Elijah and Elisha 20

Elijah and Elisha 20.

Guess what I am going to talk about today. You, got it: the story of Elisha. We have been looking at this for some time now. We have been consecutively going through the record of the Biblical record of this prophet. Last time we were in 2 Kings chapter 4. But instead of continuing consecutively, today I am going to jump to 2 Kings chapter 8 [P]. God willing, we will go back to the intervening chapters; but chapter 8 contains an incident connected with what we looked at last time; because it features the Shunamite woman. Read verse 1: [2 Kings 8:1 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, …..] – the Bible itself connects it with the incident we looked at last time. However, we need to be mindful that some time has moved on. Not that the Biblical record is necessarily in consecutive order; for instance: we will see Gehazi in the presence of the king, which I doubt would be the case if he had leprosy, which he got in Chapter 5. [2 Kings 8:1–6 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for יהוה has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” (the word of יהוה came through the mouth of His prophet, Elisha) So, the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, (she obeyed, was submitted to God and His revealed will) and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, (just as the word of יהוה had said; because the word of יהוה is true – you can depend upon it) the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. (presumably, in her long absence someone had taken over her property. Murray, drives past a fallow field every time he visits his daughter. If it is for a year, you notice it, 2 years you think it’s a bit weird; but after 7 years, you figure it is abandoned and that no one owns it. Although it irks Murray to see a field left with nothing growing in it; he doesn’t go in and start planting potatoes in it. Even more so in Israel – your land was your inheritance – we buy and sell it, but in their society, it was your allotment from יהוה. It never passed out of your family – it was yours for perpetuity. Even if you were so hard up that you had to sell it; it reverted to you in the year of jubilee. It was yours forever. No, you didn’t just go in and occupy another’s land) Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, (the king was a man called Jehoram, Ahab’s son), saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” (Elisha was a man of renown. Great miracles had been done by his hand. It is a reflection of the godlessness of Jehoram, that he attributed the great things to Elisha, rather than to יהוה Himself) As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, (he knew of the resurrection) behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field (it just so happened that at that very moment, that the very woman they were talking about, walked in! What a coincidence! I don’t think so!). And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” (did he? Elisha could no more restore life to a corpse than I could! It was יהוה’s doing. But both Gehazi and Jehoram refused to acknowledge the obvious! There are many around like that today. The intricate miracle of life, reproduction in a myriad of different organisms all around us. Patently obvious evidence of a great Designer and Creator; Yet people refuse to acknowledge the obvious! It just happened!) When the king asked the woman, she related it to him (the king checked out Gehazi’s story; he had an independent eye-witness to the resurrection, to corroborate the story – he had no excuse for not believing). So, the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers (that was her right, her due, justice) and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.” (that was goodness, grace; she had no legal claim to it – and this was from a godless king who did not fear יהוה. I don’t think that we put this down to the goodness of Jehoram; but to the goodness of יהוה! Praise His Name! [P] God provides for His own! Hallelujah! Here was this woman who honoured יהוה, she welcomed His servant, provided Elisha with meals, accommodation, made a special place for him, she obeyed when He told her to leave the country. Yet, it seems, she lost her land. Things had not turned out well, she had to go to the king to try and get her land back again. Notice, she didn’t exploit her relationship with Elisha for him to appeal to the king (as he had offered to do for her in 2 Kings 4:13). Israel was in a godless state; yet this woman sought and honoured God. There is a verse in: [P] [1 Samuel 2:30 Now יהוה declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.] She honoured God and God is no man’s debtor. [P] [Psalm 84:11–12 For יהוה God is a sun and shield; יהוה gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O יהוה of armies, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!] You can, if you are not careful, develop a theology that says if you serve God, you will prosper. People can, and have; turned it into a slot machine God theology: give to God and He will give back to you, you know: “good measure pressed down will be given to you”. People have turned God’s precious and magnificent promises into a recipe to make things go well, a recipe for prosperity. They claim [P] [Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.] I can find pretty pictures for these verses because people