2 Kings 1:1-10
From the beginning of this book, we see the wretched Ahaziah taking yet a further step in idolatry. Falling ill, he sends messengers to consult Baal-zebub (lord of the flies, or of pollution). This is an action which is the more sinister because, behind the idol, it is Satan who is seeking to be worshipped — he whom the Jews will call Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (Matthew 12:24)! Then the end of Ahaziah is decreed by the LORD, and Elijah has the responsibility of conveying this to him, as he did formerly to his father. But, while a degree of humiliation followed in the case of Ahab, Ahaziah by contrast thinks only of seizing the person of the prophet, by violence if necessary. We think of the criminal deeds of another king, the wicked Herod, against John the Baptist (whom the Word of God often likens to Elijah – cf. their clothing, v. 8 and Mark 1:6). This open revolt against the LORD brings solemn chastisement immediately.
So Ahaziah surpasses his father in evil doing. He had before him only the sad example of his parents, Ahab and Jezebel. But what then are we to say of the young men and women brought up by godly parents and who, in spite of this privilege, have gone off after the idols of the world?