Did Not My Heart Go?

 

II Kings 5:23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 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.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.

The healing of Naaman is a wonderful well-known account of proclaiming God before the nations. God used the loving encouragement of a little girl and His healing power through Elisha to demonstrate His love and power to a needy leader and his people. The account is tainted however by the greed of Gehazi, Elisha's assistant. Why not make a little money on the side you could hide? But God knew, and He let Elisha know. Elisha's response is telling: his heart left him - it took the wind out of his sails. He was very discouraged because God's glory was diminished by this servant. May we do nothing to do so to the Lord.

Admitting We Don't Know It All

II Kings 4:25When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.” 27 And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” 29 He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 

In these early chapters of II Kings, the historian is demonstrating how much Elisha was like Elijah in his ministry, having a similar experience in ministering to a Gentile woman and her family.  The small details help us realize this is much more than some redacted repetitive account. Elisha admits "the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me." Eventually Elisha himself goes and brings the son back to life.  There are many things we all have to learn about God's will and plan for us. We need to be open to His leading daily, allow him to change our plans, and keep an open heart to any He brings our way, like he did.

Unspeakable Horror

 

II Kings 3:24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went. 25 And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

After Ahab died, the surrounding nations tested the waters to see if they could gain back some control. In particular, Moab rebelled against Israel and were intent on invading and plundering the land. Once again, Israel called on Judah for help, and a true prophet of God announced victory for Isreal.  We get a glimpse of how twisted the thinking of the Moabites was, as the king of Moab offered his heir to the throne as a sacrifice, seeking victory from his gods.  When we choose to go against God's will it is horrifying what we will do to resist it. 

Hear All You Peoples!

 

I Kings 22:24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 25 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 26 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 27 and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.”’” 28 And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”

God had given Ahab, the king of Israel mentioned above, a stay of sentence. But three years later, he again refused to listen to God's message. Ahab's 400 yes men - false prophets - had said: "go ahead into battle." But Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, who often disagreed with Ahab, said otherwise.  Ahab's solution was to put Micaiah under house arrest until he returned from battle. As seen above, Micaiah said: "you won't." The passage goes on to tell us that Ahab disguised himself so as to not be obvious during battle, but he was killed anyway.  He did not return. The people had proof Micaiah spoke for the Lord.  Would they now believe him, and even more so, God? 

Hope for the Worst of Us

 I Kings 21:25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.) 

27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

This chapter begins with the account of Ahab and Jezebel stealing Naboth's vineyard. It was in a sense the last straw, resulting in God pronouncing judgment on Ahab and all his heirs to the throne. Shockingly, after all the things Ahab had done, he humbled himself in repentant action and God gives a "stay" on his punishment.  Finally, Ahab had responded not to fire on the mountain, but words spoken by the Lord May God's Word penetrate hearts in the same way today.

Learning THE Lesson

 I Kings 20:26 In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28 And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” 

We notice here that Ahab is still around, living selfishly and leading Israel astray, even after rejecting God after Elijah's victory over the false prophets and priests of pagan gods.  One might wonder why God would allow him to be victorious in battle after all of this. The key is found in the last phrase. God was giving the victory not because Ahab was so good, but that he would know that God was Lord over all. That has been the point all along. As the passage goes on, we find Ahab still does not get it even after victory over the Syrians. He fails to obey and trust in God.  Have you learned the lesson? He is LORD. 

Deafening Silence

I Kings 18:25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

The best-known account of the Elijah-Ahab era is this one of the show-down between the Most High God and the false gods Ahab had brought into Israel.  The prophets of these false religions were endorsed and well-compensated by Ahab and Jezebel, but when it came down to it, no one answered, no one paid attention.  The True and Living God is personal: He hears; He cares; He answers.  On this occasion, He did so in a big way: especially compared to crickets.