Playing with Fire
By Pastor Jim May
II Kings 1:1-18
“Held by Jehovah”, that was his name as translated from Hebrew to English, “Held by Jehovah”. Now that sounds like a pretty good name to have provided you live up to your name. But the king in our message tonight did not live up to his name, at least not in a positive fashion. He was “Held by Jehovah” all right, but he was held in contempt and declared unfit to be the king of Israel and condemned to die a sinner’s death. Now he is “Held by Jehovah” in a devil’s Hell because he dared to disobey God.
“Held by Jehovah” was the literal translation of the name Ahaziah. This was the son and successor of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, the worst rulers that Israel had ever had. Ahaziah learned idolatry from Jezebel and watched the example that Ahab had presented for him. He learned his lessons well from both of his parents and their teachings would condemn him for all eternity.
He took over the kingdom and immediately began to deal with war. For a long time, the Land of Moab, where Ruth had come from many years before, had been under the rule of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. But now they had taken all they could and they revolted against Ahaziah.
He was in Samaria, a watch-mountain or a watch-tower in the heart of the mountains of Israel. He thought it was his safe haven, a place where no one could get to him. But God knew how to get his attention. This heathen king of God’s people could never lead God’s people the right way. He had too much of a personal agenda.
One day, while walking along, high up on the roof of the palace built as a fort against the edge of the mountain, Ahaziah had an accident. Whether he was walking too close to an opening in the battlements where soldiers stood to defend the palace, or he fell through a loose rail on his balcony we do not know. But we do know that he fell from an upper chamber and was badly injured. His first thought was, “I wonder if I’m going to make it this time? Maybe it was a broken leg, or broken arms or all of the above. Maybe his back was broken. It seems that he had a pretty good fall.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever gotten sick and then thought, “Oh Lord, is this the big one?” One moment you are enjoying the sweet peace and rest of feeling safe, and then without warning you are stricken by some terrible circumstances.
Some folks go to the doctor for a simple checkup and find out that they have some terrible disease that will soon take their life.
Others are riding along, minding their own business, when a drunk driver swerves over the center line and their lives are either snuffed out or changed forever.
Accidents happen, and they come whether we are living godly or not.
When pain strikes or sickness comes our thoughts are always a little troubled. We can’t get a pain, or we are dying. We can’t get sick. The bills won’t get taken care of. Who is going to take care of everything now?
Ahaziah had all those same questions. But he was the king, and he wanted answers now. So he sent for his messengers and gave them orders to go seek out the answers he needed. “I don’t want any bad news either.” “If they don’t have the answers I want then find someone else who does”.
Now we all want to know what ‘s going to happen in times of sickness. We go to the doctor to seek his advice; we go to the preacher for prayer to be healed. It’s just human nature to want to know what’s coming; a natural curiosity and it all seemed so harmless.
But we had better be careful of searching for answers in the wrong places.
Recently there have been a large number of programs on TV and stories in the newspapers that describe the Police as calling in psychics to help solve a crime. Sometimes they really seem to help, but does that make it right to consort with them?
King Saul had learned the hard way that he couldn’t consort with witches or psychics either. He went to the Witch of Endor to learn of his future and found out things he wish that he had never heard. God took the kingdom from him and lost his eternal soul by playing with fire.
Now I hear Christians are playing with fire and many of them don’t even know it. One thing that I have read of just recently is a treatment for illness known as Therapeutic Touch. Perhaps you have heard of it.
Therapeutic Touch is a form of treatment that was started by a Dolores Kreiger and Dora Kunz. Mrs. Kunz was the founder of Therapeutic Touch and then president of the Theosophical Society in America, which promotes the occult and mysticism in modern, scientific terminology. According to this society of health professionals, theosophy is defined as an all-inclusive religion based on "wonderful and sublime doctrines that were originally given to mankind on this planet by spiritual beings. (In other words, they were doctrines of devils, given to deceive those who were sick into accepting occult treatments without question.)
The hands of the who is doing the treatment makes "passes" over the patient’s body which assess the flow of “prana”, an occult word for vitality, and the condition of the aura which surrounds you. (Look out, your Aura is showing!). "Illness shows up as weak, cloudy or discolored spot in your aura. Some healers pass their hands over, but do not touch, a patient and detect illness by cold spots in the aura." The absence of physical contact is a common feature: "Most experienced Therapeutic Touch healers don’t really touch at all. They simply move their hands over the body and call it ’laying on of hands’.
Once the passes are completed, the healer just flicks his or her wrist off to the side as if they are throwing off sickness.
The power of Satan is real, and he can and will heal sicknesses if doing so will only drag a soul into a deeper level of deceit. Sometimes these Therapeutic Touch practices do bring a healing, but practicing occult methods to accomplish a good result is still sin in the eyes of God so beware.
