#491 I Know, Not Your God

After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” So Elijah went.

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

6 “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 messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’”

7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”

8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair[a] and had a leather belt around his waist.”

The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”

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

11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”

12 “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! 14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

16 He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” 17 So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.

Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram[b] succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18 As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 2 Kings 1 NIV

The God of Israel told your father Ahab what would happen to him, but he went to battle anyway. Ahab's son has hurt himself and apparently not recovered so quickly, nor has history been a good enough teacher to him, for he sends now to inquire of an idol. His messengers are intercepted by Elijah and sent back to ask the king, is their not a God in Israel? Maybe the boy was too young then to remember, or maybe he was out of town, but no, he ask that they describe the man, and he knows all too well. That is Elijah, he is like John the Baptist to Herod and his wife, telling them that something they're doing is wrong. No one likes that, especially not those that govern, it's embarrassing and it questions their authority. I'm sorry young man, but Santa Klaus is not real, Elijah is scary though because a real God is with him, and he says you are done. 

For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[b]; yet he liked to listen to him. Mark 16: 17-20

Now he will repent, no, not going to happen, delusion doesn't work that way, it takes and defends the side of pride. I will send up 50 men with their captain, and he will be impressed by this as my captain shall speak forcefully to him, and he will have no choice but to return with them. "Man of God, the king says, 'come down.' " Oh, the king says, but it is the king who is being judged, or do you hold that this should not be? Elijah is not here of his own or for his own honor, God will honor him, but he is here to honor God. "Man of God", as if you have any respect unto that, but here, if he is, then let fire come down. Oh, so now I remember who you are, from the many dead prophets who danced and cut themselves before Baal, I shall send 50 more of my men, for they are but handfuls to me. They are like Doritos, we can make more. Rearrange the words, make sure he knows the king is the one asking and sound authoritative, same wrong approach but different guy, and more words. I think I would go work for someone else, but too late, the same thing happened to them, how odd, almost like a pattern. I am starting to think that God resists the proud, that He is not a respecter of persons, that He is not afraid of the things He has made. Ahaziah sends another captain with 50 more men, but it has occurred to this man that his life and the lives of his men may be worth more than his pride or that of the king. This prophet represents a greater than the king. He humbles himself and begs that Elijah have respect for their lives. Why? Why should the prophet do this when the king does not? Any king that would set men at odds with God's holiness does not above words respect their lives, whether he knows it or not. This king knows far too well, but he has sold away his mind to others, and cares not the least for his men. The Messenger of the Lord tells Elijah to go with this man, he respects the man who respects his own life and the life of his men enough to humble himself before the messenger. What must I do to be saved? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. He goes with this man and tells the king, since there is no God here for you in Israel, you will not recover. He could have repented during all of this, thrown himself down before God, pleaded with the messenger to plead on his behalf, to a God Who could actually save him here or even better, into eternity, but all he gets is the same answer that the day would bring him. The idols we make can only lead us to our death until our death, no one knows when the lattice will break. 

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant[a] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion[b] heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. Luke 7: 1-10