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Elijah condemned King Ahaziah
1After King Ahab died, the country of Moab rebelled against Israel.
2One day, Ahaziah, the new king of Israel, fell through the wooden slats/boards around the edge of the flat roof of his palace in Samaria. He was badly injured, so he summoned some messengers and told them, “Go to Ekron city in Philistia, and ask their god Baalzebub whether I will ◄recover/become well►.”
3But an angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe town, “The king of Samaria is sending some messengers to Ekron. Go and meet them and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, the god of those people, whether you will recover?
4Yahweh says that you should tell King Ahaziah that he will not recover from his being injured; he will surely die.’”
5So Elijah went to meet the messengers and told that to them, and they returned to the king instead of going to Ekron. The king asked them, “Why did you return so soon?”
6They replied, “A man came to meet us, and said to us, ‘Return to the king who sent you and tell him that Yahweh says, “◄Is it because there no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to Ekron to consult Baalzebub, their god?/You seem to think there is no God in Israel, with the result that you are sending messengers to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, their god, whether you will recover.► [RHQ] Go tell the king that he will not recover from being injured; instead, he will surely die.”’”
7The king said to them, “The man who came to meet you and told that to you, what did he look like?”
8They replied, “He was a hairy man and he had a wide leather belt around his waist.” The king exclaimed, “That was Elijah!”
9Then the king sent an officer with 50 soldiers to seize Elijah. They found Elijah sitting on the top of a hill. The officer called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come down here!”
10But Elijah replied, “I am a prophet; so, I command that fire come down from the sky and burn up you and your 50 soldiers!” Immediately, fire came down from the sky and completely burned up the officer and his 50 soldiers.
11When the king found out about that, he sent another officer with 50 more soldiers. They went to where Elijah was, and the officer called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come down immediately!”
12But Elijah replied, “I am a prophet; to prove that, I command that fire come down from the sky and kill you and your soldiers!” Then a fire from God came down from the sky and killed the officer and his soldiers.
13When the king heard about that he sent another officer with 50 more soldiers. They went to where Elijah was, and the officer prostrated himself in front of Elijah, and said to him, “Prophet, I plead with you, be kind to me and my 50 soldiers, and ◄do not kill us/allow us to remain alive►!
14We know that two times fire came down from the sky and killed officers and the 50 soldiers who were with them. So now, please be kind to me!”
15Then the angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, “Go down and go with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah went with them to the king.
16When Elijah arrived, he said to the king, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You sent messengers to go to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, their god, whether you would recover. You acted as though [RHQ] there is no God in Israel to consult. So you will not recover from being injured; instead, you are going to die!’”
17So Ahaziah died, which is what Yahweh told Elijah would happen. Ahaziah’s younger brother Joram became the new king, when Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, had been ruling Judah for almost two years. Ahaziah’s brother became the king because Ahaziah had no son to become the king.
18If you want to know about all the other things that Ahaziah did, they are [RHQ] written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
(Youth Bible School 2007) a Holy Nation
By Dean Taylor1.6K1:03:39Bible SchoolEXO 20:132KI 1:10LUK 9:541CO 12:25In this sermon, the speaker reflects on a personal realization about the changing nature of relationships and the breaking down of walls. He draws a parallel to the Scripture in Ephesians that talks about breaking down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. The speaker believes that God has already brought down these walls and scattered His people throughout the world. He encourages the audience to go out and preach the gospel, being salt and light to all people. The sermon also touches on the story of Peter and the swords, emphasizing the importance of understanding how to use the tools given to us by God. The speaker highlights a profound change in perspective, quoting Jesus' words about turning the other cheek and going the extra mile.
Honoring Your Prayer
By Samuel Daniel84403:162KI 1:32KI 1:92CH 16:9JAS 5:161PE 2:121JN 3:20In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having a heart that is perfect toward God. He uses the story of Elijah and the captain of fifty to illustrate how God shows himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him. The preacher also references 1 John 3:20-22, where it is stated that if our hearts do not condemn us, we can have confidence toward God and receive answers to our prayers. The sermon concludes with a reminder that the eyes of the Lord are searching throughout the earth for those whose hearts are perfect toward him, and that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.
Elijah and Elisha 01 ~ Keswick Conference 1970
By Harold Wildish83455:40Keswick2KI 1:1In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of the ministry of passing on one's knowledge of God to others. He encourages the audience to recognize the opportunities they have to share their faith with those around them. The speaker shares his own experiences as a missionary and evangelist, but states that his current work of teaching small groups is the sweetest and happiest work of his life. He concludes by urging the audience to consider the spiritual needs of those around them and to use their knowledge of God to bless others.
(Through the Bible) 2 Kings
By Zac Poonen54057:212KI 1:172KI 2:92KI 4:12KI 5:12KI 6:172KI 9:302KI 20:12KI 24:10
This sermon delves into the stories and lessons from the 2nd book of Kings, highlighting the different kings who ruled Israel and Judah, the consequences of their actions, the importance of heeding God's warnings, the power of true prophecy in the church, the dangers of being influenced by manipulative individuals like Jezebel, and the significance of being willing to surrender to God's timing, even in the face of death. It emphasizes the need for humility, obedience, and discernment in following God's will.
Our Daily Homily - 2 Kings
By F.B. Meyer0Living as Men of GodPerseverance in Faith2KI 1:92KI 2:22KI 3:172KI 4:62KI 5:142KI 6:172KI 7:92KI 8:112KI 10:312KI 19:14F.B. Meyer emphasizes the call to live as true 'men of God,' reflecting God's holiness and grace in our lives, as exemplified by Elijah and Elisha. He urges believers to be filled with a passion for God's glory, to persevere in their spiritual journey, and to trust in God's unseen work even when signs are lacking. Meyer also highlights the importance of bringing our needs to God and the necessity of being vessels ready to receive His blessings. He warns against the dangers of complacency and the need for continual spiritual renewal, encouraging a life of prayer, consecration, and active faith.
Thou Man of God!
By F.B. Meyer0Living For GodIdentity in Christ2KI 1:9JHN 15:4ROM 12:11CO 15:9GAL 2:20EPH 2:8PHP 2:31JN 4:16F.B. Meyer emphasizes the call to live as true 'men of God,' exemplified by Elijah, who was recognized for his holiness despite opposition. He highlights the humility required to bear such a title, noting that true goodness comes from God alone and that we should not boast of our own righteousness. Meyer encourages believers to focus on being for God, which alleviates self-consciousness and promotes a passion for Jesus' glory. He concludes with the idea that being in God and having God in us is achievable through perfect love, allowing us to be fully permeated by His presence.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Introduction
Ahaziah, being hurt by a fall, sends messengers to Baal-zebub to inquire whether he shall recover, Kg2 1:1, Kg2 1:2. They are met by Elijah, who sends them back with the information that he shall surely die, Kg2 1:3-8. The king sends a captain and fifty men, to bring Elijah to Samaria, on which fire comes down from heaven, and destroys both him and his men, Kg2 1:9, Kg2 1:10. Another captain and fifty men are sent, who are likewise destroyed, Kg2 1:11, Kg2 1:12. A third is sent, who behaves himself humbly, and Elijah is commanded to accompany him; he obeys, comes to the king, reproves his idolatry, and announces his death, Kg2 1:13-16. Ahaziah dies and Jehoram reigns in his stead, Kg2 1:17, Kg2 1:18.
