A Heart... Perfect | Ep. 160

Solomon's reign marks the peak of Israel's golden age—a time of unprecedented wealth, wisdom, and influence. Yet beneath the gleaming surface, seeds of destruction were taking root through his marriages to foreign women and their foreign gods. This spiritual compromise eventually tore the kingdom apart, setting in motion centuries of turmoil and divided loyalty.

The divided kingdom story provides powerful insights into how God relates to His people through covenant. While Solomon, Rehoboam, and their successors repeatedly broke faith with God, He remained steadfast to His promise to David. This tension between human unfaithfulness and divine faithfulness reveals a God who disciplines without destroying, who maintains His covenant promises despite our failures.

The journeys of kings like Asa illustrate timeless spiritual principles that speak directly to our lives today. Asa began by cleansing the land of idols, removing high places, and even deposing his idolatrous mother from her position as queen. For twenty years, his kingdom experienced peace and prosperity as a result of seeking God wholeheartedly. Yet in a moment of crisis, he inexplicably turned to foreign alliances instead of the God who had delivered him from a million-man Ethiopian army.

Perhaps most profound is the revelation of what it means to have a "perfect heart" toward God. Despite serious moral failures, David is repeatedly held up as the standard because he never stopped seeking God. This reminds us that spiritual perfection isn't about sinlessness but about persistent pursuit of relationship with God—especially after failure.

Are there areas in your life where competing loves are compromising your spiritual integrity? What defensive walls have you built that keep you from trusting God fully? The ancient kings' stories reveal that the principle remains unchanged across millennia: "The Lord is with you while you be with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. If you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

Chapters

• 0:00 Vision of Blood Cells and Biblical Relevance
• 4:46 Solomon's Reign and Covenant with God
• 19:13 Solomon's Foreign Wives and Spiritual Decline
• 31:48 Kingdom Divided: Rehoboam's Fatal Decision
• 43:42 Asa's Reign and Spiritual Reforms
• 1:07:17 The Perfect Heart and Asa's Final Failure

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose and fulfill their purpose. I began doing that and I began realizing that I've been reading the lineage of the divided kingdom of Israel. It started with David and David was in 2 Samuel, 1 Samuel was Saul, 2 Samuel was David, and then it went into Solomon, you know, went into Solomon. But if we go to hit the next arrow and one more time, I started just seeing some things that were important to me, that were of significance to me, and a lot of times, gosh, I remember years ago when I would get into the Old Testament, I would not like reading the Old Testament. I didn't like reading. Well, I like Genesis, but I didn't like Leviticus, numbers in Deuteronomy, you know it still has that kind of effect. Oh gosh, the lineages again, and the names and the ordinances and the ceremonies, and you know, but you know, after I've started, I, after I, continued to walk with the Lord, they, they are precious to me Now. There's some nuggets there that I didn't see when I was too young, cause I was too young. But now I see things that um are are very important to me and I think they're important for the body of Christ, and I won't get into all this. I just this on paper and I started messing with the PowerPoint and I wanted to come up with who was reigning, when this person was reigning, and how they interacted, and blah, blah, blah. So this is by far not the whole list of all the kings. I may only get to the third king in the southern kingdom today. I'm not sure. That's probably well.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:26

But every time I read the Old Testament, now that I'm older, that I'm a little bit more mature, I always think of these two verses at the bottom the law was our schoolmaster that brought us to Christ. There is vital significance to the law. It's supposed to, if you have eyes to see. It's supposed to reveal Christ unto you. It's supposed to direct you to Christ. It's supposed to detour you from wherever you're at and cause you to look upon the one who was prophesied from centuries and centuries and centuries past. And then I remember what Paul said, that all of these things happened to them as examples. He was talking about Moses passing through the Red Sea and how he baptized them in the cloud and in the sea. But all of these things, when he said all of these things, I don't think he was just talking about that Moses account. I think all of these things to him was all of the old covenant. All of these things were written to us for as examples and it was written to warn us, and every time I go into the old covenant I go in with that idea, I go in with that perspective, because those things are written to warn me, and so I want to share with you some of the things that I see that we need to highlight.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:49

David reigned for 40 years. I think we all know his story. We've seen his ups and downs. He reigned for 40 years. Seven years he reigned at Hebron and then 33 years he reigned at Jerusalem and when he died, his son succeeded him, solomon. Solomon was the son of Bathsheba, because David and Bathsheba's first son actually died, paid the penalty for their sin. But I want to try to trace Solomon, rehoboam, abijah and Asa and just look at what are the lessons that those accounts have for us today.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 4:19

What is the relevance? The relevance that's the word that came to my mind as Bishop was talking about trying to teach kids because they don't understand the relevance. I'm in my class and they don't understand the relevance of math, they don't understand the relevance of learning surface area or probabilities, you know, and if we can get them to understand the relevance, they're going to receive more of it. If you read the Bible and it's not relevant to you, then you get nothing of it but a story. Yeah, I read that story, like I read that Stephen King book, like I read that Shakespeare novel, like I read that other famous story. It's just a story until it becomes relevant to you, and that relevance usually always not usually always comes through revelation. There's something that the Lord opens your eyes to that it becomes wow. That's important for me and that's also important for the body.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:19

So, if you'll follow along with me, I want to go over some of these life stories. I'm not going to read everything, because I'll be here, for I'll keep you here all day, because I could go through all of these, but I'm going to try to stick to the southern kingdom at first. Maybe another time I'll try to go into the northern kingdom, things that happened there. But I want to start with Solomon, because Solomon and the things that he did caused this divided kingdom. What Solomon did caused this break.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:49

I was speaking to a saint recently how when you have a break in a relationship, it's like a death in the family. When my relationship was broken with the first girlfriend that I had, it was like a death to me, just like a couple years later, my mom died, and the pains were similar. There was a death, there was a gaping hole in my life, something that was missing, and so whenever something is broken, a relationship is severed, it's like a death. At least, that's the way that I've seen it, that's the way I've experienced it, and I think I've read it in here to be able to say, yeah, even the word confirms it. So if we all turn to 1 Kings, chapter 9, we're going to look a little bit into Solomon and the things that he did and the things that he went through and see how he laid a foundation for what was to happen after that. And I'm kind of doing it differently. I mean, this is my study, guys. I usually write down six, seven, eight, ten pages of stuff and this is all I have. So I'm going straight from the Scriptures, and whatever I wrote here is what I'm going to kind of share with you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 7:12

