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Psalm 5:4-6, Various

Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 23, 2023

David explains in Psalm 5 that he would rise early to pray and offer his sacrifices to God. His concentration and focus on God assisted him throughout his days to live holy and a life pleasing to God. It appears that he has developed this practice in his life so that he would not delight in sin. Psalm 5:4-6 continues David’s prayer, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” Even though these are the words of David, we also know that he was the adulterer and murderer. I think the key to understanding the theology of this part of Psalm 5 is to understand the first phrase about “the boastful.” How does pride fit in with evil doers, liars, and murderers?

 Jesus made it clear to his disciples that the “boastful” will not win God’s favor. He told about the two men who came to pray at the temple. The “boastful” one looked up to heaven and talked about how many good things he did in life. His prayer is found in Luke 18, beginning at verse 11, “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’” I don’t expect to find a better example of the “boastful.” On the other hand, the sinner, the tax collector’s prayer follows, “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”

The fact that this psalm is attributed to David leads us to remember that he himself was an evildoer. He did evil with regard to Bathsheba and shed the innocent blood of Uriah, and then lied about it until confronted by the prophet. Considering this fact, along with the statements in Psalm 5, we see the reality of the sinfulness of all mankind. It teaches us that we are all sinners. Only the boastful and the blind could pray the way the Pharisee prayed. This is not belittling mankind. It’s just being honest. Repentance is what God wants, not self-justification for our sins. After the tax collector prayed, Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus also said in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” This is the gospel, and the law has a role to play. I like the way MacArthur puts it, “Law and gospel have differing purposes, of course. We know that sinners cannot be justified by the works of the law. But don’t conclude that the law, therefore, plays no role whatsoever in the proclamation of the gospel. The law reveals our sin and shows the real nature of sin for what it is. The law is a tutor to lead us to Christ. It is the chief means God uses to make sinners see their own helplessness. The law’s moral standards give us the necessary foundation for understanding what sin is.”[1] Psalm 51 is the record of David’s repentance and forgiveness. It pictures for us that which is available to all sinners through Jesus Christ. We need to identify with the tax collector, not with the pharisee. When sending out his disciples to preach the good news, Jesus says in Luke 24:47, “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”

[1] MacArthur, John. 1998. Successful Christian Parenting : Raising Your Child with Care, Compassion, and Common Sense. Bedford, Tex.: Word Pub.

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Job 1:5, Proverbs 3:11

Job’s Prayer for his Children

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 22, 2023

Job’s seven sons and three daughters were almost perfect children. His sons were independent, and his daughters were what daughters should be in those days. He did not have any delinquents or drug addicts, or rebellious children. Someone once said that the definition of a successful family is not having any felons. Yet, it’s not so much about what the kids don’t do as it is about what they do do. In this case, they were successful in providing for themselves and had harmonious relationships, and enjoyed each other, to Job’s delight. But Job wanted more than harmony and prosperity for his children. He wanted them to love and trust God. In Job 1:5, we see this concern for his children, “And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus, Job did continually.” Job wasn’t so much worried about his kids’ behavior; he was worried about their trust in God as a good God that loved them and had their best interest foremost in mind, regardless of what God might allow into their lives. The idea of “cursing God” is an important one in the book of Job. His wife will call him to do that very thing in response to the trials that come into his life. Job won’t do that. He holds on to his faith in God, and as he says later, “though He slays me, yet will I trust Him.” This attitude is what Job desires in his children.

There will be things that come into our lives that will challenge our faith in God. There will be some temptations. God tells us “NO,” like any good parent, when we go for things that are not good for us. Trusting God to know what’s best for us is sometimes hard to do when we want things that have been forbidden. There will also be trials. Where temptations pull us to doubt God’s good intentions toward us when he withholds something from us, trials pull us to doubt God’s good intentions toward us when he removes something good from our lives. We’ve all lost loved ones. We’ve lost jobs or money or had diagnoses that are not good. In all those times, Job wants to be sure that his children do not doubt God’s love and good intentions. This is what “faith” really is. It’s not just believing that God exists. It’s believing that no matter what comes into my life, or no matter what is forbidden to me, I trust God to have my best interest foremost in mind.

