Is There No God In America?
Authoritative Answers About Health: Part One, Section A
Theme Verse: I Corinthians 3:19a: For the wisdom of men is foolishness before God.
The practice of putting trust in others besides God is not new; it has been occurring since the beginning of time. There are many examples in the Scriptures, and when it happens, God is not pleased. But how does this relate to health?
Let us explore the story of Ahaziah, a man with an illness, and see how God responds to him when he does not go to the Word of God to seek answers to his health condition.
Baal-zebub: The god of Ekron
Ahaziah, the king of Samaria, became ill after falling through a lattice. He sought to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to discover if he would recover from his illness.
Let's read about it.
II Kings 1:2-8
...Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness."
But the 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 it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?' Now therefore thus says the LORD, 'You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'" Then Elijah departed.
When the messengers returned to him he said to them, "Why have you returned?" 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 where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"'"
He said to them, "What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?"
They answered him, "He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins."
And he said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."
King Ahaziah was not pleased with the answer from a true man of God so he sent three different squads of soldiers to seize Elijah. Miraculously, Elijah was never seized but eventually went with the third group of soldiers to see Ahaziah.
What happens next:
II Kings 1:15-17a
The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he arose and went down with him to the king.
Then he said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron--is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?--therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"
So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.
Is It Because There Is No God in America to Inquire of His Word?
God held Ahaziah accountable for not seeking His Word. Notice the word therefore in the above paragraphs. Most of us have heard the hermeneutic principle, "if there is a therefore, we need to find out what it is there for."
The therefore mentioned above indicates that the reason Ahaziah would not recover from his illness is because he inquired of false gods instead of the true God.
Specifically the verses say, "... Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?--therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.''
Ahaziah sought false gods to find the answers to his illness. Ahaziah did not seek the true God to find the answers, and according to the therefore, he died because of it.
Are we in America any different? Which gods do we seek for answers?
Go To: Authoritative Answers: Part One, Section B: The False Gods of America
Return To: Biblical Health Study