Ahaziah of Israel’s Demise

The House of Omri was beginning to fall. Such was the consequence of the unequal yoke. God would do anything to make sure that His own get disciplined, even deprive them of success. Jehoshaphat had a business deal with Ahaziah of Israel. The ships were soon sunk as God allowed. Later, 2 Kings 1 tells us the story of Ahaziah of Israel’s demise. This was Ahaziah, the brother of Athaliah and Jehoram of Israel. Both Jehoshaphat had a son named Jehoram. Athaliah’s husband was Jehoram of Judah. Athaliah would later name one of her sons after her brother.

The death of Ahab brought rebellion against Israel. Moab soon rebelled against Israel after that. Ahaziah of Israel fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber. A lattice is defined as a pillar that enclosed the upper balcony. Not all stuff like this are a judgment from God. In the case of Ahaziah of Israel, it was indeed. This was showing that the House of Omri was too engrossed with idolatry. Although Jeroham of Israel would discard Baal-Hammon, the worship of the calves would still persist for a very long time.

Ahaziah of Israel sent messengers to inquire from the false god Baalzebub. Interestingly, the name Baalzebub is Beelzebub in the New Testament in the Book of Matthew. I’m led to believe that the worship of Beelzebub was so disgusting that it became a synonym for Satan himself. Baalzebub is a popular god in Ekron. This incarnation of Baal was worshiped by the Philistines. Apparently, Baalzebub was the patron god of Ekron. The Philistines’ chief deity was Dagon.

Got Questions also offers this insight on Baalzebub:

Beelzebub is the Greek form of the name Baal-zebub, a pagan Philistine god worshiped in the ancient Philistine city of Ekron during the Old Testament times. It is a term signifying “the lord of flies” (2 Kings 1:2). Archaeological excavations at ancient Philistine sites have uncovered golden images of flies. After the time of the Philistines, the Jews changed the name to “Beelzeboul,” as used in the Greek New Testament, meaning “lord of dung.” This name referenced the god of the fly that was worshiped to obtain deliverance from the injuries of that insect. Some biblical scholars believe Beelzebub was also known as the “god of filth,” which later became a name of bitter scorn in the mouth of the Pharisees. As a result, Beelzebub was a particularly contemptible deity, and his name was used by the Jews as an epithet for Satan.

The word has two parts: Baal, which was the name for the Canaanite fertility gods in the Old Testament; and Zebul, which means “exalted dwelling.” Putting the two parts together, they formed a name for Satan himself, the prince of demons. This term was first used by the Pharisees in describing Jesus in Matthew 10:24-25. Earlier, they had accused Jesus of casting “out the demons by the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 9:34), referencing Beelzebul (Mark 3:22; Matthew 12:24).

This was the sin of Ahaziah of Israel. Ahaziah of Israel himself chose to trust in false gods. It was recorded that some Philistines gave Jehoshaphat gifts (2 Chronicles 17:11). However, it was still an idolatrous nation. It seemed that Baalzebub’s worship was popularized due to the idol is referred to as a fortune-telling god. Elijah was later visited by the Angel of the LORD. I’m led to believe this was the pre-incarnate Christ than a normal angel. Elijah was told to deliver the bad news that Ahaziah of Israel was to die.

This was where betting against God is dangerous. First, we saw Elijah’s prayer for for from Heaven show that there’s only one LORD God. The second time a fire from Heaven came down was to consume 50 men of Ahaziah of Israel. It was time to deliver a hard message It was time to tell Ahaziah of Israel that seeking Baalzebub the god of Erkon was a sin. Was it because there was no God in Israel? Well, there’s a God in Israel. We know how the House of Omri was even worse than the House of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. The sentence was passed causing Ahaziah of Israel slipped into Hell soon.

What would be interesting was that Jehoram of Israel reigned after his older brother Ahaziah of Israel. Jehoram of Israel reigned in the second year that his brother-in-law, Jehoram of Judah, reigned as king. The mess Jehoshaphat got himself into was about to balloon into a big problem. It would be because unequal yokes bring no good. Jehoram of Judah was strongly under the influence of his in-laws and Athaliah Athaliah was clearly raised in the ways of her parents Ahab and Jezebel.