The Third Captain of Fifty

(Based on 2Kings:1)
The book of Kings is a kind of historical documentation. Instead of documenting the administrative, legislative or developmental details the narratives look up on the lives of the Kings from a different perspective. It tries to portray the ups and downs of their trust in God. How they relied on God and flourished; how they distanced from God and doomed. The story comes as an overture for the second volume of this documentation.
In the Historical narratives of the bible, the King and the Prophet are the most common archetypical. The King represents the human ambitions and prophet, the divine wish in human affairs. Struggle of these interests is a recognizable theme.
The King falls. The epitome of which is the complete turning away from the God. The prophecy infuriates the King and he sends a captain with his fifty men to fetch the Prophet. Prophet too is a man. Speaking prophetic truth to power is indeed a risky job also. He trembles. In his fears he uses his power to kill. The incident provides us a glimpse into the root of violence. It tells us also that the Prophet too is vulnerable and a possible subject of human failures. We have to begin with this notion that none of the archetypes are ideals. They –the Kingly and the Prophetic-are elemental to our life and politics. Aspects that are equally stirring and putting us at risk.
The first and Second captains carry out their duty faithfully. They had to face the wrath of either the Prophet or the King. They decide to be loyal servants of the King and face the risk involved in their assignment as is expected from every soldier.
The third captain might have mulled over this deadly scenario. He explored a third possibility. This is what the scripture wants us to pay heed carefully. He did not bluntly utter the Kings order to the man of God. Instead he knelt down and humbled himself. He cannot stay in the mountain to escape the King. He has to bring the Prophet to the court. So he carefully made a plea to consider the life of fifty-one people. Now the prophet is brought to a dilemma and there is again a path for divine intervention. The path was not broke opened by any prophetic meditation but the intelligent captain’s intervention. The encouraged prophet is being escorted to the Kings court where he conveys the bold truth straight to the King.
The story placed at the very opening seems to provide a clue for further reading.
When we hypocritically justify our actions to the lack of alternatives in the duty to the authorities and obligations we are invited to read the stories of the doom that encountered the authorities and their loyalists. We see the Kings succumb to the decadence around them and fail to open a new path for the community. The clue is for the King, the Prophet and those who mediate between them. We have to make room for God. Make it by intelligent action.