Verse 1
Moab rebelled - The Moabites had been subdued by David, and laid under tribute, Kg2 3:4, and Sa2 8:2. After the division of the two kingdoms, the Moabites fell partly under the dominion of Israel, and partly under that of Judah, until the death of Ahab, when they arose and shook off this yoke. Jehoram confederated with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, in order to reduce them. See this war, Kg2 3:5.
Verse 2
Fell down through a lattice - Perhaps either through the flat root of his house, or over or through the balustrades with which the roof was surrounded. Go, inquire of Baal-zebub - Literally, the fly-god, or master of flies. The Septuagint has βααλ μυιαν, Baal the fly. He was the tutelary god of Ekron, and probably was used at first as a kind of telesm, to drive away flies. He became afterwards a very respectable devil, and was supposed to have great power and influence. In the New Testament Beelzebub is a common name for Satan himself, or the prince of devils. See my notes on Mat 10:25 (note).
Verse 4
But shalt surely die - The true God tells you this; he in whose hands are both life and death, who can kill and make alive. Baal-zebub can do nothing; God has determined that your master shall die.
Verse 8
He was a hairy man - That is, he wore a rough garment, either made of camels' hair, as his successor John Baptist's was, or he wore a skin dressed with the hair on. Some think that the meaning is, he had very long hair and a long beard. The ancient prophets all wore rough garments, or upper coats made of the skins of beasts: They wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, says the apostle, Heb 11:37.
Verse 9
A captain of fifty with his fifty - It is impossible that such a man as Ahaziah, in such circumstances, could have had any friendly designs in sending a captain and fifty soldiers for the prophet; and the manner in which they are treated shows plainly that they went with a hostile intent. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God - Thou prophet of the Most High.
Verse 10
And there came down fire - Some have blamed the prophet for destroying these men, by bringing down fire from heaven upon them. But they do not consider that it was no more possible for Elijah to bring down fire from heaven, than for them to do it. God alone could send the fire; and as he is just and good, he would not have destroyed these men had there not been a sufficient cause to justify the act. It was not to please Elijah, or to gratify any vindictive humor in him, that God thus acted; but to show his own power and justice. No entreaty of Elijah could have induced God to have performed an act that was wrong in itself. Elijah, personally, had no concern in the business. God led him simply to announce on these occasions what he himself had determined to do. If I be a man of God, i.e., as surely as I am a man of God, fire Shall come down from heaven, and Shall consume thee and thy fifty. This is the literal meaning of the original; and by it we see that Elijah's words were only declarative, and not imprecatory.
Verse 15
And the angel of the Lord said - Go down with him - This is an additional proof that Elijah was then acting under particular inspirations: he had neither will nor design of his own. He waited to know the counsel, declare the will, and obey the command, of his God. And he arose, and went down - He did not even regard his personal safety or his life; he goes without the least hesitation to the king, though he had reason to suppose he would be doubly irritated by his prediction, and the death of one hundred of his men. But with all these consequences he had nothing to do; he was the ambassador of the King eternal, and his honor and life were in the hands of his Master.
Verse 17
And Jehoram reigned in his stead - The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Syriac say, Jehoram His Brother reigned in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram. There were two Jehorams who were contemporary: the first, the son of Ahab, brother to Ahaziah, and his successor in the kingdom of Israel; the second, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who succeeded his father in Judah. But there is a difficulty here: "How is it that Jehoram the brother of Ahaziah began to reign in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, seeing that, according to Kg2 3:1, he began his reign in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat; and, according to Kg2 8:16, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began to reign in the fifth year of Jehoram king of Israel?" Calmet and others answer thus: "Jehoram king of Israel began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, which was the second year after this same Jehoshaphat had given the viceroyalty to his son Jehoram; and afterwards Jehoshaphat communicated the royalty to Jehoram his successor, two years before his death, and the fifth year of Jehoram, king of Israel." Dr. Lightfoot takes another method: - "Observe," says he, "these texts, Kg1 22:51 : Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years; and Kg2 1:17 : And Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken, and Jehoram reigned in his stead, in the second gear of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; and Kg2 3:1 : Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. By these scriptures it is most plain, that both Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, and Ahaziah the son of Ahab, began to reign in the seventeenth of Jehoshaphat; for who sees not in these texts that Jehoshaphat's eighteenth, when Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign, is called the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat? Now Jehoshaphat's reign was not yet expired by eight or nine years, for this was in his seventeenth year, and he reigned twenty-five years, Kg1 22:42; nor was Ahab's reign expired by two or three years, for this was in his twentieth year, and he reigned twenty-two years. Kg1 16:29. But the reason why both their sons came thus into their thrones in their lifetime, and both in the same year, was because their fathers, Jehoshaphat and Ahab, were both engaged in the war against the Syrians about Ramoth-gilead: and while they were providing for it, and carrying it on, they made their sons viceroys, and set them to reign in their stead, while they were absent or employed upon that expedition." This is very probable, and seems well supported by the above texts, and would solve all the difficulties with which many have been puzzled and not a few stumbled, had we sufficient evidence for the viceroyalty here mentioned.
Introduction
1MOAB REBELS. (Kg2 1:1) Then Moab rebelled--Subdued by David (Sa2 8:2), they had, in the partition of Israel and Judah, fallen to the share of the former kingdom. But they took advantage of the death of Ahab to shake off the yoke (see on Kg2 3:6). The casualty that befell Ahaziah [Kg2 1:2] prevented his taking active measures for suppressing this revolt, which was accomplished as a providential judgment on the house of Ahab for all these crimes.
Verse 2
AHAZIAH'S JUDGMENT BY ELIJAH. (Kg2 1:2-8) Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber--This lattice was either a part of the wooden parapet, or fence, which surrounds the flat roofs of houses, and over which the king was carelessly leaning when it gave way; or it might be an opening like a skylight in the roof itself, done over with lattice-work, which, being slender or rotten, the king stepped on and slipped through. This latter supposition is most probably the true one, as Ahaziah did not fall either into the street or the court, but "in his upper chamber." inquire of Baalzebub--Anxious to learn whether he should recover from the effects of this severe fall, he sent to consult Baalzebub, that is, the god of flies, who was considered the patron deity of medicine. A temple to that idol was erected at Ekron, which was resorted to far and wide, though it afterwards led to the destruction of the place (Zac 9:5; Amo 1:8; Zep 2:4). "After visiting Ekron, 'the god of flies' is a name that gives me no surprise. The flies there swarmed, in fact so innumerably, that I could hardly get any food without these troublesome insects getting into it" [VAN DE VELDE].
