December 28, 2021
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Reading along with us in 2 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
2 Kings 1 (NIV)
The Lord’s Judgment on Ahaziah
1 After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”
3 But the angel of the Lordsaid to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’........Continue Reading
2 Kings 1
Ahaziah, like all those who are apart from God, when faced with a problem, needs to find a solution that is outside of God. How sad that the king of Israel would seek the council of a foreign god, but things get confusing and messy when we are left to our own devices. But we really shouldn’t be surprised that God would care about such things. Even when we are not interested in Him, He is still interested in us…as well as making things right. He understands the inconsistency of a king in Israel seeking a foreign God. So He sends Elijah to speak into the situation. And the answer, because you are seeking a foreign God you will not recover from your injury and you will die. Clearly Ahaziah doesn’t like the answer, so he sends a contingent to seek out Elijah. Clearly they do not know how to deal with a prophet of God. You declare something about him that you really don’t believe. Well then, let me show you who I am so you and others, namely that evil king of yours, will know who I am. Now rather than being humbled by that, the 2nd guy is even more forceful. The 3rd guy gets it right. Just the thing that interaction with the most High God’s prophet should bring: humility and confession. Too bad Ahaziah didn’t react with the same humility and thereby get a different answer from God. Even his tremendously evil dad repented and God gave a measure of consolation. But because he is set on his evil course, the answer from God doesn’t change, and so Ahaziah dies.
2 kings 1
2 kings 2&3
Ahaziah clearly doesn’t see godly counsel and when he doesn’t like the answer he is getting from Elijah, true godly counsel, he continues to send men looking for a different answer.
Elijah clearly shows God’s power and authority over the words is he is speaking but Ahaziah just like us so many times wants God’s answer to be different….the answer we want to hear is not always God’s answer!
I find it humorous when theses kings, who know the Lord and His prophets, think that they can somehow make the prophet change what the Lord has told them. I suppose ignorance is bliss!