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There is chapter 21. We're continuing our study through the kings and particularly through the kings of Judah. So I should have printed off some more of the kings list here. But we are actually going to do two kings tonight. And the reason I'm going to do two is because they're kind of really, they're really lame. And I want to get into a couple things with the kings. We're going to do Jehoshaphatim, son of Jehoshaphatim, and Ahaziah the son. So we're going to do these two kings as far as just what the Bible teaches about them. The stories that are going on with them. There's just not a lot of stuff written about them in general, but there is something. So really in chapter 21 it's all about the forum. Then it goes straight into Ahaziah in the next chapter. And then actually in 2 Kings, go to 2 Kings chapter 8 if you want to start there. 2 Kings chapter 8 deals with both of them all in one thing. But I want to get into, actually the one thing I really want to try to talk about is the fact that Ahaziah in one place says he started raining when he was 22 and in another place he started raining when he was 42. And this is a supposed contradiction in the Bible. But I really want to get into that a little bit. So this is not going to be the milk of the word tonight. So this is going to be more of a meaty sermon, more of a particular thing, doing some math. So anyway, we're going to be talking about Jehoram and just who he is and all that. But I really do want to get into Ahaziah. But what happens in Jehoram's time leading up to Ahaziah is very important to understand why there's this 20 year difference in when he rained at 22 and when he rained at 42. And you say, well which one is it? It's both. It's both, but I'm going to get into that. But in 2 Kings chapter 8 verse 16, notice what it says. It says in the fifth year of Jehoram, the son of Ahaz, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to rain. 32 years old was he when he began to rain. And he rained eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife and he did evil inside the Lord. So there's a couple things to see here. First of all, the big problem with Jehoram is that he married Athaliah, which is the daughter of Ahab. So Athaliah, it doesn't say that she's the daughter of Jezebel, but she might as well be if she's not. But I would say that she has the same attributes as Jezebel. I'm going to have a little sermon about Athaliah after this one. So next week we're going to be talking about Athaliah because she actually rains for a little period of time as queen. So there's actually a queen of Judah, so to speak. And then obviously the true king comes back and all that. But we see that he marries the daughter of Ahab. So that causes him to basically do the things of the house of Ahab. So this is the downfall of Jehoram and Ahaziah. So Jehoram is married to Athaliah, but then Athaliah is Ahaziah's mother. So that's where you get this problem. Athaliah is really the root of the problem. This much as Jezebel was really the root of the problem with Ahab. But we also see that Jehoram co-rained with Jehoshap. Did you notice that it said that? This is a great place to prove that, this co-regency thing. Because you'll see in some places where it says they rained for this many years and they rained for this many years. And they have differences in when they started to rain, or how old they were when they started to rain. Because it says that Jehoshapat being then king of Judah, in verse 15, Jehoram's son Jehoshapat king of Judah began to rain. And so I believe though that Jehoram's eight year reign was counted, that eight years was counted after Jehoshapat died. But this is showing that basically he was kind of reigning with Jehoshapat while Jehoshapat was still king. And there's this overlap, so to speak. So that kind of proves that when you look at co-regency things that are going on throughout the kings and the chronicles. But going back to chapter 21 of 2 Chronicles, we're going to see that Jehoram really starts off on a really bad foot. And Jehoram is going to kill all his brothers. All his brothers. So he has six brothers that are born of Jehoshapat, and he kills them all. So this guy is not a good guy. This is a really bad guy. This guy gets one of the worst deaths in the life. Besides Herod, you know you think Herod who warms consumed him. What happens, how he dies is not the way I want to get them. This is a horrible death that happens to Jehoram. But you can definitely see why he got that. But it wasn't just that, there's other things that he did. But in verse 1 there, 2 Chronicles 21, it says, Now Jehoshapat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned instead. And he had brevity, the sons of Jehoshapat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shepetiah. So there's two Azariahs. So get a little more creative with your son's name. You don't have to name him the same name. He probably went by a nickname or something at some point. But anyway, so you have six, right? You have six brothers there. All of these were the sons of Jehoshapat's kingdom, Israel. And