Verse 3
the angel of the Lord--not an angel, but the angel, who carried on all communications between the invisible God and His chosen people [HENGSTENBERG]. This angel commissioned Elijah to meet the king's messengers, to stop them peremptorily on the idolatrous errand, and convey by them to the king information of his approaching death. This consultation of an idol, being a breach of the fundamental law of the kingdom (Exo 20:3; Deu 5:7), was a daring and deliberate rejection of the national religion. The Lord, in making this announcement of his death, designed that he should see in that event a judgment for his idolatry.
Verse 4
Thou shalt not come down from that bed--On being taken up, he had probably been laid on the divan--a raised frame, about three feet broad, extended along the sides of a room, covered with cushions and mattresses--serving, in short, as a sofa by day and a bed by night, and ascended by steps. Elijah departed--to his ordinary abode, which was then at Mount Carmel (Kg2 2:25; Kg1 18:42).
Verse 5
the messengers turned back--They did not know the stranger; but his authoritative tone, commanding attitude, and affecting message determined them at once to return.
Verse 8
an hairy man--This was the description not of his person, as in the case of Esau, but of his dress, which consisted either of unwrought sheep or goatskins (Heb 11:37), or of camel's haircloth--the coarser manufacture of this material like our rough haircloth. The Dervishes and Bedouins are attired in this wild, uncouth manner, while their hair flows loose on the head, their shaggy cloak is thrown over their shoulders and tied in front on the breast, naked, except at the waist, round which is a skin girdle--a broad, rough leathern belt. Similar to this was the girdle of the prophets, as in keeping with their coarse garments and their stern, uncompromising office.
Verse 9
ELIJAH BRINGS FIRE FROM HEAVEN ON AHAZIAH'S MESSENGERS. (Kg2 1:9-16) Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty--Any appearance of cruelty that there is in the fate of the two captains and their men will be removed, on a full consideration of the circumstances. God being the King of Israel, Ahaziah was bound to govern the kingdom according to the divine law; to apprehend the Lord's prophet, for discharging a commanded duty, was that of an impious and notorious rebel. The captains abetted the king in his rebellion; and they exceeded their military duty by contemptuous insults. man of God--In using this term, they either spoke derisively, believing him to be no true prophet; or, if they regarded him as a true prophet, the summons to him to surrender himself bound to the king was a still more flagrant insult; the language of the second captain being worse than that of the first.
Verse 10
let fire come down--rather, "fire shall come down." Not to avenge a personal insult of Elijah, but an insult upon God in the person of His prophet; and the punishment was inflicted, not by the prophet, but by the direct hand of God.
Verse 15
he arose, and went down with him--a marvellous instance of faith and obedience. Though he well knew how obnoxious his presence was to the king, yet, on receiving God's command, he goes unhesitatingly, and repeats, with his own lips, the unwelcome tidings conveyed by the messengers.
Verse 17
AHAZIAH DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED BY JEHORAM. (Kg2 1:17-18) Jehoram--The brother of Ahaziah (see on Kg2 3:1). Next: 2 Kings Chapter 2
Introduction
This chapter begins with the rebellion of Moab against Israel, Kg2 1:1, relates a fall of the king of Israel in his house, which brought on him a sickness, about which he sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron, who were stopped by Elijah, and bid to return, as they did; and upon the king's examination of them about the cause of their return, he perceived it was Elijah that forbad them, Kg2 1:2, upon which the king sent to him two captains, with fifty men each, one after another, to bring him to him, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, Kg2 1:9, but a third with fifty men sent to him were spared, and he is bid to go along with them with a message to the king, as he did, Kg2 1:13 and the chapter is closed with the death of Ahaziah, Kg2 1:17.
Verse 1
Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Which had been in subjection to them from the times of David, Sa2 8:2 refusing to pay a tribute as they had done; taking advantage of Ahab's ill success with the king of Syria, and of his death, and the condition and circumstances of his successor. refusing to pay a tribute as they had done; taking advantage of Ahab's ill success with the king of Syria, and of his death, and the condition and circumstances of his successor. 2 Kings 1:2 kg2 1:2 kg2 1:2 kg2 1:2And Ahaziah fell down a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria,.... Which was either a window or lattice in the form of network, to let in light; or rather were the rails of a balcony or battlement on the roof of his palace, in this form, on which leaning, it broke down, and he fell into the garden or court yard; or walking on the roof of his house, and treading unawares on a sky light, which let in light into a room underneath, he fell through it into it: and was sick; the fall perhaps threw him into a fever, and which seemed threatening, being violent: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, go inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease; not to heal him of it, but to know the issue of it; a vain curiosity this! Ekron was one of the principalities of the Philistines, and this idol was the god they worshipped, which signifies a master fly: which some think was a large metallic fly; made under a planet that rules over flies; and the Heathens had deities they called Myiodes, Myagros, and which signifies a driver away of flies; as Jupiter and Hercules were called by the Eleans and Romans, and worshipped and sacrificed to by them on that account (a); and so the Cyreneans, a people of Lybia, worshipped the god Achor, which seems to be a corruption of the word Ekron, because he freed them from flies, after they had been infested with a pestilence through them (b); and Ekron being a place near the sea, and both hot and moist, might be much infested with those creatures. Within the haven of Ptolemais, or Acco, was formerly a temple of Baalzebub, called in later times "the tower of flies", and used as a Pharus (c). (a) Pausan. Eliac. 1. sive, l. 5. p. 313. & Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 491. Clement. Alex. Admon. ad Gentes, p. 24. (b) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 27. Vid. Chartarii Imagines Deorum, p. 151. & Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 26. (c) Adrichom. Theatrum Ter. Sanct. fol. 6. 1.
Verse 3
But the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah,.... One of the ministering spirits sent by the Lord to him: arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria: that is, the king of Israel, whose capital city was Samaria: is it not because there is not a God in Israel; known, acknowledged, and worshipped there, of whom there had been sufficient proof of his deity and divine perfections, as omniscience, omnipotence, &c. that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? about future things, when they had God nigh unto them, fully acquainted with them, as this message shows.
Verse 4
Now therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Jehovah, the only true God: thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed. The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front (d), and steps leading up to it; or ladders, which had more or fewer rounds, according as the beds were higher or lower (e): and Elijah departed; having met the messengers, and delivered his message from the Lord unto them. (d) See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 209. Ed. 2. (e) Vid. Isidor. Origin. l. 20. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c. 2.
Verse 5
And when the messengers turned back unto him,.... To Ahaziah king of Israel, as they did as soon as Elijah was gone from them; concluding from his habit, his gravity, and the authority with which he spoke, that he was a prophet of the Lord, and especially from his knowledge of them, and of what they were sent about: he said unto them, why are ye now turned back? for, by the time they had been gone, he knew they could never have been at Ekron and returned.
