2 Kings 1:11-18: a reflection

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?

This is a hard passage, with fire falling on two companies of soldiers, and it should not be treated lightly. But at its center is a pointed contrast in how three men approach the prophet of God. The first two captains come with arrogant demands: man of God, the king says, come down at once. The third comes differently. He falls on his knees before Elijah and begs, please let my life, and the lives of these your servants, be precious in your sight.

Notice the difference in posture, and its result. The first two approach God's servant as though they could summon and command him, and it goes badly. The third abandons the demand entirely and comes humbly, pleading rather than ordering, treating the man of God with reverence rather than swagger. And his humility is met with mercy: the angel tells Elijah to go down with him, do not be afraid. The one who came low was spared.

There is a lesson here about how we come before God, under all the severity of the story. Arrogant demand, the attitude that we can summon God and dictate terms, is a dangerous way to approach the Holy One. Humility is the posture that finds mercy. And behind it all is the king's original error, consulting a foreign god as if there were no God in Israel to ask. Come to God, not with demands, but humbly, as the third captain did. The Lord gives grace to the humble.

Lord, keep me from approaching you with arrogant demands, as though I could summon you and dictate terms. Teach me the posture of the third captain, humble, pleading, reverent, for you give grace to the humble. And let me inquire of you, not of lesser things, in my trouble.