Mercy
“Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.”“And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.” II Kings 1:13-14
Here we see an extraordinary battle of wills between a rebellious and wicked King Ahaziah and the man of God, the prophet Elijah who speaks the true word of the Lord. Elijah has covertly intercepted the King's emissaries who have gone to inquire of Baal-Zebub (literally Lord of the Flies, which translates to Lord of filth and death) the god of Ekron (Philistine city whose name means "uprooting" or "extermination") whether Ahaziah will recover. The name Baal-Zebub is a play on words with the idol's real name Baal “zebul” (prince, exalted one). The intended irony is Ahaziah asking a god of death about whether he will live.
Ahaziah was raised with idolatry imported into Northern Israel by his Sidonian mother, Queen Jezebel. Elijah answers the King's question, "Will I recover?" with a "No!" and gives the answer to a question Azariah was not asking, the reason he will not recover (..."because [you think] there is no God in Israel so you decided to inquire of Baal-Zebub"). There is a subtle invitation to repent in providing the reason as Ahaziah would have recalled his father Ahab's repentance and the resulting mercy received after the very same Elijah condemned Ahab for executing Naboth to steal his vineyard (1 Kings 21). Ahaziah was born after Ahab's repentance and therefore was a child of that mercy. Sadly, the invitation was ignored. Ahaziah obviously knew where to find Elijah, the one who he could have inquired of the Lord, because he later sent a commander with fifty men to him. The entire interaction is based on respect for a foreign idol and utter disrespect for the Lord, first by the King and then his captains.
The Lord showed mercy to the third captain precisely because he demonstrated proper respect and humility in approaching Elijah. Here again we see how the Lord cares very deeply who we seek for wisdom regarding the future, how we do it and why we do it. The underlying question is, "If the Lord is God, why are you treating Him and His chosen messenger with such disrespect?" The fear of the Lord is always connected to a fear of His messengers throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 18, Numbers 12), and into the New Testament (Acts 5:1-11, Acts 8:9, Acts 13:6-11). We find with the mercy extended to the last captain that the issue is not with a vengeful Elijah but rather an "angel of the Lord" who is guiding Elijah's every response. God despises those who disrespect Him and His messengers and we would do well to reflect on this in our lives. We live in a nation that is irreverent and disrespectful of authority and this attitude has seeped into the Church. May we grow in the fear of the Lord as we near the day of His return,
Here we see an extraordinary battle of wills between a rebellious and wicked King Ahaziah and the man of God, the prophet Elijah who speaks the true word of the Lord. Elijah has covertly intercepted the King's emissaries who have gone to inquire of Baal-Zebub (literally Lord of the Flies, which translates to Lord of filth and death) the god of Ekron (Philistine city whose name means "uprooting" or "extermination") whether Ahaziah will recover. The name Baal-Zebub is a play on words with the idol's real name Baal “zebul” (prince, exalted one). The intended irony is Ahaziah asking a god of death about whether he will live.
Ahaziah was raised with idolatry imported into Northern Israel by his Sidonian mother, Queen Jezebel. Elijah answers the King's question, "Will I recover?" with a "No!" and gives the answer to a question Azariah was not asking, the reason he will not recover (..."because [you think] there is no God in Israel so you decided to inquire of Baal-Zebub"). There is a subtle invitation to repent in providing the reason as Ahaziah would have recalled his father Ahab's repentance and the resulting mercy received after the very same Elijah condemned Ahab for executing Naboth to steal his vineyard (1 Kings 21). Ahaziah was born after Ahab's repentance and therefore was a child of that mercy. Sadly, the invitation was ignored. Ahaziah obviously knew where to find Elijah, the one who he could have inquired of the Lord, because he later sent a commander with fifty men to him. The entire interaction is based on respect for a foreign idol and utter disrespect for the Lord, first by the King and then his captains.
The Lord showed mercy to the third captain precisely because he demonstrated proper respect and humility in approaching Elijah. Here again we see how the Lord cares very deeply who we seek for wisdom regarding the future, how we do it and why we do it. The underlying question is, "If the Lord is God, why are you treating Him and His chosen messenger with such disrespect?" The fear of the Lord is always connected to a fear of His messengers throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 18, Numbers 12), and into the New Testament (Acts 5:1-11, Acts 8:9, Acts 13:6-11). We find with the mercy extended to the last captain that the issue is not with a vengeful Elijah but rather an "angel of the Lord" who is guiding Elijah's every response. God despises those who disrespect Him and His messengers and we would do well to reflect on this in our lives. We live in a nation that is irreverent and disrespectful of authority and this attitude has seeped into the Church. May we grow in the fear of the Lord as we near the day of His return,