Sometimes, God Makes Me Laugh
Sometimes I find little verses in the Bible that make me laugh. It’s awesome, because it reminds me that God has a sense of humor. Here is one I found this morning that had me reeling.
1 Kings 20: 35-37
“Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him.
Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the word of the Lord, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound.
You’ve got to imagine what’s going on through these three guys minds.
The Prophet: He’s just on his knees, doing his daily devotion, knowing God usually asks him to do crazy stuff, but then, all of the sudden, the Lord gives him his strangest task so far. I can just imagine that conversation…
“Go ask your neighbor to strike you.”
Blinks… Is silent for a moment. “Uhhhh… really Lord?”
“Yes.”
“Like, strike me strike me? Like… strike me?”
“Yes. Like, strike you strike you.”
Thinks about the meaning of “strike me.” “How hard?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just ask, and remember, I love you.”
The prophet is now imagining all possible scenarios and outcomes resulting when one asks another to “Strike him.” He involuntarily rubs his chin as if it’s already been hit.
“Well, okay Lord, You’re God, I’m not.”
The First Neighbor: It says neighbor, so you assume these guys know each other. Now, this neighbor isn’t just asked by some random buddy to “strike him,” no sir, this is a prophet of the Lord. He probably gave him a word one time. Can you imagine, if your youth pastor approached you and said, “Hey, buddy, hit me.” I for one would probably laugh at first like it was a joke, but then after he says a second time, with a nervous twitch in his eye, (he is the one about to be struck after all) I would most likely refuse. Ummm, hello! I’m not going to hit my pastor.
Well, bad luck for me, because since I disobeyed, I’m now going to get eaten by a lion. The poor first neighbor probably watched the Prophet of the Lord, stunned silent, subconsciously listening for growls, and then as soon as the prophet is gone, he turns his head, and just as he feared, a lion.
His last thoughts? Mine would have been, “Why didn’t I hit the preacher? It would have been much more fun then getting eaten by a lion.”
The Second Man: This guy’s my favorite. He actually strikes the Prophet. You gotta wonder, was he a guy with a vendetta for prophets, and was all too happy to be given the opportunity to hit one, or was he just typically a guy who liked to hit people and was floored at the silver platter dropped in his lap. Here’s how I imagine it.
The prophet sees a big guy sitting at a table with a mug of ale. He gulps nervously, knowing this guy will probably take the offer. He approaches the guy, who looks a little tipsy and taps him on the shoulder. The beastly man turns and looks at him, one eye brow raised, wondering, Who is this man that’s interrupting my good time?
“Excuse me sir, would you please strike me?”
The beast shrugs. “Okay.” BAAM!
Yep, I really think the Lord has a sense of humor, and as I love to laugh, we had a little fun this morning. ;)
1 Kings 20: 35-37
“Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him.
Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the word of the Lord, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound.
You’ve got to imagine what’s going on through these three guys minds.
The Prophet: He’s just on his knees, doing his daily devotion, knowing God usually asks him to do crazy stuff, but then, all of the sudden, the Lord gives him his strangest task so far. I can just imagine that conversation…
“Go ask your neighbor to strike you.”
Blinks… Is silent for a moment. “Uhhhh… really Lord?”
“Yes.”
“Like, strike me strike me? Like… strike me?”
“Yes. Like, strike you strike you.”
Thinks about the meaning of “strike me.” “How hard?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just ask, and remember, I love you.”
The prophet is now imagining all possible scenarios and outcomes resulting when one asks another to “Strike him.” He involuntarily rubs his chin as if it’s already been hit.
“Well, okay Lord, You’re God, I’m not.”
The First Neighbor: It says neighbor, so you assume these guys know each other. Now, this neighbor isn’t just asked by some random buddy to “strike him,” no sir, this is a prophet of the Lord. He probably gave him a word one time. Can you imagine, if your youth pastor approached you and said, “Hey, buddy, hit me.” I for one would probably laugh at first like it was a joke, but then after he says a second time, with a nervous twitch in his eye, (he is the one about to be struck after all) I would most likely refuse. Ummm, hello! I’m not going to hit my pastor.
Well, bad luck for me, because since I disobeyed, I’m now going to get eaten by a lion. The poor first neighbor probably watched the Prophet of the Lord, stunned silent, subconsciously listening for growls, and then as soon as the prophet is gone, he turns his head, and just as he feared, a lion.
His last thoughts? Mine would have been, “Why didn’t I hit the preacher? It would have been much more fun then getting eaten by a lion.”
The Second Man: This guy’s my favorite. He actually strikes the Prophet. You gotta wonder, was he a guy with a vendetta for prophets, and was all too happy to be given the opportunity to hit one, or was he just typically a guy who liked to hit people and was floored at the silver platter dropped in his lap. Here’s how I imagine it.
The prophet sees a big guy sitting at a table with a mug of ale. He gulps nervously, knowing this guy will probably take the offer. He approaches the guy, who looks a little tipsy and taps him on the shoulder. The beastly man turns and looks at him, one eye brow raised, wondering, Who is this man that’s interrupting my good time?
“Excuse me sir, would you please strike me?”
The beast shrugs. “Okay.” BAAM!
Yep, I really think the Lord has a sense of humor, and as I love to laugh, we had a little fun this morning. ;)
posted by Jael at 9:20 AM
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