Faith in Crisis

2 Kings 1 NASB95

Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.” 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 to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ “Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” Then Elijah departed. When the messengers returned to him he said to them, “Why have you returned?” They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return 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 Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’ ” ’ ” He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ” Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.’ ” Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, let 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. So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. “Behold fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 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. Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-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 where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’ ” So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. 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?

INTRO: FAITH. Are you familiar with this word? Every relationship requires faith. We have faith that our employer will pay us for hours worked. We have faith that our spouses will be true, that the waiter at the restaurant won’t spit in our food, and that our government won’t lead us into senseless wars.

And faith takes on an even deeper meaning when it’s attached to religion. But faith should not be merely a vague concept. We don’t just have faith- faith has to have an object. We must place our faith in something or someone.

As Christians, we recognize that faith is essential to our relationship with God. It is by faith we are saved through grace- trusting that Jesus truly came in order to save us from our sins and that on the cross, He truly satisfied the wrath of God towards us and covers us who have surrendered our lives to Him with His own righteousness.

Hebrews 11:6 NASB95

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

The object of our faith is the God of the Bible, who exists in 3 persons- The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe what is taught in Scripture- that Jesus is the Way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and that God will save all who come to Him accordingly (Rom. 10:13). This spurs us to take this Good News all across the globe.

Through many missionary endeavors, the Gospel has been declared in much of the world. Millions have turned from their sins, their idols, and their customs to serve and worship the One True God. But even as people make professions of faith in Christ, it is often not until that faith is tested that you know for sure where they have really placed their faith.

ILL: In Haiti, there are many whose faith is in voodoo. Even as they may profess Christianity, the roots of voodoo are strong, and the cultural pressure is stronger. As a 2004 national geographic article posited: “Haitians are 70% Catholic, 30% Protestant, and 100% Voodoo.”

Missionary to Haiti, Fred Wall tells us that you can tell where someone has really placed their faith when they are very sick or dying. If they call for the witch doctor in these times, their faith was in voodoo, not the God they professed.

We find a similar scenario with the king of Israel, Ahaziah (one of Ahab’s sons). In v. 2, we see that Ahaziah fell from his upper chamber- either through a window or off a balcony. In any case, he was wounded pretty severely. And so, he sent messengers to a foreign nation (Ekron) to inquire of their god, named Baal-zebub.

We recognize the “Baal” part, referring to any number of gods. “Zebub was likely intended to define the local tradition regarding this idol. Literally, this translates to “Lord of the flies” (some of you are making a connection to a book you read in middle school).

Ahaziah had faith… but not the kind I want you to model. In our time together, we are going to look at the king’s faith, the prophetic confrontation, and finally the resolve. As we examine 2 Kings 1, I ask you to consider your own faith. When the rubber meets the road, Where is your faith really?

The sermon is titled, “Faith in Crisis”- if you picked up a bulletin, we’ve provided a handy sermon guide for you to use as we learn together. Let’s begin by examining

Ahaziah’s Futile Faith (1-8)

A casual reading of the first few verses of this chapter tell us that King Ahaziah has made a huge mistake in seeking the counsel and help of this false god. When his messengers returned quickly, he knew something was up. And indeed they had met Elijah. How did they know it was Elijah? Well Ahaziah recognized his physical description! (READ v.8)

He had no picture, no cell phone shot…a simple descriptor.

There are few people that a simple descriptor like this would suffice… But Elijah wore a camel-hair robe and a leather belt. He didn’t wear royal robes made of cotton or silk. This was unique for the king’s messengers.

Let’s key in on the words of God that would be delivered to him. (READ 6)

The rhetorical question that God posed is biting. “Is there no God in Israel?”

The king of Ekron didn’t get confronted for his idolatry… but Yahweh chose Israel, not Ekron to be the nation by which all other nations would be blessed.

Let me remind you that Israel is the nation whom God chose to reveal Himself… he did this through the Angel of the Lord, through a burning bush, through His very presence and voice. It was Jacob who God would rename “Israel” which means “God contends”. In this lineage would come Joseph and thousands of Hebrews that would be enslaved in Egypt and later led out by Moses, the great prophet.

God delivered this people! He gave them His commands. They set up altars and stones of remembrance- they erected a temple and altars. The very land that this nation occupied was given to this people by God.

And on this land less than a generation previous, Ahaziah’s father was confronted by the very same Elijah and God demonstrated His power on Carmel. “Is there no God is Israel?” is like saying “Really? Are you serious?”

Ahaziah rejected Yahweh and instead placed his faith in the gods that had been proven as frauds.

