seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Kings 1:1 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 around 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 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?
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Here's the link to the commentary I read. I would suggest you go back and read the whole commentary.Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury: Ahaziah showed that he was a true worshipper of the pagan god Baal-Zebub because he turned to this god in his time of trouble.
“He was the local god of Ekron, and probably was used at first to drive away flies. Afterwards, he became a very respectable devil, and was supposed to have great power and influence. In the New Testament, Beelzebub is a common name for Satan himself, or the prince of devils.” (Adam Clarke)
You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die: Ahaziah did not seek help from the real God; therefore he will get no real help. Instead this will be an occasion for the real God to send a message of judgment to King Ahaziah.
What kind of man was it who came up to meet you: Ahaziah clearly suspected it was the Prophet Elijah who spoke this word. His suspicion was confirmed when the man was described as a hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.
So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken: The proof was in the result. Elijah was demonstrated to be a man of God because his prophecy was fulfilled just as spoken. Ahaziah did not recover from his fall through the lattice.
Because he had no son, Jehoram became king: This Jehoram was also the son of Ahab (2 Kings 3:1) and therefore the brother of Ahaziah. Ahaziah had no descendant to pass the kingdom to, so the throne went to his brother after the brief reign of Ahaziah.
The account becomes a little confusing here, because the king of Judah at that time was also named Jehoram (the son of Jehoshaphat).
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Ahab's son became king and he worshipped just as Ahab and Jezebel taught him. He was a bum.
Now we're in 2nd Kings. We're still in Northern Israel.
Ahab is dead. His son is in charge. We haven't seen Jezebel's blood on the wall. She's still alive. Jezebel is probably advising her son, as she advised Ahab.
Judah is holding its own. Jehoshaphat is still king of Judah.
And the new king of Northern Israel is Ahaziah. He's the son of Ahab and he was trained by Ahab and Jezebel.
Ahaziah had an accident. He fell and he can't get out of bed.
He sent word to the fake priests of Baal-Zebub. God saw what he was doing and had Elijah meet the messenger instead.
Elijah told the messenger that Ahaziah would die in the bed where he was laying. God told him what to say and Elijah said it. The messenger ran right back to Ahaziah and told him exactly what Elijah said.
Well, Ahaziah didn't like that answer and he figured out it was Elijah. Elijah wore a garment of hair and a leather belt [like John the Baptist?].
Ahaziah sent a captain of the army and 50 men to bring Elijah in. Elijah called down fire on them.
He sent a second captain of the army and another 50 men. Elijah called down fire on them.
The third captain of the army, who also had 50 men, was a little smarter than the first two. He didn't demand Elijah do as instructed. He went to him hat in hand and begged Elijah to come. Elijah went with him.
Ahaziah was not a child of God by any stretch of the imagination. He was raised by two idol worshippers. He had no idea. He died, still snubbing God.
Ahaziah had no kids. So, he was replaced by his brother, Joram.
Ahaziah is dead... long live his brother Joram.
God sent Elijah to deliver the bad news.
"You'll die"
