Trouble Reveals The True Object and Merit of Our Faith

Most of us know how Christians ought to respond to hard times. We know that we ought to trust God’s character, even when we don’t understand the purpose of this trial or affliction. As Solomon in his wisdom wrote, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). And as the Apostle Paul reminds us “for those who love God all things work together for good.” (Romans 8:28). We know that God hears our prayers and will provide for us out of the abundance of His good and perfect will. And as Jesus Himself taught, “which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27).

If you have been in church for a while you probably know all of this by heart, but the real test of faith always comes when we find ourselves in hard times. When we get an unexpected diagnosis from the doctor, when we face a sudden financial crisis, a relationship breaks apart, or when someone upon whom we depended is suddenly taken from us… where do you turn? Those are the type of moments that really reveal where our faith truly lies.

2 Kings begins where 1 Kings left off, with an unstable kingdom that grows less stable by the day. King Ahab is dead. Moab has rebelled against Israel. The ground under the newly crowned King Ahaziah is falling apart metaphorically, but also literally. The king literally falls through the lattice of his upper room and is seriously injured, to the point where his survival is uncertain. And like all people who are brought to crisis points like these, the true merit of his faith is revealed.

The Wicked King Is Brought Down

Now if you remember from the end of 1 Kings, Ahaziah was the son of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Scripture has a lot more to say about his wicked parents than it does about Ahaziah himself but what it does say is not a flattering picture:

“He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother.” (1 Kings 22:52)

It seems Ahaziah is another unfortunate example of the apple not falling far from the tree. Ahaziah did not grow up with the best role models for parents, but like each of us his sin was still his own.

Yes his parents were wicked, but the young king had every opportunity to learn righteousness from the history of Israel, or the Law of God given through Moses, or even the undeniable victory Elijah’s God had over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel when he called down fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. Even the terrible, but ultimately prophetic fate that befell his father King Ahab should have been a reason for Ahaziah to become a different kind of king.

Just as you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, so too can you give a sinner endless opportunities to repent, but if their hearts are dead set against it, they will not change. When Ahaziah was seriously injured, this crisis would have been the perfect opportunity to reevaluate his life and his relationship with the Lord, but that is not what Ahaziah does.

He does not pray to the Lord. He does not call for a priest or for a prophet who serves the Lord. He does not reflect on his life and confess sins, or even bother asking whether his suffering might be a summons to repentance.

Instead, we read that, “he sent messengers, telling them, ‘Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.’” (2 Kings 1:2).

Ahaziah knew that if he called upon the God of Israel, then God would call him to repent of his sins. He was not interested in reconciliation with God, he only wanted information. So he sends messengers to ask the pagan god Baal-zebub of Ekron. This reveals everything we need to know about Ahaziah’s faith. He will gladly give his heart and worship to whichever god or idol can give him what he wants without asking anything of him in return.

Now our idolatry may not be that brazen, but we all fall into similar temptations more often than we think. Think about how often we pray for God to bless us, heal us, deliver us, or provide for us. Then compare that to how often we pray to ask what God desires from us, where He might want to use us, send us, or speak and act through us. If we want a God who gives what we want and need, but never asks us for anything in return, are we really that different from Ahaziah?

The Lord sees what is taking place and an angel of the Lord sends Elijah to intercept Ahaziah’s messengers along the road.

Elijah asked them, almost sarcastically, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1:3). Then, before the messengers can answer the prophet delivers the message from the Lord that the King was too afraid to seek “you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die” (2 Kings 1:4)

When the messengers return with Elijah’s message, King Ahaziah is furious. He sends a captain and fifty soldiers to seize the prophet while he is still nearby. When the captain find Elijah he says: “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” (2 Kings 1:9). Now if you pay close attention, there is a power struggle brewing in that sentence. An earthly king is trying to command God’s prophet.

Elijah answered: “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty” (2 Kings 1:10). And we read that fire fell and consumed them. The message should have been clear, but Ahaziah was not a quick learner. Not long after, a second captain arrived with an even sharper command: “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’” (2 Kings 1:11), and again the same scene unfolds just as before. Fire fell and the soldiers perished.