love them and gravitate to them. But it wasn’t a blanket statement, it was a personal blessing that Paul imparted to the Philippians in response to their generous support of him. This perverting God’s generosity into a self-orientated selfish theology where I manipulate God and His promises so that I get rich, is a reflection of an unregenerate heart that still lives for self. Jesus calls for His followers to deny self, take up their cross and follow Him; yet, they turn Christianity into a means of acquiring wealth! We are not to be like those seeking material prosperity; Jesus said: [Matthew 6:8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. [P] Matthew 6:32-33 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.] This woman was not out to manipulate God into getting rich that was not her motive. There are wonderful promises about God providing, but He is not a slot machine! He cannot be manipulated to our own ends! Rather, GOD IS GOOD! He is generous! He cares for us: [P] [Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?] He provides, not because He is a slot machine, not because He can be manipulated into giving us what we want, not because we deserve it, not as a reward for our faithful service. He gives because He wants to, He decides to – because HE IS GOOD! [P] Can we count on God being good? Most assuredly! Can we count on Him caring for us? Most assuredly! Can we count on Him providing for us? On the basis of His Word: most assuredly! But let us be careful against twisting His precious and magnificent promises into a doctrine whereby we control God! Because in absolute contrast, this passage demonstrates that it is God who is in control! Now, Jehoram was not a good king, I don’t think this returning of her property we can put down to his good heart. No, I think that we see something rather more wonderful here. We see [P] God in control! Hallelujah! Look in verse 1, Elisha told the woman that there would be a famine – He not only knew that there was going to be a famine, but also how long it would be. God knows! But read the verse, it wasn’t that there was going to be a famine but: “יהוה has called for a famine!” – יהוה called for it, ordained it, made it happen, ordered it! He is in control! Furthermore: “it will even come on the land for seven years.” – “it will come”: what יהוה calls for happens! יהוה is in control! Look in verse 4; Jehoram says, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” Why did he ask Gehazi to do that? Was it a whim? Or is [P] [Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of יהוה; He turns it wherever He will.] What did Gehazi decide to relate? He just so happened to be telling the story of the raising of the Shunamite’s son. So, יהוה controlled the king and Gehazi, or at least knew what they were saying; and He also controlled the Shunamite; because, at just that very moment, she came to the king to present her case. This ain’t chance! This is יהוה in control! If we write a novel, we determine what happens; there can be amazing coincidences, things happen just so – because we are authoring it. That is how it is with God! Only He is the Author of human history, He determines all that is taking place! It wasn’t coincidence; it what may sister calls Godcidence. Now, as I have said, Jehoram wasn’t a good king; you could not even guarantee justice from him; but he not only gave justice, restoring her land; he also gave all that the land produced while she was gone: 7 years of production! That is goodness – the goodness of Jehoram? Or was יהוה directing his heart like a channel of water? God is in control, directing events, arranging details so that things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God is in the control in the little details of our personal lives. That is the sovereignty of God! [P] Not only is he sovereign in the personal affairs of His own; His is sovereign over the nations, over kings! Glory to His Name! Let us read on [2 Kings 8:7–15 Then Elisha came to Damascus. (that is the capital of Aram, or Syria, just as it is today (I think it is the oldest continuously inhabited city). This is the nation to the north of Israel. Elisha had gone to the neighbouring country – involved in international affairs) Now Ben-hadad king of Aram/Syria was sick, and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” (Elisha was a man of renown, even in other countries. He was important, his movements noted) The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God (this foreign king honoured Elisha, brought tribute, gave him a gift), and inquire of יהוה by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” (Also the renown of יהוה had spread; if you inquired of Him, you would find out what was going to happen. He asked of יהוה, not his own god. Deep down he knew his god was useless) So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; (Yes, Elisha was regarded as a man of importance, they were very concerned to win his favour) and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but יהוה has shown me that he will certainly die.” He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept. Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” (he calls Elisha “lord”) Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.” (violent atrocities against God’s people, Elisha’s own people. He could foresee the terrible things that were coming upon them – that is why he wept). Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “יהוה has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” (how did He know? יהוה had shown Him. The sovereign God knows what is going to happen; not only knows but determines it) So, he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.” On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.] Here is יהוה sovereign over the affairs of the nations! At that time, many thought that a god was limited to a specific region; each nation had its own individual gods. But here is a God who is sovereign over all! You may recall that I referred to this passage some time ago when dealing with 1 Kings 19. Remember, there was Elijah on Mount Horeb and there was that mighty encounter: the wind, the earthquake, the fire! And then יהוה spoke to Him in the sound of a gentle blowing. We know the story – but what did יהוה tell Elijah to do?: [1 Kings 19:15 יהוה said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;] As we saw back then, Elijah did not do this – the reason why is intriguing; but the fact of the matter is that Elijah did not anoint Hazael king over Aram. יהוה had His purpose, His will; yet it wasn’t carried out. Does this thwart the plans of יהוה?! Not for a moment! The will of יהוה will prevail! יהוה wanted Hazael anointed king over Aram; and king of Aram he would be anointed. He is sovereign! His will, will be carried out! Perhaps Elijah passed on to Elisha the instruction to anoint Hazael; and that is why he went to Damascus – maybe, but we don’t know. However, certainly Elisha did not take the initiative in meeting Hazael; it was Hazael who came to him. And that wasn’t Hazael’s idea; it was the current king, Ben-hadad, who sent him. Ben-hadad had no thoughts of Hazael succeeding him; he was just a court official, he was not of the royal dynasty. No, Ben-hadad wanted to know whether he would recover from his sickness. He wanted to know the future, sought an oracle, insight into the future. That is what you used the gods for. But you do not use יהוה! This is יהוה ordering events – He arranged the players for the scene that He wanted played out. Had Hazael dreams of grandeur? Had he ideas of usurping the throne before this? Or was it this encounter that planted the idea in his mind? We don’t know – it doesn’t matter – bottom line is that it was יהוה who had determined that he be king over Aram. Hazael, at this stage, was but a servant of Ben-hadad; he did what the king instructed and asked Elisha whether his master would recover from his illness. Elisha told Hazael: “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’” Did he tell him to tell a lie? Ben-hadad may well have recovered if a pillow hadn’t been held over his head! But Elisha knew, because יהוה had told him, that Ben-hadad would die: “יהוה has shown me that he will certainly die”. יהוה knew what Hazael would do. Not only that he would kill the king but other atrocities that he would perform: [P] יהוה KNOWS!: “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.” Hazael would do evil and יהוה knew! It was יהוה’s will that he become king! It was יהוה who instructed that he be anointed king! Yet, יהוה knew that he would do all this terrible evil, and that to His own people. Awful atrocities; and Elisha could see it! Hazael would be a violent king, oppress the people of Israel, do terrible things to them; yet, it was יהוה’s will! He ordained that Hazael be anointed. יהוה determined that the current dynasty in Aram be replaced with one that would do terrible things to His people. Now, we are happy for יהוה to be sovereign over good things; but יהוה is sovereign over ALL – even the, so called, “bad” things. [P] We are not so comfortable with God being sovereign over evil. But, He is either sovereign over ALL or He is not sovereign at all! Consider the following from the Word of God, which is true and cannot be broken: [Isaiah 45:7 The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; (the word is “רָ֑ע” – “bad”, “evil”) I am יהוה who does all these.] Both good and bad! [Amos 3:6 If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity (“רָעָה” the same word) occurs in a city has not יהוה done it?] Who did the calamity in the city? יהוה! It says in: [Proverbs 16:4 All יהוה has made is for His purpose, and even the wicked for the day of trouble.] Yep, the bad stuff. Peter says: [1 Peter 2:8 they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.] יהוה appointed them to doom! [2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,] יהוה is sovereign over all; yes, even the trouble and stuff we call bad. יהוה knew all the dreadful things that Hazael would do; He revealed it to His servant, Elisha; but still it was His will for Hazael to be king, for him to carry out this severe discipline upon His people. Hazael would be His instrument to bring this punishment upon His people, in the hope of turning them from their evil ways back to Himself. His judgements on the evil of His people would be carried out through this human instrument whom He had ordained to carry out the job. Had Hazael pretentions of being king – it seems not. He said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” He seemed to have a humble view of himself, to consider himself a person of no significance or power, up to this point. But now the thought had been placed in his mind; and he had his own way of making come to pass. But, you