Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / 2 Kings 1 Bible Study (Elijah Denounces Ahaziah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Transcript

2 Kings 1 Bible Study (Elijah Denounces Ahaziah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

0:00
I invite you to turn with me to the Book of Second Kings,
0:05
chapter 1, and as we turn there, allow me to please pray for us
0:12
and ask the Lord to guide us through this text.
0:17
Though we do thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you
0:20
have led us all these years in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the
0:24
Old Testament up to this point. And we ask, Lord, for your
0:28
continual guidance through the sacred text that you've
0:33
preserved for us. We will not ignore this word,
0:37
Lord, and help us never neglect it.
0:39
So we pray that as we come together as a body of students,
0:43
as your disciples, that you would help us by opening our
0:46
minds and by burning these truths in our hearts.
0:50
Lord, we long to be transformed, not just informed but renewed by
0:55
the things that we will learn today.
0:57
And so please help the delivery and the reception of everything
1:00
that will take place tonight. In the mighty matchless name of
1:04
Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen. If you remember at the beginning
1:10
of our study in First Kings, it was mentioned that First and 2nd
1:15
Kings originally comprised a single book.
1:20
And that is why as we come to 2nd Kings, you'll realize that
1:24
there's this seamless continuation of where First King
1:28
ends uninterruptedly documenting the racing decline, both the
1:34
northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
1:40
However, there is a unique emphasis in Second Kings in
1:44
comparison to 1st Kings. If there is one main take away
1:49
from First Kings concerning the history of the people of Israel
1:53
is that First Kings records for us the division of the people of
1:58
Israel. But as we come to 2nd Kings, we
2:02
will learn the emphasis. We will study the events leading
2:07
up to the domination of the people of Israel.
2:13
That is what we are going to realize together, that this is
2:19
all leading to two very crucial captivities for the northern
2:25
Kingdom of Israel. The people of Assyria will bring
2:29
them into exile. And later the southern Kingdom,
2:33
the Kingdom of Judah, will be taken captive by who?
2:38
Babylon. And so the essence of this book
2:42
is to explain the events of a people who were once delivered
2:47
from captivity who are now returning to it.
2:54
And interestingly, if you consider these two books as a
2:57
single unit, you're going to recognize something else.
3:01
You're going to recognize how this significant part of
3:04
Israel's story begins and ends with a focus on the Temple.
3:13
If you remember in First Kings, the earlier chapters, the Holy
3:18
Spirit sought to give us in great detail the construction of
3:22
the House of God known as the Temple of Solomon.
3:27
But as we approach the end of the Book of Second Kings, we're
3:30
not going to see the construction of anything.
3:32
We're actually going to see the destruction of the very temple
3:36
that was consecrated unto God, as well as the defamation of the
3:42
beautiful holy city of Jerusalem.
3:47
Besides these two exiles, Second Kings will also highlight the
3:51
powerful prophetic ministry of a man named Elisha.
3:57
Because early in this book, we are going to see Elijah
4:02
transition from this world miraculously into the next and
4:06
will pass the baton down to his successor, Elisha.
4:11
And what's even more fascinating, perhaps you did not
4:13
know this, but the same time period of Second Kings also
4:18
showcases that other prophets were at work.
4:23
It's not explicitly told to us in Second Kings, but
4:26
historically speaking, Amos and Hosea also prophesied to the
4:33
northern Kingdom of Israel, while you had a much larger
4:37
roster focused their preaching to the southern kingdoms, names
4:41
such as Isaiah and Jeremiah and Obadiah and Joel and Nahem and
4:46
Habakkuk and Zephaniah. These prophets again are not
4:51
mentioned in Second Kings, but understanding when they
4:55
ministered helps us realize the length of time, the duration of
4:59
the events in this book, but also the long-suffering and the
5:04
grace and the patience of God of sending so many warnings before
5:11
He finally judged his people. And so that is the brief
5:15
introduction to this book. And let us read now the first 8
5:21
verses of this chapter before we dissect it together.
5:28
After the death of Ahab, Mohab rebelled against Israel.
5:34
Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in
5:38
Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers, telling
5:43
them, Go inquire of bowels above the God of Ekron, whether I
5:48
shall recover from this sickness.
5:51
But the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, the Tishbite, arise,
5:57
go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to
6:00
them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going
6:04
to acquire about Zebab, the God of Ekron?
6:07
Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down
6:10
from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely
6:13
die. So Elijah went, the messengers
6:17
returned to the king, and he said to them, Why have you
6:21
returned? And they said to him, There came
6:24
a man to meet us, and said to us, Go back to the king who sent
6:27
you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is
6:31
no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire about Zibab,
6:35
the God of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come
6:37
down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall
6:40
surely die. He said to them, What kind of
6:45
man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?
6:49
They answered him, He wore a garment of hair with a belt of
6:54
leather about his waist. And he said It is Elijah the
6:59
Tishbite. We're going to see if we can
7:02
complete this chapter together. But let us begin in verse one.
7:06
Verse 1 is not a passing comment.
7:09
Verse 1 is a very important way of introducing this book to us
7:14
because at the outset of it, what we learn here is after the
7:17
death of Ahab, the Moabites sought to take advantage of this
7:22
transition in leadership. And all we're told here is that
7:27
they rebelled against Israel. Now, this won't make much sense
7:30
to you until you remember what we studied back in Second Samuel
7:35
when David became king. And so right away I'm going to
7:38
ask you to go to chapter 8 of Second Samuel and look at this
7:41
reference. That will help explain what's
7:43
going on here. Second Samuel chapter 8 verse 2
7:48
tells us about the relationship between Israel and Mohab during
7:52
the monarchies. And it says here in Second
7:56
Samuel 8 two And he being David defeated Moab and he measured
8:01
them with a line making them lie down on the ground. 2 lines he
8:06
measured to be put to death and one full line to be spared.
