A Fallen King and Falling Fire

One day while King Ahaziah was walking around the lattice of his upper room, he fell and injured himself. Being near the point of death, he sent servants to seek the prophets of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if he would recover. But on the way there the word of God came to Elijah and He sent him to intervene. When Elijah’s message came to the King, he sent fifty men to arrest him. But when they arrived to take him in, they were consumed by fire. So the King sent another fifty, and another fifty. It wasn’t until the third time that the captain humbled himself before Elijah and the men lived to take him in. But his message to the King was the same as before.

In our last passage we heard about the rule of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah who guided his people back to God and established justice and worship of the Lord throughout the southern kingdom. He was much like his ancestor David, earnestly seeking the Lord and being open to correction by God’s prophet. Today we’ll return north, to a kingdom in shambles after the death of Ahab. Israel’s new king, Ahaziah will suffer a great fall and in his moment of despair his cries will reveal where his trust lies. We’ll also see the return of Elijah, who will speak God’s heavy judgement upon a dishonorable king.