Ahaziah

Lord Jesus, help us to have eyes open to the spiritual war that we’re engaged in. But thank you, Lord, that though our foes are many, you protect us. Keep us safe. Bring us through the danger to share in your victory. Destroy evil. And may your blessing be on your people. Amen.

Introduction
I wonder, how much do you know about Ahaziah? Apart from the fact that there might just be a Bhaziah or a Chaziah or even a Dhaziah! The computer wasn't much help either. The spell-check suggested Hezekiah (I suppose that was to be expected) and also a new word to me Azimuthal (not a bathroom cleaner or a weed killer - but a term used in astronomy or navigation). But do remember that word! It could transform your Scrabble playing! Azimuthal is worth 46 points! But what of Ahaziah? To be honest most of us would be hard pushed to say anything at all about him at all! Even the back of a postage stamp would be too large to write on!

1 The biblical setting
This is necessary to give us the background to the life and times of Ahaziah. Just to remind you (and to paint the big picture) you will already know the names of the three kings - Saul, David and Solomon. After the death of Solomon his united kingdom was divided into two. Israel in the north (centred on Samaria) and Judah in the south (centred on Jerusalem). North and South are only relative terms. Actually they were quite close to each other. They were about as far apart as Morpeth (in the north) and Durham (in the south) and with the River Tyne as the boundary.

After the death of Solomon the two kingdoms had their ups and downs. Mostly downs. The road to hell is a steep decline. In fact down all the way until their Exile into Babylon. Sometimes they were at war. Sometimes they were at peace. Mostly they were rivals. And their respective kings were a mixed bunch. As varied as kings can be. Some of the biblical kings were godly while others were pagan. Some followed the true God (that is Yahweh the LORD) while others followed the false god (or gods) known collectively as Baal.

The narrative in 1 and 2 Kings sometimes centres on the lives of the kings - and sometimes on the activity of the prophets. Some kings who were significant figures in the Ancient Near East are only briefly mentioned in passing in a verse or two. Yet other insignificant kings are given greater prominence in the scriptures. The narrator selects what is of divine significance, rather than of human interest. Always the well-being of the people was linked to the belief and behaviour of the king. Often the prosperity and standing of the nation was linked to the belief and the behaviour of the king. The people and their king were bound together.

So as we read the biblical narrative we need to ask a series of simple questions. What do we learn about God? What do we learn about ourselves? And most important (and far more difficult) how can we apply the message to our lives, and in our walk with the Lord?

In the ninth-century there were two prophets Elijah and his successor Elisha. You can easily tell them apart. One was hairy and the other was bald. One needed a haircut and the other needed a wig. But I can see that you are asking 'How does he know that?' 'He must have made that up.' Hairy and bald! It sounds more like the name of a solicitor or estate agent or a blind barber. But scripture tells us that Elijah was hairy (perhaps he had long hair and beard 2 Kings 1.8) and his friend Elisha was mocked by the equivalent of the hoodies of the day who jeered at him in the street and shouted 'baldy' at him (2 Kings 2.23)! So hairy and bald is a biblical way of describing Elijah from Elisha.

Although these characters lived in a world far removed from our world. We can ask the question - 'What was it like for believers to live in such a situation?' Clearly they were faced with a choice. They could keep their heads down. To live and let live.
They could easily follow the crowd. Instead they stood up for the truth. They challenged the system and confronted those who opposed Yahweh. Like Elijah and Elisha we live in a predominantly pagan culture. At heart our choice is little different from theirs. Between good and evil. Truth and falsehood. The true God or the Devil. Of course our society is more complex and sophisticated, but the choice between true religion and false religion is with us still. Do we follow the way of the world or do we follow the way, the truth and the life as it is found in the person of the LJC?

2 A pagan king (Ahaziah)
We are told very little about king Ahaziah. But what we do know is not very nice. His brief reign is told in 1 Kings 22.51-2 Kings 1.18. Ahaziah was the eighth king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the son of the notorious Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel. Ahab had reigned for twenty-two years, and after dying in battle he was succeeded in turn by his sons. First, Ahaziah (who reigned for less than two years, and then by his brother Jehoram (who reigned for twelve years). After the death of Ahab, Jezebel lived on for some years as the evil queen mother. In the end she came to a nasty end, and all that could be found of her was her skull, and her hands and feet! (2 Kings 9.30-37).