8:10
And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
8:15
So while David was king he subjugated the Moabites.
8:18
The Moabites were sharing the same border, the eastern border
8:22
of the promised land, and so David conquered them and he
8:28
brought them under a taxation. And the taxation in detail is
8:34
actually given to us in the Bible.
8:36
We are told exactly what it was that the Moabites were to give
8:39
to the people of Israel, the government of Israel.
8:42
And it's not in Second Kings one actually in Second Kings 3.
8:46
So in Second Kings 3 where this Moabite rebellion is going to
8:50
develop, we read here in verse 4 of what it is that Moabite, the
8:56
Moabites had to deliver to the king of Israel.
8:59
Now Misha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and he had to
9:04
deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of
9:09
100,000 Rams. But when Ahab died, the king of
9:14
Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
9:18
So what we have to understand here is that in verse 1 of
9:22
chapter 1, when Moab decided to free themselves from Israel's
9:26
control, this would have been a severe blow to Israel's economy
9:32
and their national security. And why is it told to us right
9:37
here is because we are learning right away of Israel's
9:41
accelerated decline into God's displeasure.
9:46
Again, connect Second Kings with First Kings and it will make
9:50
much more sense. Do you remember how First Kings
9:55
ended? Do we remember the last verse of
9:58
the book of First Kings? It speaks about how Ahab died
10:01
and Eziah, his son, took over. But we also realized what kind
10:05
of man Eziah was and how God felt about his character and his
10:11
idolatry. So look at the last verse of
10:14
First Kings in chapter 22, verse 53.
10:17
I know we're doing a lot of cross referencing, but this is
10:19
what you got to do if you're going to get some gold from the
10:20
Bible. Verse 53 of First Kings 22, he
10:27
served Baal. This is a Hisaiah.
10:29
He served Baal and worshipped him and provoked the Lord the
10:34
God of Israel to anger in every way that his father had done.
10:42
Is it any coincidence that following the mention of God's
10:45
anger towards Isaiah, we learned that Moab rebelled during his
10:51
administration? It is no coincidence.
10:55
This is a consequence. This is divine Providence in
10:59
operation. This is the Lord now stripping
11:02
things away from Isaiah to try to awaken something in him, a
11:08
concern of some sort. Self examination, but
11:13
unfortunately he doesn't awaken anything of the sort.
11:16
There is actually no concern. The only concern concerning
11:20
concerning Moab's rebellion is going to show up in chapter 3
11:23
when Jairam is going to take his place.
11:26
But until then, all we find Ahaziah doing is what we read in
11:29
verse two. Look at his attitude now.
11:32
Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria,
11:35
so he's hanging out in his palace.
11:38
There's no urgency here. There's no seeking of the Lord.
11:41
There's no seeking of a true prophet, Moab.
11:43
This is himself. Moab disconnects from Israel,
11:46
and he's just relaxing on his patio.
11:51
And right away, our study reveals something about human
11:54
nature. It is not uncommon for a
11:57
country's rulers and its people to overlook a nation's distress
12:03
as mere disturbances rather than shakings orchestrated by a holy
12:09
God. There are 1,000,000 today who
12:14
are looking out and seeing the global troubles that we are
12:17
trying to endure, and they're dismissing God and all of it.
12:23
They're not taking into consideration that perhaps God
12:26
is allowing things to happen for us to realize that there is
12:30
something wrong and that we must seek Him.
12:34
And so many will continue since the days of kings and even
12:40
earlier. Many will continue to try to
12:42
plow through distress and chaos, and it will culminate an
12:50
unprecedented disaster and calamities known as the Great
12:53
Tribulation period that Jesus prophesied in the Book of
12:56
Revelation tells us about. Even then, even at the final
13:00
seconds leading up to midnight for human history, there will be
13:03
people who will still not regard God, and if they do, many of
13:08
them will bite their tongues, resist, surrender, and with
13:12
whatever breath they have left, curse God.
13:16
Let me just remind you today of the radical depravity of man.
13:22
Isaiah is a sobering picture of it.
13:26
However, with all of this, even in verse one, not only do we see
13:30
how man is capable of resisting, but we also see how God is so
13:35
incredibly patient and kind even to men like Ahaziah.
13:39
Because even though it has I here ignores, he disregards the
13:44
issues in the broader context of his life.
13:46
God is now going to do something to him personally to try to
13:51
arouse him, to look to him. And how does he do it?
13:55
Look at verse 2 again, as I have fell through the lattice in his
13:59
upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick.
14:04
So when he didn't see God's invisible hand in the political
14:07
arena, surely now he would see God's hand pressing on him
14:11
personally. At least you would hope.
14:15
And we have to understand here that this fall could have easily
14:18
killed Isaiah, could have killed anyone, but it didn't.
14:22
It wounded him enough to be conscious and to lay down, to
14:28
reflect, to examine, to give him a chance to actually cry out to
14:33
God. And you see, the Scriptures
14:36
testify on many occasions that physical pain is one of God's
14:41
loudest instruments, pointed, sharp, powerful, persuasive
14:48
means of getting us to look to him.
