# The Thistle and the Cedar - The Book of 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 25 Dec 2023, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/89fcce05-1eda-4241-8b1b-b4d6018a32eb/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 116. Join us for a captivating episode of our podcast where we explore the reign of King Amaziah of Judah, as described in 2 Chronicles of the Bible. Starting as a good king, Amaziah makes a bold decision to conquer Edom, gathering a vast army and hiring additional soldiers from Israel. However, a prophet's warning leads him to a crucial choice, setting off a chain of events including betrayal, idol worship, and divine anger. Witness Amaziah's roller-coaster journey of victory, pride, and downfall, as well as a dramatic battle with Israel that changes the course of his reign. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
[0:05] Speaker 1: Proverbs 16, 18. Dear God, forgive us for the times
[0:11] Speaker 1: when we think we are better than others or deserve
[0:14] Speaker 1: more than others. It's so easy for our hearts to
[0:17] Speaker 1: become prideful. We want to think of others more than
[0:21] Speaker 1: ourselves and learn to be humble. Thank you for reminding
[0:25] Speaker 1: us today that we matter simply because you love us.
[0:29] Speaker 1: In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
[0:34] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:37] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:40] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:44] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[0:48] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more, all with a
[0:52] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more.
[0:58] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code BLESSED.
[1:07] Speaker 3: The Thistle and the Cedar In our last story, we
[1:12] Speaker 3: took a look at the reluctant prophet Jonah, who refused
[1:16] Speaker 3: to preach repentance to Nineveh, but then did as God
[1:19] Speaker 3: told him after spending three days in a large fish.
[1:23] Speaker 3: He preached repentance to Nineveh, and they listened. But then
[1:27] Speaker 3: Jonah was mad at God for not bringing justice. In
[1:32] Speaker 3: this story, we return to our look at the kings
[1:36] Speaker 3: and the rule of Amaziah, as inspired by 2 Chronicles
[1:41] Speaker 3: and 2 Kings.
[1:46] Speaker 1: Hi there, welcome back to the Kids Bible in a
[1:49] Speaker 1: Year podcast. This is Joya Sadler, and I'm so glad
[1:53] Speaker 1: you're here. Today we're going to hear an interesting story
[1:56] Speaker 1: about a little stick in a big tree. It's going
[2:00] Speaker 1: to teach us a lot about just how dangerous pride
[2:04] Speaker 1: can be. Listen close.
[2:09] Speaker 3: After the death of Joash, his son Amaziah became the
[2:13] Speaker 3: new king of Judah. At first, Amaziah was a good
[2:18] Speaker 3: king and followed God for a long while. He was
[2:22] Speaker 3: never wholeheartedly devoted to God, despite what people saw. Amaziah
[2:27] Speaker 3: decided that he wanted to attack and conquer the nation
[2:31] Speaker 3: of Edom. He put together a draft of men that
[2:34] Speaker 3: lived in Judah and Benjamin. All men who were 20
[2:38] Speaker 3: years or older had to register. Altogether, they ended up
[2:42] Speaker 3: with an army of 30,000 servicemen. The king also hired
[2:44] Speaker 3: 100,000 soldiers from Israel, the northern kingdom, for four and
[2:52] Speaker 3: a half tons of silver. A prophet showed up before
[2:56] Speaker 3: Amaziah and told him, King Amaziah, you can't let the
[3:01] Speaker 3: Israelite soldiers into your army. God isn't on their side,
[3:06] Speaker 3: and he is certainly not on the side of the Ephraimites.
[3:10] Speaker 3: If you go with them, you will surely lose. I
[3:14] Speaker 3: already paid the northern kingdom. I will have lost four
[3:18] Speaker 3: and a half tons of silver. Amaziah complained. What is
[3:22] Speaker 3: money worth in the eyes of God? The favor God
[3:26] Speaker 3: will grant you in this battle is worth so much
[3:28] Speaker 3: more than silver. God has the power to bring you
[3:32] Speaker 3: to victory or bring bitter defeat. So Amaziah listened to
[3:38] Speaker 3: the prophet and fired the Israelites, then told them to
[3:42] Speaker 3: go home. They were angry and started their journey home.
