Good morning everybody.
If you could open your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 22, the last chapter of 1 Kings.
1 Kings and verse 51.
This is on page 366 of the Red Church Bible.
366.
So it's 1 Kings chapter 22 and verse 51.
And while you're turning there, just a little bit of context.
1 and 2 Kings were actually originally one full book.
They were split in two.
At some point, for ease of access.
But, yeah, it's a full narrative.
And we're diving right into the middle of it today.
And so just to set the context in that.
After leading the Israelites out of slavery.
God has given his people the land of Canaan.
But, after about 300 years, the kingdom is split in two, sadly.
We have Judah to the south.
We have Israel to the north.
Which is the setting of our text today.
And the book, in its entirety, basically tells us about the kings, obviously, of these two kingdoms.
And the real thing about it is whether these kings are going to listen to and accept God's word.
Or are they going to reject it?
That's the test, basically, for each king.
So, I think it's a very relevant word for us today.
Because, as we live in a liberal society, which has largely brushed aside God's word as irrelevant and outdated,
this passage is very relevant to us.
Because we're going to hear about a king and his attitude towards God's word, too.
And what we're going to do is we're going to read the passage piece by piece today.
Rather than reading the whole thing at the start, we're going to read it bit by bit to kind of build attention a little bit.
Nobody likes spoilers.
If you meet me on the way into Omniplex and Manpoint.
And don't tell me the storyline of the film, if you want to be my friend afterwards.
So, yeah, we're going to build attention.
And if you do know the story, no spoilers for the person beside you.
But, yeah, let's pray.
Let's commit this time to the Lord now.
Holy Spirit, we come needy.
When we come asking you for your help.
To see the wonderful things that you have to say to us today through your word.
And it's not all easy to take.
So give us grace to love your word and not to run from it.
Amen.
Well, let's start at 1 Kings 22, verse 51.
And we're going to continue then into the next book, 2 Kings, and read most of the first chapter.
So, verse 51.
Ahaziah, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
And he reigned over Israel for two years.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
He served and worshipped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.
Skip over the page.
After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.
We'll pause there.
Can you imagine how the headlines would have read in those days?
Probably pretty similar to those in Ukraine at the start of last year.
Breaking news.
Moab is gathering troops along the border.
Israel, prepare for war.
And we can imagine the nation in a state of panic as fathers and sons dust down their weapons for battle.
Women and children filled with fear at the prospect of what might happen to their loved ones.
In times of peril, what the people of God need is a ruler who will bring them a word from God of security and of hope.
But what did they find?
Let's read verse 2.
Now Ahaziah, the king, had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself.
So he sent messengers saying to them,
Go and consult Baal-Zibbub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.
Their king has taken a rather embarrassing tumble.
And rather than worrying about the impending war in his nation,
he's asking a false god if he's going to get better soon.
It really is that pathetic.
The real crisis for Israel in this story is not that their king has an injury.
It's not even that their enemies have declared war.
The real crisis is that their leader, instead of seeking a word of hope from God for his people,
is seeking a word of affirmation from a false god for himself.
Things are not good in Israel.
And by the way, Ahaziah should have known what his job was as the king of God's people.
God had given him a list of instructions.
You can look at those in Deuteronomy chapter 27.
I'm just going to summarize them here.
A, don't make any idols out of sex, money, or power.
And B, write out God's word.
Read it every day.
Do it every day.
Don't turn away from God's word.
That was his job as king.
He was supposed to show the rest of the nation how to listen to and apply God's word.
Now, obviously, we're not getting those vibes from Ahaziah here.
In fact, Ahaziah kept pushing out God's word and looking for another word he wanted to hear.
A word that affirmed what he said was right.
And now, before we start saying, oh, how foolish Ahaziah, did you not read all the instructions?
We need to realize that we're just like him.
We keep pushing out God's word and looking for another word that we want to hear.
A word that affirms what we say is right over and above what God says is right.
We consistently don't believe that God's word really does give us life.
We think something else is going to give us something better.
