Friday, August 16, 2013

Ahaziah, King of Israel

I Kings 22:51-II Kings 1:12

“Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.” (I Kings 22:51-53)

After Ahab was killed by the Syrian Army, his son Ahaziah became king.   He had the same attitudes he learned from his father Ahab and his mother Jezebel, deliberately trying to gain power by turning Israel to other religions instead of serving God.  He worshipped Baal, and practiced the things God had forbidden.  God gave him almost two years to demonstrate his intentions.

“Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 

“And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. “ (II Kings 1:1-2)

The Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites had attacked Jehoshaphat and God had caused them to fight among themselves.  As a result they were weakened to a point where Ahab was able to gain control.  When he was killed, they were able to rebel and break away from Ahaziah.

Ahaziah fell through one of the railings of his palace and was severely injured.  As his condition worsened, he became concerned he would die and sent messengers to The Philistine city of Ekron to consult their god, Baalzebub, the prince of devils or Satan, as to whether he would recover.

“But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?  Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.” (II Kings 1:3-4)

God was not pleased by Ahaziah’s asking Baalzebub for guidance.  It implied that Israel”s God was not really a god at all, and God was offended.  As a result, Ahaziah’s health would continue to deteriorate until he died of his injury.  After delivering the message to Ahaziah’s messengers, Elijah left.

 "And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?

 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 

And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? 

And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.” (II Kings 1:5-8) 

When his messengers returned before they could have made the trip, Ahaziah demanded to know why they hadn’t done as they were supposed to.  They repeated what Elijah had told them and Ahaziah demanded to know who told them that.  When they described him, he realized it had to be Elijah, the prophet who had stood against his father.  He decided to have him forcibly brought in for questioning.

"Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.

 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 

Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. 

And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.” (II Kings 1:9-12)

Counting on the authority Ahaziah had given them the first taskforce demanded that Elijah come with them.  Elijah simply asked God to demonstrate whether he was serving God or not by sending fire to destroy them, and like a bolt of lightening, they were destroyed.  The second group was even more aggressive, demanding that he he hurry up.  Elijah repeated his request with the same result.  Their attitude was the same domineering attitude that is so prevalent among government officials today.

They didn’t understand what Romans 13:1-2 tells us.  “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”  Even government’s power is derived from God, and is limited by his authority.

“And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.  Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.” (II Kings 1:13-15) 

The leader of the third group sent to arrest Elijah had a more humble attitude, recognizing God’s power and asking him to come with them without threatening.   God told Elijah to go with this man because there was no danger of him killing him.

“And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.” (II Kings 1:16)

God’s message didn’t change because the king didn’t like it.  Because Ahaziah discounted God and went to another for advice, he would die right where he lay.  No amount of threats would change that.

“So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?” (II Kings 1:17-18)

Elijah’s prophecy was fulfilled, and because he had no son to take the throne, his brother Jehoram took the throne.   It is at this point we began to find it easy to get confused as to who is who, because the next king of Judah will also be named Jehoram.   Ahaziah is the king Jehoshaphat tried to form a trading venture with that God stopped.

There are those who insist the King James Version is perfect.  The statement here that Jehoram assumed the throne during the second year of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram’s reign is contradicted by II Kings 3:1.  “Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years."  Jehoshaphat reigned twenty five years before Jehoram became king of Judah.  The error arose as a result of a scribal error in copying the scriptures, and the translators did not correct it, desiring to follow the originals as closely as possible.  It in no wise implies the scriptures are not to be trusted.


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