their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things with bent cities and Judah. But the kingdom gave heed to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. So the reason that he reigned is because he was the firstborn, not because he was better. But actually Elijah is going to bring up a point that says, actually, they were all better than you. All the brethren that he killed, he's making a point saying, they were all better than you. The only reason that he got the throne is because he was the firstborn. But then it goes on there in verse 4, it says, Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with a sword and diverse also of the princes of Israel. So not just his brothers, but other princes that were among them. So you can think of his cousins or different people that were related to where he's taken them all out. And the reason I bring this up, or this is a big point, is because when Aclai kills all the seed royal, she got that idea from her husband. So he just basically just killed, I mean, he was already king. But he's just like, I'm going to make sure that no one else can be king besides me. I'm going to kill everybody that's even in the runnings. But then going on there, it says Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. So same thing was said in 2 Kings. But notice what it says here going on, that even though Jehoram was evil, did evil things, God's promise as far as having a king sit upon David's throne was still held up. And he's making a point here because obviously this Jehoram is a really evil dude. But in verse seven there it says, Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he made with David, and as he promised to give a life to him and to his sons forever. So he didn't completely destroy the house of David even though Jehoram was really evil. Now you don't have to turn there, but if you want to, Psalm 89 kind of hit on this because if you remember Abijah brought this up I believe when they were trying to take out all of David, and he was leaning on that as far as the promise that God would not let all the seed of David be destroyed because how would Christ come out of the seed of David and how would Christ sit upon the throne of David if they're all destroyed. And so this is kind of bringing it up instead of the reverse of a righteous king bringing it up as the defense, the Bible's bringing it up saying he wasn't destroyed because of this. They weren't completely annihilated because of this. And so in Isaiah, I'm sorry, in Psalm 89 verse 34 it says, My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. And we know that's fulfilled if you go to Luke chapter 1 and chapter 2 dealing with Christ coming and talking about how his throne shall be forever and ever. You know you think about but unto the sun he saith thy throne O God is forever and ever except our righteousness except our thy kingdom. And talking about the throne of David and talking about the fact that he's the seed of David. He's the root and offspring of David and he fulfilled that. So you say well who's the king, who's the seed of David now that's sitting on the throne? Jesus Christ. That's who it is and it will always be that way. And that was the prophecy that was to come true. But it's making a point here that David's seed isn't going to be completely cut off here because of that promise. He's not going to be annihilated like the house of Ahab is or other houses have been or something like that. Now going on from there, this is what I want to get into. This is why I'm linking these two kings together, Purim and Ahaziah. Because what happens next? Now I preached on this when I preached the book of Obadiah which is one chapter. And I kind of went through a lot of different things in the book of Obadiah. But this is a specific point that I want to bring up because this point really points you to Obadiah. The whole point of why I'm bringing this up and why this is a big point is that I believe it points to Obadiah. And then you go to Obadiah and see what that's talking about gives you more information on what's going on. And so in 2 Chronicles 21 verse 8 it says, In his days Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah and made themselves a king. Then Jehoram went forth with his princes and all his chariots with him, and he rose up by night and smote the Edomites, which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots. So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. At the same time also did the Livnod revolt from under his hand because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. So the thing to kind of realize here is that in Jehoshaphat's day it clearly states that there was no king over Edomites. So what I believe is going on here, go to 2 Kings chapter 8, I'll show you that or prove that to you. I'm sorry, 1 Kings chapter 22. So 1 Kings chapter 22 verse 47, During Jehoshaphat's reign, so Jehoram's death's father, right? And verse 47, so 1 Kings 22 verse 47 it says, There was then no king in Edom, a deputy was king. So that's why you say, why is that mentioned? It's kind of this odd note there. When we went through Jehoshaphat it just kind of mentions this in passing because it's a thing to