2 Kings, Chapter 1 - Is There No God? | Prophets of Israel Daily

[music] >> Shalom friends and welcome back to the Prophet of Israel daily. This is the second book of Kings chapter 1 brought to you by the land of Israel network to the land of Israel.com. I am Ari Abramowitz here with Jeremy Gimpel. Jeremy, good to see you. >> It's good to be here and start a new book. >> It is good. Right before we started recording, you said something a little bit different. You said it's a little bit intimidating. >> Well, I was saying once we start it's like a marathon you can't stop. It's like all right, we're all we're locked and loaded. Let's go. >> what marathon would we rather be running than this one? And so before we begin though, um let's really mark the moment. You know, we've completed the entire first book of Kings together and today we cross the threshold into second Kings. And so really chapter by chapter, day by day, we are walking together through the words of the prophets of Israel. Not simply to learn what happened thousands of years ago, but to hear what these words are saying to us right now. So Hashem, please bless us. Bless us in our learning together. Open our hearts to your word and give us the courage to hear what we need to hear and uh help us carry the light of these prophets into our lives and our families and into the world. >> Amen. All right. So when uh Jeremy, when you closed out the first book of Kings, uh King Ahab of the northern tribes disguised himself as a common soldier and an arrow that nobody even aimed found the one gap in his armor. And the dogs licked his blood in Samaria exactly as Elijah said that they would. And um and it's right here that the book of Kings is split into Kings 1 and Kings 2. But the story doesn't even stop to take a breath. The last verses of the first book of Kings introduced Ahab's son, Ahaziah. Well, it doesn't Ahaziah mean to see or to hold on to cleave on to God? You know, it's like this these righteous names of these less than righteous kings. But anyways, he walked in the way of his father. And his mother, for that matter, he walked in her way too, not as horribly as she was. I mean, she was a class act, but um he served Baal like they did. And chapter 1 opens with two things breaking. Right? Moab rebels against Israel, and the king himself falls through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and ends up in bed um sick and ailing from his fall. So, he sends messengers, verse two. Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will live through this sickness. Baal-zebub, literally the lord of the flies. If you've taken eighth grade English, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And there's something almost grotesquely fitting about that name, because anyone who's ever spent a summer on a farm knows where the flies gather. Um not around what's growing, around what's rotting. I mean, this is just so painful to read, embarrassing. Cuz remember, Ekron is Philistine country, and a king of Israel in the capital of Israel sends a royal delegation delegation across the border to ask the god of the flies whether he's going to live. >> You know, it's just important to point out here, this is the story that kicks off the book of Second Kings. So, the northern tribes of Israel are inquiring a false idolatrous bug god. I It's tragic, it's pathetic, but that's where the northern tribes of Israel have been brought to. They were born into Israel in the promised land, and now they've stooped deep into idolatry. And perhaps the lesson is before Messiah comes, the northern tribes of Israel need to be born into idolatry and climb their way out all the way back to the God of Israel. But, that's a deep idea for another time. The story, though, you can really see the heart of idolatry. The king of Israel doesn't ask, you know, "Why does this happen to me? What do I need to change?" He's just asking, "Am I going to live?" And it's like every Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we stand in the synagogue and we face that question on Judgment Day. Who will live and who will die? But, before that prayer ends, it tells us we can soften the decree. Teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah. Return, prayer, charity. And so, Ahaziah is sending his question to the wrong address. It doesn't seem like he's even hoping to change the decree. He's just asking the idol for certainty, as if there's any certainty in this world. And it's as if his fate is already sealed and in the hands of the gods. So, you really see in the second book of Kings, this is a man that grew up in Ahab and Jezebel's kingdom. He's just so lost. And what that's meant to do to us is say like, "Wow, can you even imagine where the rest of the northern tribes of Israel are holding?" >> That's right. You know, and Hashem doesn't even let the delegation get there. An angel of Hashem tells Elijah, "Get up, go up, meet them on the road." So, Elijah intercepts the delegation and asks them in