CHAPTER 1

(896 B.C.)

THE SICKNESS OF AHAZIAH

¹Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. (Moab had originally been conquered by David [II Sam. 8:2; 23:20] and, after the division of Judah and Israel, it passed to Israel. The Moabites were greatly oppressed by Omri and Ahab and, on the death of Ahab, Mesha, king of Moab, rebelled and gained independence.)

²And 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, enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. (Ahaziah cast away the last remnant of faith in the Salvation afforded by the Lord and believed in by the Patriarchs of Israel, and consulted a foreign oracle, as if the Voice of God was silent in his own country.

By and large, the sin of the modern Church is little different from the sin of Ahaziah. Having opted for the humanistic, even atheistic, fallacy of psychology, it has, by and large, forsaken the God of the Bible. It has tried to cover its sin by labeling its foray into modernism with the term, Christian psychology. However, such does not exist. Psychology is not a true science; its various methods of treatment are worthy of a Roman circus. It has its roots in atheism, evolution, and humanism. It is the total opposite of the Bible. Christian psychology, so-called, is no different whatsoever from any other type of psychology. The name Christian is given to it only to deceive a gullible Christian public that has, as well, by and large, forsaken the Bible.)

³But 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 you go to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? (The action of Ahaziah presents a complete and absolute denial of the Divinity of Jehovah. To consult a foreign oracle is equivalent to saying that the Voice of God is wholly silent in ones own land. This was going further in apostasy than Ahab had gone.

As stated, the modern Church is doing the same thing in its acceptance of humanistic psychology. It does so under the farce of the guise that all truth is Gods truth. The meaning is: If it is truth, it must come from God. However, let it ever be stated: truth is not a philosophy; it is a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ [Jn. 14:6; 17:17; I Jn. 5:6]. The Word of God claims to hold the answer to all of mans spiritual problems, and the Word of God alone does this [II Pet. 1:3].)

⁴Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from that bed on which you are gone up, but shall surely die. And Elijah departed. (The word therefore is emphatic, and means for this reason or on this account. Because Ahaziah had apostatized from God, the Lord sentenced him to die from the effects of his fall, and not recover. It is implied that he might have recovered, if he had acted otherwise.)

⁵And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are you now turned back? (When the messengers came back so soon to Ahaziah, he perceived that they could not have been to Ekron and come back in this amount of time. So, he asks them as to why they have come back so soon.)

⁶And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king who sent you, and say unto him, Thus says the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that you send to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from that bed on which you are gone up, but shall surely die.

⁷And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?

⁸And 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. (He knew Elijah and all the miracles which this great Prophet had seen, but yet would not call him in, but rather would send for these heathenistic gods.

Jesus Christ and Him Crucified is the answer for mans dilemma, and the only answer. But the trouble is, the modern Church little believes in the Cross; therefore, it resorts to humanistic psychology, etc.)

⁹Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty (with 50 soldiers). And he went up to him: and, behold, he (Elijah) sat on the top of an hill. And he (the captain) spoke unto him, You man of God, the king has said, Come down.

¹⁰And 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 you and your fifty. And there came down fire from Heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. (Elijah, within himself, had no power to do good or harm. He could but pray to the Lord and, in the Lords Wisdom and Perfect Goodness, He could either grant or refuse the prayer. Gods answer, in sending the fire, is His Response to Ahaziah and those who served him.)

¹¹Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus has the king said, Come down quickly.

¹²And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from Heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from Heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. (If men do not trust the Lord and what He has done to redeem humanity, and I speak of Christ and the Cross, then ultimately the fire of judgment will fall upon them. It is inevitable!)

¹³And 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 you, let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight.

¹⁴Behold, 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 your sight.

¹⁵And the Angel of the LORD said unto Elijah (this was the Lord Himself), Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

¹⁶And he said unto him, Thus says the LORD, Forasmuch as you have sent messengers to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of His Word? therefore you shall not come down off that bed on which you are gone up, but shall surely die. (Due to the fact that the Lord sent Elijah to Ahaziah, if the king had truly repented, it seems that, even at this late date, the sentence of death could have been altered; however, there was no Repentance!)

AHAZIAHS DEATH

¹⁷So 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 (because Ahaziah had no son, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Jehoram).

¹⁸Now 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?