Behold

A Behold picture book

Come Down

The officers had one job: ask him to come down.

  1. The governor fell through an upstairs window and got very sick. He sent messengers to ask a different god if he would get better.

  2. On the road, the messengers met a hairy man with a leather belt. His name was Eli. "The Voice says: you asked another god. So you will not get out of that bed. You will die."

  3. The governor sent a captain and 50 officers to bring Eli in. Eli was sitting on top of a hill. "Man of God," said the captain, "the governor says come down."

  4. "If I am a man of God," said Eli, "then let fire come down from the sky and burn you and your fifty." Fire came down from the sky. It burned up the captain and all 50 officers.

  5. The governor sent another captain and 50 more officers. "Man of God, the governor says come down quickly!"

  6. Eli said the same thing. And fire came down again. It burned up the second captain and all 50 officers.

  7. The governor sent a third captain and 50 more. This captain fell on his knees. "Please," he begged. "Fire burned up the others. Please let me and these 50 men live."

  8. Then an angel of the Voice said to Eli, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid." So Eli went to the governor and told him the same thing. And the governor died, just like Eli said.

The End.

The source, revealed

The Fine Print

2 Kings 1:1–17; Luke 9:51–56

Read it yourself

Where it's from

2 Kings 1. Eli is the prophet Elijah, one of the most important prophets in the Bible. Jesus' followers mention this story later, in Luke 9.

Who's who

In our story In the Bible
The governor King Ahaziah of Israel
A different god Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron
Eli The prophet Elijah
The captains and officers Captains of fifty and their men
The Voice God (the LORD)

What the text says

  • Plain words: Elijah said: If I'm a man of God, let fire come down and burn you and your fifty. It did.

  • KJV (2 Kings 1:10): "If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty."

  • Plain words: The third captain begged for his life and his men's.

  • KJV (2 Kings 1:13): "O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight."

  • Plain words: Later, two of Jesus' followers wanted to call down fire like Elijah. Jesus turned and scolded them.

  • KJV (Luke 9:54-55): "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them"

What we kept

  • The king falls through a lattice, is hurt, and sends to ask Baal-zebub if he'll recover.
  • Elijah, a hairy man with a leather belt, meets the messengers: because you asked another god, you will die.
  • The king sends a captain with fifty. Elijah is sitting on a hill. "Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down."
  • Elijah calls down fire. It consumes the captain and his fifty. It happens again with the second captain: "Come down quickly."
  • The third captain kneels and begs, and lives.
  • The angel of the LORD tells Elijah to go down without fear. He tells the king the same message, and the king dies.

What we changed

  • Names, and today's world: a governor and police officers instead of a king and soldiers.
  • The Bible says the king fell through "a lattice in his upper chamber." We said a window.

Look closely

That's 102 men burned: two captains and their 100 men. Their only job was to deliver a message. In Luke 9, Jesus scolds his followers for wanting to do the same thing.

How it's usually taught

Many teachers say the king was openly rejecting the God of Israel by asking a foreign god, and sending soldiers to arrest God's prophet was an attack on God himself. They say the fire proved Elijah really was "a man of God," and the third captain shows that humility is met with mercy. Many also point to Luke 9, where Jesus rebukes his followers for wanting to call down fire on a village.

What the story doesn't say

The story never says the officers did anything wrong besides delivering the king's order. It never says Elijah was wrong to call the fire. The fire came, both times.

Talk about it

  1. What did the officers do wrong?
  2. Is it fair to punish someone for following their boss's orders?
  3. Why do you think the third captain lived?
  4. Jesus later told his friends not to do what Eli did. Who was right?
  5. Do you believe this is good advice?

One last question

If police officers knocked on your neighbor's door and got burned up, what would you call your neighbor?

Read 2 Kings 1:1–17; Luke 9:51–56 yourself