Sermons
Is There No God?
Series: Days of Elijah: God’s Righteous Mountain ManIS THERE NO GOD?
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / April 15, 2018
? Our thanks to Rob Espinosa and Vic Rossi for teaching and preaching last Sunday.
Jeannie and I had an enjoyable vacation in Virginia. Among others things we traveled 1,300 and visited 13 battlefields.
Some of you are wondering, “how could that be enjoyable?” Jeannie is a delightful traveler - -
she expressed several times that “she was just happy to be with her boys”.
For the most part the weather was beautiful. Our dog Bodie proved to be a well-behaved traveler (except for the deer).
One of the highlights of our trip was the Thursday we spent in Culpeper - - a lively, little town filled with
restaurants and shops, a busy Amtrac station and meticulously manicured National Cemetery.
It is situated among gentle rolling hills back-dropped on the west by the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains.
The flowering trees (red-buds and white blossoms) were everywhere. It was a sunny day in the 60s.
After we ate at the Copper Fish we had a few hours of sunlight left, so I asked our waitress if she could
recommend a “Sunday Drive”. She was too young and too busy with life to make any recommendations.
So we crossed the street and asked an older lady who ran an antique shop.
She directed us to some of the most gorgeous country back roads we’ve ever traveled.
We’re looking forward to going back sometime in the future and spending a few days in that area.
Our sermon series on Elijah is about to conclude - - next Sunday will bring our final message.
For this morning, please open your Bible to 2Kings chapter one.
This chapter tells the story of Elijah’s last (recorded) assignment.
God has one final job for His mountain-man prophet before He takes him home to heaven.
The wicked king Ahab has died (1Kgs.22:34-40) - - he was fatally wounded by an arrow.
Vs.34 states, now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in the joint of his armor.
So he said to the driver of the chariot, ‘Turn around, and take me out of the fight; for I am severely wounded.’
He was correct in assessing the seriousness of his predicament - - he died that evening.
But one can’t help wonder if the flight path of that arrow was truly “random”.
I rather think that it was a deadly missile guided by the hand of Jehovah God that had Ahab’s name written all over it.
The book of First Kings closes by noting that Ahaziah, the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria (1Kgs.22:51).
Vs.52 conspicuously records: he did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and his mother…
His mother, Jezebel is still alive, and although Ahaziah is officially the king, she is still ruling the roost.
Listen while I read again the opening verses of Second Kings (2Kgs.1:1-4) - -
Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell throught the lattice in his
upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them,
‘Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, 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 the 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.
Let me make five brief observations on these first four verses and then we’ll return to the text and complete the story.
1) After Ahab’s death the Moabites (located in the southeast) saw an opportunity to capitalize on Ahab’s demise.
For the time being the Syrians (located in the northwest) were being held at bay because of Jezebel’s family.
As 1Kgs.16:31 notes, her father was the king of Sidon, another powerful nation at that point in time.
2) Ahaziah has a bad fall (something about that appears prophetic).
He fell through the lattice of his upper chamber in his palace in Samaria.
During times of war, kings were often found pacing the floors contemplating their next moves.
Ahaziah’s fall had to be embarrassing. He wasn’t injured on the battlefield, but rather just walking in the palace.
We’re not told why this happened - - did he stumble? … was he drunk? … did someone push him?
3) A third point - - one which is most critical to the story.
Once Ahaziah realizes the gravity of his injury (sickness), he sends messengers to inquire of god.
We can’t criticize Ahazaih for wanting to know if he would recover. That’s natural. But he went to the wrong place.
Many people today are very much like Ahaziah. They are eager to discover what lies ahead and they often resort to
extreme measures - - consulting mediums … patronizing preachers who are quackadoodles … calling pet psychics, etc.
I get a kick out of reading astrological recommendations.
(Life can be tough, but if you are to succeed you must push onward and grin and bear it).
The problem with the above choices - - like Ahaziah people engage in seeking a “god” who is not the only true God.
The false god that captured Ahaziah’s attention was named Baal-zebub, which translated means “Lord of the flies”.
Generally speaking Baal was viewed to be a fertility god - - god of the sun … god of the storms … god of the crops.
This is the only time in the Old Testament where we encounter Baal-zebub.
His name sounds like an onomatopoeia - - a word that sound like what it describes.
Words like: oink, meow, chirp, buzz, bloop, splash, squirt, drizzle.
Baal-zebub was “lord of the flies”. “Zebub” sounds like a fly doesn’t it?
