Daily Manna 10 January
MEMORY VERSE: “And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease” (2 Kings 1:2).
READ: 2 Kings 1:1-6
Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub,[a] the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” 3 But the [b]angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is itbecause there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Now therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah departed.
5 And when the messengers returned to [c]him, he said to them, “Why have you come back?”
6 So they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” ’ ”
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
In a book titled “Down to Earth”, John Lawrence tells the story of an Italian city that dared God to show Himself and paid a terrible price. The city of Messina, Sicily was home to many wicked, irreligious people. On December 25, 1908, a newspaper published in Messina printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, on December 28, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible quake that killed 84,000 people. Ahab and his family dared God and saw the results. From our text, a series of calamities befell the house of Ahab as a result of their idolatry and wickedness.
First, Moab rebelled from being a tributary state under the northern kingdom. Then, King Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, fell from the window of his house in Samaria and was ill. Messengers were sent by the king to enquire of the Philistines’ god in Ekron, instead of seeking help from the true God. At the direction of God, the messengers were intercepted and sent back by Prophet Elijah, and Ahaziah died of the sickness. People should reasonably expect to be punished one way or the other when they move away from God’s protection through their sinful desires and lifestyle.
It is very common nowadays for people to ‘go for deliverance’ whenever things are not working in their favour. Others go for religious rituals and even pagan style exorcism to regain favour, instead of repenting and turning away from sin. Sin brings about spiritual death and ultimately eternal death. That is why God deliberately positioned His servants like Elijah on our paths to help reconcile us back to Him. Only God has the solution to man’s needs and problems.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: End the standoff today and return to God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 29-31
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Don’t Dare God!- by Pastor Enoch A.
Don’t forget to Follow Elanhub on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Daily Manna 10 January 2021
