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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Second King's chapter one,

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Speaker 1: and this is what we read. After King Ahab's death,

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Speaker 1: the land of Moab rebelled against Israel. One day, Israel's

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Speaker 1: new king, Ahaziah, fell through the lattice work of an

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Speaker 1: upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured.

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Speaker 1: So he sent messengers to the temple of bales Abob,

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Speaker 1: the God of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.

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Speaker 1: But the Angel of the Lord told Elijah, who is

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Speaker 1: from Tishby, go and confront the messengers of the King

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Speaker 1: of Samaria and ask them, is there no god in Israel?

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Speaker 1: Why are you going to Bale's above the God of Ekron,

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Speaker 1: to ask whether the king will recover? Now, therefore, this

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Speaker 1: is what the Lord says. You will never leave the

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Speaker 1: bed you are lying on, you will surely die. So

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Speaker 1: Elijah went to deliver the message. When the messengers returned

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Speaker 1: to the king, he asked them, why have you returned

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Speaker 1: so soon? They replied a man came up to us

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Speaker 1: and told us to go back to the king and

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Speaker 1: give him this message. This is what the Lord says.

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Speaker 1: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending

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Speaker 1: men to bales above the God of Ekron to ask

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Speaker 1: whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this,

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Speaker 1: you will never leave the bed you are lying on.

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Speaker 1: You will surely die. What sort of man was he,

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Speaker 1: the king demanded, What did he look like? They replied,

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Speaker 1: he was a hairy man, and he wore a leather

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Speaker 1: belt around his waist. Elijah from tish Be, the king exclaimed.

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Speaker 1: Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to

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Speaker 1: arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill.

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Speaker 1: The captain said to him, man of God, the King

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Speaker 1: has commanded you to come down with us. But Elijah

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Speaker 1: replied to the captain, if I am a man of God,

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Speaker 1: let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and

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Speaker 1: your fifty men. Then fire fell from heaven and killed

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Speaker 1: them all. So the king sent another captain with fifty men.

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Speaker 1: The captain said to him, man of God, the King

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Speaker 1: demands that you come down at once. Elijah replied, if

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Speaker 1: I am a man of God, let fire come down

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Speaker 1: from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men. And

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Speaker 1: again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed

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Speaker 1: them all. Once more, the king sent a third captain

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Speaker 1: with fifty men, But this time the captain went up

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Speaker 1: the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He

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Speaker 1: pleaded with him, O, Man of God, please spare my

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Speaker 1: life and the lives of these your fifty servants. See

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Speaker 1: how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the

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Speaker 1: first two groups. But now please spare my life. Then

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Speaker 1: the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down

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Speaker 1: with him, and don't be afraid of him. So Elijah

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Speaker 1: got up and went with him to the king. And

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Speaker 1: Elijah said to the king, this is what the Lord says.

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Speaker 1: Why did you send messengers to bales above the God

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Speaker 1: of Ekron to ask whether you will recover? Is there

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Speaker 1: no god in Israel to answer your question. Therefore, because

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Speaker 1: you have done this, you will never leave the bed

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Speaker 1: you are lying on. You will surely die. So Ahziah

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Speaker 1: died just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. Since

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Speaker 1: Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him, his

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Speaker 1: brother Joram became the next king. This took place in

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Speaker 1: the second year of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehosaphat,

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Speaker 1: king of Judah. The rest of the events in Ahaziah's

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Speaker 1: reign and everything he did are recorded in the book

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Speaker 1: of the History of the Kings of Israel. Let's pray. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to look at it today.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, as we look at this portion of scripture,

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Speaker 1: we can see that when you promise something, it comes

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Speaker 1: to pass. And just as you had assured Ahaziah through

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Speaker 1: the prophet Elijah, that he was going to die, he died,

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Speaker 1: and he died as a man who worshiped idols. He

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Speaker 1: died as a man who ultimately worshiped Satan. And Lord,

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Speaker 1: we know that there are so many people in this

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Speaker 1: world who choose that same route, and sadly, that's the

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Speaker 1: state that they enter eternity in. But Lord, you send witnesses,

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Speaker 1: You send people to testify about you. You sent Elijah

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Speaker 1: to the king, and yet the king rejected the message

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Speaker 1: of Elijah. Lord, ministering in the spirit and in the

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Speaker 1: power of Elijah, you also sent John the Baptist years later,

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Speaker 1: who testified to our need to trust in your son

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And Lord, there were many during that generation

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Speaker 1: that rejected that council, and there are many in our

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Speaker 1: generation who reject that council. But Lord, by your grace,

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Speaker 1: we pray that we would recognize that you and your

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Speaker 1: son Jesus Christ are one, and that the only way

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Speaker 1: to you, the Father, is through the son Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 1: So we pray, Lord, that we would listen to your counsel,

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Speaker 1: that we would worship your son, that we would bow

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Speaker 1: our knee to our Savior Messiah and Lord Jesus Christ,

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Speaker 1: and that that would bring you glory each and every day.

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Speaker 1: We love you, Lord, and we thank you for your

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Speaker 1: presence with us today, and we commit this day to

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Speaker 1: your care and thank you for this all in Jesus' name, Amen,