Day 176 (1 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 13-16) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble· Host0:00

[intro music] Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. King Reh, the first king of the southern kingdom of Judah, has died, and he's replaced by his son Abijam, also known as Abaijah. Abaijah does not follow God, just like his dad. Meanwhile, King Jeroboam is still king in the northern kingdom of Israel, and these two obviously don't get along. King Jeroboam's people come out to attack King Abaijah's people, and Abaijah tells Jeroboam, "Look, we know you're acting wickedly. We know all about your golden calves and your fake temple and your non-Levite priests, and if you attack us, it's bound to fail because it's an attack against God." Even though Abaijah is wicked himself, he's not wrong about this. In the battle, Abaijah is outnumbered two to one, but he and his army kill more than half of Jeroboam's army and take some of his land as well. After Abaijah dies, the next king of Judah is his son Asa. And finally we have a God-fearing man on the throne in the south. Hooray! Asa gets a serious pep talk from a man named Azariah, who acts as the mouthpiece of God the Spirit. And after Azariah reminds him of his purpose as king and encourages him to be bold in making reforms, Asa does just that. He is not afraid to make things right in Judah, even if that means kicking family members out of their roles in the kingdom. He fires all the male cult prostitutes and tears down the idols. He