In 2 Kings 1, we have Israel's fall and the fall and death of her king. Elijah challenged, honored, and exalted. Hear now the word of Almighty God from the 2nd book of the Kings, commonly called the 4th book of the Kings 1, reading the whole chapter. Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 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, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease. And 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 inquire of Baal-zebub, 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. And Elijah departed. 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 inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Akron? Therefore, thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.' And he said unto them, what manner of man was he which came up to meet you and told you these words? 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. Then the king sent unto him a captain of 50 with his 50. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on the top of a 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 50, if I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy 50. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 50. Again, also he sent unto him another captain of 50 with his 50. 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 50. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50. And he sent again a captain of the third 50 with his 50. And the third captain of 50 went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and besought him and said unto him, oh man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these 50 thy servants be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former 50s with their 50s. Therefore, let my life now be precious in thy sight. 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, for as much as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron, is it not because there is not a God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore, thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord, which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Thus far the reading of God's holy word from second Kings chapter one. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of his inspired and profitable word. This book of second Kings, as I mentioned, is called the fourth book of Kings, first and second Samuel being the first two, first and second Kings being the next two. This book continues, you'll see in verse one, then Moab rebelled. Well, when is then? It's in the continuing history that he's been giving and God has given us in first Kings. It continues now into second Kings. This history of second kings for Israel, the Northern tribes, takes us from the rebellion of Ahaziah against Moab to the Assyrian captivity under Hosea about 160 years worth of time. The two leading prophets are mentioned in the Northern kingdom, Elijah and Elisha. In Judah, we have from Jehoram's reign to the Babylonian captivity under Zedekiah about 295 years, so much longer. There are 15 kings in Judah that are mentioned with one usurper being the woman Athaliah. Now then, chapter one. Verses one through eight, Israel's falling power and falling king, their false hopes and the true prophet. Verse 1, Israel's falling power. Moab has rebelled against them after Ahab's death. They had power over Moab. They're losing that power. Then their falling king in verse 2, and Ahaziah fell down through a lattice. Here's their falling king. Some believe that they would have skylights and he was walking on the skylight and it crushed and broke and he fell down. He became sick. Notice, where does he go when he's sick or troubled? He goes to the demons. Go inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. Now, this Beelzebub is the same as Beelzebub that we looked at in our New Testament reading this morning. This is what Matthew Henry calls the dunghill deities, the gods of refuse, the little flies. Where do they gather? Well, they go on dung piles and dead things and things like that. This is the God of Ekron. Remember the Philistines, they're the ones with the little golden mice and the golden hemorrhoids that they sent off with the Philistine cart with the Ark of the Lord as an atonement. These are foolish blinded heathens. Why would you go to them to understand to their dunghill deities what's going to happen to you? And he goes to the Lord of the flies. The zeboobs that fly around and buzz in your ears. Some people believe that the priests of Beelzebub would receive their oracles with a buzzing sound from the flies speaking in their ears. That's one theory of how he got his name. He is a worthless, you might say a trashy God. And again, Henry calling him a dunghill deity. Now notice verse two, he wants them to ask Beelzebub whether I shall recover of this disease. Now, if you have any natural inclination to understand human health, when you're injured, what's your first thought naturally? Well, how can I come out of this disease? How can I be healed? That's what nature teaches you. Self-preservation, the preservation of your life. How can I get over this? Let me see what means I could use. Does he even ask, how can I be healed? No, he asks an idle, useless question. Will I recover or not? What's the point of that question? Well, it's, there's no point. It's idle curiosity. Give it a couple of weeks. You'll find out whether he will recover or not. You don't need to ask a demon about this, but he does. Matthew Henry comments, as one solicitous or careful only to know his fortune, not to know his duty. His question is only this, shall I recover? To which a little time would have given an answer. Let us learn to