Slices
Prepare
‘Abba! Father!’ What does it mean to you that we can call God ‘Father’?
Bible passage
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 Lord said 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?” 4 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’ So Elijah went.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, ‘Why have you come back?’
6 ‘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!’”’
7 The king asked them, ‘What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?’
8 They replied, ‘He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt round his waist.’
The king said, ‘That was Elijah the Tishbite.’
9 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!”’
10 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 the fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.
11 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!”’
12 ‘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.
13 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! 14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!’
15 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.
16 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!’ 17 So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.
Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18 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?
Explore
Besides falling from a window, King Ahaziah makes two big mistakes in this passage: he seeks a word from the wrong god and then he tries to tell the man of God what to do. It’s pretty obvious in Ahaziah’s story that these were bad choices, but I wonder how often we’re tempted to do something similar?
Maybe I don’t send messengers to a foreign temple, but when I need to make a decision or consider the consequences of my actions, where do I turn? Do I search the Scriptures and seek to discern the will of God? Or do I listen to the voices, judgements and priorities of the world? If, like Ahaziah, I don’t like the answer the Lord gives me, do I try to force God to do what I want? The captain who succeeded in persuading Elijah to come was the one who approached humbly and fearing God (vs 13–15).
This story is especially tragic because twice (in verses 4 and 16b) Elijah appears to tie Ahaziah’s fate to his seeking a god who is not the Lord. Idolatry really matters to God: he is jealous for his people. Let us take care to seek his Word and his will and not be tempted away by the shining idols we see worshipped by those around us.
Respond
Ask the Lord to show you if there are ways in which you have been listening to the wrong voices.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, who shut the mouths of lions for Daniel, you sometimes roar yourself. May I harken to the roar in this passage and remember that ‘The Lord – he is God!’1
As an Israelite king, Ahaziah should have led the people in the way of the Lord. Instead, Ahaziah’s first inclination is to pray to a foreign god. Does he think that his own God does not know whether he will recover? His messengers do not get as far as enquiring of this false god, however, because God sends Elijah to intercept them.
Three times we hear the question, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel …?’ (vs 3,6,16). The first time is when the angel tells Elijah what he is to say, the second when the king’s messengers tell Ahaziah what Elijah said to them, and on the third occasion the words come directly from Elijah to the king. By that point, God has made it quite clear that there is a God in Israel. The consuming fire verifies Elijah as a man of God – Elijah had prayed, ‘If I am a man of God, may fire come down’ (v 10).
This event is reminiscent of 1 Kings 18 where, in the days of King Ahab, Elijah had been in conflict with the prophets of Baal. The fire of the Lord had come down and consumed the sacrifice and the sacrificial area as well as the water. On that occasion, the people fell on their faces and repeated, ‘The Lord – he is God’.1 Had Ahab’s son, Ahaziah, forgotten that occurrence? Elijah could never have defended himself against an army of fifty, but with God’s protection and intervention he was saved. The roar of the Lion clearly shows not only that there is a God in Israel, but that he protects his messengers. We also know, as Elijah surely did, that Elijah’s demonstrations only show a fraction of God’s power – a lion’s power does not lie in its roar.
‘... is it because there is no God for you to consult ...?’ (v 16). God gives brains, friends, the internet, etc for decision-making, but do you turn to God’s Word first?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 55,56; Hebrews 10
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for STEAP, a Grow Community in the central region, focusing on equipping children and young people to use their gifts in the life of the church. Pray that they will continue to find engaging ways to connect with the 95 whilst discipling those at the Grow stage of the Revealing Jesus framework.