Verse 6
And they said unto him, there came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, go, turn again unto the king that sent you,.... King Ahaziah: and say unto him; and then they repeated all that is said by the angel to Elijah, and he had delivered to them, Kg2 1:3 and which was a sufficient reason for their turning back, since they got a full answer from a man of God, of what they were to inquire of at Ekron; which was, whether the king would recover of this disease or not.
Verse 7
And he said unto them, what manner of man was he,.... What appearance or figure did he make? what his habit or clothing? which came up to meet you, and told you these words? they had related to him.
Verse 8
And they answered him, he was an hairy man,.... Either the hair of his head and beard were grown very long, having been much neglected for a great while; or he had an hairy garment on, either of goats' hair, such as the Chinese wear (f), whose women spin it, see Exo 35:26 and of which garments are made; or of camels' hair, such as John the Baptist wore, who came in his spirit and power, and imitated him in his dress, being also, as Elijah here: girt with a girdle of leather about his loins: for more expeditious travelling, not for warmth, the climate being hot: and he said, it is Elijah the Tishbite; for he had seen him formerly in his father's court in this dress. (f) Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch. 3.
Verse 9
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty,.... Not in honour to him, but to bring him by force if he refused to come willingly: and he went up to him, and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill; generally supposed to be Mount Carmel: and he spake unto him; at the bottom of the hill, so loud that he might hear him: thou man of God; or the prophet of the Lord, as the Targum, as thou callest thyself; for this was said in a sneering, flouting, manner: the king hath said, come down; and in the king's name he ordered him to come down, signifying, if he would not, he would send his men to fetch him down.
Verse 10
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, if I be a man of God,.... As I am, and thou shalt know it by the following token, though thou callest me so jeeringly: then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty; this he said not in a passion, and from a private spirit of revenge, but for the vindication of the honour and glory of God, and under the impulse of his spirit, who was abused through the insult on him as his prophet: and there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty; a flash of lightning, which destroyed them at once; the Lord hearkening to the voice of his prophet, in vindication of him in his office, and of his own glory.
Verse 11
Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty,.... The king, not being at all terrified with the awful judgment upon the former, sends another: and he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, come down quickly; he flouts the prophet in the same manner as the former, and in the king's name commands him to come down, and that immediately; which the king added to his orders, or he himself, signifying he would not be trifled with, if he did not come down directly, he would force him.
Verse 12
And Elijah answered and said unto them,.... The same as he had to the first captain, and made the same request of fire from heaven; which accordingly came down, and destroyed this captain and his fifty also. And Elijah answered and said unto them,.... The same as he had to the first captain, and made the same request of fire from heaven; which accordingly came down, and destroyed this captain and his fifty also. 2 Kings 1:13 kg2 1:13 kg2 1:13 kg2 1:13And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty,.... Which was most daring and insolent, and showed him to be dreadfully hardened, to persist in his messages after such rebuffs: and the third captain of fifty went up; instead of calling to the prophet at the bottom of the hill as the other did, he went up to the top of it: and came and fell on his knees before Elijah: in reverence of him as a prophet of the Lord, and under a dread of the power he was possessed of, of calling for fire from heaven on him and his men, as the former instances showed: and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight: he owns their lives lay at his mercy; he begs they might be spared, since it was not in contempt of him, and through ill will to him as the prophet of the Lord, but in obedience to the king's command, that they were come to him.
Verse 14
Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties,.... He owns the facts, and ascribes the death of them to the true cause, and appears to have an awful sense of the judgment of God on them, fearing the same would befall him and his: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight; by sparing it, what is precious and valuable being spared.
Verse 15
And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, The same as in Kg2 1:3 or "had said" (g), as some render it, before this captain came: go down with him; the captain and his men: and be not afraid of him; of King Ahaziah, whom he might fear, because of the message he had sent him, that he should die of that sickness, and for turning back his messengers to the god of Ekron, and for destroying his two captains and their fifties; nor of his mother Jezebel, who had threatened his life for killing her prophets: and he arose, and went down with him unto the king; boldly and courageously, not fearing his wrath; so that the captain not only had his life and the life of his men spared, but answered the end of his message also. (g) "edixerat autem", Junius & Tremellius.
Verse 16
And he said unto him,.... Elijah to King Ahaziah when introduced into his chamber; and after some discourse passed between them, he confirmed what he had said to his messengers, and expressed it in the same language as in Kg2 1:3; see Gill on Kg2 1:3, Kg2 1:4 2 Kings 1:17 kg2 1:17 kg2 1:17 kg2 1:17So he died, according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken,.... How long or how soon after this is not said; however, he died of the sickness, and on the bed to which he went up, as he said: and Jehoram reigned in his stead: who was another son of Ahab, and brother of Ahaziah, Kg2 3:1, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; but as he must begin his reign in the nineteenth, or in the latter end of the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, see Kg1 22:51 and Jehoshaphat reigned in all twenty five years, Kg1 22:42, he must live and reign after this six or seven years; this therefore is to be reconciled by observing, that this son of Jehoshaphat was made viceroy, or was taken into partnership in the throne by his father when he went with Ahab to Ramothgilead; and it was in the second year of this his reign with his father that the other Jehoram began his: because he had no son; that is, Ahaziah, wherefore his brother reigned in his stead.