Ahaziah could keep sending soldiers day after day, but he could not make God obey him. No earthly office stands above the authority over God and His Word.

Now the third captain is smarter than the rest. He came up the hill, fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded:“ O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.” (2 Kings 1:13).

The first two captains came issuing commands. The third came asking for mercy, and because he humbled himself God spared him. You see, this is how a sinner must approach the Lord. As the Psalmist declared: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Elijah eventually stood beside Ahaziah’s bed and repeated the word of judgment. And we read, “So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.” (2 Kings 1:17). It is ironic that the king who fell from a great height, couldn’t order the prophet to come down, but in doing so he brought his own kingdom down.

Ahaziah was a wicked king brought down beneath God’s judgment, but we have a much greater King who excels in every way that Ahazia fell short. Whereas Ahazia was brought low by his own wickedness, Christ chose to lower Himself out of love for the wicked though He had no wickedness within himself.

Ahaziah rebelled against God’s word and sought life from an idol, but Jesus obeyed His Father perfectly and went to the cross for idolaters like us. When a Samaritan village rejected Jesus, James and John asked: “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54) Jesus revoked them for thinking such a thing. The disciples remembered stories of Elijah, but they had not yet understood that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

Ahaziah sought life from an idol and received a sentence of death. Jesus willingly entered death so that everyone who trusts in Him might receive eternal life. So where does your mind run first when you are afraid? Where do you turn when tragedy strikes and the future feels uncertain?

Jesus does not say that following Him is easy, but He does promise that “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)

The Righteous Prophet Is Taken Up

If Chapter one was primarily about the downward movement of a king, then chapter two is about the upward calling of one prophet and the outward movement of his successor. At first glance what we read seems strange. The prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha traveled from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho toward the Jordan.

Three times during the journey, Elijah tells Elisha to remain behind and three times Elisha answers: “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6). Again, a cursory reading may leave you scratching your head, until you notice that they are retracing the journey that the people of Israel themselves had taken under the leadership of Joshua so many years ago, when they first entered the Promised Land.

When Elijah and Elisha reached Jordan, we read that Elijah rolled up his cloak, struck the water, and the river divided so that Elijah and Elisha crossed on dry ground. Again this scene is a call back to Israel crossing the Red Sea under Moses’s leadership (Exodus 14), and again under Joshua (Joshua 3:14-17). The same God who acted in Israel’s past remained present in Elijah’s day, just as He remains present for us in our own time and place. As God’s servants we belong to different generations, but the work belongs to the same God who never changes.

Then after crossing the Jordan, the old prophet Elijah asked what he could do for his disciple. Elisha replied: “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me” (2 Kings 2:9).

This has a double meaning. He was asking for his spirit, which is another way of saying the spirit of prophecy that Elijah had possessed all his life. He also asked for “a double portion”, which under the law of Moses, the firstborn son received a double portion of his father’s inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17). Elisha was asking, in a very Hebrew way, to be recognized as Elijah’s successor and equipped for the work ahead.

He needed the Spirit of God, which is why Elijah answered: “You have asked a hard thing.” (2 Kings 2:10). It was hard because the gift was not Elijah’s to give. God alone can call His servants. God alone can give His Spirit.

Even today, your pastor cannot call down the Holy Spirit upon you. Parents cannot give spiritual regeneration to their children. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, some of us plant seeds and some of us water the seeds, but only God grow new life (1 Corinthians 3:6).

What follows next is one of the most spectacular events in the Old Testament. We read that Chariots of fire and horses of fire separated Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind.

Amazingly, it seems Elijah was taken into heaven without passing through ordinary death, but make no mistake about it: Elijah may have escaped death by the grace of God, but he did not defeat it. His heavenly ascent was a sign of hope, but it was far from the final fulfillment.

In fact, the next time we see Elijah, it is in the New Testament, at the mount of transfiguration where we read that, “as [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:29-30)

Elijah was a faithful prophet who preached God’s Word and called Israel back to the covenant, but Jesus is the Son of God, the Word Made flesh,and the one who established the new covenant in His blood.

Elijah was taken into heaven without dying, but Jesus died, was buried, rose bodily, and ascended after completing redemption.