14:52
It doesn't guarantee that response, but it is one of the
14:55
designs of suffering to actually get you to reflect and to
15:01
actually come to a point where you seek God because at one
15:04
point you did, but that became dormant or you hadn't at all,
15:08
and now these are going to be the beginnings of your seeking.
15:12
If you need proof of that, there's so many verses, but let
15:14
me just read the simplest one that I can think of to back that
15:17
up. You don't have to turn that, but
15:19
listen to these words from the prophet Isaiah in Chapter 9,
15:22
verse 13. The people did not turn to him
15:27
who struck them. God struck them, and the people
15:31
did not turn, implying that He struck them so that they would
15:35
turn to him. The people did not turn to him
15:39
who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
15:46
It's amazing how when people get sick, they suddenly become
15:52
spiritual. Have you ever realized that?
15:55
I've seen it countless times. All of a sudden now prayer
15:59
becomes attractive. God is part of their
16:02
conversation. Pastors get phone calls,
16:07
sickness, suffering has a way of pulling on certain strings in
16:11
our soul. And so if you want a phrase to
16:15
remember, here's one. Often times God smites so that
16:23
man will seek. God smite so that man will seek.
16:29
So does Aiziah do any seeking? Let's continue in verse 2.
16:32
Now Aiziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in
16:34
Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers telling
16:39
them go OK this looks good. Inquire yes of Belzebub.
16:49
It looked very promising in the 1st 2 breaths.
16:51
Belzebub, the God of Ekron, what I shall recover from the
16:56
sickness. So he is seeking but the wrong
17:00
remedy. Do people do that today?
17:04
Countless people do Millions of people today, millions of people
17:09
run to empty remedies instead of the true Savior and Redeemer,
17:13
millions. And as I is no different here,
17:16
He asked to actually call for the prophets, the priests.
17:20
He sends his men to go to the location where this deity named
17:24
Belzebub was honored. Where was he from?
17:28
He was the God of Ekron. That's a part of the Philistine
17:31
region. So this is a Pagan deity.
17:34
This is a false God. And Belzebub means this the Lord
17:40
of the fly or the Lord of the flies.
17:47
And it's very possible that this Belzebub claimed, promised some
17:53
kind of healing power or some kind of protective, preserving
17:57
graces from illnesses and disease, even ailments that are
18:01
carried by flies. And if that sounds familiar to
18:07
you, it should, because this was the idol that was referenced by
18:10
the enemies of Christ. You remember that when they
18:14
sought to slander his source of his healing power after
18:18
delivering a man from a demon who kept him deaf and mute.
18:22
The Pharisee says it is by the power of bells above the Prince
18:26
of demons that he is doing these things.
18:32
So he's searching for a demon God.
18:38
And if there's any doubt that the events leading up to this
18:42
point were arranged by God to try to draw his eye to himself,
18:47
read again in verse three and four and try to explain this.
18:52
But the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, the Tishbite arise,
18:55
go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria.
19:00
So the moment the Lord realized and saw that as I did some
19:04
seeking but to the wrong source, He speaks to his servant Elijah
19:08
and he says intercept this, meet these messengers, stand in the
19:13
way and let him know what the true God has to say.
19:16
So what verse 3 proves to you and I is this that God played a
19:21
part in wounding Isaiah, Watching Isaiah, waiting for
19:33
Isaiah to see how he would respond to everything, and
19:38
Elijah's confrontation with these messengers is a preview of
19:42
a divine confrontation that waits all men that we all have
19:47
an appointment with. In the same way that God took
19:51
into account what is I did in His trouble, who He sought for
19:56
ultimate help, what his source of hope was, the Lord does with
20:01
every man today. God will hold every person to
20:06
account of where they turn to for salvation.
20:11
God will hold into account where every person turns to for the
20:14
forgiveness of their sins. God will hold into account and
20:18
take into account what every person does in terms of being
20:21
free from the power of sin. God will record.
20:25
God will take into account whether we ignore Him, replace
20:31
Him, or accept him. And in this case He was watching
20:39
and waiting for what is I would do, and the verdict was made.
20:43
So he speaks to Elijah. Elijah comes to this message,
20:46
these messengers, and notice what he says again, arise, go up
20:51
to meet the messenger of the king of Sumeria and say to them,
20:53
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to
20:56
inquire bells above the God of Ecron?
20:58
Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down
21:01
from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely
21:04
die. So Elijah went, we've seen that
21:06
pattern in First Kings, right? God tells Elijah what to do, No
21:10
argument, no debate, no hesitation.
21:12
He goes, he goes, he goes, and it's no different here.
21:14
He went, Elijah went. Now when he delivers this
21:18
message to these messengers, as much as this is a proclamation
21:22
of judgement, do you not see how it is packaged in mercy?
21:27
Is it not packaged in mercy? Where do you see the mercy in
21:29
this, in this declaration? Any idea?
21:33
You can actually answer if you see it.
21:35
How is God being merciful in allowing his eye to receive this
21:41
prophetic declaration of judgement?
21:44
Yes, very good. It's it's a merciful thing to
21:52
let her know, to let a person know who is suffering thinking
21:55
they're going to die. You're actually going to die.
21:56
Death is around the corner. He could have not said anything.
22:00
It just struck him dead. But by sending this message to
22:04
this man, he's also giving this man who even rejected the true
22:10
God a final chance to get right with God before he meets his
22:14
God. So let me also say this, if you
22:19
know anybody, if you had any conversation with a peer, a
22:22
parent, or a pastor who boldly reminds you of your mortality,
22:30
who informs you about eternity, that is an expression of God's
22:35
mercy in your life. That's a gift.
