Did Ahaziah Die In Two Places?
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Atheists and skeptics study the Bible much more than many self proclaimed Christians in their never ending search for errors or mistakes in the Holy Book. And they delight in finding something which, they feel, is an unmistakable error. But in order to be able to say something is a definite error, one must prove that there is no possibility for it to be correct. Granted, there are many places in the Holy Scriptures where explanations are not obvious and there appears to be a contradiction or error. But as long as there is a solution possible for it to be correct, there is still no proof of inerrancy in the book. These accusations have been made, over and over, for centuries and none...not one...has been proven to be an error.
Matthew 27:37 "And they set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Mark 15:26 "And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Luke 23:38 "And there was also a superscription over him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
John 19:19 "And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
It is highly likely, in my opinion, that John's quote was precisely what was written. He even tells who wrote it. Then notice how nearly identical the other three match the last phrase of John's. This example shows the difference people will make when bringing out a point. With this example in mind, let's go to our subject question.
Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, was anointed king in the 2 Kings chapter 9 by a young prophet who informed him of God's message as follows:
"And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:" (2 Kings 9:7-9)
So Jehu killed King Joram, son of Ahab, Jezebel, the wife of Ahab and all seventy of Ahab's sons who were living in Samaria. Now, Ahab's son-in-law, Ahaziah, was king of Judah and was witness to Joram's death and he fled. Here is the account in 2 Kings 9:27 (KJV):
"But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there."
2 Chronicles 22:9 gives this account: "And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom."
This sounds like two different episodes to the skeptic with only scant similarities. But we have to understand, that two different writers, at two different times, were recording this event under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The difference is that the writer of the account in Kings was only attempting to explain his death, while the writer of the Chronicles wanted to show the events of the capture and arrest. It is highly likely that the episode transpired thusly:
When Ahaziah saw that Jehu had killed Joram, he got himself out of Jezreel as fast as he could go. Jehu had others to take care of after Joram and so probably did not immediately get on his trail. So Ahaziah made it to Samaria and hid there. Jehu's men found him in Samaria and brought him to Jehu still in his own chariot with his driver. Kings rarely drove their own chariot.
When they brought him to Jehu, he ordered them to kill him there in his chariot, his driver must have drove swiftly away. They were successful in shooting him and after he fled to Megiddo, he died. There is no reason to think that this scenario could not have been the case. Many cases in the Holy Bible are extremely brief in their descriptions of events. They are written to show certain points and in many cases they omit many details. Even the first chapter of Genesis, leaves out many details that are later explained.
This Article has been viewed 644 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Yes the old wisper somthing in ones ear and see what comes out. Then again if God inspired what to write why the difference? Are we now touching on why so many questions? How can God give the same thing to multiple different people and it come out differentif man was inspired to write what He said? Would it not be the same in each ones work? In this case the same but with a varience. So if it is man who is at fault, who can we believe as right? Perhasp you can lend your teachings to that. Good job.Hi Robert, God inspired men with the knowledge of a subject but obviously did not speak word for word. Most of the writers, especially in the NT have distinctive styles of expression. And also, even if God ever inspired each word, he must have worded it for the specific audience or for a specific purpose. Which also becomes obvious in some cases.
You're right, Joel. Some scientists and all sceptics have been trying to disprove the Bible for many years and no, they haven't been successful.Thanks for this great article.SandraThank you for commenting, Sandra. I imagine they'll keep trying though. Apparently it is a disagreement that will not be resolved until the Lord resolves it.
Every time I read an article such as yours, I visiualize myself sitting before the Apostle Paul. The spiritual things will always be foolish to the skeptic and the scientist who has not yet while peeping through their telescopes found Christ. But, one day it's been promised when all men shall come to know the truth. Thank you for helping them with the jump start.DeborahThanks Deborah, I really appreciate your remarks. I decided a number of years ago that, should I miss heaven, it would not be from lack of effort. I sincerely believe that one must "diligently seek Him."
HI Joel, I love your narrative of the account. These two accounts do not conflict with one another at all, simply because one does not state where he died. Only that he ultimately died. But I can see someone trying hard to make that stretch. Can you imagine how thick the Bible would be if every detail was written by every writer? As John says, there would not be enough paper to contain what would be written.We have to remember the reason the book was written, to whom it was written and for what purpose. When we understand that, we can see why some things are more detailed than others. Well done. God is working in you and through you thank you for being a vessell. We are all learning.Many blessings! Teresa
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.