A Serious Look at Life

Obituaries

How do you want to be remembered?

Maybe and odd and sobering question to ponder, but one that matters more than most questions that we struggle with in life.

Most obituaries speak of the accomplishments of the one who died and the love shared by those they leave behind.

But there are others...

In a 2017 Obit for her dad, a woman wrote: He would “be missed only for what he never did; being a loving husband, father and good friend.”  He died at age 74, “which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved.”

“At a young age,” the obituary said, he “quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive.” “Leslie’s life served no other obvious purpose, he did not contribute to society or serve his community and he possessed no redeeming qualities besides [quick-witted] sarcasm which was amusing during his sober days.”  

Imagine living a life that inspired your family to write an obituary like this.

Maybe not to this level, but 2 Kings 1 is much like a obituary for the son of Ahab and Jezabel.

Where we are in the story

Much like in chapter 20, chapter 22 of 1 Kings doesn’t speak of Elijah. He has just declared the punishment over Ahab and Jezabel and in chapter 22 we see the last days of Ahab.

By the end of the chapter, Ahab is dead, killed by a stray arrow on the battlefield and, as prophesied, his blood was licked up by dogs.

In the end of chapter 22 we are briefly introduced to his successor, his son Ahaziah.

Like his dad, Ahaziah did not follow in the ways of the Lord, but devoted himself to Baal worship and continued to lead the people of Israel away from God.

And so when 1 Kings ends and 2 Kings begins we find that Ahab’s son has picked up where his father had left off.

One chapter for an entire life.

Though it seems like a fairly uneventful chapter and a pretty consequential life, what we find in 2 Kings 1 is a challenge and opportunity to take a serious look at life.

To let the life of Ahaziah lead us to ponder some really important and consequential questions.

Questions to Ponder...

1) To WHOM do you TURN?

2 Kings 1:1–2 CSB

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.”

Ahaziah is facing two quite large challenges in these first 2 verses of 2 Kings.

Moab has rebelled against Israel following the death of Ahab.

They had been under the thumb of Israel for a number of years, required to pay a tribute in order to keep the peace.

But once Ahab had died, Moab’s king decided they would no longer pay, forcing the hand of the King.

But, if that wasn’t enough, Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in an upstairs room, injuring himself bad enough that he was bed-reddened and seemingly quite sick.

This combination of problems leaves him searching for answers and desperate for help.

Having grown up in the home of Ahab and Jezabel, Ahaziah had been immersed in Baalism by his mom and dad.

So naturally, when he was in need of help his first impulse was to seek out the god he had grown up seeing his parents seek out.

The author of 2 Kings uses the term “Baal-zebub”, which translates into “Lord of Flies”, rather than who the god of Ekron would have been call, “Baal-zebul”, which means “Lord the Exalted/Prince”.

This is likely a play on words, meant to express the impotence of Baal and the foolishness of Ahaziah to turn to him for help in this situation.

But if you really think about it, it makes a lot of sense doesn’t it.

Sure, Ahaziah had likely been around, or at least heard about, the 3 year drought and famine.

He likely heard about the great display of God’s power at Mount Carmel when Elijah had shown how weak and powerless Baal was and how incredibly powerful Elijah’s God is.

He knew Elijah, so he likely knew of the grim prophesy he had spoken over his mother and father after their abuse of power in Jezreel with Naboth’s vineyard.

Yet, Ahaziah’s life speaks of the influence parents have on their children.

Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Ahab and Jezabel played an pivotal role in shaping their son’s values, attitudes and appetites, the way he treats and speaks to others, his work ethic, and so many other areas of life.

We don’t know a lot about Ahaziah, but it isn’t all that surprising when, in a dire and dark season of life, he doesn’t turn to the God that brought his people into Israel, but rather looks to the god whom he had been taught was the one who could help him.

We can often read passages like this and not see ourselves in the story.

Like Ahaziah, we have been and are being shaped by our parents and other family members who have helped in raising us.

And, like Ahab and Jezebel, we are playing a massive role in the shaping of our children in the ways we are choosing to raise them.

I don’t want to overstate this by taking God’s sovereignty out of the equation in the lives of our children.