22:37
That person is a gift. Because in telling you the
22:41
truth, not only are you being informed of an inescapable
22:45
reality, but you're also being given a chance to make right
22:49
with God through the gospel so that you can know the best
22:52
outcome of that reality. So this is God's mercy even in
22:58
this, by letting this man know you are going to expire, you're
23:03
not going to recover. And surely he makes this note so
23:06
that this man can even take advantage of this news to try to
23:09
get right with his God. Look at verse 5.
23:13
What happens? The messengers returned to the
23:17
king and he said to them, why have you returned?
23:20
So the timing that it makes sense here for these men to have
23:23
come back so early means they aborted their mission.
23:25
And so they asked, they're asked rather by his eye, why is it
23:29
that you've come so soon? Now, what I find so amazing
23:34
about this is that these messengers, they actually listen
23:36
to Elijah. They didn't fight him.
23:41
They didn't resist them. They didn't push him aside.
23:44
And what makes this even more remarkable is that they didn't
23:46
even know this was Elijah. Go back again to verse 8, when
23:50
as I asked the man who sent them back, look how they answered.
23:53
He wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather around his
23:56
waist. They could have just said
23:57
Elijah. They didn't know it was Elijah.
23:59
Perhaps they didn't recognize, and perhaps again, Elijah had a
24:01
tendency of disappearing for a long time.
24:03
So maybe these men who were just newly hired didn't understand
24:06
that. That could be very well the
24:08
case. And though these messengers play
24:12
a very brief part in the story of Second Kings chapter one,
24:16
they are a wonderful example for servants of God today.
24:21
You're saying What do you mean by that?
24:22
Notice that once they learned the word of the Lord, the will
24:26
of the Lord, they were urgent and they obeyed.
24:33
They did not hesitate. They went with what God said,
24:38
even if it went against what the king said.
24:43
So here you have a picture of unreserved obedience and
24:47
allegiance to the truth. But more than that, even when
24:50
they came to the king, look how they spoke to him.
24:54
And they said to him, There came a man to meet us, and said to
24:56
us, Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says
24:58
the Lord, It is because there is no God in Israel that you were
25:00
sending to inquire bells above the God of Ekron.
25:02
Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you
25:04
have gone out, but you shall surely die almost word for word
25:06
what Elijah said. So not only are they examples in
25:11
that they were urgent and obedient once they learn what
25:15
the Lord desired, but they're also faithful to what His word
25:19
had to say. You have to understand that in
25:22
this time for a ruler, especially in a moral ruler,
25:25
they expected blind obedience, and they did not take too kindly
25:30
to those who would resist, contradict, or challenge their
25:33
wishes. They could have got rid of your
25:35
head right there and then. And so for these messengers to
25:38
come back to a wicked king like Isaiah and tell him what Elijah
25:44
said is very brave, very bold, very courageous.
25:49
So even in this you get a little sample of what faithfulness
25:54
looks like and how we should respond to the Word, and when
25:57
we're entrusted with the Word, how to deliver the Word.
26:01
And it is I had any sense of the fear of God, any sense of
26:06
integrity, then he would have been very glad that these men
26:11
even disobeying him in order to disobey a greater king for his
26:14
good. It reminds me of another
26:18
messenger that we studied this past weekend.
26:19
Tell me who we studied about last weekend, Paul.
26:22
What a messenger he was. What a consistent messenger this
26:27
man was. No matter where he found
26:29
himself, no matter who his audience was, he was the same.
26:34
And, and looking at this, I'm reminded of when Paul himself
26:37
stood before a governor and what he said to this governor when
26:42
the opportunity came for him to preach the gospel while he
26:45
himself was in chains. It's an easy reference.
26:48
It's one of the most riveting texts in terms of preaching for
26:51
me, at least in the New Testament.
26:52
It's in Acts 2424. Do you remember here when Paul
26:56
was in under trial and Felix was curious about this man's
27:02
devotion to the Christ Jesus Christ of Nazareth?
27:07
And notice what Paul does when he gets a visitation from Felix
27:11
while in custody. May I remind you Felix comes
27:15
with his wife Drusilla and read this with me in Acts 2424.
27:20
After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who is who is
27:24
Jewish and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in
27:29
Christ Jesus. Not just that.
27:32
Imagine a governor, a mayor, the president, any political figure.
27:40
Imagine them calling you to come over to sit down for half an
27:44
hour to hear about your faith in Jesus Christ.
27:48
How would you tailor that message for a prominent figure?
27:53
How would you deliver it? What kind of tone would you use?
27:56
What doctrines would you emphasize on?
27:58
What would you leave out? We're told exactly what Paul
28:04
preached on when he sat before this man and his wife.
28:06
Look at verse 25. And as he reasoned about
28:10
righteousness, right, right there, right there.
28:14
OK, He's he's already doing what most preachers wouldn't do
28:19
today. He reasoned about righteousness
28:22
and self-control and the coming judgement.
28:28
This is the first sermon, and what are you going to preach on
28:33
on night one of conference, righteousness, self-control, and
28:37
the coming judgment. Felix was alarmed, no kidding,
28:45
and said Go away for the present.
28:48
When I get an opportunity, I will summon you.
28:51
There is no recorded opportunity after this.
28:54
Procrastination is a very dangerous thing.
