Is
it because there is no God in
There
was a history of antagonism between Elijah and Ahab, and that history continued
with Ahab's son Ahaziah. When Ahaziah was injured, he probably expected a less
than favorable answer from Elijah, so he preempted that diagnosis and went
straight for a second opinion. He sent his envoys to the Philistine city of
Ekron, to inquire of the god Baal – not the best way to get on Yahweh's good
side (or Elijah’s for that matter).
It’s
kind of like a kid playing one parent against the other until she gets the
answer she wants. Or a hypochondriac doctor shopping until he finds one who
will give him the diagnosis he’s looking for. Or maybe more like someone who
doesn’t like the news from CNN and goes with FOX instead.
But
Elijah knew exactly what Ahaziah was up to and wasn’t about to let him go
unchallenged.
No
extra charge: Did you notice the full name of the false god in verse 3?
Baal-Zebub (Lord of the flies). By the time of Jesus’ ministry the name would
evolve to Beelzebub and be synonymous with Satan (Matthew 12:22-28). Our enemy is more than happy to give us the answer we're looking
If
you don’t like God’s answer, do you sidestep him and shop around for an answer
more to your liking?
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