The book of Second Kings begins with a prophet calling down fire from heaven to destroy people, and ends with both nations in exile. Quite a gloomy thought to start this blog with, but it did get me thinking about the theme of God's judgement again. Several times in this book, we have judgment called down immediately, and several times it is postponed or cancelled.
It is certainly not all doom and judgement though - there are times of rescue from enemies, a journey to heaven without going through death, compassion and necessary help given to a widow and her children, and the physical healing and spiritual redemption of an enemy general.
First, I consider the immediate judgements. To many in our culture today, it seems both strange and cruel that God would call down fire from heaven to consume people passing on a message, as in the case of two captains and their 50 soldiers. We must remember Whom we consider though - this is God the Creator and Sustainer, the King above the Israelite kings, Righteous and Just. He deserves respects, and the way the first two captains talk to the prophet Elijah, His mouthpiece, is anything but. The second captain doesn't learn the lesson, and is even more rude, adding 'quickly' to his imperative. Fortunately, the third captain was wise, and respected/feared God enough to approach humbly.
We have a similar occurrence in the next chapter with Elishah - bears killing children that insulted the prophet. Again, many may protest it is not right that children should be killed in that way, but it was right. This particular incident may not have been merciful, but it was just. I remember a preacher at a church we visited on holiday once taking the little children (of whom I was one at the time) aside after a sermon about this passage, and trying to show that 'God wouldn't really do that'. I didn't really speak up at the time, but it sent my respect for that preacher down very low. God does deserve respect, even from children, and even children are responsible for their actions. Rejoice in His mercy, but also stand in reverence before our God!
We also see some judgments that come after warnings. There is a bit of a spectrum of causes for these judgments. The ego of a servant causes him to avoid at God's promise of a provision during a siege. The greed and deceit of Gehazi leads to himself contracting Naaman´s leprosy. Amaziah in pride goes to fight Israel, in which case the warning comes from Jehoash, rather than God's prophet, but he certainly doesn't consult God about it, and is defeated and the gold and silver from the temple taken.
Other judgments are delayed. The reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah were enough to delay the judgment until after their lifetime, but unfortunately the occasional king that instituted reforms were not enough to change the whole country from their hankering street false gods, especially with the many more evil kings encouraging them to stay by their own idolatry.
In particular, the delay of Hezekiah's own death is an interesting consideration. Instead of accepting God's prophecy, he pleads for more time, and is granted it along with an accompanying supernatural sign. However, the only thing noted after this incident is his prideful display of wealth to the Babylonians, which brings with it a prediction of the exile. Sometimes God seems to give people answers to their prayer when they are insistent, even if it is not the best for them. This reminds me that we should always pray with the Lord's will in mind, and recognise that our own preferences may be wrong for us.
In contrast to Hezekiah's low point of faith (we must remember he the faith he showed facing Sennacherib, and in destroying the idols, high places, and the bronze serpent which was being used as an idol), we also see the faith of a 'minor' character in the book. The maid to Naaman's wife, not only knowing enough about God, but also willing to speak up to her captors about the power of God over disease that led to the salvation of her master.
The character of the lepers, also, comes out, when the go to tell the city of good news that the Syrians fled. Elisha refusing to leave Elijah, and then requesting in faith a double portion of the spirit upon Elijah (interestingly, the miracle count of Elisha was twice that of Elijah's record - even the most marvellous miracle of resurrecting the dead was done twice. Once with a woman's son, like Elijah, and then another after the death of Elisha!)
We see the faith of Jehoiada, willing to hide Josiah from the wicked queen (sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it - but this is indeed history!). Beautiful snippets of Godly lives lived out amidst a largely corrupt and idolatrous pair of nations.
A good reminder that even when most or all of society is going one way, God has strength where we don't, and He can bring Himself glory through the actions of a few, or even one alone.
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