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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
Is There No God in Israel?
2 Kings 1:2-16 KJV
1:2 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, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
1:3 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 enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
1:4 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.
1:5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
1:6 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 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.
1:7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
1:8 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.
1:9 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.
1:10 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.
1:11 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.
1:12 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.
1:13 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.
1:14 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.
1:15 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.
1:16 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.
This is one of the most powerful messages that God could ever send to those people who call themselves “Chosen of God”.
It is but one incident in the life of that great prophet of God, Elijah. Elijah walked with God and had one of the most powerful ministries ever given to a man upon the face of the earth. Few have ever walked with God in the manner of Elijah.
Jesus told us in Matthew 17:11-13, that it would be Elijah (Elias) who would come again and restore all things but that one had already come in the same spirit as Elijah, namely John the Baptist as he came preaching the coming of the Lord “whose shoes I am not worthy to unlatch.” Most Bible scholars agree that this is referring, at least in part, to the days of the Tribulation when Elijah is to return as one of the two witnesses that bring revival and rebuke the Antichrist of Revelation.
We need an Elijah in our day. This world, and even the church, has fallen into idolatry as badly, if not worse than Israel did in the days of Elijah. The problem is that we all want the manifestation of the power of God in the church, but we are afraid of the judgment of God that goes along with it.
Ahaziah was now the new King of Israel. He had inherited the throne from his father who is known as the most wicked king that ever ruled over Israel, Ahab. Ahaziah had grown up around wickedness and had learned the ways of idolatry from not only his father, Ahab, but from his mother, the wicked Queen Jezebel. In the 9th chapter of 2 Kings we even read that Elijah’s prophecy against Jezebel came to pass when she fell from a balcony window and was devoured by a pack of hungry dogs.
The story of Ahaziah almost leaves you feeling sorry for this man who didn’t seem to have a chance to know the ways of righteousness.
But God had given Ahaziah every opportunity to do that which was right!
Ahaziah had the example of King Jehosaphat of Judah who did that which was right in the sight of God. Jeshosaphat reigned in the Southern Kingdom of Israel and Ahaziah in the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the same time. God had given Ahaziah time and space to repent of his evil ways and follow the paths of righteousness but Ahaziah refused.
Ahaziah fell through a lattice work and was injured. Like anyone who has ever been injured or sick, he wanted to know if and when he would get well. The desire to be well is fine and to ask for help is fine, but now the real problem begins.
WE MUST BE CAREFUL TO ASK IN THE RIGHT WAY OR WE MAY GET MORE THAN WE BARGAIN FOR!
Ahaziah did not go to the God of Israel for help.
If there is one good thing I can say about Ahaziah, its that he wasn’t a hypocrite. He sent his attendant to ask the god of Samaria, known as Ekron, whether he would recover from his injuries.
Be careful about pointing fingers at Ahaziah! There are many people who call themselves Christian who will do the same thing today.
The Physic Hotline is staying hot day and night from the multitudes who are inquiring of the Beelzebub of America, what the future holds or what the answer to their problems are. We will call the Psychiatrist, the Psychoanalyst, the guru’s of meditation and self healing but, in America, that claims to be bulwark of Christianity, we don’t hear of many who will call upon the name of the Lord for their answers. Neither will you read or hear of many who will look into the Bible the very words of Almighty God to get their answer.
We are no better, as a nation, and as the “church” than Ahaziah was. Why do we not call upon God for our problems and diseases? Why do we call upon man, or worse, upon the forces of the prince of the power of the air, Satan himself.
GOD HAVE MERCY ON US AS A NATION! WE ARE GUILTY OF IDOLATRY IN THE WORSE MANNER!
It wasn’t long until Ahaziah’s servants came back with their tail tucked between their legs. They left with the authority of the King of Samaria to seek answers and came back like whipped puppies because they had ran across God’s man of faith and power, Elijah.
Elijah rebuked them for doing that which they were assigned to do and, more importantly, he instructed them to bring a message to Ahaziah from God.
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.
Just as King Saul had lost his kingdom because he inquired of the Witch of Endor, Ahaziah was going to lose his kingdom for inquiring of the god called Ekron!
