[Scripture: 2 Kings 1:9-15]
I will share with you today about respecting God and saving lives. Two things are clear from today’s passages. First of all, if you want to be at peace and escape from all the danger in your daily life, you should honor God and respect His Words.
If you want to see your children prosperous and free of the tribulations of their lives, you should tell them to fear God who has the ultimate power and authority to save and protect all people. You have the spiritual authority to tell them to respect God because God gave you spiritual leadership over them.
Three Captains
In 2 Kings 1:9-15, when King Ahaziah was injured, he sent a messenger to Elijah expecting to hear him prophesy his swift recovery, but Elijah said to the king, “You will die.” After that, the king got upset and sent a captain with fifty soldiers to capture Elijah. The first captain with fifty men said, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”
The second captain came and said, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once.’” “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”
The third captain came, and he went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men.” The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
Today’s passage tells us about the typical feeling and reaction that many Christians also have in response to hearing God’s Words that are against their wills.
Respecting God with Action and Language
However, some people may not understand why God sent fire to kill the soldiers. The reason was that the first and second captains did not respect God and ridiculed His words. To use theological language, this verse shows how God’s righteousness works immediately when people break God’s laws and stand in the wrong place.
For example, God’s Holiness is like a positive battery terminal. It has the power. When the negative terminal touches the positive power, immediately, electricity burns between them. This is a natural phenomenon. We can stand before God’s presence without burning and dying because of Jesus. He is standing between God and us. Because of his ministry of reconciliation, we can stand God’s presence.
In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus said the parable of the vineyard. In the parable, the master of the land came and said to the orchard keeper to cut down a fruitless fig tree. At that moment, the orchard keeper begged the owner, “Sir, leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” Jesus said through the parable that we are protected because of his ministry of reconciliation. So, we respect him and honor his work through our hearts, lives, behavior, and language.
How was the third captain’s behavior different from the first’s and second’s? He showed respect not only to Elijah but to God by his words and actions. God saw his respectful heart, so he showed His favor to him.
Respecting God and respecting people’s lives with your actions and language are key to having God’s favor and saving other people who are with us. When the third captain knew that and applied it in his daily duty, God showed His mercy on him and his followers.
Possible Hypothesis
There may be a linguistic clue as to why Elijah aggressively reacted to the first and second captains. In other words, there was a trigger that caused Elijah to ask God to send fire and kill them.
The reason was the rude and disrespectful behavior and language that they used to mock and make fun of God and Elijah.
King Ahaziah ignored God. So, he did not treat Elijah as a ‘man of God.’ And in the same way, the first two captains imitated King Ahaziah’s disrespectful behavior. They yelled at Elijah without respect. They forcefully and pridefully ordered Elijah to come down to fulfill the purpose of the king.
Original Words for “Man” and “Fire”
Interestingly, the two Hebrew words for “man” and “fire” are almost the same, but the only difference is the inclusion of a character called “Iota” which looks like an apostrophe in English. “Man” is אישׁ [AIŠ] and “fire” is אשׁ [AŠ].
The soldiers might have used the expression “man of God” as a kind of cruel wordplay because Elijah was associated with the fire of God ever since fire came down on Mt. Carmel. When Elijah heard the disrespectful language that they used to make fun of God and him, he just responded to them, “if I am a fire of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you.”
Deuteronomy 5:11 says, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” We Christians also need to be careful of our behaviors and using our words before God. We should use them to glorify God in any time and any situation.
Autonomy vs. Reverence
We live in a society where respect is slowly declining day by day. People are becoming more and more self-centered decision-makers. A survey found that “79 percent of Americans say lack of respect should be regarded as a serious national problem.” How many of you respect God in your daily lives as your ultimate authority over your heart and life?
You don’t have to answer me now, but I want you to ask yourself sincerely. Your conscience already knows the answer because the Spirit of God is deeply connected with your conscience, not your mind. Do not give full credit to your mind.
The mind is the realm where thoughts, emotions, and intellect work. Your mind can lie to you because anything could influence your mind and make you believe what you want to believe. But the conscience that God created is a sacred place where he puts His Spirit, and it will testify within you what is wrong and what is right (Romans 9:1).
Spiritual Lesson
Today’s passages give us two spiritual lessons. The most urgent priority of the Church is to respect God and serve Him. If you have the chance to evaluate the spiritual condition or status of your church, you should look at how they respect God and His words. This is the first thing you need to do as a member of the Church because spiritual danger comes to people when they stand in a place disrespectfully to God and His words.
If you are a leader of your family, you need to respect God and let your children know how to respect God with their hearts and lives because they will learn from you and will imitate you.
What are practical ways to stay away from spiritual danger?
- Do not stay in a disrespectful place.
- Do not stand with disrespectful people.
- Honor and glorify God.
Psalm chapter 1 tells us about the life of the blessed.
- Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers
- but those whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditate on his law day and night. Those people are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. Whatever they do prospers.
2022.06.26. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
