King Ahaziah had fallen from his balcony, so he instructed his messengers: “Go and consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron and ask whether I shall recover from my illness” (II Kings 1:2). You would have to figure that a Bible story that begins that way is not going to end well for the king, and indeed that’s what quickly transpired. Elijah intercepted the messengers and sent them back to the king, with a message of scolding and the verdict that the king would surely die (1:3-4).

When the king realized that it was Elijah who had sent that message, he sent soldiers to arrest him; but Elijah called down fire from heaven on the officer and his fifty men. Again, you might suppose that King Ahaziah would recognize that arresting Elijah wasn’t going to succeed; but Ahaziah was a slow learner. He sent a second officer and another fifty men, with the same result (1:9-12).

This would turn out to be an impressive story for James and John, who wanted to know if it was their turn to do something similar: would Jesus give them the permission and the power to wipe out a Samaritan village. This ambition earned them a stern rebuke (Luke 9:54-55).

Meanwhile, Ahaziah still was convinced that the right thing to do was to send his soldiers to arrest Elijah, so he sent a third captain with fifty soldiers. (There’s a saying about continuing to do the same thing, and expecting different results … ) But although Ahaziah had not learned anything from his previous attempts, the third officer decided to try a different approach: he humbly begged Elijah for his life, and the life of his soldiers. Elijah went with him, and delivered to the king the message that he would not recover from his illness. And thus it came to pass: King Ahaziah died, and his brother became king, since Ahaziah had no sons (II Kings 1:13-17).

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So often we long for the power to destroy our enemies: to call down fire upon them, O Lord. Yet we are all equally liable to your judgment, equally in need of your grace: teach us how much we need you to save us, for none of us can save ourselves.