*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*
*".....IF I BE A MAN OF GOD..."*
*Scripture Treasure.*
2 Kings 1:10-12 *And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.*
*Again, he also sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.*
*And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.*
*Insight and Highlight.*
A vessel of God's provocation is God's provocation. When you provoke a vessel of God, you have provoked God.
*Scripture Commentaries.*
Ahaziah was king of Judah during the reign of Elijah. He became sick after a fall from his upper chamber in his palace in Samaria. Ahaziah sent his messengers to go and ask Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, if he would recover from his disease.
God instructed Elijah to go and meet Ahaziah's messengers and tell them the king will surely die, 2 Kings 1:2-4.
Things got worse for the king, and events that followed showed how the king protracted what humble repentance could have prevented.
The king sent three bands of fifty captains with his fifty each, and each band was roasted with fire except the third band of fifty captains of fifty who went to Elijah to plead for his life and others, 2 Kgs 1: 9-14.
Significant to the ministry of Elijah was his pronouncements that if he be a man of God before God's judgment
rained fire on Ahaziah's messengers.
Why did Elijah have to say this, and of what effect did it have on the outcome?
We can learn that when a man of God is provoked, this pronouncement may be made. The effect is a fierce indignation coming from God with immediate effect.
Elijah words *...if l be a man of God....'* was intended to provoke God's response to invoke immedIate judgment.
Be careful never to provoke a true vessel of God. We can not overemphasize this.
Elijah must have been saying to God to prove that he (Elijah) a servant of God was not believed to be so, so he was telling God to judge Ahaziah and his men that he (Elijah) was from God through God's immediate judgment.
Ahaziah, who had initially recognized Elijah, 2 Kgs 1:8, defied honor to the man of God by further sending his bands of army to a man whom he knew was from God.
It tells us that people may know who a man of God is but may not respect or believe the power of God in him.
People may claim to know God, but they may not believe who God is.
Ahaziah knew Elijah but may not (or did not) believe in the power of God in Elijah
It was a defiance and an annoyance to disrespect the ministry of Elijah, and he immediately called God to show that He sent him and God did exactly this! ( ref Elijah and the prophets of Baal 1 Kgs 18: 36-39)
If you know a vessel who carries the power of God and you believe he/she does, you will not disrespect him/her, come what may!
If he ever says to you when he is provoked *"....if l be a man of God...."* believe it or not, you are doomed.
Seek the prouncement of a vessel of God out of the richness of his/her anointing. Do not provoke him/her!
*Remorse corner.*
Do not provoke a vessel of God to provoke God's judgment on you.
*Call to Word action.*
2 Kgs 1:10, ditto 12 *And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.*
*The Christian clarion duty.*
Do not despise the anointing on the anointed.
*Prayer.*
Lord, help me to respect the vessel of God in Jesus name.
Good morning all and have a blessed day today.
God bless you.