God, the Lord of Life

Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room and lay injured. He sent messengers to Baal-Zebub, a foreign god, to ask whether he would recover. Then, when Elijah brought him word of God’s judgment, he did not repent. Instead, three times over he dispatched a captain with fifty soldiers to seize Elijah and bring him back.

Ahaziah wanted to live as he saw fit, and for him it was easier to consult an idol than to cling to God. The first two captains and their men perished in fire from heaven, but the third captain humbly fell to his knees and pleaded for his life, and he and his soldiers were spared.

Before God there is no middle ground. Ahaziah, stubborn to the end, died just as Elijah had declared, while the captain who humbly sought mercy was given life. Sovereignty over life belongs to nothing in this world, but to God alone.