Verse 18
Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did,.... During his two years' reign, which yet were imperfect, and his acts must be but few: are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in which were written his father Ahab's also, and his predecessors', see Kg1 22:39. Next: 2 Kings Chapter 2
Verse 1
After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel (Kg2 1:1). The Moabites, who had been subjugated by David (Sa2 8:2), had remained tributary to the kingdom of the ten tribes after the division of the kingdom. but when Israel was defeated by the Syrians at Ramoth in the time of Ahab, they took advantage of this defeat and the weakening of the Israelitish power in the country to the east of the Jordan to shake off the yoke of the Israelites, and very soon afterwards attempted an invasion of the kingdom of Judah, in alliance with the Edomite and other tribes of the desert, which terminated, however, in a great defeat, though it contributed to the maintenance of their independence. For further remarks, see at Kg2 3:4. Kg2 1:2 Ahaziah could not do anything to subjugate the Moabites any further, since he was very soon afterwards taken grievously ill. He fell through the grating in his upper room at Samaria. השּׂבכה, the grating, is either a window furnished with a shutter of lattice-work, or a door of lattice-work in the upper room of the palace, but hardly a grating in the floor of the Aliyah for the purpose of letting light into the lower rooms, as the Rabbins supposed. On account of this misfortune, Ahaziah resorted to the Ekronitish Baalzebub to obtain an oracle concerning the result of his illness. בּעל־זבוּב, i.e., Fly-Baal, was not merely the "averter of swarms of insects," like the Ζεὺς ἀπομυῖος, μυίαγρος of Elis (Ges., Winer, Movers, Phniz. i. p. 175), since "the Fly-God cannot have received his name as the enemy of flies, like lucus a non lucendo," but was Μυῖα θεός (lxx, Joseph.), i.e., God represented as a fly, as a fly-idol, to which the name Myiodes, gnat-like, in Plin. h. n. xxix. 6, clearly points, and as a god of the sun and of summer must have stood in a similar relation to the flies to that of the oracle-god Apollo, who both sent diseases and took them away (vid., J. G. Mller, Art. Beelzebub in Herzog's Cycl. i. p. 768, and Stark, Gaza, pp. 260,261). The latter observes that "these (the flies), which are governed in their coming and going by all the conditions of the weather, are apparently endowed with prophetic power themselves." This explains the fact that a special power of prophecy was attributed to this god. (Note: The later Jews altered the name Beelzebub into Βεελζεβούλ, i.e., probably lord of the (heavenly) dwelling, as a name given to the ἄρχων τῶν δαιμονίων (Mat 10:25, etc.); and the later Rabbins finally, by changing זבוּל בּעל into זבל בּעל, made a fly-god into a dung-god, to express in the most intense form their abomination of idolatry (see Lightfoot, Horae hebr. et talm. in Mat 12:24, and my Bibl. Archol. i. pp. 440,441).) Ekron, now Akir, the most northerly of the five Philistine capitals (see at Jos 13:3). Kg2 1:3-4 But the angel of the Lord, the mediator of the revelations made by the invisible God to the covenant nation (see Comm. on the Pentateuch, vol. i. pp. 185-191, transl.), had spoken to Elijah to go and meet the king's messengers, who were going to inquire of Baalzebub, and to ask them whether it was from the want of a God in Israel (אין מבּלי as in Exo 14:11; see Ewald, 323, a.) that they turned to Baalzebub, and to announce to them the word of Jehovah, that Ahaziah would not rise up from his bed again, but would die. "And Elijah went," sc. to carry out the divine commission. Kg2 1:5-8 The messengers did not recognise Elijah, but yet they turned back and reported the occurrence to the king, who knew at once, from the description they gave of the habitus of the man in reply to his question, that it was Elijah the Tishbite. האישׁ משׁפּט מה: "what was the manner of the man?" משׁפּט is used here to denote the peculiarity of a person, that which in a certain sense constitutes the vital law and right of the individual personality; figura et habitus (Vulg.). The servants described the prophet according to his outward appearance, which in a man of character is a reflection of his inner man, as שׂער בּעל אישׁ, vir pilosus, hirsutus. This does not mean a man with a luxuriant growth of hair, but refers to the hairy dress, i.e., the garment made of sheep-skin or goat-skin or coarse camel-hair, which was wrapped round his body; the אדּרת (Kg2 2:8; Kg1 19:13), or שׂער אדּרת (Zac 13:4, cf. Mat 3:4; Heb 11:37), which was worn by the prophets, not as mere ascetics, but as preachers of repentance, the rough garment denoting the severity of the divine judgments upon the effeminate nation, which revelled in luxuriance and worldly lust. And this was also in keeping with "the leather girdle," עור אזור, ζώνη δερματίνη (Mat 3:4), whereas the ordinary girdle was of cotton or linen, and often very costly.
Verse 9
After having executed the divine command, Elijah returned to the summit of the mountain, on which he dwelt. Most of the commentators suppose it to have been one of the peaks of Carmel, from Kg2 2:25 and Kg1 18:42, which is no doubt very probable, though it cannot be raised into certainty. Elijah's place of abode was known to the king; he therefore sent a captain with fifty men to fetch the prophet. To the demand of the captain, "Man of God, the king has said, Come down," Elijah replied, "And if I am a man of God, let fire fall from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty." (The expression ואם, and if, shows that Elijah's words followed immediately upon those of the captain.) This judicial miracle was immediately fulfilled.
Verse 11
The same fate befell a second captain, whom the king sent after the death of the first. He was more insolent than the first, "both because he was not brought to his senses by hearing of his punishment, and because he increased his impudence by adding make haste (מהרה)." - C. a Lap. For וידבּר ויּען the lxx (Cod. Alex.) have καὶ ἀνέβη καὶ ἐλάλησε, so that they read ויּעל. The correctness of this reading, according to which ויּען would be an error of the pen, is favoured not only by ויּעל in Kg2 1:9 and Kg2 1:13, but also by וידבּר which follows; for, as a general rule, ויּען would be followed by ויּאמר. The repetition of this judicial miracle was meant to show in the most striking manner not only the authority which rightfully belonged to the prophet, but also the help and protection which the Lord gave to His servants. At the same time, the question as to the "morality of the miracle," about which some have had grave doubts, is not set at rest by the remark of Thenius, that "the soldiers who were sent come into consideration here purely as instruments of a will acting in opposition to Jehovah." The third captain also carried out he ungodly command of the king, and he was not slain (Kg2 1:13.). The first two must therefore have been guilty of some crime, which they and their people had to expiate with their death. This crime did not consist merely in their addressing him as "man of God," for the third addressed Elijah in the same way (Kg2 1:13), but in their saying "Man of God, come down." This summons to the prophet, to allow himself to be led as a prisoner before the king, involved a contempt not only of the prophetic office in the person of Elijah, but also of the Lord, who had accredited him by miracles as His servant. The two captains who were first sent not only did what they were bound to do as servants of the king, but participated in the ungodly disposition of their lord (συμβαίνοντες τῷ σκοπῷ τοῦ πεπομφότος - Theodoret); they attacked the Lord with reckless daring in the person of the prophet, and the second captain, with his "Come down quickly," did it even more strongly than the first. This sin was punished, and that not by the prophet, but by the Lord Himself, who fulfilled the word of His servant. (Note: Οἱ τοῦ προφήτου κατηγοροῦντες κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ προφήτου κινοῦσι τὰς γλώττας, as Theodoret very aptly observes.) What Elijah here did was an act of holy zeal for the honour of the Lord, in the spirit of the old covenant, under which God destroyed the insolent despisers of His name with fire and sword, to manifest the energy of His holy majesty by the side of the dead idols of the heathen. But this act cannot be transferred to the times of the new covenant, as is clearly shown in Luk 9:54-55, where Christ does not blame Elijah for what he did, but admonishes His disciples, who overlooked the difference between the economy of the law and that of the gospel, and in their carnal zeal wanted to imitate what Elijah had done in divine zeal for the honour of the Lord, which had been injured in his own person.
Verse 13
The king, disregarding the punishing hand of the Lord, which, even if it might possibly have been overlooked in the calamity that befell the captain who was first sent and his company, could not be misunderstood when a similar fate befell the second captain with his fifty men, sent a third company, in his defiant obduracy, to fetch the prophet. (שׁלשׁים after חמשּׁים is apparently an error of the pen for שׁלישׁי, as the following word השּׁלישׁי shows). But the third captain was better than his king, and wiser than his two predecessors. He obeyed the command of the king so far as to go to the prophet; but instead of haughtily summoning him to follow him, he bent his knee before the man of God, and prayed that his own life and the lives of his soldiers might be spared.