The best that we can decipher is that this false god was viewed as one who had predictive powers.
This same god is referred to by the Pharisees in Mt.12:22f.
A demon-possessed man who was both blind and unable to speak was healed by Jesus.
The Pharisees attributed Jesus’ power to cast out demons to Beel-zebub.
In ancient times soothsaying or fortune-telling was frequently attributed to demonic powers.
4) Elijah was directed by God to intervene by intercepting the messengers sent by King Ahaziah.
Elijah’s message came in the form of a question followed by a prediction (both terse and sharp-pointed / 2Kgs.1:3b-4) - -
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
Thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not come down from (your) bed…but you shall surely die!’
5) What is sadly notable here is that this inquiring of Baal-zebub was Ahaziah’s reflex response.
He was simply doing that which he had been taught in word and deed by his evil father and mother.
In stark contrast to this, I’m thinking again of Nic’s telling me of a recent occasion
when Lucas might have eaten a poisonous berry during their hike in their backwoods.
Daddy Nic was eager to call poison control, but young Nicolas’s reflex response was to pray.
In spite of daddy big Nic’s wanting to hasten out of the woods, young Nic’s immediate reaction was to talk to God.
Such a response was not self-taught. Somewhere in his young life he had learned
that the best first response is to seek GOD’S help (no doubt from his daddy and mommy).
The nation of Israel was called to be the children of God. Their very existence derived from The Almighty One.
How tragic that the son of a king of Israel apparently did not deem it a priority to seek help from JEHOVAH GOD.
That such doesn’t appear to be in the makeup of his spiritual DNA is a telling indictment on his pagan-minded parents.
Quickly now let us finish the story.
Vss.5-6 reveal that the messengers returned to Ahaziah. No doubt they came back sooner than he expected.
He asked, “what have you returned (so soon)?” and they told of a man who intercepted them and of his dire prediction.
Ahaziah asked, “What kind of man was he?” (vs.7).
They told the king that he was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins (vs.8).
Immediately, Ahaziah concluded that this man was Elijah the Tishbite.
This tells us that at some time in his life he had encountered Elijah (or at least had heard stories about Elijah).
In Vs.9f, King Ahaziah directs a captain with 50 soldiers to go find and retrieve (capture) Elijah.
Sitting on a hill, Elijah heard them tell him that the king wanted him to come down. He responds with a play on words: (vs.10) - - If I am a man (Hebrew “ish”) of God, let fire (Hebrew “esh”) come done from heaven and consume you.
He was (a man of God) and they were soon dead. All 51 were incinerated.
In desperation, Ahaziah sends another captain with another 50 soldiers (vss.11-12). Same song, second verse.
They tell him to “come down quickly” and like those before them they, too, became crispy critters.
A persistent & hard-headed, Ahaziah sends a third wave - - another captain with 50 soldiers. Vs. 13 tells that this captain takes a different approach: 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 life of my servants of your be precious in your sight.’
At this juncture an angel of the Lord said to Elijah (vs.15) - -
Go down with him; do not be afraid. So (Elijah) arose and went down with him to the king.
Notice now as the story concludes (vs.16), there was no wavering on Elijah’s part.
He went and he told the king the unvarnished truth - - the same declaration that he spoke to the first messengers:
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 rise from your bed, but you shall surely die.
Vs.17 summarizes the story - - So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.
God is a God of grace and mercy, not wishing that any should perish (2Pet.3:9).
He is longsuffering, but His patience can be exhausted.
One can’t help but wonder, how the course of history could have be changed had Ahaziah had repented!
God is willing to forgive our wickedness, but He will not tolerate a heart that refuses to repent.
One last point. There’s something about Ahaziah’s inquiry with which most of us can relate or sympathize.
Not the part about seeking a revelation from a false god, but rather the part about wanting to know …
Am I going to get better? … Do I still have some time left? … What does the future hold for me?
This truth pertains to each and every one of us: our days here on earth are number.
Year by year we bid farewell to ones whom we have loved dearly - - grandparents, parents, sometimes children,
faithful saints (elder/Burdette Stewart…deacon/Mark Lombardi…godly women: Gloria Cool, Velma Hamm, Helen Rossi).
The best thing we can do to be ready for death is to die before we die.
When we have been buried with Christ in baptism our sins are forgiven and we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
It is only in Christ Jesus that God offers us victory - - a victory, not from death but over death (Rom.8:1).
