What I Noticed Today (2 Kings 5-8)
2 Kings 5
2 Kings 5 recounts the healing of Naaman’s leprosy and the greed of Elisha’s assistant Gehazi.
In verses 1-19, Naaman was the commander of the Syrian (Aramean) army. The king of Aram (Syria) sought treatment for him by sending him to the king of Israel.
Note: The king of Aram at this time was Ben-hadad II. He reigned 19 years from 860-841 B.C.
- Joram was upset when he read the letter from Beh-hadad thinking he was trying to pick a fight.
- When Elisha heard of the man, he had Naaman brought to him and told him to dip himself in the Jordan river seven times (the Jordan River was about 25 miles away).
- Reluctant at first, Naaman’s servants convinced him to follow Elisha’s instructions, and when he did, he was healed.
- Naaman tried to pay Elisha for being healed, but Elisha refused (healing from God is by grace, it is not for sale).
- Naaman returned to Elisha completely healed, restored, and joyful proclaiming his belief in God (Yahweh).
Note: It is interesting that God chose to heal an Aramean, a pagan, of leprosy. Perhaps it was an indication of the extent of the apostasy that existed in Israel.
In verses 19b-27, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant chased after Naaman and lied to him saying that Elisha had changed his mind about being paid.
- Naaman made the payment of 75 pounds of silver and two changes of clothes.
- When Gehazi returned, Elisha wanted to know where he had been.
- Gehazi lied to Elisha, but Elisha knew and called him on the lie.
- Elisha cursed Gehazi with leprosy for trying to enrich himself, for lying, and for misrepresenting God.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- These miracles demonstrate God’s power and willingness to help all kinds of people from all kinds of situations.
- What is also eminently clear is that we cannot represent ourselves as doing God’s work while lying and deceiving as though we will not be found out. God knows the conditions of our hearts, and He sees everything.
2 Kings 6
2 Kings 6 opens with Elisha’s miracle of recovering the ax head that had fallen into the river.
- The sons of the [prophets came to Elisha and said the place where they lived was too small. They asked permission to go to the Jordan River and get logs in order to build a place to live.
- Elisha gave them permission and went with them.
- While one of the men was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the river.
- Elisha threw a stick into the river at the place where the ax head fell. The ax head floated to the surface and was retrieved.
Note: No doubt this miracle was a great encouragement to the young prophets with Elisha. It demonstrated God’s willingness to provide for His people even though many of the Israelites had turned away and were worshipping Baal.
In verses 8-33, the king of Syria (some translations say “Aramean” which is a more literal rendering of the Hebrew ‘aram’) was warring against Israel.
Note: The section from 2 Kings 6:8-8:15 reveals God’s continued interest in the political sphere.
- Israel had escaped his grasp several times because Elisha gave advice to the king of Israel.
- This enraged the king of Aram (probably Ben-hadad II) learned he was in Dotham, so he assembled his army and surrounded the city.
- Elisha’ servant went out early in the morning, saw the army and reported it to Elisha.
- Elisha prayed for the Lord to blind the Syrian army and led them to Samaria where their vision was restored. Joram, the king of the Israelites, asked if he should kill the prisoners, but Elisha said no.
- The Israelites fed their enemies and released them. Because of this, the Syrians stopped tried to invade Israel.
In verses 24-33, sometime later Ben-hadad, the king of Syria laid siege to Samaria, causing a severe famine.
- The famine was so severe that two women agreed to eat each other’s babies. They ate one woman’s baby one day, but the second woman hid her baby. The second woman complained to the king.
- The king tore his clothes and swore an oath against Elisha, promising to kill him.
Note: The king was wearing sackcloth and had torn his clothes as a sign of mourning/repentance, but then he swore an oath against Elisha, God’s prophet. It seems he blamed God for their predicament, and had not yet truly repented.
2 Kings 7
Elisha predicted that the siege out would be over and the famine would end the next day.
- Four lepers who thought they were about to die decided to surrender to the Syrians in hopes that the Syrians would spare their lives.
- But as they got to the Syrian camp, they found it empty because God had miraculously caused the Syrians to retreat, leaving everything behind.
- The lepers went back to the king to give him the news of the Syrian retreat.
- The people of Samaria went out and plundered the Syrian camp.
- The siege and the famine ended just as Elisha had prophesied.
2 Kings 8
2 Kings 8 continues the story of the Shunammite woman Elisha had helped (1 Kings 4).
In verses 1-6, Elisha warned the Shunammite woman of a coming seven-year famine and told her to move away, so she went to live in the land of the Philistines.
- When she returned, the king found out about her from hearing the stories of Elisha’s miracles.
- The king ordered her property, and all the income from the property returned to her.
In verses 7-15, Ben-hadad, king of Syria was sick, and he called for Elisha to tell him whether he would recover or not.
- Elisha was in Damascus (capital of Syria) when Ben-hadad fell ill.
- Ben-hadad sent his servant Hazael with 40 camels loads of gifts to ask Elisha if he would recover.
- Elisha told Hazael, the messenger, that the king would recover but that he would die.
- Elisha prophesied that Hazael would do great evil to the people of Israel, burning their cities and killing the people.
- The very next day, Hazael went in to the king and smothered him with a wet towel. Hazael became king of Syria.
In verses 16-24, in the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram, Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of Judah (848-841 B.C).
- Jehoram was an evil king, but the Lord would not destroy Judah because of the promise He made to David.
- Jehoram had married Athaliah (daughter of Ahab) to make a treaty with Ahab.
- Edom rebelled against Judah’s control and appointed their own king.
- Jehoram died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaziah became king.
In verses 25-29, in the twelfth year of King Joram of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.
Note: Don’t confuse the two kings named Ahaziah. One was king in Israel; the other was king in Judah. They both only reigned for a year but not at the same time.
- Ahaziah was also an evil king walking in the ways of Ahab.
- He ruled in Jerusalem for only one year (841 B.C.).
- His mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri.
- Ahaziah aligned with Joram (his uncle) in a battle against Hazael, king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead.
- Joram was wounded and returned to Jezreel.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- The story of the Shunammite woman is a great encouragement to me. God miraculously provided for her, restored her son, and restored her property. Despite the trials that she endured, she was faithful to God and kind to God’s prophet Elisha. Romans 8:28 is certainly true of the Shunammite woman.
- It is surprising to me that through all these miracles and especially with the king of Israel being helped by God in his wars with the Syrians, the people did not recognize God’s hand. Their hearts were hardened, and they did not repent and return to God even though God continued to watch out for them.
