There was a lot going on in this week’s reading. What I noticed was the way God used his prophets Elijah and Elisha. I was so curious about how and why God had them do the curious things they did. Some of their actions seemed so random and mystical—Elijah rolling up his cloak to strike the river and part the water. Then Elisha uses salt to clear up rank drinking water, calls forth bears, throws flour into a pot to neutralize poison, and makes an axe head float. Without insight into any dialogue between prophet and God, these things seem to come directly from the men themselves. I realized I was thinking of them almost as magicians—like the power came from them instead of God.
It’s not like God’s use of power makes a whole lot more sense when we’re given insight. No fewer than 400 prophets—Jewish prophets—give Ahab the go-ahead to attack Ramoth Gilead. Micah is the sole dissenter, and only when pressed. We learn that God has allowed, even sought, a spirit to entice Ahab to his doom. What’s that all about?
It seems that what it’s all about is what it is usually all about: God accomplishing his purpose, his way. We see him totally win Naaman over: the man has to be convinced to swallow his pride and do something he appears to see as not worthy of his time, in water that suffers in comparison to his native waters. But the process makes a devoted follower out of him—and it is to God that he gives the glory, not to Elisha.
In most of these situations, people have to choose. Ahab and Naaman have the choice to believe the prophets, even when they don’t like what they have to say. Others have the choice to believe that the prophets are sent from God and can help them purify their water, save their son, save their scarce meal. Did the third captain who begged Elijah for his life and the lives of his fifty men have faith, or merely fear? Either way, it was a healthier response than the boys who taunted Elisha.
So, what does this mean for me? To be honest, I want to see cool miracles. I also want to believe that if I were there, I’d place my trust in the Lord, not in the man. Thousands of years later, I’m still called to do the same thing.