ILL: Now, I just want us to acknowledge that Ahaziah is acting foolishly. How is it that we can be shown the absolute truth and still reject it for what has been proven to be a lie? The sad truth is that it happens all the time. We know that the promises of sin are empty- that alcohol addiction actually causes harm, not deliverance. That pornography might promise happiness, but in reality it is a snare and a poison.

False gods make lots of promises… but false gods cannot keep these promises… you are more likely to have promises kept by a politician! Elijah’s message was straight to the point: Ahaziah had broken the first of God’s commandments - You shall have no other gods before Me. He is going to learn the hard lesson of his parents: faith in Baal-zebub was futile.

As we have seen in the past, kings do not like it when people speak against them or declare a judgment on them. So, Ahaziah reacts and what happens next is a series of conflicts. We’ll call these

Elijah’s Casual Confrontations (9-15)

What makes this casual is NOT Ahaziah’s response to Elijah’s judgment. Nope, that dude sent a whole battalion of 50 soldiers chasing after Elijah. 3 Times!!!

This act highlights the pride and insecurity of the king. 50 soldiers!?! No doubt this was intended to intimidate Elijah- maybe he was trying to force Elijah to change his judgment or he was trying to send a message to any dissenters that caught wind of this.

But Elijah was unconcerned. Look with me at v. 9 (READ)

Elijah is simply hanging out on a hill- easy to find, unlike when he had fled from Ahab earlier. In the first two confrontations, the captains demand Elijah to come down. No doubt if he would have done so, they would have, at minimum, roughed him up a bit and dragged him back to Samaria in order to make a spectacle. This was a war that was being waged against God’s prophet.

But Elijah didn’t worry. God is faithful. No doubt he had heard the echo of Moses voice to the nation as Pharoah and his army closed in upon the Hebrews at the Red Sea

Exodus 14:14 NASB95

“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

And so Elijah calmly and casually declared, (10, 12). (READ) And just as surely as God sent fire on Carmel that consumed the offering and altar, so He sent fire to consume Elijah’s enemies.

Now, take just a couple minutes and picture this.

The first captain was bold and confident- how could anyone resist this demand when such a mighty army was present? How’d that work out?

The second captain is now on a mission - his buddy’s battalion went out, but has not returned, so here he goes. And as approaches Elijah, surely he would notice this black charred spot at the foot of the hill, but it wasn’t enough to deter him and this battalion paid the price.

However, the 3rd captain was smart enough to put 2 and 2 together, and he approached Elijah differently; humbly.

I want you to see this: Ahaziah did not see the lives of his army as precious, but rather as instruments in getting what he wanted. Yet, the plea of this 3rd captain was that Elijah would extend compassion. This guy understood the power of Yahweh and knew better than to think that his army could stand a chance against such a mighty God. And perhaps he also understood God’s mercy- after all, had they not heard of the Israelites who repented from their idolatry and experienced God’s Amazing Grace?

You know, when we are doing what God has called us to do, we can have that kind of casual confidence. If God be for us, who can stand against us?

And so, just as casually, Elijah gets a word of assurance from God and accompanies the captain back to Samaria.

Do you think that you could be that casual in the midst of conflict?

There are really only two types of faith. Futile faith, like what Ahaziah had, and Saving Faith in Yahweh, the GOD if the Bible! But talk is cheap. so we need to move on to the final piece of this story: Its resolve. We’ll call this

God’s Steadfast Judgment (16-17)

Look at v. 16-17. (READ)

Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Here, His word is the same as it was in the beginning. Elijah’s words to the king were just as bold and just as true.

Now, perhaps the king looked at Elijah and scoffed at him. Perhaps he called him a liar or refused to believe his words. He might have claimed that his god would not allow him to die like this… but God is not mocked - we don’t get to determine God’s values or actions. In fact, the King did die and will face judgment for his rejection of Yahweh.

Now, my concern is for this generation. This world that has rejected the God of the Bible for useless idols. I am reminded of Paul’s letter to the Roman church.

Romans 1:21–22 NASB95

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 1:25 NASB95

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Romans 1:28–32 NASB95

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

I believe that Elijah’s words to Ahaziah was an opportunity for repentance, yet his heart was hardened.… like Pharaoh’s. The reality is that our God is still the same. No matter how many times you think “the Jesus I know wouldn’t judge anyone for that” or “the God I serve just wants us to be happy”… this is not the God of the Bible, but a false god with false promises that cannot satisfy but lead to judgment.

So what does your faith look like? God is not mocked. Your actions reveal where you have placed your faith. Have you placed your faith wholly and fully on the Lord Jesus Christ, or are you on sinking sand?

Discuss: What is your first response in a crisis?

Discuss: What part of Elijah’s faith would you most like to develop?

Discuss: God is not mocked. Do your actions reveal a true faith or a futile faith?