Then the LORD
said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and
when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. "Also you shall
anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of
Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. "It
shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and
whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. (1 Kings 19:15-17 NKJV)
Elijah faced a dilemma, two nasty dilemmas.
He had to anoint Jehu as Israel's next king, and Hazael as Syria's next
king. He had to do so knowing what they would do. He had pleasure in
anointing Elisha as his successor, but for the other two, the task was
passed on for Elisha to complete! Oh, Elisha's conscience bothered
him...a lot. It bothered him so much that he shed tears!
Then he
set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God
wept. And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He answered, "Because I
know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their
strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with
the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women
with child." So Hazael said, "But what is your servant; a dog, that he
should do this gross thing?" And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me
that you will become king over Syria." (2 Kings 8:11-13)
But duty
to God came first. He still did what he had to do! He put his duty
before his conscience. However distasteful it was, he did what he had to
do.
I am getting weary of Christians who goes about spouting
self-righteously about voting one's conscience! Oh my, they have a
conscience! Really? Where is that conscience when it comes to doing the
other things that God wants them to do? Where is the commitment to serve
God in spirit and in truth? Like support of the work of God! Like
living so that others see Christ? Doesn't the conscience speak then?
A thought to ponder: Evil is not only big, blustering ,bullying and
crude, but it can also be subtly decent, and handsome, with all the
suavity and appearance of a gentleman! Think raging lion and angel of
light!
Here endeth my rant for today, and it's MY stupid rant, not yours; so if you want to make an issue, go get a rant of your own!
