ELISHA’S MINISTRY - THE WOLF AT THE DOOR - LUST WHEN IT HAS CONCEIVED BRINGS FORTH SIN - GEHAZI 2Kings 5:20-27 PART 1 of 2
SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 15
Just a touch of revision from the last Elisha message. We need to recall 2Kings 5 v 15. Open at that verse and keep your bibles opened there. 2Kings 5 v 15 “When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel, so please take a present from your servant now,””
After Naaman was healed of his leprosy, he returned to Elisha to give him a present, but Elisha refused to profit from the ministry given to him by God. The gospel is, “freely received, freely given”, and people who want to profit from the gospel are charlatans and false prophets, followers of Balaam. Take note of the tele-evangelists. Naaman further urged Elisha to receive his gift as he was so grateful for his healing, but Elisha was firm in his resolve. There is a huge difference between being supported in the gospel, and profiting by the gospel. Missionaries in the field are supported in the gospel, but the Benny Hinns and other prosperity gospel preachers, are profiting by the gospel.
Now when Naaman was offering a gift to Elisha, there was one listening whose mind was beginning to stir. It all began with the mind. The pride of life and covertness wanted what it did not have. Can we go down to 5 v 20 and read that verse. 2Kings 5 v 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” The mind is a dangerous enemy, and Gehazi was allowing his mind to grow desire and lust. There was also the thought of “making him pay”.
Before we go any further with that I want to explore the origins of these sins. Can we turn to Genesis chapter 3.
Verse 1 - Genesis 3 v 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made, and he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Doubt will mess with the mind, even to doubt what God has said emphatically and decisively. That is why we must hold fast to the word of God and not deviate from it. Satan began to cast doubts in Eve’s mind.
Verse 5 - Genesis 3 v 5 “for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This is the pride of wanting to be what one is not supposed to be. The lie that they could be uplifted to be like God was the progression of Satan’s lie. That is the pride of life.
Verse 6 - Genesis 3 v 6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Now we see the full blossoming of desire, which here is illegal desire. It is lust as the bible would identify it. Eve saw the tree that is was good for food and a delight to the eyes. That is what we call the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Then her mind told her she would become wise. That again is the pride of life. There is nothing wrong with desiring food, especially when hungry, but NOT when it is forbidden by God, and illegal.
What we have just looked at was the introduction of sin to the human race. It took the form of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. They are the agencies Satan uses right through history. The Apostle John wrote this verse - 1John 2 v 16 “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world,” and well he knew it, for he understood what his Lord went through. Turn to Luke chapter 4.
Let us read verse 1 to verse 4. Luke 4 v 1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness Luke 4:2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:3 The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread,” Luke 4:4 and Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” That is the first temptation, the lust of the flesh. You may say, “But Jesus was hungry so what’s wrong with eating?” What is so wrong is to give ground to the devil, and that is what Eve did. She entertained Satan’s soft talk and failed. Jesus did not do that, but rebuked Satan with the word of God. That is why the expression, “Thus says the Lord” is so important and vital in scripture, and in our lives.
Next we look at verses 5 to 8 - Luke 4 v 5 He led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, Luke 4:6 and the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Luke 4:7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” Luke 4:8 Jesus answered and said to him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” This is the second temptation, the lust of the eyes. Satan tried to tempt Jesus with the very world he had created. In verse 6, Satan said the world had been handed over to him, and that is partially true for Satan is the god and prince of this world, and of the air, but it has been allowed by God for a short time after which all the kingdoms of this world come under the rule of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Again Satan was rebuked by the scripture.
The last temptation was in verses 9 to 12 - Luke 4 v 9 He led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here Luke 4:10 for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You to guard You,’ Luke 4:11 and, ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’” Luke 4:12 Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” This is the third temptation, the pride of life. How important would you feel if everyone saw you leap from a height and angels catch you. What a boost to the pride of life! By the way, Satan misquoted scripture, and he does that still with trying to warp the text of the word, and to get people to accept the bible out of context. Again Jesus answered him directly from the scriptures with no argumentation or entertaining his persuasion. That is what Eve should have done – THUS SAYS THE LORD.
