
00:25:28.36\00:25:33.56
And I'm sure all of
us can know of people
00:25:33.60\00:25:37.33
who have been blessed by God
00:25:37.37\00:25:39.77
and who had
wonderful opportunities.
00:25:39.80\00:25:42.20
And as soon as
they've had some blessing,
00:25:42.24\00:25:45.41
their heart has turned.
00:25:45.44\00:25:47.01
That's right.
00:25:47.04\00:25:48.38
So sometimes can
be very dangerous
00:25:48.41\00:25:49.81
to be wanting to
have that prosperity.
00:25:49.84\00:25:56.28
The Bible says, "Godliness
with contentment is great gain."
00:25:56.32\00:26:00.32
Or Paul says, "I
have found," what?
00:26:00.36\00:26:03.02
"In whatsoever state I
am there with to be content
00:26:03.06\00:26:06.13
and to not be
wanting to chase fame
00:26:06.16\00:26:10.73
or riches or power
whatever it may be,"
00:26:10.77\00:26:14.50
because it can easily
turn our hearts from God.
00:26:14.54\00:26:17.44
One of the old
saints of yesteryear
00:26:17.47\00:26:19.84
prayed a prayer that I like.
00:26:19.87\00:26:21.34
He said, "Dear Lord, help me
not to have a departing heart.
00:26:21.38\00:26:25.65
Grant that I will not
have a departing heart."
00:26:25.68\00:26:28.15
Meaning a heart
that turns away from God.
00:26:28.18\00:26:30.95
That's right.
00:26:30.99\00:26:32.32
So I would encourage
our viewers today, Rosemary,
00:26:32.35\00:26:36.12
to pick up their Bibles
00:26:36.16\00:26:39.79
and read the story of
Uzziah and meditate on it
00:26:39.83\00:26:45.63
because there's no
one, not one of us,
00:26:45.67\00:26:49.90
who can be immune to the
problems that Uzziah faced.
00:26:49.94\00:26:53.98
That's right. I agree with you.
00:26:54.01\00:26:55.54
And as you said...
00:26:55.58\00:26:57.21
As the Bible says, God tests us.
00:26:57.25\00:27:00.92
He proves us to say whether
or not we'll be faithful.
00:27:00.95\00:27:04.45
And part of that process
is to show us our faults.
00:27:04.49\00:27:08.22
So we can see
ourselves for what we really are
00:27:08.26\00:27:10.63
because we don't see our faults.
00:27:10.66\00:27:12.83
We see everybody else's.
00:27:12.86\00:27:15.03
Remember, the
Bible has been written
00:27:15.06\00:27:17.27
as an illustration to teach us.
00:27:17.30\00:27:19.70
And so, 2 Chronicles, remember?
00:27:19.73\00:27:22.70
Our viewers can look up
2 Chronicles Chapter 26.
00:27:22.74\00:27:26.37
And I encourage you to
read it again this week.
00:27:26.41\00:27:29.68
As you go through life, Geoff,
00:27:29.71\00:27:31.41
I think that
you start to realize
00:27:31.45\00:27:33.78
that there is nothing
more important in this world
00:27:33.82\00:27:37.65
than God and eternal life.
00:27:37.69\00:27:39.72
Don't let anything
get in your way of that.
00:27:39.75\00:27:44.13
Don't make anything
more important in your life
00:27:44.16\00:27:46.66
than living with God forever.
00:27:46.70\00:27:48.76
That's the most important thing.
00:27:48.80\00:27:51.03
Thank you for joining us.
00:27:51.07\00:27:52.40
We look forward to seeing
you next time and God bless you.
00:27:52.43\00:27:54.60