I invite you to turn with me to the Book of Second Kings,
chapter 1, and as we turn there, allow me to please pray for us
and ask the Lord to guide us through this text.
Though we do thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you
have led us all these years in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the
Old Testament up to this point. And we ask, Lord, for your
continual guidance through the sacred text that you've
preserved for us. We will not ignore this word,
Lord, and help us never neglect it.
So we pray that as we come together as a body of students,
as your disciples, that you would help us by opening our
minds and by burning these truths in our hearts.
Lord, we long to be transformed, not just informed but renewed by
the things that we will learn today.
And so please help the delivery and the reception of everything
that will take place tonight. In the mighty matchless name of
Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen. If you remember at the beginning
of our study in First Kings, it was mentioned that First and 2nd
Kings originally comprised a single book.
And that is why as we come to 2nd Kings, you'll realize that
there's this seamless continuation of where First King
ends uninterruptedly documenting the racing decline, both the
northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
However, there is a unique emphasis in Second Kings in
comparison to 1st Kings. If there is one main take away
from First Kings concerning the history of the people of Israel
is that First Kings records for us the division of the people of
Israel. But as we come to 2nd Kings, we
will learn the emphasis. We will study the events leading
up to the domination of the people of Israel.
That is what we are going to realize together, that this is
all leading to two very crucial captivities for the northern
Kingdom of Israel. The people of Assyria will bring
them into exile. And later the southern Kingdom,
the Kingdom of Judah, will be taken captive by who?
Babylon. And so the essence of this book
is to explain the events of a people who were once delivered
from captivity who are now returning to it.
And interestingly, if you consider these two books as a
single unit, you're going to recognize something else.
You're going to recognize how this significant part of
Israel's story begins and ends with a focus on the Temple.
If you remember in First Kings, the earlier chapters, the Holy
Spirit sought to give us in great detail the construction of
the House of God known as the Temple of Solomon.
But as we approach the end of the Book of Second Kings, we're
not going to see the construction of anything.
We're actually going to see the destruction of the very temple
that was consecrated unto God, as well as the defamation of the
beautiful holy city of Jerusalem.
Besides these two exiles, Second Kings will also highlight the
powerful prophetic ministry of a man named Elisha.
Because early in this book, we are going to see Elijah
transition from this world miraculously into the next and
will pass the baton down to his successor, Elisha.
And what's even more fascinating, perhaps you did not
know this, but the same time period of Second Kings also
showcases that other prophets were at work.
It's not explicitly told to us in Second Kings, but
historically speaking, Amos and Hosea also prophesied to the
northern Kingdom of Israel, while you had a much larger
roster focused their preaching to the southern kingdoms, names
such as Isaiah and Jeremiah and Obadiah and Joel and Nahem and
Habakkuk and Zephaniah. These prophets again are not
mentioned in Second Kings, but understanding when they
ministered helps us realize the length of time, the duration of
the events in this book, but also the long-suffering and the
grace and the patience of God of sending so many warnings before
He finally judged his people. And so that is the brief
introduction to this book. And let us read now the first 8
verses of this chapter before we dissect it together.
After the death of Ahab, Mohab rebelled against Israel.
Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in
Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers, telling
them, Go inquire of bowels above the God of Ekron, whether I
shall recover from this sickness.
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 to
them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going
to acquire about Zebab, the God of Ekron?
Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down
from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely
die. So Elijah went, the messengers
returned to the king, and he said to them, Why have you
returned? And they said to him, There came
a man to meet us, and said to us, Go back to the king who sent
you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is
no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire about Zibab,
the God of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come
down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall
surely die. He said to them, What kind of
man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?
They answered him, He wore a garment of hair with a belt of
leather about his waist. And he said It is Elijah the
Tishbite. We're going to see if we can
complete this chapter together. But let us begin in verse one.
Verse 1 is not a passing comment.
Verse 1 is a very important way of introducing this book to us
because at the outset of it, what we learn here is after the
death of Ahab, the Moabites sought to take advantage of this
transition in leadership. And all we're told here is that
they rebelled against Israel. Now, this won't make much sense
to you until you remember what we studied back in Second Samuel
when David became king. And so right away I'm going to
ask you to go to chapter 8 of Second Samuel and look at this
reference. That will help explain what's
going on here. Second Samuel chapter 8 verse 2
tells us about the relationship between Israel and Mohab during
the monarchies. And it says here in Second
Samuel 8 two And he being David defeated Moab and he measured
them with a line making them lie down on the ground. 2 lines he
measured to be put to death and one full line to be spared.