verse three, "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you're going to inquire of Ba'al Zebub, the God of Ekron?" And so, that question actually comes up three times in the chapter. Once from the angel, once from the messengers, and once from Elijah to the king's face. And then Elijah gives them the answer the king never asked Hashem for. "The bed you went up onto, you will not come down from it. You will surely die." Now, pay attention to those words because the The went up and won't come down, those are relevant here. Anyways, the king's own messengers turn around on the word of an apparent stranger, and Ahaziah asks them, "What did this man look like?" "A hairy man," they tell him, "with a leather belt around his waist." And Ahaziah he doesn't need another word. That's Elijah the prophet. Of course he knows. That's the prophet who shut the sky over his father's kingdom, who carried a boy with no breath left in him to the upper room in Sidon, his mother's country, laid him on the bed, and brought him down alive. That's the same Elijah who stood in Naboth's vineyard and pronounced the end of his father's house. And when Ahab heard that decree, if you remember, he tore his clothes, and he put on sackcloth. And what happened then to Ahab, if we remember well, should give us all hope because when the king humbled himself before Hashem, Hashem noticed, and the decree was delayed. Not in his days, Hashem said, in his son's days, Ahaziah's days. So, Ahaziah grew up in that palace. He knew what happened. He knows that even after the prophet speaks judgment, real teshuvah can still change what happened next. You can still repent. You can still return. And he sends soldiers. A captain with 50 men climbs up to where Elijah is sitting on top of the mountain. Verse 9. Ish Elohim, "Man of God, the king has spoken. Reda, come down." So, to me there's almost something um I feel like it's absurd, that sentence. And it's sort of familiar. You hear this again and again um with the northern kings. I think it's part of the human condition, but it really stands out with the northern kings of Israel. "Man of God, the king has spoken. Do this thing." You know, but if Elijah really is a man of God, then the king's command is not the highest command in the room. The king doesn't get to tell him where to stand. And yet he tries anyways. And Elijah answers, "And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. They wanted something to come down. Elijah come down. Well, something did come down. Only it wasn't Elijah, but fire from heaven which consumed all 51 men. So the king sends a second captain. And listen to the upgrade here. Man of God, thus says the king, come down quickly. Thus says the king. That's the prophet's line. That's the prophet's line. Thus says Hashem. That's what the messengers just brought back to him. And now the palace is answering in the same voice as Hashem. Okay, so fire falls again. But this time the the text calls it esh Elohim, the fire of God. Esh Elohim, the man of God, right? That's Elijah. Esh Elohim, esh Elohim, the fire of God. In Hebrew it's one letter apart. Anyways, 102 men are gone. And get this, Ahaziah sends a third delegation. You got to give it to him. This guy's got some real chutzpah. Um but this captain climbs down the uh climbs the mountain differently. Verse 13. Vayichra al birkav leneged Eliyahu vayitchanen alav. And he knelt on his knees before Elijah and pleaded with him. Man of God, please let my life and the life of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your eyes. >> You know, Ari, I just want to stop here because the Tanakh, and with Eliyahu in specific, used those words before. At Mount Horeb, Hashem corrected Eliyahu's count and said 7,000 men in Israel who never bent the knee to Baal. And now the same verb, the same knees, maybe this captain was one of them. I mean, look who actually learned something in this chapter. The king lost 102 men and learned nothing. This captain looked at the same fire, let the fire refine him, and change him. >> Yeah, well, I'll tell you, Jeremy. This This is the turn that really touches me, right? Hashem answers Elijah. Verse 15. Red oto, al tirami panav. Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him. Right? Two captains commanded the prophet to come down and got fire. One man lowered himself, and the prophet came down with him. Uh and friends, Jeremy, don't miss who is walking down that mountain. The last time a threat came from this family, Elijah ran a day past Beersheba and asked to die. Now he walks straight to the bedside of Ezavel's son, Jezebel's son, and says it to his face. Um is it because there is no God in Israel? He asks. The bed you went up onto, you will not come down from. And I think that visit was a gift. One more chance at the door of repentance his father walked through at the very end. But the text doesn't record a single word from Ahaziah. No tears, no sackcloth. He He dies in that bed, exactly as Hashem said, and