In Times of Crisis, Who Do You Turn To? 2 Kings 1-5

 2 Kings 1:1-4 (ESV)

After the death of Ahab, Moab 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 Baal-zebub, 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 inquire of Baal-zebub, 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.

As 2 Kings begins, we are in the final days of Elijah’s ministry.   The above story gives us one more example of how God used the prophet to communicate for God and to demonstrate God’s displeasure for wicked rulers in Israel.   Ahab was one of them.   Now we come to his successor, Ahaziah.   Once again we see the ruler of Israel turn to idols to solve their problems.   We are not sure why this keeps happening other than the fact that man is wicked in his heart.   God has cared for, redeemed, protected and solved all of Israel’s problems, countless times.  Yet they still turn to other sources for healing and protection.   In this case, to demonstrate His power and expose His displeasure for the leadership’s spiritual bankruptcy, God orchestrates an accident in the life of Ahaziah.   The king falls through the lattice.  We don’t know the particulars of that but it caused such an injury that the king wanted spiritual help with the suffering.  We see later that he scummed to the injuries.   Elijah intervenes in Ahaziah’s attempt to find healing through a foreign god, a worthless idol.   The entire first chapter will unfold Elijah’s intervention.  In the story 100 soldiers die because of Ahaziah’s desire to worship false gods.   Ahaziah eventually dies, as well.   He could have just turned in repentance to God.  Based upon what we read of God and other kings who repented, we can strongly think God would have forgiven Ahaziah as well.   But in his pride he did not.   Instead other people died.   God sovereignly brings situations into our lives to give us an opportunity to come to Him in prayer and look to Him for healing and/or strength.   Who we turn to in times of desperation says the most about our faith and trust.   The next time you have a minor accident don’t turn it into a major disobedience toward God.   Look to Him for whatever you need in the situation.  Give Him praise and thanksgiving for the situation and what He can show you about His power in it.   Or, you can inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron and see how that works out for you.