We have just seen these three devices Satan uses to bring about sin. Therefore we must guard our eyes, our appetites and our desires and sneaking pride. Is it easy? Absolutely no. We all fall. It is symptomatic of all human beings for we were born in sin and fashioned in iniquity. However Christians have the new nature and the constant war between the old and the new is what we face. We will let James, the Lord’s half brother, end this section - James 1 v 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone, James 1:14 but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. James 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Let us return to our Kings passage, and in 4 v 21, we see Gehazi hurrying off with lust conceiving in his mind. Had he sinned yet? I would say, “no”, but this sad account is where lust did conceive and bring about sin. Gehazi saw, desired, and set in action the means to gain his desire. It was the pride of life to be someone, and lust of the eyes to have what he saw. When a person’s mind is set on something it seems all reason departs (with, of course, the Holy Spirit who has been locked in a room somewhere “out of reach”), and the person moves on to the ultimate loss he or she will suffer. Gehazi wanted what his heart lusted for, but that lust had not yet conceived. He still could have changed his direction and reversed his steps, but he did not. When he met up with Naaman and went through with the deception, then he fully sinned. Sin had conceived. He lied. Let us read that account -
2Kings 5 v 21 so Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 2Kings 5:22 and he said, “All is well. My master has sent me saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’” 2Kings 5:23 Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents,” and he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes, and gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them before him. 2Kings 5:24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away and they departed. (Two talents of silver weigh 66 kg). ($39,996 US July 2022).
Gehazi would not have lied outright at the beginning, but he did then. You see, sin is like a storeyed building. Once you put the foundations down which is the difficult part, it is easier to build lies and deception on that. In the end the whole lot collapses under the weight of compounded sin. Sin then happens to cover up more sin; devious means are taken to cover up the first error. Gehazi’s sin is made all the worse through Naaman’s generosity. David’s sin was made all the worse by Uriah’s loyalty and devotion to David.
Look at verse 24. “He deposited them in his house” is more like, he hid them in his house. I want you to think about this parallel, firstly, this verse - Joshua 7 v 1 “but the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.” Because of that sin when Achan took what the Lord had forbidden, because the lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh took control over him, Israel lost the battle against Ai. This is an example where our sins do, and can affect others. The whole history of mankind is littered with the individual wrecks that have resulted in multiple pileups involving so many more. God had to speak to Joshua to inform him that wicked sin had been committed and here is that - Joshua 7 v 11 “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them and they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.” What disaster and ugliness sin causes; what hurt to others and what deception to ourselves. Sin is like a cancer and must be removed. In this case of Achan, this is what happened - Joshua 7 v 18 and he brought his household near man by man and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken. Josh 7:19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him, and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” Josh 7:20 Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: Josh 7:21 When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it,”
Sin always pays wages and the wages of sin is death. Our Christian message is that the Lord Jesus paid these wages with his own blood, so that we are released from the penalty of everlasting death through faith in the finished work of the cross. Jesus took all that ugliness of sin and made it His own so you can have perfect forgiveness and righteousness. Achan paid a terrible price for his sin. This is the account - Joshua 7 v 24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him, and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. Josh 7:25 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day,” and all Israel stoned them with stones and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones, Josh 7:26 and they raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day.
The is another incident recorded in the scriptures for our instruction and this is it - Acts 5 v 1 but a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, Acts 5:2 and kept back some of the price for himself with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. Acts 5:3 Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? Acts 5:4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own and after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” Acts 5:5 As he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it, Acts 5:6 and the young men arose and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. In this case the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they gave only part of the price of the land, but pretended that was the full price. It was deception, which is a cousin of lying. Gehazi, you remember, deceived and lied, and then concealed the fact. In this Acts record, there is a touch of deity in the verses – lying to the Holy Spirit in verse 3, and lying to God in verse 4.
We return to this story in Kings. 2Kings 5 v 25 but he went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” and he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 2Kings 5:26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? 2Kings 5:27 Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your descendants forever,” so he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
Gehazi had already lusted and lied and so, the next lie he told Elisha just rolled from his tongue (v 25). If there is one thing we must learn from this it is to be extremely careful about lust and covertness.
We will end that here for today and look more fully into it in the next message. We will examine the sin that catches people out.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
