Do these men of God seem excessively crabby to you as they do to me? God could have protected his servant from King Ahaziah’s forces without killing off those 100 men; why did Elijah call down fire from heaven to consume them? Elisha’s calling a curse on boys showing a lack of respect seems way overboard for punishment. And Elisha ordered his servant to do his bidding in a high-handed manner that doesn’t befit a man of God in my opinion.
My explanation for what seems like grouchiness is in part a cultural difference. Perhaps Elisha’s treatment of his servant was just the way everyone treated their servants. A culture in which the Law required capital punishment for children who did not honor their parents, would not tolerate rude children like our culture does.
However, a possible cultural difference doesn’t wholly account for my impression that these men were harsh to others. Do their attitudes and behavior provide a justification for us to be harsh toward others who give us difficult times? They do help us to understand that even men of God get disgusted with the human race. But Jesus showed us a more perfect way. The natural human response to mistreatment, demonstrated by Elijah and Elisha, can be overcome by love, as demonstrated by Jesus. And remember the truth from Ephesians 1, that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in us, so that we can overcome the natural response of fallen man, just as Jesus did.
I am left wondering why Elijah didn’t have to die. He lived in a very low time in the history of God’s people, and he suffered hopelessness in those circumstances even though he was a man of God. The last word of the Old Testament (which leaves God’s people in a diminished state) was that Elijah would return to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. Elijah was thus held up as a beacon of hope for the people. How fitting that it should be Elijah!