In 1 Kings 9, yes, 1 Kings, chapter 9, right before that, if you've ever read the story, solomon dedicated the temple, he finished completing it and he made this tremendous prayer of God to do things when people would turn their eyes toward this temple and seek his face, rise toward this temple and seek his face. And after he prays this long prayer and he has these sacrifices, hundreds, maybe even thousands of animals I can't remember right now the Lord responds to him. The Lord comes to him twice in his life. The Lord came to him early on in a vision and asked him ask what you will? I'll give it to you. And we know that that was wisdom. He came to him a second time after the dedication of the temple and the Lord says unto him in verse 3, if we go to 1 Kings 9, verse 3, I'm going to read a few of these, not all of it, so just bear with me, you can read it on your own at another time. Well, yeah, Jesus said to Solomon I have hollowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there forever and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. And in our fellowship.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 8:19

We really harp on this term covenant. It's not about just being saved, it's not about being born, it's about covenant. Are you in covenant with God? And every time the Lord comes to his people, he makes a covenant with them the covenant of Abraham, the covenant of Noah, the covenant of Adam, the covenant with Moses. He makes a covenant here with Solomon. He made a covenant with David. He made a covenant with Saul. Saul broke the covenant and the line was cut off. That's why David came in his place. Saul was from Benjamin, David was from Judah. So right here, we see, right now, Jesus is going to make a covenant with Solomon.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 9:02

And the covenants always start with if and if thou wilt walk before me, as David, thy father walked, in the integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I have commanded thee and will keep the statutes, then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever. And if you've read David's story, that's the covenant Jesus made with David. If you do these things, if you remain faithful to me, I will establish thy line forever. And then they came prophecies out that the Messiah would come out of David's line, and so he's doing the same thing with Solomon. And these are the positive aspects of the covenant, but they're conditioned on if thou will walk before me as David, thy father, did. And some people will think, well, David wasn't perfect. Well, yeah, he wasn't perfect, or was he? You need to look at the scriptures for that. We're going to come to that again later.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:00

But then he gives another part of the covenant. He says but if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, see, the covenant is always for the father and the generations after him. He says ye and your children, if you will not keep my commandments or my statutes, which I've set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then there's the if. Then again, it's always a condition I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and the house which I've hollowed for my name will I cast out of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all the people. This is the negative aspect. But look at what he said If you or your children will not walk in my statutes, I will cut off Israel out of the land, did it say I will break covenant with Israel and Israel's on his own? No, he kept covenant with Israel and still does to this day.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:59

But he says I will remove Israel from out of the land, the land that I've given them. I'm going to remove them out and this house that was hollowed by my name, I'm going to cast it out of my sight and it's going to become a proverb, it's going to become a byword, and even to this day, is that not what it has become? And at this house, which is high, everyone that passeth it shall be astonished and shall say everyone around is going to see what the Lord had done in Israel and to Israel, if they break covenant with God. And they're going to say why hath the Lord done this unto this land and to this house? And they shall answer Even the nations around them, which shall say Because they forsook the Lord, their God. Even what Jesus does with his people, even in discipline, is a testimony to the nations of who God is, even in discipline, they're going to know well, they forsook the Lord. That's how he dealt with them. And they're going to know that they forsook the Lord, their God, who brought them out of Egypt, who brought their fathers out of Egypt and taken hold of other gods. They worshiped them and they served them, and the Lord upon them brought upon them all of this evil. So they'll know why this happened to Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 12:19

And again, this was about within 10 to 20 years. I forgot the numbers. I'd have to go back and look. But Solomon took a lot of years to build a house. He had to build Solomon's, he had to build his temple, he had to build his house and he had to build another house, which I'm going to get to later. But it says and it came to pass at the end of 20 years when Solomon oh, there, it is, 20 years it took him. He walked with God, he kept his covenant with God, and these many things happen. King Hiram worked with him. King Hiram sent Solomon 60 talents of gold to build his house, and Solomon built cities in Gezer and Bethlehem and Bailiff and Tamor in the wilderness.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 13:14

And remember the people that Joshua and the rest of his generation did not wipe out. It names them again. It says in verse 20, and all of the people that were left, of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, the children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able to utterly destroy. Upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service unto the Zanahar. In other words, he taxed them, he left them there, he taxed them and they basically were able to fund many of the things that were being built in Solomon's reign. All of the children of Israel were not made bondmen, matter of fact. All of them were men of war, it says in verse 22.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:04

It says there were 550 chief officers who ruled over. That did the work of the Lord. Solomon even had a navy Think about Israel. And they even had a navy, and it was with King Hiram that he teamed up with. And when they went out they would bring back from Ophir 420 talents of gold. So during Solomon's reign, lots of gold was being brought into his kingdom, lots of riches was being brought into his kingdom. So what we see in Solomon's reign is that there was tremendous material blessing. I mean, it's almost as if Solomon could do no wrong. He was just blessed, he was favored. If you read anything of his story, there was peace in Solomon's reign Peace. He was not at war with anyone. He was always at peace.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:02

But there's something interesting that I told you I wanted to get to, so I'm going to turn to 2 Chronicles, 8. Verse 11. And this one verse comes immediately after what we just read in 1 Kings, chapter 9. Solomon oh, by the way, if you didn't know Solomon, early on in his reign, probably for political purposes, maybe, or maybe because he just fell in love with the daughter of Pharaoh from Egypt, he took her to be his wife early on. So he built three houses. I didn't touch this, but he built the Lord's house, he built his own house and then he built his wife's house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:52

And it says here and Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her. For he said my wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy. Why would he do that, unless he knew there was something wrong with it? Because he took unto him a wife from the nations that surrounded them. Now, the city of David, jerusalem, is where the temple of God was, it is where his mansion was, but he was not going to have his wife live in the city of David, for it was holy. And I highlight to you because it's important, why would he do that? Why wouldn't he have her live in his house, unless there was something wrong with it? Solomon didn't believe that his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, should dwell in the house of the David. Because it was holy, he made her house apart from the city of David. So think about that. Just hold that. And we're going to go now to 1 Kings, chapter 10.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:17