get an indication of his heart: when Elisha spoke of these atrocities, he did not term them dreadful or shrink back from them; he said: “he should do this great thing” He regarded these terrible deeds as “a great thing”! He applauded the use of violence, regarded it as strength to oppress people with ruthless force – a view that it still prominent in the Middle East. So Hazael returned to his master and delivered the message that Elisha told him to: “that he would recover”. Then he took matters into his own hand. The message of Elisha found resonance in his ambitious heart. He was not going to wait on circumstances, he took action: “On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died.” He suffocated the king! He murdered him! “And Hazael became king in his place.” Just as יהוה had determined. Hazael was responsible for what he did. He decided on the action to take. If he had not, he would still have become king, because that is what יהוה had determined. But יהוה knew how he would respond. What he did may not have been in accordance with יהוה’s will but the outcome was what יהוה had determined – יהוה had determined that Hazael become king, and king he became. יהוה is sovereign! Could יהוה want such a wicked king to rule? Yes! There have been others: Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh: [Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”] What about Hitler? Stalin? [Romans 13:1 For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.] [Psalm 75:6–7 For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation; but God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.] That God is sovereign is over our individual lives on a personal level, that He is GOOD; is a great comfort and consolation as we go through life. But He is also sovereign over nations. This too is a great comfort when we see what is going on around us in the world. God is in control! But what about His sovereignty that appoints evil kings, tyrants, oppressors, violent rulers who are cruel to God’s people? Still there is great comfort and consolation that God is in control, that He is sovereign. Hallelujah! Things are not just random, capricious, chaotic, on a downward spiral to doom. There is someone holding the reigns! The Bible contains the stories of many lives; I challenge you to find one of them who didn’t go through it, have stuff happen to them. But we read on and see that, nevertheless, things worked for good, God’s will is perfect and was accomplished. It wasn’t “bad” after all. The problem is in us. For example: we look at the weather and say that it is “good” – we mean that it is sunny and warm. Or we say that the weather is “bad” – it is raining and cold. But the rain and cold are needed. The problem is with our value judgement. With our thinking. We are looking at things from our point of view; from our will, not God’s. It is terrible arrogance of which we are oblivious; but we are actual judging God’s will by our own standard. We need a radical turnaround in our thinking; so that instead of evaluating things on the basis of what I want, what I esteem to be good – my will, my judgement; we look at things from an utterly other perspective: GOD’s! [P] [Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, (when our thinking is turned around by the Spirit of God, it is utterly transformational! No longer do we evaluate by the world’s standards, the opinions of man, what he judges to be good. Rather, we come to understand and prove that God’s way is better than man’s) so that you may prove what the will of God is, [P] (God’s will; not man’s) that which is good and acceptable and perfect.] [P] God is GOOD, so His will is good – it cannot be anything other! With the mind of the Spirit, which is, of course, completely one with that of the Father; you see that God’s will must be GOOD. Human reaction may be against it but God is GOOD, therefore His will is good. Therefore, if it is good; [P] you accept it. God knows what He is doing! You test God’s will and it proves under examination to be good. God’s wisdom and the goodness of His will is vindicated. You approve it. It becomes acceptable because you are aligned with what God wants, not with what you want. Our minds need renewing by the Spirit of God!Can you see what a transformation in your thinking there needs to be?! So, when God’s will becomes acceptable to us – we come to accept it, even although we may not understand it, appreciate the wisdom of it. But, having accepted it as good; we see it work out and see that it is the absolutely best possible that there could ever be. [P] It is PERFECT! We prove it. There could be no better way! I mean, could any way be better than God’s?! Having been changed to God’s thinking, we are TRANSFORMED! Hallelujah! No longer resisting God’s will, no longer grudgingly going along with it; rather, we DELIGHT in it! It is PERFECT! What a transformation! It is the very Spirit of Jesus within us – that heart’s desire expressed in [Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”] That is the new covenant: the law written on our hearts; the Spirit of Jesus, who delighted in His Father’s will, living in us! It is an absolute transformation. No longer do we regard God’s sovereignty as “bad”; but as PERFECT! No longer do we resist His will, judge it; rather, we delight in it.

Romans 12:2 NASB95

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.