Overlooked Miracles Series

Our Great Teacher has slipped into this story four lepers. Hymm…, who are they? They come into the Syrian camp and eat until they are stuffed then they find gold, silver and valuable clothes. What do they do with this material? They hide them away. Hymm...! But do you see a remarkable statement they make. They feel guilty for hiding the material and not sharing the good news about the resources. They feel that bad circumstances might come upon them if they do not do what is right? My question to this is why would they feel this way? Remember they are lepers. How much more badly could it get for them? They were outcasts from society suffering with a deadly disease. So, would you agree with me something else is at play here?

I will not keep you in suspense. I want to share with you some more miracles many people overlook. I believe that these four lepers were Gehazi and his three sons. You might say to yourselves, ‘Now how do you come up with that point.’ Stay with me as we continue this great story in chapter 8.

1 Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.3 It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. 4 Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

So, look at these keen developments. Who is back in the story – the widow. Look at the next miracle – God’s timing and who is the king talking to? It is Gehazi. Now wait a minute. The last time we read about him, he was stricken with leprosy. If this was so, how is he now in the presence of the king? Almost all commentators have stated that the scribes wrote this chapter out of order. I do not believe this to be true. I have not found any manuscripts that put chapter 8 before chapter 5. I believe that our Precious Holy Spirit put this chapter exactly where it belongs.

I would like to put forth a thought that our Holy Master healed Gehazi and his sons because of their obedience. Remember that they were lepers. I believe that it was Gehazi and his three sons who were the 4 lepers. When they picked up the silver and expensive clothes and hid them like Gehazi had done in the past, he was cut to the heart and remembered how he had come to his condition of leprosy. He told his sons that they needed to do what was right and I believe because of this action our Lord healed him. How do I come to this conclusion. Well, in chapter 8 Gehazi is not with Elisha anymore. He is in the presence of the king. A leper would not be allowed in public. And our Mighty Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High has put him in a position to help the widow.