Lesson - Ahaziah Was No Better Than His Father

VERSES:   2 Kings 1:1-18

MEMORY VERSE:   2 Kings 1:8   "And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and gird with a girdle of leather about his loins..."

BOOK TO REMEMBER:   Review the Old Testament books from Genesis to Daniel.

PRAYER:   When God speaks to us through the Bible, we pray that we may obey what we read. Let us have open hearts to His words.

SPECIAL SONG:   Elijah (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog)

VISUAL AID:   Make a large Activity (see below) or draw on the whiteboard or chalkboard.

LESSON POINTS:

• Things had not been going well for the new King of Israel, Ahaziah. His father, Ahab, had died, making him king over the Kingdom of Israel, also the nation of Moab had rebelled against him, and painfully he had fallen through a lattice in the upper room of his palace in Samaria, hurting himself. Ahaziah was worried about his health, so he sent messengers to ask an idol, Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, if he would get better.
• But an angel of the LORD said to Elijah, the prophet of God, to go and meet the messengers that Ahaziah had sent out and ask them was there not a God in Israel? Why was Ahaziah seeking Baalzebub's advice when he should have been asking the LORD God about his health. Elijah told them that Ahaziah would not get better and would die.
• The messengers turned right around and went back to the king. When Ahaziah asked why they had returned so soon, they told him that they had met a man that had told them the things that Elijah had said. Ahaziah asked them what the man looked like. They said that he was a hairy man and had a leather belt around his middle. Ahaziah knew who it was. He said, "It was Elijah, the Tishbite."
• The king sent a captain in his army and fifty of his men and told them to bring Elijah to him. The captain found Elijah sitting on top of a mountain. He said to Elijah, "The king said to come down." Elijah answered him and said, "If I am a man of God, let there be fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men." And it happened! Fire came down and burned up those men!
• The king sent another captain and fifty soldiers to bring Elijah to the king. The captain told Elijah, "The king said to come down quickly!" Elijah answered him and said, "If I am a man of God, let there be fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men." And it happened a second time! Fire came down and burned up those men!
• For a third time, the king sent up another captain in his army with fifty men, but this time the captain in the king's army fell on his knees before Elijah and said, "Save my life and the life of my soldiers. I know that fire came down from heaven and burnt up the other two captains and their soldiers. Please spare our lives if you our lives be precious in your sight."
• The angel of the LORD told Elijah to not be afraid and to go with the army captain to meet the king. So Elijah did as he was told. And what did Elijah tell the king to his face? Just what God had said before! Elijah told the king, "Is there no God in Israel that you could have asked about your health? You had to send messengers to ask Baalzebub, an idol in Ekron? Because you have done this, you will not recover from your fall." So Ahaziah, another wicked king of Israel, who followed in his wicked father Ahab's footsteps, a worshiper of Baal and not the LORD, died just like Elijah had said.

"Older Student" Tips:

• The Bible is a wonderful book! The more we read, the more we learn! Do we know a little more about Elijah that we did last time? Yes! We learned he was hairy and wore a leather belt around his waist. The only pictures that are inspired by God in the Bible are "word pictures." All the pictures that you may find in your Bible, men have added and are not inspired.  The men's pictures that you may have in your Bible are just like your pictures that you draw from time to time. Do we KNOW what the Bible characters looked like? Only by what the Bible tells us in words. It is exciting to find out more about what Elijah looked like in this story, isn't it?

ACTIVITY:   
Materials needed:  9" x 12" piece of blue construction paper, 4" x 6" piece of brown construction paper, 5 1/2" x 8" piece of clear lamination or a half sheet of transparency, markers, crayons, tape, scissors.

1. Hand out blue paper.
2. Hand out brown paper.
3. Round the edges off of one end of brown paper to form the top of the mountain.
4. Glue the top of the mountain on the bottom edge of the blue paper.
5. Draw Elijah sitting off pn the mountain, but off to one side of the paper.
6. Draw the captain of the army and a few soldiers bunched up in the middle of the paper. 
7. Draw fifty spears in the middle of the soldiers (see picture above).
8. Color picture.
9. Add rocks and grass if desired.
10. Write "Ahaziah sends soldiers to bring Elijah to him." and "2 Kings 2".
11. On the right side of the paper, write "Elijah only went down the mountain when to angel told him to go."
12. Write "If I am a man of God, let there be fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men." by where Elijah is sitting.
13. Hand out transparency or clear lamination.
14. Draw orange fire comng down from heaven and engulfing the soldiers on the transparency.
15. Fold top edge of transparency down 1/2".
16. Turn paper over.
17. Tape transparency's edge to back of paper.
18. Before leaving class, make sure all fire is down, covering the soldiers.