His Story

Ahab’s son, raised in the palace of Baal. His reign is one story: a fall, a sickbed, and a question sent to the wrong god.

His Sin — How He Displeased the LORD

Injured in a fall through a lattice, he sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether he would recover — as if there were no God in Israel. Elijah intercepted them: “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal-zebub?” Twice he sent captains of fifty to arrest God’s prophet, and fire from heaven consumed them; the third captain came pleading, and was spared.

The Good He Did

Scripture records none; even his sickness produced no repentance, only a more convenient god.

The LORD’s verdict

“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:”1 Kings 22:52 (KJV)

How His Reign Ended

He never rose from his bed: “according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.” Having no son, his brother Joram succeeded him.

Lessons for Believers Today

• Where a man goes with his trouble tells you who his god is. The sickbed reveals the theology.
• God’s messengers are not to be arrested by the powers of the age; fire still falls on settled contempt.

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