I love one blogger’s personal understanding of this. He writes, “One thing we can know for sure is that God has our best interest at heart. When He says do something or don’t do something else, it is for our good. Proverbs 3:11 says, My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Growing up, I didn’t always like to do what my parents said. There were times when I had other ideas and my ideas were better – or so I thought. I know it was the same for my three boys. Growing up I knew for sure that my ‘wisdom and ways’ and my ‘guidance and guidelines were not always their first choice. There were times when they had better ideas – or so they thought. Looking back, I know that my parents always had my back. They had my best interest at heart. And my wife and I always had our boys’ backs. Their best interests were our first concern. How much more true this is with our heavenly Father. God has our best interest at heart – always. When He tells us to be wise and do certain things and live a certain way, it is always for our best; we never have to wonder. We don’t need to overthink it. And when He tells us not to do something or not to live a certain way, we can know that He is not trying to ‘restrict’ our freedom or invade our space. On the contrary, He is wanting to bless our lives and see us flourish. Why do we fight God so often? In what areas are you bristling under the Lord’s leadership in your life? If we just step back a moment and remember that His ways are always best and always wise, we would serve ourselves well to be quick to obey – and obey completely. God loves you. God loves me. His ways are always best. May we be quick to heed and fast to follow.”[1]

[1] https://bcachurch.com/principle-5-realize-that-god-has-our-best-interest-at-heart/

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Esther 1:10-12

The Two As – Anger and Alcohol

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 21, 2023

The book of Esther begins with the King throwing a 180-day drinking party for his officials. It ended with a special 7-day feast to which all the subjects of the capital city were invited. Vs. 4 says that during the party, the King “showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty…” The verse drips with pride! The pride was accentuated because of the alcohol. A group of men with an open bar brings out the worst. This was the case with the King himself after seven days of festivities and heavy drinking. Esther 1:10-12 tells us about this. “On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this, the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.”

 Being “merry with wine” must involve some kind of diminished capacity. The same phrase is used by David’s son, Absalom. He directs his servants to kill his brother, Amnon, who raped Tamar. He tells his servants to wait until he is merry with wine.” Get him drunk first, Absalom said, then you can kill him. This is what happened. There are some who argue that being “merry with wine” is not a bad thing, but it seems to me that in both of these cases, it is indeed a bad thing. It results in Amnon’s death because he was incapable of defending himself. It then resulted in the anger of king Ahasuerus, which resulted in his making a decision that he regretted for the rest of his life. The passions are accelerated with alcohol. The kind felt humiliated by his wife and spilled out his alcohol-enhanced anger onto his wife. Anger, in itself, is bad enough, but anger fueled by alcohol has resulted in domestic violence of all kinds. It’s bad in our generation, and I expect it has always been a problem. One web blogger warns us of the danger of alcohol with regard to anger. She writes, “For those who drink alcohol and already have trouble managing their anger, this can be an extremely dangerous combination. That’s because alcohol exacerbates the anger that you’re already experiencing and can cause even more serious concerns over time. An even bigger challenge is that alcohol is known to increase aggression, whether you are male or female. If you are having difficulty managing anger and you misuse alcohol, it’s important for you to seek out help as soon as possible. The outcome of drinking could be disastrous for you, your family, and your life.”[1]

Yep, Ahasuerus became “enraged.” Buechner wrote, “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”

[1] https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/anger/when-alcohol-and-anger-clash-how-to-cope/

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Nehemiah 1:7-9, Psalm 51, Luke 15:20-24

There’s A Woman To Blame!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 20, 2023

After Nehemiah invoked God’s ear to hear his prayer, he confessed the sinfulness of the people God had called out of Egypt and placed in the land. They turned against God despite his miraculous deliverance. By shifting his prayer from the third person “they” to the first person “we,” Nehemiah identifies with the sinful nation but then reminds God of His promises to them. Nehemiah 1:7-9 continues his prayer, “We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant, Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant, Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’”

I’ve always found the song by Jimmy Buffet, “Margaritaville,” interesting. We have this guy “wasting away” in Mexico, eating shrimp and drinking margaritas. He’s been exiled to a foreign country and suggests “there’s a woman to blame.” But he ends the first verse by saying, “it’s nobody’s fault.” The second verse says the same thing but ends with, “it could be my fault.” The song’s last verse comes through with the truth, “It’s my own damn fault.” Finally, Jimmy accepts responsibility for his situation. You can’t blame it on a woman! Looking over the history of Israel leading up to their captivity in Babylon, you see plenty of figures who could be to blame. King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, might be the woman to blame. Maybe, it was their daughter Athaliah, who usurped the throne of the southern Kingdom of Judah and led the nation into idolatry. The exiles could have struggled with their role in the situation, but it took Nehemiah to clear up any confusion and acknowledge that the people as a whole were responsible for the situation they were in. Nehemiah identifies with the nation as a whole and accepts the responsibility for their exile in Babylon also.

