Command 10: Love Your Enemies
Study Question
Q: If we are to honor the king and love our enemies, why did Elijah call down fire from heaven to consume the 102 soldiers whom the king of Israel sent to arrest him, whereas Elisha directed the King of Israel to welcome and feed the great host of soldiers whom the King of Syria sent to arrest him? (See II Kings 1, 6:8–23).
A: Scripture promises, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). However, when our ways do not please the Lord, He will often stir up enemies to oppress us and draw us back to Himself.
This was God’s continual practice with the nation of Israel. When they forsook Him and worshiped other gods, He raised up nations to war against them (see Judges 2:14). On other occasions, He raised up prophets and judges and gave them supernatural power to bring judgment upon His people.
In Elijah’s case, the king whose soldiers came to arrest him was evil King Ahaziah, who served Baal and “provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel” (I Kings 22:53). In calling down fire upon them, Elijah was the minister of God’s judgment to the King and to the nation that had turned from God.
On the other hand, in Elisha’s day, the Syrian nation was used by God to afflict Israel. When the King of Syria sent “a great host” to arrest Elisha for revealing his secret strategy to Joram, who was the King of Israel, Elisha asked God to smite the Syrians with temporary blindness and then led them to King Joram. King Joram wanted to kill the Syrians, but Elisha instructed him to give them a banquet and send them back to the King of Syria.
The result was that “the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel” (II Kings 6:23). This affirms the wisdom of this command and the instruction of Scripture: “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20–21).
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This study question and answer is adapted from the Commands of Christ, Series 2, book. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.