inquire more wisely than Ahaziah. Let us learn to inquire of the one true God, the maker of heaven and earth, not the dung gods of men. And as to the thing inquired of, we must ask the Lord, how shall I recover? By what means may I be saved? Not shall I recover? That's an idle, useless question. And God has provided ample revelation. Shall you recover? Well, we don't know, but has he answered the question? How shall you recover? He has answered again and again and again. The angel of the Lord then comes to Elijah. He sends him to rebuke Ahaziah's messengers with a question. Is it not because there is not a God in Israel? This is a very sharp rebuke. Remember, how has God demonstrated himself in Israel? Let's think this through. Three and a half years, no rain. God's messenger speaks and there's rain, right? That's miraculous. There's a God in Israel. You take all your prophets to Mount Carmel, 450 men, and call for fire and no one answers. Then Elijah wets the sacrifice. God licks up the stones. He licks up the sacrifice. He licks up the water around the sacrifice. Is there not a God in Israel? Ahab goes to war with his adversaries and God says, I'm giving you the victory. Oh, and I'll do it again. Is there not a God in Israel? This is why he's bringing this up. God again and again and again and again has proven there is a God in Israel. but you do not believe it. Is there not a God that you must go and inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron, the prince of the demons? Matthew 12 verse 24, Mark 3 verse 22 that we looked at earlier. Could not God answer your question? Is he not God who heals all thy diseases? Could you not ask him to heal you? Matthew Henry again, he says, a practical and constructive atheism is the cause and malignity of our departures from God. Why do we turn our backs on God? Is it because we're theoretical atheists? No, we are practical atheists, he says. A constructive atheism, as if God didn't exist, let me turn to the creatures or the demons for answers. Surely we think there is no God in Israel when we live at large, make flesh our arm and seek a portion in the things of this world. Beware then of the faddish dunghill deities. Beware of the gods of this age. They are trashy and useless. Though much is made of them as the Philistines in Ekron undoubtedly made much of Beelzebub. Yet they are worthless, sensual, devilish, earthy. Do not make flesh your arm, but make the Lord your strength and your stay. Notice verse four. Now therefore, thus saith the Lord. Contrary to your little dunghill deities, there's a God in heaven. He is named the Lord, Jehovah, the eternal God, the living God, not a dead God, not a God who feeds on the carcasses of animals and dung as your dunghill deities, your flies. Thus saith the Lord, thou shalt surely die. No coming down from your sick bed, but a certain fiery judgment. Now notice to their credit, the messengers of Ahaziah, verses five and six, They say almost verbatim what Elijah has said at the inspiration of God. They speak the word of God faithfully to their master. They don't bend it. They don't hide it. They tell him the truth. And notice Ahaziah's question. Does he say, yeah, you know, he's right. God has proven himself. I need to repent of my sins. No. What manner of man was he which came up to meet you and told you these words? What is his type, pattern? How does he appear? What's the fashion of this man? I would like to know so that he can do what? Inquire of God through him? No, I want to punish him. I want to bring him down to me, to answer to me. Verse eight, he was an hairy man. and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. Now, this is ironic. The word hairy man means a master of hair. In fact, the word bale is used, a bale of hair. Now, if you think about John the Baptist for a moment, with what was he clothed? Camel's hair, right? Hair all over his coat, big bushy beard on his face, a man, a lord of hair. Hair is everything you see about this man, in other words. A hairy mantle and a leather girdle, just as his counterpart, John the Baptist, Matthew 3 verse 8, or verse 4, what did he have? A leather girdle. a coat of hair, that's what he had, just like the Elijah of the Old Testament. He was of homely clothing, of manly garb, and Ahaziah recognizes that this is Elijah the Tishbite. Verses 9 through 12, the twofold destruction of Ahaziah's messengers sent to seize Elijah. Verse 9, 50 men and their captain are sent to order Elijah to come. Now notice verse nine, thou man of God, the king hath said, come down. Now time out. Is this a respectful way to address God's prophet? Come down. You see you up there on the hill. Follow my orders. Come with me. And so Elijah throws it back in his teeth. You call me a man of God? Ah, let me show you I am a man of God. If I be such, let fire come down from heaven and consume you. And what happens? Fire comes down from heaven and consumes them. All 51. These men were disdainful of Elijah. And what did it cost them but their lives? They were ready to use violence against him to seize him and take him to the king to be punished. If God has sent me, you had better treat me as his prophet or God will send a fiery judgment upon you. The Westminster Annotations note that the prophet takes the word out of the captain's mouth. You said, I'm a man of God. Let me give that back to you. He thereby convinces him of his impiety. He did not fear God. He did not respect his word or the messenger of his word. And so God destroys him. The whole ordeal is repeated with a second set of men. Another 51 men. What do you think's gonna happen Ahaziah? You send 51 and they're destroyed. You think something different's