May 2, 2024

Ahaziah, the king of Israel, fell through the lattice on the second story of his house and was critically hurt. He sent a messenger to the god of Ekron, Baalzebub, to find out if he would live. Elijah intercepted him and told him Ahaziah was going to die. Ahaziah, thinking he could control Elijah, sent a captain and fifty men to bring him to see him, but Elijah wasn’t having it and called fire down from heaven and killed them all! Ahaziah sent another captain and fifty men, and Elijah did the same to them. Ahaziah sent a third captain and fifty men, but this captain asked Elijah to spare his life and the lives of the fifty, and an angel of the Lord told Elijah not to be afraid to go with him. Elijah told Ahaziah the same thing he had told the messenger, and Ahaziah died shortly after.

And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 2 Kings 1:16

Can you imagine if God gave us the kind of power he gave Elijah? There would be dead people all over the place, especially when driving in heavy traffic. While reading this, I wondered about having this kind of power because we have the same Holy Spirit as Elijah. God answered my question quickly and reminded me that we live under the new covenant of grace. Do you remember when James and John, Jesus’s disciples, wanted to call down fire from heaven like Elijah? They were mad that the Samaritans rejected Jesus. Here is how he answered them:

But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Luke 9:55-56