Just as God had promised the people through Moses, the nation found that they had been scattered among the nations. But Nehemiah knew the rest of God’s promises. He knew that repentance would lead to restoration, just as promised. Jesus wanted all sinners to recognize this truth. In Luke 15:20-24, He tells about the prodigal son. He wanted us to know that He loves us and is waiting for us to accept responsibility so he could welcome us home. It’s a beautiful story of forgiveness and restoration. We read, “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this, my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” David repented of his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah in Psalm 51. He might have said, “there’s a woman to blame, but he didn’t. What’s missing from that song, unlike “Margaritaville,” is the attempt to blame others. One web blogger writes of Psalm 51, “Noticeably missing is the mention of anyone else. He did not attempt to assign even partial blame to someone else and did not ponder if God was going to hold someone else accountable. He did not offer context about his stage of life or the pressures he faced as king. Saul’s response to confrontation was very different as he shifted responsibility to people around him, implicating the troops and his desire to please the people. Sincere confessions contain no qualifiers. When confession has a qualifier, the confession is disqualified as sincere.”[1] When we try to explain our sins by pointing to the pressures we face, other people around us, or a phase of life, we have failed to fully own our sins. The prodigal son and David both accepted responsibility for their failures and leaned on God’s mercy for restoration. They were not disappointed. Neither are we.

[1] https://ericgeiger.com/2018/11/how-to-recognize-repentance-in-a-restoration-process/

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Ezra 1:7-11, Various

The Great Promise Keeper

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 19, 2023

God stirred the hearts of many to return to Zion when Cyrus granted them license to do so after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Those who chose not to return with the exiles, for whatever reason, pitched in with the expenses and presented the departing party with many expensive and valuable gifts to help them with their project. What was even more surprising is that, as recorded in Ezra 1:7-11, “Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.”

After 70 years of captivity, God moves to keep his promise and arranges for their return to the promised land. He told the people through the prophet Jeremiah that the exile would last for 70 years. They would live as such one year for each year they failed to observe the year of Jubilee. But when that time was up, they would be restored to their rightful place in Israel. God tells Israel in Jeremiah 29:10, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.” God always keeps His promises but even more he provides for the fulfillment of his promise as well. God will see to it, Himself. He makes sure that those returning have the resources they need to make the journey. In Ezra 1:4, Cyrus directed the residents to give the captives silver and gold and whatever they needed for their return. In verses 7-11, we see, “And the provision went even further. Cyrus returned all the sacred vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple at the conquest of Jerusalem.”[1]

God is the great promise keeper. Psalm 145:13 ends with the statement, according to the Contemporary English Version, “Our Lord, you keep your word and do everything you say.” Just as God kept His promise to the exiles in Babylon, so too will he keep his promises to those who believe in Him today. In John 14:3, Jesus tells us that he has gone to prepare a place for us. He closes that verse with a promise to you and me. He says, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” An interesting part of this promise is that Jesus said he will “take you.” He doesn’t say you will work your way, but that he will take you to Himself. He made a promise of our deliverance, and then he assures us that He will fulfill the promise. Not only that, but he will be the one to make it happen. Just as Abraham trusted God and his faith was counted as righteousness, so too is our faith counted as righteousness. God promised Abraham that He would fulfill that promise even though He knew in advance the many time Abraham would fail. He gives us the promise of eternal life after death even though He knew the times we would fail. It’s a promise that is based on God’s faithfulness, not on our righteousness. That’s how we can be sure. We can rest confidently in God’s promise knowing that just as he fulfilled all His promises to Abraham and knowing that He fulfilled his promise to the exiles, He too will fulfill His promise to those who believe in Jesus. In John 11:25-26, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

[1] Williams, Peter. 2006. Opening up Ezra. Opening Up Commentary. Leominster: Day One Publications.

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2 Chronicles 1:7-10

Standing Up For God’s People!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 18, 2023

After the struggles with David’s oldest sons trying to take the throne by force, David, with the help of the prophet Nathan, identifies Solomon as his rightful heir. After being anointed as king, Solomon offers an interesting prayer upon his appointment. 2 Chronicles 1:7-10 records that for us, “That night God appeared to Solomon and said, ‘Ask what I shall give you. And Solomon said to God, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to David, my father, and have made me king in his place. O Lord God, let your word to David my father be fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern these people of yours, which is so great?’” It’s interesting that the parallel account of this event in the book of Kings says that this was a dream. God having appeared to him “at night” could easily be seen as such in the Chronicle account. There’s no reason to argue for there being an error in either account.