And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
So while David was king he subjugated the Moabites.
The Moabites were sharing the same border, the eastern border
of the promised land, and so David conquered them and he
brought them under a taxation. And the taxation in detail is
actually given to us in the Bible.
We are told exactly what it was that the Moabites were to give
to the people of Israel, the government of Israel.
And it's not in Second Kings one actually in Second Kings 3.
So in Second Kings 3 where this Moabite rebellion is going to
develop, we read here in verse 4 of what it is that Moabite, the
Moabites had to deliver to the king of Israel.
Now Misha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and he had to
deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of
100,000 Rams. But when Ahab died, the king of
Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
So what we have to understand here is that in verse 1 of
chapter 1, when Moab decided to free themselves from Israel's
control, this would have been a severe blow to Israel's economy
and their national security. And why is it told to us right
here is because we are learning right away of Israel's
accelerated decline into God's displeasure.
Again, connect Second Kings with First Kings and it will make
much more sense. Do you remember how First Kings
ended? Do we remember the last verse of
the book of First Kings? It speaks about how Ahab died
and Eziah, his son, took over. But we also realized what kind
of man Eziah was and how God felt about his character and his
idolatry. So look at the last verse of
First Kings in chapter 22, verse 53.
I know we're doing a lot of cross referencing, but this is
what you got to do if you're going to get some gold from the
Bible. Verse 53 of First Kings 22, he
served Baal. This is a Hisaiah.
He served Baal and worshipped him and provoked the Lord the
God of Israel to anger in every way that his father had done.
Is it any coincidence that following the mention of God's
anger towards Isaiah, we learned that Moab rebelled during his
administration? It is no coincidence.
This is a consequence. This is divine Providence in
operation. This is the Lord now stripping
things away from Isaiah to try to awaken something in him, a
concern of some sort. Self examination, but
unfortunately he doesn't awaken anything of the sort.
There is actually no concern. The only concern concerning
concerning Moab's rebellion is going to show up in chapter 3
when Jairam is going to take his place.
But until then, all we find Ahaziah doing is what we read in
verse two. Look at his attitude now.
Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria,
so he's hanging out in his palace.
There's no urgency here. There's no seeking of the Lord.
There's no seeking of a true prophet, Moab.
This is himself. Moab disconnects from Israel,
and he's just relaxing on his patio.
And right away, our study reveals something about human
nature. It is not uncommon for a
country's rulers and its people to overlook a nation's distress
as mere disturbances rather than shakings orchestrated by a holy
God. There are 1,000,000 today who
are looking out and seeing the global troubles that we are
trying to endure, and they're dismissing God and all of it.
They're not taking into consideration that perhaps God
is allowing things to happen for us to realize that there is
something wrong and that we must seek Him.
And so many will continue since the days of kings and even
earlier. Many will continue to try to
plow through distress and chaos, and it will culminate an
unprecedented disaster and calamities known as the Great
Tribulation period that Jesus prophesied in the Book of
Revelation tells us about. Even then, even at the final
seconds leading up to midnight for human history, there will be
people who will still not regard God, and if they do, many of
them will bite their tongues, resist, surrender, and with
whatever breath they have left, curse God.
Let me just remind you today of the radical depravity of man.
Isaiah is a sobering picture of it.
However, with all of this, even in verse one, not only do we see
how man is capable of resisting, but we also see how God is so
incredibly patient and kind even to men like Ahaziah.
Because even though it has I here ignores, he disregards the
issues in the broader context of his life.
God is now going to do something to him personally to try to
arouse him, to look to him. And how does he do it?
Look at verse 2 again, as I have fell through the lattice in his
upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick.
So when he didn't see God's invisible hand in the political
arena, surely now he would see God's hand pressing on him
personally. At least you would hope.
And we have to understand here that this fall could have easily
killed Isaiah, could have killed anyone, but it didn't.
It wounded him enough to be conscious and to lay down, to
reflect, to examine, to give him a chance to actually cry out to
God. And you see, the Scriptures
testify on many occasions that physical pain is one of God's
loudest instruments, pointed, sharp, powerful, persuasive
means of getting us to look to him.