Verse 15
Then Elijah followed him to the king (מפּניו, before him, i.e., before the king, not before the captain; and אתו for ??????, see Ewald, ֗264, b.), having been directed to do so by the angel of the Lord, and repeated to him the word of the Lord, which he had also conveyed to him through his messengers (see Kg2 1:4 and Kg2 1:6).
Verse 17
When Ahaziah died, according to the word of the Lord through Elijah, as he had no son, he was followed upon the throne by his brother Joram, "in the second year of Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah." This statement is at variance both with that in Kg2 3:1, to the effect that Joram began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, and with that in Kg1 22:52, viz., that Ahaziah ascended the throne in the seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, which lasted twenty-five years, and also with the statement in Kg2 8:16, that Joram of Judah became king over Judah in the fifth year of Joram of Israel. If, for example, Ahaziah of Israel died after a reign of not quite two years, at the most a year and a half, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat; as Jehoshaphat himself reigned twenty-five years, he cannot have died till the seventh year of Joram of Israel, and his son Joram followed him upon the throne. The last of these discrepancies may be solved very simply, from the fact that, according to Kg2 8:16, Jehoshaphat was still king when his son Joram began to reign so that Jehoshaphat abdicated in favour of his son about two years before his death. And the first discrepancy (that between Kg2 1:17 and Kg1 3:1) is removed by Usher (Annales M. ad a.m. 3106 and 3112), Lightfoot, and others, after the example of the Seder Olam, by the assumption of the co-regency. According to this, when Jehoshaphat went with Ahab to Ramoth in Gilead to war against the Syrians, in the eighteenth year of his reign, which runs parallel to the twenty-second year of the reign of Ahab, he appointed his son Joram to the co-regency, and transferred to him the administration of the kingdom. It is from this co-regency that the statement in Kg2 1:17 is dated, to the effect that Joram of Israel became king in the second year of Joram of Judah. This second year of the co-regency of Joram corresponds to the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat (Kg2 3:1). And in the fifth year of his co-regency Jehoshaphat gave up the reins of government entirely to him. It is from this point in time, i.e., from the twenty-third year of Jehoshaphat, that we are to reckon the eight years of the reign of Joram (of Judah), so that he only reigned six years more after his father's death. (Note: Wolff indeed boldly declares that "the co-regency of Joram is a pure fiction, and the biblical historians do not furnish the slightest warrant for any such supposition" (see p. 628 of the treatise mentioned at p. 187); but he cannot think of any other way of reconciling the differences than by making several alterations in the text, and inventing a co-regency in the case of the Israelitish king Ahaziah. The synchronism of the reigns of the Israelitish kings necessarily requires the solution adopted in the text. For if Joram of Israel, who began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat and reigned twelve years (Kg2 3:1), was slain at the same time as Ahaziah of Judah (Kg2 9:24-27), and Ahaziah of Judah reigned about one year and his predecessor Joram about eight years, so that the two together certainly reigned fully eight years; Joram of Judah must have ascended the throne four years after Joram of Israel, i.e., in the twenty-third year of Jehoshaphat, which runs parallel to the fifty year of Joram of Israel. Consequently the twenty-five years of Jehoshaphat are to be reduced to twenty-three in reckoning the sum-total of the years embraced by the period of the kings. It is true that there is no analogy for this combination of the years of the reigns of two kings, since the other reductions of which different chronologists are fond are perfectly arbitrary, and the case before us stands quite alone; but this exception to the rule is indicated clearly enough in the statement in Kg2 8:16, that Joram began to reign while Jehoshaphat was (still) king. When, however, Thenius objects to this mode of reconciling the differences, which even Winer adopts in the third edition of his bibl. Real-Wצrterbuch, i. p. 539, on the ground that the reign of Joram is dated most precisely in Kg1 22:51 and Ch2 21:1, Ch2 21:5,Ch2 21:20, from the death of Jehoshaphat, and that an actual co-regency, viz., that of Jotham, is expressly mentioned in Kg2 15:5, which does not render it at all necessary to carry the years of his reign into those of his father's, this appeal to the case of Jotham cannot prove anything, for the simple reason that the biblical text knows nothing of any co-regency of Jotham and Uzziah, but simply states that when Uzziah was smitten with leprosy, his son Jotham judged the people of the land, but that he did not become king till after his father's death (Kg2 15:5, Kg2 15:7; Ch2 26:21, Ch2 26:23). It is indeed stated in Kg1 22:51 and Ch2 26:1, Ch2 26:5,Ch2 26:20, that Jehoshaphat died and his son Joram became king, which may be understood as meaning that he did not become king till after the death of Jehoshaphat; but there is no necessity to understand it so, and therefore it can be very easily reconciled with the more precise statement in Kg2 8:16, that Joram ascended the throne during the reign of Jehoshaphat, whereas the assertion of Thenius, that the circumstantial clause יהוּדה מלך ויהושׁפט in Kg2 8:16 is a gloss, is not critically established by the absence of these words from the lxx, Syr., and Arabic, and to expunge them from the text is nothing but an act of critical violence.) We have no information as to the reason which induced Jehoshaphat to abdicate in favour of his son two years before his death; for there is very little probability in the conjecture of Lightfoot (Opp. i. p. 85), that Jehoshaphat did this when he commenced the war with the Moabites in alliance with Joram of Israel, for the simple reason that the Moabites revolted after the death of Ahab, and Joram made preparations for attacking them immediately after their rebellion (Kg2 3:5-7), so that he must have commenced this expedition before the fifth year of his reign.
Introduction
We here find Ahaziah, the genuine son and successor of Ahab, on the throne of Israel. His reign continued not two years; he died by a fall in his own house, of which, after the mention of the revolt of Moab (Kg2 1:1), we have here an account. I. The message which, on that occasion, he sent to the god of Ekron (Kg2 1:2). II. The message he received from the God of Israel (Kg2 1:3-8). III. The destruction of the messengers he sent to seize the prophet, once and again (Kg2 1:9-12). IV. His compassion to, and compliance with, the third messenger, upon his submission, and the delivery of the message to the king himself (Kg2 1:13-16). IV. The death of Ahaziah (Kg2 1:17, Kg2 1:18). In the story we may observe how great the prophet looks and how little the prince.
