« So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths »
1Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.”
3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’
4 Now therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah departed.
5 And when the messengers returned to him, he said to them, “Why have you come back?”
6 So they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” ’ ”
7 Then he said to them, “What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?”
8 So they answered him, “A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’ ”
10 So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: “Man of God, thus has the king said, ‘Come down quickly!’ ”
12 So Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13 Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.
14 Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.”
15 And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.
16 Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ”
17 So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
I love the Holy Spirit so much.
We are in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit so it will be good for everyone to learn about Him.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
- Amongst many others, there are two ways in which the Holy Spirit shows Himself to mankind: one is as wind and the other is as fire.
- When He comes as a wind, you can hear and feel it, but every time He is visible to the human eye, He is always seen in the form of fire.
On the day of Pentecost, at the upper room, He was seen as tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).
When God spoke to Elijah, it was just after the fire (1 Kings 19:11-12).
At the burning bush, Moses saw fire.
To get to know the Holy Spirit more, we need to look at the characteristics of fire.
Fire, if not controlled, can destroy.
When a person carries the Holy Spirit, they have to always put that fire in check because if not, it can destroy.
In 2 Kings 2:23-24, when Elisha did not yet know how powerful the fire inside him was, some children were mocking him and he cursed them. Out of nowhere, two she-bears came out and killed forty-two of them.
Many years ago, I went on a retreat to recharge my spiritual battery. On my way back home, I decided to stop by to see a friend of mine. When I got to his house, his wife was so excited to see me that she rushed to hug me; as she touched me, the fire hit her and she fell. Then the husband came too and before I could say anything, he rushed to hug me and fell too.
If you carry the Holy Spirit, you have to learn how to control the fire so that it does not put you in trouble.
On the other hand, once in a while, someone who carries the fire of the Holy Spirit and knows how to control it can decide to leave the fire without control when he is angry.
He does not have to say a word, he can just ignore controlling the fire and the result is always terrible.
That is why it is dangerous to make someone who carries the Holy Spirit angry.
If you carry the Holy Spirit, you need to really work on yourself not to get angry easily.
What you carry is fire and if you don’t put it in check, it can destroy even your loved ones.
The reason the Lord has not put His fire in many people is that they would cause havoc if they have it.
If you want the fire, work on your temper first.
Keep in mind – The fire of the Holy Spirit can be dangerous if not controlled.
Author – Bishop Enoch Adejare Adeboye; General Overseer of the RCCG
Edited by Naomie Joseph
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