DCLM Daily Manna 11 October 2026: Humble Submission Has It
KEY VERSE: “And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight” (2 Kings 1:13).
TEXT: 2 KINGS 1:13–18
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?
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Bishop Latimer, delivering a sermon before King Henry VIII, offended the King with his candidness. The king ordered Latimer to repeat the message the following Sunday and apologise publicly for his “offence”. Latimer approached the pulpit and began by reflecting on the gravity of his audience, acknowledging the King’s power to cut short his life. However, he recalled his obligation to God, whose message he preached and whom he knew had ultimate authority over his fate. With this conviction, he resolutely preached the same sermon with greater fervour, demonstrating that his reverence for God outweighed his fear of earthly power. It was an obeying-God-rather-than-men situation.
The captain of the third fifty soldiers sent by King Ahaziah to arrest Prophet Elijah seemed to be conscious of this principle when he adopted a reverential approach, unlike his predecessors. Ahaziah, the king of Israel, had been hurt by a fall. He sent messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to inquire whether he would recover. Elijah accosted the king’s messengers and sent them back with the message that the apostate Ahaziah would die. The infuriated king issued a warrant for Elijah’s arrest. The first band of 50 soldiers, led by a captain, arrogantly commanded Elijah, in the name of the king, to come down from the hill where he was. The prophet was moved to call down fire upon them, and they were consumed by it. Unfortunately, a second contingent behaved similarly and suffered the same fate.
The captain of the third contingent sent by Ahaziah was not only wiser but also God-fearing. He approached the man of God with utmost respect and pleaded for his life to be spared. It is no wonder that an angel of God instructed Elijah to go with the captain to King Ahaziah. By doing so, the captain demonstrated what it takes to do the will of God even within the context of an ungodly authority.
An attitude and action of humble submission to God, even at the risk of losing a job, fortune or opportunity, has always attracted divine favour. If you ever find yourself in a situation where pleasing men, no matter how powerful, means displeasing God, adopt the obeying-God-rather-than-men option. Those who do so always turn out to be the ultimate winners.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Virtue never loses a battle.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: LUKE 22
DCLM Daily Manna 11 October 2026
