Today’s reading from 2 Kings tells a rather disturbing story. Twice the King of Israel sends a captain of fifty soldiers and his men to retrieve the prophet Elijah. Twice the prophet calls down fire to consume the soldiers. When a third unit of soldiers comes the commander kneels before the prophet at says, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight” (2 Kings 1:13b-14).
One way to understand this story would be as a warning: do not approach God or God’s prophet with an attitude of power, but rather with humility and a realization that God alone is in control. Armies are of no concern to God, what God seeks is a faithful and obedient people. When the third captain of fifty men came to Elijah he prayed that he and his men might be found “precious” in God’s sight. To me this is a recognition of a right relationship between God and humanity. Before God is asked to consider the captain and his men precious the men for their part would need to understand God as essential to human life, or at the very least capable of ending that life.
The first two captains came to the prophet in power seeking to enforce the will of the king. The third captain came to the prophet in weakness seeking God’s will. All of which makes me wonder what you and I do. Do we come to God with demands, believing that we have power and that God is on our side? Or do we simply seek God's presence, trusting the divine will to be better than anything we could arrange?
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we treat you with contempt, believing you to be incapable of helping us, while in fact you can and do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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