You would think that this message alone would bring Ahaziah to his knees but it didn’t! He was too proud to admit the sin in his heart. His heart was filled with anger instead of repentance.
I believe that this is the same problem that plagues our churches, our people and our nation. PRIDE – self worship, I can do this without God, I can do what I want, how I want and when I want and I don’t want God interfering with my plans.
I challenge you to go into your neighborhood, into your community and begin to tell others about Jesus. I hope you take me up on that challenge but I want to forewarn you that most people won’t be willing to listen. They don’t want to change their ways. They love the sin they commit. They love the lifestyle they have built for themselves and they don’t want to hear about any God or any message of the Gospel that would require them to change.
Even when the message goes forth, ‘REPENT, JESUS IS COMING! HELL IS REAL AND THE TIME IS SHORT AND WE MUST ALL STAND BEFORE GOD!”
No matter how powerful the message or the how strong the deliverance of that message may be, people don’t want to hear it and tune it out.
WE SEE THE SAME ATTITUDE IN THE WORLD TODAY, AND IN MOST OF THE CHURCH WORLD, THAT WE SEE IN AHAZIAH!
Ahaziah could not and would not allow some backwoods preacher wearing goatskin who hadn’t even shaved his beard or learned to dress for success to tell him what to do or to rebuke him for anything. CALL OUT THE GUARD AND GO GET ELIJAH AND BRING HIM TO ME. HE MUST ANSWER FOR HIS CRIME.
Ahaziah sent out his Captain of the Guard with 50 of his strongest warriors to get Elijah. When they found him, Elijah was sitting on a hill waiting for them.
“Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down”.
They didn’t come in reverence of the man of God. They didn’t come in respect to his office as a Prophet of God. They had no regard for Elijah or the God of Israel. They were there to do business for their King.
GOD’S JUDGMENT FELL AND ALL OF THEM WERE BURNED WITH THE FIRE OF GOD!
You can’t play with fire or you will get burned and my God is a God of Fire!
Ahaziah was enraged and sent 50 more. They came with the same attitude and were consumed by that same Fire of God.
By the time the third set came, there was a change in attitude.
The last group came with reverence to God Almighty and His awesome power. They came to ask Elijah, not to order him to come. They came asking for mercy and grace knowing that they had little choice but to do what the King had commanded.
The modern church and the world of today have little regard for the God of Heaven.
People go about their daily lives as though God does not exist or that He doesn’t see what they are doing.
The world shakes its fist in the very face of God and dares God to do anything about it, and because He is a merciful, loving God and does not bring instant fire down on them, they think that they can get away with angering Him.
The modern church looks into their liturgical books, chant their songs and observe their form of religion without power and never give place in their ceremonies for the move of the Holy Spirit of God. It’s as if we are saying to God, “We don’t need you, we have our own faith, our own power to save and deliver and we don’t want any part of your Holy Ghost.
I can see the tears of God as His own children snub Him and refuse to come to Him and allow Him in their midst.
I can also see His anger as multitudes of souls are going to hell because a backslidden church, full of hypocrites, drives away those who would come into their services seeking something real.
GOD HELP US AS A CHURCH IF WE DON’T PRESENT THE ABSOLUTE UNADULTERATED TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD!
I BELIEVE THAT IF WE FAIL IN THIS CALLING, WE SHALL FACE THE GREATEST JUDGMENT OF ALL AND WE WILL ALL BE CONSUMED IN THE FIRES OF GOD’S WRATH.
Thank God there are still a few churches and a few preachers around who won’t back off of the truth!
Just as this final Captain of 50 and his soldiers came to Elijah with a humble and contrite spirit, asking for mercy and forgiveness, we must do the same.
We must learn to go to God first of all with every problem and every question. After all, He is the only one with any real answers.
We must avoid at all costs the habits of the world and of the Apostate church who seek answers from the world or from the Devil’s crowd.
THE ANSWERS ARE FOUND IN JESUS!
THE ANSWERS ARE FOUND IN THE BIBLE!
WHY LOOK ANYWHERE ELSE?
