Studies in 2 Kings

1. Studies in 2 Kings Presentation 01

2. The Fall Of Ahaziah 2 Kings 1v1-27 Presentation 01

3. Introduction Jezebel was doubtless pleased with the way that her big boy Ahaziah had turned out. He had been trained in the ways of the Baals and taught to treat the God of Israel with contempt. None of the early warning signs of God's anger had brought him to his senses. Ahaziah was the sort of person who put the judgments of God down to coincidences. He refused to learn. He was even more sensual than his dad. He loved the luxurious living which he had in his palace. And yet his lifestyle was not ultimately due to neither hereditary nor environmental factors. Note, 1 Kings22.51-53, “He chose to do evil in the eyes of the Lord” Presentation 01

4. Introduction He allowed the empire, which David and Solomon had put together, to disintegrate. When Moab rebelled and broke away, he shrank back in cowardly fear from the field of battle and decided to continue to live his self-indulgent life. Did he remember that his father met with an untimely death in battle and think he could cushion himself against injury? If so, then his plan failed. One day the lattice of his upper room, which encouraged the circulation of cool air, gave way, as he leaned against it! He fell to the ground below to his serious injury. Presentation 01

5. Introduction How many in Israel recognised the hand of God in this "accident”? Having seen the way that God dealt with his father, Ahab, you can be sure that they put 2+2 together. Perhaps the idea was being introduced to the kings mind; “God is attempting to get your majesty's attention, your injury is his megaphone”. If so, then this would make his action in v2, one of calculated defiance; concerned about his future wellbeing, he sent not to the God of Israel but to Baalzebub a Philistine insect god located in Ekron, a noted centre for fortune-tellers. Presentation 01

6. God's Judgment On Ahaziah Ahaziah's messengers were intercepted by Elijah, who communicated God's anger that Ahaziah should disregard him and send to a foreign god for help. Ahaziah could protest, “I don’t recognise the God of Israel or acknowledge his authority over me”. To think in this way about God, and many people do, is as silly as saying, “I don’t recognise the authority of the law of gravity”, as you step off the roof of a 20 story building. Nor would we think it wise, if confronted by a stampeding herd of wild elephants, to bury our head in the sand and say, “I'm sure its just a mirage.” A refusal to acknowledge God's authority doesn’t remove God from the scene, as Ahaziah found to his cost. Presentation 01

7. God's Judgment On Ahaziah We will not understand this story if we fail to realise that God is a jealous God. In the 10 commandments he says, “I tolerate no rivals.” Ex. 20.5 Again in Ex 34.14 God implies that 'Jealous' is his middle name. Do not confuse this jealousy with the human sin. God’s ‘jealousy’ is both pure and perfect. He calls his people into a unique love-relationship with himself. But when he sees our heart love for him begin to freeze as we are pulled in the direction of other so-called gods then his jealousy comes into operation. He wants to turn us from this alternative love that produces the increasing depersonalisation and impoverishment of our lives. Presentation 01

8. God's Judgment On Ahaziah It was God’s mercy that stopped Ahaziah's deputation from reaching the Baal shrine, thus providing the king with a further opportunity for repentance. God made it clear that the king would remain an invalid until his death. This action was not one of final and immediate judgment. God leaves the door open for Ahaziah, who had rejected God v2, to return. How amazingly long-suffering God is! When Elijah’s message is relayed, Ahaziah recognised, but refused to listen to, the authentic Word of God. In contrast with his father Ahab who, when confronted with words of judgment, humbled himself before God and dressed in sackcloth and ashes. Presentation 01

9. God's Judgment On Ahaziah Ahaziah refused to listen to God's Word because it would mean a change of lifestyle. Indeed, the prophet’s word clearly hardened the king’s defiance and heightened his opposition. Ahaziah was so enraged that he sent his soldiers to seize Elijah. What did he have in mind? Force Elijah to withdraw the life sentence, which had been pronounced upon him or, perhaps kill Elijah and so seek to silence the prophetic voice? Either way Ahaziah showed how little he understood God. Presentation 01

10. Fire From Heaven 50 soldiers surround Elijah who was seated on the top of a hill. The captain demands that Elijah comes down. But what comes down is fire from heaven consuming the soldiers! A second group sent out experienced the same fate. This incident has called out a great deal of criticism. Some have dismissed it, by calling it ‘typical of the God of the O.T.’ whom they consider to be ‘savage, primitive and unchristian’. They point out that Jesus rejected the suggestion that he should ‘do an Elijah’ in Lk.9v54-55. Presentation 01