And this talks about how the queen of Sheba came. I don't want to get into too much detail about it, but she was thoroughly enthralled with him. She basically said that the things that people told me about you were not I mean, they were far less than what I have just seen now, having been in your presence, because your people are happy, your servants are happy, your kingdom is a peaceful and joyful dwelling place. And she also brought him presents. She gave him 120 talents of gold and spices and precious stones. She said blessed be.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:54

See, she's someone outside. She's not a part of Israel, she came from outside. She came in to see the wisdom of Solomon and she was so thoroughly impressed with his wisdom that she then did this blessed be the Lord, thy God. She's blessing God. She's blessing the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel. She is now blessing him. Why? Because what she sees in the midst of Israel is beyond belief. She cannot even help, but give God the praise.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:26

A pagan woman, come, give God the praise For seeing the wisdom and the favor and the blessing that God is bestowing on Solomon. She said Blessed be the Lord, thy God, which delighted in thee To set thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever. She's saying this, a pagan. Therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice. This is 1 Kings 10, verse 9. And then she began to just bless him and give him material wealth, and the navy that he had with Hiram also brought him exquisite trees, almak trees, precious stones. And then the king Solomon it says in verse 13, gave unto the queen of Sheba all of her desire. Solomon gave of his royal bounty.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:16

It says now, the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 603 score and six talents of gold, 660 talents of gold came to Solomon. It says that the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought him spices, brought him exquisite things, brought him gold and silver, according to 2 Chronicles. And what did he do with this gold? This is called the golden age of the kingdom of Israel because they had so much gold. He even had a throne of ivory overlaid with gold. Temples the temple of Solomon's specific sections were overlaid with gold. They burned it up and they liquefied it and they just poured it all over. It was overlaid with gold, so much of his reign and kingdom was of gold. But anyways, he took the gold and he took 200. He made 200 targets of gold, in other words shields of gold, and each of the targets weighed six shekels of gold. He made another 300 shields of gold, but those were three pounds of gold. So I just figured they were bigger shields of gold. But all of it was gold.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:35

He had vessels of gold, his walls were gold, his throne was gold. All of these things were gold, not silver, not just precious stones, but gold. His vessels, his drinking vessels, were vessels of gold. It says in verse 21, all the vessels of the house were of pure gold. None were of silver. It says, and once every three years, in verse 22, the Navy of Tharsis brought gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks. I mean, he was just overflowing in abundance of exquisite things from all over the world. And so it says in verse 23,. King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom. King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom. And it says in verse 24, all of the earth sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And everyone brought presents. Everyone brought vessels of silver, vessels of gold, garments and armor, spices and horses and mules. Year after year after year, he reigned 40 years and this is what all the people around him did. Solomon gathered in his own kingdom 1,400 chariots, 12,000 horsemen.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:01

It says that the king made silver to be like stones, and there were stones all over Israel. He made silver to be like stones, and there were stones all over Israel. He made silver to be that affluent. He had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen, yarn and the king's merchants. There was trade going on. There was a free market of just trading, trading this for that and I mean it was. It was a golden age. It really was In almost every respect. And so this is Solomon's reign. This is the beauty, this is the favor. This is all that Solomon had for him and Israel. All people were blessed by what was going on.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:43

Which is to say, why did chapter 11 come around? Because if you stop there, you would say, well, Solomon could do no wrong. But yet that one verse he would not put his wife in his own city because his city was holy blares out at me. Because that happened early on. That happened when he became king early on, and yet him and his kingdom was blessed with super abundance, yet he had this wife from another nation. Think about that. Because it says here in chapter 11, but King Solomon loved many strange women and the Lord said to him you shall not go in unto them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they shall turn away your heart. You will serve other gods. And it says in verse three Solomon clave unto these in love. I mentioned those names before because it was the Egyptians, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Ebonites, the Zidonians and the Hittites that he started, started taking in wives left and right and by the time he was done in his reign he had 700 wives and princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 24:20

When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart. It even identifies when it happened. You see, he brought in a wife early on in his reign, and he was blessed. He didn't have her in the city, but he was blessed, and blessed with gold and silver and favor and wisdom and everybody blessed him. And so what happens when you've done something you know is contrary to the Lord and you're blessed, you don't think much of it, you don't think you really did anything wrong and you think maybe you got away with something and maybe you're just more highly favored than everybody else and God is just going to treat you differently than everybody else. And so when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart. And then it says and his heart was not perfect with the Lord, his God, as was his father, David. This is one of the reasons why I've spoken of Solomon before. He is one man that I would not want to be in his shoes on the day of judgment, because I really don't know what happened to him. Yeah, David sinned. Yeah, David fell, but he got back up and he sought the Lord, he repented. But it says, in the end of his days, his wives turned away his heart. It says in verse five.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:48

Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians. He went after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as David, his father. Solomon built a high place in Israel for Chemosh, or Chemosh he's the abomination of Moab, and he built a hill for Molech, who's the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all of his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their God. Now, this is what Solomon did in his reign, at the end of his reign, and he did it throughout all of Israel. Think he had 700 wives of Israel. Think he had 700 wives, maybe 700 high places for all the different wives that he had and all the different gods that they served, and maybe some of them came from the same place. But regardless, the point is that he seeded in Israel its own downfall. He seeded in Israel this divided kingdom that would come, and the Lord obviously was not happy.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:59

He says in verse 9, the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord after he had already appeared to him twice, once to give him a vision and once to respond to his prayer about the temple and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. And so the Lord said unto Solomon, you have not kept my covenant, you have not kept my statutes. We made an agreement. I said if you do this, I will do this. If you do this other thing, I'm gonna do this. Well, now I'm going to keep my part of the bargain. You've now broken covenant.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:42

I said what would happen if you broke the covenant? This is now what's going to happen. I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant, notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it for David, thy father's sake, I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. In other words, I'm not going to rend the kingdom from you during the days of your life for the sake of David. I'm going to rend it from your son. You will already be dead. He said I will not rend it away from the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son, David. You see, god is still thinking about the, the faithfulness of David. He stayed faithful to me and his son broke covenant with me, but I'm going to still keep my covenant with David. And so I'm going to leave one tribe to you, one tribe, and that will fulfill my end of the bargain, if you will, with David, my end of the covenant with David.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:47

