Elisha’s Ministry - Ben-Hadad, Hazael And The Reprobate Nature Of Man 2 Kings 8:7-15 Series

ELISHA’S MINISTRY - BEN-HADAD, HAZAEL AND THE REPROBATE NATURE OF MAN 2 Kings 8:7-15

SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 19

This first PART of the message investigates Ben-Hadad and Hazael, and PART 2 will follow next time. It has been split because of the length.

In this third last message in the Elisha series, we will consider an event that was sad in many ways. The message revolves around the political situation in Israel, also known as Samaria.

THE FIRST PART

2Kings 8 v 7 Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and he was told, “The man of God has come here,”

We read that Elisha had gone to Damascus. This was the first time and was for a reason known to God and Elisha. Damascus was the capital of Aram, and Aram was Israel's enemy and was the location of Naaman who had been cured of his leprosy by Elisha. Verse 1 suggests some things to us. The first is that Elisha could not be incognito – people knew he was in Damascus. The second is that Elisha’s reputation was known even in Aram – would Naaman have had anything to do with that? The third thing was that Aram’s sick king had been informed and they hoped Elisha could cure him. They thought he had cured Naaman even though it was God. Elisha was what every good servant should be – a signpost.

Who was Ben-hadad, the ruler of Aram? The name means "the son of Hadad," a well-known term of an Aramean god. Ben-hahad was often at war with Ahab and Jehovah actually helped Ahab gain victory but Ahab was not obedient. Ahab and Jehoshaphat from Judah joined forces against Ben-hadad. The Syrian strife continued even after Ahab’s death but Elisha seems to have been the chief thorn in Ben-hadad’s flesh. Elisha predicted the moves of the Syrian king, producing such a frustration that he was determined to capture the Hebrew prophet (2 Kings 6 v 11-14). When Ben-hadad’s army came to take the prophet, the Lord smote the army with blindness and led them to Samaria where Elisha made them a feast and released them. His action produced a temporary release from the raids Ben-hadad was conducting against Israel (6 v 18-23). When next Ben-hadad besieged Samaria the famine was so great the women were eating their own children. In great anger Israel’s king sought to slay Elisha whom he blamed for the famine (6 v 32, 33). The Lord, however, gave Israel victory over Ben-hadad and relief from the famine. Ben-hadad then waged war with the Assyrians who inflicted a series of defeats upon him, pushing his troops into the Orontes River on the occasion of Ben-hadad’s death.

2Kings 8 v 8 and the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

The past was left behind where Ben-hadad wanted to kill the prophet, because now he was worried about his own illness. He sent his commander to Elisha. The Syrians termed him as “the man of God” and Ben-hahad’s big concern was if he would recover from his wounds. As was the case, a gift had to be taken. You remember Naaman brought an immense treasure but Elisha refused it. Ben-hadad was a man of war but like all people, he was powerless in the face of death. It matters not if a person is rich or poor, powerful or weak, in parliament or in jail, all must die because of the sinful nature and then face the judgement. Atheists think there is no God and therefore no judgement. Religion is the opiate of the people claimed Karl Marx. The same thought is among the Democrats in the USA and the Greens in Australia.

2Kings 8 v 9 Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads, 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?’”

What was the first thing that came to mind for you in this verse? Well for me it was “forty camel loads”. That was some gift. Did it outdo Naaman’s gift? The passage does not indicate that Elisha accepted the gift, but you must think it was extremely unlikely, having been through this before. Well I would have liked the dates! (the ones to eat). Expressions are quaint, and when it says he took a gift in his hand, then what a hand it was, big enough to hold forty camels. As soon as he arrived, the message and question were brief. On behalf of Ben-hadad, he wanted to know if the leader would recover.