[3:46] Speaker 3: Amaziah felt encouraged by the words of the prophet. and
[3:50] Speaker 3: went off to the borders of Edom. When the army
[3:53] Speaker 3: of Judah was away, the Israelites ransacked the cities in
[3:56] Speaker 3: Judah and killed 3,000 people. When Amaziah came back to
[4:02] Speaker 3: his nation, he came back victorious. As a trophy, he
[4:06] Speaker 3: pocketed false idols of the gods of Edom and set
[4:09] Speaker 3: them up in Judah, beginning to worship them. The Lord
[4:13] Speaker 3: was enraged and sent a prophet once more to guide
[4:17] Speaker 3: the king. Why would you worship such gods? They weren't
[4:21] Speaker 3: able to protect their own people. How could they protect you?
[4:25] Speaker 3: They are weak, measly gods, even weaker than you, Amaziah.
[4:30] Speaker 3: Amaziah scoffed before the prophet could continue. Either you shut
[4:36] Speaker 3: up or I will have you killed. I never asked
[4:38] Speaker 3: you for your opinion. As the prophet reached the exit,
[4:42] Speaker 3: he turned to face the king one more time. Because
[4:46] Speaker 3: you refuse to listen, The Lord has told me that
[4:49] Speaker 3: he will throw you out. Trust me. So God placed
[4:54] Speaker 3: the desire to challenge Israel on Amaziah's heart. The king
[4:59] Speaker 3: sent a message to the king of Israel saying, Come out,
[5:03] Speaker 3: you coward. Face me in battle. Jehoash replied with a
[5:07] Speaker 3: story for Amaziah. A twig sent a message to a
[5:12] Speaker 3: cedar tree. The twig said, I want to arrange a
[5:15] Speaker 3: marriage between my son and your daughter. All of a sudden,
[5:20] Speaker 3: an animal accidentally crushed the twig under his foot. Don't
[5:24] Speaker 3: be like the twig, dear Amaziah. You're getting too prideful.
[5:29] Speaker 3: Enjoy your victory against Edom. Rejoice in it. But stay
[5:33] Speaker 3: home and away from my kingdom. If you come after us,
[5:38] Speaker 3: you will taste nothing but bitter defeat. Judah will crumble
[5:43] Speaker 3: to ashes. God kept the desire in Amaziah's heart. to
[5:48] Speaker 3: continue the challenge. The two went into battle, and just
[5:52] Speaker 3: as Jehoash had said, Judah tasted nothing but bitter defeat.
[5:58] Speaker 3: Embarrassed by the loss, the army of Judah ran back home.
[6:02] Speaker 3: Jehoash kidnapped Amaziah and brought him to the capital of Judah, Jerusalem.
[6:07] Speaker 3: The army of Israel broke down the city walls. They
[6:11] Speaker 3: were a staggering 600 feet tall. The army stole all
[6:16] Speaker 3: the silver and gold they could find in the sample
[6:19] Speaker 3: and the king's palace. Jehoash left Amaziah in Jerusalem to rot,
[6:24] Speaker 3: then returned back to his palace in Samaria. As soon
[6:28] Speaker 3: as Jehoash left, a group of Amaziah's own people tried
[6:32] Speaker 3: to kill him. But Amaziah had made an escape to
[6:35] Speaker 3: another city named Lachish. Eventually, they found him and killed him.
[6:43] Speaker 3: They brought back his dead body to Jerusalem and buried
[6:46] Speaker 3: him with his ancestors in the city of David.
[6:56] Speaker 1: We've been here before. Another king who started off strong,
[7:00] Speaker 1: following God and obeying his laws, but then ended up
[7:03] Speaker 1: following false gods, ignoring God's message from a prophet, and
[7:08] Speaker 1: allowing pride to ruin everything. His name was King Ahasuerus. Amaziah.
[7:14] Speaker 1: After building a great army of 300,000 men, Judah was
[7:18] Speaker 1: able to defeat the Edomites. But from this battle, he
[7:24] Speaker 1: brought back false idols from Edom and began to worship them.
[7:29] Speaker 1: If you're like me, you're wondering why in the world
[7:33] Speaker 1: does this keep happening to these kings? God helped Amaziah
[7:38] Speaker 1: defeat this nation and Didn't he realize God was on
[7:42] Speaker 1: his side and all he needed? There's a reason why
[7:45] Speaker 1: these stories of false gods are in the Old Testament
[7:49] Speaker 1: for us to read about over and over and over again.
