Baldhead Bible Podcast

Jeremiah is a wanted man. King Jehoiakim of Judah wants Jeremiah gone, dead, killed off. Yet God commands Jeremiah to go and read all the prophecies of doom and destruction that God has given to Jeremiah over the last 25 years, to go and have them read to Jehoiakim, the very man who is trying to kill him. How is Jeremiah going to do that? First, he has to write them down and then read them to the King. Enter the scribe, Baruch. Listen to this week's story to hear about Baruch and the reaction of King Jehoiakim to the reading of the scroll.

We go back and look at two more visual parables this week. God would use any method He could to reach His people Israel. Sometimes he asked His prophets to portray His message to His people visually. Last time it was dirty underwear and broken clay pots. This week it is a yoke and buying a field. How will God use these images, these visual parables, to reach His people? What messages is He trying to send? Listen on to this week's podcast to find out.

What was it like for Jeremiah to preach? This week, we look at a scene from Jeremiah's life showing the challenges he had to face every time he preached. And one of his greatest challenges was that he spoke under the threat of imprisonment and the grave possibility of death every time he preached. And yet he still preached and warned his fellow Israelites of God's coming judgment, but also he told them about God's offer of grace. Finally, we hear the story of a contemporary of Jeremiah: the prophet Uriah. He preached the same message that Jeremiah preached, but he ended up paying the ultimate price for his devotion and obedience to God's calling on his life. Listen to this week's podcast to learn more about Jeremiah, Uriah, and the high cost of discipleship.

In the Bible, God would use any means to reach His people Israel. He would send prophet after prophet to warn His people, or He would send plague, disaster, or some other act of judgment to try to wake His people up. And sometimes, if the people were unwilling to listen, God would use symbolic action, or a visual parable, to try to help his people understand and get them to listen. In the next couple of episodes, we will hear four of them. Today we are going to listen to the first two. And this first one is quite the doozy.

This week we are starting a new series on the book of Jeremiah. We will be focusing on specific scenes from the life of Jeremiah, the prophet. Jeremiah was called by God to speak, to preach, to weep over a crumbling culture slowly drifting away from the worship of Yahweh. I believe there are things that we can learn from Jeremiah's life, from his story, to help us live a faithful witness in the middle of our own drifting culture. This week we learn about the call of God on the life of Jeremiah. God called him to stand up, speak out, and call the people of Judah back to God. What does God's call look like today? Do followers of Jesus have a similar call like today? If we do, what can we learn from the call Jeremiah experienced? Listen to this week's podcast to find out.

We come to the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and boy is it a sad ending. King Josiah led Judah towards a godly future. One where the people of Judah were once again in covenant with Yahweh. But then he died, and his sons were left to run the country, and unlike their Father, they had no interest in having a heart after Yahweh. Instead, they led Judah back to its idolatrous ways, and we come to the final chapter in the story of Israel. We also meet a prophet named Jeremiah, who though he weeps over his people's sin, leaves us with a glimmer of hope. The tragic story that is about to unfold may have a happy ending after all. Listen to find out more.

Josiah is a fabulous King in the eyes of the LORD. He has a heart wholly devoted to him and is busy tearing down high places and removing idolatrous practices from the nation of Judah. He began to rebuild the broken parts of the Temple to restore the site dedicated to the worship of YAHWEH. The High Priest Hilkiah was busy cleaning and ordering the temple treasury when he saw the edge of something sticking out in the corner. It looked like a scroll, probably some scroll that tallied the gold, silver, or other things stored here. But when he pulled it out and rolled out the scroll, and began to read it, he discovered something incredible. Something amazing. What was on the scroll? Listen to this podcast to find out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

King Amaziah is a fool. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and fools despise wisdom and instruction. Well, King Amaziah was a fool because he followed God, but not wholeheartedly, and in that, he was a fool. Amaziah came to the throne at the age of 25, taking over from his murdered father, Jehoash. He had the chance to do what was right and to obey Yahweh and follow him all his days. But instead, Amaziah chose to imitate his father's heart and follow the LORD a little bit, but mainly with very little loyalty. What will happen to him and southern Israel? Listen on to find out. To follow along, turn to 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 25.

This week we say goodbye to the prophet Elisha. After 56 years of serving Yahweh, he finally gets to go home and be with the LORD he loves forever. But even on his deathbed, Elisha continues to minister and try to call the people of Israel back to the service and worship of Yahweh. He calls for the young apostate King of Northern Israel Jehoash and offers to bless him with a bow and arrows. Listen on to hear more of Elisha's final hours and the miracle Elisha performs even after death.

Joash was rescued from certain death by the heroics of Jehosheba and Jehoiada. Without their intervention, he would have indeed died. And then they instructed Joash in the things of the Lord and raised him to be a godly King once he took back the throne from the wicked Queen Athaliah. Joash even demonstrated his faith by caring enough to prioritize rebuilding the temple of the Lord. Joash loved Yahweh and was going to be a godly King the rest of his days. But then Jehoiada died, and Joash now had to be King and follow God on his own. He would do great because he demonstrated faith in God already. Or would he? This week's story is a warning for our age and anyone who cares about their children's faith. Do they own their faith, or is it all outwardly expressing love for you, but not for God?