Gehazi's Lie

After Naaman had travelled some distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”

“By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left. Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha.

“Where have you been, Gehazi?” Elisha asked.

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

What if every lie were to result in the liar being marked with leprosy? None of us could long stand. What if only those lies which are deliberate denials of the truth, instead of involuntary falsehoods, resulted in punishment by banishment? How many of us would still remain within the company of the church? What if not only those lies which we speak but also those which are the result of our refusal to live by the truth, were exposed by God’s own mark upon our lives? The Word of God does relate the story of a man who was so marked for the remainder of life because he lied one time. That story is instructive for contemporary saints because of the warning presented.

You may recall the story. Naaman, the Syrian general, had risen in the court of Damascus to a position of first importance. He had, in all probability, distinguished himself in the successful war of Syrian independence against Assyria which had been carried on some few years prior to the events in our study. Though a great soldier, Naaman was a leper. Though he was able to discharge public duties, the disease could only hold the threat of future pain and humiliation.

In Naaman’s household there was a slave girl both willing and able to help him. She was by birth an Israelite. Captured during one of the Syrian raids against her homeland, she was carried into captivity in a strange land. Now she was enslaved to the end of her days, serving Naaman’s wife. Perhaps there had grown a warm bond between this girl and her masters, or perhaps she was simply compassionate, but one day she expressed to her mistress her wish that Naaman could meet Elisha, the prophet of God. Surely the prophet could cure Naaman of his leprosy if only they could meet.

Her words were repeated to the Syrian king, who sent Naaman himself with a letter of introduction to the reigning king of Israel, Jehoram. As was usual in eastern culture a present accompanied the request. The present in this case was an astounding amount of gold and silver and ten complete sets of rich raiment. Jehoram was asked to somehow bring about a cure for Naaman. The Syrian king probably mean for him to somehow arrange a meeting with the prophet, but Jehoram had no serious belief in either the mission or the power of Elisha. He considered Elisha as men of the world often regard a man of God – with quaint alternations of cynicism and uneasiness, but without any trust. He had no sympathy for the message Elisha preached, so he could not apply to Elisha for counsel and assistance.

In fact, Jehoram saw the king of Syria’s letter as an attempt to create a pretext for war by presenting a request which he could not possibly fulfil. In his alarm and agitation Jehoram tore his robe, an act revealing his utter distress. Elisha, hearing of this action, reproached the king by sending a messenger with a message reminding him that God had a prophet in Israel and asking that Naaman be sent on to him.

The great general came as he was bidden. His splendid entourage halted before the humble cottage in which the prophet lived. Elisha seems to have seized the occasion to instruct this great man of how little account this world’s magnificence may be in the eyes of a spiritual man. Elisha did not even come out to this illustrious guest. He merely sent a message instructing Naaman to go dip seven times in the waters of the Jordan. Then, and only then, would he be healed.

Naaman was offended both with the message and with the manner in which it was delivered. He felt that his station in life demanded greater respect than we had been accorded. He had pictured to himself the manner in which the prophet would respond to his presence. I thought, he raged, that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. As for immersing himself in the muddy Jordan, a foreign river of no account in his mind, his Syrian pride brought him to the point of fuming that any Syrian stream was as good or better. Why not dip in the Abana or the Pharpar, rivers of Damascus? The thought of going out of his way to dip himself in the Jordan was intolerable. The prophet’s conduct and message were insulting. Naaman was very angry.

But the leprosy was as bad as ever. Time passes, and as time passes passion cools. Naaman’s servants pointed out that after all he was not asked to do a hard thing. If he had been enjoined to attempt some great duty, they reminded him, he would have at once obeyed. Why should he hesitate when the command was to perform something simple? So Naaman did obey. What had he to lose?

Arriving at the Jordan, he stripped and stepped into the muddy, swirling waters. Wading to a point with sufficient depth to permit him to immerse himself, he ducked under the murky waters. One … two … three … four … five … six times, and still there was no change in his condition. But after a seventh dip he arose a new man. The leprosy was gone, his flesh was restored and his skin was as clean as that of a young boy.

In gratitude and full of joy at what had transpired, he paid a second visit to the man of God, and this visit was not as the first. Arriving at Elisha’s hut, the man of God received him and Naaman announced his own conversion to the true Faith of the Lord God, the Almighty. He urged a gift on Elisha, but Elisha resolutely declined. Then, after a few words concerning conduct he might pursue, Naaman took his leave of the prophet.

