2 Kings 1:1-18
1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
3 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 unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
6 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fella on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
18 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?
2 Kings 1:2. Go, enquire of Baal-zebub, whether I shall recover. בעל זבוב Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. The LXX read Βααλ μυιαν, the lord of flies, because they swarmed about his bloody temple; but the Philistines called him Baalshemin, lord of heaven. Dr. Lightfoot gives another name of this idol, from the rabbins. Baal-zebul; that is, lord of dung or dunghill. In politer language, lord of idols or idolatry. They regard Satan as presiding over the gentile temples, and uttering the oracles of those places. Augustine fully admits that demons, by their superior knowledge of the state of the atmosphere, did deliver oracles concerning rain, and some other events.
2 Kings 1:9. Thou man of God come down. This captain was sent by the advice of Jezebel, who wished to feast her eyes with the blood of the prince of prophets. Imbibing the spirit of the court, the captain calls him a man of God by way of contempt; and he instantly received the punishment of his sin, as did those who afterwards mocked Elisha. The second captain, and his guard of fifty men, coming in the same spirit, received the same punishment. But the third, humbled under the mighty hand of God, begged his life. A soldier must never fight against Omnipotence.
2 Kings 1:10. If I be a man of God, then let fire come down. If the Lord saved the Hebrews from Pharaoh by water, why might he not save the life of the only surviving prophet by fire?
REFLECTIONS.
When Adam rebelled against his Creator in paradise, the beasts of the earth, as though influenced by high example, rebelled against him. So it was with the house of Ahab, and the king of Moab. After a grievous offence against God, there is often a present, and also a remote, but heavier affliction which follows.
Ahaziah, succeeding his father, walked in all the idolatrous practices of his father and mother, and in all the sins of Jeroboam. Therefore while he was young, and promising himself a happy reign, God, in compassion to his people, permitted him to receive a mortal stroke by a fall from an upper window. How often is danger near when we think ourselves the most secure. What sinner is safe, unprotected by the blood of the everlasting covenant.
This prince, arrested by an invisible hand, discovered a most superstitious mind, and a glaring infidelity of heart against the Lord. In his own gods he had no faith, and in the God of Israel he had no hope; he sent to Baalzebub to know whether he should recover. What an insult to all his idols, and to all his prophets. What a provocation to the Lord!
When this man sought a vestige of hope, while in his sins, the Lord confirmed his despair. Elijah, with the divine message, intercepted the embassy on the road, and not a little reproached them with the folly of their errand, seeing the marvels which had been accorded to the seed of Abraham for a thousand years, that they should think there was no God in Israel; and sent them back with a positive declaration from the Lord, that their master should not recover. The king's suspense therefore was short. His embassy recited the facts, and so described the prophet that the person of Elijah was recognized. And now, behold that guilty and desponding countenance. See those baleful and rolling eyes. He must die, and he seems determined not to die. The anguish of his soul makes him a terror to himself, and to all his domestics. Conceiving their life to be in danger, they tremble, and seek their safety in flight. His prophets, conscious of being obnoxious, dare not approach; and his physicians, embarrassed and afraid, do it only with the forced promises of a positive recovery, while their looks sufficiently contradict all they say. Oh that the wicked, the infidel, the proud would learn wisdom from the numerous and instructive cases which all ages afford of the consummate misery of certain characters in the last moments of desponding life.
But the most lamentable disposition was the enmity of this prince against the prophet Elijah. Yet what harm had this prophet done to the dying king? Nay, what persecutions had he not suffered from the family, because he had told them the truth? Yet if Ahaziah must die; if on God he can inflict no revenge, he will at least be avenged on Elijah. He protests that this prophet shall be among the number which lament his fall. He instantly dispatches a military escort to bring him in chains to Samaria. Oh how terrible for this man to die in war and open contest with Omnipotence! Wicked kings are often surrounded with wicked servants. The captain of this escort, full of his master's spirit, found Elijah contemplating the works of God from an elevated rock in Carmel. Come down, said he, thou man of God. I am come to convince thee that thou art a blind prophet, and unable to foresee thy own destruction. Elijah, finding his mission discredited by this profane man, after so many signal works, proved it yet again by his destruction. He commanded a sheet of the electric fluid to descend and consume both him and his men. A second captain came in the same spirit, and received the same punishment. The third, seeing the visitations of God, prostrated to beg his life, and offered the prophet a safe protection. Being admonished by an angel, Elijah went to the hardened king, not indeed to comfort him, but to clench the nail of his former denunciation. Thus God in some notorious cases permits the church to use her mysterious power of punishment. Acts 5:5; 1 Corinthians 5:5. St. Paul had power to come with a rod; and he delivered two blasphemers over to Satan. If the church of God, after long praying for the conversion of an oppressor, should be led by the Spirit to pray for his destruction, I would not for the whole world be in his situation.