The Hey Eddy! Podcast

In this episode, Cousin Michael sets the scene from 1 Samuel 17:1–30. The Philistine and Israelite armies face off across the Valley of Elah, and every morning and evening for forty days, the nine-foot-tall giant Goliath marches out in full bronze armor to mock Israel and challenge them to send a champion. Every soldier, including King Saul, is terrified. Meanwhile, young David arrives at camp on...

In this episode, Cousin Michael guides kids through 1 Samuel 16, where God sends Samuel on a secret mission to anoint a new king from among Jesse's sons in Bethlehem. When the tall, impressive eldest son Eliab steps forward, Samuel thinks he's found the one—but God delivers the chapter's key lesson: "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Seven sons pass before Samu...

In this episode, Cousin Michael takes kids through 1 Samuel 15, where God gives Saul a clear command to completely destroy the Amalekites and everything they own. Saul wins the battle but keeps the Amalekite king Agag alive and spares the best sheep and cattle, destroying only the worthless stuff. When Samuel arrives, Saul cheerfully claims he obeyed—until Samuel asks why he hears sheep bleating a...

In this episode, Cousin Michael takes kids through 1 Samuel 14, where Jonathan and his armor-bearer secretly slip away from Saul's paralyzed army to attack a Philistine outpost, declaring, "Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." They climb a steep cliff on hands and feet, strike down about twenty soldiers, and God sends a massive earthquake and panic that throws the e...

In this episode, Cousin Michael walks kids through 1 Samuel 13, where King Saul faces a massive Philistine army and a shrinking force of terrified soldiers. Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days at Gilgal for him to come and offer sacrifices, but as the days pass and soldiers desert, Saul panics and offers the sacrifice himself. The moment he finishes, Samuel arrives and delivers a devastating v...

In this episode, Cousin Michael guides kids through 1 Samuel 12, where the aging prophet Samuel delivers his farewell speech to Israel. He first puts himself on trial, and no one can find a single fault in his lifelong leadership. Then he confronts Israel with their history—every time they forgot God, He let enemies defeat them, and every time they cried out, He sent a rescuer. But this time, inst...

In this episode, the cruel Ammonite king Nahash surrounds the town of Jabesh Gilead and threatens to gouge out every man’s right eye. When the desperate news reaches Saul’s hometown, the Spirit of God comes upon Saul in power, transforming the shy farmer who once hid in the luggage into a bold warrior-king. He rallies all Israel by cutting up his oxen and sending the pieces throughout the land, an...

In 1 Samuel 10:17-27, Samuel gathers all Israel at Mizpah for a national assembly to publicly reveal their new king. But first, he reminds them of the hard truth: by demanding a king, they had rejected God who had always saved them. Then Samuel uses lots to narrow down God’s choice—tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family—until Saul son of Kish is chosen. But when they look for Saul, he’s no...

In 1 Samuel 9:1–10:16, a tall, handsome young man named Saul is sent by his father to find some lost donkeys. After three days of searching with no success, his servant suggests consulting a nearby prophet—who turns out to be Samuel. What Saul doesn't know is that God told Samuel the day before, "Tomorrow I will send you a man from Benjamin. Anoint him as leader over my people." When Saul arrives,...

In this episode, Cousin Michael guides kids through 1 Samuel 7:2–17, where Israel finally comes back to God with their whole hearts after twenty years of half-hearted faith. Samuel challenges the people to get rid of their foreign idols and serve God alone—and they do. At a gathering in Mizpah, Israel pours out water, fasts, and confesses their sin. But when the Philistines hear about the assembly...

In 1 Samuel 5:1–7:1, the Philistines capture the ark of God and place it in the temple of their god Dagon as a trophy of victory. But the next morning, Dagon has fallen face-down before the ark—and the morning after that, his head and hands are broken off like a defeated soldier. God then sends plagues of tumors and rats on every Philistine city the ark visits: Ashdod, then Gath, then Ekron. After...

In 1 Samuel 4, Israel loses a battle to the Philistines and comes up with a plan: bring the ark of the covenant to the battlefield, and God will HAVE to save us. They were trying to use God like a lucky charm. But it backfires horribly—Israel is crushed, thirty thousand soldiers die, the ark is CAPTURED by the enemy, and Hophni and Phinehas both die on the same day, exactly as God predicted. When...

