2 Kings Ch1v1-17 - God's Word and Our Response

Good morning everybody.

If you could open your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 22, the last chapter of 1 Kings.

1 Kings 22 · chapter mention

1 Kings and verse 51.

This is on page 366 of the Red Church Bible.

366.

So it's 1 Kings chapter 22 and verse 51.

1 Kings 22 · chapter mention

And while you're turning there, just a little bit of context.

1 and 2 Kings were actually originally one full book.

They were split in two.

At some point, for ease of access.

But, yeah, it's a full narrative.

And we're diving right into the middle of it today.

And so just to set the context in that.

After leading the Israelites out of slavery.

God has given his people the land of Canaan.

But, after about 300 years, the kingdom is split in two, sadly.

We have Judah to the south.

We have Israel to the north.

Which is the setting of our text today.

And the book, in its entirety, basically tells us about the kings, obviously, of these two kingdoms.

And the real thing about it is whether these kings are going to listen to and accept God's word.

Or are they going to reject it?

That's the test, basically, for each king.

So, I think it's a very relevant word for us today.

Because, as we live in a liberal society, which has largely brushed aside God's word as irrelevant and outdated,

this passage is very relevant to us.

Because we're going to hear about a king and his attitude towards God's word, too.

And what we're going to do is we're going to read the passage piece by piece today.

Rather than reading the whole thing at the start, we're going to read it bit by bit to kind of build attention a little bit.

Nobody likes spoilers.

If you meet me on the way into Omniplex and Manpoint.

And don't tell me the storyline of the film, if you want to be my friend afterwards.

So, yeah, we're going to build attention.

And if you do know the story, no spoilers for the person beside you.

But, yeah, let's pray.

Let's commit this time to the Lord now.

Holy Spirit, we come needy.

When we come asking you for your help.

To see the wonderful things that you have to say to us today through your word.

And it's not all easy to take.

So give us grace to love your word and not to run from it.

Amen.

Well, let's start at 1 Kings 22, verse 51.

1 Kings 22:51

And we're going to continue then into the next book, 2 Kings, and read most of the first chapter.

So, verse 51.

Ahaziah, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

And he reigned over Israel for two years.

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

He served and worshipped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

Skip over the page.

After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.

We'll pause there.

Can you imagine how the headlines would have read in those days?

Probably pretty similar to those in Ukraine at the start of last year.

Breaking news.

Moab is gathering troops along the border.

Israel, prepare for war.

And we can imagine the nation in a state of panic as fathers and sons dust down their weapons for battle.

Women and children filled with fear at the prospect of what might happen to their loved ones.

In times of peril, what the people of God need is a ruler who will bring them a word from God of security and of hope.

But what did they find?

Let's read verse 2.

Now Ahaziah, the king, 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-Zibbub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.

Their king has taken a rather embarrassing tumble.

And rather than worrying about the impending war in his nation,

he's asking a false god if he's going to get better soon.

It really is that pathetic.

The real crisis for Israel in this story is not that their king has an injury.

It's not even that their enemies have declared war.

The real crisis is that their leader, instead of seeking a word of hope from God for his people,

is seeking a word of affirmation from a false god for himself.

Things are not good in Israel.

And by the way, Ahaziah should have known what his job was as the king of God's people.

God had given him a list of instructions.

You can look at those in Deuteronomy chapter 27.

Deuteronomy 27 · chapter mention

I'm just going to summarize them here.

A, don't make any idols out of sex, money, or power.

And B, write out God's word.

Read it every day.

Do it every day.

Don't turn away from God's word.

That was his job as king.

He was supposed to show the rest of the nation how to listen to and apply God's word.

Now, obviously, we're not getting those vibes from Ahaziah here.

In fact, Ahaziah kept pushing out God's word and looking for another word he wanted to hear.

A word that affirmed what he said was right.

And now, before we start saying, oh, how foolish Ahaziah, did you not read all the instructions?