Naaman was gone, but one person who had witnessed the scene was displeased. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, was no doubt pleased that God had healed Naaman, and he must have been pleased that this heathen general should be converted to the Faith of Israel; but was it not right that he should pay for such high privilege? In Gehazi’s opinion a great opportunity had been recklessly lost. It was not too late, however, to repair the mistake. If he hurried he could yet relieve Naaman of some of the treasure.

Naaman showed the high honour in which he held Elisha by alighting from his chariot to receive Elisha’s servant and the message which he no doubt carried. Gehazi explained that two young men had arrived at the school and were in need of money and clothing. Elisha would, therefore, be willing to receive a talent of silver and two sets of clothing. This was much less than originally offered, but Naaman urged Gehazi to take two talents of silver and even sent servants to carry the treasures for Gehazi. Close by to Elisha’s house was a hill which shielded his view of the Damascus road. Dismissing the servants, Gehazi secreted his treasures and assumed his position before Elisha, looking as if nothing in particular had happened since Naaman’s departure.

The prophet looked up and asked where he had been. I went nowhere, responded Gehazi. The prophet delayed no longer. He detailed Gehazi’s act; he knew Gehazi’s motives. Gehazi had thought he was alone, but Elisha’s spirit had accompanied Gehazi at that critical moment when Naaman alighted from his chariot. Gehazi thought his intentions were secret, but Elisha’s reference to olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, menservants and maidservants, showed that he read in the servant’s mind the projects of splendour he intended to pursue with Naaman’s wealth. There was a stern justice in the penalty which followed – Naaman’s leprosy went along with his wealth. In grasping at the one, Gehazi had succeeded in inheriting the other. Already the foul disease was full upon him, and he went from Elisha’s presence a leper.

Why Was Gehazi’s Lie Punished so Severely? Simply obtaining a few goods from an enemy of the state seems to be more a matter for commendation than an act demanding such severe retaliation. Why should Gehazi be punished with leprosy, with a most horrible of social stigmas, with the greatest public opprobrium imaginable? It is an axiom of justice that the punishment should fit the crime, and on the surface we are repelled by the severity of the punishment in this instance.

Gehazi’s Lie Involved a Violation of Confidence. This is the first great reason why Gehazi’s punishment was so severe. Gehazi was more than a mere servant of Elisha, he was a confidant of the prophet of God. Canon Liddon once wrote that Confidence … is to society what cement is to a building – it holds it all together[1]. We all place confidence in someone, whether our elders or our children; whether our supervisors or those who work for us; whether those from whom we learn or those whom we trust not to misuse the information we entrust to them. We each are of recipients of information from others. We each have received the trust of others. Confidence is at once the foundation of all human social and commercial intercourse, and it is the honour which to some degree all mankind receives at the hand of fellow men. All our occupations, all our relations with one another, depend upon the maintenance of confidence. To learn to place confidence in another is the essential condition of any area of one’s daily life.

Gehazi was an offender against the obligations of confidence; he was both a servant of Elisha and a trusted companion. In Elisha’s interactions with the Shunammite, Gehazi was intimately involved. Twice Elisha sent Gehazi with delicate messages to her. It was Gehazi who revealed his sensitive nature as he suggested that she was childless and so led the prophet to promise her a son. It was Gehazi who was sent before the prophet and the grieving mother to lay Elisha’s staff upon the face of the dead child. It was Gehazi who verified the claim of the Shunammite when, after years of absence, she again laid claim to her property. When it was all too late, Gehazi could feel what had been the honour of association with the great teacher, the man who in his simple and austere life had such power with God that pagans, Israelite kings and statesmen, and multiplied common folk, trembled and bowed before him.

It was association with Elisha, and nothing else, which gave Gehazi what we call a “position”. To be Elisha’s servant was of itself a privileged post of commanding influence. We have already seen how the Syrian general acknowledged it. To be associated with Elisha in his work, to share his sympathies and to a certain extent his counsels, to know what never could have been known but for this high companionship, should have imposed great and lasting obligations. Accordingly, when Gehazi yielded to his covetous desires to go after Naaman to negotiate for treasures, his conscience told him he had done that which his sense of honour itself condemned. His act was a betrayal of intimacy and confidence which even the pagans would have shrunk from doing.

Once a man has betrayed such confidence, do you doubt that he can go farther? He may have no choice! That one who has acted against his sense of right is on the brink of lying against his sense of truth. Gehazi had to choose between a lie and humiliation; and when he brought himself to prefer two talents of silver and two sets of clothing to the love and trust of his friend there is not much doubt what his choice would be. A man who has violated confidence of a brother in Christ will easily betray the confidence of the heathen. That one who places other considerations above trust will find it easy to violate even the most intimate of relationships given the proper opportunity.

