In the first chapter of 2 kings we find the condition of Israel nearly a millenium after Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai where they received the 10 commandments. In so far as they kept these laws they would experience God’s blessings. The first commandment was to worship only the one true God. He is the God that saved them from death in Egypt, dying of hunger and thirst in the wilderness and finally brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey where God’s intention was to bless them with a long and healthy life. Yahweh, was indeed the God of Life! Yet, Ahaziah sought out Baalzebub. This is what we read:
Ahaziah had fallen from the balcony of his upper room in Samaria, and was lying ill; so he sent messengers, saying to them, go and consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron and ask whether I shall recover from my illness. But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, UP! Go and intercept the king of Samaria’s messengers. Say to them, is there no God in Israel, for you to go and consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron? Yahweh says this: You will never leave the bed you have got into; you are certainly going to die.
Baalzebub means “Lord of the flies.” IN the passion of the Christ we saw that image of the dead donkey outside the city where Judas went to hang himself. It’s the graphic display of the opposite of health and life. It’s symbolic of death and decay and every putrid thing. Van De Velde said, “After visiting Ekron, ‘the god of flies’ is a name that gives me no suprise. Thje flies there swarm, in fact so innumerably, that I could hardly get any food without these troublesome insects getting into it.”
Verse 3 says it’s “The angel” of the Lord, not just any angel, who appeared to Elijah. That’s a reference to the pre-incarnate Christ. It was Jesus!Jesus denounced looking to baalzebub. Yet, in Matthew the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus by accusing him of casting out demons by the power of baalzebub!
Just as the pre-incarnate Christ proclaimed death to Ahaziah who looked to the god of death, he also proclaims life to those who will look to the God of Life. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the father but through me.” He also said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” Why would we ever look to the gods of death!