PROCLAMATION
“… And the
third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah,
and besought him, ‘O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of
these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came down fire from heaven, and
burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifty; therefore let
my life be precious in thy sight.’ And
the angel of The Lord said unto Elijah, ‘Go down with him; be not afraid of
him.’ And he arose, and went down with
him unto the king.” 2 Kings 1:13-15
(KJV)
EXPLANATION
These words were written under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. The
human author is unknown although some Bible scholars attribute this book to the
prophet Jeremiah. After the death of Ahab, Ahaziah reigned over
Israel in Samaria. It came to pass that
Ahaziah fell through the lattice work in his upper chamber and was
injured. He sent messengers to go and
enquire of Baal if he would recover. (2 Kings 1:1-2) The angel of The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Arise,
go meet the messengers of the king … and say … ‘Is it not because there is not
a God in Israel, that ye enquire of Baal … therefore thus saith The Lord, Thou
shalt not come down from that bed … but shalt surely die.’ ” (2 Kings
1:3-4) When the messengers returned to
the king and gave him the message, he asked them what manner of man told them
that. They described him and the king
said it was Elijah. Then the king sent a
captain and fifty men to bring Elijah to him.
When the captain found Elijah he said the king had said come down. Elijah said to him, “If I be a man of God
then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty.” Fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
(2 Kings 1:5-10) The king sent a second
captain with fifty men and the same thing happened to him and his men after he
said the king said come down quickly.
Then the king sent a third captain with fifty men, but he spoke respectfully
to Elijah, and he went with him to the king. (2 Kings 1:11-15) Elijah told the king what thus saith The
Lord. And later he died as Elijah had
spoken. Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king
of Judah reigned after Ahaziah died because he did not have a son. (2 Kings
1:16-17)
APPLICATION
We should be very careful how we treat people. We should treat everyone that we encounter with
respect. It does not matter what their
title is, or their position, or their station in life, every human being should
be treated with respect. The Lord God
takes it personally when one of His people is mistreated. Christ said, “… As you have done it unto one
of the least of these, My brethren, you have done it unto Me.” (Matthew 25:40) Do unto others as you would have them to do
unto you. That is the “golden rule”
which was taken, paraphrased, from a verse in The Bible, “And as ye would that
men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31)
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