going to happen? The second go. This time more demanding. Oh man of God. This is the vehement address directly made to him. Oh, you man of God. Think he really believes he's a man of God? Not just come down. What is it? Come down quickly. Right away. On the double. Get down here. Is that respectful to the man of God? Obstinate sinners must be convinced and conquered at last by the fire of hell, for fire from heaven, it seems, will not subdue them, Matthew Henry notes. They won't listen to fire on the earth. They saw their former companions burned to a smithereens, and what do they do? They ratchet it up. They get more demanding and disrespectful. Let us not be of their number or their spirit. Let us hear and do God's word. Let us show respect for the prophets of God, the scriptures of God, the word of God, the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us learn from the judgment that came down on others who did not respect the word. 13 through 18, we have Elijah sparing the third humbled messenger, his denunciation to Ahaziah and Ahaziah's death. Notice, he sent again a captain of the third 50 with his 50. What kind of lunacy is this? I send 51 men to their death by supernatural fire from heaven. Then I repeat it and the same thing happens. Maybe the third time's the charm, he thinks, like a foolish heathen. Matthew Henry comments, as if he were resolved not to be baffled by omnipotence itself. Let us not be hardened by the judgments of God, but softened as this captain was. He came after having gone up the hill. You see that? He doesn't say, you come down from the hill. What does he do? He goes up the hill. He humbles himself. He reaches out to him. He bows down on his knee before the prophet. He begs for his life and the life of Elijah's servants, which are his men, right? Not my servants, even though he's their captain, they're your servants. We're here to do your bidding. We're here to submit ourselves to what you say, man of God. We're here to receive the word from God. No more proud mockery. No more, man of God, come down. He besought him and said unto him, look, oh man of God, same words, right? Different meaning, different spirit, different intention. The first is demanding and mocking. This one is not demanding a thing. He's beseeching, please, oh man of God. He's respectful. He's willing to hear what the man of God says. He's begging him to have mercy upon him. I pray thee, verse 13, let my life and the life of these 50 thy servants be precious in thy sight. A humble and earnest inquiry. I cast myself upon your mercy. I'm thy servant, we all are. And notice, how should we pray to Christ himself, the greater than Elijah? This is a mere civil address, respecting him as a prophet, begging of him to spare their life. Think about this, how should we approach the Lord Jesus Christ himself? Bow down to him, beseech him, say you are his servants. That your life is in his hands. This is how we should approach the Lord Jesus in prayer. Not, hey buddy Jesus, big guy upstairs, as some people think of God. My pal Jesus, it's sickening. It's blasphemous, it's wicked. If they did this to a mere human prophet, how should we treat the son of God in the flesh? With reverence, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these thy servants be precious in thy sight. and pleads the former destructions. He begs mercy for him and his 50 in verse 14. And what does God say? Go down with him. Be not afraid of him. This implies something very important. Elijah had something to fear from the first captain and his 50, from the second captain and his 50, but not from the third captain and his 50. Many people foolishly say that the sons of thunder, John and James, demonstrate that the gospel is so different from Elijah's day. The Old Testament and the New Testament are so different. The sons of thunder called down fire from heaven like Elijah, Luke 9 54 and says, Jesus says, no, don't do that. You don't know the spirit that you're of. I've not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Now, let's ask ourselves, The Samaritans merely wouldn't receive Jesus. Were they trying to kill him? Were they trying to arrest him so that they could take him to their king to have him put to death like the captains were? No. So was it appropriate for Jesus to say, don't call down fire? Yes, that suits the circumstance. If they're coming to arrest and kill the prophet, is it okay to say, oh, you don't know what spirit you're of, you're of a whole different spirit. Was Elijah of a different spirit from Christ? No. Different circumstances, different occasions, different actions are suitable. Sometimes calling vengeance from God, sometimes calling down mercy from God. There is not a one size fits all theology in the Bible. There are circumstances that apply here and there are other circumstances, a different principle applies here. The sons of thunder were not wrong to think that God should call down fire from heaven and burn up his adversaries. No, God does that still. They were wrong to apply it to the wrong circumstance. Elijah then virtually repeats the same thing, having been taken to Ahaziah. He says the same thing to his face that he said to the messengers. You're not coming down, you're going to die, and that's it. Is there not a God in Israel that you should inquire of this demon? Let us learn, as Elijah was, to be consistent, so much as human infirmity will allow to say the same thing behind somebody's back as to their face, for example. God's Word is then verified, Ahaziah dies, his brother Jehoram reigns in his stead, and then there is a brief summation of Ahaziah's reign in verse 18, and thus far the exposition of 1 Kings chapter