Verse 1
We have here Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel, under God's rebukes both by his providence and by his prophet, by his rod and by his word. I. He is crossed in his affairs. How can those expect to prosper that do evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoke him to anger? When he rebelled against God, and revolted from his allegiance to him, Moab rebelled against Israel, and revolted from the subjection that had long paid to the kings of Israel, Kg2 1:1. The Edomites that bordered on Judah, and were tributaries to the kings of Judah, still continued so, as we find in the chapter before (v. 47), till, in the wicked reign of Joram, they broke that yoke (Kg2 8:22) as the Moabites did now. If men break their covenants with us, and neglect their duty, we must reflect upon our breach of covenant with God, and the neglect of our duty to him. Sin weakens and impoverishes us. We shall hear of the Moabites, Kg2 3:5. II. He is seized with sickness in body, not from any inward cause, but by a severe accident. He fell down through a lattice, and was much bruised with the fall; perhaps it threw him into a fever, Kg2 3:2. Whatever we go, there is but a step between us and death. A man's house is his castle, but not to secure him against the judgments of God. The cracked lattice is a fatal to the son, when God pleases to make it so, as the bow drawn at a venture was to the father. Ahaziah would not attempt to reduce the Moabites, lest he should perish in the field of battle: but he is not safe, though he tarry at home. Royal palaces do not always yield firm footing. The snare is laid for the sinner in the ground where he thinks least of it, Job 18:9, Job 18:10. The whole creation, which groans under the man's sin, will at length sink and break under the weight, like this lattice. He is never safe that has God for his enemy. III. In his distress he sends messengers to enquire of the god Ekron whether he should recover or no, Kg2 1:2. And here, 1. His enquiry was very foolish: Shall I recover? Even nature itself would rather have asked, "What means may I use that I may recover?" But as one solicitous only to know his fortune, not to know his duty, his question is only this, Shall I recover? to which a little time would give an answer. We should be more thoughtful what will become of us after death than how, or when, or where, we shall die, and more desirous to be told how we may conduct ourselves well in our sickness, and get good to our souls by it, than whether we shall recover from it. 2. His sending to Baal-zebub was very wicked; to make a dead and dumb idol, perhaps newly erected (for idolaters were fond of new gods), his oracle, was not less a reproach to his reason than to his religion. Baal-zebub, which signifies the lord of a fly, was one of their Baals that perhaps gave his answers either by the power of the demons or the craft of the priests, with a humming noise, like that of a great fly, or that had (as they fancied) rid their country of the swarms of flies wherewith it was infested, or of some pestilential disease brought among them by flies. Perhaps this dunghill-deity was as famous then as the oracle of Delphos was, long afterwards, in Greece. In the New Testament the prince of the devils is called Beel-zebub (Mat 12:24), for the gods of the Gentiles were devils, and this perhaps grew to be one of the most famous. IV. Elijah, by direction from God, meets the messengers, and turns them back with an answer that shall save them the labour of going to Ekron. Had Ahaziah sent for Elijah, humbled himself, and begged his prayers, he might have had an answer of peace; but if he send to the god of Ekron, instead of the God of Israel, this, like Saul's consulting the witch, shall fill the measure of his iniquity, and bring upon him a sentence of death. Those that will not enquire of the word of God for their comfort shall be made to hear it, whether they will or not, to their amazement. 1. He faithfully reproves his sin (Kg2 1:3): Is it not because there is not (that is, because you think there is not) a God in Israel (because there is no God, none in Israel, so it may be read), that you go to enquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, a despicable town of the Philistines (Zac 9:7), long since vanquished by Israel? Here, (1.) The sin was bad enough, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, which was done as much by their enquiries as by their sacrifices. Note, It is a very wicked thing, upon any occasion or pretence whatsoever, to consult with the devil. This wickedness reigned in the heathen world (Isa 47:12, Isa 47:13) and remains too much even in the Christian world, and the devil's kingdom is supported by it. (2.) The construction which Elijah, in God's name, puts upon it, makes it much worse: "It is because you think not only that the God of Israel is not able to tell you, but that there is no God at all in Israel, else you would not send so far for a divine answer." Note, A practical and constructive atheism is the cause and malignity of our departures from God. Surely we think there is no God in Israel when we live at large, make flesh our arm, and seek a portion in the things of this world. 2. He plainly reads his doom: Go, tell him he shall surely die, Kg2 1:4. "Since he is so anxious to know his fate, this is it; let him make the best of it." The certain fearful looking for of judgment and indignation which this message must needs cause cannot but cut him to the heart. V. The message being delivered to him by his servants, he enquires of them by whom it was sent to him, and concludes, by their description of him, that it must be Elijah, Kg2 1:7, Kg2 1:8. For, 1. His dress was the same that he had seen him in, in his father's court. He was clad in a hairy garment, and had a leathern girdle about him, was plain and homely in his garb. John Baptist, the Elias of the New Testament, herein resembled him, for his clothes were made of hair cloth, and he was girt with a leathern girdle, Mat 3:4. He that was clothed with the Spirit despised all rich and gay clothing. 2. His message was such as he used to deliver to his father, to whom he never prophesied good, but evil. Elijah is one of those witnesses that still torment the inhabitants of the earth, Rev 11:10. He that was a thorn in Ahab's eyes will be so in the eyes of his son while he treads in the steps of his father's wickedness; and he is ready to cry out, as his father did, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? Let sinners consider that the word which took hold of their fathers is still as quick and powerful as ever. See Zac 1:6; Heb 4:12.
