Ahaziah Ahabsen
2 Kings 1:2-17 (Listen)
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron, dwhether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah ethe Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the Lord, fYou shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.
5 The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6 And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8 They answered him, g“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, h“O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” 10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ilet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12 But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, jlet fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, kbe precious in your sight. 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king 16 and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of cBaal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”
17 So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place lin the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.
Well that is certainly an interesting story, isn’t it, today’s first lesson from the Daily Office Lectionary. No doubt some will be offended, thinking, “Yep, there’s the harsh God of the Old Testament for you.” What utter common undiscerning nonsense. The Lord is God regardless from whence He speaks. And clearly, Elijah the Tishbite is his prophet.
Our task in reading the Bible is not to step sanctimoniously behind the bench, don the robe and wig, and judge the Judge, but to perceive.
A favorite term paper in seminary was one in which the assignment was to choose any lesson from the Lectionary and write a sermon to proclaim it. I selected an Advent lesson from Micah. My paper concluded with the remark that the lesson was not good news; whereupon the professor countered with a note in the margin, “It may not sound like good news to you, Tom Weller, but it sure as hell was good news for Israel.” The professor graded my paper A+ but his marginal note was my lesson, my good news.
In today’s story one captain and his fifty are immolated by fire from heaven, and then another captain and his fifty. The third captain and his fifty fare well. We are not meant to be sob sisters about the king and his haughty captains and men, we are meant to “get it.” Ahaziah is the king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. No dream king, he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, serving Baal and worshiping him, just like his parents Ahab and Jezebel, even emulating the infamous Jerry Nebatsen, who led Israel to sin. (1 Kings 22:51f). Ahaziah Ahabsen provoked the Lord, the God of Israel to anger and grievously answered for it, as did those who enforced his evil rule. In the Kings stories, those kings of Israel and kings of Judah who do what is evil in the sight of the Lord do not fare well, not at all. Woe be unto those who lead God’s people into sin, and woe be unto those who help them. But blessed be those who submit humbly unto the Lord, the God of Israel. Surely, even the sob sisters can see the good news in today’s story:
The Lord is God, God is in control, and God will have the victory.
And let all the people say, AMEN.
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