I didn’t grow up in church, but have been a pastor for nearly 15 years.

God can and will work in and through our kids in spite of us.

But we must not UNDERSTATE our influence either.

From the way we cook certain foods, where we store certain household items, or how manage money, TO how we work through conflict, how we deal with disappointments and struggles, and the values that we use to decide how we will spend our time and money.

All of these areas of our lives have been influenced by our parents, and all of these areas of your children’s lives are being, or will be, influenced by you.

We can see it in the statistics:

The Survey Center on American Life found that Generation Z (born 1997-2012) are the much more likely to say they have never been religious.

15% of Gen Z answered they have never been religious, compared to 10% among millennials and 6% for gen X.

In the same report from SCAL, we are shown the decline in religious involvement throughout each generation.

For the first time in American history, church membership is below 50%, down 20% since 1999.

Interestingly though, between 2017 and 2022 the Youth Sports industry has grown by nearly $5 billion.

some estimates put the average family spending 10% or more on youth travel sports every year.

When we as parents inadvertently teach our children that pursuing a relationship with God and His church isn’t as important as being involved in a team sport, we shouldn’t be surprised later in life when he or she doesn’t see connect with a local church as that big of a deal.

Likewise, when our kids are working through issues of sexuality and we as their parents aren’t spending time teaching them what the Word God says about it, we shouldn’t be surprised when they draw their conclusions based off what they have read on social media or experienced in their schools.

What we see happening in 2 Kings 1 ought to jar us as parents seeking to raise our kids to know and follow the Lord.

To whom do you turn in your life?

Not just in trials and struggles, but in the everyday stuff of life.

Who and what is guiding your life?

Does your life speak to a faith in a God who is present, who cares, who is powerful, who is sufficient, who is gracious and kind, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love?

Ahaziah was watching and listening as his parents showed him who they believed was worthy of following.

Who are you turning to?

2) To WHOM will you LISTEN?

2 Kings 1:3–15 CSB

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.

It is interesting that God sent a messenger to Elijah in response to Ahaziah’s messengers being sent to Baal.

Why wouldn’t God just leave the situation alone, let him pursue this false god, and then die anyway?

It really is an act of grace and mercy toward the king. He is giving the king a chance to turn away from his idolatry and to turn to the only God who can really help him.

God send Elijah on one last mission, one last confrontation to give this wayward king and this wayward family one last chance to right the ship.

Elijah does not have good news for Ahaziah. He is going to die.

But the reason isn’t because his injuries are too serious for God to heal, it is because the king has pursued another god to for help.

Elijah’s words are a warning and an invitation.

“Ahaziah, perhaps you forgot that there is no need to go outside of Israel for help. There is a God right here, who has proven His superiority over the gods of other lands.”

“If you persist, know that you will die.”

Ahaziah’s response is telling.

He ask who gave them the message, to which they respond with a brief description.

He knows exactly who met them on the road, Elijah, his dad’s greatest enemy.

He knew Elijah and he knew Elijah was speaking the words of God.

The thing about Ahab was that he wasn’t totally against God, he believed in God, even thought He was powerful and someone to follow, just not exclusively.

Jezabel was the true Baal worshiper, Ahab worshipped both, in order to try and squeeze out all the blessings he could from both.

So Ahaziah knew about Elijah’s God, he just didn’t care. He didn’t believe the God of Elijah was worth worshipping.

His response is to send a captain with 50 men to bring Elijah to the king.

Notice the captains words “Thus says the king, come down!”

This is a show of authority.

The king was communicating a message to Elijah, “Your God has no authority in my life Elijah.”

We don’t really know what he was going to do with Elijah if he had came, but he was clearly not sending his captain to plead for God’s help.

Much like on Mount Carmel with Ahaziah’s dad, fire is sent from heaven.

Elijah’s words are not meant to brag, but to point to the authority and power of the God he served.

“Here’s another change Ahaziah, listen to my words.”

But he did not listen, he only hardened his heart even more by sending a 2nd captain, one that had an even more forceful message.

“Thus says the king, come down here RIGHT NOW!”

