by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click here to read the Scripture.
Today’s passage is very much about the reality and the authority of God but it is also about who we trust and how we make our decisions. As such I have a little quiz for us about the logical way we tend to make decisions in our society:
1) How do we choose an important employee, manager, CEO, etc.?
(resume, ability)
2) How do we choose the Head of State?
(heredity: intense job-training programme from the moment they are born)
3) How do we choose the Canadian Idol talent show winners or politicians in this country?
(a popularity contest, an election)
4) What is the traditional way that one decides whether the one they fancy truly loves them or not: ‘she loves me, she loves me not’?
(with a flower)
5) How does one decide which team is going to start with the ball in Canadian football or in a soccer game?
(with a coin toss)
6) How does one decide what college to go to?
(with a dartboard) *note: this is a joke (-;
King Ahaziah, in our text today (1 Kings 22:41- 2 Kings 1:18), has an important decision to make. I guess it isn’t actually so much of a decision that he has to make as that he needs help. He needs help for a medical emergency. He has fallen and can’t get up (presumably) on his own. He had fallen in his home and he is injured and he really wants to know if he will be okay (1 Kings 1:2).
This is a serious event that affects a lot of seniors. I know that when my parents were visiting here previously. They were staying at the Green Groves Motel. My dad was sure that he heard someone faintly calling for help but he couldn’t tell from where so he called John (the owner) who searched every room until -sure enough- he found an elderly gentleman staying by himself who had fallen and couldn’t get up. Praise the Lord someone heard his cries and he was able to be helped.
King Ahaziah, back in our story, has had such a fall. I imagine that his fall in his royal palace was probably even more dramatic than the one at the Green Groves because Ahaziah, the king, isn’t that old. Ahaziah is in the second year of his reign (2 Kings 2:17) and Ahaziah has probably fallen from a great height as he comes crashing through the lattice work[1] above and lands himself so securely in the sickbed that he doesn’t know if he is going to recover or not. He is worried. He doesn’t know what to do so, like many people today send for the doctor in such situations, Ahaziah sends for a prophet of his father’s god Baal-Zebub.
There are two interesting asides here. The first one is the name Baal-Zebub. We know this name from John Milton’s Paradise Lost[2] as well as from the New Testament, where Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. Milton’s character Beelzebub is the devil’s right hand man and in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Beelzebub is even used as a title for the devil, the prince of demons (Cf. Mark 3, Matt 9:32-34, 12:22-37).
We know that Ahaziah, like his parents King Ahab and Jezebel worshipped Baal (cf. 1 Kings 18-19). Baal-Zebub in this context is probably a derogatory name (unfavourable nick-name) for Baal. Like some people during the present inquiry are calling the former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, ‘Lyin’ Brian’ or other such names.
One of the titles that Baal worshippers used to call Baal was Baal-Zebul - - which means ‘Baal the prince’ (Cf. in the NT Matt 10:25; 12:24,27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18-19).[3] So the Israelites who didn’t support Baal called him Baal-Zebub, which sounds like 'Baal the Prince' but can mean Baal, Lord of the flies; Baal the pest; or Baal, Lord of the dung heap.[4] It wasn’t a favourable name, Baal-Zebub.
There is another interesting aside too: this one is about Ekron. It is interesting that Ahaziah sends for a prophet of his father’s god who is in Ekron. Ekron is fairly nearby but Ekron is not in Israel.[5] Israel – you remember from reading about Ahab and Jezebel recently (if you have been reading through the Bible with us as a congregation) – Israel has lots of prophets of Baal running around. Why would the king send for one who was out of town? He wasn’t necessarily more famous than any of the local prophets of Baal. Why wouldn’t he just summon one who is nearby – if he is so concerned about his health?
Now I don’t know if many of you have not been following the NHL play-offs as I confess that I have been this year (even now that the Vancouver Canucks, the last Canadian team, are eliminated). I have been following the play-offs and what the King did here is the same manoeuvre that many of the pro-hockey teams do this time of year. Whenever a star player gets injured – for example if his knee has been crushed between an opponent and the boards and everyone sees him being carried off the ice reeling in pain - and the media asks the coach how bad he’s hurt and what exactly is wrong, the coach will inevitably answer, ‘it’s nothing, it’s just a lower body injury’. He won’t tell the press what is wrong or how bad it is because if the opposing team knows that he will be out of the line-up or that his knee is sore, they just might try to use that information for their own benefit. They can adapt their game to take advantage of that.
