WWUTT 489 Ahaziah and False Miracles?

Ahaziah became sick and wanted a miraculous healing. But instead of inquiring of God and His Word, he inquired of a false god. There is a lesson here concerning modern charismaticism when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. Find videos and more at our website www .tt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

The Continuity Between 1 and 2 Kings

Thank you Becky. Well, we're starting a brand new book today in our Old Testament study and at the same time not really. This is just kind of a continuation of the last book with a different number in front of it.

We're looking at 2 Kings chapter 1 today. There was a time when 1 and 2 Kings were just one book. As a matter of fact, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings all kind of go together. 1 Samuel is primarily about the reign of the first king in Israel who was Saul.

And then 2 Samuel begins the reign of David, the successor to Saul. 1 Kings begins with the death of David and the beginning of the reign of Solomon and then concludes with the death of Ahab. And Elijah is the influential prophet over most of the book of 1 Kings.

Then we get to 2 Kings and we're going to see the conclusion of Elijah's influence and then his protege or his understudy, Elisha, will succeed his ministry. So those are kind of the main events that section out those four books and we begin here picking up where we left off with the death of Ahab.

Ahaziah Seeks Help from Beelzebub Instead of God

2 Kings chapter 1 beginning in verse 1. After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah, who is Ahab's son, fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers telling them, go inquire of Beelzebub, boy, that sounds familiar, right?

The god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron?

Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. So Elijah went. Now this name Beelzebub, which you're probably aware is where we get the name Beelzebub, which means Lord of the flies.

That is a Hebrew corruption of the name that the pagans would have called him, which was Beelzebul, meaning Baal, the exalted one, or Baal, the god of heights. But the Hebrews did not want to call this false god by such an exalted name.

So they called him Beelzebub, which means the god of poop. He was the dung god rather than the god of heights. Now we see this name not only here in second Kings, it comes up also in the New Testament.

In Matthew chapter 12, a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus and Jesus healed him so that the man was able to speak and he could see. And the people were amazed and they said, can this be the son of David?

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it's only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons. And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid to waste and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

And if Satan cast out Satan, then he's divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man?

Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Now these words of Jesus here and also in Mark 3 are why there are some people who will refuse to condemn something that claims to have been done in the Holy Spirit, even if it's pretty evident that it wasn't of God, because they don't want to be guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So maybe if I just don't say anything at all, that way I won't risk blaspheming the Holy Spirit and committing the unpardonable sin. But that's not what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. This is clearly talking about a very specific case concerning the Pharisees and what they said about Jesus.

There was nobody who would know more about what the prophet said concerning the coming Messiah than the Pharisees would have known. The prophet said that he would heal the sick, that the lame would walk, the blind can see.

And that's exactly what Jesus just did in front of everyone, leading them to say, could this be the Son of David? But the Pharisees instead said, no, no, no, it's by Satan that this man casts out demons.

It's only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man, Jesus, is able to do these things. And so that's when Jesus presents to them, how can Satan cast out Satan? It's only by the Spirit of God that a person casts out demons.

Therefore, if you speak a word against the Holy Spirit, when you know, according to what the scriptures say and according to what you observe, you know that I can't possibly be casting out demons by Beelzebul, and yet you are declaring me as being of Satan anyway.

So I say to you, anybody whose heart is that hard, who is unwilling to acknowledge a miracle, this confirming has committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and he will not be forgiven in this age or in the age to come.

This is Jesus saying that if his heart is that hard, he's not going to repent. He's seen the miracles, he knows they confirm what the prophets have said, and yet that's not even convincing to him, then nothing will convince him.

And he will continue in his hard heartedness all the way into judgment. Now, when I see a charismatic claim to do a miraculous work in the Holy Spirit, I have no intimidation whatsoever by saying of that man that what he is doing is not of God.

And in fact, he is a charlatan. I do not fear blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Why? Because what they're doing is not actually miraculous. It is not at all what was being done in the New Testament by Christ and the disciples.

Or when you go back to the Old Testament by Elijah and Elisha, the miracles that charismatics claim that they're doing don't look anything like the miracles of the prophets or the apostles. There are no cases of a person shriveled in a wheelchair being touched by Benny Hinn and then standing up and dancing.

Furthermore, the message that they preach is largely not the gospel. I just watched a video the other day of Todd White, who was at some sort of basketball arena. I don't know what he was doing there.

I guess the clip of the video that I saw didn't really provide context, but he's just walking up to people and laying hands on them and praying for them and claiming that they're healed and stuff like, hey, my shoulder hurts.

So he prays for their shoulder and they're like, wow, that's incredible. I can move my shoulder again. It's things like that. And then it it cut to a clip of of Todd White saying, you know, we were here talking about Jesus and people got saved.

No, nobody got saved when it showed him addressing the crowd. He was saying in the name of Jesus, say sickness come out. And then the people would say sickness come out, pain be gone. And then they would say pain be gone.

The gospel was never presented. There was never any understanding of sin and a need for repentance. And if I don't repent and follow Christ, then I'm still under the wrath of God. There was no understanding of sin and need for a savior.

Gospel in their mind is simply Jesus doing parlor tricks and street magic, which is basically what that amounts to, because it's not miraculous healing. That is absolutely not what they are doing. There was another video that was posted just the other day on Charisma magazine's website, and it was a clip from the Father of Lights documentary, I guess is what it's called, done by Wanderlust Productions, which is the worst name for a Christian production company.

Wanderlust, when you type that into YouTube, you don't get Wanderlust Productions. I don't advise anybody to do that, by the way, to test me on that anyway. So in this clip that was posted on Charisma magazine, it was Todd White and another guy that were talking with these two Latin gang kings.