Gehazi’s Lie Involved a Serious Injury to the Cause of the True Faith. The aged man of God, Simeon, in the Nunc Dimittis spoke words which are in a measure true of the religion of the prophets of Israel. That ancient faith was prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to God’s people Israel. When Paul wished to mark the degradation of the Jews of his day he quoted a warning which, in slightly different fashion Nathan delivered to David, and which Isaiah and Ezekiel gave respectively to men of their day. God’s Name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Israel, just as is true for the churches of our day, had great duties to the heathen. Israel had the duty of letting the heathen at least see that there was a lamp of truth burning in the hearts of God’s chosen people. Within the life of God’s people the heathen would be able to read God’s best lessons about themselves and about Him in nature and in history. Just so the church of God in this day has the high duty of bringing the heathen as swiftly and as surely as possible into the true light of Christ the Lord.

To Elisha, the main interest of Naaman’s visit was not to establish friendly political relations between Israel and Syria. Neither was his main interest that the visit resulted in a physical cure for the great general and thus serve to excite interest throughout the neighbouring countries of the East. Elisha’s main interest was that Naaman should be converted to the true Faith.

Anything which weakened Naaman in the religion of his choice was, in Elisha’s eyes, a threat to the glory of God. Naaman must carry back not only a sound body but a healthy soul illuminated by Divine Truth. And this transformation must not be associated in his mind with the petty details of a mere commercial transaction. God’s great gift of life must surely resemble His great gifts in nature, which are bestowed with open-handed generosity. The heathen were, as stated in Isaiah’s great prophecy, to come to the waters of salvation and to the feast of life without money and without cost.

Gehazi’s act must have caused Naaman to think that Elisha had an after-thought. Gehazi’s fiction was fatal to Naaman’s first and high idea of the prophet’s noble refusal to tie the Faith of the Living God to mere commercial transactions. It must have seemed to Naaman that Elisha harboured second thoughts about God’s gracious gift of healing and of life eternal. It was as though the prophet of God was just like the rest of mankind, looking upon the high gifts of heaven as having a marketable value. He must have concluded that the gift of life was like the wares offered for sale in any of the bazaars of Damascus, subject to barter and exchange and haggling over the price. That which was unobtainable save by grace, the gift of God, could be secured by human ingenuity.

Elisha knew the impact of Gehazi’s act. He foresaw the cynical recoil and perhaps even the ruin or the apostasy of the recent, probably still hesitating convert. Hence, the searching, agonising question to Gehazi, Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? A lie is always injurious to mankind; but a lie concerning the Faith, whether that lie is spoken or merely lived out as a lie, has impact far beyond mere inconvenience. Souls are at stake.

Gehazi’s Lie Revealed a Flaw in His Moral Nature. Gehazi’s conscience was sufficiently enlightened by association with Elisha to have anticipated and endorsed Elisha’s feeling on the matter. This would no doubt have given him a second and more powerful reason for concealment of his ill-gotten treasures. Gehazi would have hardly needed to try to persuade himself that he was not a prophet, and that a high view of duty which was becoming in his master was not necessary in him.

Some seem to think it is only those who are ordained who need to be scrupulous in personal conduct. God’s work, however, demands that all who name the Name of the Lord God must reflect His character. Inconsistencies or weaknesses, as we so delicately call them, which have little impact on the part of those associated with the work of Christ may have the effect of driving the inquirer back into the desert when he is already within sight of the towers of Jerusalem. It is not members of the clergy alone who need to remember that there are things better worth living for and working for than two talents of silver and two sets of clothing which may possibly be filched from the world.

First Gehazi lied, and then he concealed, and then he lied again. Sin is that way. There is a nexus between one sin and another, just as there is a connection between one virtue and another. Should one begin to drift in the current of the Niagara, what is at first a pleasant ride soon becomes a terror-stricken rush to ruin. Whereas at one time the currents of destruction might have been avoided altogether, they become at last irresistible. Gehazi’s fiction about the needs of two imaginary students, his dismissal of Naaman’s servants while under the cover of the hill which hid the proceeding from Elisha’s eye – these were the preliminary stages of a falsehood by which Gehazi’s heart was fatally hardened so that he could declare before God’s prophet that he had not been in pursuit of Naaman at all.