And so at this point, after the Lord prophesied unto him maybe he sent him a prophet, maybe he came to him in a vision, but the Lord had spoken to Solomon this is what would happen. Then, from this point on, from verse 14 on, you see that the Lord starts stirring up his adversaries. But this is at the end of his days, this is at the end of his life. So, during the latter time of Solomon's reign, the Lord stirs up Hadad the Edomite. He stirs up a second person, rezon, the son of Eliadah, in verse 23. And he stirred up a man no, you don't have it there Named Jeroboam. Now, if you go back, just alt tab. If you go back, no, no, no, not in the scriptures, just alt tab. Jeroboam, if you look, is the king of the northern kingdom. Jeroboam was not. You look, is the king of the northern kingdom. Jeroboam was not in the line of David, he was the son of Nabot. And it says here that the Lord stirred up Jeroboam to come against Solomon. And then it says this is why.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 29:57

Now listen to the story. Jeroboam is the son of Nabot in verse 26. He's Solomon's servant. Even he lifted up his hand against Solomon and says but here's why. The man Jeroboam in verse 28 was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon saw the young man, that he was industrious, he had a good work ethic and he was impressed by it and he made him. He made Jeroboam ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:32

And then a prophet comes to Jeroboam. His name is Ahijah, and Ahijah tears Jeroboam's garment into 12 pieces. This is after the Lord already spoke to Solomon about what would happen to his kingdom, because his heart left him. He prophesied that 10 tribes will be given to Jeroboam. 10 tribes have been given to you, jeroboam and Solomon's servant, but one tribe will remain with the house of David.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:02

Why it says why in verse 33. Because that they have forsaken me. They have worshipped Ashtoreth, the god, the goddess of the Zidonians, chemosh, the god of the Ammonites, milcom, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in my eyes to keep my statutes and my judgments, as David, his father did. But he even says to Jeroboam I will make him prince, all excuse me. In verse 34, how be it? I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David, my servant's sake, whom I chose because he kept my commandments and my statutes. Again he refers back to David. He was the one that was faithful. I'm going to still leave with him a piece of the kingdom that's called a remnant. He left with him a remnant so that the covenant would not be broken by God to David, but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it unto thee, even 10 tribes.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:01

Now God is telling Jeroboam this during Solomon's reign. Solomon is still alive, and unto his son will I give one tribe that David, my servant, may have a light always before me in Jerusalem. And it says in verse 37, and I will take thee, Jeroboam, and thou shalt reign according to that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel. I hate just proclaiming him, but he's gonna be king over Israel and it shall be now listen to this a covenant. God is gonna make a covenant with Jeroboam. He says if thou will hearken unto all that I command and will walk in my ways and do that was right in my sight and you keep my statutes and my commandments, as David, my servant, did, then I will be with thee. I will build thee a sure house, as I built David, and will give Israel unto thee. You see how God maneuvers and sort of continues to provide covenants even though people are breaking his covenants. Yet he still kept covenant with David and by giving it to Jeroboam he's not breaking covenant with David. That's amazing to me. He's able to respond and sort of orchestrate around our rebellion, around the things that we do, as if, oh, that's going to catch him by surprise. It's like nothing to him. Oh, this is what I'm going to do. And then he tells him this and I will, for this, afflict the seed of David, but not forever.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:49

Now Solomon heard that Jeroboam got this prophecy from Ahijah, the prophet, and we think Solomon could have done no wrong. Now we've already sung, he's already gotten into strange women. What does he do with Jeroboam? He seeks to kill him. Has Jeroboam done anything wrong? Did Jeroboam sin against Solomon at all? No, he just received the prophet. It wasn't his fault.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:14

But now Solomon's after him to murder him, and so he runs. He runs to Egypt and he gets away. Murder him, and so he runs. He runs to Egypt and he gets away from him. Solomon dies. He reigned in Israel 40 years. He slept with his father and Rehoboam, his son, reigns in his stead. So Rehoboam gets on the throne.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:36

Jeroboam comes back. He's no longer in fear for his life. He comes back to Israel and he, with all of Israel, comes to Rehoboam and says listen, your father, in verse four of chapter 12, let me see if I want to go there, yeah, yeah. In verse four he says thy father made our yoke grievous. Now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke, which he put upon his lighter, and we will serve you. In other words, listen, your dad, he was hard on us and he was.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:16

They had to build Solomon's temple. That took over 20 years. They had to build his mansion and they had to build Solomon's temple. That took over 20 years. They had to build his mansion and they had to build his wife's house. They had a lot of work to do. They were the ones doing it and they said listen, it was hard work under your father. If you just lighten the load for us, we'll stay faithful to you. Okay, maybe he'll go and scratches his head, releases them. Just come back to me in three days and talk with him, okay, so he goes to his advisors.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:47

Now he's got his advisors from his father. They're elders, they're ancients. They say, hey, he consulted with Solomon's wife and they told him listen, if thou will be a servant unto this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servant forever. Listen, if you just listen to what they're saying, if you just lighten the load on them and you just answer their request, they'll serve you forever. That's what the elders, that's what the angels, that's what people under Solomon's reign who helped Solomon. That's what they said to Rabel. Anybody know what Rabel does? Well, yeah, but before that, who did he listen to? Because he didn't listen to the elders, the ancients under Solomon. He went to his peers Brilliant, what a brilliant man.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:37

That was Not of his father's tree, that's right. Don't listen to daddy, don't listen to older people. No, no, no, no. So him and the young men? Oh, listen to what they say about him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:49

Okay, and the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying Thus, thou shalt speak unto this. People that spake unto thee saying Listen, tell them this when they get back Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us. Thou shalt say unto them my little finger is thicker than my father's loins. Now you go figure that out, because I'm not going to explain that with the young children here. All right, that's what he was supposed to say to them. And he said and whereas my father did, laid you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, I'm gonna chastise you with scorpions. Wisdom, whoa, these, these are wise people.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:29

That's a great way to respond to some people that said listen, we'll serve you forever. Just kind of lighten the load, please. That's all he said. That's all they said. That's not much to ask, being that for 40 years they broke their backs for his father so brilliantly. That's what they tell him to do.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:47