28:56
It has sent many people to an eternal hell.
29:00
Now go away and when I'm ready, I'll have you come back.
29:02
We don't see that ever happening.
29:05
But notice the things that he touches on.
29:07
Righteousness, self-control in the coming joy.
29:09
I would have loved to know how he intertwined those truths with
29:12
the gospel, but they were there. And what makes Paul's boldness
29:17
even more inspirational is that he is speaking this way before a
29:21
man who had the authority to set him free.
29:26
He's a prisoner at this point. Or is he?
29:28
No, I see Paul as a free man, and I say Felix as a bound man.
29:33
I see Paul, yes, with chains, but liberated by the gospel.
29:36
I see a governor with great power, though a slave to sin.
29:42
But I love Paul no matter what situation, no matter who's
29:44
before him. Yes, we're called to be wise as
29:46
serpents, innocent as as doves. But Paul saw something here.
29:50
You know, when Paul preached the gospel, at least in this case
29:52
and in many of the cases he preached, he didn't seek to just
29:55
explain systematics and the mechanics of things.
30:01
This man touched the conscience. He appealed to the conscience.
30:07
That's what true preaching evangelism will do, not just
30:11
explain things from a theological standpoint as
30:15
they're hovering here. No, he took those truths and he
30:18
allowed them with persuasion, the power of the Holy Spirit to
30:21
cut hearts. And Felix here was alarmed and
30:26
so these messengers here as they came before the king in
30:30
principle provide us some wonderful examples as we are
30:32
messengers of Christ. So let's come back to our main
30:34
text. Almost word for word they
30:42
relayed Elijah's message and what was his eyes initial
30:46
response? He said to them, what kind of
30:49
man was he who came to you and told you these things?
30:52
He had a sneaky suspicion. Surely he witnessed Elijah's
31:01
troubling ministry in his father's life, maybe even
31:05
witnessed some of it. And so once he heard these
31:08
words, he thought, that sounds a lot like someone I know, but let
31:12
me confirm. So he asks and they give a
31:16
description, and the moment that he heard the description, he's
31:18
like, that's Elijah. But before we continue, it's
31:24
worth noting that Ahaziah does something here that many people
31:29
do, and they have the right to do it.
31:34
Ahaziah wanted to know the man behind the message.
31:42
Whether we acknowledge it or not, the impact of what we say
31:47
is inseparable from who we are. Rarely do people separate the
31:55
servant from his service or her service, and that is why
32:01
hypocrites are easily dismissed and are ineffective in their
32:06
witness, while men like Elijah, though imperfect, are blameless
32:11
and carry greater authority in what they have to say because
32:15
their conduct doesn't muddy their message.
32:19
If anyone will criticize us for anything, let it be for the
32:24
content of our message and not for our poor conduct.
32:31
That would undermine it. And that is why you see this
32:34
pattern in the New Testament where Paul writes to ministers.
32:38
He always makes this order. He always asked the minister to
32:41
watch himself take care of himself before even his doctrine
32:45
and before the people that he is entrusted to.
32:48
Watch yourself, keep a close eye on yourself, take care of
32:51
yourself, because everything flows from this.
32:56
And so we see here that he wanted to know the man, and that
33:00
would play a role in how he would interpret the message.
33:03
And there are many people today who do the same.
33:06
As much as your message might be pure, even if it's truth, if
33:09
it's coming from a vessel that does not practically and
33:14
honorably adhere to the very truth that he's trying to
33:17
persuade others to believe, you will be rendered powerless and
33:24
you will cut off so much authority that could be granted
33:27
to you. Verse 9.
33:32
Then the king sent to him a captain of 50 men with his
33:36
fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was
33:39
sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, Oh man of God,
33:43
the king says, Come down. But Elijah answered, the captain
33:49
of 50. If I am a man of God, let fire
33:52
come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.
33:56
Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.
34:01
What a way to start a book, huh? Unfortunately, the reputation of
34:09
Elijah, his credibility, his consistency didn't make a
34:12
difference for Aiziah. Instead of repenting and crying
34:16
out to God, he rallied up some of his men and created a search
34:19
warrant for the prophet. And he found Elijah.
34:23
And before we continue to try to understand what takes place
34:26
here, let it be noted that Aiziah's intent of seizing
34:30
Elijah was not so that they can have a calm and cordial
34:33
conversation. There was harm in mind here.
34:39
It could be that is, I actually wanted to kill Elijah as one of
34:44
his final wishes before he knew he was going to die.
34:46
We don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but we
34:48
know for certain that this is not for Elijah's good.
34:52
And how we can confirm that it's not just by the tone and by the
34:56
comrades here that are approaching Elijah, But look
34:58
here again at verse 15. And I want you to see eventually
35:01
what the Angel of the Lord tells Elijah, which indicates to us
35:05
that he was in danger to some degree.
35:08
Then the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down with him.
35:10
Do not be afraid of him. So this is hostile.
35:16
This is aggressive. This is placing Elijah in a
35:19
dangerous position. Keep that in mind for many
35:23
reasons, including this one. Elijah is a different man, isn't
35:28
he? Do you remember how we studied
35:32
Elijah in First Kings 19 when he when he went to meet with Ahab
35:38
and his wife? At least he was in the same
35:41
area. And Jezebel sent a messenger to
35:46
Elijah saying you're a dead man. What did Elijah do?
35:51
He fled. He took off, and that was just
35:55
when a messenger came with a threat.
35:58
But I see a different Elijah here.