And that's a big problem for Ahaziah and for you and for me because this is what the Bible calls idolatry.
Which is when we look to something or someone else for our ultimate security, love and joy apart from God.
And the result of idolatry is plain obvious.
Spend your lifetime choosing other things over God.
And when this life ends, God will simply give you what you've always wanted in this life for eternity.
Life apart from him.
Away from his presence.
A reality that the Bible calls hell.
So, from the outset, let's just establish this.
We, like Ahaziah, are in ultimate danger.
Because of our idolatry.
Because we don't listen to God's word.
What hope is there for us?
Well, as this story unfolds, we're going to see how Ahaziah responds to God's word.
And ultimately, the refuge that we can find in God's final word.
His son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, first of all, God speaks his word in mercy.
Let's read on the story.
Verse 3.
But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite.
Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them.
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zibbub, the god of Ekron?
Therefore, this is what the Lord says.
You will not leave the bed you are lying on.
You will certainly die.
So, Elijah went.
And when the messengers returned to the king, he asked them,
Why have you come back?
A man came to meet us, they replied.
And he said to us,
Go back to the king who sent you and tell him.
This is what the Lord says.
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zibbub, the god of Ekron?
Therefore, you will not leave the bed you are lying on.
You will certainly die.
Wow.
God chooses to intervene.
And he does it through his prophet, Elijah, the man at that time who God chose to carry his word to the people.
And as Elijah stops the king's messengers in their tracks on the way to Baal,
what is crystal clear is that God will not tolerate Ahaziah's idolatry.
And let's be clear, this is not God overreaching here or meddling in his personal affairs.
It's God being merciful to Ahaziah.
God knew that Baal-Zibbub was nothing more than a statue of gold
and no more able to speak words of truth and comfort than a brick wall.
So God graciously intervenes.
He gives Ahaziah one last chance to turn to his life-giving words.
We could say God is mercifully intolerant of our idolatry.
Listen closely to the way God asks the question of Ahaziah.
This is repeated three times, so we've got to listen up to this.
Verse 3.
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zibbub?
The answer is obvious.
Yes!
Yes, Ahaziah does have a God in Israel who has fought all their battles and rescued them from slavery.
It's as foolish as if my son, when feeling hungry,
were to walk out the front door and start rummaging through the bin for something good to eat.
I would walk out the door and look at him and ask,
is it because you don't have a dad who loves you and who has a fridge full of food
that you've chosen to look in the bin for something to eat?
How ridiculous would that be?
You'd never do that.
Or, what if there was a world-renowned heart surgeon with her clinic on your very street?
Just imagine that for a second.
And one morning you wake up with an unusual heart tremor.
So you immediately get up to get some help,
but you walk straight past the heart clinic
and into your hairdresser to ask her advice on how to fix the problem.
If your heart surgeon found out, she would rightly ask,
is it because you don't have a world-renowned heart surgeon on your street
that you're going to your hairdresser to get advice on that heart problem?
How ridiculous would that be?
We would never do that, right?
And yes, we do this all the time when it comes to God's Word.
We know God's words are always true,
saving us and giving us life everlasting,
but we routinely don't want to hear it.
Why?
Because these words are also lovingly convicting.
God knows that sin destroys our joy in Him.
The writer of Hebrews captures it like this.
You can look at it on the board.
For the Word of God is alive and active,
sharper than any double-edged sword.
It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow.
It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
You see, Ahaziah is just showing us
what's really going on in our own hearts.
We want it our way,
and we don't want anyone to get in our way.
And if God's Word is going to do that,
if it's going to get in our way,
then we're going to turn instead to a podcast or a book
or a friend who's going to tell us exactly what we want to hear,
a word that will affirm what we say is true and good.
And just like he asked Ahaziah,
God is asking you and he's asking me today,
is it because you don't have a God
who speaks life-giving words
that you are turning to an empty word
to affirm what you say is true?
God didn't allow Ahaziah to continue his idolatry and peace.
He graciously interrupted it.
There is love in his anger against our sin.
And as God invites Ahaziah to return
to the true security and hope of his Word
over empty promises,
so he invites us.