They come back to him and the king answered them roughly, just the way the peers had spoken to him, that hey, you should answer them this way. That's exactly the way he answered them. The peers had spoken to him that, hey, you should answer them this way. That's exactly the way he answered them and it says the king did not hearken to the people in verse 15, but it says this line, for the cause was from the Lord. In other words, this is exactly what the Lord planned it to happen, because he had a prophecy to fulfill I'm going to rend the kingdom not from you but from your son, and this is how he was doing it. It says so that he might perform his saying, which he spoke by Ahijah to Jeroboam.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 38:37

So in verse 16, when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them and the people answered the king saying what portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in Jesse To your tents, israel to thine own house. So Israel departed unto their tents. In other words, they felt rejected. They felt well, what part do we have in this inheritance? They probably felt like we're not going to be nothing more than slaves. We have no part in the inheritance of David and Jesse anymore. Everybody go back home. They didn't feel a part of the family anymore. Why? Because the Rehoboam treated them. He basically ostracized them. So Israel forsook King Rehoboam and it says but as for the children of Israel, which dwelt in the cities of Judah. Rehoboam reigned over them. In other words, rehoboam reigned as king over Judah and all the Israelites that were there.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 39:39

And then one day, king Rehoboam says to a servant of his Adoram go collect taxes from all of Israel. Brilliant, again, you just rejected them. You just said you're basically going to make them slaves. Now let me pay taxes. What does Adarim do when he goes over to the cities of the Jerusalem? They kill him. They kill Rehoboam's servant. What You're going to come now get taxes from us, are you? They cut him off.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:16

And so Israel rebelled against the house of David in verse 19. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him into the congregation. They made him king over Israel. There was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only and some Benjamites. I'll get to that later. So here we have a break. And I told you before when our relationships, when our relationships are broken and severed and they're irretrievably reconcilable, it feels like a death. It feels like there's a gaping hole and I can't fill it with anything that makes it whole again. So I'm gonna turn to 2 Chronicles 11. Again, it's a parallel passage. You're not missing any of the story, but I like this part of the story because it highlights some things.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 41:13

So what does Rehoboam do in response to this rebellion of Israel? He starts gathering an army. He gathers 180,000 warriors to fight Israel. There's gonna be fight Because Israel rebelled. They killed the king's servant who came to get taxes. They commissioned another man to be the king of Israel. Now you got two kings in the same house. The divided house shall not stand, and so they were gonna fight. And then there's a prophet named Shemaiah. The man of God spoke to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying thus sayeth the Lord Everybody go back home. That was the word of the Lord. Don't go fight your brethren, go back home. And they obeyed the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:21

So what does Jeroboam decide to do? What we do when we have a relationship that is severed, that is irretrievably broken, we start to fortify our defenses. I had a relationship. It was broken, it was torn. I'm hurt. I'm going to build a wall of protection. I had a relationship. It was broken, it was torn. I'm hurt, I'm going to build a wall of protection. Nobody's going to come in this place again. I'm not letting anybody in here.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:48

When we start building up our walls of protection everywhere, it says Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, but he built cities of defense. He was going to defend. I'm not going to go fight, but I'm going to create. I'm not going to go fight, but I'm going to create some defenses in my territory. And this is what we do as men, this is what we do as women. We break off our relations and we start building defenses here and there so that we don't get hurt again, so that if someone tries to come and attack us or poke us in that place, we have a wall of defense.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:20

So he built it in Bethlehem and Edom and Tekoa and Bethsa and Shekoh and all these cities and Benjamin had fenced cities and he fortified the strongholds and he put captains in them and in several cities he put shields and in spears and they were exceedingly strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side and the priests and the Levites that were in Israel. Israel is now the northern kingdom, judah is now the southern kingdom. There were Israelites that were, excuse me, there were Levites that were in Israel that came down to Judah because they didn't want to have any part with Israel. The ordained Levitical priesthood that was scattered all throughout Israel then left Israel and went and centered around in Judah because Jeroboam did something. It says Jeroboam and his sons cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord. Jeroboam ordained for himself priests that he wanted, and there were priests for high places and for the devils and for the calves, which he made. So already Israel is now falling away, spiritually speaking. They're now setting up their own priesthood. They're worshiping other gods in other high places. But where did those other gods in high places come from? Solomon? Solomon seeded that and they continued in that and he ordained for him priests in high places and after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as, set their hearts to seek the Lord. The God of Israel came to Jerusalem. So all the Levites that wanted to maintain their integrity before the Lord and continue serving him they said I'm out of here. I'm going to Jerusalem because that's where they're still serving God. I'm going to go there and serve God. So they left, they came down, they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam Solomon, rehoboam, the son of Solomon strong, and for three years he walked in the way of David and Solomon. So for three years, after the kingdom was divided, he started building up his own defenses, afraid if he was going to get attacked, afraid that he was going to, you know, be overtaken. So he's building up all these defenses, but for three years he walked with the Lord, just like David, just like Solomon did in their early days, or at least Solomon in his early days, not his latter days. But that's kind of what we do when we have our relationships and then we get hurt. We build up these defenses and then we rely more on the defenses than we do on the defender, which is our God. So watch what happens.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 45:58

It says Rehoboam, son of Solomon, took as his wife Mahalath, his uncle's daughter, and Abihail, the daughter of his grandfather's brother. He also took Absalom's daughter, maka, and in all he had 18 wives, 60 concubines and had 28 sons and 60 daughters. That's a big family. I don't know how the Hendersons do it 28 sons and 60 daughters that's a big family. I don't know how the Hendersons do it, much less these people. But I have to tell you that I have never seen in the scriptures a family that had this kind of family, multiple wives that worked out Haven't seen it. Mary and Joseph, it was just Mary and Joseph. Abraham and Sarah, it's just Abraham and Sarah.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 46:52

But when did the problem start? When Abraham went with Amen. That's when problems seem to start for these people. I bring that up because it's important that we realize that it's not good to have other loves in your life. There should be only one More problems, yeah. And then here it says Rehoboam loved the maka above all his other wives and concubines. Where do we see that? One love more than all the others? Jacob, leah, rachel, yeah.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:28