And these two guys were talking about how they would take guns and smoke these other guys. Like, I grew up murdering people. That's basically what one guy was saying. And then it just randomly clips to Todd and this other guy laying hands on them and going, you know, when you came in here, I just felt this presence about you.

I saw the Holy Spirit. Don't lie to me, man. Tell me, did you have the Holy Spirit about you? And he's just got his head bowed and going, yeah, I feel a presence. I feel a presence. And so they make it look like they're bringing these gang member guys to repentance.

But that's not being done. That's absolutely not what's being done in that clip. The gospel's never been declared to them. Just praying for them and saying that there's a presence about them. As far as these guys are concerned, they feel like God's on their side so they can go smoke their enemies.

That's what they're thinking about. The Bible says that the spirit is the truth. First John five, six. And so where the word of God is not proclaimed, the spirit is not there. So just because those guys claim that they're laying hands on these on these men and claiming that they saw the Holy Spirit when they walked in the room does not mean the Holy Spirit is there.

And if the gospel is not being proclaimed to them, they're not repenting of anything. They're just they just feel like they're receiving power from these guys who want to lay hands on them and pray for them.

So anyway, I've got no reservation whatsoever with observing this kind of thing. And when the word of God is not there and the gospel is not being proclaimed, according to what the Bible says, then neither is the spirit of God there.

Jesus said to his disciples when he promised them the Holy Spirit, this is John 16 beginning in verse 12. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, the spirit of truth.

So how is it that a person is saved? Not because somebody laid their hands on them and prayed for them. A person is saved because they heard the truth of God's word proclaimed. Romans 10, 17, faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

Whoever does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Romans 8, 9. And so it is it is by the word of God that the spirit speaks. It's not by a person laying their hands on you and praying that your shoulder feel better or your knee would feel better or whatever.

We just read yesterday what Paul said was the test as to how, you know, a person is walking in the truth. This is back again to first Thessalonians one, starting in verse four. We know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you.

You heard the gospel proclaimed and you believed it not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. That's something else that Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in John 16.

He said that when the helper comes, the Holy Spirit, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in me. So the work of the Holy Spirit is conviction.

They are convicted to know their sin and turn from their sin and believe the gospel of Christ. And many of these faith healers are not doing that at all. They're not proclaiming the gospel and convicting a person of their sin.

You know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake, Paul said. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you receive the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

So there is fruit that you will see in a person's life that evidences the gospel change that has happened in them. This is how we know that the Holy Spirit of God is with a person and it is not in an ability to lay your hands on a person's shoulder and then they can rotate it a little bit better than they could before you laid hands on their shoulders.

That's not a miraculous healing. So anyway, coming back again to Second Kings chapter one, Ahaziah wanted a miraculous healing, but instead of inquiring of God, he was inquiring of Beelzebub. Elijah told his messengers, go back and tell the king that he is going to die.

So verse five, the messengers returned to the king and he said to them, why have you returned? And they said to him, there came a man to meet us and said to us, go back to the king who sent you and say to him, thus says the Lord, is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron?

Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. And Ahaziah said to them, what kind of man was this who came to meet you and told you these things? And they answered him, he wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather around his waist.

And Ahaziah said, it is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king sent to him a captain of 50 men with his 50 men. And he went up to Elijah who was sitting on the top of a hill and said to him, oh man of God, the king says, come down.

But Elijah answered the captain of the 50, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men. Then the king sent to him another captain of 50 men with his 50 men.

And he answered and said to him, oh man of God, this is the king's order. Come down quickly. But Elijah answered them, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.

Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed that man and his 50 men. Again, the king sent a captain of a third 50 men and the third captain with his 50 went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, oh man of God, please let my life and let the life of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your sight.

Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of 50 men with their 50s, but now let my life be precious in your sight. Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down with him.

Do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the king and said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?

Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.

Now, the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? So what happened to Ahaziah was exactly how God said it would happen when Ahab was cursed.

But Ahab was not stricken down. God said to Elijah, because Ahab has repented before me, everything that I said would happen to him is instead going to happen to his son. There would not be a son of his to sit on the throne of Israel.

And that's exactly how this came about. Ahaziah did not have a son. And in his place, Jehoram became king. And he would be wicked just as Ahab and Ahaziah were wicked. So let's bring this back to what we were talking about a moment ago about these false charismatic teachers.

If they are truly men of God, fire will come down from heaven and consume me. I know that is not going to happen because they are not men of God. They do not speak the word of God. Consider what it is that Elijah said to Ahaziah as he laid on his deathbed.

This is verse 16. Thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baals above the God of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.

These false charismatic teachers do not speak the word of God. They do not inquire of his word. They believe that they have the authority in and of themselves. Just simply to proclaim it and it will be so.

And unless they repent of this hubris and this pride, which is contrary to the word of God, not according to it, then God will destroy them and they will die. And so I do, I do hope that a man like Todd White would repent of his sin, that he would truly know the God of the Bible and love the word of God rather than his word over God's.

The Power of God's Word, Repentance, and Prayer

Let us pray. Our Lord, I pray that we would be humble to this, that we would be humble to your word and not think that we are something great or special and that we have power in our words to declare something and it will be so.

For only you have that power and you have declared and it is written down for us in the pages of scripture. It is only this book that has the power to heal a man of his sins, that we would be forgiven our sins in Christ and be able to stand before you as justified because we heard the gospel proclaimed and we repented of our sins and we believed it.

The power is in this word and no other to heal men of their sins. So let us be confident in this and let this be the word that we proclaim to others so that they would turn from their sinfulness and live.

We pray for their repentance God and we first desire that we would be made right before you. Forgive us of our sins and lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake. In the name of Christ we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.