This is similar to our situation in the text today. Ahaziah has not been king that long and nowhere near everyone in Israel serves the LORD. Israel is divided and many are probably waiting to see who will win the Israel Cup as it were (cf. 1 Kings 18-19). Will team Baal win or will the people serve the LORD? King Ahaziah and his family do not serve YHWH. They play for the other team as it were. His dad, former king and captain of the Baal team, has been killed (1 Kings 22:29-40); his mother will be assassinated (Queen Jezebel was pushed out a window by her servants, thus fulfilling prophecy, 1 Kings 21:23, 2 Kings 9), and there are many players on the YHWH team that are probably ready and able to take advantage of the new captain’s incapacity to gain an advantage as they play for the heart and soul of the nation. Ahaziah does not want people to know he is injured.[6]
God knows. This is important. God knows. You see Baal, Baal-Zebub, Baal worship is just a religion. It is a worldview much like Buddhism, Hinduism, Commercialism, Secularism, Atheism, and the like. They are all religions and/or worldviews. Baalism, like the other worldviews, is an attempt to make sense of the world around. What Baal-worshipers don’t acknowledge however - like what Secular-Atheists and others don’t understand - is that God, YHWH, is a real entity. He is not just a code or a way of doing things. The LORD is a real God who cares about His people and this real God knows what that Ahaziah is injured and there is more than that.
Israel, at its foundation, was chosen by God for a purpose (that all the nations of the earth be blessed, as they are through Jesus Christ who fulfilled God’s promise to Abram; Genesis 12:3). Israel was dedicated to God. It was set apart for the LORD as was (arguably) our own Country (Our motto derives from Psalm 72). Many of our own traditions, institutions, activities, and organisation in this country were originally based on or dedicated to the LORD. We used to pray all over this country – like we do still in this part of the country – at our public events. Scriptures used to be taught in schools. Our leaders used to have a healthy deference, a Yir’ah, a real fear of this LORD that leads to wisdom.[7] Like all of us, the Lord does not necessarily appreciate someone coming along, taking what is His and misusing it.
This is what has been happening to Israel: people, in the name of Baal, have started to take away from God this country and this people who have been dedicated to Him. He is less and less a part of their official ceremonies and no longer a part of how their rulers make their decisions. He is no longer their lord.
Is he ours? I met our Premier the other week when I was in Swift Current; he is a believer. Swift Current is his riding and he attends one of the churches there. I know our previous Premier is an ordained minister and I believe that he is going back into full-time ministry now that he is retiring from politics. Saskatchewan has a great past and present of Premiers who serve the Lord.
I know however that this country and many provinces contained within it have been steadily moving away from the worship of the LORD. Even some of our public media outlets seem to reflect a religious dedication to secularism. (I don’t know if anyone noticed the official ruling this week about the serious ethics violations that CTV was involved in around the previous election?) Is it any wonder that broken households, pornography use, violence, drugs and crime are at all-time hight rates? As we societally turn from trying to make our decisions based on prayer and the Bible and the Lord, as we in our society turn to secularism and capitalism instead of Christianity, we must be breaking the Lord’s heart the same way Israel did as it turned to Baalism. It is sad.
In our text today, Ahaziah, the leader of the country is in a serious political and life-threatening position and he doesn’t inquire of the Lord. This is a big part of Ahaziah’s apostasy. He seeks to solve his problems some other way and in the process he rejects the help that is available to him from the Lord.
In our own lives how do we solve our problems? If we find ourselves in the hospital, do we pray? If a doctor tells us that we have a long-term illness that she doesn’t know how to cure, do we pray? If we find ourselves possibly nearing the unemployment line, do we pray? If we find that the prices for our crops are insufficient and getting worse, do we pray? If we find that that our life savings are at risk of being gambled away on the stock market, do we pray and read the Bible? If we have a test at school coming up, do we pray? If we find ourselves in front of the judge for some reason, do we pray? If we find that our own future is uncertain, do we approach the Lord?
Do we believe in the God of the Bible? Do we actually seek His will through praying and reading the Bible? Or do we – like Ahaziah – ignore the Lord and try to solve life’s problems some other way.
When Ahaziah was in a difficult situation and failed to consult God, God knew and God sent word through His messenger (2 Kings 1:3) and His prophet (2 Kings 1) to Ahaziah with this message – 2 Kings 1:3 “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub…?”