So now again, the first three years he walked in the ways of Solomon and he walked in the ways of David and he spread out his children amongst his region, his territory, his kingdom, and he dealt wisely. He dispersed all of his children throughout the countries of Judah and Benjamin. He had fenced cities. And then it says and he desired many wives. So we go to chapter 12. And it came to pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself. Listen to the way it's written. He strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord. After three years he built up his own defenses. He relied on his own strength to do this, to do that, to protect himself. All that was about protecting himself, protecting his kingdom, his territory. And then he forsook the law of the Lord. So, and it came to pass in the fifth year. See, he walked with God for three years, it says. Then he forsook the law of the Lord. And two years later because from three to five is two years, it says then he forsook the law of the Lord, and two years later, because from three to five is two years, that's when the Lord decided to deal discipline-wise with him. And all the while he's thinking everything is all right, I'm doing okay, I'm blessed, I'm favored, no one's attacking me. But now, two years after he forsooks the law of the Lord. So in those two years he's probably thinking oh, he started forsaking the law of the Lord and then he's not walking with the Lord, but everything is okay, so nothing's a problem.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 49:06

Shishak, king of Egypt, comes against Jerusalem because they transgressed the law of the Lord. So with 1,200 chariots and three score thousand horsemen, he came up with the Lubims of the Succums and the Ethiopians and he took fenced cities which pertain to Judah. And then Shemaiah the prophet spoke to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah. He said thus say the Lord, you have forsaken me. Therefore, have I also left you in the hand of Shishak? Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and they said the Lord is righteous. This is the kind of response that David had when he was found to be wrong. He humbled himself and acknowledged that he was in sin. And now we see that Rehoboam and the rest of the elders also responded in the same manner, because they all humbled themselves before him, saying the Lord is righteous. And when the Lord saw this that they humbled themselves. Shemaiah then said because you have humbled yourselves, I will not destroy them, I will grant them deliverance and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Israel by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be his servants. So, yes, they paid the penalty for forsaking the law of the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:24

But this is a pattern you start seeing if you read 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. He always brings about some kind of discipline for the purposes of getting them to repent, getting them to return. It's not his will that he pour out his wrath. If you poured out his wrath upon you, that's it. At least he's pouring out some merciful kind of discipline, and even if it does make you servants.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:50

So Shishak then took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He carried away all the gold that Solomon had, and so what we see now is that Shishak plundered Jerusalem from its most valuable possession, if you will gold From the golden age of Solomon. And look at what it says. Instead of which, rehoboam made shields of brass, from gold to brass. And already you're starting to see the glory of the Lord departing. You are starting to see that the glory that once was is gonna slowly depart and it's gonna be replaced with something much less glorious. And that's the pattern of a life of anyone who decides to place their hearts on something other than the Lord. All the things that he has blessed you with, all the things that he has given you materially, spiritually, emotionally they begin to be taken away slowly and surely.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 52:02

But Rehoboam went into the temple and humbled himself again, and the wrath of the Lord was turned from him that he would not destroy him altogether. And then Judah, things went well. So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem. I can't believe this, verse 13. He strengthened himself in Jerusalem after he humbled himself so that Shishat wouldn't have his way with him. If there's a reason why it says he strengthened himself, he's strengthening himself, which means he's going to rely on himself again. And what would happen the first time he did that? After three years he forsook the law of the Lord. So here we see again. The King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned, for Rehoboam was one in 40 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 17 years. It began to rain. He reigned 17 years and 14, it says. And he did evil because he prepared, not his heart to seek the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 53:10

Recently, when I read that, I was so glad. I read that because I've been telling my kids you need to prepare your heart to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You need to prepare your heart to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You need to prepare your heart so that he can bless you with the greatest promise that he's given all of mankind, the one that even the prophets desire to look into, to understand. What is this grace he's going to do? The indwelling gift of the Holy Ghost. The indwelling gift of the Holy Ghost. And so it continues how the acts of Rehoboam are recorded in certain books which we don't have right now, but the lineage stays in the line of David, from David to Rehoboam.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 53:51

Rehoboam dies and Abijah, his son, takes hold of the kingdom. And by this time, well, if you go back to that slide, Jeroboam he's been reigning 18 years. He doesn't last. I mean, Jeroboam lasts longer than Rehoboam did. Rehoboam only lasted 17 years, but his son comes into the picture during the 18th year of Jeroboam and there's war between the house of Rehoboam, or in this case now, Ahijah and Jeroboam, and they're about to fight. And Abijah stands up. And I gotta, I gotta read what he says. Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemarim, which is in the Mount Ephraim.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:37

Hear me, thou, Jeroboam and all Israel, in 2 Chronicles 13.5. Ought ye not to know that the Lord, god of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David? Forever he's reminding them that. Didn't God give all of Israel to David? Don't you remember that? Don't you remember that, even to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:07

Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David, is risen up and rebelled against the Lord, not against David, not against Judah. He's rebelling against the Lord, and there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. So he's pointing out to Jeroboam and the children of Israel that you're in rebellion. You've forsaken the ways of the Lord. Why are you coming against the house of David? The house of David was prophesied of the Lord that they were to reign over all Israel, not just Judah, not just Benjamin, but all the tribes.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:48

Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and haven't you made for yourselves priests after the manner of other nations? He says in verse 9. But he reminds them there's still a faithful house. But as for us, the Lord is our God, not Baal, not Chemosh, not Ashtoreth. We have not forsaken him. And the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron and the Levites. Wait upon their business. They're burning unto the Lord every morning and every evening. They're doing their duty. They're doing that which is right, that which is holy. We're still here, for we keep the charge of the Lord, our God. We have not forsaken Him. God Himself is with us. God Himself is our captain, his priests, with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you, o children of Israel. Fight ye, not against the Lord, god of your fathers, for you shall not prosper. I see the heart of God calling unto his rebellious house Come back, I still have a holy people here serving me. Come back, don't walk in his rebellious ways. Don't walk in his rebellious ways.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 57:10

And as he's saying this to Jeroboam, secretly, connivingly, Jeroboam sets up an ambush. While he's speaking these words, he caused an ambush to come about him, behind him, so that they were not only in front of Judah, but they were ambushing him behind. And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind. And they cried. I mean, we were speaking to you, we're surrounded. They cried unto the Lord. Lord, what are we going to do now? I'm here declaring your wonderful words, telling them to come back. What are we going to do?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 57:55

