Something different. As mentioned yesterday, doing the same thing typically yields the same results. So, this third captain does something different. Read 2 Kings 1:13. So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. 2 Kings 1:13 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.1.13.NASB This captain showed respect to God and to Elijah. He came and bowed down. He still addressed him as a…

What is the definition of insanity? According to the old saying, it is doing the same thing and expecting the results to change. That is exactly what happened in this story with Elijah. God just consumed a group of soldiers for being disrespectful and now, another group of soldiers arrives and does the exact same thing. Read 2 Kings 1:11-12. So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.'” Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and…

Respect. Elijah didn’t feel it and it resulted in fire from heaven. Read 2 Kings 1:9-10. Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.'” Elijah replied to 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. 2 Kings 1:9‭-‬10 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.1.9-10.NASB Elijah wasn’t intrested in the captain respecting…

What kind of man (or woman) are you? An interesting question, but first, in full transparency, I just want to apologize for missing the last several days. Satan and his temptations are alive and well and I do not have a good reason for it, other than to say that I struggle with wondering if these are valuable to anyone. It’s times like that in which I have to remember that I read and study God’s word because I love Him and want to be obedient to Him. I don’t do it for you. Now, I hope that if you take the time to dig into His Word that you…

Elijah did what he was told. Even though it had been a while, and even though it was not a positive message, Elijah still did exactly what God told him to do. He delivered the message to the king’s messengers and they returned and told the king. Read 2 Kings 1:4-6. Now therefore thus says the Lord , ‘You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'” Then Elijah departed. When the messengers returned to him he said to them, “Why have you returned?” They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return…

Fast forward. Moving ahead to follow Elijah’s life, we see that Ahab has died, just as the Lord said, and his son has been made king. Unfortunately, his son isn’t making any better choices. Read 2 Kings 1:1-3. Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of…

God recognizes repentance. Yesterday we saw how Ahab responded to the judgment of God. Today we see how God responds to true repentance. God made the decision to delay the judgment that he was going to bring. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.” 1 Kings 21:28‭-‬29 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.21.28-29.NASB God still spoke through Elijah and no matter how much this pause on the judgment of Ahab…

Repentance. God desires a repentant heart. That is the entire reason that he brings about judgment in the first place, so that we will understand our need to repent and turn to him. Read 1 Kings 21:27. It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. 1 Kings 21:27 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.21.27.NASB Elijah delivers God’s message to Ahab. However, the story doesn’t end there. It wasn’t just about a judgment that Ahab was going to receive. Ahab responded. He saw God’s picture of judgment, and he repented and asked God to forgive…

We still make our own choices. Ahab had some terrible influences, but he still ultimately made his own choices. Read 1 Kings 21:25-26. Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord , because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel. 1 Kings 21:25‭-‬26 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/1ki.21.25-26.NASB Ahab was evil. There was no denying that and the Bible very clearly states that. However, Ahab’s wife Jezebel was a big part of influencing him. Still, when God took a…

God doesn’t do things halfway. When God decides that it is time to act and to move, He does it decisively. Read 1 Kings 21:21-24. Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you have made Israel sin. Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in…