note that happens during Jehoram's reign. So basically Edom, I believe, was basically under the authority of Judah at that time. They were under the authority, then they revolted during Jehoram's reign and they got themselves a king. They didn't just have a deputy, they're basically becoming independent, revolted, and then Jehoram tries to go after them, but they just rebel from that point on. There's going to be a reason why that's important as far as Edom was not in good standing with Judah at this time. But I do want to get into a sin that Jehoram commits that causes him to get this judgment of the disease in his battles. So notice in 2 Chronicles chapter 21 and verse 11, because you think of, we're going to get Uzziah, or Uzziah, however you want to say it, and he becomes a leper until the day of his death, so that's not good. But this one's the worst. When I read this I'm like, oh man, that's painful, it's horrible, and just the way it ends in life, you're just like, oh, that's not the way you want to be remembered. But let's see what caused that, besides him killing his brothers. But in verse 11 there, 2 Chronicles 21, it says, Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication and compel Judah thereto. So that's, this is the big sin that he caused, and you think of Balaam, right, how Balaam, the son of Bozor, caused Israel to commit fornication, and he thinks sacrificing the idols and all that, so they had these high places, they're committing fornication. So this is another reason, especially young people out there, to not commit fornication, because look at the judgment that Jehoram gets for causing Jerusalem and Judah to commit fornication. It says in verse 12, And there came a rioting to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways that Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the habits of Jerusalem to go a-whoring, like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself. Remember, this is where it's being very clear that all his brethren were better than him. He was the worst, but he was the firstborn, and he got that by birthright, which nowhere does it say you have to give it to your firstborn, okay, but then there is a point to be made there. That's by the prophet Elijah, by the inspiration of Olegos saying that. Verse 14, Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people and thy children, and thy wives and all thy goods, and thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy vows, until thy vows fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. That's horrible. Horrible. So, you ever just read something and you're just like, wow, I don't want that, and certain stories just really stick out to you, and I don't know about you, but stomach pain is some of the worst pain that's out there. That's why I have a lot of respect for ladies that give birth, when you think of just the pain they have to go through to give birth and all that stuff, and yeah, I don't want it. But in this case, basically, his vows basically were diseased to where they fell out, and it was like day by day. This wasn't just like it just happened in the day and he died. This is like an agony that went on day by day by day by day until he finally just died. So, I mean, it was a horrible death, and it sounds like it was like for two years this was going on, because when you get into Asi and stuff like that, for two years this was going on, like that he got this sickness. Horrible. Now, in verse 16 there, I've kind of blown through this stuff because I'm really wanting to get to this point here about this gap of 20 years between Asi reigning when he was 22 and when he was reigning when he was 42. And this is the key right here, is what happens in verse 16. I believe this is the key. Verse 16. Moreover, the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians, and they came up into Judah and break into it and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house and his sons also and his wives so that there was never a son left him save Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons. And that youngest of his sons is Asi. So Jehoahaz is another name for Asi and he was the only one that didn't get killed. Now, later on it tells you that Asi is the one that didn't get killed or whatever. But going on from that, it talks about... My notes are a little jumbled up here. You ever write a sermon that wasn't as consistent and cohesive as you wanted it to be? Go to verse 18 there. There's a reason why I put this in here, but it's just not as cohesive as I wanted it to be. In verse 18, it goes into that disease that Jehoram has. And notice what it says in verse 18. And after all this, the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. The reason that I'm pointing this out though, this is why I wanted this to be after this, because this is after the Arabian came and basically took away captive his sons and all this stuff. And basically, it says, It came past that time after the end of two years his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness. So he died of sore disease and his people made the burning for him like the burning of his fathers. And then it goes in that