II
K I N G S
CHAP. I.
We
here find Ahaziah, the genuine son and successor of Ahab, on the throne of
Israel. His reign continued not two years; he died
by a fall in his own house, of which, after the mention of the revolt of
Moab (ver. 1), we have here an account. I. The
message which, on that occasion, he sent to the god of Ekron, ver. 2. II. The
message he received from the God of Israel, ver. 3-8. III. The destruction of
the messengers he sent to seize the prophet, once and again, ver. 9-12. IV.
His compassion to, and compliance with, the third messenger, upon his
submission, and the delivery of the message to the king himself, ver. 13-16.
IV. The death of Ahaziah, ver. 17, 18. In the story we may observe how great
the prophet looks and how little the prince.
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Ahaziah's
Sickness.
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B.
C. 896.
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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 Baal-zebub 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 Baal-zebub 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 Baal-zebub 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 a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he
said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
We have here Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel, under God's rebukes both by
his providence and by his prophet, by his rod and by his word.
I. He is crossed in his affairs. How can those expect to prosper that do
evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoke him to anger? When he
rebelled against God, and revolted from his allegiance to him, Moab rebelled
against Israel, and revolted from the subjection that had long paid to the
kings of Israel, v. 1. The Edomites that bordered on Judah, and were
tributaries to the kings of Judah, still continued so, as we find in the
chapter before (v. 47), till, in the wicked reign of Joram, they broke
that yoke (ch. viii. 22) as the Moabites did now. If men break their
covenants with us, and neglect their duty, we must reflect upon our breach of
covenant with God, and the neglect of our duty to him. Sin weakens and
impoverishes us. We shall hear of the Moabites, ch. iii. 5.
II. He is seized with sickness in body, not from any inward cause, but by a
severe accident. He fell down through a lattice, and was much bruised
with the fall; perhaps it threw him into a fever, v. 2. Whatever we go,
there is but a step between us and death. A man's house is his castle, but not
to secure him against the judgments of God. The cracked lattice is a fatal to
the son, when God pleases to make it so, as the bow drawn at a venture was to
the father. Ahaziah would not attempt to reduce the Moabites, lest he should
perish in the field of battle: but he is not safe, though he tarry at home.
Royal palaces do not always yield firm footing. The snare is laid for the
sinner in the ground where he thinks least of it, Job xviii. 9, 10. The whole
creation, which groans under the man's sin, will at length sink and break
under the weight, like this lattice. He is never safe that has God for his
enemy.
III. In his distress he sends messengers to enquire of the god Ekron whether
he should recover or no, v. 2. And here, 1. His enquiry was very
foolish: Shall I recover? Even nature itself would rather have asked,
"What means may I use that I may recover?" But as one solicitous
only to know his fortune, not to know his duty, his question is only this, Shall
I recover? to which a little time would give an answer. We should be more
thoughtful what will become of us after death than how, or when, or where, we
shall die, and more desirous to be told how we may conduct ourselves well in
our sickness, and get good to our souls by it, than whether we shall recover
from it. 2. His sending to Baal-zebub was very wicked; to make a dead and dumb
idol, perhaps newly erected (for idolaters were fond of new gods), his oracle,
was not less a reproach to his reason than to his religion. Baal-zebub, which
signifies the lord of a fly, was one of their Baals that perhaps gave
his answers either by the power of the demons or the craft of the priests,
with a humming noise, like that of a great fly, or that had (as they fancied)
rid their country of the swarms of flies wherewith it was infested, or of some
pestilential disease brought among them by flies. Perhaps this dunghill-deity
was as famous then as the oracle of Delphos was, long afterwards, in Greece.
In the New Testament the prince of the devils is called Beel-zebub
(Matt. xii. 24), for the gods of the Gentiles were devils, and this perhaps
grew to be one of the most famous.
IV. Elijah, by direction from God, meets the messengers, and turns them back
with an answer that shall save them the labour of going to Ekron. Had Ahaziah
sent for Elijah, humbled himself, and begged his prayers, he might have had an
answer of peace; but if he send to the god of Ekron, instead of the God of
Israel, this, like Saul's consulting the witch, shall fill the measure of his
iniquity, and bring upon him a sentence of death. Those that will not enquire
of the word of God for their comfort shall be made to hear it, whether they
will or not, to their amazement.