Verse 9
Here, I. The king issues out a warrant for the apprehending of Elijah. If the God of Ekron had told him he should die, it is probable he would have taken it quietly; but now that a prophet of the Lord tells him so, reproving him for his sin and reminding him of the God of Israel, he cannot bear it. So far is he from making any good improvement of the warning given him that he is enraged against the prophet; neither his sickness, nor the thoughts of death, made any good impressions upon him, nor possessed him with any fear of God. No external alarms will startle and soften secure sinners, but rather exasperate them. Did the king think Elijah a prophet, a true prophet? Why then durst he persecute him? Did he think him a common person? What occasion was there to send such a force, in order to seize him? Thus a band of men must take our Lord Jesus. II. The captain that was sent with his fifty soldiers found Elijah on the top of a hill (some think Carmel), and commanded him, in the king's name, to surrender himself, Kg2 1:9. Elijah was now so far from absconding, as formerly, into the close recesses of a cave, that he makes a bold appearance on the top of a hill; experience of God's protection makes him more bold. The captain calls him a man of God, not that he believed him to be so, or reverenced him a such a one, but because he was commonly called so. Had he really looked upon him as a prophet, he would not have attempted to make him his prisoner; and, had he thought him entrusted with the word of God, he would not have pretended to command him with the word of a king. III. Elijah calls for fire from heaven, to consume this haughty daring sinner, not to secure himself (he could have done that some other way), nor to avenge himself (for it was not his own cause that he appeared and acted in), but to prove his mission, and to reveal the wrath of God from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. This captain had, in scorn, called him a man of God: "If I be so," says Elijah, "thou shalt pay dearly for making a jest of it." He valued himself upon his commission (the king has said, Come down), but Elijah will let him know that the God of Israel is superior to the king of Israel and has a greater power to enforce his commands. It was not long since Elijah had fetched fire from heaven, to consume the sacrifice (Kg1 18:38), in token of God's acceptance of that sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of the people; but, they having slighted that, now the fire falls, not on the sacrifice, but on the sinners themselves, Kg2 1:10. See here, 1. What an interest the prophets had in heaven; what the Spirit of God in them demanded the power of God effected. Elijah did but speak, and it was done. He that formerly had fetched water from heaven now fetches fire. O the power of prayer! Concerning the work of my hands, command you me, Isa 14:11. 2. What an interest heaven had in the prophets! God was always ready to plead their cause, and avenge the injuries done to them; kings shall still be rebuked for their sakes, and charged to do his prophets no harm; one Elijah is more to God than 10,000 captains and their fifties. Doubtless Elijah did this by a divine impulse, and yet our Saviour would not allow the disciples to draw it into a precedent, Luk 9:54. They were now not far from the place where Elias did this act of justice upon provoking Israelites, and would needs, in like manner, call for fire upon those provoking Samaritans. "No," says Christ, "by no means, you know not what manner of spirit you are of," that is, (1.) "You do not consider what manner of spirit, as disciples, you are called to, and how different from that of the Old Testament dispensation; it was agreeable enough to that dispensation of terror, and of the letter, for Elias to call for fire, but the dispensation of the Spirit and of grace will by no means allow it." (2.) "You are not aware what manner of spirit you are, upon this occasion, actuated by, and how different from that of Elias: he did it in holy zeal, you in passion; he was concerned for God's glory, you for your own reputation only." God judges men's practices by their principles, and his judgment is according to truth. IV. This is repeated a second time; would one think it? 1. Ahaziah sends, a second time, to apprehend Elijah (Kg2 1:11), as if he were resolved not to be baffled by omnipotence itself. Obstinate sinners must be convinced and conquered, at last, by the fire of hell, for fire from heaven, it seems, will not subdue them. 2. Another captain is ready with his fifty, who, in his blind rage against the prophet, and his blind obedience to the king, dares engage in that service which had been fatal to the last undertakers. This is as impudent and imperious as the last, and more in haste; not only, "Come down quietly, and do not struggle," but without taking any notice of what had been done, he says, "Come down quickly, and do not trifle, the king's business requires haste; come down, or I will fetch thee down." 3. Elijah relents not, but calls for another flash of lightning, which instantly lays this captain and his fifty dead upon the spot. Those that will sin like others must expect to suffer like them; God is inflexibly just. V. The third captain humbled himself and cast himself upon the mercy of God and Elijah. It does not appear that Ahaziah ordered him to do so (his stubborn heart is as hard as ever; so regardless is he of the terrors of the Lord, so little affected with the manifestations of his wrath, and withal so prodigal of the lives of his subjects, that he sends a third with the same provoking message to Elijah), but he took warning by the fate of his predecessors, who, perhaps, lay dead before his eyes; and, instead of summoning the prophet down, fell down before him, and begged for his life and the lives of his soldiers, acknowledging their own evil deserts and the prophet's power (Kg2 1:13, Kg2 1:14): Let my life be precious in thy sight. Note, There is nothing to be got by contending with God: if we would prevail with him, it must be by supplication; if we would not fall before God, we must bow before him; and those are wise for themselves who learn submission from the fatal consequences of the obstinacy of others. VI. Elijah does more than grant the request of this third captain. God is not so severe with those that stand it out against him but he is as ready to show mercy to those that repent and submit to him; never any found it in vain to cast themselves upon the mercy of God. This captain, not only has his life spared, but is permitted to carry his point: Elijah, being so commanded by the angel, goes down with him to the king, Kg2 1:15. Thus he shows that he before refused to come, not because he feared the king or court, but because he would not be imperiously compelled, which would lessen the honour of his master; he magnifies his office. He comes boldly to the king, and tells him to his face (let him take it as he may) what he had before sent to him (Kg2 1:16), that he shall surely and shortly die; he mitigates not the sentence, either for fear of the king's displeasure or in pity to his misery. The God of Israel has condemned him, let him send to see whether the god of Ekron can deliver him. So thunder-struck is Ahaziah with this message, when it comes from the prophet's own mouth, that neither he nor any of those about him durst offer him any violence, nor so much as give him an affront; but out of that den of lions he comes unhurt, like Daniel. Who can harm those whom God will shelter? Lastly, The prediction is accomplished in a few days. Ahaziah died (v. 17), and, dying childless, left his kingdom to his brother Jehoram. His father reigned wickedly twenty-two years, he not two. Sometimes the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power; but those who therefore promise themselves prosperity in impiety may perhaps find themselves deceived; for (as bishop Hall observes here), "Some sinners live long, to aggravate their judgment, others die soon, to hasten it;" but it is certain that evil pursues sinners, and, sooner or later, it will overtake them; nor will any thing fill the measure sooner than that complicated iniquity of Ahaziah - honouring the devil's oracles and hating God's oracles.
Verse 1
1:1 After Ahab’s death, the Moabites felt secure enough to declare themselves free of their Israelite overlords (see 3:4-5). The historical notice anticipates the troubles that Israel would experience after the short-lived reign of Ahaziah (see 1 Kgs 22:51).
Verse 2
1:2 An upper room or balcony enclosed with latticework was common; it allowed for the free flow of air and a degree of privacy, but latticework was easily broken. • Baal-zebub (lord of flies) may be a parody of a Canaanite deity named Baal-zebul (Baal is prince). The name of this deity was later used for Satan (see study note on Matt 10:25). Ahaziah followed his father Ahab in worshiping Baal.
Verse 3
1:3-4 The angel of the Lord does not seem to be a christophany in the book of Kings, as in other Old Testament texts (e.g., Judg 6:11-18). • Elijah, who had previously confronted Ahaziah’s father, Ahab, had a twofold message for the king: a condemnation for failure to acknowledge that Yahweh, not Baal, is God (see 1 Kgs 18:16-18), and a pronouncement of doom (see 1 Kgs 21:17-24).
Verse 9
1:9-10 The arrogant words of the army captain contained a contradiction, which Elijah pointed out: If Elijah was a man of God (i.e., God’s prophet), then his authority was from God and to ignore him was to invite peril (Deut 18:15-19). • Fire often symbolizes the presence of God in the Scriptures (see Exod 3:1-6; 19:18; cp. 1 Kgs 18:38). • Fifty soldiers was a common grouping (1 Kgs 18:4); here it indicates a division within Israel’s military organization.
Verse 11
1:11-13 Report of what happened to the previous contingent had apparently reached the king.
Verse 13
1:13-14 In contrast to the first two officers, the third commander pleaded for mercy before Elijah and God.
Verse 15
1:15 When the angel of the Lord (1:3) instructed Elijah, he responded in faithful obedience.
Verse 16
1:16 Is there no God in Israel? God’s message to Ahaziah remained unchanged (cp. 1:3-4).
Verse 17
1:17 The second year of the reign of Jehoram was 852 BC, during Jehoram’s co-regency with his father, Jehoshaphat (853–848 BC).