at the end of the verse, They buried him in the city of David, but not in the center of the kings. So he died without being desired, all that stuff. There's a whole sermon that he preached about this king right here when it comes to that. But what I want to get to is that when you look in 2 Kings 8, It says, I believe this is when that happens. When his dad is still raining. But he has this disease. Does that make sense? He has this disease. And he's basically co-reigning with his father right here when he's 22 years old. Now, you say, well, why can't it be when he's 42 years old? Because his father is 32 years old when he begins to rain. He rains for 8 years. That makes him 40 when he dies. So, how can he have a son that's 42 years old when he's 40? So it has to make sense that when his father is still alive, He's got to be 22. For that to even make sense. Just to show you that, I want to show you the contrast here. The 22 and the 42. And then I'm going to get into my explanation on this. And why this is the case. And it does have to do with the Iranians coming in. The Philistines and the Iranians coming in. And what I believe is that there was this 20 year captivity of the Philistines. And is that really out of the question that has ever happened to Israel? When you look at the book of Judges? It's literally every time. 20 year captivity, 20 year captivity, 20 year captivity. And then they bring a savior in to bring him out. So, but in 2 Kings chapter 8, I know this is a little everywhere. But this is really what I want to get down to. Is proving why there's this gap here. Why did he reign in 22 and then 42? So in 2 Kings chapter 8 verse 25, It says, In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahak, king of Israel, that Ahaziah, the son of Joram, king of Judah, began to reign. Notice this in verse 26, Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah, and he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Ahaliah, the daughter of the Almerite king of Israel. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahav, and did evil inside the Lord, as did the house of Ahav, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahav. So we already kind of knew that, right? Ahaliah was Joram's wife. And that's what made Ahaziah's mother, right? The Ahaliah. But since then he was 22 years old when he began to reign. And go to 2 Chronicles 22. 2 Chronicles 22, this is where we're going to get the contract. It's going to say 42. But I believe, honestly, that verse 1 explains why it's 42 now and not 22. Because the story of the Iranians, the Philistines, coming in and taking them captive is not mentioned in 2 Kings. It's just not mentioned. It goes straight into, okay, Joram dies, and then Ahaziah started reigning. And so it's 22. But when you start mentioning these Arabians coming in, then it says they start reigning in 42. Okay, so I believe that's where you get the distinction as far as why in one place it's 22 and why in another place it's 42. So in verse 1 there, so 2 Chronicles 22, verse 1, it says, In the habits of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son, king in his stead, for, or because, the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the elders. So Ahaziah, son of Joram, king of Judah, reign. Okay, 42 years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Ahaliah, the daughter of Amor. So this is where I believe that basically when Joram was dying of this disease, his son was about 22 years old, and he basically reigned there in his last year before he died. But these Arabians at that same time were basically keeping them captive. They basically didn't have power. A lot of them were taken away out of Jerusalem. But I believe that the Philistines and the Arabians and all that were basically keeping them captive. Basically they were under their rule. Kind of like in the book of Judges where the Philistines would have a rule, they didn't just take them completely out of the land. They were there, but they were under the rule of the Philistines at that time. And this is why I believe it's important to understand that the Edomites were not in good standing with Israel, or with Judah at this time. Go to Obadiah, the book of Obadiah. Because when you read the book of Obadiah, the interesting thing is that you're going to see this captivity of Judah, and you're automatically going to think Babylonian captivity. It never says Babylonian captivity. And I believe that this pronouncement against Edom is talking about this event right here. So what happens in this chapter? Well, the Edomites start revolting against Judah. After that, the Philistines and the Arabians come in and take captive a lot of their princes and all this stuff, take their substance and basically take out Jerusalem. And Obadiah is going to get into the fact that while that was going on, Edom did not treat Judah well. And this judgment is coming against Edom because he didn't treat him well. And what I'm going to show you first of all is in Obadiah chapter 1 verse 1, what this whole vision of Obadiah is about. And if you want a more in-depth sermon on Obadiah, go back to the Sermon on Grief on that, because there's a lot