1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

3 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 unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?

4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?

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, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?

8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.

10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.

12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, 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.

14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.

15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel, after the death of Ahab.

2 And Ahaziah fel downe thorow a lattesse in his vpper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sicke: and he sent messengers, and said vnto them, Goe, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, whether I shal recouer of this disease.

3 But the Angel of the Lord said to Eliiah the Tishbite, Arise, goe vp to meete the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say vnto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye goe to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?

4 Now therefore, thus sayeth the Lord, Thou shalt not come downe from that bed on which thou art gone vp, but shalt surely die. And Eliiah departed.

5 And when the messengers turned backe vnto him, he said vnto them, Why are ye now turned backe?

6 And they said vnto him, There came a man vp to meet vs, and said vnto vs, Goe, turne againe vnto the king that sent you, and say vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come downe from that bedde on which thou art gone vp, but shalt surely die.

7 And hee said vnto them, What maner of man was he which came vp to meet you, and told you these words?

8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loynes: and he said, It is Eliiah the Tishbite.

9 Then the King sent vnto him a captaine of fiftie, with his fiftie: and he went vp to him, (and behold, he sate on the top of an hill) and hee spake vnto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come downe.

10 And Eliiah answered, and said to the captaine of fiftie, If I be a man of God, then let fire come downe from heauen, and consume thee and thy fiftie. And there came downe fire from heauen, and consumed him and his fiftie.

11 Againe also hee sent vnto him another captaine of fiftie, with his fiftie: And hee answered, and said vnto him, O man of God, Thus hath the king said, Come downe quickly.

12 And Eliiah answered, and saide vnto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come downe from heauen, and consume thee, and thy fiftie. And the fire of God came downe from heauen, and consumed him, and his fiftie.

13 And hee sent againe a captaine of the third fiftie, with his fiftie: and the third captaine of fiftie went vp, and came and fell on his knees before Eliiah, and besought him, and saide vnto him, Oh man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fiftie thy seruants, be precious in thy sight.

14 Behold, there came fire downe from heauen, and burnt vp the two captaines of the former fifties, with their fifties: Therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.

15 And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Elijah, Goe downe with him, be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went downe with him vnto the king.

16 And he said vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron (is it not because there is no God in Israel, to enquire of his word?) therefore thou shalt not come downe off that bed on which thou art gone vp, but shalt surely die.

17 So he died, according to the worde of the Lord which Eliiah had spoken: and Iehoram reigned in his stead, in the second yeere of Iehoram the sonne of Iehoshaphat king of Iudah, because he had no sonne.

18 Now the rest of the actes of Ahaziah, which hee did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

I == 2nd Sam 8:2 ; 2nd Kings 3:5

II == 1st Sam 5:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == Zech 13:4 ; Matt 3:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == Luke 9:54

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII == 1st Sam 26:21 ; Ps 72:14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == 2nd Kings 3:1

 

1 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his roof terrace at Samaria and had been injured. So he sent out messengers with the instructions: "Go and inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury."

3 Meanwhile, the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: "Go, intercept the messengers of Samaria's king, and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron?'

4 For this, the LORD says: 'You shall not leave the bed upon which you lie; instead, you shall die.'" And with that, Elijah departed.

5 The messengers then returned to Ahaziah, who asked them. "Why have you returned?"

6 "A man came up to us," they answered, "who said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you and tell him: The LORD says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? For this you shall not leave the bed upon which you lie; instead, you shall die.'"

7 The king asked them, "What was the man like who came up to you and said these things to you?"

8 "Wearing a hairy garment," they replied, "with a leather girdle about his loins." "It is Elijah the Tishbite!" he exclaimed.

9 Then the king sent a captain with his company of fifty men after Elijah. The prophet was seated on a hilltop when he found him. "Man of God," he ordered, "the king commands you to come down."

10 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered the captain, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men." And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

11 Ahaziah sent another captain with his company of fifty men after Elijah. "Man of God," he called out to Elijah, "the king commands you to come down immediately."

12 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered him, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men." And divine fire came down from heaven, consuming him and his fifty men.

13 Again, for the third time, Ahaziah sent a captain with his company of fifty men. When the third captain arrived, he fell to his knees before Elijah, pleading with him. "Man of God," he implored him, "let my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants, count for something in your sight!

14 Already fire has come down from heaven, consuming two captains with their companies of fifty men. But now, let my life mean something to you!"

15 Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; you need not be afraid of him."

16 So Elijah left and went down with him and stated to the king: "Thus says the LORD: 'Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, you shall not leave the bed upon which you lie; instead you shall die.'"

17 Ahaziah died in fulfillment of the prophecy of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Since he had no son, his brother Joram succeeded him as king, in the second year of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

18 The rest of the acts of Ahaziah are recorded in the book of chronicles of the kings of Israel.

v 1. The secular “Moabite Stone” indicates that Omri was a strong king and had fought and defeated Moab. Ahab was also strong,  but Moab apparently felt they could rebel when Ahaziah took the throne.

v 2. Ahaziah only reigned two years and was wicked, 1 Ki. 22:51-53. We don’t know if it was his sickness or other reason why he fell through the lattice to the ground, but his wickedness is seen in sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the fertility god, 40 miles away concerning recovery.

v 3.4. The angel of the Lord commanded Elijah to intercept the messengers with a rebuke to Ahaziah for inquiring of a Baal-zebub, instead of God, with the further information that because of that, he would not recover but die in his bed.

v 5-8. Ahaziah was surprised at their quick return and asked what manner of man had given them that message. Their description of the rough garb, characteristic of what prophets wore to illustrate repentance, assured him that it was Elijah.

 

v 9. These men were sent out to arrest this man of God like he was a common criminal. The captain recognized him as a prophet, but was just following orders.

v 10. Elijah was not fearful now, as when he fled from Jezebel, and called down fire from heaven. This seems drastic, but God was dealing with a drastic situation.

v 11,12. The king disregarded their deaths with a more urgent command to come down quickly. This group was consumed like the first group.

 

v 13-16. The king was as undaunted as a general sending soldiers to known slaughter, but this captain begged Elijah for mercy. This time the angel told Elijah to go without fear, and he personally gave Ahaziah the same message of death for sin.

 

 

 

v 17,18. Ahaziah died shortly thereafter as told, and since he had no son, his brother Jehoram reigned in his stead. The kings of Israel and Judah both had the same name, but for distinction, the NIV calls the king of Israel Joram and the king of Judah Jehoram.