[Linux4christians] Sunday - 2 Kings 1

[dcolburn at bibleseven.com]

    Sunday


      2 Kings 1



Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 1:2 Ahaziah fell 
through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was 
injured. He sent messengers with these orders, "Go, ask Baal Zebub, the 
god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury."

1:3 But the Lord's angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, 
go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: 
'You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on 
your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 1:4 
Therefore this is what the Lord says, "You will not leave the bed you 
lie on, for you will certainly die!"'" So Elijah went on his way.

1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have 
you returned?" 1:6 They replied, "A man came up to meet us. He told us, 
"Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, 'This is what the Lord 
says: "You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you 
are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore 
you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die."'" 
1:7 The king asked them, "Describe the appearance of this man who came 
up to meet you and told you these things." 1:8 They replied, "He was a 
hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist." The king said, 
"He is Elijah the Tishbite."

1:9 The king sent a captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. 
The captain went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 
He told him, "Prophet, the king says, 'Come down!'" 1:10 Elijah replied 
to the captain, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the 
sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire then came down from 
the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

1:11 The king sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve 
Elijah. He went up and told him, "Prophet, this is what the king says, 
'Come down at once!'" 1:12 Elijah replied to them, "If I am indeed a 
prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty 
soldiers!" Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his 
fifty soldiers.

1:13 The king sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third 
captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for 
mercy, "Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of 
these fifty servants of yours. 1:14 Indeed, fire came down from the sky 
and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. 
So now, please have respect for my life." 1:15 The Lord's angelic 
messenger said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid of him." So 
he got up and went down with him to the king.

1:16 Elijah said to the king, "This is what the Lord says, 'You sent 
messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must 
think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! 
Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly 
die.'"

1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. In the 
second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, 
Ahaziah's brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had 
no son. 1:18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah's reign, including his 
accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the 
Kings of Israel.



      Prayer


Lord, when we look for truth from any spiritual source but You Lord we 
are in rebellion and in trouble. May I never consult anything but Your 
Word and Your Holy Spirit for spiritual truth.



      Commentary


Moab rebelled against the rule of Israel and then King Ahaziah of Israel 
was badly injured falling through lattice on the upper floor of the castle.

Instead of consulting a prophet of Israel Ahaziah sent for an oracle 
from the false god of Baal.

The Lord God informed Elijah who intercepted Ahaziah's messengers and 
sent them back with the word from God that because he had done so 
Ahaziah would die where he laid in his bed.

Ahaziah sent soldiers to get Elijah three times, the first two Elijah 
called down fire from heaven to consume them, the third time the captain 
begged for mercy and God instructed Elijah to go to Ahaziah.

Elijah delivered his prophesy in person and Ahaziah died. His brother 
Jehoram followed him as king because Ahziah had no son.



      Interaction


        Consider

When Ahaziah sent for word from Baal he was consulting Satan. Elijah 
made that clear when he declared "You must think there is no God in Israel!"


        Discuss

Given Elijah's history of accuracy and power why would Ahziah be so 
foolish as to consult a false prophet of a false god when he could have 
consulted the true prophet of on the One true God of Israel?



        Reflect

The obliteration of the first two groups of soldiers demonstrated that 
Elijah did not answer to the mere human king but to the Lord God.


        Share

When have you observed a Christian consulting instruments of evil for 
spiritual guidance, such as a "Magic 8-Ball", Tarot cards, Ouija board, 
horoscopes, fortune tellers, etc.?



      Faith in Action


        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place in your life where you may 
engage in a superstitious or otherwise non-Biblical means of dealing 
with an unclear situation.



        Action:

Today I will confess and repent of any place that the Holy Spirit has 
revealed as seeking guidance from a non-Biblical source. It may be as 
obvious as a "Magic 8-Ball", Tarot cards, Ouija board, horoscopes, 
fortune tellers, or the like, or some other "throw salt over your 
shoulder", avoiding a hotel room numbered "13", astrology-numerology, etc.


        Be Specific ______________________________________________________



    Monday's text will be:


      2 Kings 2



-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! http://ixquick.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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