more in Obadiah. But I did touch on this a little bit when I went through that sermon. Again, I told you this is not the milk of the words, this is going to be me. Obadiah 1 verse 1, it says, The vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God, concerning Edom, We have heard of rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. So what is this whole book, this chapter, about? It's pronouncing judgment against Edom. You'll see that. And I preached a whole sermon on how there's that allegory of Israel and Edom, and the children of God, and the children of the devil. And that allegory that you see that Jacob had by love, and Esau had by hate, and that whole allegory that's there. It's the end times allegory that's all of this. But what I really want to get to is what this vision is actually about in the short term, this is what it was written for, primarily. So I want to get into the secondary stuff, I want to get into the primary. Verse 10 then. It says, For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee. Thou shalt be cut off forever. Notice this. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, thou wast as one of them. Now we're talking about Jerusalem, casting lots, being captive, all this stuff that's going on here, right? Verse 12. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother, and the day that he became a stranger. Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape. Neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. You say, well this is clearly talking about Babylonian captivity. Well, that wouldn't make sense with the chronological order of Obadiah. Because Obadiah is, you know, if you think about the order of like Aem, you know, Cosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, all of those are before you get to the Babylonian captivity. This is something, he's speaking in this like this has already happened, right? This has happened, this is what you did when they were taken captive, okay? And so I believe this is pointing back to what happens here with the Philistines and the Arabians where they came in and they took all the substance out of Jerusalem. And isn't that what they mentioned, that they basically came in and did it with them? You know, when they came in to take the substance out, they came in there too and they took it away. And they're getting judged because during this whole calamity that's going on with Jerusalem and Judah, Edom's basically being partakers with those that are doing it to them. Which makes sense because they were revolting against Judah at that time. They were not friends, right? Because Edom and Judah were already in Confederacy at that point before the Philistines and the Arabians came in, okay? And so I believe Obadiah is talking about that event, he's talking back to that. Now if Obadiah would have been written after, if you're talking about down in Haggai's time or Zechariah's time, then it would be like, okay, it probably just happened when they were taken captive in the Babylon, okay? But where else was Judah taken away captive? Show me another place that we've ever covered here where Judah was taken away captive, okay? Now we know that Israel was taken away captive with the Assyrians, but even in this passage, that hasn't even happened yet in the story of Jehoram and the anti, right? Israel's still a nation, the Assyrians haven't come in. But also look up the time that Edom's even mentioned in the Kings at all after that. This is the only place, besides if you go back and we're in there in the wilderness, right? That Edom's mentioned in the history of events, okay? So I believe it's a strong case to say that Obadiah's talking about this captivity, and why I go to this, because you don't have to go to this, but I think it bolstered it. Does that make sense? Because I could just explain that to you in these passages and be like, this is what I believe is happening, but I believe this gives you a strong case that in verse 11 of Obadiah, it says, I think it's giving you more information on what happened when the Arabians and the Philistines came in. It even goes on in Obadiah, which I don't have it written down for the sake of time, it talks about Philistines in there. Like Obadiah mentions the Philistines. So who was mainly talked about? It says the Philistines and the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians, okay? That's in the story. And so I believe that gives you a strong case that there was this captivity, so to speak. So basically, Ahaziah, you say, what are you talking about? Ahaziah started to reign when his father was dying of this bowel disease, right? But at that time, they were being taken captive, and they basically were in captivity and no one was reigning. And I actually don't believe anybody was even reigning in Israel at the time. And I'm going to show you something here. Follow me now. We're going to get into some math. It's just a dish, okay? But there's a little bit of subtraction. Go to Ezekiel. So I want to give you a number here that referred this 20-year gap, okay? This 20-year gap. And this is just a theory. You know, here's the thing. I believe that he reigned to 22 and 42 without