PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

Ben-hadad, a pagan, is king of Aram, the enemy of Israel. He gets sick and is told, “The man of God has come here” (2 Kings 8.7). King Ben-hadad tells his servant, Hazael, to “Inquire of the LORD through” Elisha by asking him “Will I recover from this sickness?” (8.8). He also sends a massive gift: 40 camels-loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus, the capital city. Like a good servant, Hazael asks word for word, speaking as if the king, “Will I recover from this sickness?” Speaking as the king is common as an emissary; but here it is foreboding.

Then things get even stranger than a pagan king inquiring of Yahweh. Elisha “lies” or at least tells Hazael to lie. “Go say to him, ‘You are sure to recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that he is sure to die” (8.10). Things keep getting strange. “Elisha stared steadily at him until Hazael (lit., he) was ashamed.” Why is Hazael ashamed? The text only implies. Let me ask this though, have you ever stared at someone because you knew the truth, but they didn’t know you knew? Or has it been done to you? Makes people squirm, doesn’t it. Guilty people are paranoid for a reason.

After staring, the man of God starts weeping. Hazael asks, “Why is my lord weeping?” God’s prophet answers, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their little ones to pieces. You will rip open their pregnant women.” (8.12). No wonder Hazael asks, “How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous (lit., great) thing?” Elisha answers, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram” (8.13).

Then Hazael informs his king, “He told me you are sure to recover” (8.14). Hmmm, he doesn’t tell his master everything, does he! “The next day Hazael took a heavy cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned instead of him” (8:15). Oh how disingenuous Hazael was when he said he could never do such a monstrous thing. This is why Elisha “lies.” He is not really deceiving Ben-hadad because he would never get to hear the truth, because Hazael will never admit to Ben-hadad what his monstrous servant has planned.

There are two lessons to focus on. First, David often inquired of the Lord through prayer. Ben-hadad inquired of the Lord through God’s “walking and talking word,” Elisha. We can do both. Studying the word of God is a type of praying, where we are asking God for His truth. Second, God will allow us to see what we want, what is truly or falsely in our hearts; even if it is evil and wrong. God will let us believe what we want, even if it makes Him and His servants cry. When prayerfully studying, are we inquiring of the Lord, or searching to support what will make us happy? Are we letting the King speak, or speaking as a replacement for the King? Those are foreboding questions.

Prayer Challenge: Be honest both with God and ourselves when we prayerfully study.

Tags: Prayer, Praying through the Bible

This entry was posted by PHall on Tuesday, January 28th, 2014 at 4:11 pm and is filed under II Kings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.