Ahaziah Turns to a False God
Study note
After Ahab's death, Moab stopped paying tribute to Israel and rebelled. Ahaziah, Ahab's son, fell through a lattice window in his upper room in Samaria and was seriously injured. Instead of praying to the God of Israel, he sent messengers to ask Baal-zebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, whether he would get better. Baal-zebub means 'lord of the flies' and was a pagan deity. God sent the prophet Elijah to intercept the messengers with a message of judgment.
1 King Ahab died. Then Moab chose to stop obeying Israel. They stopped sending payments. Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 One day Ahaziah fell through a screen on the upper floor of his palace in Samaria. He got badly hurt. He sent some servants with this message: "Go ask Baal-zebub, the god worshiped in Ekron, if I will get better." 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.
3 But an angel from the Lord spoke to Elijah the prophet: "Go out and meet the king of Samaria's servants. Say to them, 'Does Israel have no God? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, Ekron's god, to ask about the king?'" 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 "So here is what the Lord says: You will never leave the bed where you are lying. You are going to die." After saying this, Elijah walked away. 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 The servants returned to the king much sooner than expected. He asked them, "How come you are back so soon?" And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
6 They told him, "A man met us along the way. He said, 'Turn around and go back to the king who sent you. Give him this message from the Lord: Is there no God in Israel? Is that why you are sending people to ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you did this, you will not get out of your bed. You are going to die.'" 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 The king asked, "What did this person look like? Describe the man who told you all this." And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8 They said, "He wore rough, hairy clothing with a leather belt tied around his waist." The king replied, "That has to be Elijah the prophet." 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.
Fire from Heaven
Study note
When Ahaziah learned it was Elijah who had delivered the message, he sent a captain with fifty soldiers to arrest the prophet. Elijah was sitting on top of a hill. The captain demanded that Elijah come down, but Elijah called down fire from heaven that destroyed the captain and his men. Ahaziah sent a second group, and the same thing happened. These events showed God's power and that his prophet was not to be treated lightly.
9 The king then sent an army captain and fifty soldiers to bring Elijah in. They found him sitting on a hilltop. The captain called up to him, "Man of God, the king commands you to come down!" 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 Elijah called back to the captain, "If I truly am a man of God, then let fire fall from the sky and burn up you and your fifty soldiers." Then, fire came down from the sky and burned them all up. 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 The king sent a second captain with another fifty soldiers. This captain also shouted, "Man of God, the king says you must come down immediately!" 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 Elijah replied, "If I truly am a man of God, then let fire fall from the sky and burn up you and your fifty soldiers." Once again, fire from God fell from the sky and destroyed them all. 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.
The Third Captain Shows Respect
Study note
When the third captain came, he fell on his knees and begged for mercy instead of making demands. An angel told Elijah it was safe to go with this man. Elijah went to the king and delivered God's message face to face: because Ahaziah had turned to a foreign god instead of the God of Israel, he would die. Ahaziah died as Elijah had said, and since he had no son, his brother Jehoram became king.
13 The king sent yet a third captain with fifty soldiers. But this third captain climbed up the hill, dropped to his knees in front of Elijah, and begged, "Man of God, please have mercy! Spare my life and the lives of these fifty men who serve you." 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 "Fire fell from the sky and killed the first two captains and all their soldiers. But please, I beg you, let us live." 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 Then the angel of the Lord told Elijah, "Go with this man. There is nothing to fear." So Elijah stood up and went with the captain to see the king. 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 Elijah told the king directly, "Here is the Lord's message: You sent your servants to ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, as if no God existed in all of Israel. For that reason, you will not leave your bed alive. You will certainly die." 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 And Ahaziah did die, exactly as the Lord had said through Elijah. Because Ahaziah had no son to take his place, Jehoram became the next king. This took place during the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, who ruled Judah. 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 The rest of what Ahaziah did during his rule can be found in the official records of the kings of Israel. 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?