We need to realize that we're just like him.

We keep pushing out God's word and looking for another word that we want to hear.

A word that affirms what we say is right over and above what God says is right.

We consistently don't believe that God's word really does give us life.

We think something else is going to give us something better.

And that's a big problem for Ahaziah and for you and for me because this is what the Bible calls idolatry.

Which is when we look to something or someone else for our ultimate security, love and joy apart from God.

And the result of idolatry is plain obvious.

Spend your lifetime choosing other things over God.

And when this life ends, God will simply give you what you've always wanted in this life for eternity.

Life apart from him.

Away from his presence.

A reality that the Bible calls hell.

So, from the outset, let's just establish this.

We, like Ahaziah, are in ultimate danger.

Because of our idolatry.

Because we don't listen to God's word.

What hope is there for us?

Well, as this story unfolds, we're going to see how Ahaziah responds to God's word.

And ultimately, the refuge that we can find in God's final word.

His son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, first of all, God speaks his word in mercy.

Let's read on the story.

Verse 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-Zibbub, the god of Ekron?

Therefore, this is what the Lord says.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says.

You will not leave the bed you are lying on.

You will certainly die.

So, Elijah went.

And when the messengers returned to the king, he asked them,

Why have you come back?

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-Zibbub, the god of Ekron?

Therefore, you will not leave the bed you are lying on.

You will certainly die.

Wow.

God chooses to intervene.

And he does it through his prophet, Elijah, the man at that time who God chose to carry his word to the people.

And as Elijah stops the king's messengers in their tracks on the way to Baal,

what is crystal clear is that God will not tolerate Ahaziah's idolatry.

And let's be clear, this is not God overreaching here or meddling in his personal affairs.

It's God being merciful to Ahaziah.

God knew that Baal-Zibbub was nothing more than a statue of gold

and no more able to speak words of truth and comfort than a brick wall.

So God graciously intervenes.

He gives Ahaziah one last chance to turn to his life-giving words.

We could say God is mercifully intolerant of our idolatry.

Listen closely to the way God asks the question of Ahaziah.

This is repeated three times, so we've got to listen up to this.

Verse 3.

Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zibbub?

The answer is obvious.

Yes!

Yes, Ahaziah does have a God in Israel who has fought all their battles and rescued them from slavery.

It's as foolish as if my son, when feeling hungry,

were to walk out the front door and start rummaging through the bin for something good to eat.

I would walk out the door and look at him and ask,

is it because you don't have a dad who loves you and who has a fridge full of food

that you've chosen to look in the bin for something to eat?

How ridiculous would that be?

You'd never do that.

Or, what if there was a world-renowned heart surgeon with her clinic on your very street?

Just imagine that for a second.

And one morning you wake up with an unusual heart tremor.

So you immediately get up to get some help,

but you walk straight past the heart clinic

and into your hairdresser to ask her advice on how to fix the problem.

If your heart surgeon found out, she would rightly ask,

is it because you don't have a world-renowned heart surgeon on your street

that you're going to your hairdresser to get advice on that heart problem?

How ridiculous would that be?

We would never do that, right?

And yes, we do this all the time when it comes to God's Word.

We know God's words are always true,

saving us and giving us life everlasting,

but we routinely don't want to hear it.

Why?

Because these words are also lovingly convicting.

God knows that sin destroys our joy in Him.

The writer of Hebrews captures it like this.

You can look at it on the board.

For the Word of God is alive and active,

sharper than any double-edged sword.

It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

You see, Ahaziah is just showing us

what's really going on in our own hearts.

We want it our way,

and we don't want anyone to get in our way.

And if God's Word is going to do that,

if it's going to get in our way,

then we're going to turn instead to a podcast or a book

or a friend who's going to tell us exactly what we want to hear,

a word that will affirm what we say is true and good.

