Voltaire was an 18th century French philosopher who frequently reviled the Christian faith. He particularly enjoyed pouring out contempt on the Bible and he lived a life that was wholly compatible with his insistent unbelief.

Nonetheless, Voltaire lived a long life, and it is said that as he lay dying in 1778, a priest came to his bedside and asked him to renounce Satan. “My friend,” Voltaire said, “this is no time for making new enemies.”

Four years before that demise, however, Voltaire was not evidently the least bit concerned about the enemies he made. “One hundred years from my day,” he wrote in 1774, “there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.” Yet, by 1836, the Geneva Bible society was unwittingly using Voltaire’s former Swiss house as a “repository for Bibles and Religions tracts.” Was this a coincidence? Well, some have contended that it was … but I don’t buy it.

Sometimes, as in the case of Voltaire, God’s response to mockery reveals a divine sense of humor and irony (Ps. 2:4). In other instances, it reveals a holy severity that should give a lot more men pause than it does. When Herod accepted worship as a deity, God took him out (Acts 12:20-23). When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, God took them out (Acts 5:1-11). When Uzza touched the ark of the covenant, God took him out (2 Sam. 6:1-8). And in today’s passage, when youths treated Elisha with contempt, God took them out.

Stories such as this should inspire us to take our faith very seriously (Heb. 10:26–39); and when it comes to our loved ones, it should inspire us to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:16–18). God is not mocked, what a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal. 6:7). Let us sow good seed, knowing that the One who creates the harvest is just as faithful to bring necessary discipline (Heb. 12:6–8) as he is to bring the subsequent rewards (Gal. 6:9).

Vince Hartford

Extended Scripture: 2 Kings 1–2