It’s the around the year 896 BC and Ahab’s son Ahaziah is king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Moabites decided that they’ve had enough of Israeli rule (since King David) and they rebel. At the same time, Ahaziah has a terrible accident. However, instead of praying to the One True God of Israel, he rejects “Baal” of the Syrians (Amonites), for “Baal-Zebub” of the Philistines. Ironically, the prophet Elijah, on Mt. Carmel, proved the uselessness of pagan gods Baal and Asherah and their 850 prophets, not that long ago. That could have been why Ahaziah went looking for the other fake god instead of the real one. God is a jealous God. He cannot stand when people pray to or worship idols. Enter Elijah… Let’s dig in….
2 Kings 1
After King Ahab’s death, the land of Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.
3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover? 4 Now, therefore, this is what the Lord says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” So Elijah went to deliver the message.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned so soon?”
6 They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the Lord says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”
7 “What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”
8 They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.”
“Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.
9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”
10 But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.
11 So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once.”
12 Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.
13 Once more the king sent a third captain with fifty men. But this time the captain went up the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. 14 See how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life!”
15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king.
16 And Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.”
17 So Ahaziah died, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. Since Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him, his brother Joram became the next king. This took place in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
18 The rest of the events in Ahaziah’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
2 Kings 1 NLT
Points to Ponder
- The name “Baal” means “lord”. “Baal-Zebub” means “lord of the flies”. Which goes to show how ridiculous paganism is.
- The lesson here is don’t consult a pagan god when you’ve got the One True God available 24/7.
- That also applies to consulting the stars, horoscopes, crystals, chakras, yogis, Reiki masters, psychics, Ouija Boards — even Mary and the Saints. Fake gods and dead people can’t help you!
- Mercy was available to Ahaziah, but he didn’t ask for it.
James, Jesus’ Brother Wrote…
2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
James 4:2-3 NLT
When we need help, we need to go humbly to the One True God. God is a jealous God. He will not stand for the worship of idols, dead people or any type of paganism. His judgement is coming. All this is fair warning.
Jesus’ disciples bring up this act of fire from heaven in Luke 9…
51 As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. 53 But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up as Elijah did?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. And he said, “You don’t realize what your hearts are like. 56 For the Son of Man has not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them.” So they went on to another village.
Luke 9:51-56 NLT
See, Jesus is our Savior. He came down from Heaven, became like us, was tempted by Satan, took on ALL of our sin, hung on the cross, died and God the Father raised Him from the dead 3 days later.
Jesus said…
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 NLT
What are you waiting for? Let Him in!
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
The Great I Am
Soli Deo Gloria! To God Alone Be the Glory!
Top image by Sweet Publishing from FreeBibleImages.org, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