It doesn't guarantee that response, but it is one of the
designs of suffering to actually get you to reflect and to
actually come to a point where you seek God because at one
point you did, but that became dormant or you hadn't at all,
and now these are going to be the beginnings of your seeking.
If you need proof of that, there's so many verses, but let
me just read the simplest one that I can think of to back that
up. You don't have to turn that, but
listen to these words from the prophet Isaiah in Chapter 9,
verse 13. The people did not turn to him
who struck them. God struck them, and the people
did not turn, implying that He struck them so that they would
turn to him. The people did not turn to him
who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
It's amazing how when people get sick, they suddenly become
spiritual. Have you ever realized that?
I've seen it countless times. All of a sudden now prayer
becomes attractive. God is part of their
conversation. Pastors get phone calls,
sickness, suffering has a way of pulling on certain strings in
our soul. And so if you want a phrase to
remember, here's one. Often times God smites so that
man will seek. God smite so that man will seek.
So does Aiziah do any seeking? Let's continue in verse 2.
Now Aiziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in
Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers telling
them go OK this looks good. Inquire yes of Belzebub.
It looked very promising in the 1st 2 breaths.
Belzebub, the God of Ekron, what I shall recover from the
sickness. So he is seeking but the wrong
remedy. Do people do that today?
Countless people do Millions of people today, millions of people
run to empty remedies instead of the true Savior and Redeemer,
millions. And as I is no different here,
He asked to actually call for the prophets, the priests.
He sends his men to go to the location where this deity named
Belzebub was honored. Where was he from?
He was the God of Ekron. That's a part of the Philistine
region. So this is a Pagan deity.
This is a false God. And Belzebub means this the Lord
of the fly or the Lord of the flies.
And it's very possible that this Belzebub claimed, promised some
kind of healing power or some kind of protective, preserving
graces from illnesses and disease, even ailments that are
carried by flies. And if that sounds familiar to
you, it should, because this was the idol that was referenced by
the enemies of Christ. You remember that when they
sought to slander his source of his healing power after
delivering a man from a demon who kept him deaf and mute.
The Pharisee says it is by the power of bells above the Prince
of demons that he is doing these things.
So he's searching for a demon God.
And if there's any doubt that the events leading up to this
point were arranged by God to try to draw his eye to himself,
read again in verse three and four and try to explain this.
But the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, the Tishbite arise,
go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria.
So the moment the Lord realized and saw that as I did some
seeking but to the wrong source, He speaks to his servant Elijah
and he says intercept this, meet these messengers, stand in the
way and let him know what the true God has to say.
So what verse 3 proves to you and I is this that God played a
part in wounding Isaiah, Watching Isaiah, waiting for
Isaiah to see how he would respond to everything, and
Elijah's confrontation with these messengers is a preview of
a divine confrontation that waits all men that we all have
an appointment with. In the same way that God took
into account what is I did in His trouble, who He sought for
ultimate help, what his source of hope was, the Lord does with
every man today. God will hold every person to
account of where they turn to for salvation.
God will hold into account where every person turns to for the
forgiveness of their sins. God will hold into account and
take into account what every person does in terms of being
free from the power of sin. God will record.
God will take into account whether we ignore Him, replace
Him, or accept him. And in this case He was watching
and waiting for what is I would do, and the verdict was made.
So he speaks to Elijah. Elijah comes to this message,
these messengers, and notice what he says again, arise, go up
to meet the messenger of the king of Sumeria and say to them,
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to
inquire bells above the God of Ecron?
Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down
from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely
die. So Elijah went, we've seen that
pattern in First Kings, right? God tells Elijah what to do, No
argument, no debate, no hesitation.
He goes, he goes, he goes, and it's no different here.
He went, Elijah went. Now when he delivers this
message to these messengers, as much as this is a proclamation
of judgement, do you not see how it is packaged in mercy?
Is it not packaged in mercy? Where do you see the mercy in
this, in this declaration? Any idea?
You can actually answer if you see it.
How is God being merciful in allowing his eye to receive this
prophetic declaration of judgement?
Yes, very good. It's it's a merciful thing to
let her know, to let a person know who is suffering thinking
they're going to die. You're actually going to die.
Death is around the corner. He could have not said anything.
It just struck him dead. But by sending this message to
this man, he's also giving this man who even rejected the true
God a final chance to get right with God before he meets his
God. So let me also say this, if you
know anybody, if you had any conversation with a peer, a
parent, or a pastor who boldly reminds you of your mortality,
who informs you about eternity, that is an expression of God's
mercy in your life. That's a gift.
