Questions in a Time of Crisis

Introduction

Questions in a time of crisis

We are entering into the end of Elijah’s ministry and life

the crisis that we will see today, is not his

next week will be the last week of our series

and we will look at Elijah being taken to Heaven

Today we will see Ahab’s son as king after the death of Ahab

when trouble comes to him in a medical issue who does he turn to

what is his major concern

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah had fallen through the latticed window of his upstairs room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers, instructing them, “Go inquire of Baal-zebub,, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and 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? 4 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ” Then Elijah left.

5 The messengers returned to the king, who asked them, “Why have you come back?”

6 They replied, “A man came to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and declare to him, “ ‘This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ” ”

7 The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke those words to you?”

8 They replied, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”

He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 So King Ahaziah sent a captain with his fifty men to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 Elijah responded to the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

11 So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah. He took in the situation and announced, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately!’ ”

12 Elijah responded, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” So a divine fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

13 Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious to you. 14 Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”

15 The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king.

16 Then Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel for you to inquire of his will?—you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’ ”

17 Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Since he had no son, Joram, became king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat. 18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.

Retell this story in my own words

Ahaziah did not go chasing after the Moab’s when they quit paying the tribute they were paying

instead attempts to stay safe in his own palace

doesn’t work - he falls through lattice

either through a window, or sky light

does not kill him but leaves him injured in a way that he is questioning if he will live through this ordeal

Ahaziah sends his messengers to question a false god called Baal-zebub in Ekron

Ekron is in the Philistine territory

you would have thought that he would have learned of the true God by watching and hearing all that God had done in Israel during his father’s reign

Elijah intercepts the messengers, sends them back to the king to tell him that God says he will die

Ahaziah knows exactly who it was, showing that he knew all the things Elijah had done during Ahab’s reign

he sends troops after him

the first one mocks him, “Oh man of God… the KING says come.”

Elijah in almost a prayer, if I am a man of God let them be burnt up… and they were

the second fifty mocks him even more, “Oh man of God… the KING says come NOW!”

they suffer the same fate as the first group

the king has more troops than sense, and sends a third group

this leader was humble and sincere

an angel tells Elijah to go… and he goes

Elijah speaks to the king and gives the same message

with the judgment given, the passage ends with, and Ahaziah dies

When will this end?

This is a logical question that we ask anytime we are in a crisis.

This is the question that is asked all the time about Covid

“When will we get back to normal?”

This is basically the question of Ahaziah

When will this end, soon with a recovery, or with death?

we see this king’s selfishness in this passage

Moab quit paying a tribute

2 Kings 3:4 tells us that Moab was paying a tribute to the Israelites

with a new king, they quit paying it challenging administration

instead of going to battle, he stays in his palace, where he believes it is safe

instead of going out and risking death in battle he stays where he believes it is safe

but we are all one step away,

this is the first thing that we often think of in a time of crisis, self preservation

This is the wrong question

the correct question is, “How do I glorify God in this crisis?”

James, Paul and Peter all agree in the their NT letters that we are blessed when going through trials, or a crisis, because we grow in our faith

if all we are doing is wondering how long, we are not putting our faith in God to see us through, but deciding that we can “cowboy up” and tough it out

How can you glorify God in a pandemic? How can you glorify God in a divided nation?

these are the questions that I think believers should be asking

if we ask these questions, fear goes away

notice the difference between Ahaziah and Elijah

“go and tell the kings messengers… He will die.”

Elijah shows no fear, goes and speaks truth to these men

worry starts to go away

we are not worried as much about what happens to the country

do we care, sure

but we know that we are citizens of heaven, this place is not our home

we are not here to make sure that world government rise or fall, but to glorify God

does it mean safety always, no! but it means that we are in the will of God and he will see us through

we are not guaranteed “safe”

Who is in charge?

Our first question revealed the selfishness of Ahaziah

as we go on in the passage we see that he believes he is in charge

he will choose the god he wants to listen to

he will choose the god who is able to speak

this is really interesting, this is the son of Ahab

did he learn nothing from Mt Carmel

we know he knows all about who Elijah is, he was able to name him just from the description

Knowing the things and judgment that came to his father, he attempted things to try and prove he was in charge

he tried to ask a false god

Baal-zebub - means Lord of Flies,

many believe that it is a play-on words that writer used to not give glory to anyone but God

others believe that this is also the Beal-zebub of the NT that the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a part of

this would be a god that demonically would speak the future

God tells us to run from such things

God intercepts the message revealing he knows everything

he knows who they are, where they are going and why

the question that Elijah asks is rhetorical and sarcastic

“Is there no God in Israel that you have to go to a foreign land?”

Ahaziah knows who this is and wants him brought before him

God demonstrates his power and that Elijah speaks for him when they attempt to take him into custody

a captain and his fifty two different times

first, the king declares… then, the king declares come down immediately!

basically what they are telling Elijah, the man who had just told the Kings messengers, “thus says the Lord,” they are saying, “Thus says the King!”

after the Lord shows who has the power, a third captain comes humbly

We think that we are so wise

we believe that we can come up with the best plans and can control things

we are fools, nobody can understand his ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways

who can question God and make him answer

Isaiah 40:13–14 CSB

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave him counsel? 14 Who did he consult? Who gave him understanding and taught him the paths of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?

yet this is what we do when we go to him in prayer and tell him what he must bless and what he must condemn

We tell him what we are going to do, demand that he bless it as if he doesn’t know the selfish reasons that we do some good deeds

instead we should be praying, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in Heaven.”

Who is God?

I can think of no other test to see who is God than to say that you are going to live and him to say you will die, then wait to see who is correct

I know you can cause yourself to die if you would choose

but if God says that you are going to die, and you do not want too, then I see no better test to see who is really God

This is what happened to Ahaziah

he did not want to die, he did not want to ask, or did not believe in the Lord

yet the Lord came to him through Elijah and informed him that due to his sin, he would surely die

what was his sin, idol worship and seeking out demonic fortune telling

Jesus in Matthew 6:27 asks “Can any of you add one minute to our life by worrying?”

of course it is a rhetorical question, but if worrying isn’t going to add another moment to our life, what makes us think that anything else we do will

If the Lord says it is time for you to die, we die

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Since he had no son, Joram, became king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat.

Nothing stops the death of the king that God says will happen, not even the kings unbelief in God

It is easy to miss the grace of the Lord in this story

I know that it does not say the word grace and that you might think that Ahaziah wasn’t shown any grace but that is not the case

every time that somebody spoke to this evil king and said, “Thus says the Lord,” God was extending grace

God has every right, as the creator and law giver, to judge us guilty upon the first sin we commit

every time that God makes his truth known is an opportunity to repent of our sin and turn towards him

Last week we looked at the judgment of Ahab,

who the Lord said was the most evil of the kings of Israel

would die due to the way that he had led the people of Israel into idol worship

Ahab humbled himself before the Lord, it did not cause him not to face judgment, but it did come in his sons reign not his own

God gives everyone in his patience the opportunity to repent

have you… the Lord is inviting you to repent right now

Is he Lord of your life, meaning Master

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 10

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.