I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 1-2.

When King Ahaziah, King Ahab’s son. became seriously injured he sent a messenger to Ekron to inquire of the Baal of Ekron whether he would get better. I am unsure why he did not inquire of the prophets of Baal in Israel, perhaps they had been pretty well wiped out after the confrontation on Mt Carmel. In any case, God sent Elijah to intercept the messenger. Elijah’s message for King Ahaziah was that because he had chosen to consult a foreign god he would die before rising from his bed. When I read this story I tend to focus on the three captains King Ahaziah sent to bring Elijah to see him, but I think this first part needs more thought given to it then I normally do. There really seem to be two elements to what King Ahaziah did wrong. The first part is obvious, he consulted a false god, Baal, instead of the true God, the God of Israel. The second part is more complicated. Reading between the lines, the Baal worshipers in Israel seem to have claimed that Baal was just another name for the God of Israel and that the practices of Baal worship were perfectly legitimate alternatives to the practices laid out in the Law of Moses. One other thing we also know is that most people of that day believed that gods were limited to specific geographic locations. By sending to the Baal of Ekron rather than consulting the local prophets of Baal, Ahaziah was saying that the god of Ekron was more powerful than the God of Israel (since Ahaziah would have claimed that the local prophets of Baal were merely worshiping God using a different name).

Having written all of that I realized that there are implications for us today in that story. Many people who consider themselves Christians look to other religions as having truths which Christianity does not. I am convinced that this is a form of idolatry. Now this does not mean that other religions do not possess some truths. However, I firmly believe that all of those truths can also be found in the Christian Scripture if you look. Some of those truths have been hidden by traditions which have grown up over the years. Other truths were “lost” when reformers pruned away human traditions which had grown up to obscure God’s teaching. So, there can be some value in looking at other religions to see what truths they have. But before putting the truths you think you have found into practice, pray and search the Scriptures to see God’s true intent.