And just like he asked Ahaziah,

God is asking you and he's asking me today,

is it because you don't have a God

who speaks life-giving words

that you are turning to an empty word

to affirm what you say is true?

God didn't allow Ahaziah to continue his idolatry and peace.

He graciously interrupted it.

There is love in his anger against our sin.

And as God invites Ahaziah to return

to the true security and hope of his Word

over empty promises,

so he invites us.

But let's keep going in this story.

How is Ahaziah going to respond to God's warning?

Read from verse 7.

The king asked them,

What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?

They replied,

He had a garment of hair

and had a leather belt round his waist.

The king said,

That was Elijah the Tishbite.

Then he sent to Elijah a captain

with his company of 50 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.

Elijah answered the captain,

If I am a man of God,

may fire come down from heaven

and consume you and your 50 men.

Then fire fell from heaven

and consumed the captain and his men.

At this,

the king sent to Elijah

another captain with his 50 men.

The captain said to him,

Man of God,

this is what the king says,

Come down at once.

If I am a man of God,

Elijah replied,

May fire come down from heaven

and consume you and your 50 men.

Then the fire of God fell from heaven

and consumed him and his 50 men.

Well, after Isaiah figures out

the identity

of this speaker of God's word,

there wasn't really any debate necessary.

There's only one thing on his mind.

Destroy him.

Destroy Elijah.

And with Elijah,

God's word.

So what does Isaiah do?

Well,

he summons the troops.

He sends him off

to bring Elijah back

and very soon Elijah

will be saying his last words.

But,

God intervenes.

And two sets of troops

are consumed by fire.

And this is a shocking judgment.

It jars us.

And we do struggle

to understand why.

Maybe it seems like an overreaction.

Why did God have to do it this way?

And you know,

it's good that we ask those questions

of the text.

Not saying we're going to

completely understand it.

But there are some things

we can understand

about why God

may have chosen

this course of action.

And I think

two main things

that stand out are this.

A.

God's word

will always endure.

Elijah was

about to be killed.

And God had to protect

his word

from being destroyed.

Therefore,

this intervention

was necessary.

He was protecting

his servant

and his word.

And that should

encourage us.

God's word

cannot

be

silenced.

Kings and governments

may try to eradicate it.

Society may write laws

to push it out.

And they may see

temporary success,

but they can never

truly silence

God's word.

In fact,

Jesus promised us

in Matthew

Matthew 24:14

chapter 24

verse 14.

He said,

this gospel of the kingdom

will be preached

in the whole world

as a testimony

to

all

nations.

nations.

And then the end

will come.

We can bank our lives

in that happening.

So,

A,

God's word

will always endure.

Maybe another reason

why God

took this course

of action

would be this.

God's word

is always

supreme.

It's no coincidence

that God

responds with fire

to Ahaziah's

contempt.

Baalzebub

was actually

known as

the god

of fire

to the people

who worshipped

him at that time.

So,

God is effectively

saying,

I'll show

you fire.

This is really

a statement

from God

to Ahaziah

and the whole

nation.

He makes

a mockery

out of Baal.

He shows

Baal to be

completely false.

And in doing

this,

the whole of

Israel

would know

that God

is the true

God.

And it's true

in our lives

also that

every word

contradicting

God's word

will ultimately

fail us.

Whether it's

the empty

promises

of satisfaction

from sinful

indulgence,

the empty

promises of

fulfillment

from a

romantic

relationship,

the empty

promises of

happiness

from having

more and more

followers,

likes,

gadgets,

stuff,

all these

words will

ultimately

fail us

and leave

us empty

in the

end.

And they

never

come through

on their

promises.

But not

with God's

word.

Everything

God promises

you in

his word

is true

and you

can bank

your life

on it.

When he

promises

freedom

from sin,

deep-rooted

joy in the

midst of

pain,

an

inheritance

forever

in heaven,

it's all

real

and true

and it

completely

surpasses

all the

other empty

words we

look to

for life.

