““A man came to meet us,”’ they replied. “‘And he said to us. “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “‘This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’””
~ 2 Kings 1:6
Hi James and Ellen,
When you need help to get something done, who do you go to for help? When you have a question about something that you would like an answer, who do you go to for the answer? Do you go to your dad and/or ma or to your teacher or . . . for help when you need help to get something done? Do you go to your dad and/or ma or to your teacher or . . . for an answer to a question about something that you would like an answer? Who would you go to for help or for an answer to find out if you are going to live after you have really hurt yourself when you fell through the lattice that is in your bedroom? Lattices are used to support certain kinds of plants and flowers as they are growing. Your grandpaa cannot get his arms around how he could have done it but a guy by the name of Ahaziah really hurt himself when he fell through the lattice that was in his upper chamber in the house that he was living in in Samaria. Ahaziah at the ending the first Kings Book was the acting king over the Israelite people group’s guys and gals. Ahaziah was still the king over the Israelite people group’s guys and gals when 2 Kings 1 begins. The Kings Books historian put together a scribed account of each one of the kings who reigned over the guys and gals who lived in the northern kingdom – Israel, and in the southern kingdom – Judah. Ahaziah had been the king over the Israelite people group’s guys and gals for two years when he really hurt himself when he somehow fell through the lattice that was in the upper chamber in the house that he was living in in Samaria. Who would you go to for help if you really hurt yourself? Who would you go to for the answer of whether or not you are going to live after you really hurt yourself? Would you go to Baal-Zebub or to Elijah to ask whether or not you are going to live? Ahaziah probably learned from watching his dad Ahab worship idols that were made from metal, stone and wood to also worship those same idols. Baal-Zebub was in Ekron the god of the Philistine people group’s guys and gals. The name Baal-Zebub means the god of flies. Ekron was the fifth largest and northernmost city in Philistia. The Philistine people group’s guys and gals did not and still do not like the Israelite people group’s guys and gals – God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Elijah the Tishbite was one of God’s prophet spokesmen. God spoke to Elijah through an angel to tell him to meet up with guys who Ahaziah had sent to Ekron to ask Baal-Zebub – an idol, if he was going to live to tell these guys to tell Ahaziah what verse 6 says, ““A man came to meet us,”’ they replied. “‘And he said to us. “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “‘This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’”” What would you do if you were told that you were going to die?
Ahaziah did not want to die. Ahaziah wanted to talk personally with Elijah. Ahaziah sent one of his army captains with his company of fifty soldiers to find Elijah – to bring Elijah to where he could talk personally with Elijah as he lay on his bed. The army captain and his company of soldiers found Elijah sitting on a hill. Instead of going with the army captain and his company of soldiers, Elijah asked God to send fire down from heaven to burn up the army captain and his company of soldiers. Ahaziah would send a second army captain with his company of fifty soldiers to bring Elijah to him to talk with him personally. Elijah again asked God to send fire down from heaven to . . . the third army captain who Ahaziah ordered to find Elijah pleaded with Elijah to not burn him up and his company of soldiers with fire. God – through His angel, then told Elijah to go to Ahaziah to personally tell Ahaziah that he was going to die because he had not gone to Him for help and/or asked Him if he was going to live.
Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they can ‘fall through a lattice’ at any time and . . . one summer your grandpaa took the South America Mission summer team that was in Bolivia to Monte Verde. Monte Verde is located about 110 kilometers from the town – Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez, where your grandmaa and grandpaa were the administrators of the rural resident leadership training program. Most of the road to Monte Verde from Concepción is nothing more than a dirt trail. This meandering dirt road goes through streams and muddy places. Your grandpaa at one point got the white C-10 Chevrolet pickup that your grandmaa and grandpaa owned seriously bogged down in mud in a mucky stretch of road. Your grandpaa and the college age guys with him spent hours getting the pickup unstuck. By the time that your grandpaa was able to get his pickup out of the mud hole where he was stuck, your grandpaa was covered with mud. A tiny community of thatched roofed, mud walled houses was located a short way up the dirt trail. A river passes very close to this small ‘rancho’. It was dusk by the time that your grandpaa walked to the river to wash. A little gal about seven or eight years old went with your grandmaa and grandpaa to the river. After your grandpaa took off almost all of his filthy clothes and after he took just one step into the river to wash off the mud, the little gal told your grandpaa not to go any further into the river because there were alligators in the river that would . . . how far do you think that your grandpaa went into the river to wash that night? How good are you at listening? Do you ask God for help when you need help? Do you ask God for an answer to a question when you have a question? Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that God always wants them to ask Him for His help. Your grandpaa knows that if he does not ask for God for His help, that God will have an alligator eat him just as God had Ahaziah somehow fall through a lattice as a way to have him die because . . . if you do not ask God for His help . . .
2 Kings 1 (302)