Year 4, Day 364: 2 Kings 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

The story of the captains always amuses me.  It takes three captains before one of them comes humbly before Elijah.  Remember, this is the man who called down fire from God and consumed an altar.  This is the man who brought about the slaughter of 450 priests of Ba’al.  This is the man who through the power of God caused a famine to happen in Israel for at least three years.  This is no back-woods flunky.  This is God’s prophet, whom the Hebrew people consider the greatest prophet to have ever lived.  How do you not go out in humbleness before him?

This is why the third captain gets my respect.  He goes out with fifty armed guards to catch a single man of God.  What does he do when he gets there?  He begs for mercy.  He understands the authority that God has given to Elijah.  He has all the authority of the king behind him and he still begs for mercy because he knows God’s authority is far superior to the authority of the king.

We have much to learn from this third captain.  Because of his humbleness before God, his life – and the lives of those entrusted to him – are spared.  Because of his humbleness he is allowed to see the gracious side of God’s authority rather than the wrathful side of God’s authority.  When we are faced with God’s authority we have a simple choice to make.  Humbleness is always the right answer.

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