1. He faithfully reproves his sin (v. 3): Is it not because there is
not (that is, because you think there is not) a God in Israel (because
there is no God, none in Israel, so it may be read), that you go to
enquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, a despicable town of the
Philistines (Zech. ix. 7), long since vanquished by Israel? Here, (1.) The sin
was bad enough, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God alone,
which was done as much by their enquiries as by their sacrifices. Note, It is
a very wicked thing, upon any occasion or pretence whatsoever, to consult with
the devil. This wickedness reigned in the heathen world (Isa. xlvii. 12, 13)
and remains too much even in the Christian world, and the devil's kingdom is
supported by it. (2.) The construction which Elijah, in God's name, puts upon
it, makes it much worse: "It is because you think not only that the God
of Israel is not able to tell you, but that there is no God at all in Israel,
else you would not send so far for a divine answer." Note, A practical
and constructive atheism is the cause and malignity of our departures from
God. Surely we think there is no God in Israel when we live at large,
make flesh our arm, and seek a portion in the things of this world.
2. He plainly reads his doom: Go, tell him he shall surely die, v.
4. "Since he is so anxious to know his fate, this is it; let him make the
best of it." The certain fearful looking for of judgment and indignation
which this message must needs cause cannot but cut him to the heart.
V. The message being delivered to him by his servants, he enquires of them by
whom it was sent to him, and concludes, by their description of him, that it
must be Elijah, v. 7, 8. For, 1. His dress was the same that he had
seen him in, in his father's court. He was clad in a hairy garment, and had a
leathern girdle about him, was plain and homely in his garb. John Baptist, the
Elias of the New Testament, herein resembled him, for his clothes were made of
hair cloth, and he was girt with a leathern girdle, Matt. iii. 4. He that was
clothed with the Spirit despised all rich and gay clothing. 2. His message was
such as he used to deliver to his father, to whom he never prophesied good,
but evil. Elijah is one of those witnesses that still torment the inhabitants
of the earth, Rev. xi. 10. He that was a thorn in Ahab's eyes will be so in
the eyes of his son while he treads in the steps of his father's wickedness;
and he is ready to cry out, as his father did, Hast thou found me, O my
enemy? Let sinners consider that the word which took hold of their
fathers is still as quick and powerful as ever. See Zech. i. 6; Heb. iv.
12.
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Fire
Called from Heaven by Elijah.
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B.
C. 896.
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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
a 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
fell 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 Baal-zebub 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?
Here, I. The king issues out a warrant for the apprehending of Elijah. If the
God of Ekron had told him he should die, it is probable he would have taken it
quietly; but now that a prophet of the Lord tells him so, reproving him for
his sin and reminding him of the God of Israel, he cannot bear it. So far is
he from making any good improvement of the warning given him that he is
enraged against the prophet; neither his sickness, nor the thoughts of death,
made any good impressions upon him, nor possessed him with any fear of God. No
external alarms will startle and soften secure sinners, but rather exasperate
them. Did the king think Elijah a prophet, a true prophet? Why then durst he
persecute him? Did he think him a common person? What occasion was there to
send such a force, in order to seize him? Thus a band of men must take our
Lord Jesus.
II. The captain that was sent with his fifty soldiers found Elijah on the top
of a hill (some think Carmel), and commanded him, in the king's name, to
surrender himself, v. 9. Elijah was now so far from absconding, as
formerly, into the close recesses of a cave, that he makes a bold appearance
on the top of a hill; experience of God's protection makes him more bold. The
captain calls him a man of God, not that he believed him to be so, or
reverenced him a such a one, but because he was commonly called so. Had he
really looked upon him as a prophet, he would not have attempted to make him
his prisoner; and, had he thought him entrusted with the word of God, he would
not have pretended to command him with the word of a king.
III. Elijah calls for fire from heaven, to consume this haughty daring sinner,
not to secure himself (he could have done that some other way), nor to avenge
himself (for it was not his own cause that he appeared and acted in), but to
prove his mission, and to reveal the wrath of God from heaven
against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. This captain had, in
scorn, called him a man of God: "If I be so," says Elijah,
"thou shalt pay dearly for making a jest of it." He valued himself
upon his commission (the king has said, Come down), but Elijah will let
him know that the God of Israel is superior to the king of Israel and has a
greater power to enforce his commands. It was not long since Elijah had
fetched fire from heaven, to consume the sacrifice (1 Kings xvii. 38), in
token of God's acceptance of that sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of
the people; but, they having slighted that, now the fire falls, not on the
sacrifice, but on the sinners themselves, v. 10. See here, 1. What an
interest the prophets had in heaven; what the Spirit of God in them demanded
the power of God effected. Elijah did but speak, and it was done. He that
formerly had fetched water from heaven now fetches fire. O the power of
prayer! Concerning the work of my hands, command you me, Isa. xiv. 11.