We can

bank our

lives on

it.

So first,

God speaks

his word

in mercy.

Second,

he protects

his word

eternally.

And third,

God fulfills

his word

unfailingly.

And we're

reaching the

climax of

the story.

It's getting

tense.

Ahaziah has

had every

opportunity to

repent.

What now?

He's throwing

all the toys

out of the

pram.

He's making

every effort

possible to

try and

destroy God's

word and

we can see

it's coming

up embarrassingly

short.

Will he

repent?

Well, it

doesn't look

like it.

Look in

verse 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.

See, fire

has fallen

from heaven

and consumed

the first

two captains

and all

their men.

But now,

have respect

for my

life.

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.

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

Zibbub,

the god

of Ekron?

Because you

have done

this, you

will never

leave the

bed you

are lying

on.

You will

certainly

die.

And so

he died

according

to the

word of

the Lord

that

Elijah

had

spoken.

The

application

is quite

simple,

isn't it?

God

fulfills

his word

unfailingly.

What he

says will

happen,

will happen.

Ahaziah died

because God

said he

would.

No matter

how hard

Ahaziah fought

to destroy

God's

word,

God

could not

be stopped

from fulfilling

all of his

holy purposes.

God had

seen how

Ahaziah,

leader of

God's

people,

lived his

whole life

pushing out

God's

word,

looking for

another word

he wanted

to hear,

a word that

affirmed what

he said

was right.

His reign

only lasted

two years.

He was

judged for

his sin.

But where

does this

all leave

us?

Because

we've already

established that

we have the

very same

heart tendency

as Ahaziah.

If Ahaziah

met that

end,

same in

store for

us.

Well,

he lived in

a time

before Jesus

and we

might say he

had God's

word in an

earlier form.

Hebrews

says it

well,

it's on

the board.

In the

past,

God spoke

to our

ancestors

through the

prophets

at many

times and

in various

ways.

But in

these last

days,

he has

spoken to

us by

his

son,

whom he

appointed

heir of

all things

and through

whom he

also made

the universe.

The

son is

the

radiance

of God's

glory and

the exact

representation

of his

being,

sustaining

all things

by his

powerful

word.

Jesus

is God's

ultimate

word.

Everything

God wanted

to say,

he said

it through

Jesus.

And think

about Jesus'

life on

earth.

In John

14,

he says,

I love

the

Father and

do exactly

what my

Father has

commanded me.

You see,

Jesus lived

the perfect

life of

obedience to

God's word

that we

have all

failed to

live.

And yet,

as he

suffered in

agony on

the cross,

what did he

cry out?

He said,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

Now,

how could a

person who

lived a

perfect life

of obedience

to God's

word,

find himself

in a position

where he

separated from

God's

love?

Well,

the answer

is that as

Jesus hung

there,

he was

taking your

place and

mine.

We

deserved to

be there

for our

rejection of

God's

word and

turning to

another word

that we

wanted to

hear.

So we

should get

what we

wanted,

separation

from God

forever.

But Jesus

took the

fire of

God's

judgment

that we

deserved.

He was

separated from

the Father

so that we

could come

close forever.

And that is

the best

news that

we ever

hear.

so what

should our

response be

to this

Jesus,

God's

final word?

Well,

I think it

should be

something like

that of the

captains,

the third

captain,

I mean.

Notice how

different his

approach is to

God's word as

it was spoken

through Elijah.

Look back at

verse 13.

Verse 13.

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.

See, fire has

fallen from

heaven and

consumed the

first two

captains and

all their

men, but

now have

respect for

my life.

This

captain falls

on his

knees.

He begs

for mercy.

He pleads

for a

salvation that

he knows

his king

and people

don't

deserve.

And so

likewise, we

come on

our knees

before God's

final word,

Jesus Christ.

We look to

him for

mercy.