this theory right here anyway, because that's what the Bible teaches. I don't believe there's any mistake in the Bible, and so I'm not going to go and just explain it away. Oh, it's a copyist there. It should have said 22. No. It's 42, okay? And going to Ezekiel. Ezekiel, what in the world are we talking about? Look at Ezekiel 4 and verse 5. Ezekiel 4 verse 5 says, For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lying in on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, forty days, I have appointed thee each day for a year. So just to give you some context here, this is where he says, make some bread with dung in it. And he said, first of all, human dung, and then he's like, I've never eaten anything, I'm clean, all this stuff. Alright, you can have animal dung. Right? He's just like, well that makes it so much better. Anyway, if there's a prophet who did not want to be, it's Ezekiel, okay? And I love Ezekiel, okay? God bless him. I want to shake his hand when I get into heaven, but I do not want to be Ezekiel, because he had to do some pretty strange things. But all I have to say is, what's going on here? God is telling him that for 390 days, he has to lay on his left side for the iniquity of Israel. And then he says, after you're done with that, you've got to lay on your right side for 40 days for Judah. And he says that each day is a year. So that means that the iniquity of the house of Israel is 390 days. Does that make sense? Because that's how long he's laying on his side for 390 days, each day represents a year. So, if we can backtrack, and you say, well, and again, there's some assumptions here. So what does that mean? What's the iniquity? I believe it's the sin of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. I don't know about you, but when we went through the kings of Israel, what was brought up every single time? All the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Son of Nebat, son of Nebat. Son of Nebat, son of Nebat. It's just constant, OK? So I believe that this 390 should go all the way back to Jeroboam at the beginning when he starts to rank. When he sets up those two golden calves, and that's the sin, that's the iniquity of Israel for 390 days. Obviously, Judah only had an iniquity of 40 years, so it wasn't as much, because obviously we had good kings going on through there, and all that. So, that being said, it should be 390 years from where he says this is Ezekiel, to back to where Jeroboam reigns, OK? So here's where some math comes in. First of all, we've got to figure out where is Ezekiel when this is being mentioned. OK, go back to Ezekiel chapter 1. This is definitely a Bible study setting tonight, OK? So Ezekiel chapter 1, we start off the book, and we're going to see where this is starting. So if you actually read Ezekiel 1, 2, 3, and 4, there's no other break. So when you go through Ezekiel, you'll see breaks where it says, in this year, and such and such, and you'll kind of break it off as far as when it's being said. Well, from chapter 1, chapter 4, there's no break, so I take it as one big thing. Now, in verse 2 there, it says, In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Juzai, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kibar, and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. OK, so where are we at? We're in the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity. So get your things out. I could have told you to bring them. So here's what you've got to do. OK, so in the chart down here, you have Jehoiachin reigns three months, Jehoiachin reigns eleven years. Then you're taking captive, right, because if you remember Jehoiachin, his son, he reigns for like three months, and then he's taken captive. He's taken into Babylon. So that's what we're talking about. It's the fifth year of his captivity, so pretty much you have to have five years here before you jump back into Jehoiachin to reign eleven years. At that point, you're just kind of counting up reigns after that. So we have five years for the five years of captivity, right? And you can add in these three months and these three months here too. For the sake of argument, I'll be talking about this. Just say, OK, add another eleven years for Jehoiachin's reign. Add another thirty-one years for Jehoiachin's reign. Add another two years for Amen, fifty-five for Manasseh. Now here's where it gets a little harder because this is Israel, right? Israel stopped reigning here, so there's no more time, so that's why I'm going through Judah right now, right? You have to cross over to get over to Israel. Does that make sense? So what you find out is that Hezekiah, when did this end? When did the captivity happen? It happened in the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, OK? So Hezekiah reigned for twenty-nine years, and if it happened in the sixth year of his reign, that means you've got to subtract six years, right? So basically when you're adding these numbers, you have fifty-five, twenty-three, now you're over here at Hoshia. Does that make sense? The map is really difficult right now. It's really just, you know, you're just trying to figure out where you're at with it, OK? So