36:00
Here you have Elijah on the top of a hill, not approached by one
36:03
messenger with a message, but by a commander of 50 soldiers.
36:08
With his fifty soldiers. That's a lot more dangerous and
36:12
perilous. But what do you see with Elijah?
36:14
He stays put. He stays put and he puts his
36:19
faith in God. This is the beauty of studying
36:23
books of the Bible. This is the beauty of going
36:25
through the order, the chronological order of texts.
36:27
We get to see things, including the change that takes place in
36:31
people, the progress that they make.
36:34
And this is refreshing because all we're going to really see
36:36
more than anything else is the decline of a nation.
36:39
But all what do we see with Elijah?
36:41
He's been the subject of our study for weeks, how God can
36:45
change a man. That's what we can see, that
36:49
this man had a weakness and that weakness was erased.
36:55
And now what this man was once overcome by, he now is able to
36:58
overcome. That is what God does with each
37:02
of us, that as time goes on, he is committed to changing US,
37:08
strengthening us. And Elijah here presents
37:13
something encouraging for you and me.
37:16
If you trust him, listen, if you even rely on his grace in your
37:21
failures, you can be certain that he stands there willing to
37:26
guide you and guide you and guide you until you change.
37:34
Elijah's different. But I see another contrast here
37:39
in the verses that we just read with Elijah and with what we
37:43
read and studied in First Kings 19.
37:45
Is this the first time in Elijah's ministry where fire
37:48
falls down from heaven? Where did we see file from that
37:53
fire fall down from heaven before on Mount Carmel, right?
37:58
And here we see Elijah now, and we read very specifically, where
38:01
was he located? On top of a hill.
38:06
So he's on top of a hill, and we have the enemies of God and
38:11
Elijah who meet him on this hill, just like Mount Carmel.
38:15
And we also see, like Mount Carmel, fire falling down from
38:20
heaven. But there is a very important
38:23
difference. When the fire fell down from
38:27
heaven on Mount Carmel, it landed somewhere else.
38:29
Where did it land? On a sacrifice?
38:34
And we concluded that that was a picture of God's incredible
38:39
mercy and a foreshadowing of the ministry in the work of the Lord
38:43
Jesus Christ. Because you had Elijah, you had
38:46
false prophets, but you also had the people of Israel.
38:49
And if the fire should have fell anywhere on Mount Carmel, it was
38:52
on the rebellious people. But instead it landed on a
38:57
sacrifice pointing us to Christ. Christ absorbs the wrath of God,
39:03
though we deserve to drink it. But now we come to 2nd Kings.
39:08
One Elijah's on a hill. Enemies of God are there, fire
39:14
falls, but it doesn't fall on a sacrifice, it falls on the
39:18
enemies of God. So if what we saw in Mount
39:22
Carmel picture the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, what we see
39:27
here in Second Kings One pictures what will take place
39:31
for those who ignore and refuse to respond to the cross of Jesus
39:38
Christ. If you do not accept Jesus
39:43
Christ taking the wrath of God on your behalf, then there's
39:47
only one other option. You will one day receive the
39:52
wrath of God. And so it's either you
39:56
acknowledging what happened on Calvary and rejoicing and
39:59
repenting because of it, or you becoming a recipient of the fire
40:04
of God in Second Thessalonians. Chapter 1 tells us exactly.
40:08
How fire will come with vengeance on those who did not
40:10
obey the gospel. So we see here that 51 men died.
40:20
They face the scrutiny of God's justice.
40:23
What takes place next? Look at verse 11 again.
40:27
The king sent to him another captain of 50 men with his
40:30
fifty. And he answered and said to him,
40:32
Oh man of God, this is the King's order.
40:34
Come down quickly. Wow, you would think a Heziah
40:41
would have been sobered. And realizing I sent my men to
40:44
try to seize this man. I'm not fighting against Noam,
40:47
your man. I'm fighting against God.
40:50
Right? But instead of humbling himself,
40:55
instead of registering how this is a supernatural intervention,
40:59
he hardened his heart even more. Compare the language of verse 11
41:03
with the second wave of men with the first wave earlier they
41:07
said, oh man of God, the king says come down, right?
41:09
Is that what we read in verse 10 or verse 9?
41:12
But look here, what we see in verse 11, all men of God, this
41:16
is the King's order. Come down.
41:21
Not just come down, come down what?
41:23
Quickly? So they even get more
41:26
aggressive. So what do we see here?
41:33
This is yet another honest illustration of man's dangerous
41:35
persistence in their sin and unbelief.
41:38
That's what you have here. You have here a very helpful
41:43
example because you have many good hearted Christians who
41:46
think and believe. If only so and so would see a
41:50
single miracle, if God would just manifest himself in an
41:55
undeniable way, then surely this unbeliever or these unbelievers
41:59
will surrender once and for all. But as I and many others tell us
42:03
and prove to us that man's allegiance to sin is much more
42:07
stubborn than you can imagine. Fire falls down from heaven.
42:14
Again, look at verse 12. But Elijah answered them, If I
42:17
am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you
42:22
and you're 50. Is God protecting his servant?
42:29
Yeah, absolutely. But God is also indicating
42:30
something of his displeasure towards something specific.
42:35
How did these soldiers address Elijah?
42:43
Man of God, Man of God, not enemy of Baal, not rebel against
42:54
the king, not like Ahab, you troubler of Israel, Man of God.
43:03
Well, they couldn't deny that he was a man of God.
