“O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.” 2 Kings 1:13b
In Today’s Reading, King Ahaziah has fallen “through the lattice in his upper chamber” and sends messengers to “inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover”. They meet Elijah who sends them back to the King with these words, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” Upon finding it was Elijah who sent them back, responds by sending a Captain with 50 Soldiers to bring him in!
If you’ve read the Story, this doesn’t go well for this Platoon. Elijah calls down fire from heaven and they are all toasted. The King won’t be put off, so he sends another 50; the same thing happens! Well, you know the saying, “if at 1st you don’t succeed, try, try, again”. He gave it that 3rd Try. Today’s Verse is how the Captain of that 3rd Group approached Elijah.
There is a saying I heard years ago, “a Wise man learns from his own mistakes; a Wiser man learns from the mistakes of others”. Well, here it is in action. This 3rd Captain is that “Wiser Man”. We’re told in Romans that The Stories in the Bible were written for Instruction; so like in this one, we could be that “Wiser Man”! May God help us to be like him today.