But let's keep going in this story.
How is Ahaziah going to respond to God's warning?
Read from verse 7.
The king asked them,
What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?
They replied,
He had a garment of hair
and had a leather belt round his waist.
The king said,
That was Elijah the Tishbite.
Then he sent to Elijah a captain
with his company of 50 men.
The captain went up to Elijah,
who was sitting on the top of a hill,
and said to him,
Man of God, the king says,
Come down.
Elijah answered the captain,
If I am a man of God,
may fire come down from heaven
and consume you and your 50 men.
Then fire fell from heaven
and consumed the captain and his men.
At this,
the king sent to Elijah
another captain with his 50 men.
The captain said to him,
Man of God,
this is what the king says,
Come down at once.
If I am a man of God,
Elijah replied,
May fire come down from heaven
and consume you and your 50 men.
Then the fire of God fell from heaven
and consumed him and his 50 men.
Well, after Isaiah figures out
the identity
of this speaker of God's word,
there wasn't really any debate necessary.
There's only one thing on his mind.
Destroy him.
Destroy Elijah.
And with Elijah,
God's word.
So what does Isaiah do?
Well,
he summons the troops.
He sends him off
to bring Elijah back
and very soon Elijah
will be saying his last words.
But,
God intervenes.
And two sets of troops
are consumed by fire.
And this is a shocking judgment.
It jars us.
And we do struggle
to understand why.
Maybe it seems like an overreaction.
Why did God have to do it this way?
And you know,
it's good that we ask those questions
of the text.
Not saying we're going to
completely understand it.
But there are some things
we can understand
about why God
may have chosen
this course of action.
And I think
two main things
that stand out are this.
A.
God's word
will always endure.
Elijah was
about to be killed.
And God had to protect
his word
from being destroyed.
Therefore,
this intervention
was necessary.
He was protecting
his servant
and his word.
And that should
encourage us.
God's word
cannot
be
silenced.
Kings and governments
may try to eradicate it.
Society may write laws
to push it out.
And they may see
temporary success,
but they can never
truly silence
God's word.
In fact,
Jesus promised us
in Matthew
chapter 24
verse 14.
He said,
this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached
in the whole world
as a testimony
to
all
nations.
And then the end
will come.
We can bank our lives
in that happening.
So,
A,
God's word
will always endure.
Maybe another reason
why God
took this course
of action
would be this.
God's word
is always
supreme.
It's no coincidence
that God
responds with fire
to Ahaziah's
contempt.
Baalzebub
was actually
known as
the god
of fire
to the people
who worshipped
him at that time.
So,
God is effectively
saying,
I'll show
you fire.
This is really
a statement
from God
to Ahaziah
and the whole
nation.
He makes
a mockery
out of Baal.
He shows
Baal to be
completely false.
And in doing
this,
the whole of
Israel
would know
that God
is the true
God.
And it's true
in our lives
also that
every word
contradicting
God's word
will ultimately
fail us.
Whether it's
the empty
promises
of satisfaction
from sinful
indulgence,
the empty
promises of
fulfillment
from a
romantic
relationship,
the empty
promises of
happiness
from having
more and more
followers,
likes,
gadgets,
stuff,
all these
words will
ultimately
fail us
and leave
us empty
in the
end.
And they
never
come through
on their
promises.
But not
with God's
word.
Everything
God promises
you in
his word
is true
and you
can bank
your life
on it.
When he
promises
freedom
from sin,
deep-rooted
joy in the
midst of
pain,
an
inheritance
forever
in heaven,
it's all
real
and true
and it
completely
surpasses
all the
other empty
words we
look to
for life.
We can
bank our
lives on
it.
So first,
God speaks
his word
in mercy.
Second,
he protects
his word
eternally.
And third,
God fulfills
his word
unfailingly.
And we're
reaching the
climax of
the story.
It's getting
tense.
Ahaziah has
had every
opportunity to
repent.
What now?
He's throwing
all the toys
out of the
pram.