In this episode, Cousin Michael takes kids through 1 Samuel 3:1–4:1a, where God breaks a long silence by calling young Samuel's name in the middle of the night. Samuel doesn't recognize God's voice and runs to Eli three times thinking the old priest called him. Finally Eli realizes what's happening and tells Samuel to respond, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." When God comes and stands...

In this episode, Cousin Michael walks kids through 1 Samuel 2:11–36, contrasting two very different paths. Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas were priests who stole the best meat from God's sacrifices, bullied worshipers, and ignored their father's weak warnings. Meanwhile, young Samuel quietly and faithfully served God at the Tabernacle, growing "in favor with the LORD and also with man"—language the...

In this episode, Cousin Michael introduces kids to 1 Samuel 1:1–2:10 and the story of Hannah, a heartbroken woman who desperately wanted a child while her husband’s other wife Peninnah mocked her year after year. At the Tabernacle in Shiloh, Hannah pours out her soul to God in silent prayer, promising that if He gives her a son, she will dedicate him back to God’s service for life. The priest Eli...

In this episode, three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome—head to the tomb at sunrise on Sunday to anoint Jesus's body with spices. They worry about who will roll away the massive stone, but when they arrive it's already moved. Inside, a young man in a white robe tells them, "He has risen! He is not here," and sends them to tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus is going a...

In this episode, Cousin Michael walks kids through the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross, and Jesus is nailed up at Golgotha between two criminals with a sign reading “The King of the Jews.” Mockers taunt Him to save Himself, not realizing He could have—but chose not to, because saving Himself would have meant not saving us. Darkness covers the land for...

In this episode, Jesus is handed over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. The chief priests accuse Jesus of claiming to be a king, but Jesus responds with quiet calm, amazing Pilate with His silence. When Pilate offers to release a prisoner for Passover, the crowd—stirred up by the religious leaders—chooses the violent murderer Barabbas over Jesus and screams "Crucify Him!" Pilate gives in, has...

In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel has grown old and made his sons Joel and Abijah judges over Israel—but they’re corrupt, taking bribes and perverting justice. So the elders of Israel come to Samuel with a demand: “Give us a king like all the other nations have.” Samuel is displeased and prays, and God tells him something shocking: “It’s not you they’ve rejected—they’ve rejected ME as their king.” God tells S...

In this episode, two trials unfold simultaneously. Inside the high priest’s house, Jesus stands before the Sanhedrin as witnesses try and fail to build a case against Him. When the high priest finally asks point-blank, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answers boldly, “I am”—telling the truth even though it guarantees His death. Meanwhile, out in the courtyard, Peter faces h...

In this episode, Cousin Michael guides kids through Jesus's final meal with His disciples before the cross. Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem with detailed instructions to follow a man carrying a water jar to find their Passover room—and everything happens exactly as He predicted. During dinner, Jesus stuns everyone by announcing that one of them will betray Him. He then takes bread and win...

In this episode, Cousin Michael guides kids through Jesus's final meal with His disciples before the cross. Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem with detailed instructions to follow a man carrying a water jar to find their Passover room—and everything happens exactly as He predicted. During dinner, Jesus stuns everyone by announcing that one of them will betray Him. He then takes bread and win...

In this episode, three dramatic scenes unfold side by side. While the chief priests secretly plot to arrest and kill Jesus, a woman at a dinner in Bethany breaks open an alabaster jar of perfume worth a year’s wages and pours it all over Jesus’s head. When onlookers scold her for the “waste,” Jesus defends her, calling it “a beautiful thing” and explaining that she has anointed His body for burial...

In this episode of The Hey Eddy Podcast, we explore the story of young Samuel hearing God’s voice for the very first time (1 Samuel 3:1–4:1a). During a time when God had gone silent because Israel’s spiritual leaders — especially Eli’s wicked sons — had turned away from him, God chose to speak again through a boy sleeping in the Tabernacle. Three times Samuel heard his name called, and three times...

In this episode, Jesus shocks His disciples by predicting that the magnificent Temple will be completely destroyed. Sitting on the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask when this will happen and what signs to watch for. Instead of giving dates, Jesus teaches them how to live while they wait. He warns against false messiahs and panic over wars and earthquakes, prepares them for persec...