That person is a gift. Because in telling you the
truth, not only are you being informed of an inescapable
reality, but you're also being given a chance to make right
with God through the gospel so that you can know the best
outcome of that reality. So this is God's mercy even in
this, by letting this man know you are going to expire, you're
not going to recover. And surely he makes this note so
that this man can even take advantage of this news to try to
get right with his God. Look at verse 5.
What happens? The messengers returned to the
king and he said to them, why have you returned?
So the timing that it makes sense here for these men to have
come back so early means they aborted their mission.
And so they asked, they're asked rather by his eye, why is it
that you've come so soon? Now, what I find so amazing
about this is that these messengers, they actually listen
to Elijah. They didn't fight him.
They didn't resist them. They didn't push him aside.
And what makes this even more remarkable is that they didn't
even know this was Elijah. Go back again to verse 8, when
as I asked the man who sent them back, look how they answered.
He wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather around his
waist. They could have just said
Elijah. They didn't know it was Elijah.
Perhaps they didn't recognize, and perhaps again, Elijah had a
tendency of disappearing for a long time.
So maybe these men who were just newly hired didn't understand
that. That could be very well the
case. And though these messengers play
a very brief part in the story of Second Kings chapter one,
they are a wonderful example for servants of God today.
You're saying What do you mean by that?
Notice that once they learned the word of the Lord, the will
of the Lord, they were urgent and they obeyed.
They did not hesitate. They went with what God said,
even if it went against what the king said.
So here you have a picture of unreserved obedience and
allegiance to the truth. But more than that, even when
they came to the king, look how they spoke to him.
And they said to him, There came a man to meet us, and said to
us, Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says
the Lord, It is because there is no God in Israel that you were
sending to inquire bells above the God of Ekron.
Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you
have gone out, but you shall surely die almost word for word
what Elijah said. So not only are they examples in
that they were urgent and obedient once they learn what
the Lord desired, but they're also faithful to what His word
had to say. You have to understand that in
this time for a ruler, especially in a moral ruler,
they expected blind obedience, and they did not take too kindly
to those who would resist, contradict, or challenge their
wishes. They could have got rid of your
head right there and then. And so for these messengers to
come back to a wicked king like Isaiah and tell him what Elijah
said is very brave, very bold, very courageous.
So even in this you get a little sample of what faithfulness
looks like and how we should respond to the Word, and when
we're entrusted with the Word, how to deliver the Word.
And it is I had any sense of the fear of God, any sense of
integrity, then he would have been very glad that these men
even disobeying him in order to disobey a greater king for his
good. It reminds me of another
messenger that we studied this past weekend.
Tell me who we studied about last weekend, Paul.
What a messenger he was. What a consistent messenger this
man was. No matter where he found
himself, no matter who his audience was, he was the same.
And, and looking at this, I'm reminded of when Paul himself
stood before a governor and what he said to this governor when
the opportunity came for him to preach the gospel while he
himself was in chains. It's an easy reference.
It's one of the most riveting texts in terms of preaching for
me, at least in the New Testament.
It's in Acts 2424. Do you remember here when Paul
was in under trial and Felix was curious about this man's
devotion to the Christ Jesus Christ of Nazareth?
And notice what Paul does when he gets a visitation from Felix
while in custody. May I remind you Felix comes
with his wife Drusilla and read this with me in Acts 2424.
After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who is who is
Jewish and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in
Christ Jesus. Not just that.
Imagine a governor, a mayor, the president, any political figure.
Imagine them calling you to come over to sit down for half an
hour to hear about your faith in Jesus Christ.
How would you tailor that message for a prominent figure?
How would you deliver it? What kind of tone would you use?
What doctrines would you emphasize on?
What would you leave out? We're told exactly what Paul
preached on when he sat before this man and his wife.
Look at verse 25. And as he reasoned about
righteousness, right, right there, right there.
OK, He's he's already doing what most preachers wouldn't do
today. He reasoned about righteousness
and self-control and the coming judgement.
This is the first sermon, and what are you going to preach on
on night one of conference, righteousness, self-control, and
the coming judgment. Felix was alarmed, no kidding,
and said Go away for the present.
When I get an opportunity, I will summon you.
There is no recorded opportunity after this.
Procrastination is a very dangerous thing.
It has sent many people to an eternal hell.