This is when daddy had to say it again type words.

And in these words we hear the defiance in Ahaziah’s heart.

He will not believe, he will not submit.

I would venture to say no one hearing this message today has that kind of attitude about God and His Word.

Most all of us have a favorable view of the Bible, Church, Faith, and God in general.

But would you say you are submissive to the Word of God.

Does it shape your beliefs, your thoughts, your attitudes, and your actions?

Does it influence your emotions, decisions, directions, and desires?

Is it a louder voice in your life than the advice of friends, the pull of culture, the talking heads on the news networks, the influencers on social media, or the husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend you desire to please?

Jesus says in John 10:27 “27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.”

Submission to the Scriptures is submission to God. Rebellion against the Scriptures is rebellion against God. — Kevin DeYoung

Ahaziah’s refusal to listen to the Lord was rooted in rebellion.

He didn’t believe God’s Word to be true.

And maybe you would never say those words, but how is your life reflecting a submission to God’s Word?

A 2nd time Elijah called upon God to prove His power and a 2nd time 51 men lost their lives.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Ahaziah might not have been insane, but he definitely was foolish.

For the 3rd time, he sends a captain with 50 men, but this captain was different.

He doesn’t come with the words “Thus says the kind!” He comes with words of submission, “Man of God...”

He feared God. Like really feared Him.

His fear was an acknowledgment of power and authority.

And this posture is one God responds to and it stand is STARK contrast to the posture of Ahaziah (though his physical posture was horizontal on a bed, dying from his injuries).

God's commands are designed to guide you to life's very best. You will not obey Him, if you do not believe Him and trust Him. You cannot believe Him if you do not love Him. You cannot love Him unless you know Him. — Henry Blackaby

John 15:4–5 NLT

4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Abide in Me says Jesus. Cling to Me. Stick fast to Me. Live the life of close and intimate communion with Me. Get nearer to Me. Roll every burden on Me. Cast your whole weight on Me. Never let go your hold on Me for a moment. Be, as it were, rooted and planted in Me. Do this and I will never fail you. I will ever abide in you. J.C. Ryle

To whom are you listening?

3) To WHOM will you ANSWER?

2 Kings 1:16–18 CSB

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.

There are 3 end of life stories in this small section of scripture between 1 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 2.

Ahab dies in the battlefield in 1 Kings 22.

Ahaziah dies of his injuries from his fall in 2 Kings 1.

And Elijah is taken up to heaven in 2 Kings 2.

The commonality in each of these is the reality of the end of life.

Everyone’s life comes to an end.

But who we meet at the end really is determined by who we turn to and who we listen to in the days, months, and years preceding the end.

Ahaziah’s heart was rebellious and indifferent to God and His Word and so his death was judgement and also brought eternal judgement.

Ahab was a waffler, with one foot in God’s court and one in Baal’s. His life was marked with compromise and slit allegiance. And, like his son’s, his death was punishment and brought eternal punishment.

But Elijah was different.

He was submissive and obedient to God’s Word.

He knew God, loved Him, and was loved BY Him.

So when Elijah met the end of his earthly life, he didn’t meet an angry, wrathful judge, he met a gracious, merciful, loving Father.

One who loved Elijah enough to even let him, like Enoch in Genesis 5, avoid the pain of physical death.

Jesus says in John 3-

John 3:17 CSB

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

We can so often have this idea in our minds that God is some cruel, grumpy, malicious old man in the sky who demands us to follow all the rules or we will surely pain the piper.

But we have seen over and over in 1st and 2nd Kings a God who pursues, who comforts, who calls out and give chances.

And we see a God who follows through with His promises and His warnings.

2 cor 5 10

2 Corinthians 5:10 CSB

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Jesus didn’t come to judge the world 2000 year ago, He came to save the world, anyone who would come to Him.

But He is coming back

Revelation 19:11–16 CSB

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Revelation 20:11–15 CSB

11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:1–7 CSB

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

To whom will you answer?

He is the same King seated on the throne, but His demeanor is very different.

And the only difference between is in one’s willingness to give oneself over to Jesus, to heed the words of Christ.

“Come and follow me.”