Elijah’s Words To Ahab's Son Series

Introduction: After the death of Ahab, king of the northern tribes of Israel, his son Ahaziah became king. This new king also had a near-death experience after he fell through a lattice (networked wooden strips) of a window! This king sent messengers to a Philistine city, Ekron, about 40 or so miles away to ask if he would recover but these messengers met Elijah instead. Then Elijah gave the messengers, and later the king himself, a message they never forgot.

1 Elijah’s message to the king’s messengers

Text: 2 Kings 1:1-8, KJV: 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 Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. 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 Baalzebub 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 Baalzebub 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.

When the events of this story take place, Ahab had already died and Israel was not in the best of conditions. Ahab had recruited Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join his forces with Ahab’s in order to (allegedly) retake Ramoth-Gilead from the Syrians. There’s more to the story in any number of messages including one of mine which Sermon Central has accepted called “The Banquet and the Battle”. By the time the battle was over, Ahab was mortally wounded and died before the army returned to Samaria (1 Kings 22:37-40). The soldiers all fled to their homes and Israel apparently prepared for life under a new king.

This new king was Ahaziah, who was the son of Ahab and apparently Jezebel (there is no mention of his mother. Maybe it wasn’t necessary). He was just as bad as either, or both, of his parents and it’s written of him, sadly, that “he did evil in the sight of the LORD . . . [and he] served Baal, and worshiped him (see 1 Kings 22:51-53)”.

Ahaziah faced a couple of real challenges, shortly, it seems, after he began to reign. First, Moab rebelled against Israel. According to Dr, Barnes’ notes, Moab had been subject to Israel since the days of David but since Ahab had died, now Moab felt ready to revolt (paraphrased from the on-line commentary found at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/2_kings/1.htm). Ellicott also quotes part of the “Moabite Stone” as written by Mesha, the king of Moab at the time (according to https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/2_kings/1.htm). Fascinating reading. Some think this revolt is more or less the same action of Moab against the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom recorded in 2 Kings 3 and indeed it may well be.

That was bad enough, having to face a possible attack or counter-attack against Syria, to the north, but now Ahaziah’s forces would face action against Moab, across the Jordan River and a good ways to the south, and few good places to cross that river. But worse was to come for Ahaziah, and, sadly, it was his own doing.

Verse 2 has the text that Ahaziah “fell through a lattice in his upper chamber” and there are several opinions among various commentators. The lattice was used in place of window of glass or solid wood, made of networked or trellis-work (especially as described in the online commentary at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/2_kings/1.htm). Whatever happened, Ahaziah was “sick (or, wounded or injured, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2470.htm) and he wanted to know if he would recover.

In and of itself, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to know “Will I recover or get better after this happened to me?” but Ahaziah blundered, tremendously, in a couple of ways. First, it doesn’t seem (there’s no record) that he inquired of any doctors—and surely there were some, even in those days—or of the legion of prophets/priests of Baal and the groves. No, Ahaziah chose to enquire of a totally foreign god; a god of the Philistines!