Note the blindness of sin. No one would know better than Gehazi that Elisha would know a great deal of what went on beyond the range of his eyesight. The slaves of the king of Syria said to their master that Elisha repeated to the king of Israel the words that the Syrian king uttered in his bedroom. Gehazi knew Elisha’s power, and yet he set to work as if Elisha would know nothing save what he witnessed with his bodily eyes. That is the point of the other reproachful question, Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?

Gehazi’s lie was folly, but it was a folly of which every lie affords fresh example. Sin blinds us to the real circumstances in which we must deal. It destroys our power of apprehending the presence and the omniscience of God. What Gehazi thought of Elisha, all sinners think about Almighty God. The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed. The wasted ingenuity of a violated conscience, culminating first in outrageous falsehood, and then in conspicuous disgrace, are, as the moral world goes, quite in order.

Gehazi’s punishment may seem severe, but it marks a fact that we do well to remember – the fact that the injury which a deliberate falsehood inflicts on the moral nature is, in this life, irreparable. Do not conclude that a lie cannot be forgiven. The mercy of Christ is unlimited. Neither should you conclude that a habit of substantial truthfulness cannot be restored. Such would limit the power of Christ’s grace. However, when the lie is pardoned and the habit of truth re-established, the effect of the lie remains.

The moral weakness revealed in the lie results in a permanent weakness which shows itself when any demand or strain is put upon high principle. A man who has once told a deliberate lie is like a man who has lost a lung. The man with one lung may do well so long as over-exposure and over-exertion do not tax his resources. The one who has looked truth in the face and chosen to contradict that truth by telling a deliberate lie is a moral invalid, and there is no saying when or how his constitution may give way.

Gehazi’s leprosy expressed this truth. It was a visible symbol of the inward fact that his moral nature was damaged. He could not be again as he once was. He would carry to the grave the brand of humiliation and of weakness. Neither as a liar or a leper could he live any longer with Elisha. The matter was forbidden by Jewish law. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. So Gehazi left to mourn for a lifetime the folly and the wickedness which had led him to throw away the companionship and the confidence of so good and great a friend.

What Practical Lessons Can We Draw From Gehazi’s Lie? Gehazi’s lie was far more serious than we might first believe. It cannot be excused, nor dare we think that we can escape with living a lie, though we may not be immediately stricken with leprosy. Gehazi’s lie led to his fall, and his fall teaches us three practical lessons.

Gehazi’s Lie Teaches Us to Keep Our Desires in Order if we Mean to Avoid Grave Sin. After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. That is the order of the growth of evil. The practical rule is, therefore, obsta principiis, put a stop to the process, if you can, in the very beginning. Had Gehazi never cast longing eyes on the Syrian wealth he would never have entered upon the series of acts culminating in his great lie and thus resulting in his life-long leprosy. If Christ the Lord is to reign over our hearts and tongues He must be enthroned by His Spirit in those very hearts out of which in His absence evil desires are flowing. We must confront our sins and place them each under Christ’s rule.

Gehazi’s Lie Warns of the Danger of Thinking that Great Religious Advantages of Themselves Protect Us against Grievous Sin. What religious advantage could have been greater in that day that that which Gehazi enjoyed as Elisha’s servant. Naaman, while still a pagan, could have told Gehazi that a lie is moral degradation. The high aspirations for a new religious life in the court and among the people of Israel, which Gehazi would have often heard from Elisha’s lips, should have led him to think that he, too, lived in a moral atmosphere in which attention to the simplest and primary rules for good living might be readily taken for granted.

A lofty ideal, such as the Sermon on the Mount or like the discourse in the upper room, does not oblige those who hear it to be true even to those virtues which the heathen honour. The grace of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the ordinances do not put pressure upon reluctant wills, nor do they compel us to practise even natural goodness if we have no mind to do so. What can be more distressing than the spectacle of men whose education and friendships and work at times pointed to all the higher standards of the Gospel, and who yet, in the presence of temptation, have fallen below what is required of men of the world? If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Gehazi’s Lie Reminds Us of the Priceless Value of Truthfulness in the Life of the Soul. No advantage whatever of mind or body or estate, can counterbalance the misery of indifference to truth. No faults, however great, are irreparable when the soul still clings to a love of truth. Truth is the basis of all other natural virtues of the soul. It is the basis of all true faith and religion, courage, justice, self-control. What are these but products of the sense of truth dictating the forms of virtuous effort which are required by different circumstances? It is the sense of truth, as well as the voice of the Apostle, which tells us that if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. It is the sense of truth which leads us to seek God’s grace from His Holy Spirit, for we know our weakness when we are left to ourselves. We Christians know that if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. For the rest, the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.

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