Almighty God, I come before you with thanksgiving and praise. Teach me more of your truth today and show me how I can better serve you.
Read 2 KINGS 8
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Shunammite’s Land Restored
8 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad
7 Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” 8 he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’ Nevertheless,[a] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God began to weep.
12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.
“Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?”
“The Lord has shown me that you will become king of Aram,” answered Elisha.
14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram King of Judah
16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 21 So Jehoram[b] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah King of Judah
25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[c] in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
- 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
- 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
God is our refuge and surrounds us with his everlasting arms.1 There is no one like him.
Think Further
The summarized account of the kings at the end of the chapter makes clear that the Judahite kings who did evil were related through marriage to the notoriously wicked Israelite king, Ahab. The pointed implication seems to be that one is influenced by one’s associates. It is worth remembering that the united monarchy of Israel had split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah by this point.
The king of Aram, Ben-Hadad, acts as the king of Israel should have behaved in the first chapter of the book, for he sends Hazael to consult the Lord through Elisha. The contrast is marked: the king of God’s nation went to a foreign god to see if he would recover, whereas the king of the foreign nation went to the Lord. Did Ben-Hadad realize, after he and his army fled, that God caused them to hear the sound of an army in order to rescue Israel? Tragically, Hazael, who has served the powerful, is corrupted by power himself to the extent of murder. He will deal with Israel no less ruthlessly than he dealt with his own king.
In the midst of political wrangling at the level of kings, God, through his man Elisha, has his hand of protection on the woman. Having been protected from the famine, she gets her land back on her return, with ease, thanks to the impeccable timing. One imagines that she would have approached the king with some trepidation and may well have anxiously run over the scenario and the likely conversations in her mind. Yet, all went smoothly – owing to Gehazi, the king was already thinking about her. It is a reminder that believers are in God’s hands and he can chart us safe passage through the storms.
Apply
Whichever country you live in and whatever political regime you live under, remember that God is in control. Take a moment to reflect on this and take encouragement.
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for my country. I lift up its leaders; work in them and through them to bring forward your justice and mercy, not only here, but throughout the world.
Last Updated on October 9, 2024 by kingstar