In terms of their religion (and that is how the biblical writers present them to us) we have two pagan parents, and two pagan sons. And the worship of Baal flowed through their veins. The family could have chosen to worship and to serve Yahweh, but instead they were committed to following the ways of Baal. Their action had a profound effect upon the nation. As one commentator graphically puts it, that

“Ahab was a conduit that allowed pagan sewage to engulf Israel.”

Like father, like son, and Ahaziah walked on the same downward path as his wicked parents. Of course Ahaziah could have rejected all that they stood for. He could have turned to the living God and enjoyed the friendship and counsel of Elijah. But instead, he rejected this in favour of following the worship and adopting the lifestyle associated with Baal. He made a deliberate choice to reject the Lord.

Of course we too have a choice. We too can ignore God and go our own way. Or we can come to him - in spite of our backgrounds and our hang-ups and our families – and come to the living God through Jesus Christ. The choice lies before each one of us. May I put it quite simply. Do you reject the Lord (in your thinking and in your lifestyle) or do you submit yourself to him as Lord and Saviour?

The ninth century was a period of relative stability. While Judah and Israel were at peace, they were at war with their neighbours. And as far as Ahaziah is concerned, there were two important events. One was successful and the other was a failure. Both concerned the two nations Judah and Israel. First, the people of Moab revolted. This is stated in 2 Kings 1.1 'Moab rebelled against Israel'. They had been held down by fear and force: now they wanted their freedom. In 2 Kings 3 Judah and Israel joined forces and destroyed the rebellion. The revolt had broken out during the reign of Ahaziah, and was quashed during the reign of his younger brother Jehoram.

Second, another alliance between Judah and Israel was a failure. This time it wasn't defeat in battle, but by the winds and the waves. It is referred to in 1 Kings 22.48-49. Jehoshophat (the king of Judah) invited Ahaziah (king of Israel) to join with him in a trading venture to bring back gold from Arabia. A fleet of ships was built in a Red Sea port, to be used to trade for gold in Arabia. This looked back to the golden age of king Solomon who had also built a fleet and who also traded for gold in Arabia (1 Kings 9:26-28). Though there was a difference between them. Solomon's venture was a success but not so for Jehoshophat and Ahaziah. The ships were built, but they went aground in a storm. In the parallel history (set out in the books of Chronicles) the reason for the failure is made plain (2 Chronicles 20.35-37). The ships were wrecked because godly Jehoshaphat had entered into an alliance with pagan Ahaziah. Their faith systems were at odds with each other. They were chalk and cheese. Or to put it in NT language, they were attempting to be unequally yoked together. But this was not to be.

For the Christian believer the challenge is clear. Do we totally separate ourselves off from other people, or do we compromise over small matters, and withdraw from them only over more significant issues? It’s not always an easy decision to make.

3 A godly prophet (Elijah)
Elijah the prophet was an important figure in the biblical drama. In the OT he stood up against the corrupting influence of Baal. In the NT he appeared with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets). Both law and prophets pointing the way forward to the coming of Jesus. Elijah is a somewhat mysterious figure. He suddenly appeared unannounced (1 Kings 17) and at the end of his life was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2).

Elijah is presented as the champion of Yahweh who challenged the kings of Israel, and who confronted the prophets of Baal. He did it first on Mt Carmel, and then at Ekron near Jaffa. Notice that both of these incidents end with the death of the pagan supporters of Baal. While we can accept what happened to the 800 pagan prophets, we struggle much more with what happened to the 100 soldiers (recorded in 2 Kings 1). Though we should see both incidents in the light of what happened earlier on Mt Carmel.

King Ahaziah was an invalid. He was bed-ridden. Early in his reign he had fallen from an upstairs window or private balcony. His fall may have been an accident, or Ahaziah may have been drunk. Perhaps he was pushed? We are not told. The poor man wanted relief from his pain and suffering. He wanted to be healed from his injuries. And he had a clear choice. Would he turn to the Lord or to Baal? Would he be saved or lost? But instead of turning to the living God he turned to a pagan god Baal-Zebub. (Baal-Zebub = 'the Lord of flies', the Prince of Demons). Yes, we come across that name again in the NT - Beelzebub (Matthew 10.18, 12.24).

Ahaziah sent his servants out of Israel to the neighbouring land of the Philistines. But was there no God in Israel whom he could consult? His action was a deliberate snub to Yahweh whom Ahaziah dismissed as being irrelevant and inadequate. Baal-Zebub was believed to be a source of healing, the discerning process being achieved through divination. The priests of the cult would make the life changing decision in declaring 'He will live' or 'He will die'. While Ahaziah sought an answer from Baal-Zebub, instead he received a message from the Lord. 'You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die' (1:4, 6, 16). He had made his fateful choice: he would soon die.

