Luke 9:51–56 relates an interesting incident. Jesus and his disciples were on a road trip, heading toward Jerusalem (v. 51). He sent an advance team to arrange a place for his entourage to spend the night (v. 52), but the team was rebuffed because of ethnic prejudice (v. 53). The “sons of thunder” suggested commanding fire to come down from heaven, citing Scriptural precedent (v. 54). Now, where did they get that idea from?
The answer is 2 Kings 1:2-17 (especially vv. 9–12). In this account, 102 Israelite soldiers died at the hands of God – basically, to prove a relatively simple point: that God doesn’t change his mind (notice that v. 16 is essentially identical to vv. 3–4). Elijah’s message to Ahaziah after the death of the two companies of soldiers was the same as the message that he had sent to him earlier: following gods other than the LORD will lead directly to catastrophe.
But sometimes God does seem to change his mind! Back in Luke 9, in v. 55, instead of confirming the disciples’ “application” of 2 Kings 1:10 and 1:12, Jesus “rebuked” the “sons of thunder,” basically accusing them of being guided, not by his Spirit, but by the kind of “spirit” that guided Ahaziah (rather than Elijah!). He would seek to “save” those who opposed him rather than “destroying” them.
God hasn’t changed, and he hasn’t changed his mind. his plan, all along, has been to offer life to those who are willing to receive it. The penalty for refusing his grace has always been death, and it still is. But – praise his name, he doesn’t always inflict that penalty immediately. Nowadays, he’s giving the rejectors plenty of time to change their minds. Let’s help him make that fact known to the ones that we cross paths with!
John H. Roller, Hickory, N.C.
Extended Scripture: 2 Kings 1–2
