This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elijah” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 28, 1988.

Tonight our scripture reading is 2 Kings chapter 1. hear the word of the Lord. Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahaz, and Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber, which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, Go inquire of Baalzebub, 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 where you have gone up, but you shall surely die. Then Elijah departed. When the messengers returned to him, he said to them, Why have you returned? And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord. Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal’s above the God of Echron?

Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.” And he said to them, what kind of man was he who came to meet you and spoke these words to you? And they answered him, he was a hairy man with a leather girdle about his loins. He said, it is Elijah the Tishbite.

Then the king said to a captain of fifty of his to a captain of 50 with his 50, sent to him a captain of 50 with his 50 and he went up to him and behold he was sitting on the top of a hill and he said to him, O man of God, the king says, come down. Elijah answered and said to the captain of 50, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, thus says the king, come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said to them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah and begged him and said to him, O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. The fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties, but now let me, let my life be precious in your sight.

And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him, do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the camp. Then he said to him, Thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no god in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord, which Elijah had spoken, and Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no son. Now the rest of the acts of the Isaiah, which he did, are they not written in the book of Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Our Father, you have given to us a liberty in this land as yet wherein we can proclaim the riches of your grace and we can do that unthreatened. We thank you our father and also ask that from the church in this land the gospel might have access in other lands even those where there is tremendous difficulty for those who endeavor to preach the word. We ask Lord that the freedoms that we enjoy may continue We ask also that the power of the word might be manifest, that no earthly power, no government of this world is able to withstand the power of your word. We pray, Lord, therefore we would see the full complement of your people gathered, that we might be satisfied as that Our mission committed to your church is accomplished through and in Jesus Christ. We pray, our Father, that we ourselves may be found obedient to your word and willing servants indeed. We pray this for Jesus’ sake. Amen. As we move into 2 Kings now, we will witness the deepening of the disaster that has commenced in 1 Kings. The disaster shall truly deepen. Colors intensify. The pattern be all the more plain. and the conclusion apparent.

We have witnessed the history of the Northern Ten Tribes to this point, bound up as that nation is in its apostasy. We have seen the consistency of the leaders of that nation as they resolutely have turned away from the Lord God for various reasons, giving various excuses, and we are seeing the consequences of their decisions and the disaster now that is impending.

All of this has peaked in the kingdom and reign of Ahab. His disobedience is outstanding, his apostasy is there for all to see, and this disobedience, this apostasy on his part will not go unanswered. His death has been recorded for us, the circumstances of it, in the concluding chapter of 1 Kings, and that death sets in motion then the downward spiral from the exalted heights to which the kingdom of Ahab had climbed. We have reviewed something of the heights achieved by Ahab.

We saw how he secured himself to the east and north. We saw how he secured himself to the west and then to the south. securing himself even to the south in what seems to be a miraculous alliance with Jehoshaphat, a righteous king in Judah. But now, there is that downward spiral which has commenced with his death.

He had held the formidable empire of the ancient world, Syria, and its King Ben-Hadad at bay. He had broken their hold upon him and his kingdom so that he stood toe-to-toe and was able even to bring Ben-Hadad to his knees. But now, as the last chapter of 1 Kings has described for us, then Hadad in the end has proved victorious and he has broken the hold that Israel has held upon him. He has asserted himself and he has prevailed.

So the east and northward is no longer secure as Ahab’s son Ahaziah would take the throne. There is also the fact that this Ephraimite-Judah alliance, the alliance between Israel in the north and Judah to the south, is jeopardized and weakened severely. You might note the conclusion of 1 Kings 22, specifically verses 48 and 49.

We are told there of an enterprise by Jehoshaphat. He made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were broken at Ezion-Eber. Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat was not willing.

The alliance that had been struck between Ahab and Jehoshaphat seems to be weakened and jeopardized as Ahaziah takes the throne. And now, as 2 Kings begins, we see that one of the vassal states that had been under the thumb of Ahab rebels. Moab, to the south and east, is rebelling against the power of Israel And it seems that with the mention of that Ahaziah is without strength, he is powerless to maintain his hold on that particular portion of the kingdom.

As if all of this wasn’t enough for Ahaziah, he, for whatever reason, falls through the latticework on his porch. We can only conjecture as to what was going on, what was happening when he fell through the latticework on his porch. At any rate, he has taken a fall, and it doesn’t seem as if he will recover. At least his life is so threatened that he is quite, quite shaken. Illness then starts, as well as disaster and demise for the kingdom.

Behind all of this, there is the foreboding the foreboding and suspectedly certain word of the Lord, which has come through the Lord’s servants, the prophets. All of this, what we have been reading, as we’ve moved through these accounts of the kings, seems to be pushing us in one direction, that we not only consider the kings, but we consider these servants of God, namely the prophets, who are bringing to bear upon the life of the nation the certain word of God. All flesh is as grass, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Remember how that word, through various servants, Elijah included, remember how that word is spelled out to Ahab to the nation of Israel, repeatedly.

And how the nation and that nation’s leader have cavalierly rejected the word of God. Knowing what the word said, there has been this resolute, determined turning away from that word, and a turning to the word of others. The word of Dale? in the story that we have read, an appeal made to Beelzebub, the god, the Philistine god, in the city of Ekron.

