Our lesson this week is from 2 Kings 1:1 - 2:18.
Today ... read 2 Kings 1.
We learn at the end of 1 Kings 22 that Ahaziah, son of Ahab, takes the throne at his father's death. How we wish he had learned something from Ahab's end of life repentance. But it does not seem so. He steps into the path of idolatry, of arrogance, of following the Baals that had been modeled for him by his parents all of his life. (Learn that lesson well!) Israel as a nation is weakening on the world scene. Moab rebels against its subjugation to Israel. And King Ahaziah has a serious fall that threatens his very life. Crisis all around!
Question - what was the last crisis that hit you or your family and when was it? Or are you in the midst of a crisis right now? Ahaziah is in crisis.
Crisis in our lives offers opportunities for reflection, for re commitment, sometimes for repentance. At the least, they cause us to stop dead in our tracks and look around. I have a young friend that has just lost his sister - shouldn't have, too soon, no rational reason. Crisis. I have a brother who buried a daughter a season ago - excellent mountain climber, caught in an avalanche, tragedy. Crisis. I have a friend who lost her eyesight as an adult - unfair, now dependent. Crisis. I can go on. But you can make your own list. Crisis hits - never expected, always harsh and cruel. What do you do ...
We have 2 negative illustrations in this chapter - 2 examples of what NOT to do when crisis sinks its talons into your skin and life.
1. Don't run for advice from the wrong sources. Ahaziah sends messengers to seek the counsel from Baal-zebub ... not the God of Israel ... the god of the Philistines. What foolishness! Has he learned nothing from his mother and father's experiences and their deaths? Obviously not. When crisis comes into your life, seek counsel from the true and living God - through His Word, through those who trust in Jehovah, the living Way, Truth and Life.
2. Be careful about your own anger. It will tend to lash out ... watch out where it lashes! Ahaziah lashes out in vindictive anger against Elijah - the one who delivered the message from God. And his anger was brutal. He wanted to kill - to destroy. When crisis comes into your life, know that anger will come. Be ready for it so that there will be no uncontrolled lashing out at those closest to you - particularly little children!
The chapter closes with King Ahaziah's death. This is all we know of him. We do learn some things from this king ... but the learning is from the negative side, the warning side. May our legacies have more positive examples than negative ones!
It seems God has to try harder sometimes than others to get my attention. One of my frequent prayers is that I can be aware of the milder signs He puts in front of me and self-correct my course (and attitudes) without needing what a friend once referred to as "two-by-four therapy."
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