He's making
every effort
possible to
try and
destroy God's
word and
we can see
it's coming
up embarrassingly
short.
Will he
repent?
Well, it
doesn't look
like it.
Look in
verse 13.
So the
king sent
a third
captain with
his fifty
men.
This
third
captain went
up and
fell on his
knees before
Elijah.
Man of
God, he
begged,
please have
respect for
my life and
the lives of
these fifty
men, your
servants.
See, fire
has fallen
from heaven
and consumed
the first
two captains
and all
their men.
But now,
have respect
for my
life.
The
angel of
the Lord
said to
Elijah,
go down
with him,
do not be
afraid of
him.
So Elijah
got up and
went down
with him
to the
king.
He told
the king,
this is
what the
Lord says.
Is it
because there
is no
God in
Israel for
you to
consult that
you have
sent messengers
to consult
Baal
Zibbub,
the god
of Ekron?
Because you
have done
this, you
will never
leave the
bed you
are lying
on.
You will
certainly
die.
And so
he died
according
to the
word of
the Lord
that
Elijah
had
spoken.
The
application
is quite
simple,
isn't it?
God
fulfills
his word
unfailingly.
What he
says will
happen,
will happen.
Ahaziah died
because God
said he
would.
No matter
how hard
Ahaziah fought
to destroy
God's
word,
God
could not
be stopped
from fulfilling
all of his
holy purposes.
God had
seen how
Ahaziah,
leader of
God's
people,
lived his
whole life
pushing out
God's
word,
looking for
another word
he wanted
to hear,
a word that
affirmed what
he said
was right.
His reign
only lasted
two years.
He was
judged for
his sin.
But where
does this
all leave
us?
Because
we've already
established that
we have the
very same
heart tendency
as Ahaziah.
If Ahaziah
met that
end,
same in
store for
us.
Well,
he lived in
a time
before Jesus
and we
might say he
had God's
word in an
earlier form.
Hebrews
says it
well,
it's on
the board.
In the
past,
God spoke
to our
ancestors
through the
prophets
at many
times and
in various
ways.
But in
these last
days,
he has
spoken to
us by
his
son,
whom he
appointed
heir of
all things
and through
whom he
also made
the universe.
The
son is
the
radiance
of God's
glory and
the exact
representation
of his
being,
sustaining
all things
by his
powerful
word.
Jesus
is God's
ultimate
word.
Everything
God wanted
to say,
he said
it through
Jesus.
And think
about Jesus'
life on
earth.
In John
14,
he says,
I love
the
Father and
do exactly
what my
Father has
commanded me.
You see,
Jesus lived
the perfect
life of
obedience to
God's word
that we
have all
failed to
live.
And yet,
as he
suffered in
agony on
the cross,
what did he
cry out?
He said,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
Now,
how could a
person who
lived a
perfect life
of obedience
to God's
word,
find himself
in a position
where he
separated from
God's
love?
Well,
the answer
is that as
Jesus hung
there,
he was
taking your
place and
mine.
We
deserved to
be there
for our
rejection of
God's
word and
turning to
another word
that we
wanted to
hear.
So we
should get
what we
wanted,
separation
from God
forever.
But Jesus
took the
fire of
God's
judgment
that we
deserved.
He was
separated from
the Father
so that we
could come
close forever.
And that is
the best
news that
we ever
hear.
so what
should our
response be
to this
Jesus,
God's
final word?
Well,
I think it
should be
something like
that of the
captains,
the third
captain,
I mean.
Notice how
different his
approach is to
God's word as
it was spoken
through Elijah.
Look back at
verse 13.
Verse 13.
This third
captain went
up and
fell on his
knees before
Elijah.
Man of
God, he
begged,
please have
respect for
my life and
the lives of
these fifty
men, your
servants.
See, fire has
fallen from
heaven and
consumed the
first two
captains and
all their
men, but
now have
respect for
my life.
This
captain falls
on his
knees.
He begs
for mercy.
He pleads
for a
salvation that
he knows
his king
and people
don't
deserve.