So back in the 19th chapter of 1st Canaan, you remember the consequence of Elijah’s flight into the wilderness, his trip down to forum. And as he is restored in the power of God, the Lord tells him that he has a mission to accomplish, and spells out for him what that is. He tells him, for instance, that one by the name of Jehu will in fact be anointed king, and that it is his responsibility to do that.

16th verse of that 19th chapter. This, of course, forecasting the demise of the house of Ahab, telling us that that house will not endure and that no dynasty will be forthcoming from it. Then in the 20th chapter, remember Ahab’s battles with the Syrians and Ben-Hadad, and how Ben-Hadad is spared by Ahab. We are told there about an anonymous prophet who disguises himself, who speaks then parabolically to Ahab, and forecasts once more Ahab’s end.

You have spared the life, your life will be taken instead, so says the prophet. Even more, the nation itself shall be taken, for you have in effect spared Syria in sparing Ben-Hadad. Not only your own life, but the life of your people. The prophetic word once more uttered and unalterable.

Then we have Elijah, Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab directly in the twenty-second, rather the twenty-first chapter of Kings. There the story of Naboth and his vineyard, and how Ahab steals the land, even though it involves him in murder. Elijah declares to Ahab his end and the end of his house, again underscoring the fact that all hopes that Ahab might have for the establishment of a dynasty are brought to a conclusion. And then that enigmatic chapter, the 22nd chapter of 1 Kings with Micaiah now, taking center stage, he announces Ahab’s death, the circumstances of it. That death shall certainly take place according to the word of the Lord, and even though it is spelled out with remarkable clarity, Ahab, with resolute foolishness, pursues his own goal, ambition, dream, whatever. the certain word of God, and the determined, resolute rejection of that word, knowing what it says, then with such determination, concentrated blindness, willfulness, rejecting. It seems to us as we read these chapters that nothing, nothing could be more foolhardy, obviously foolhardy.

But is not the word as certain today as it was then? And does it not speak as clearly now as it spoke then. And will the outcome be any different for those who know that word and yet with such determination turn their backs upon it and go completely the opposite direction?

It’s not so much the mysterious things that confound you. It’s not so much the complicated things that make the Christian religion seemingly so complicated itself. The plain things, the obvious things, the simple things. The duties that are ours. that we fight against perpetually, providing ourselves any number of excuses for our waywardness, as if we had stopped our ears, as if knowing we refused to comprehend the plain, the obvious Is it such a mystery to you what the Lord wants you to do? Does your pastor have to argue with you about what’s right? What’s responsible? What your duty is before God? he shouldn’t have to the reminders come that argument there shouldn’t be well the certain word of the Lord the certain word of the Lord the inevitability of the sentence pronounced by God himself, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

But we now come to this first chapter of 2 Kings, and we consider specifically this man Ahaziah, the son of Ahab. His reign didn’t last long, But he’s one of these kings, I might remind you, who has one of those remarkable names. A name that is so utterly contradicted by his life that it leaves us baffled, belittled. His name, interestingly, and this, remember, the son of Ahab and Jezebel, means sustained by the Lord.” Well, here he is, in some sort of frolic.

Who knows what went on on the porch when he fell through the lattice? Who knows? But having fallen through that lattice, is he one then to be sustained by the Lord? Will he then fulfill his own name? by turning to the Lord. And what is it that goes through his mind when he finds himself in this condition, at the point even of death, sick unto death? Will he throw himself upon the mercy of God? Is it true that it is absolutely too late for him? Will there be mercy found for him He does not even hear the message of his own name, but proves to be in the living of his life a contradiction of it. He will not throw himself upon the mercies of God.

Here is one you must understand who knows all of these prophecies that have been pronounced. He may even look upon the accident that has taken place and the illness that has overtaken him as something that has come his way by root of the God who said that it would. An evidence of that sure and certain word that is pronounced by the prophet. But what is his resolution to the situation?

To take up even the name that he bears? to declare within himself that he is one, yes, to be sustained by the Lord, one who then throws himself upon the mercy of God, pleading for forgiveness. No, instead, knowing the prophecies, realizing that the judgment has now begun, and that he is feeling the weight of it, he attempts to outwit the God who has so pronounced I won’t call for Elijah. I won’t plead to God through him.

I hear of a God in a Philistine city. A God even more powerful than the God of my mother. The God of the Sidonians. This God bears the name Beelzebub. Oh, we’re dealing with names. And what a name this is. Veils. We understand the first part of it, Veil. We know that that name means Lord. We realize that the Veil, the Veil of Sidon is the Lord of the Storm. the Lord of the Harvest, the Lord of Nature, the Lord of Fertility. We realize that, but who might be this Lord from Ekron? Gail Teebom. Why his name?

His name means Lord of Little Princess. all the little princes of the earth, all governmental powers, whatever principalities there may be upon the earth, or in the heavens, this one is the Lord of them all. And all these little princes are like flies to this approval. the supremest of all. For not only does his name mean Lord of Little Princes, Baal-hubal is the Lord of the Flies.