2. What an interest heaven had in the prophets! God was always ready to plead
their cause, and avenge the injuries done to them; kings shall still be rebuked
for their sakes, and charged to do his prophets no harm; one Elijah
is more to God than 10,000 captains and their fifties. Doubtless Elijah did
this by a divine impulse, and yet our Saviour would not allow the disciples to
draw it into a precedent, Luke ix. 54. They were now not far from the place
where Elias did this act of justice upon provoking Israelites, and would
needs, in like manner, call for fire upon those provoking Samaritans.
"No," says Christ, "by no means, you know not what manner of
spirit you are of," that is, (1.) "You do not consider what
manner of spirit, as disciples, you are called to, and how different from
that of the Old-Testament dispensation; it was agreeable enough to that
dispensation of terror, and of the letter, for Elias to call for fire, but the
dispensation of the Spirit and of grace will by no means allow it." (2.)
"You are not aware what manner of spirit you are, upon this occasion,
actuated by, and how different from that of Elias: he did it in holy zeal, you
in passion; he was concerned for God's glory, you for your own reputation
only." God judges men's practices by their principles, and his judgment
is according to truth.
IV. This is repeated a second time; would one think it? 1. Ahaziah sends, a
second time, to apprehend Elijah (v. 11), as if he were resolved not to
be baffled by omnipotence itself. Obstinate sinners must be convinced and
conquered, at last, by the fire of hell, for fire from heaven, it seems, will
not subdue them. 2. Another captain is ready with his fifty, who, in his blind
rage against the prophet, and his blind obedience to the king, dares engage in
that service which had been fatal to the last undertakers. This is as impudent
and imperious as the last, and more in haste; not only, "Come down
quietly, and do not struggle," but without taking any notice of what
had been done, he says, "Come down quickly, and do not trifle, the
king's business requires haste; come down, or I will fetch thee down." 3.
Elijah relents not, but calls for another flash of lightning, which instantly
lays this captain and his fifty dead upon the spot. Those that will sin like
others must expect to suffer like them; God is inflexibly just.
V. The third captain humbled himself and cast himself upon the mercy of God
and Elijah. It does not appear that Ahaziah ordered him to do so (his stubborn
heart is as hard as ever; so regardless is he of the terrors of the Lord, so
little affected with the manifestations of his wrath, and withal so prodigal
of the lives of his subjects, that he sends a third with the same provoking
message to Elijah), but he took warning by the fate of his predecessors, who,
perhaps, lay dead before his eyes; and, instead of summoning the prophet down,
fell down before him, and begged for his life and the lives of his soldiers,
acknowledging their own evil deserts and the prophet's power (v. 13,
14): Let my life be precious in thy sight. Note, There is nothing to be
got by contending with God: if we would prevail with him, it must be by
supplication; if we would not fall before God, we must bow before him; and
those are wise for themselves who learn submission from the fatal consequences
of the obstinacy of others.
VI. Elijah does more than grant the request of this third captain. God is not
so severe with those that stand it out against him but he is as ready to show
mercy to those that repent and submit to him; never any found it in vain to
cast themselves upon the mercy of God. This captain, not only has his life
spared, but is permitted to carry his point: Elijah, being so commanded by the
angel, goes down with him to the king, v. 15. Thus he shows that
he before refused to come, not because he feared the king or court, but
because he would not be imperiously compelled, which would lessen the honour
of his master; he magnifies his office. He comes boldly to the king,
and tells him to his face (let him take it as he may) what he had before sent
to him (v. 16), that he shall surely and shortly die; he mitigates not
the sentence, either for fear of the king's displeasure or in pity to his
misery. The God of Israel has condemned him, let him send to see whether the
god of Ekron can deliver him. So thunder-struck is Ahaziah with this message,
when it comes from the prophet's own mouth, that neither he nor any of those
about him durst offer him any violence, nor so much as give him an affront;
but out of that den of lions he comes unhurt, like Daniel. Who can harm those
whom God will shelter?
Lastly, The prediction is accomplished in a few days. Ahaziah died (v.
17), and, dying childless, left his kingdom to his brother Jehoram. His father
reigned wickedly twenty-two years, he not two. Sometimes the wicked live,
become old, yea, are mighty in power; but those who therefore promise
themselves prosperity in impiety may perhaps find themselves deceived; for (as
bishop Hall observes here), "Some sinners live long, to aggravate their
judgment, others die soon, to hasten it;" but it is certain that evil
pursues sinners, and, sooner or later, it will overtake them; nor will any
thing fill the measure sooner than that complicated iniquity of Ahaziah--honouring
the devil's oracles and hating God's oracles.
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