43:06
But if he was a man of God, why are you fighting against him in
43:10
his message and his God? You understand God doesn't take
43:16
lightly when people say things, but they don't believe them.
43:24
He doesn't. He doesn't feel very good about
43:27
that. So oh man of God, do you
43:31
understand the implications of your comment?
43:35
I wonder how many even people today make affirmations,
43:38
professions, conclusions, but they don't really believe it.
43:46
And if we learn anything about God in Second Kings 1 is that he
43:50
does not take too lightly those who say things but their hearts
43:55
disagree, but their lives disagree.
43:58
Oh man of God, OK, if I'm a man of God and judgment came, when
44:06
is Isaiah going to learn? He doesn't learn.
44:12
Look at verse 13 again. The king sent the captain of a
44:18
third fifty with his fifty. I mean, I think this guy is
44:20
willing to run down through all his men, depopulate Israel, but
44:28
this man does something different.
44:30
And the third captain of 50 went up and came and fell on his
44:35
knees before Elijah and entreated him.
44:42
Oh man of God, not come down quickly not this is the King's
44:45
order. O man of God, please let my life
44:51
and the life of these 50 servant of yours be precious in your
44:56
sight. You can sense the sincerity
44:59
here, right? He continues in verse 14.
45:02
Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two
45:06
former captains of 50 men with their 50s.
45:09
But now let my life be precious in your sight.
45:14
So I told you we learned something about God because one
45:16
of my go to questions, and I encourage you to ask the same
45:19
question in any text of the Bible.
45:21
I'd love to ask is what does this passage reveal about the
45:24
character of God? And it is extremely relevant
45:29
even in this. You have this third captain
45:33
coming to Elijah, but a different approach 1 of
45:36
humility, contrition, brokenness.
45:40
And here's the response verse 15 And the Angel of the Lord said
45:44
to Elijah, go down with him, do not be afraid of him.
45:47
So he arose and went down with him to the king.
45:51
So again, as you read your Bible and you come to a text like
45:53
this, ask the question, what did I just learn about God here?
45:57
Can you learn something about God when he sent fire on the
46:00
previous 2? But what do you see and learn
46:03
about God here? Here's what I see.
46:05
That God desires humility. And God is so quick to pour out
46:11
not fire. Favor upon those who humble
46:16
themselves and ask for mercy. That's the character of God.
46:21
And if the first one would have came with that same attitude,
46:25
there would have been nobody who was consumed.
46:28
But the third one learned it, and he came before the Lord.
46:31
And I want to let you know that as long as you come before the
46:33
Lord and acknowledge who He is and acknowledge who you are, you
46:38
will secure sweetness, you will secure wonderful graces.
46:46
He will grant it without hesitation, even if you are
46:50
numbered among His enemies like this captain was.
46:53
Do you understand that? Now, some are not satisfied with
46:58
these explanations or this narrative.
47:02
There are people who would condemn Elijah's actions here,
47:04
but you got to remember that Elijah had no ability to call
47:08
fire down from heaven. God approved that fire to come
47:11
down from heaven. But there is a text that people
47:14
often go to to try to shed a negative light on Elijah at this
47:19
particular moment. Can you think of that text?
47:22
Can you think of that text? I'll give you a hint.
47:26
It's not in the Old Testament. Let me give you another hint.
47:34
There is a place in the Gospels where this exact incident was
47:38
referenced. Well, This is why Bible study is
47:43
good. Did somebody discover it?
47:49
Maybe not. Let's go to it.
47:51
Luke Chapter 9. Go to 51 of Luke Chapter 9.
48:10
Luke 95151 reads. When the days drew near for him
48:15
to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem, and he sent
48:19
messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the
48:24
Samaritans. Pause.
48:27
What was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel during the
48:29
days of Elijah? Samaria.
48:33
So now we have Jesus sending some of his disciples ahead.
48:37
They entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations
48:41
for him. Verse 53 But the people did not
48:44
receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
48:48
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do
48:52
you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume
48:55
them? Now if you have the King James
48:58
and the new King James, they follow manuscripts that add fire
49:02
to come down from heaven as Elijah did.
49:06
And in those menus ships is added Christ's elaborated
49:10
response where Jesus responds here in verse 55 in the ESV.
49:14
But he turned and rebuked them. But in those translations I
49:17
mentioned it would be added, you do not know what manner of
49:20
spirit you are of. For the Son of man did not come
49:23
to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
49:28
You still get that lesson and that impression here even with,
49:33
without Elijah's inclusion, his name being mentioned because
49:38
there's only a few places where fire comes down from heaven by
49:42
way of command. Look, one thing I could admire
49:45
about these disciples, though they were rebuked as they had
49:47
some faith, didn't they? Look at this, said Lord, do you
49:52
want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume
49:56
them? I applaud their faith.
50:03
And people would often use this New Testament text to
50:05
mischaracterize Elijah, but we can't do that.
50:10
Do you know why? Because when they asked for fire
50:13
to be granted from heaven, we're asking the Lord if they're
50:17
allowed to do that. Jesus didn't rebuke Elijah, did
50:21
he? He rebuked his disciples.
50:24
There's a difference. And the reason why there's a
50:27
difference is because he reminded his disciples and he's
50:30
reminding us that He is become the first advent to do a new
50:34
work, a work that is greater than what he had done on behalf
50:37
of his servant, Elijah. Christ in coming into this world
50:44
desired to send something else, not fire to consume, but
50:52
forgiveness. Abundant forgiveness.
