7 Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels' loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the Lordhas shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept.12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.”13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place. (II Kings 8)
Hazael was no angel. God knew that. He knew what was in his heart. It only took one spark of an idea for that evil to flare into full flame. God knew that he was a cruel man, who already had his sights on the throne of Syria. Syria already had a history of being anti-Israel (see the preceding chapters), so the temporary truce between the two nations was fragile. God showed Elisha that Hazael was the one who would shatter such peace. As soon as the thought sparked in his heart that he would indeed be king, Hazael took things into his own hands - take the king out before he was fully recovered so he could have the throne now. God also sees the evil in our hearts. He knows what we want and what we will do to get it. But He also has higher, better plans for us. Rather than jump the gun and take matters into our hands like Hazael, may we stop to ask Him what His plans are, and for help to be freed from the evil within our hearts, and the grace to chose His way, not ours.
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