anyway, so Hoshia is nine years, twenty-two, ten, about a year in there, you know, and I'm kind of like buffering off some of these that are like these, you know, six months, you know, all that stuff. Forty-one, sixteen, seventeen, twenty-eight, twelve, twelve, uh, two, twenty-two, twelve, we're not going to count Zimrai, he was only a week, we'll get away from that, right? Two, twenty-four, two, twenty-two. That would go back all the way to the beginning of Jeroboam's reign. And I have it on here if you want to see it later, I did print it out as far as these numbers that are going on here. When you add these numbers, it comes to three hundred and seventy years. What was the number supposed to be? Three ninety. So I have a theory about that. When you get to Jehoram, because Jehoram and Ahaziah die on the same day, by the way. They're going to be taken out by Jehu. There's going to be this gap between Jehoram and Ahaziah twenty years. Where no one's reigning, okay? So there's no, like, they're reigning over that. So what happens is Ahaziah reigns in that last year of his father at twenty-two years old, and then they come out of captivity and he reigns when he's forty-two for one year and then he dies at that. And this is just a way to kind of show that, hey, that three hundred and ninety years is right. When God said lay on your side for three hundred and or three hundred and ninety days, that's right. If you added up all the numbers, you'd be like, wait a minute, we're missing twenty years here. That's because there was a captivity there. And that's actually what I believe Obadiah is talking about. There's a whole book or a whole prophet that's prophesying about this captivity that happened and Edomites were basically not helping out their brother. They were actually looting with the Philistines and all that at the time. And they're getting prophesied against because of that. And that's how you answer it. So I know that's, you know, a little deep, okay? And you've got to get into some math there. But again, when it comes to these numbers, that whole thing right there, I don't think you have to have them. You know what I mean? Like I said, you can kind of link up Obadiah with the Edomites and all that stuff that's going on during your horned reign and just assess that there has to be a twenty year gap because you reigned at twenty-two and you reigned at forty-two. There has to be. Because here, we believe the King James Bible is perfect. And I will not correct it. And so, when there's something like that, I'm going to say as both prove, I'm going to figure out why. And in this one case, okay, so in a lot of these cases, when you see those differences, like they reigned at eight, they reigned at ten, they reigned at eighteen, a lot of that, she's saying, has been co-regency. They started reigning when they were eight, the dad was still reigning, and then they started reigning, when they reigned at eighteen, that's when their dad was dead, right? That's pretty easy. That's very easily explained in all of those passages. And actually, Jehoram and Jehoshap prove co-regency, that that happens. But in this case, you can't have co-regency. Right? There's no way that that would make sense. Okay? Because he didn't reign that long. Jehoram only reigned for eight years. You can't get eight years and get that to work out. So in that case, there has to be this gap. Okay? And so, I believe that's what's going on. Now Jehoram, it keeps mentioning, he reigned, when ASI was twenty-two, Jehoram was in his twelfth year of his reign, and then later on it says he's in his twelfth year. Well, that's because there was a gap there, and he basically didn't reign for twenty years, and now he's in his twelfth year at the end of those twenty years, and then they all die. It never tells you the age of Jehoram. If it did, that would really give us a lot more information, because he should be twenty years older when he dies. Okay? But it doesn't give you that information, so it's not a problem or a help in a way when you look at it. But going on, we do see that Jehoram dies of this horrible bowel disease, and then ASI is going to die in battle. Okay? So go to 2 Chronicles chapter twenty-two, we're going to see the demise of ASI, and we already covered this because we already went through the Jehu, and how Jehu basically fought for the Lord and took out the whole house of Ahab. And ASI was included in that because he was son-in-law, right? give Ataliah was his mother. So and we know this, that Joash was not you know, like all his other brethren, all of ASI's other brethren were not of Ataliah because she killed them all. Okay? The whole point of her killing the seed royal is because she didn't want everybody to have the authority. If she had a son, she wasn't going to kill them, my son is going to be king now. My other son, whatever. But it's in Chronicles chapter twenty-two, and this is honestly the end of it, so I don't know why I'm not going to have time, but you know, I thought that would take a little bit longer to explain, but I guess I didn't write it up on a board and try to do the math, so I just told you what it was. It took me a lot longer to write