Now if you want to read a Freudian treatment of Beelzebub and his power and influence, what modern man thinks of him, pick up the novel by William Golding, The Lord of the Flies, or get the videocassette, view it on your VCR. Devastating. Beelzebub. Lord of little princes who like little flies are his emissaries swimming over the carrion that is his to make he being even the Lord of death and of life I hear of a God, and my appeal to that God, this deity may afford me an avenue by which I can outwit Jehovah. So off go the messengers to secure a prophet of Beelzebub to work healing and appeal to a power thought to reside in the regions of glory but actually arising from the pit of hell So, who is the Lord of the Little Princes? The true God outwits the one who seeks to outwit him. He has a messenger too. With his messenger he strikes, grabs hold of the prophet of God. It is Elijah the Tishbite. And the certain unalterable word is confirmed in the message that is given. You will not rise from your bed You will not be healed. You will die. Well, if you can’t outplank them, you might as well face them straight on. If it’s not to be a battle of wits, then it will be a battle of power.

For fifty, I will send fifty.” Once more, the Lord, who has given the certain word, answers. And the fire comes and consumes the fifty, then fifty more, and finally there comes that fifty with its captain. a captain that has more sense than the king that sent him, falls down before him and pleads for mercy, receives that mercy, a mercy that could have been expanded, that could have abounded even to the nation as a whole, had it pled for mercy from the same prophet. The prophet goes, not fearing his life will be spared, he is told, and he delivers his before this potentate, this king, this one who is engaged in a battle of wits and then in a show of power, this one is outflanked and he is outpowered by the single servant, the prophet of God, who carries with him the certain word of the Lord. We can see it all. As with the father, so the son. The nation’s history that was spelled out in the father is spelled out once more in the son, it is confirmed again and again. Now, so blatantly.

For it’s not a sacrifice on altar with stones and water in a ditch that is consumed by flames from heaven, it’s living men, breathing, human beings, flesh, consumed, charred, burned to a crisp by the wrath and fury of God. And that, you see, a portent of what awaits the nation. and that important of what awaits all flesh that rebels against God. And what stays the hand of wrath but that plea for mercy, that cry for help, spare me, be merciful, be merciful to me as a testimony of what your God is like and what is held in his heart another hairy man clothed with a leather girdle strides out upon the stage of the world and he proclaims a future in which fire will descend and consume there is one who comes after me he says and he will baptize with fire and with the spirit the word is clear The word is certain, but the people of that day turn a deaf ear.

They have all of this history behind them. It certainly came to pass in the days of the fathers. Will it not come to pass now in our own time? And surely as a warning to all, to all of the nations, that fire comes. And in the year 70, A.D. 70, the nation of Israel is destroyed and consumed as with fire, a fire that has not been extinguished yet.

And to this day, that nation has not comprehended, they don’t even understand the significance of that judgment that has come upon them. in conformity to the doctrines that they have embraced and espoused, to justify themselves before the world and before God.

I have a neighbor, a neighbor who is of that race addressed by John the Baptist and then by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That neighbor keeps the Sabbath, but he doesn’t believe in God. And you ask him why, and he tells you, because of the Holocaust. He does not understand. Even the prophets of his own nation, of his own race, that have spoken so clearly, the certain word of God.

Now you look around and you can find other remedial judgments, provinces where the fire of heaven touches down as reminders to us that we ought to be alert. and on our toes, taking stock of ourselves, but there has intruded upon the nations a period of grace and mercy, which does not mean the fire in the end will not come, only that it is delayed.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and he passes through Samaria. And his disciples have been sent in front of him to make preparations for his arrival in the Samaritan villages. But these Samaritans reject the disciples and they return to Jesus and they say to him, shall we call down fire out of heaven? as Elijah did, to consume. To which Jesus replies, no, you do not understand the spirit that is in you.

For I did not come to take life specifically from the nations, but to give it. So while judgment comes upon Israel as a warning to us all, and the fire is seen unmistakably that unalterable certain words spelled out in front of us, it comes to us to shake us, that we might know that that fire that was seen in the day of Elijah, and that fire that was spoken of by John the Baptist, and was evidenced in Israel as a nation, shall certainly come in all of its fury upon the world as a whole.

And the only way to prepare for it is to plead the mercy of the mediator. The innocence. And live in keeping with the plea that you’ve made. Well, Ahaziah dies. But we who trust, we who fulfill that man’s name even though we don’t have his name, are healed. and live.

Father it is that faith which you give us that enables us to perceive the seriousness of the matters described in your words. It is by that faith that we are enabled to grasp the seriousness of those days in Israel when Elijah lived, and certainly the more serious, the even more serious days in which Jesus Christ, our Savior, walked upon this earth. Lord, we ask that all that is written in the Old Testament and in the New may conspire for the sake of our hearts, for the sake of a security that we would confess, O Lord, may we, because of faith granted to us as a gift from you, stay alert, be on our toes, and understand that the delay of that fire from heaven does not mean that it will not come nor word is certain as certain as Ahaziah’s death and as certain as our life through the forgiveness that you have offered us

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