Then the men of Judah gave a shout. And as the men of Judah shouted and it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. Yeah, they cried, but they cried unto the Lord and he delivered them. He smote all of them, all of Israel, 10 tribes against two. He smote them all and God delivered them into their hand. It says 500,000, a half a million Israelites were slain Half a million. Why? Because Judah placed their trust in the Lord, their God, and they prevailed. That's in verse 18. And Abijah pursued them, took Bethel, took cities left and right, and Jeroboam never was able to strengthen himself again against Abijah and the Lord struck him and he died. So Jeroboam actually eventually died.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 58:58

And then I read verse 21. I'm like Abijah waxed mighty, married 14 wives, he begat 22 sons and 16 daughters, and the rest of the acts of Abijah and his ways and sayings are written in the story of the prophet Edo, which is a book we don't have. But if we go back to that other quick slide, abijah only reigned 3 years short reign. So I want to go to 1 Kings, real quick, 15. Oh good, 1 Kings 15. Now Chronicles didn't mention what I'm about to read to you. According to what I just read, you would think, wow, abbie just stood up for the Lord. Woo, look at him and look at how the Lord just delivered Israel into his hand. And then I read 1 Kings. This is why it was important to me to read the parables Like oh, I get the whole story Now.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 59:59

In the 18th year of King Jeroboam, reigned Abijam over Judah. Abijam over Judah. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. Number three, he walked in the sins of his father. His heart was not perfect. With the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father was. Nevertheless, for David's sake, did the Lord, his God, give him a lamp in Jerusalem to set up his son after him, to establish Jerusalem. God's eyes are always on keeping covenant, even when the people that he's trying to keep the covenant with don't keep their covenant. He's thinking of David. I'm keeping my covenant with David.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:00:42

And even though Abijam or Abijah, was walking in the sins of his father, rehoboam, not perfect toward the Lord, not constantly seeking after him, it says here that, for the sake of David, I'm going to keep the line with this family. Otherwise he would have broken covenant with David. You realize that If he would have said, oh, forget this, these people, he would have broken covenant with David because he said to David, to you and your family and your children and your children, I'm keeping covenant and through your line will the Messiah come and that Messiah will reign forever and ever and that's your kingdom that will be established forever and ever. He couldn't. He was going to keep covenant with David. So which is to say that even if you're in the line of the promise and you do wrong, it doesn't mean because the Lord hasn't dealt with you that he's never going to deal with you, just because he's keeping covenant with David. Not because of what you've done or didn't do. He's keeping his covenant with David. So sometimes our children are involved in things that they shouldn't be doing and yet they seem to be okay. Yet it's because they're keeping covenant with their fathers and their mothers. So David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and he turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all his day of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah, the Hittite, see. So there's a recognition of God that, yeah, he did wrong. He did do wrong, he did sin, and there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. And then it finishes, abijah. And then I just want to end with Asa. Yeah, I knew I wasn't going to get that far. All right, asa, 2 Chronicles Something very important about Asa that's going to come about here, that hopefully, maybe you have seen it already, but in 2 Chronicles 14.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:02:38

Yeah, 2 Chronicles 14. When Asa began his reign, the land was quiet for 10 years. That means there was no war. That means there was peace Because Asa did something, that powerful, beautiful example that we need to see. Asa not only did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, because he took away the altars. See, this is the starting of the cleansing of the house. I haven't seen this yet.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:03:15

Asa seemed to be the first king that started cleansing the house of what Solomon had done and seeded, because, it says, he was taking away the altars of the strange gods. He was taking away the high places. He broke down images, he cut down the groves and then he did this he commanded Judah to seek the Lord. He commanded Judah to do the law and the commandment. He took away out of all the cities the high places and the images, and the kingdom was quiet before him. You see, when you start getting rid of the idols in your heart, even though they may be painful because you've gotten used to them, he begins to bring a peace into your life that you didn't have before. But you've got to start getting rid of those idols. You've got to start getting rid of those other loves. You will not have peace unless you get rid of those other loves. And you have one love.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:04:13

It says he built fenced cities in Judas, for the land had rest and he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. It says because he sought the Lord. Because we have sought the Lord, our God, we have sought him and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and they prospered, and then Asa was able to build up, I guess, his army. He had shields. He had 300,000 men with shields of Judah, he had 280,000 men with shields and bows.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:04:51

And then there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian. Now, I wish I could look up Zerah in his history, because he seemed to be a mighty man of some kind. Because Zerah the Ethiopian had a host of 1,000,000 men. Anybody can figure out that? What's 1,000,000? A thousand men? Anybody can figure out that? What's a thousand thousand? A million men, a million men, army, and he had 300 chariots and Asa went to battle against him and they set out to battle in a ray, in the valley of Zephah, of Mareshah, and Asa did what his father did, abijam Ah.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:05:32

But he cried unto the Lord. He cried unto the Lord. He said Lord, it's nothing for you to help us, whether there are many or whether then there are people with no power. Oh Lord, god, for we rest on thee. Oh, we rest on thee, lord, god, ain't nothing for you to help us. I see a million men, army, but Lord, ain't none for you to help us. Oh Lord, our God, we rest on thee and thy name. We go against the multitude that sounds like David, their father. I come against you in the name of the Lord, when he went against Goliath. Oh Lord, thou are God. Let no man prevail against thee, because, you see, the people of God were representing God in the earth. It wasn't that they were just coming against another nation, they were coming against God of Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:06:30

So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled a million men and they were overthrown. They could not recover themselves. They were destroyed before the Lord and they carried away a lot of spoil from the Ethiopians. They spoiled all of their cities in abundance, it says, with exceeding much spoil in them. They carried away sheeps and camels in abundance and returned to Israel. And then the Lord responds to them with this message, which is critical right now for us the spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, in chapter 15.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:07:09

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, in chapter 15. And he spoke to Asa. He spoke to all of Judah and Benjamin. And this was the principle the Lord is with you while you be with him. If you seek him, he will be found of you. If you forsake him, he will forsake you. What a marvelous, mighty kingdom principle that is Relevance. It's got to be relevant to you. You've got to realize we live this biblical kingdom principle. If you be with the Lord, he's with you. You seek the Lord, you will find him. You forsake him and he'll forsake you. Everybody lives that life out, whether you acknowledge the existence of God himself or not.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:08:10

