Leopard's Spots 2 Kings 1:1-4 July 18, 2018

1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

² Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” ³ 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? 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 went.  (2 Kings 1:1-4 ESV)

More death and illness.  There is definitely a trend in the first sections of this part of the Old Testament.  Leaders and kings die or are ill.  A successor is ready to take the reigns.  In today's passage once again we find the leader of the Israeilites not doing so well.  

King Ahaziah has fallen and can't get up.  We know this will not go well for him.  Although he is the king of God's chosen people, he is not a man of God.  The last verse of 1 Kings tells us, "He (Ahaziah) served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done." (1 Kings 1:53 ESV)

As Ahaziah lays injured, he it not going to change his spots.  He continues to call out to false gods.  

Proverbs 22:6 states, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."  I wonder if the inverse is also true.  "Train a child is the way he shouldn't go;  even when he is old he will not depart from it."