Now go away and when I'm ready, I'll have you come back.
We don't see that ever happening.
But notice the things that he touches on.
Righteousness, self-control in the coming joy.
I would have loved to know how he intertwined those truths with
the gospel, but they were there. And what makes Paul's boldness
even more inspirational is that he is speaking this way before a
man who had the authority to set him free.
He's a prisoner at this point. Or is he?
No, I see Paul as a free man, and I say Felix as a bound man.
I see Paul, yes, with chains, but liberated by the gospel.
I see a governor with great power, though a slave to sin.
But I love Paul no matter what situation, no matter who's
before him. Yes, we're called to be wise as
serpents, innocent as as doves. But Paul saw something here.
You know, when Paul preached the gospel, at least in this case
and in many of the cases he preached, he didn't seek to just
explain systematics and the mechanics of things.
This man touched the conscience. He appealed to the conscience.
That's what true preaching evangelism will do, not just
explain things from a theological standpoint as
they're hovering here. No, he took those truths and he
allowed them with persuasion, the power of the Holy Spirit to
cut hearts. And Felix here was alarmed and
so these messengers here as they came before the king in
principle provide us some wonderful examples as we are
messengers of Christ. So let's come back to our main
text. Almost word for word they
relayed Elijah's message and what was his eyes initial
response? He said to them, what kind of
man was he who came to you and told you these things?
He had a sneaky suspicion. Surely he witnessed Elijah's
troubling ministry in his father's life, maybe even
witnessed some of it. And so once he heard these
words, he thought, that sounds a lot like someone I know, but let
me confirm. So he asks and they give a
description, and the moment that he heard the description, he's
like, that's Elijah. But before we continue, it's
worth noting that Ahaziah does something here that many people
do, and they have the right to do it.
Ahaziah wanted to know the man behind the message.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, the impact of what we say
is inseparable from who we are. Rarely do people separate the
servant from his service or her service, and that is why
hypocrites are easily dismissed and are ineffective in their
witness, while men like Elijah, though imperfect, are blameless
and carry greater authority in what they have to say because
their conduct doesn't muddy their message.
If anyone will criticize us for anything, let it be for the
content of our message and not for our poor conduct.
That would undermine it. And that is why you see this
pattern in the New Testament where Paul writes to ministers.
He always makes this order. He always asked the minister to
watch himself take care of himself before even his doctrine
and before the people that he is entrusted to.
Watch yourself, keep a close eye on yourself, take care of
yourself, because everything flows from this.
And so we see here that he wanted to know the man, and that
would play a role in how he would interpret the message.
And there are many people today who do the same.
As much as your message might be pure, even if it's truth, if
it's coming from a vessel that does not practically and
honorably adhere to the very truth that he's trying to
persuade others to believe, you will be rendered powerless and
you will cut off so much authority that could be granted
to you. Verse 9.
Then the king sent to him a captain of 50 men with his
fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was
sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, Oh man of God,
the king says, Come down. But Elijah answered, the captain
of 50. If I am a man of God, let fire
come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.
Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.
What a way to start a book, huh? Unfortunately, the reputation of
Elijah, his credibility, his consistency didn't make a
difference for Aiziah. Instead of repenting and crying
out to God, he rallied up some of his men and created a search
warrant for the prophet. And he found Elijah.
And before we continue to try to understand what takes place
here, let it be noted that Aiziah's intent of seizing
Elijah was not so that they can have a calm and cordial
conversation. There was harm in mind here.
It could be that is, I actually wanted to kill Elijah as one of
his final wishes before he knew he was going to die.
We don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but we
know for certain that this is not for Elijah's good.
And how we can confirm that it's not just by the tone and by the
comrades here that are approaching Elijah, But look
here again at verse 15. And I want you to see eventually
what the Angel of the Lord tells Elijah, which indicates to us
that he was in danger to some degree.
Then the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down with him.
Do not be afraid of him. So this is hostile.
This is aggressive. This is placing Elijah in a
dangerous position. Keep that in mind for many
reasons, including this one. Elijah is a different man, isn't
he? Do you remember how we studied
Elijah in First Kings 19 when he when he went to meet with Ahab
and his wife? At least he was in the same
area. And Jezebel sent a messenger to
Elijah saying you're a dead man. What did Elijah do?
He fled. He took off, and that was just
when a messenger came with a threat.
But I see a different Elijah here.
