The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 22

-perhaps leanin~ against it, _and gazing from his elevated position on the fine prospect that spreads 1ti<elt around-his support suddenly gave way, and he was precipitated to tlie ground, or courtyard, below, He is picked up, stunned, but not dead and carried to his couch. It is, in common speech, an accident-some trivial neglect df a fastening- but it terminat~d this royal career. On such slight contingencies does human life the change of rulers, and ofren the course of events in history, depend. We cannot ~uffi- ciently ponder that our existence hangs by the finest thread, and that any trivial cause may at any moment cut it short (Ja:s. iv. 14). 2. Yet providential. God's providence is to be recognized in the time and manner of this king's removal. He had " provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel" (1 Kings xxii. 53), and God in this sudden way cut him off. This is the only rational view of the providence of God, since, as we have seen it is from the most trivial events that the greatest results often spring. '1.'he whole ~an be controlled only by the power that concerns its.elf with the details. A remarkable illustration is afforded by the death of Ahaziah's own father. Fearing Micaiah's pro- phecy, Ahab had disguised himi,;elf on the field of battle, and was not known as the King of Israel. But he was not, therefore, to escape. A man in the opposing ranks "drew a bow at a venture," and the arrow, winged with a Divine mission, smote the ki_ng bctwee~ the join_ts of 1:is armour, and slew him (1 Kings xxii. 34). '1.'he same mmute providence which gUJded thRt arrow now presided over the circumstances of Ahaziah's fall. 'There is in this doctrine, which is also Christ's (Matt. x. 29, 30), comfort for the good, and warning for the wicked. The good man acknowledges, "My times are in thy hand" (Ps. xx.xi. 15), and the wicked man should pause when he reflects that he cannot take his out of that hand. 3. Irremediable. From the bed to which he had been carried up, the ~ing was never to rise. The injury he had received was fatal. Yet a little space was given him-even him-for repentance. His fall might have produced immediate death. These few remaining days, when the sands were running out, were, however, only to demonstrate further liis incorrigibility of nature. II. Tm: :MESSAGE TO EKRON. A sick-bed, with the possibility of the sickness proving fatal, tests most men. It tested Ahaziah. We note in his behaviour the following instructive facts: 1. He was moved to apply to some god. Not, indeed, in hope of a cure, but only to obtain information as to the issue of his illness. He sent to consult an oracle, not to ask a blessing. But even in this there is seen the desire for supernatural help, for direct intercourse with the invisible, which men so often feel in their hour of trouble. It was a dark hour for Ahaziah. Life hung in the balance, and he shrank from death with a great dread. He could not wait for the verdict of events, but would fain wrest the secret from a heathen shrine. Piety can afford to leave the issue in God's hands. Impiety dare not do this, and can find no comfort eave in the assurance of recovery. 2. He did not apply to Jelwvah. Was there not a God in Israel to inquire of? Ahaziah knew very well that there was, and that there were prophets, like Micaiah and Elijah, who would tell him the truth. It need not be questioned that it was an evil conscience, and that only, which kept him from applying to Jehovah. He knew how impiously he had behaved towards Jehovah. He perfectly well understood what kind of reception he would receive from the prophets, and in what limguage they would address hiw. He anticipated the nature of the sentence they would pronounce, He dared not, therefore, inquire of the Lord. So when men, in their distress, feel imlJelled to go to God, they are often held back by the remembrance of past wicked- ne~s. They know, if they come, it must be with changed hearts and the renouncing of evil deeds, and for this they are not prepared. 3. He applied to the god of Ekron. Baal-zebub-'' lord of dies," as the word means. The oracle of this god had probably some local repute, which led him to select it. Here comes in the element of supcr- sti tion. The craving after the supernatural in human nature ie not to be stilled, and, if it cannot be gratified in a lawful, it will seek gratification in some unlawful way. Saul, forsaken of God, turned to the witch of Bndor (1 Sam. xxviii. 6, 7). "A noto- rious infidel like Philippe Egalite, though in other respects a man of ability, could yet try to presage his fate by the sort of cup-augury involved in examining the grounds of coffee." '!'he Roman world, in the time of the apostles, was not more characterized by its educated scepticism than by the influx into it of every kind of superstition (cf. Farrar's 'St. l'aul,' eh. xix.; Conybeare and Howson, eh. v.). In our own day, multi- LudeB professing disbelief in God's revelation turn with eager credulity to the delusions CH, I, 1-18.) THE SECOND liUOK OF THE KINGS. 15