Acts records: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Christ’s ascension was not merely His departure. It was His enthronement. The Father seated Him at His right hand, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:20–21). He now reigns in Heaven and intercedes for His people.

Elisha Takes Up the Mantle

So we saw a proud king fall and a mighty prophet rise. That only leaves one figure in our account this morning. The first thing Elisha does upon realizing that he will never see Elijah again is to tear his clothes and weep. It is a good reminder to us all that it is ok to grieve and to mourn, even if we know our loved ones are in a better place. We are not sad for them, so much as we are saddened by their absence from our lives, which is a sign that our love actually meant something.

Elisha sees Elijah’s cloak lying on the ground, and so he takes it up and walks back to the Jordan river. Even though this cloak might have represented Elijah’s prophetic calling, but the cloth itself possessed no power in and of itself. Elisha could wear Elijah’s mantle, but that would be useless unless Elijah’s God was also with him.

So, standing before the Jordan, Elisha struck the water and cried: “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14), and the moment he struck the water, the Jordan divided, and he crossed, just as it had done for Elijah before him. The sons of the prophets see this and declare: “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha” (2 Kings 2:15).

First he goes to Jericho, a place that used to be a stronghold of the enemy, but the people treat him well. The people show him that their city is pleasant, but that the water in the region is bad and the land was unfruitful. So Elisha declared: “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water” (2 Kings 2:21), and at the Word of the Lord both the water and the land were restored.

Then he goes to Bethel, a place that used to be the center of worship in Israel, but he is not welcomed there. In fact, a large group of boys begin to follow Elisha around just to make his life miserable. Rather than showing the prophet respect they mock him. They repeated taunted him to “go up” which probably was their way of saying “why don’t you call down another chariot of fire and get out of here.” They also make fun of his appearance by calling him “Baldhead!”

Finally the prophet’s patience runs out and he curses the crowd in the name of the Lord. About that time two bears came from the wilderness and attacked forty two of the boys. That may seem like a disproportionate response, but remember that their contempt for Elisha was also contempt for the Lord who sent him. It is also worth noting that the judgment is a call back to God’s warning in Leviticus that persistent rebellion would bring wild beasts upon the covenant people (Leviticus 26:21–22). The evidence seems to show that this was no isolated event, but a set pattern of behavior for the people of Bethel.

As the book of Chronicles records: “The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).

Where Will You Turn?

So as we bring this sermon to a close, I want to return to the question I proposed at the beginning of the message. Where will you turn?

King Ahaziah’s fall did not create his idolatry or unbelief, it merely exposed it. When trials come your way what will they reveal about your faith? Will you be like the two commanders who tried to tell God’s messenger to come down and change to better accommodate them? I hope not, because they were consumed in fire and a greater eternal fire exists for those who reject God’s Word and warnings.

I hope you will be like the third commander, the one who fell to his knees, pleaded for mercy, and was the only who received life in return. That is the posture every sinner must take before God!

This morning we can be like Jerico who had their bitter waters healed and who had life restored to their lands, or we can be like Bethel who mocked and scoffed at God’s Word and His messengers. But be warned, wild bears are terrifying, but God’s Word declares that there is a greater gnashing of teeth in eternity than the fiercest beast on earth could produce.

The good news is that, just as Elijah escaped death, so too can we be spared the awful fate our sins deserve. Ahaziah was brought down because of his wickedness, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down willingly from heaven to save us from ourselves. Elijah was taken up to heaven before He experienced physical death, but Jesus chose to enter death and bear our judgment so that He could rise bodily, and ascend to the Father’s right hand in Glory. He did not merely escape death. He conquered death! He now reigns over every power in heaven and earth and intercedes for all who belong to him. If this morning you have never given your life to Jesus, come and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit today.

Elisha took up Elijah’s mantle, but Christ gives us more than a title and calling. He gives us his Holy Spirit, so that His people may be his witnesses and to bring the message of healing to a world that desperately needs it. If this morning you are already a believer, I pray that you remember the mantle you have been given, the power you have received, and that you remember that the God who goes before you is greater than whatever trials you face.

Turn to Him.