Laid Bare



1 Kings 19:15
And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

2 Kings 8:7-15
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 Lord has 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.

One of the marching orders God had given Elijah after his run to Mt. Sinai was to anoint Hazael king over Aram (Syria). While Elijah did not complete this task before his death, Elisha did. In God’s eyes, the protégé doing the job was the same as Elijah doing it. In today’s reading we see the completion of that assignment. But man, it is a weird story!

Ben-Hadad (King of Aram [Syria]) has fallen ill and is terrified that he might die. Hearing that Elisha is passing through the area, he sends Hazael (one of his commanders) to ask Elisha if he will survive. While the answer to the questions is a resounding “Yes, he will survive the illness” is good news, the truth is Ben-Hadad will die at the hands of Hazael who will be the next king; and he will be a cruel and violent king. Of course, Hazael is shamed by the fact that his plans have been revealed to Elisha (by God) but not so shamed that he doesn’t follow through with the murderous plot. It is important to remember these are not God’s people. Here we see that God is in control of ALL nations, not just Israel and Judah. While this story is a bit unusual, it points to the truth that God knows all, sees all, and is in control of all things. This isn’t new news for us today, but we can never tire of the reminder.

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