2 Kings 1:15

_AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID UNTO ELIJAH, GO DOWN WITH HIM: BE NOT AFRAID OF HIM. AND HE AROSE, AND WENT DOWN WITH HIM UNTO THE KING._ Arose, and went down with him. A marvelous instance of faith and obedience. Though he well knew how obnoxious his presence was to the king, yet on receiving God's command, he goes unhesitatingly, and repeats with his own lips the unwelcome tidings conveyed by the messengers....

9-18 Elijah called for fire from heaven, to consume the haughty, daring sinners; not to secure himself, but to prove his mission, and to reveal the wrath of God from heaven, against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Elijah did this by a Divine impulse, yet our Saviour would not allow the disciples to do the like, Luke 9:54. The dispensation of the Spirit and of grace by no means allowed it. Elijah was concerned for God's glory, those for their own reputation. The Lord judges men's practices by their principles, and his judgment is according to truth. The third captain humbled himself, and cast himself upon the mercy of God and Elijah. There is nothing to be got by contending with God; and those are wise for themselves, who learn submission from the fatal end of obstinacy in others. The courage of faith has often struck terror into the heart of the proudest sinner. So thunderst...

Verse 2 Kings 1:15. _AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID - GO DOWN WITH HIM_] This is an additional proof that Elijah was then acting under _particular inspirations_: he had neither _will_ nor _design_ of his own. He waited to know the counsel, declare the will, and obey the command, of his God. _AND HE AROSE, AND WENT DOWN_] He did not even regard his personal safety or his life; he goes without the least hesitation to the king, though he had reason to suppose he would be doubly irritated by his prediction, and the death of _one hundred_ of his men. But with all these consequences _he_ had nothing to do; he was the ambassador of the King eternal, and his honour and life were in the hands of his Master....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 1:1 THE REVOLT OF MOAB. THE ILLNESS, IMPIETY, AND DEATH OF AHAZIAH The narrative of the Second Book of Kings follows on that of the First Book in the closest possible sequence. The history of Ahaziah's reign begins in 1 Kings 22:51, and is carried on, without any real break or pause in the sense, to 2 Kings 1:18. How the two books came to be divided at this point is quite inexplicable. The division is most unhappy. Not only does it, without apparent reason, draw a strong line of dem

AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID UNTO ELIJAH, e.] The same as in 2 Kings 1:3 or "had said" g, as some render it, before this captain came: GO DOWN WITH HIM the captain and his men: AND BE NOT AFRAID OF HIM; of King Ahaziah, whom he might fear, because of the message he had sent him, that he should die of that sickness, and for turning back his messengers to the god of Ekron, and for destroying his two captains and their fifties; nor of his mother Jezebel, who had threatened his life for killing her prophets: AND HE AROSE, AND WENT DOWN WITH HIM UNTO THE KING; boldly and courageously, not fearing his wrath; so that the captain not only had his life and the life of his men spared, but answered the end of his message also. g וידבר "edixerat autem", Junius Tremellius....

ANGEL (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. ELIJAH's FINAL MINISTRY AND TRANSLATION 1. Elijah and Ahaziah CHAPTER 1 _ 1. Moab's rebellion (2 Kings 1:1)_ 2. The illness of Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:2) 3. Elijah's message (2 Kings 1:3) 4. Ahaziah's messengers and their fate (2 Kings 1:9) 5. Elijah before the king and Ahaziah's Death (2 Kings 1:16) 6. Jehoram becomes king (2 Kings 1:18) The rebellion of Moab is here briefly mentioned. B

2 KINGS 1:1 TO 2 KINGS 2:25. LAST DAYS AND ASCENSION OF ELIJAH: ELISHA ESTABLISHED AS HIS SUCCESSOR. Here we have perhaps a third Elijah narrative, in which the prophet is represented as playing a part scarcely worthy of the Elijah of 1 Kings 17-19 or 21, who in the first section represents Yahweh against the Tyrian Baal, whereas in the latter he stands for righteousness opposed to legalised violence. Here the king's offence is that he sent to a Philistine oracle instead of inquiring of Yahweh, and his soldiers are punished by fire for summoning the prophet to surrender. The spelling of the prophet's name in Hebrew differs from that in the rest of the OT. The story is mentioned in the Gospel (Luke 9:54)....

_be not afraid of him_ Some have taken the pronoun here to refer to the captain. This can hardly be correct. The third messenger was all humility and entreaty, and the only person to be feared was the king Ahaziah, irate because of the destruction of his soldiers and the defiance of his authority....

AND HE AROSE, AND WENT DOWN WITH HIM UNTO THE KING— This is a great instance of Elijah's faith and obedience to God, in whom he trusted, that he would deliver him from the wrath of the king, and the malice of Jezebel. He had ordered, not long before, all the prophets of Baal to be slain; had sent a very unwelcome message to the king, and made a very terrible execution upon two of his captains and their companies: so that he had all the reason in the world to apprehend the utmost expressions of the king's displeasure; and yet, when God commands him, he makes no manner of hesitation, but goes boldly to Ahaziah, and confirms with his own mouth the unpleasant truth which he had declared to his messengers....