it down, that's what I'm trying to get to, for me to look up all these numbers and get that right to figure it all out and make sure it wasn't wrong. Anyway, it says He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahav, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. So we're talking about Ahaziah here. Sounds familiar to Ahav. Remember it was Jezebel that provoked him to anger the Lord and all that stuff. Verse 4 Wherefore he did evil beside the Lord, like the house of Ahav, for they were his counselors after the death of his father to his destruction. He walked also after their counsel and went with Jehoram, the son of Ahav, king of Israel, to war against Hazael, king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in Syrian Smoguor, and he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramoth when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria, and Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, son of Ahav, at Jezreel because he was sick. So get the story here. Basically, if you remember the story of Jehu, he says go kill the king of Israel, right? Go take out the whole house of Ahav and Ahaziah just found it in the wrong place at the wrong time, if you will. Meaning that he's there to see how his buddy Jehoram is doing. He's sick and he's just going to go see how he's doing and all this, and that's when Jehu comes in driving furiously. Verse 7 says in the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Jehoram. So this was his undoing. Obviously, he had some other problems following his mother Ataliah, but it was of the Lord that he died because he went to Jehoram. For when he was come he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshai whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahav. And it came to pass that when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahav and found the princes of Judah and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah that ministered to Ahaziah he slew them. And he sought Ahaziah and they caught him for he was hid in Samaria and brought him to Jehu and slain him, they buried him because said they he is the son of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart so the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the king. That's how Ahaziah dies. He basically is hiding in Samaria somewhere. And it was of the Lord that it happened. It's not that Jehu just went too far. No, God there's anybody that's there that's for the king take them out, take out the house that they have and eventually Ahaliah is going to be taken out but I am going to do a whole sermon on Ahaliah who ends up being queen so Ahaziah is her son who dies here and Ahaliah is going to take the reigns of Judah for a little bit until the rightful king comes in which is going to be Joash. But I hope all that makes sense. Again, your homework is to read 1 Chronicles 21 with a story about the Philistines and the Moravians and the Edomites and then read Obadiah at the same time. I want you to do that and I think it's going to be very clear that that's the story that's talking about. And so if anything I hope you see that connection there as far as what Obadiah is talking about because I remember I preached through the book of Obadiah because they were doing this entire bible preach.com thing and Obadiah was one of the books that hadn't been preached through and I remember Pastor Anderson he put out a private message like these are the books we need to do and I'm like I'll do Obadiah and Ahem or something like that. It's like my prophets were some of the ones that hadn't been preached through and I'm like Obadiah I don't even know. You read through those books so many times but you're like I'm not really sure what it's talking about. You know it's not judgment but you know what event it's even talking back to. And so when I did that study is when I really looked into this and really kind of saw that connection and so let me know your thoughts if you agree with me on that or not. Again I still think there's a great answer to 22 and 42 when it comes to this range just in for a prompt in chapter 21 but I think that Obadiah really opens that up and really bolsters that and makes a lot of sense and Ezekiel just an added bonus into some numbers as far as seeing that 20 years that's missing within the reigns of the kings and all that to see that number and how long that makes perfect sense. That is 22, 42, 20 years. But let's end with word of prayer. Thank you for your word and just thank you for how infinite the Bible is and just how much we need to learn and no matter how much we read it we'll never know it all and just thank you for the cruise of the Bible and just help us to learn from these kings and whether good or bad Lord to learn the good things to do and the bad things not to do and we're just praying to you throughout this week because of the souls that we see and I do pray that you deal with those that aren't feeling well I pray that you heal them of their sicknesses and I pray that you deal with us that maybe aren't feeling well or getting to that point just keep our church healthy and when we love you, we pray that you use Christ again. Amen.