Josiah the Cult Killer

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This episode is brought to you by US. Cellular. Don't sacrifice a great experience for a great deal. Now, with US. Cellular prepaid, you'll get a new Samsung Galaxy A15 5G free without the hidden fees you get with other prepaid providers. So you can use US. Cellular's nationwide 5G coverage without sacrificing anything. Terms apply, visit uscellular.com for details.

SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

Rated T to M. Hey, want to hear a PC Game Pass ad? Now take your silence as a yes. Want new games on day one like Call of Duty Black Ops 6 or Stalker 2? I thought so. How about unlocking all the League of Legends champions when you link your Riot Games account? All for one low monthly price? Well, guess what? We got you. Learn more at xbox.com/pcgamepass or click the banner. Stalker 2 available November 20th, 2024 Game catalog varies by region and over time. And that's the end of the script.

Dan McClellan (0:54)

Hezekiah was able to defend Jerusalem and after a while, Sennacherib up and left and later wrote that he trapped Hezekiah in his capital city like a bird in a cage, but ultimately couldn't take the city.

Dan Beecher (1:08)

Couldn't get at the bird, but man, he was trapped there.

Dan McClellan (1:10)

Yeah, he rattled the cage a bit and got upset and was like, I'm not changing your newspaper.

Dan Beecher (1:16)

So take that bird.

Dan McClellan (1:23)

Hey, everybody, I'm Dan McClellan.

Dan Beecher (1:25)

And I'm Dan Beecher.

Dan McClellan (1:26)

And you are listening to the Data Over Dogma podcast, where we increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion and combat the spread of misinformation about the same. How are things today, Dan?

Dan Beecher (1:39)

Things are good. This is funny. When I was prepping for this episode, I thought it was a cool idea for a topic, and I was excited about, like, delving into it and learning about it. And the more I learned about it, the more I was like, I don't know about talking about this in a time of Christian nationalism in our country. Yes. It made me a little bit nervous. So I'm still excited about it. I still think it's a very interesting story from the Bible.

Dan McClellan (2:14)

But don't try what you're about to hear at home. Is that what you're trying to say?

Dan Beecher (2:17)

Don't share this with any of your Christian nationalist friends. They'll think it is an instruction manual, and it's very much not.

Dan McClellan (2:27)

Thus, the inerogative nature of the title of this segment, which is...

Dan Beecher (2:32)

Biblical Heroes?

Dan McClellan (2:35)

Question mark? Yes.

Dan Beecher (2:40)

Yeah, that question mark is really important.

Dan McClellan (2:42)

There's a load bearing question mark. It is a pregnant question mark. That's the rounded shape.

Dan Beecher (2:50)

Yes, indeed, because we're going to be talking about Josiah, a king who has talked about in both Kings and Chronicles, because somehow Kings and Chronicles are the same thing. Are they the same thing?

Dan McClellan (3:05)

They're very different. However, Chronicles is basically taking Samuel and Kings and then some other stuff that we don't have and rewriting it to tell most of the same stories, but in a different way.

Dan Beecher (3:18)

Yeah, that's weird.

Dan McClellan (3:19)

Yes, because it's coming much later.

Dan Beecher (3:21)

Right.

Dan McClellan (3:21)

Yeah.

Dan Beecher (3:22)

OK, well, we're going to start. I mean, my main focus was on Second Kings, verse chapter 23

Dan McClellan (3:32)

22 and 23?

Dan Beecher (3:33)

22 and 23, sure.

Dan McClellan (3:34)

OK.

Dan Beecher (3:35)

But I mean, the rubber really hits the road in 23 That's where the exciting stuff happens.

Dan McClellan (3:40)

22 is the pretense for everything that happens in 22

Dan Beecher (3:44)

So why don't we start there? Tell us a little bit about what's happening. Give us a little bit of background leading into 22

Dan McClellan (3:51)

Yeah.

Dan Beecher (3:52)

And we'll go from there.

Dan McClellan (3:53)

So we're going to back up a little over a century to King Hezekiah just to talk about the invasion of Sennacherib.

Dan Beecher (4:02)

Okay.

Dan McClellan (4:02)

So when King Hezekiah comes to the throne, the nation of Judah is under vassalage to the Neo-Assyrian kingdom. So they are paying them a tribute. They are sending soldiers when Assyria says send soldiers. And Hezekiah decides that he doesn't like this and he's kind of, he wants to ally with Egypt. So he's kind of going over to Egypt saying, can you help me throw off vassalage to the Assyrians? I'll pay tribute to you.