[7:54] Speaker 1: The reason is that we need to be reminded. Just
[7:58] Speaker 1: as we've talked about before, we are often tempted to
[8:01] Speaker 1: make things or people in our lives more important than God.
[8:05] Speaker 1: We might not bow down and worship them, But we
[8:08] Speaker 1: spend all our time thinking about these things or focusing
[8:13] Speaker 1: on these things while forgetting about spending time with the
[8:16] Speaker 1: one who made us. It's a lesson we have to
[8:19] Speaker 1: learn almost every day. Well, once that happened, it was
[8:23] Speaker 1: downhill from there for King Amaziah. He began feeling very
[8:28] Speaker 1: prideful about defeating the Edomites and challenged the northern kingdom
[8:33] Speaker 1: of Israel to a battle. Um, that was not so
[8:37] Speaker 1: smart of a move. They were huge and strong and mean.
[8:43] Speaker 1: And when Jehosh, the king of Israel, heard Amaziah's challenge,
[8:49] Speaker 1: he read him a bedtime story. Well, not really, but
[8:53] Speaker 1: he did tell him a story to explain how crazy
[8:56] Speaker 1: this challenge was. He said that a little twig or
[9:00] Speaker 1: stick sent a message to a big strong cedar tree.
[9:05] Speaker 1: suggesting that the twig's son and the tree's daughter get married.
[9:10] Speaker 1: Kind of strange, right? Gets better. But before the tree
[9:14] Speaker 1: even answers, an animal comes along and crushes the twig.
[9:19] Speaker 1: In other words, Jehosh was saying, your army is like
[9:23] Speaker 1: the tiny stick and my army is like the giant tree.
[9:28] Speaker 1: How do you think you could ever defeat us? You
[9:31] Speaker 1: have become so prideful. that you're not even making sense.
[9:37] Speaker 1: But Amaziah wouldn't listen. So they went to battle and
[9:40] Speaker 1: just as Jehosh said, Judah was bitterly defeated. Amaziah was
[9:46] Speaker 1: killed and another king was once again buried with his ancestors.
[9:51] Speaker 1: It's funny how pride can make us think things that
[9:54] Speaker 1: aren't true. When we feel like we are the best,
[9:57] Speaker 1: the bravest, the smartest, or the coolest, we forget about
[10:02] Speaker 1: treating others with kindness. We forget that we can make
[10:05] Speaker 1: mistakes too. We ignore our weaknesses and focus on others' failures.
[10:11] Speaker 1: And just like Amaziah eventually, it catches up with us.
[10:15] Speaker 1: Proverbs 16, 18 says.
[10:19] Speaker 1: Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
[10:24] Speaker 1: A haughty spirit is in someone who thinks they are
[10:28] Speaker 1: better than everyone else. The Bible says that once you
[10:32] Speaker 1: start thinking like that, you better brace yourself for a
[10:35] Speaker 1: big fall. So let's talk about it. What are some
[10:39] Speaker 1: ways we can keep pride far from poisoning our hearts?
[10:44] Speaker 1: Here are a few ideas. Ask God each day to
[10:48] Speaker 1: help you stay humble. Do something kind for someone sad.
[10:53] Speaker 1: Tell God about things you've done wrong lately and ask
[10:57] Speaker 1: for his forgiveness. Spend time with other people who love
[11:02] Speaker 1: Jesus and act like it. I'm sure Amaziah regretted challenging
[11:07] Speaker 1: the northern kingdom to that battle, but it was too late.
[11:11] Speaker 1: His pride got in the way and it cost him
[11:13] Speaker 1: his life. Let's do things differently. And remember today that
[11:19] Speaker 1: everything good about us comes from the hand of God,
[11:22] Speaker 1: our creator and our father. Thanks for listening. Don't miss
[11:27] Speaker 1: next time as we learn about three specific roles and
[11:30] Speaker 1: what they mean. Prophet, priest and king. Here we go.
[11:35] Speaker 1: The Bible is the best story ever told. It's God's
[11:40] Speaker 1: story to you. And it's all true. Did you enjoy
[11:45] Speaker 1: today's podcast? Share the fun with a loved one and
[11:49] Speaker 1: help us reach more kids and parents. Thanks for listening
[11:53] Speaker 1: to Pray.com's Kids Bible in a Year. For more inspiring
[11:57] Speaker 1: stories and wisdom to last a lifetime, download the Pray.com
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[12:14] Speaker 1: in a Year. I want to invite our adult listeners
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