Saturday - II Kings 1 - A Mismatch

Ahaziah, Ahab's son, fell and injured himself. And, when he became deathly ill, he foolishly sent messengers to ask for a prognostication from Baalzebub - obviously, a false god. The king wanted to know if he was going to recover or not. And, he could have and would have recovered if he hadn't sought for an answer from the Devil. But, because he was walking down the same road that his father had taken, God sent Elijah to intercept Ahaziah's messengers. Elijah gave them an answer to their question... an answer with which they returned to their master. It wasn't the answer that he wanted, but it was the correct answer. Ahaziah was doomed.

Now, if he had humbled himself under the condemning prophecy of Elijah (like his father had done), then perhaps he could have still received some mercy.  But, instead, he stubbornly sent 51 military men to arrest Elijah. Big mistake! Perhaps Elijah looked like a harmless, albeit eccentric old man as they found him sitting on top of a hill with his long hair, leather girdle and lonely disposition. But no, he was anything but harmless. 102 barbequed soldiers later, a 3'd set of 51 of the kings finest came to the lone prophet with their leader bowed down low as he implored Elijah for mercy. And, while the captain did receive mercy, the king did not. Ahaziah died and was replaced by his brother, Jehoram (not the same Jehoram who was simultaneously coregent with Jehoshaphat in Judah - compare II Kings 1:17 & 3:1).