Elijah met the king's servants and echoed the words of the temple priests 'You will die'. When this unfavourable message was conveyed to Ahaziah, he guessed it came from that long-time irritant. His father and mother had been the subjects of Elijah's condemnation and now Ahaziah was the same. Then groups of soldiers were sent to capture Elijah – perhaps just to arrest him, or more likely to kill him. 'Come down, at once Elijah' they demanded (vv.9, 11). But the invitation was rejected, and instead he twice-commanded fire to fall down from heaven and destroy them. Why fire? It was proof of identity. Here was Yahweh in action. He was no mere inactive Baal! Remember that this had happened before on Mt Carmel. Then an animal sacrifice was consumed by fire: now it was a company of pagan soldiers. When a third group of men arrived they knew what could happen to them too. So the captain of the guard implored Elijah not to call down fire from heaven upon them, but to preserve their lives.

Fearful Elijah (he's always a fearful sort of man, isn't he?) was told by the Lord not to fear. But to go to the king and to look him in the eye. He said to his face what he had said before through a human messenger.

You will certainly die' (1:6, 16).

And die he soon did, 'according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken' (1:17). Years before Elijah had given Ahab the terrible message from the Lord, that: 1 Kings 21:21

“I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel”

So we have here Elijah's swan song. A dramatic and fearful end to his earthly ministry. This is the last we hear of his exploits before he was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2).

4 A practical challenge
For the preacher there is the temptation to gloss over the difficult parts of the OT, to over spiritualise the message, and to reduce it to a series of blessed thoughts quite unconnected to the passage of scripture. It’s rushed through so that a more obviously Christian message can be proclaimed. Certainly some parts of the OT are hard for us to get our heads round. There are some issues that confront us and situations that repel us. These rough edges that don't seem to fit in with what we profess to believe, or can accept, and be happy with. Obviously we need to know what's said in God's Word. We believe that the OT prepares the way for the new - for the coming of Jesus Christ – pointing us to the way, showing us the truth, and helping us to find the life. But we are disturbed by a passage like the one we have here.
It certainly ought to challenge us as to what we believe about the living God. One commentator says that here, 'we see our uncomfortable God: Yahweh is furious, not tolerant; holy, not reassuring; loving, not nice.' We find a passage like this shocking to our polite, reasonable, comfortable, safe and sound evangelical faith. It challenges us to reflect upon the sort of God whom we profess to worship. It should make us profoundly uncomfortable. Do we really believe in a God who can incinerate an army and (as we will find in 2 Kings 2) mauls forty-two young men who are guilty of shouting out abuse at Elisha?

In an incident like the one we have looked at, it should challenge us to look afresh at the One whom we seek to worship, and in whom we put our trust. Here is our God as he really is. He is just. He is holy. He hates sin. He will not tolerate evil. To consult Baal, to seek healing from Baal, and to dismiss Yahweh was an offence to the Lord. The sheer holiness of the Lord was affronted by the presence of the sin of the Baal-consulting Ahaziah.

As I said just now the lives of the people were bound up with the belief and behaviour of their king. The lives of the people under Ahab and Ahaziah were oppressed and put down. Ruled and regulated by a sinful dynasty. Though most of the people followed the dictates of the king, we know that not all did so. Elijah (and Elisha) were not alone. There were others who followed the Lord and had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19.18). Yes, we find this story shocking, but its meant to do just that. Here is our holy, life-giving God who will not allow such evil to prevail, whether in the life of the nation or in the lives of individuals.

Now we may not be struck down by fire from heaven. We may not follow in the steps of Ahab or Ahaziah. But in taking sin lightly, in playing it down, and in making excuses, we fall far short of what the Lord requires. We need to follow Yahweh, the LORD, sincerely and truly, conscious of our sin and shame and guilt, and pleading with him to forgive us and to cleanse us by the shed blood of Christ.

In the Litany, in the Book of Common Prayer, there is a simple but yet profound petition.

“From lightening and tempest, from plague, pestilence and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death. Good Lord deliver us.”

Deliver us 'from sudden death', that is in dying unprepared to meet our maker. Those soldiers died unprepared for death. They had no time to repent and to come to faith. But we do – so what are we going to do about it? We all have a simple choice. To follow the way of the Lord, or to follow the way of an equivalent twenty-first century Baal. One leads to life. One leads to death.