Now, Israel had been without a true God, without teaching priests and without a law for a long time. It says in verse 4 of 3. But when they, in their trouble, did turn unto the Lord, their God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of him. They did something very interesting when Asa heard that word of the Lord, of the prophet. He received it from Azariah and he responded by removing the idols from the land and renewing the altar of the Lord. He put away all the abominable idols out of the land of Judah and Benjamin. He had taken them out of Mount Ephraim. He renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord, and great reverence was given to King Asa for doing this.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:09:12

The people recognized the Lord was with him when they defeated the Egyptians. They defeated him in Asa's 15th year of his reign. It says in verse 10, in the 15th year of the reign of Asa, they offered unto the Lord, the same time of the spoil which they had brought 700 oxen, 7,000 sheep, in other words, all the spoil that they took from the Ethiopian in the 15th year. They offered them up to the Lord God, and whosoever would not seek the Lord, god of Israel, would be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. There was a recommitment by the people of Judah to seek the Lord, to go after him, and they swore to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpet, and all of Judah rejoiced at this oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with all their desire. And he was found in them and the Lord gave them rest round about. They realized the connection, how the Lord would respond if you would respond to him and seek him with all your heart. Asa was so convicted at this message that he even removed his mother from the kingdom.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:10:29

If you read verse 16, and also concerning Maka, the mother of Asa the king. He removed her from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove, and Asa cut down her idol and stamped it and burned it at the brook of Kidron. He didn't care about her mother. I'm going to cleanse this house. We are going to seek the Lord. I don't care whether I offend you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:10:54

And there was one thing that was not done the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all of his days. I planted a little seed earlier on. What does it mean to be perfect? We think it's got to be. You can't make a mistake, period. But it says that Asa's heart was perfect All of his days, but he didn't remove all the high places. How's that possible? Figure out the paradox. And I'm going to end with 16. There was 20 years of peace in Judah because of what Asa did and what he taught the people to do. Because of Asa and the people's response to the word of the Lord, from the 15th year of defeating the Ethiopians to the 35th year. That was 20 years that passed. There was peace in the land of Judah. I don't know why he did this. It's one of those. I really don't know why he did this.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:12:00

In the sixth and 30th year of the reign of Asa, baja, king of Israel, came up against Judah and built Ramah so that people would not go in and out. So the king of Israel comes back and if you go back to the other thing, you'll see Baja's way down the list. So they had a lot of trouble on the northern side, but anyways, baja came in to put Israel out. He's way over here, he's right here. So there's two people that reigned. Baja came to just set up a fort so that nobody will go in and out of Israel between Judah and Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:12:34

And then it says Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and out of the king's house and gave them to the king of Syria. Those weren't his treasures, those were the Lord's. What is he doing? And he said to the king of Syria who dwelled in Damascus you know, you got an agreement with the king of Baja here. Take this, break it and help us. The king of Baja here. Take this, break it and help us get rid of these people. What happened in those 20 years? That he wouldn't cry out to the Lord, but he'd now take the treasures of the Lord and pay off someone else to do what he needed, which was a deliverance. I don't understand why he did that. And Ben-Hadad hearkened. He listened to the king of Asa and he took out Baja. He made his work to stop.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:13:45

And then verse seven comes, because the Lord always responds. He sends a prophet. Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord. Thy God, therefore, is the host of the king of Syria, escaped out of thine hand. Now you are not going to defeat him. I was going to give him to you, but because you wanted to depend upon him to deliver you from him. Now he's not in your hand anymore. We're not the Ethiopians and the Lubans. A huge host. Didn't the Lord deliver you out of a million people With a lot of chariots and a lot of horsemen? Yeah, because you did rely on the Lord, he delivered them out of your hand. What happened? You've forgotten 20 years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:14:43

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him. So what does that mean? What was the first message to Asa? If you be with the Lord and seek him, he will be with you. If you seek him, you will find him. That's a heart that's perfect toward him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:15:17

David messed up, but he kept seeking him. He kept after him. He longed and yearned for him Like a deer panting for the water. His soul thirsted for him and did not cease thirsting for him. Even though he counted his own people in rebellion against God, even though he committed adultery, even though he committed murder, he always went back to seek the Lord. And that's a heart that's perfect toward God. And only God can determine that. And it's because it's in the scriptures that I can only say that Asa's heart was perfect all of his days, because I'm only repeating what God said.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:16:01

But if you look at his life, why did you do that, Asa? What did ya'what did you do that for?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:16:13

So he's looking around the earth to and fro for those whose hearts are perfect for him, for those whose hearts are seeking after him here. And thou has done foolishly, Asa. Therefore, from henceforth, thou shall have wars. Are you seeing a pattern here?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:16:26

The trouble comes in the life of a person when he stops seeking after the Lord. Asa was wroth with the seer. Asa was wroth with the messenger. Put him in prison. He was in a rage with him because of this thing, and Asa oppressed some of the people. At the same time, Asa took it out on the prophet and the people. Asa didn't want to deal with what he did, but the Lord specifically said you did foolishly, and so this is the end of Asa's life. And so this is the end of Asa's life.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:17:08

Asa, in the 39th year of his reign, was diseased in his feet. Until his disease was exceedingly great, and this is the heartbreaking part After everything, after the Lord speaking to the prophet don't you remember? I delivered you out of the hand because you cried unto me? I delivered them, it says. Yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord but to the physicians. He reigned 41 years. That was in his 39th year. He was diseased in his feet. Great, I don't know what disease, exceeding disease in his feet for two years. That was in his 39th year, he was diseased in his feet Great, I don't know what disease, exceeding disease in his feet for two years, having not sought the Lord, going to doctors, having not get a fix, and he died.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:18:03

There's a lot to learn. There's a lot that's relevant to us. If we seek the Lord, if we seek the Lord, we will find him. If we be with him, he will be with us. But don't mistake the favor of God in your life when you're in sin and think that everything's just going to work out all right. A man always sows or reaps what he sows, good or bad, amen. If you were blessed and appreciate listening to this podcast and you would like to support us in our efforts, consider lifting us up in prayer first. Then remember these four social media buzzwords share, like, subscribe or follow. Share this podcast link with someone else by text, email or word of mouth in the hopes that they might be uplifted, as you were, like by leaving a positive rating or review with whomever you listen to our podcast, with Subscribe to support the show monetarily with the link in our podcast description. Follow us on all our social media platforms. May God bless you and make you prosperous in Him as you listen and obey His voice.