And so
likewise, we
come on
our knees
before God's
final word,
Jesus Christ.
We look to
him for
mercy.
We look to
the cross in
faith and
believe that
Jesus really
did take all
our sin on
himself there.
we look to
the empty
tomb in
faith and
we see our
risen Savior
who has
swallowed up
our death
forever.
We humble
ourselves before
him as our
king and we
present our
lives as
living sacrifices
to him in
thankfulness.
God's
final word
is asking
you and
I and
every other
person on
this planet
is this.
Will you
accept
Jesus,
God's
final word
or will
you
reject him?
And if
you're not
yet a
follower of
Christ,
let me just
say there's
no more
important decision
that you can
ever make.
And don't
say, oh,
I don't need
to think about
that right
now.
I've got
time in
my life to
make that
decision at
a later
point.
You don't
even know
that you
have tomorrow.
How foolish
to ignore the
warning of
God's judgment
like Ahaziah
did.
Accepting
or rejecting
Jesus is the
difference between
eternal life
with God
or eternal
separation from
him.
if we
reject Christ,
God will
simply give
us what
we've chosen
in this
life for
eternity.
Hear the
warning.
But if
you do
accept God's
final word,
Jesus,
trusting in
him for
your salvation,
you are
transferred from
death to
life.
And if
that is you
today,
and if you
have run
into the
refuge that
is Christ,
you don't
need to
fear losing
him.
God is
holding onto
you despite
your continued
struggle with
sin.
As Paul
reminds us in
2 Timothy,
if we are
faithless,
he is
faithful.
And how
can God do
this?
Well,
he can do
it because
our sin has
been paid
for by
Christ.
So,
that can
no longer
separate us
from God.
We don't
have to fear
that we
might lose
him when
we fail.
Now,
of course,
it is foolish
of us to
run to the
empty promises
of other
words over
God's word.
And we do
this, even
as followers
of Christ,
we are
doing this
daily.
And whenever
we do it,
we simply
lose out
on true
joy,
security,
and hope.
It is like
rummaging
through a
bin for
something good
to eat,
while standing
beside an
open fridge
full of
fresh food.
You see,
once we
become
children of
God,
the fight
to stay
in God's
word is
the fight
for joy.
joy.
We don't
get lasting
joy anywhere
else.
The empty
promises of
our idols
will always
let us
down.
But what
can comfort
us or
fill us
with hope
like God's
unshakable
promises in
his word?
Nothing
can.
I want
to finish
with some
verses from
Psalm
119.
They're going
to come up
on the
board here.
We could
probably say
that the
writer of
this psalm
was the
opposite of
King Ahaziah
because he
understood the
superior treasures
of God's
word.
He had
developed an
insatiable
appetite for
them.
And he
shows us how
we can develop
these spiritual
taste buds
too by
meditating on
God's
word and
asking God
for his
help and
his grace
to love
his word.
I've just
picked out
four verses.
Verse 97.
Oh, how
I love
your law.
I meditate
on it
all day
long.
How sweet
are your
words to
my taste,
sweeter than
honey to
my mouth.
your word
is a
lamp for
my feet,
a light
on my
path.
Your
statutes
are my
heritage
forever.
They are
the joy
of my
heart.
It
seems
that
you and
I are
far too
easily
pleased
with rummaging
through the
bin looking
for scraps
of empty
promises that
will never
satisfy.
When all
the while,
a fully
stocked
fridge packed
with delicious
promises that
you can bank
your life on
stands open
right beside
you.
The choice
is yours.
Scraps
or a
feast.
Empty
words
are God's
life-giving
word.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Holy
Spirit,
we turn
to you
now.
we can't
suddenly just
want God's
word more
than the
empty promises
of other
things.
It's not
in us.
We need
a heart
change.
We need
an appetite
change so
that we
find your
words and
your promises
more delightful
and true
and satisfying
than any
other
lesser
words.
give us
grace today
and tomorrow
each day
we live
to choose
Jesus
and find
our ultimate
joy in
him
and for
his glory
we pray.
Amen.
We are
going to
sing a
song.