Here you have Elijah on the top of a hill, not approached by one
messenger with a message, but by a commander of 50 soldiers.
With his fifty soldiers. That's a lot more dangerous and
perilous. But what do you see with Elijah?
He stays put. He stays put and he puts his
faith in God. This is the beauty of studying
books of the Bible. This is the beauty of going
through the order, the chronological order of texts.
We get to see things, including the change that takes place in
people, the progress that they make.
And this is refreshing because all we're going to really see
more than anything else is the decline of a nation.
But all what do we see with Elijah?
He's been the subject of our study for weeks, how God can
change a man. That's what we can see, that
this man had a weakness and that weakness was erased.
And now what this man was once overcome by, he now is able to
overcome. That is what God does with each
of us, that as time goes on, he is committed to changing US,
strengthening us. And Elijah here presents
something encouraging for you and me.
If you trust him, listen, if you even rely on his grace in your
failures, you can be certain that he stands there willing to
guide you and guide you and guide you until you change.
Elijah's different. But I see another contrast here
in the verses that we just read with Elijah and with what we
read and studied in First Kings 19.
Is this the first time in Elijah's ministry where fire
falls down from heaven? Where did we see file from that
fire fall down from heaven before on Mount Carmel, right?
And here we see Elijah now, and we read very specifically, where
was he located? On top of a hill.
So he's on top of a hill, and we have the enemies of God and
Elijah who meet him on this hill, just like Mount Carmel.
And we also see, like Mount Carmel, fire falling down from
heaven. But there is a very important
difference. When the fire fell down from
heaven on Mount Carmel, it landed somewhere else.
Where did it land? On a sacrifice?
And we concluded that that was a picture of God's incredible
mercy and a foreshadowing of the ministry in the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because you had Elijah, you had
false prophets, but you also had the people of Israel.
And if the fire should have fell anywhere on Mount Carmel, it was
on the rebellious people. But instead it landed on a
sacrifice pointing us to Christ. Christ absorbs the wrath of God,
though we deserve to drink it. But now we come to 2nd Kings.
One Elijah's on a hill. Enemies of God are there, fire
falls, but it doesn't fall on a sacrifice, it falls on the
enemies of God. So if what we saw in Mount
Carmel picture the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, what we see
here in Second Kings One pictures what will take place
for those who ignore and refuse to respond to the cross of Jesus
Christ. If you do not accept Jesus
Christ taking the wrath of God on your behalf, then there's
only one other option. You will one day receive the
wrath of God. And so it's either you
acknowledging what happened on Calvary and rejoicing and
repenting because of it, or you becoming a recipient of the fire
of God in Second Thessalonians. Chapter 1 tells us exactly.
How fire will come with vengeance on those who did not
obey the gospel. So we see here that 51 men died.
They face the scrutiny of God's justice.
What takes place next? Look at verse 11 again.
The king sent to him another captain of 50 men with his
fifty. And he answered and said to him,
Oh man of God, this is the King's order.
Come down quickly. Wow, you would think a Heziah
would have been sobered. And realizing I sent my men to
try to seize this man. I'm not fighting against Noam,
your man. I'm fighting against God.
Right? But instead of humbling himself,
instead of registering how this is a supernatural intervention,
he hardened his heart even more. Compare the language of verse 11
with the second wave of men with the first wave earlier they
said, oh man of God, the king says come down, right?
Is that what we read in verse 10 or verse 9?
But look here, what we see in verse 11, all men of God, this
is the King's order. Come down.
Not just come down, come down what?
Quickly? So they even get more
aggressive. So what do we see here?
This is yet another honest illustration of man's dangerous
persistence in their sin and unbelief.
That's what you have here. You have here a very helpful
example because you have many good hearted Christians who
think and believe. If only so and so would see a
single miracle, if God would just manifest himself in an
undeniable way, then surely this unbeliever or these unbelievers
will surrender once and for all. But as I and many others tell us
and prove to us that man's allegiance to sin is much more
stubborn than you can imagine. Fire falls down from heaven.
Again, look at verse 12. But Elijah answered them, If I
am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you
and you're 50. Is God protecting his servant?
Yeah, absolutely. But God is also indicating
something of his displeasure towards something specific.
How did these soldiers address Elijah?
Man of God, Man of God, not enemy of Baal, not rebel against
the king, not like Ahab, you troubler of Israel, Man of God.
Well, they couldn't deny that he was a man of God.
