Thursday, January 12, 2023

The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 98, Ahaziah King Of Israel, Part Two

The Baal-worshiping King Ahaziah suffered a freak accident at his palace when he leaned against a balcony railing of his upper room and the railing gave way, sending him plunging to the ground. Instead of thinking about his mode of living and calling out to the Lord for mercy, he sent messengers to seek the prophets of Baal to find out whether he's going to live or die. At the same time he was sending out his messengers, the Lord told the prophet Elijah to go and meet the men with the answer to the king's question. 

Elijah met the messengers and passed the word of the Lord along to them, though the Bible doesn't describe the meeting. The men return to the king so quickly that he knows they didn't have time to reach the prophets of Baal. "When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, 'Why have you come back?' 'A man came to meet us,' they replied. 'And he said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, 'This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no god in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!'" (2 Kings 1:5-6) 

"The king asked them, 'What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?' They replied, 'He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.' The king said, 'That was Elijah the Tishbite.'" (2 Kings 1:7-8) Elijah did not identify himself to the men but something about him was so compelling that they didn't dismiss his words as the words of a delusional man or the words of an angry man discontented with the current political administration. His message struck them as the truth and it struck fear in their hearts, sending them back to their king immediately to relay the message.

"Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, 'Man of God, the king says, 'Come down!' Elijah answered the captain, 'If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!' Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men." (2 Kings 1:9-10) Elijah knows Ahaziah will send men to arrest him but he doesn't flee the area or hide himself in a cave. He waits out in the open on a hilltop where he can be easily found. I believe the Lord told him he would be kept safe.

Ahaziah doesn't take the loss of his soldiers to heart. You'd think it would occur to him that a God who can send fire from heaven to consume these men is a God with whom he needs to make himself right. But instead he sends another company of men, showing disdain for the Lord and showing callous disregard for human life. "At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, 'Man of God, this is what the king says, 'Come down at once!' 'If I am a man of God,' Elijah replied, 'may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!' Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men." (2 Kings 1:11-12) 

I don't know whether Ahaziah wants Elijah apprehended so he can imprison him, or put him to death, or discourage other prophets in the land, or try to force Elijah to perform a miracle of healing. But Elijah can do nothing unless God is in it. He cannot heal Ahaziah unless it's the Lord's will---and the Lord very well may have healed Ahaziah if he had repented of his sins and turned from idolatry to the living God. Likewise, Elijah can't make fire fall from heaven; this is the Lord's doing. The first two companies of men sent to apprehend Elijah were probably just as idolatrous as Ahaziah himself. They likely addressed Elijah as "man of God" not in a respectful attitude toward the Lord but in an irreverent, sarcastic tone. But the men of the third company the king sends will not be so foolish. The fear of God has fallen upon them because of what happened to the first two groups of soldiers. 

"So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. 'Man of God,' he begged, 'please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!' The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.' So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king." (2 Kings 1:13-15) Elijah goes willingly with these men and I believe they treat him with the utmost respect on the journey back to the king. 

"He told the king: 'This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!' So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken." (2 Kings 1:16-17a) Though painful and unfortunate, the accident Ahaziah had at his home could have worked out for his good. If he had considered his ways and repented of his sins and given his heart to the Lord, not only would his eternal soul have been saved but his body might have been healed. He could then have given an awesome testimony about the Lord to all the people, causing many of them to repent and be saved. He could have abolished idolatry in the land, preventing many from making the same mistakes he's made. But he remains rebellious to the end and he dies from his injuries with no son to succeed him as king.

"Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. As for all the other events of Ahaziah's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?" (2 Kings 1:17b-18) We don't know how soon he died after Elijah gave him the Lord's message. But the fact that he has no son is an additional judgment of the Lord. Joram, who is his brother, ascends to the throne. By contrast, the godly King Jehoshaphat of Judah is succeeded by his eldest son, Jehoram. Jehoram will not be a godly man but at least Jehoshaphat's dynasty will continue after his death.

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