Ahaziah had grown up in the wicked household of Ahab and Jezebel. He had inherited their propensity towards idol worship. His reign was short because he refused to look to God for answers to his problems but looked for help from pagan sources of the people of the land. “Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, ‘Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.’” Dilday has a great comment about this, “One reason so many in contemporary society are miserable is that they have repeated Ahaziah’s worst mistake: seeking help in the wrong place. They are searching for strength, fulfillment, and comfort in the wrong places. Some look for help in chemical reinforcement, mistakenly assuming that a prescription, a pill, a bottle, or an injection can provide life’s missing ingredient.”
“The worldwide epidemic of heroin and cocaine addiction has shocked us. Alcoholism continues to take its toll in traffic deaths and broken homes. These are painful reminders that the remedy for personal emptiness is not a chemical substance.” Just last year a 50-year-old actress, Anne Heche, raced her car down the street in California killing herself under the influence of Cocaine. A popular black preacher in America warns his congregation from time to time: ‘Some of you think you can drown your troubles in drink. But I want to remind you, Troubles can swim!’ Those who seek help in drugs are, like Ahaziah, looking in the wrong place.”
Verse three continues the story of Ahaziah’s injury. “But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to 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?’” “Paul pointed to the only source that can fill man’s emptiness. Genuine comfort comes only through faith in God. It cannot be found anywhere else. Ahaziah failed to understand this basic truth.”[1] Elijah wanted Ahaziah to know that he needn’t turn to the resources of the pagans of the land. “Yes,” was the answer his questions demanded. “There is a God in Israel.” There is a God in the US also. There is a God of all the world. 2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions.”
[1] Dilday, Russell, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1987. 1, 2 Kings. Vol. 9. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.