Scripture Daily

Context No. 96 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 1:11-18: in context

11Again he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He answered him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty!” Then God’s fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty. 13Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty of your servants be precious in your sight. 14Behold, fire came down from the sky and consumed the last two captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15The LORD’s angel said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” Then he arose and went down with him to the king. 16He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘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 will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’” 17So he died according to the LORD’s word which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son. 18Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

King Ahaziah of Israel has fallen through a lattice and been badly hurt, and instead of asking Israel's God whether he will live, he sends to Ekron to consult Baal-zebub, a Philistine god. Elijah intercepts the messengers with an answer the king does not want, and Ahaziah sends soldiers to bring him in. This passage is the third attempt.

The first captain arrived with fifty men and gave the order like a summons: man of God, the king says come down. Fire came from heaven and consumed them. The second came and said the same thing more urgently, with the same result. The third captain climbs the hill and does something different. He falls on his knees and asks: please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants be precious in your sight. He uses the same title, man of God, and asks instead of commands.

The angel tells Elijah to go with him, and he does. The difference between the third captain and the first two is not their orders, which were identical, but the posture they arrived in. All three were sent by the same king on the same errand. What errand am I on right now where the assignment is fixed and the only thing I control is how I show up for it?

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