Elijah’s Words To Ahab's Son Series

We’re not even given any conversation or dialogue between Ahaziah and Elijah. That didn’t matter to Elijah, though, as he went straight to the point, repeating the message he had heard from the LORD, and what he had told the original group of the king’s messengers. That message was, in so many words, “You will never recover and you will surely die”.

Could Ahaziah have hoped he would hear something different once Elijah and he were face to face? Was he hoping Elijah would cure him of his illness or injury, whatever it was? We’ll never know for sure down here, but I find it striking that Ahaziah, even though half-Hebrew, didn’t ask Elijah to pray for him.

When one does not feel the need or the request for prayer, that person is on dangerous ground indeed. Ahaziah went on suffering, trying to rule his nation, never once calling again for Elijah or any other of the the LORD’s prophets, in any way, according to the text. If he had done so, or at least called out to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the True God, his life, like Ahab his father, may have ended very differently.

Ahaziah came to the end of his days, never recovering from his sickness or injury from his fall through the lattice. He died, leaving no son or male heir, so his relative Jehoram reigned in his place. Ahaziah had a sad beginning and a very sad end, all of it because he rejected the God of the Hebrews, Jehovah. May we learn from his errors and seek the True and the Living God at all times, not just when we have sickness or injury, and may we always seek prayer when we need it! After all, who doesn’t need prayer?

The messengers went on a strange mission, to seek an answer to a king’s problems. Elijah met them and gave them a message from the God of Heaven, not Baal-zebub of Ekron. Then the king sent different groups of soldiers to arrest (apparently) Elijah and bring him to the palace. While there, Elijah repeated the same message-word for word-as the Angel of the Lord had given him at the first. Ahaziah rejected all of it, and died, never recovering, as the LORD had said.

<Prayer> Dear Lord, God of Heaven and earth, may we learn from Your Word, how it spoke and still speaks volumes to us today. May we always trust in You and follow Your will for our lives and may we always bring glory to You in all we say and do. Amen.

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)