FALLING DOWN

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah 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-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."

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-Zebub, 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.

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 men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" ' "

The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?"

They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist."

The king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite."

He (Elijah) 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-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.

Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. As for all the other events of Ahaziah's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

2 Kings 1:1-8, 16-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

One spiritual truth that will never change is this:

When we choose to sin and do evil in the sight of the Lord, we fall in failure down before Him.

So as Chapter 22 of 1 Kings closed, we read about the path of evil sinfulness that King Ahaziah chose to walk. And as Chapter 1 of 2 Kings open, we see that Ahaziah fell down…literally. In fact, scripture tells us Ahaziah suffered a terrible injury after “falling through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria”. Confined to his bed and wanting to know whether he would ever recover, Ahaziah sends messengers…not to the Lord…but rather to “Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron” to get some insight. And in doing so, we see that Ahaziah has learned little from his fall. For he chooses again to do evil over good…and this time, the Lord has had enough.

For as Ahaziah sends out his messengers, we see the Lord summon a messenger of his own…the reliable, faithful prophet Elijah. Ironically, the Lord had used Elijah to send messages to Ahaziah’s father, Ahab, who had done evil many times before his son came to power (1 Kings 16-22). You’ll remember how much Ahab despised Elijah and attempted to have him killed but each time, the Lord guided Elijah out of harm’s way.

So as Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, lay in bed his messengers went off to consult the false god, Baal-Zebub and while they were on their way, they encountered Elijah who had been sent by an “angel of the Lord” to “meet the messengers” and send a message from the Lord back to their king. They were to say to Ahaziah:

“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, 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 the messengers did what Elijah told them to do, returning to Ahaziah who asked, “Why have you come back?"

The messengers shared with Ahaziah about their encounter with a man who had given them the message to share. As Ahaziah asked for a description of the man, he quickly realized who the message had come from…Elijah the Tishbite.

So three times Ahaziah sent a captain and a company of fifty men to Elijah. The first two groups were consumed by fire after Elijah spoke, validating him as a man of God and the representative of the one and only God. The third group came but this time the captain fell on his knees, acknowledged Elijah as a “man of God” and found mercy for himself and his men. The Lord then sends Elijah himself to Ahaziah with the message.

Elijah carries out God’s order and gives Ahaziah the same message that the first messengers had when they returned, making sure Ahaziah knew it was from the Lord:

“Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!"

And that’s exactly what happened. Ahaziah died in bed…fallen…sinful…unsaved.

Friends, this is what happens to anyone who chooses to allow sin to reign in their lives. God’s word from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia tells us that “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction” (Galatians 6:8). In other words, one who decides to choose sin over righteousness gains the reward of demise.

Conversely, we also read in Galatians that “the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life”. Pleasing the Spirit means we dedicate ourselves to live for the Lord in everything we do…and in doing so, we please the Spirit because as we live for the Lord, we embody all that the Father and the Son wish for us to stand for. And when we stand firm on the foundation of the Lord, there is no falling…no failing…only solid ground that promises to be there for us eternally. Death and destruction gives way to life and life forever.

So where are you in your life?

Failing and falling toward destruction as you sow to please your sinful nature? Or standing firmly on the Lord’s foundation of righteousness, seeking to please His Holy Spirit to gain the eternal life that He wishes for you to have?

It really does come down to a matter of choice…which the Lord grants to all of us. He doesn’t want us to come to Him because we’re forced to. No…He wants us to come to Him willingly…and to fall into His arms of love and life…the only place we should ever want to fall.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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