There were a number of witchcraft based methods for treating illness and injuries that I found in my search. Nearly every occult practice that is so easily accepted is connected with healing of the body. We must be careful today when we see a doctor. So many are caught up in occult practices and I believe that many of them don’t even know it.
That’s what Ahaziah was doing when he sent his messengers forth to see if he was going to make it. He didn’t go ask the God of Israel, or put his trust in the Lord. Instead he told them to go and seek the advice of the Idol God of Eckron. That idol’s name was Baalzebub, another name for Satan.
When you start playing with fire, you are going to get burned. Playing with the fire of hell through witchcraft, occult practices and even simple things like horoscopes always leads you deeper into the clutches of the devil.
God had enough of Ahaziah and his idolatrous ways. He sent an angel to intercept Ahaziah’s messengers and stop them from going to the Baalzebub.
2 Kings 1:3-4, "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 enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die."
Elijah presented God’s Word and then left, but his words were anointed and powerful. God was not pleased with Ahaziah and he was going to stop his heathen ways once and for all.
2 Kings 1:5-6, "And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back? 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 enquire 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." King, we found the answer you wanted. You may not like it, but there it is.
Ahaziah knew who this “man of God” was. No doubt he had heard of this old prophet in Israel and had seen first hand some of the work that God had done through him. Elijah had been a thorn in the flesh against Ahab, pointing out sin at every turn.
He may have been with Ahab in the chariot when Elijah outran the chariot to escape the rain. He was probably there when Elijah had called down fire out of Heaven on Mr. Carmel and then killed 400 prophets of Baal. He had heard Ahab and Jezebel as they shoute d in anger at the workings of Elijah and I’m sure that he heard Jezebel threaten to kill the old prophet. Later on he saw his mother, Jezebel, fall from the window and likely watched as she was eaten by dogs as the prophet had said. It’s no wonder then that Ahaziah despised Elijah. But he also knew enough not to ignore him.
The king sent out soldiers to bring Elijah back. They approached the old prophet with an arrogant commanding attitude. They were playing with fire. Had they forgotten that this man of God could call fire out of Heaven? Undoubtedly they had, but they were soon reminded of the fire of God.
2 Kings 1:9-10, "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. 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."
Suddenly there were 50 crispy critters on the ground and Elijah sat still. If Ahaziah wanted him, he would have to call for him in the right fashion.
God wants us to call upon him in the right manner too. I wonder how many people who call themselves Christian would be a crispy critter on the road if they prayed to God in Elijah’s day? Thank God that this is the age of Grace or there would be far fewer people claiming to be Christian.
But Ahaziah didn’t learn the first time. He was as stubborn as his parents had been and was used to having everything his way.
2 Kings 1:11-12, "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. 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."
Now there were 100 charred bodies on the road and Elijah still sat quietly. We must never forget that our God is a righteous God and a consuming fire. His holiness burns as fire and it can either consume us or purify us, depending upon the condition of our heart.
Still Ahaziah didn’t learn anything. He wanted an answer, and he wanted this prophet to come at his beck and call. Let’s also not forget here that God moves at his own pace and in His own time. His ways are not our ways and when we begin to believe that we know better than God, we are headed for disaster and we are playing with fire.
2 Kings 1:13-14, "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. 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."
This time, the leader of the band of soldiers had realized that he needed a different approach, one of humility and prayer, respecting and fearing the fire of God and the power of the anointing upon Elijah.
All that God is looking for is a heart that is right with him. He is not at our command. God isn’t waiting for us to order him around. He wants us to come in repentance, putting our pride aside and humbly coming before him.
Psalms 34:18, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
2 Kings 1:15-16, "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. And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die."
Elijah came down at God’s command, but his message didn’t change. Ahaziah had gone too far. In his rebellion he had caused the deaths of 100 men. Now it was going to be his turn to burn forever. He played with the fire and now the fire was going to consume him eternally.
2 Kings 1:17, "So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken..."
God’s fire was purifying the land of Israel. Ahab, Jezebel, and Ahaziah, the family that made up an unholy trio of rulers in Israel were gone. How far would the fire of God have to burn to rid Israel of idolatry? I’m afraid the worst was yet to come. How many since that day have sought after other gods to get their answers. They have forgotten the True God and chased after idols. The purifying fire of God continues to burn and literally millions of souls are hanging in the balance.
Let’s not play with this fire of God. Let our prayers and our service always be done with a contrite heart, recognizing the power and holiness of Almighty God.
If the fire of God is going to burn away anything in me, let it be that part that is sin. Let the fire of God purify your heart and life. God doesn’t want to consume you. He wants to make you pure and holy so that you can spend eternity with Him.
In the end, it is that same fire of God that will purify creation of all sin.
2 Thessalonians 2:8, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"
1 Corinthians 3:13-15, "Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
God’s fire reveals the truth. It burns away sin. It purifies what’s left. Let’s make sure that we aren’t playing with that fire. Playing with fire is a very dangerous thing.