50:56
In fact, what's so amazing here again proving to us the beauty
51:00
of reading through the entirety of the Word of God.
51:03
You see exactly what God sends from heaven to the same
51:08
Samaritans who in the days of Jesus Christ did not receive
51:11
him. Go to Acts chapter 8.
51:16
Look at verse 14 with me. This is after Philip went to
51:19
Samaria to preach the gospel and revival broke out.
51:23
But notice what takes place after in Acts 814 to 15.
51:33
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria,
51:39
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and
51:43
John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive
51:47
the Holy Spirit. Peter and who?
51:53
Yeah, the same John who, with his brother, asked Jesus if they
51:57
could ask heaven to send fire. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't
52:04
give them permission? Do you know why?
52:07
Because Jesus wanted to send the Holy Spirit into the hearts of
52:12
these Samaritans. Listen, the best way to apply
52:16
what we learned from Second Kings, One is beyond God willing
52:23
to protect his servants. It reveals that in Christ he
52:28
suspends judgment on reluctant sinners and instead is eager and
52:34
willing to pour out his spirit. That's how you tie a Old
52:39
Testament passage like this with gospel truth.
52:47
Christ came with a new covenant, a better covenant, one that is
52:52
under grace. And so, yeah, these two brothers
52:56
going through a Samaritan village, felt the resistance,
52:59
saw the resistance, were repelled by the resistance and
53:02
they thought Samaria. Yeah, I remember Prophet Elijah,
53:04
what he did to to some of those rebellious people of Israel in
53:09
Samaria, around Samaria. Let's ask Jesus, we can call
53:11
fire down from heaven. The Lord says, no, I want to
53:13
send something else. And John would see it himself.
53:18
Let's finish this chapter back in second Kings verse 16.
53:31
This is when Elijah comes down to meet the king and said to
53:36
him. Thus says the Lord, because
53:37
you've sent messages to inquire of bells above the God of Ekron.
53:41
Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?
53:45
Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you
53:48
have gone up, but you shall surely die.
53:51
You know what's so staggering about this?
53:54
In this short chapter, you have Ahazzaiah's judgment recorded
54:02
word for word, 3 * 3 times. Copy, Paste, copy, paste, copy,
54:09
paste. Whenever the Holy Spirit does
54:12
anything like that, it's meant to emphasize something.
54:16
He wants to actually emphasize something.
54:20
And one of the emphasis here is for us to realize how severe
54:24
Ahazzaiah's sin was, how gross it was to look to an idol
54:29
instead of the true God. But there is an emphasis here
54:33
that is not limited to a Zeus case.
54:36
It is universal. There's something about his
54:40
offense that was so flagrant that we have to examine
54:44
ourselves and ask if we are tempted to commit the very same
54:46
crime he did. Notice what he says.
54:50
Not just once, twice, three times is given to us.
54:54
Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His Word?
55:03
To fail or to refuse to seek God, to seek Him in His Word,
55:11
especially in our times of trouble, breaks the heart of
55:16
God. To fail to come to Him who is in
55:24
his nature a savior, a provider, a leader, a protector, and to
55:30
run to other things that are empty and vain, breaks his heart
55:37
and ruins us. That is the lesson of Second
55:43
Kings chapter one. That is not what I think the
55:47
main lesson is. That is what I believe is the
55:49
main lesson, because this is repeated not once, not twice,
55:54
three times. Where we go to when we're in
56:00
trouble says a lot about, says a lot about us.
56:06
Not that we can't go to other things, but where our ultimate
56:10
hope and trust is, we'll be exposed in crises, tribulations,
56:22
and surprise attacks, surprise accidents.
56:27
And so if there's any response, if there's any application to
56:29
this Bible studies we close this time together, is to ask the
56:34
Lord to create in us such an awareness of His glory, power,
56:38
and love that it would be our reflex to run to Him, to inquire
56:43
of Him, to seek Him for ourselves 1st, and then to call
56:49
others to do the same. Shall we do that?
56:51
Let's pray, Lord, we actually feel in our
57:15
heart of hearts that we've been fed.
57:18
Thank you for your glorious word.
57:21
Now we ask and pray as we prayed earlier, that this information
57:27
would translate into genuine transformation.
57:34
We pray, Lord, that you would be our hope, and if we lost hope,
57:40
that you wouldn't reinforce it, that you would be the very
57:45
object of and the source of and the fountain of everything that
57:51
we need in this life. Help us include you in
57:55
everything. Help us to seek You in the big
57:58
things and the small things. Help us believe You.
58:02
Help us really believe that there is a real God and his word
58:07
is to be trusted and to live our lives experiencing your
58:12
faithfulness come through when we meet it with our faith for
58:16
tonight. We want to say thank you for
58:18
this chapter. Lord, we we believe you have so
58:21
much more to say in the weeks ahead.
58:24
And so, Lord, keep our hunger for The Word Alive, maybe not
58:28
just found on these evenings, but every day, and help us ask
58:32
the right questions when we read certain passages that we are
58:35
unfamiliar with. And Lord, grant us the spirit of
58:37
wisdom and revelation so that we can hear your voice every time
58:43
we open this Bible. Lord, we love you and we trust
58:46
you, and we choose to afresh confess not just mere words, but
58:52
out of the abundance of our hearts that You are the true God
58:55
and we desire to be men and women of God.
58:58
May it be so for your glory. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
59:02
Amen. Let's stand and give thanks to
59:04
the Lord for His precious word.