The Book of Second kings

Chapter 1

[1] Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
[2] 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 Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

1) Crises (1-2)

#1 Death The wicked King of Israel, Ahab died and his son Ahaziah reigns & rules (he’s wicked too 1K22:51,52)

#2 Danger Israel is in a state of change and with political instability & presiding economic issues, Moab rebelled

Moab had been under the domination of Israel since the days of King David

#3 Distress The new King of Israel fell from the 2^nd story of his palace through a lattice and is seriously hurt

Deathly sick, he sent messengers to enquire of the priests of Baal as to whether he would recover

In trouble, the king turned to a false god. Who do you turn to in trouble?

[3] 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 Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
[4] 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.
[5] And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
[6] 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 Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
[7] And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
[8] 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.

2) Conditions (3-8)

#1 The man of God, Elijah was summoned by the angel of the Lord to meet the messengers just dispatched

Elijah was simply serving the Lord, in a condition to be used of God. Elijah was ready & prepared!

#2 Elijah was to say “Does the king ask of Baal, a false god, as if there is no real God is Israel?”

“Tell the king his condition is fatal and is irreversible”

Since the king asked of no real god, he would get no real help. The king was rebelling

An opportunity to repent and set his house in order......but he wouldn’t

#3 The messengers, upon hearing Elijah, turn back to the king w/out enquiring of Baal

They believed the words they were told & share this message w/ the king. They were receptive

The king wants to know what man told you this?

The messengers say he was an hairy man (maybe wearing animal skins) & wore a leather girdle

The king knew it was Elijah (Elijah had a strong reputation)

[9] 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.
[10] 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.
[11] 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.
[12] 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.
[13] 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.
[14] 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.
[15] 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.
[16] And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub 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.
[17] 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.
[18] 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?

3) Captains (9-18)

Lets look at those 3 captains and notice their attitude towards God and the man of God

#1 Captain Apathy-

Lack of interest, w/out care (Elijah, top of hill -Near the Cross- enticed to comedown Mt27:42

King Ahaziah sends a Captain & 50 men to arrest & capture Elijah (irreverently to silence God’s man)

Just doing his ordinary duty, a routine mission, brought back others before.

Either they did not hold Elijah as God’s Man or thought the king absolute (No greeting, no respect)

Under orders from the king, the captain says “Man of God, the king hath said Come down”

(Rom 13:1,2)teaches us to submit to governing authorities, but it is not absolute

If the govt says we must sin & deny Jesus, we should disobey the gov’t.

This Captain should have disobeyed the king and obeyed God (Acts 5:29)

But he obeyed the flesh

Elijah said “If I be a man of God let fire come down and consume thee and thy 50"

If Elijah is God’s man, then the Captain is on an ungodly mission to capture God’s man

Elijah says let God evaluate these men and this situation (God saw irreverence, ignorance)

Elijah is saying (Capt. Apathy) “you say I am a Man of God but you don’t act like it, so let God decide”

Elijah did not send the fire, but God did & His actions are justified

The men were consumed by the fire of God

The captain commanded the man of God to “come down”&he didn’t, but the fire of God did

# 2 Captain Arrogance

King Ahaziah sends another Captain and 50 more men to arrest and capture Elijah

The second Captain repeated the error of the first Captain

Knowing what had happened, his command was bolder &more demanding “come down quickly”

Felt he could do as he pleased (Rm 1:20-22) An inflated sense of authority, knew better than God

Elijah is saying (Capt. Arrogance) “you say I am a Man of God but you don’t act like it, so let God decide” Elijah left the situation in God’s Hand and again God responds in dramatic judgment

#3 Captain Astute- Wisely judging, sensible

King Ahaziah send another Captain and 50 more men to arrest and capture Elijah

The 3^rd Captain, (Capt. Astute) sees the twice blackened earth and fell on his knees (humbly)

“O man of God I pray thee, let my life and the lives with me be precious in thy sight”

The angel of the Lord assured Elijah “go down w/ him and be not afraid”

Elijah went with them to the king

Seeing the king & standing in presence, Elijah delivered the very same message as before

Elijah did not soften message to avoid offending the king

God’s message did not change just because King Ahaziah didn’t want to hear it

Ahaziah died, just like God had said. The King did not recover from his fall

Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram reigned in his stead. (Jehoram was also the son of king Ahab 2K3:1)