Study Desk

Elijah answered, " Lord God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!"

The prophet went to Ahab and said, "The Syrians think the Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys. So he has promised to help you defeat their powerful army. Then you will know that the Lord is in control."

Jezebel wrote a letter to each of the leaders of the town where Naboth lived. In the letters she said: Call everyone together and tell them to go without eating today. When they come together, give Naboth a seat at the front. Have two liars sit across from him and swear that Naboth has cursed God and the king. Then take Naboth outside and stone him to death! She signed Ahab's name to the letters and sealed them with his seal. Then she sent them to the town leaders.

The two liars came in and sat across from Naboth. Then they accused him of cursing God and the king, so the people dragged Naboth outside and stoned him to death.

Ahaziah worshiped Baal and made the Lord God of Israel very angry, just as his father had done.

Soon after King Ahab of Israel died, the country of Moab rebelled against his son King Ahaziah. One day, Ahaziah fell through the wooden slats around the porch on the flat roof of his palace in Samaria, and he was badly injured. So he sent some messengers to the town of Ekron with orders to ask the god Baalzebub if he would get well.

About the same time, an angel from the Lord sent Elijah the prophet from Tishbe to say to the king's messengers, "Ahaziah has rejected Israel's own God by sending you to ask Baalzebub about his injury.

"A man met us along the road with a message for you from the Lord ," they answered. "The Lord wants to know why you sent us to ask Baalzebub about your injury and why you don't believe there's a God in Israel. The man also told us that the Lord says you're going to die."

So at once he sent an army officer and fifty soldiers to meet Elijah. Elijah was sitting on top of a hill at the time. The officer went up to him and said, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down and talk with him."

"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "God will send down fire on you and your fifty soldiers." Fire immediately came down from heaven and burned up the officer and his men.

Ahaziah sent another officer and fifty more soldiers to Elijah. The officer said, "Man of God, the king orders you to come see him right now."

"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "fire will destroy you and your fifty soldiers." And God sent down fire from heaven on the officer and his men.

Ahaziah sent a third army officer and fifty more soldiers. This officer went up to Elijah, then he got down on his knees and begged, "Man of God, please be kind to me and these fifty servants of yours. Let us live!

When Elijah arrived, he told Ahaziah, "The Lord wants to know why you sent messengers to Ekron to ask Baalzebub about your injury. Don't you believe there's a God in Israel? Ahaziah, because you did that, the Lord says you will die."

Some time later the woman said to her husband, "I'm sure the man who comes here so often is a prophet of God.

Elisha said to her, "Next year at this time, you'll be holding your own baby son in your arms." "You're a man of God," the woman replied. "Please don't lie to me."

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in fear and shouted, "That Syrian king believes I can cure this man of leprosy! Does he think I'm God with power over life and death? He must be trying to pick a fight with me."

But Naaman stormed off, grumbling, "Why couldn't he come out and talk to me? I thought for sure he would stand in front of me and pray to the Lord his God, then wave his hand over my skin and cure me.

Naaman and his officials went back to Elisha. Naaman stood in front of him and announced, "Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the whole world. Sir, would you please accept a gift from me?"

But I pray that the Lord will forgive me when I go into the temple of the god Rimmon and bow down there with the king of Syria."