“Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: “Man of God, thus has the king said, ‘Come down quickly!’ ” So Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” II Kings 1:11-12 NKJV
a. Man of God, thus has the king said: The second captain repeated the same error as the first captain, but with even more guilt because he knew what happened to the first captain. The judgment upon the first group should have warned this second captain and his fifty men.
i. The specific request of the second captain (Come down quickly!) shows that the second captain made his request even more bold and demanding.
ii. The people and leaders of Israel had gone after pagan gods so long that they could not distinguish between the imaginary, impotent gods of the pagan world and Yahweh, the LORD God of Israel. They thought that Yahweh was just as powerless as their own useless gods.
b. If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men: Elijah left the matter in God’s hands, and God again responded in dramatic judgment. (Guzik)
IF Part Two!
“If I am a man of God”?
You would think that the second captain would have known better when he came up on the scene of what was the first captain and his 50 soldiers. Smoldering embers with remnants of metal lying about! At least this is the way I always envisioned it!
The second captain and his men were more bold and demanding! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Do you think the king will send a third captain?
Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment