I. Ekron was an ancient Philistine city known for its olive production. It was home to the pagan god Baal-zebub. II. King Ahaziah of Israel sought counsel from Baal-zebub instead of God when he fell ill. The prophet Elijah confronted the messengers and declared the king would not recover. III. God uses both blessings and afflictions to turn people from idolatry to himself. Those who refuse correction face spiritual blindness and hardness of heart.

1. Five Foes to Prove your Progress
part 3
Gaza the Enticer
Gath the Intimidator
Ekron The Imitator
Ekron:
Meaning: firm-rooted
The site of Ekron was excavated without finding period
layering, so at the time of their destruction the area was
abandoned.
The city is divided into two parts an upper and lower city.
The lower city was the industrial center with the largest
olive production in antiquity.
Oil is a Type of the Holy Spirit
The tabernacle and its furniture were to be anointed
with oil (Ex. 40:9-11).
- As the Tabernacle was a figure of Christ, so the oil
pictured Him being anointed by the Spirit.
The interior of the tabernacle was illuminated by the use
of oil (Ex. 27:20-21).

2. So without the illumination of God’s Spirit, no one
would ever see the glories of our Savior (I Cor. 2:14; II
Cor. 4:3-6).
1Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.
2Cor 4:3-6 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
In cleansing the leper, both blood and oil were used (Lev.
14:14-18).
This reveals that when one is saved from sin, that both
the blood of Christ and the person of the Holy
Spirit have a work to do.

3. The anointing with oil of prophets, priests and kings
prefigured christ as our prophet, priest and king.
In the meat offering, the fine meal was anointed
with oil (Lev. 2:1).
The fine meal was a type of Christ sinless flesh, and
the oil was a type of the Holy Spirit.
The oil of Ekron was tainted; and is a type of the “unholy
spirit”
Lev 19:23-25 23 And when ye shall come into the land,
and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then
ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three
years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be
eaten of.
24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy
to praise the LORD withal.
25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof,
that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the
LORD your God.
Ekron is the most northerly of the five towns belonging to
the lords of the Philistines, about 11 miles north of Gath.
It was the last place to which the Philistines carried the ark
before they sent it back to Israel (1 Sam. 5:10; 6:1-8). There

4. was in Ekron a noted sanctuary of Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1: 2,
3, 6, 16).
Ekron The Imitator
1.A Distraction
2.Gods Reaction
3.A Preachers Declaration
4.Your Discovery / or
5.Your Darkness
2Kgs 1:2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his
upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he
sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of
Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of
this disease.
Baal-zebub meaning "the lord of flies," or, "the
lord of dung," or "the dung-god"; the god of the
Philistines at Ekron.
This name was given to the god because he was
supposed to be able to avert the plague of flies
which in that region was to be feared. Little did
they know he was the captain of the host of
wicked flies.

5. Luke 11:15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils
through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
Luke 11:18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how
shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out
devils through Beelzebub.
It was the God of Israel that has already proved
He is in control of the flies.
Exod 8:21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I
will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy
servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and
the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies,
and also the ground whereon they are.
Ps 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which
devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
Ps 105:31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
and lice in all their coasts.
Isa 7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of
the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of
Assyria.
Ekron The Imitator

6. I. A Distraction
The imitator is a distraction from reality. Your life curse
may just be God’s calling you to repentance.
2Kgs 1:2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his
upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he
sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of
Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of
this disease.
Jer 44:16-18 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken
unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto
thee.
17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth
out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen
of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we
have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes,
in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for
then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no
evil.
This ritual didn’t originate “out of their own mouth”
someone taught it to them.
18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of
heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have

7. wanted all things, and have been consumed by the
sword and by the famine.
Ezek 16:4-6 4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou
wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed
in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor
swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to
have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in
the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that
thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in
thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy
blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy
blood, Live.
Ezek 16:15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and
playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst
out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it
was.
Ezek 16:27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my
hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary
food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that
hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are
ashamed of thy lewd way.

8. II. Gods Reaction
The absence of God’s correction is a worse punishment
than affliction.
2Kgs 1:16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD,
Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of
Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no
God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt
not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up,
but shalt surely die.
Hos 4:13-14 13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the
mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks
and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is
good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom,
and your spouses shall commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit
whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery:
for themselves are separated with whores, and they
sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not
understand shall fall.
III. A Preachers Declaration
You can’t get to Ekron without facing a preacher.

9. 2Kgs 1:3-4 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 unto them, Is it not because there is
not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub
the god of Ekron?
4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come
down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt
surely die. And Elijah departed.
God is in Israel but not the god that matches the
imagination of Ahaziah.
Ps 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as
thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order
before thine eyes.
Isa 40:15-18 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance:
behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts
thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are
counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness
will ye compare unto him?

10. Illustration: Rendo’s daughter
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?
Refrain:
Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
IV. Your Discovery
God’s answer is simple to find (not easy but simple).
2Kgs 1:5 And when the messengers turned back unto
him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
2Kgs 1:16-17 16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the
LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to
enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because
there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word?

11. therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which
thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which
Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the
second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of
Judah; because he had no son.
 Where do you go for life’s answers? From the unholy-
spirit of Ekron or vs16 the word of God.
 When the world or a seeking saint ask you a question
what do you have to say? Info. from Ekron or
illumination from the word of God?
V. Your Darkness
If you refuse to read God’s word, the blindness you
imitate, God will make a reality to you.
2Kgs 1:16-17 16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the
LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to
enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because
there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore
thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art
gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which
Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the

12. second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of
Judah; because he had no son.
Ezek 12:2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a
rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not;
they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a
rebellious house.
Matt 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not
perceive:
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened
their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I
should heal them.
Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye
shall see, and not perceive:
Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them
the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and
ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Ekron The Imitator
A Distraction
Gods Reaction

13. A Preachers Declaration
Your Discovery / or
Your Darkness