“There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord…’” (2 Kings 1:6)
King Ahab has died and his son Ahaziah has succeeded him. Sadly, this new king “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother” (1 Kings 22:52).
When Ahaziah lays sick, he does not ask the Lord God for help but sends messengers to Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. Apparently, he does not care what God’s prophet might have to say. However, God also sends a messenger (namely, an angel) and commands Elijah to meet the king’s servants. They must tell the king: “You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die”.
When Ahaziah’s messengers return and tell him that they met a man who “wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist”, he immediately recognizes that this must have been the prophet Elijah.
In 1 Kings 21, king Ahab exclaimed, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”. Now his son also acknowledges that he can’t escape a confrontation with God’s prophet.
We can’t hide from God either. Is that frightening to you? Why, or why not?