leaves no son behind him. >> You know, Ari, I have to tell you, it feels like we've been in this scene before. If you look back at 1 Samuel chapter 19, Shaul sends men three times to seize David at Naioth, where Samuel is standing. It's the same type of scenario, a king who refuses to accept the word of Hashem, the reality itself, and he's fighting against it, sends men again and again to seize what he can't control. But the outcomes are just really different, and I think that they're juxtaposed in that way. Shaul's men reach Samuel, and the spirit of God comes over them, and they begin to prophesy. Ahaziah's men reach Elijah the prophet, and Elijah sends fire down from heaven and consumes them. But you see the contrast between Elijah and Samuel, it's like at Horeb Hashem taught him, Hashem isn't in the fire. And so on one hand Samuel transforms the men sent against him. And on the other hand here, Elijah destroys them. And so the sages of Israel teach that while Eliyahu fought for the honor of the father, of Hashem, he didn't fight as fiercely for the honor of the son, for Israel. And so whatever we do with that question, this is the last time Elijah the prophet will ever stand before king in Israel. >> That's right. That's right. And like you said, I think you expressed that very eloquently because there's a lot We're not coming in any sort of criticism of Elijah. It's just an interesting juxtaposition of their personalities. Um cuz remember Jeremy, Elijah went up to heaven in a fiery chariot. You don't want to be you know, saying anything against Elijah right now. Anyways, I think the text may be hinting at the same thing. Uh this is a little bit esoteric what I'm going to share here and I was wondering whether I should share it. But you know, uh one of the things we bring here from Judea is insights into the actual Hebrew, the language of the land, the language the Bible was written in. And so this isn't the way it spells his name. Elijah's name in Hebrew almost always ends with the letter vav, Eliyahu. Uh in all of Tanakh there are exactly five places where the prophet's name is missing that vav. And four of them are in this chapter, right? The chapter of fire. And there are exactly five places where Jacob's name is written with an extra vav. Uh so the sages of Israel, Rashi says that Jacob took that letter from Elijah and is holding it as an eravon, as a pledge, collateral, until the day Elijah comes to announce the redemption of Jacob's children. Um now whatever you think of this idea, I just thought it was really beautiful. Because where is the fifth place the vav is missing? Malachi, the book of Malachi chapter 3 verse 23. Hineni anochi sholeach lachem et Eliyahu Hanavi, behold I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem. Vav is the connective letter. Put it before a word and it almost always means and. So the letter of connection goes missing in the chapter where the prophet calls down fire on the nation, right? And then the very next verse, the last verse in all of the prophets tells us what mission will finally release that collateral, will bring the connection. Not bringing down fire from heaven, no. Malachi chapter 3 verse 24. He will turn back the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Veheishiv Veheishiv lev avot al banim velev banim al avotam. The idea our tradition brings down is that Jacob is still holding that letter waiting to give it to Elijah upon his return when he brings us together. And look where his children are standing while we wait, right? Right now. For 2,000 years we lived in other people's lands sending messengers to foreign palaces to find out whether we'd be allowed to live. There's still a lot of that. But now we're home and still I catch us doing what Ahaziah did, sending delegations to Ekron, to the capitals and the courts and the headlines asking them whether we're going to make it. You can visit Ekron today. It's a low mound of ruins on the grounds of a kibbutz surrounded by fields. Nobody inquires of Baal Zebub anymore. Nobody's going to the Lord of the Flies and asking for guidance and prophecy. And the God of Israel is gathering his children from the four corners of the earth back to these hills infusing faith in our hearts right now. The nation is returning to God in a way I've never seen in my entire life. It's biblical. Right? Is there no God in Israel? For those who ask that question, come stand on our hill in Judea at sunrise and ask me that question again. Anyways, I love it. Hazak u'baruch my friends. Now, we just walked through all 22 chapters of of First Kings together, one day at a time. And so, if you've been walking with us, walk into the Second Kings as part of the family that makes that possible. Become a member at the landofisrael.com. There's the free trial that many people are doing now and and really getting a taste of the redemptive beauty of what this really is all about. Bezrat Hashem, we'll see you tomorrow for chapter two with Jeremy. [music]