Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the end of the story in the books of Kings, along with Psalms 73 to 78.

The big, tragic message of this part of the story is that God’s people ended up exiled from their promised land, and the main reason given for this was their turning away from God.

Looking at how this happened, there are some intriguing details which might give us insight into how these people reflected on their circumstances, their identity and what they thought they would need to do differently to regain healthy and sustainable life in God’s kingdom.

In a couple of instances, leaders who seemed like they were seeking God to a great extent made mistakes which led to downfall, either for them or their descendants. Is it easy to draw messages from this, like not to be as proud as Hezekiah or as half-hearted as Joash? Or is it reasonable to think that the original audience for these stories might have wondered how these leaders could have known what to do to be fully correct?

Bern and Owen consider the possibility that not knowing, and having to seek God and listen better as a result, might have been an important part of the message, and one that applies to us too.

In next part of our boxset, we’ll return to Paul’s letters in the New Testament to see how he guided the church in 2 Corinthians, Philippians and Colossians. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.