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2 Kings

About this book
Chapter 1

1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”⁠ 3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up; go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.⁠ 4 Therefore this is what the Lord has said, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 6 They replied, “A man came up to meet us. He told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’”’” 7 The king asked them, “Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 8 They replied, “He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”⁠ 9 The king sent a captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, “Prophet, the king says, ‘Come down!’” 10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!”⁠ Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 11 The king sent another captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 12 Elijah replied to them, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers.⁠ 13 The king sent a third captain and his 50 soldiers. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these 50 servants of yours. 14 Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. So now, please have respect for my life.” 15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. 16 Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek a message? Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 17 And he did die in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Elijah. In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.⁠ 18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Kings 1:12 and Revelation 20:9

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation’s description of fire descending from heaven mirrors the story of Elijah calling down fire against Ahaziah’s soldiers in 2 Kings. Both depict divine fire as a means of judgment and protection, with Revelation reshaping it into final judgment.

Passages

2 Kings 1:12

Hebrew Bible
9 The king sent a captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, “Prophet, the king says, ‘Come down!’” 10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 11 The king sent another captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 12 Elijah replied to them, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 13 The king sent a third captain and his 50 soldiers. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these 50 servants of yours. 14 Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. So now, please have respect for my life.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

Revelation 20:9

New Testament
7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. 9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... Next in John’s prophetic vision he sees that the enemy nations “surrounded the camp of the saints and the holy city.” In the Old Testament the “camp” referred often to the wilderness encampment of Israelite tribes around the tabernacle. Those remaining in the camp had to be ritually clean because of God’s presence residing in its midst (e.g., Numbers 9:18–23; 2 Chronicles 31:2). Most comparable among Old Testament texts is Deuteronomy 23:14: “Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy” (compare 1QM III, 5–9; 1QM X). The attacking nations will be destroyed by God before they can annihilate the saints: “fire descended from heaven and consumed them.” This follows the pattern of Ezekiel’s prophecy where the demise of Israel’s enemy is by fire, which is also reflected upon in Judaism (see Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Numbers 11:26, where the destruction of Magog by fire is noted, also in allusion to Ezekiel 39; similarly, in 1QM XI, 16–17 God “will battle against them. The actual wording of the fiery defeat is drawn from 2 Kings 1:10–14, which describes God’s deliverance of Elijah from the armies of the ungodly king Ahaziah ..."
G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 2582.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Kings 1:12 and Revelation 20:9

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