 In the ancient near east, kings owned the people. This is true in Mesopotamia as well as Egypt. The Pharaohs owned the people and made slaves of them at will. Solomon acknowledges that the people and kingdom are God’s. Walton observes, “In the case of the Israelite monarchy, numerous biblical texts make it clear that the people led by the king are God’s people, the kingdom is God’s kingdom (1 Chron. 17:14; 2 Chron. 13:8), and the king sits on God’s throne (2 Chron. 9:8).”[1] Solomon had no intention to usurp divine authority as the pagan nations around them. His chief desire was only to represent God and to do it in a way that was honorable. The role of human leaders usurping the role of divinity has been a problem in nearly every civilization from Greek, Persia, and Rome. It caused huge problems with the people of the early church when they refused to call Caesar Lord. Israel was a theocracy, and the kings of Israel served at God’s pleasure. Not the other way around.

Solomon’s prayer reveals his humble heart. He recognized his limitations and confessed his need for God’s help in all his affairs. The phrase concerning not knowing how “to go out and come in” reflects his dependence on God. He could have exalted himself with wealth, power, and privileges of every kind, but he didn’t ask for that. He simply asked for wisdom to rule the people of God for God. Psalm 72 is a messianic psalm, to be sure, but its immediate reference is Solomon. Psalm 72:1-4 says, “Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” The thing that strikes me in all this is that the role of the king was to take up the cause for those who could not stand up for themselves. The reference to children makes me think of the most vulnerable of all, the child in the womb! In a society that strongly endorsed offering children up as sacrifices to pagan gods, we have here a call for the government to protect the unborn. The people belong to God. The child in the womb belongs to God. When the government rules for God, they stand up for the right to life for all of God’s children.

[1] Walton, John H. 2009. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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1 Chronicles 1:8-16

The Sons of Ham

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 17, 2023

In the first chapter of 1 Chronicles, we have long lists of names. Verses 5-7 give us the list of those descended from Japheth. Verses 8-16 give us the names of those that descended from Ham. Much of this chapter is a rehearsal of the table of nations that were laid out in Genesis 10. 1 Chronicles 1:8-16 says, “The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man. Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim. Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.” The land of Cush has been recognized as Ethiopia. Mizraim is Egypt as many modern translations say, Put, “has been identified as Somalia by some scholars, but most identify it with part of present-day Libya, as do the Septuagint and the Vulgate in several passages in Ezekiel. Rather than transliterate the name, it will be better to use the modern name “Libya.”[1] Canaan, of course, is the land promised as an inheritance of the Israelites.

Sailer summarizes the descendants of these four, “The list of the Hamites contains four names of the sons of Ham, seven names of the descendants of Cush, seven names of the descendants of Mizraim, and ten names of the sons of Canaan, including five ethnic groups of ‘pre-Israelite’ Palestine and five ethnic groups from the Northwest of Syro-Phoenicia. The choice of these 28 names is historically justified and proves to be correct. The information from other such lists dates to the 7th cent. BC.”[2] Of the first four names, Cush, Egypt or Mizraim, Put, and Canaan, “Put is the only one of the sons of Ham who is not credited with descendants.”[3]

The thing to note about Ham and his descendants is that “These were all enemies of the people of God and would be remembered as such. Nimrod, the mighty hunter, epitomizes the rise of cities and nations that, at various times in the history of Israel, were the destroyers. Most prominent in the fortunes of Israel are the parts played by Egypt, Philistia, and Canaan. These, and others, posed significant threats to the ability of the Israelites to possess the Promised Land and to remove the influences of foreign gods.”[4]

All through Israel’s history, the people of God contended with enemies committed to their destruction. The Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, and the Babylonians are just a few of the many cruel and oppressive enemy nations featured in the Old Testament. Those nations, in opposing God’s people, were counted as God’s enemies, and God fought on Israel’s behalf. Throughout His life, Jesus Christ was opposed by human and spiritual enemies. Herod the Great tried but failed to have the infant Jesus killed. Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness.  At times Satan opposed the Lord through His friends and followers. As predicted in Old Testament Scripture, the Jewish leaders plotted to kill Jesus. Christ’s enemies succeeded in executing Him but were unsuccessful in thwarting God’s plan. Jesus overcame every enemy, including death, so that His followers might be set free by His victory. Jesus Christ made it clear that Christians would face many enemies because of their faith in Him: In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted according to the Scriptures.[5]

[1] Omanson, Roger L., and John E. Ellington. 2014. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles. Edited by Paul Clarke, Schuyler Brown, Louis Dorn, and Donald Slager. Vol. 1 & 2. United Bible Societies’ Handbooks. Miami, FL: United Bible Societies.