But if he was a man of God, why are you fighting against him in
his message and his God? You understand God doesn't take
lightly when people say things, but they don't believe them.
He doesn't. He doesn't feel very good about
that. So oh man of God, do you
understand the implications of your comment?
I wonder how many even people today make affirmations,
professions, conclusions, but they don't really believe it.
And if we learn anything about God in Second Kings 1 is that he
does not take too lightly those who say things but their hearts
disagree, but their lives disagree.
Oh man of God, OK, if I'm a man of God and judgment came, when
is Isaiah going to learn? He doesn't learn.
Look at verse 13 again. The king sent the captain of a
third fifty with his fifty. I mean, I think this guy is
willing to run down through all his men, depopulate Israel, but
this man does something different.
And the third captain of 50 went up and came and fell on his
knees before Elijah and entreated him.
Oh man of God, not come down quickly not this is the King's
order. O man of God, please let my life
and the life of these 50 servant of yours be precious in your
sight. You can sense the sincerity
here, right? He continues in verse 14.
Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two
former captains of 50 men with their 50s.
But now let my life be precious in your sight.
So I told you we learned something about God because one
of my go to questions, and I encourage you to ask the same
question in any text of the Bible.
I'd love to ask is what does this passage reveal about the
character of God? And it is extremely relevant
even in this. You have this third captain
coming to Elijah, but a different approach 1 of
humility, contrition, brokenness.
And here's the response verse 15 And the Angel of the Lord said
to Elijah, go down with him, do not be afraid of him.
So he arose and went down with him to the king.
So again, as you read your Bible and you come to a text like
this, ask the question, what did I just learn about God here?
Can you learn something about God when he sent fire on the
previous 2? But what do you see and learn
about God here? Here's what I see.
That God desires humility. And God is so quick to pour out
not fire. Favor upon those who humble
themselves and ask for mercy. That's the character of God.
And if the first one would have came with that same attitude,
there would have been nobody who was consumed.
But the third one learned it, and he came before the Lord.
And I want to let you know that as long as you come before the
Lord and acknowledge who He is and acknowledge who you are, you
will secure sweetness, you will secure wonderful graces.
He will grant it without hesitation, even if you are
numbered among His enemies like this captain was.
Do you understand that? Now, some are not satisfied with
these explanations or this narrative.
There are people who would condemn Elijah's actions here,
but you got to remember that Elijah had no ability to call
fire down from heaven. God approved that fire to come
down from heaven. But there is a text that people
often go to to try to shed a negative light on Elijah at this
particular moment. Can you think of that text?
I'll give you a hint.
It's not in the Old Testament. Let me give you another hint.
There is a place in the Gospels where this exact incident was
referenced. Well, This is why Bible study is
good. Did somebody discover it?
Maybe not. Let's go to it.
Luke Chapter 9. Go to 51 of Luke Chapter 9.
Luke 95151 reads. When the days drew near for him
to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem, and he sent
messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the
Samaritans. Pause.
What was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel during the
days of Elijah? Samaria.
So now we have Jesus sending some of his disciples ahead.
They entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations
for him. Verse 53 But the people did not
receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do
you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume
them? Now if you have the King James
and the new King James, they follow manuscripts that add fire
to come down from heaven as Elijah did.
And in those menus ships is added Christ's elaborated
response where Jesus responds here in verse 55 in the ESV.
But he turned and rebuked them. But in those translations I
mentioned it would be added, you do not know what manner of
spirit you are of. For the Son of man did not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
You still get that lesson and that impression here even with,
without Elijah's inclusion, his name being mentioned because
there's only a few places where fire comes down from heaven by
way of command. Look, one thing I could admire
about these disciples, though they were rebuked as they had
some faith, didn't they? Look at this, said Lord, do you
want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume
them? I applaud their faith.
And people would often use this New Testament text to
mischaracterize Elijah, but we can't do that.
Do you know why? Because when they asked for fire
to be granted from heaven, we're asking the Lord if they're
allowed to do that. Jesus didn't rebuke Elijah, did
he? He rebuked his disciples.
There's a difference. And the reason why there's a
difference is because he reminded his disciples and he's
reminding us that He is become the first advent to do a new
work, a work that is greater than what he had done on behalf
of his servant, Elijah. Christ in coming into this world
desired to send something else, not fire to consume, but
forgiveness. Abundant forgiveness.