We look to

the cross in

faith and

believe that

Jesus really

did take all

our sin on

himself there.

we look to

the empty

tomb in

faith and

we see our

risen Savior

who has

swallowed up

our death

forever.

We humble

ourselves before

him as our

king and we

present our

lives as

living sacrifices

to him in

thankfulness.

God's

God's

final word

is asking

you and

I and

every other

person on

this planet

is this.

Will you

accept

Jesus,

God's

final word

or will

you

reject him?

And if

you're not

yet a

follower of

Christ,

let me just

say there's

no more

important decision

that you can

ever make.

And don't

say, oh,

I don't need

to think about

that right

now.

I've got

time in

my life to

make that

decision at

a later

point.

You don't

even know

that you

have tomorrow.

How foolish

to ignore the

warning of

God's judgment

like Ahaziah

did.

Accepting

or rejecting

Jesus is the

difference between

eternal life

with God

or eternal

separation from

him.

if we

reject Christ,

God will

simply give

us what

we've chosen

in this

life for

eternity.

Hear the

warning.

But if

you do

accept God's

final word,

Jesus,

trusting in

him for

your salvation,

you are

transferred from

death to

life.

And if

that is you

today,

and if you

have run

into the

refuge that

is Christ,

you don't

need to

fear losing

him.

God is

holding onto

you despite

your continued

struggle with

sin.

As Paul

reminds us in

2 Timothy,

if we are

faithless,

he is

faithful.

And how

can God do

this?

Well,

he can do

it because

our sin has

been paid

for by

Christ.

Christ.

So,

that can

no longer

separate us

from God.

We don't

have to fear

that we

might lose

him when

we fail.

Now,

of course,

it is foolish

of us to

run to the

empty promises

of other

words over

God's word.

And we do

this, even

as followers

of Christ,

we are

doing this

daily.

And whenever

we do it,

we simply

lose out

on true

joy,

security,

and hope.

It is like

rummaging

through a

bin for

something good

to eat,

while standing

beside an

open fridge

full of

fresh food.

You see,

once we

become

children of

God,

the fight

to stay

in God's

word is

the fight

for joy.

joy.

We don't

get lasting

joy anywhere

else.

The empty

promises of

our idols

will always

let us

down.

But what

can comfort

us or

fill us

with hope

like God's

unshakable

promises in

his word?

Nothing

can.

I want

to finish

with some

verses from

Psalm

119.

They're going

to come up

on the

board here.

We could

probably say

that the

writer of

this psalm

was the

opposite of

King Ahaziah

because he

understood the

superior treasures

of God's

word.

He had

developed an

insatiable

appetite for

them.

And he

shows us how

we can develop

these spiritual

taste buds

too by

meditating on

God's

word and

asking God

for his

help and

his grace

to love

his word.

I've just

picked out

four verses.

Verse 97.

Oh, how

I love

your law.

I meditate

on it

all day

long.

How sweet

are your

words to

my taste,

sweeter than

honey to

my mouth.

your word

is a

lamp for

my feet,

a light

on my

path.

Your

statutes

are my

heritage

forever.

They are

the joy

of my

heart.

It

seems

that

you and

I are

far too

easily

pleased

with rummaging

through the

bin looking

for scraps

of empty

promises that

will never

satisfy.

When all

the while,

a fully

stocked

fridge packed

with delicious

promises that

you can bank

your life on

stands open

right beside

you.

The choice

is yours.

Scraps

or a

feast.

Empty

words

are God's

life-giving

word.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Holy

Spirit,

we turn

to you

now.

we can't

suddenly just

want God's

word more

than the

empty promises

of other

things.

It's not

in us.

We need

a heart

change.

We need

an appetite

change so

that we

find your

words and

your promises

more delightful

and true

and satisfying

than any

other

lesser

words.

give us

grace today

and tomorrow

each day

we live

to choose

Jesus

and find

our ultimate

joy in

him

and for

his glory

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

We are

going to

sing a

song.