God is the one who has the real answer for Ahaziah and for us all so why would we go somewhere else for the answer instead? I don’t know but we do. These comics illustrate some of the ways that I think we try to solve our problems instead of turning to the Lord…
Just relying on others…
or money… 
or legal loopholes… 
or cheating…
or –worst of all, sometimes- just relying on our own judgement…
These are all ways that sometimes we try to solve a problem or face a crisis other than relying on God and as the cartoonist (Bill Watterson) points out, the results of this can be quite amusing.[8]
In reality though when we turn our backs on God the results can be quite devastating. Ahaziah turned away from God. He rejected Him in a time of crisis and, 1 Kings 1:4 (and cf. 1:6), “Now therefore thus says the LORD, ‘You shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.’”
When we separate ourselves from the Lord that too will be the consequence. There is no other name under heaven through which men can be saved (Acts 4:12). The only way to the Father is through the Son. Salvation comes from no other.
As this is the case when we are faced with uncertainties in this life; when it seems like we are on our deathbed, when we come face-to-face with the reality that is the power of the Lord, instead of rejecting the Lord’s authority like the King, let us rather be like the King’s third captain and fall upon our knees (1 Kings 1:13) in full deference of the LORD, so that -like him- we too can be saved.
Let us pray.
[1]R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Kings/ Second Kings Note 1:2, Book Version: 4.0.2: The typical Syrian upper balcony was enclosed with a jointed wood lattice-work that, while suitable for privacy, could easily be broken. For legislation concerning protective parapets to minimize the danger of someone falling from domestic houses, see Deut 22:8.
[2] John Milton featured Beelzebub as seemingly the second-ranking of the many fallen cherubim in the epic poem Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. Wrote Milton of Beelzebub "than whom, Satan except, none higher sat." Beelzebub is also a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678. See Absoluteastronomy.com, Beelzebub: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Beelzebub
[3] Cf. Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings. (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), p. 170 and R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2 Kings/ Second Kings Note 1:3, Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] Cf. R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Kings/Notes to Second Kings/Second Kings 1 Notes/Second Kings Note 1:2, Book Version: 4.0.2: Although Hebrew scribes may have deliberately perpetuated the inherent confusion in the names with pejorative intent so that "Prince Baal" became Baal Zebel ("lord of dung") and Baal Zebub ("lord of flies"), the present of the form Baal Zebub here, reflected fully in the Syrian and the Vulgate traditions, may indicate some more originally positive designation. The existence in Ugaritic of the cognate term il dbb (ANET, p. 137) may, as J.J.M. Roberts (The Earliest Semitic Pantheon [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1972], p. 119) suggests, make it "impossible to simply dismiss zebub as a vulgarization for zebul." Moreover the uncertainties inherent in Ugaritic d (see UT, pp. 26f.) complicate the entire picture so that perhaps the original signification will never be known. Indeed since the term is uniquely associated with a Philistine setting, conceivably a non-Semitic origin may well be demanded.
[5] Cf. R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2 Kings/ Second Kings Note 1:3, Book Version: 4.0.2 and cf. Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings. (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), p. 171 and for a map of the area see http://bibleatlas.org/ekron.htm
[6] R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Kings/Notes to Second Kings/Second Kings 1 Notes/Second Kings Note 1:2, Book Version: 4.0.2: The question naturally arises as to Why Ahaziah should send away to foreign soil to inquire of Baal, since Baalism permeated the Israelite kingdom. The answer may be threefold. 1. Politically, as was so often true in Israel and the ancient Near East, the young king may well have had his political rivals and enemies. Ahaziah may have wished to keep the knowledge of his true condition secret from them. 2. Religiously, Baal seems to have been particularly the cult-god of Ekron (e.g., as opposed to Dagon at Ashdod). Moreover the Philistines and possibly the Baal of Ekron had a well-known reputation for divination and soothsaying (1 Sam 6:2; Isa 2:6). 3. Geographically, Ekron lay near at hand, being located just a few miles from the confluence of Israel's southwestern border with Judah and Philistia.
[7] Allen P. Ross, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Proverbs/Exposition of Proverbs/I. Introduction to the Book of Proverbs (1:1-7)/C. Motto: The Fear of the Lord (1:7), Book Version: 4.0.2 and Yirah, in The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1966), p. 395. Cf. also Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. ‘5374: yir’ah’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.59.
[8] Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes cited from: http://www.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/ . Disclaimer: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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