In fact, what's so amazing here again proving to us the beauty
of reading through the entirety of the Word of God.
You see exactly what God sends from heaven to the same
Samaritans who in the days of Jesus Christ did not receive
him. Go to Acts chapter 8.
Look at verse 14 with me. This is after Philip went to
Samaria to preach the gospel and revival broke out.
But notice what takes place after in Acts 814 to 15.
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria,
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and
John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive
the Holy Spirit. Peter and who?
Yeah, the same John who, with his brother, asked Jesus if they
could ask heaven to send fire. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't
give them permission? Do you know why?
Because Jesus wanted to send the Holy Spirit into the hearts of
these Samaritans. Listen, the best way to apply
what we learned from Second Kings, One is beyond God willing
to protect his servants. It reveals that in Christ he
suspends judgment on reluctant sinners and instead is eager and
willing to pour out his spirit. That's how you tie a Old
Testament passage like this with gospel truth.
Christ came with a new covenant, a better covenant, one that is
under grace. And so, yeah, these two brothers
going through a Samaritan village, felt the resistance,
saw the resistance, were repelled by the resistance and
they thought Samaria. Yeah, I remember Prophet Elijah,
what he did to to some of those rebellious people of Israel in
Samaria, around Samaria. Let's ask Jesus, we can call
fire down from heaven. The Lord says, no, I want to
send something else. And John would see it himself.
Let's finish this chapter back in second Kings verse 16.
This is when Elijah comes down to meet the king and said to
him. Thus says the Lord, because
you've sent messages to inquire of bells above the God of Ekron.
Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?
Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you
have gone up, but you shall surely die.
You know what's so staggering about this?
In this short chapter, you have Ahazzaiah's judgment recorded
word for word, 3 * 3 times. Copy, Paste, copy, paste, copy,
paste. Whenever the Holy Spirit does
anything like that, it's meant to emphasize something.
He wants to actually emphasize something.
And one of the emphasis here is for us to realize how severe
Ahazzaiah's sin was, how gross it was to look to an idol
instead of the true God. But there is an emphasis here
that is not limited to a Zeus case.
It is universal. There's something about his
offense that was so flagrant that we have to examine
ourselves and ask if we are tempted to commit the very same
crime he did. Notice what he says.
Not just once, twice, three times is given to us.
Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His Word?
To fail or to refuse to seek God, to seek Him in His Word,
especially in our times of trouble, breaks the heart of
God. To fail to come to Him who is in
his nature a savior, a provider, a leader, a protector, and to
run to other things that are empty and vain, breaks his heart
and ruins us. That is the lesson of Second
Kings chapter one. That is not what I think the
main lesson is. That is what I believe is the
main lesson, because this is repeated not once, not twice,
three times. Where we go to when we're in
trouble says a lot about, says a lot about us.
Not that we can't go to other things, but where our ultimate
hope and trust is, we'll be exposed in crises, tribulations,
and surprise attacks, surprise accidents.
And so if there's any response, if there's any application to
this Bible studies we close this time together, is to ask the
Lord to create in us such an awareness of His glory, power,
and love that it would be our reflex to run to Him, to inquire
of Him, to seek Him for ourselves 1st, and then to call
others to do the same. Shall we do that?
Let's pray, Lord, we actually feel in our
heart of hearts that we've been fed.
Thank you for your glorious word.
Now we ask and pray as we prayed earlier, that this information
would translate into genuine transformation.
We pray, Lord, that you would be our hope, and if we lost hope,
that you wouldn't reinforce it, that you would be the very
object of and the source of and the fountain of everything that
we need in this life. Help us include you in
everything. Help us to seek You in the big
things and the small things. Help us believe You.
Help us really believe that there is a real God and his word
is to be trusted and to live our lives experiencing your
faithfulness come through when we meet it with our faith for
tonight. We want to say thank you for
this chapter. Lord, we we believe you have so
much more to say in the weeks ahead.
And so, Lord, keep our hunger for The Word Alive, maybe not
just found on these evenings, but every day, and help us ask
the right questions when we read certain passages that we are
unfamiliar with. And Lord, grant us the spirit of
wisdom and revelation so that we can hear your voice every time
we open this Bible. Lord, we love you and we trust
you, and we choose to afresh confess not just mere words, but
out of the abundance of our hearts that You are the true God
and we desire to be men and women of God.
May it be so for your glory. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Amen. Let's stand and give thanks to
the Lord for His precious word.