11. Fire From Heaven Others think that Elijah had become trigger happy, and by his prayer had mown down his enemies with a heavenly flame thrower. But at the time, everyone clearly understood that it was God's fire. Elijah could no more command fire from heaven or twist God's arm to do something against his will, than anyone else! God wouldn’t risk his own reputation simply to answer an uncharitable prayer of his aging prophet! We may well feel for those soldiers who were "just obeying orders." However, surely Ahaziah was the guilty party. In the clash of faiths there are no neutrals! Consider too, that had the first two captains been sympathetic to God, and approached Elijah as the third officer did things would have turned out differently. Presentation 01

12. Fire From Heaven Contrast the imperious intolerance of unbelief in the expression, “Man of God THE KING says, “COME DOWN”” in v 9 with the words of the third officer in v13 ff “Man of God please have respect for my life and the lives of these 50 men”. The first two officers aligned themselves with Ahaziah's bloodthirsty defiance and unbelief. They gloried in putting the power of their master above that of the God of Israel. This new generation of men were behaving as if Mt. Carmel had never happened. We need to learn to be slow to pronounce verdicts on the works of God. Presentation 01

13. Fire From Heaven The wonder isn’t that God bursts out on the scene in blazing anger but that he doesn’t do so more often. We live in a soft and degenerate age with false notions of charity and tolerance. We're like a child who sharpens his pencil for the first time constantly paring it down till there's nothing left. We’ve done that with our understanding of both the evil of sin and the wrath of God. Its true that, with all the tenderness at his disposal, God longs for all to come to repentance. Presentation 01

14. Fire From Heaven In every outbreak of human sin, in every street fight, in every swindle and extortion racket, in every rape and act of immorality, in every act of self righteousness and expression of arrogance and pride, in every blasphemy - God's love lingers close by, arms outstretched with earnest entreaty. And yet side by side with God's unfathomable love for the sinner there stands God's undiluted hatred of sin. Presentation 01

15. Fire From Heaven We read in Hebrews 12v29 that "Our God is a consuming fire". Any fire will either warm us or burn us, depending upon where we stand in relation to it. If we worship God in a way which pleases him with reverence and awe, his fire will consecrate us and set us alight for service. However, if we choose to reject God's love then it is though we have consciously chosen to walk into a consuming fire. Presentation 01

16. The Confidence Of Faith When the third captain begged Elijah to come with him and his men. God told Elijah to go. To go to the king who was seeking his life! To go to the palace which had just lost 100 of its soldiers who had been sent to capture him. To go and tell the king tohis face that a death sentence had been passed upon him. Only divinely given courage can enable us to do that sort of thing. What does this have to teach about our proclamation of the gospel? I’m not suggesting that we become the kind of hell-fire preacher who takes great delight in seeing his hearers squirm. Presentation 01

17. The Confidence Of Faith But I do mean preaching which is unashamed to proclaim God's righteousness and his anger with sin and the certainty of judgment. Are men and women today indifferent to the gospel of God's mercy and forgiveness PRIMARILY because they have never been faced with the certainty of God's righteous anger against sin? Is not the crying need of our times a deeper conviction of sin? For as a diamond sparkles most brightly back velvet background so the true glory of God's grace and forgiveness is best appreciated against the backcloth of sin. Presentation 01

18. The Confidence Of Faith Its no easy thing to speak in these terms. Robert McCheyneand Andrew Bonar two Scottish ministers, were walking together one Saturday afternoon and asking each other what subject they were preaching on the next day. McCheynesaid he was preaching on the righteous judgement of God and Bonar replied, “I trust you will not do so without tears in your eyes”. Presentation 01

19. Conclusion This is a sobering story it unveils not only the longsuffering of God but the certainty of his judgment. It makes it clear that men cannot hide themselves from God's hand or evade their accountability before him. Our study of this passage can end on a positive note. As we look at Elijah in his old age the thing that impresses is surely the constancy of his faithfulness towards God and his faith in God. Presentation 01

20. Conclusion It is not just a melted heart that is necessary but a brave one to confront those who show themselves indifferent to God's Word and to the certainty of God's judgment. As Elijah in his old age takes his stand before the king he shows that his confidence in God has not diminished. He surely knew the truth of the Psalm, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; thou war break out against me even then will I be confident” Ps.27v3. This was the confidence that Elijah demonstrated as he stood before the king. “They that dwell in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”Ps.91v1. Presentation 01