[2] Sailer, William, J. Creighton Christman, David C. Greulich, Harold P. Scanlin, Stephen J. Lennox, and Phillip Guistwite. 2012. Religious and Theological Abstracts. Myerstown, PA: Religious and Theological Abstracts.

[3] Pinches, T. G. 1915. “Put.” In The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, edited by James Orr, John L. Nuelsen, Edgar Y. Mullins, and Morris O. Evans, 1–5:2510. Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.

[4] Goldsworthy, Graeme. 2021. 1 and 2 Chronicles: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Edited by Paul Barnett, Tracey Mayo, and Cassandra Cassis. Reading the Bible Today Series. Sydney, South NSW: Aquila Press.

[5] https://www.gotquestions.org/enemy-of-God.html

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2 Kings 1:9-10

Who is God?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 16, 2023

Ahaziah was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. He was the 8th king of the Northern Country of Israel. He followed closely in the footsteps of his father and mother and worshipped the god Baal. From his capital in Samaria, he had looked to Baal to heal his sickness that Elijah said would never be cured. When Baal did not help him, he pursued Elijah to get a more favorable prognosis, but Elijah wouldn’t budge. As the king of Israel, Ahaziah sent a company of soldiers to capture Elijah and bring him to Samaria. He hoped to reverse the prophet’s prediction through intimidation and might. That did not work. 2 Kings 1:9-10 tells us what happened, “Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ‘O man of God, the king says, Come down.’ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” Constable observes, “To many readers, this story seems like an unnecessarily cruel demonstration of God’s power. However, the issues at stake justified severe action. Ahaziah showed complete contempt for Elijah and the God he represented by sending a band of soldiers to arrest the prophet like an outlaw and drag him before the throne.”

The Bible instructs us to obey those in authority over us, and you might say that Elijah did obey. But he obeyed, to Ahaziah’s dismay. The captain said that the king called Elijah to “come down” from the hill. You might say that Elijah did “come down” as a devouring fire from God. The captain called Elijah a “man” of God. The Hebrew word for man is “Ish.” The Hebrew word for fire is “Esh.” Elijah responded that if he were indeed an “Ish” of God, he would send an “Esh” from God upon the soldiers. Elijah wasn’t normally a man to mess with when he was on a mountain. He had earlier defeated all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Constable says, “Either the captain did not make this connection or decided to disregard it.” Either way, it did not work out well for him.

When Moses sent the plagues upon Egypt, they each had a particular focus on one of the many gods of Egypt. When Moses called Pharaoh to “let my people go,” Pharaoh asked, “Who is God that I should obey him?” This was the contest that Moses faced with Pharaoh in which God answered that question with mighty destructive miracles on the false gods of Egypt. When Elijah faced the prophets of Baal, it was the same contest. Who was “God” that he should be obeyed? The fire Elijah called down from heaven consumed the sacrifices on Mount Carmel, answering the question. Yahweh is God. Just as the plagues were from the Lord, the fire that consumed the offerings on Mount Carmel was from the Lord, and so too was the fire that consumed these soldiers from the Lord. Elijah’s name means “Yahweh is my God.” After the battle on Mount Carmel, the crowds shouted Elijah’s name. Maybe they were identifying the winner of the contest regarding who had the authority that everyone should obey, the God, the one God, of the whole universe. So as Constable concludes, “Elijah’s repetition of the fact that he was indeed a man of God shows that this was an important issue; God’s reputation was at stake. Was Ahaziah in charge, able to command God’s servants to obey him? Or was God in charge, able to command Ahaziah’s servants to obey Him? By sending fire … from heaven (cf. v. 12) to consume the soldiers of the king, God was reminding Ahaziah that He was Israel’s Ruler and that the king should submit to His sovereignty.”[1]

[1] Constable, Thomas L. 1985. “2 Kings.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 1:538. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.+

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