SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 18

ELISHA’S TEARS

THE CHANGING OF THE KINGS

From 2 Kings 8:7-29; 2 Chronicles 21:18; 22:1-7

King Ben-hadad of Syria became sick. Hearing that the prophet Elisha had come to Damascus, his capital city, the king sent Hazael, one of his officials, to him. [Go meet the man of YHVH and take a gift with you,] the king instructed. [Ask Adonai through him if I will get well.] Hazael took forty camel loads of the finest goods of Damascus and went to see Elisha. [Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, has sent me to ask if he will get well.] [Tell him that he will get well,] Elisha replied. [However, you should know that Adonai says he will die.] Elisha looked straight into Hazael’s eyes and kept staring at him until Hazael was ashamed. Then Elisha began to weep. [Why are you weeping, my master?] Hazael asked. [Because I see the evil things you will do to Israel,] the prophet answered. [You will burn their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their children to pieces and rip open their women who are expecting babies.] [What do you think I am, a dog?] Hazael asked. [How could I do such terrible things?] [You will, for Adonai has shown me that you will be the king of Syria,] Elisha answered. When Hazael returned, Ben-hadad asked him what Elisha had said. [He said you will get well,] Hazael told him. But the next day Hazael dipped one of the king’s blankets in water and held it over his face and smothered him to death. Then Hazael became king of Syria as Elisha had said he would. In the meantime, King Jehoram of Judah, Jehoshaphat’s son, was struck with the disease of the intestines as Elijah had predicted. Within two years his intestines fell out because of this sickness and he died in great pain. The people of Judah did not mourn for King Jehoram. The usual great fire to honour a dead king was not made at his funeral. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery. The other records of King Jehoram’s reign are in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Upon his death, his youngest son Ahaziah became the new king of Judah. This happened during the twelfth year of the reign of King Jehoram of Israel, Ahab’s son. Ahaziah was the only surviving son of King Jehoram of Judah, for when the Arabs had attacked years earlier, they had killed all his brothers. He was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, but he was king for only a year, ruling at Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. Ahaziah was a wicked king, following the example set by his grandfather King Ahab of Israel. He followed the advice of his mother Athaliah and other members of Ahab’s family who were his counsellors and they encouraged him to do evil. He followed their advice and was a wicked king. One example of this bad advice was his alliance with King Jehoram of Israel, Ahab’s son, who had gone to war with King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah joined the battle at Ramoth-Gilead, but soon afterward, King Jehoram of Israel was wounded and went home to Jezreel to recuperate. Ahaziah went to Jezreel also to visit Jehoram. This visit resulted in Ahaziah’s downfall, for while he was there, YHVH brought about his punishment for joining Jehoram of Israel. The two kings, Ahaziah of Judah and Jehoram of Israel, met up with Jehu, whom YHVH had anointed to end the wicked dynasty of Ahab.

COMMENTARY

THE TRAVELS OF ELISHA

Elisha began his ministry during the last half of the ninth century B.C. leaving his parents’ farm in the upper Jordan Valley; he trained under Elijah for several years and then served in the northern kingdom for over fifty years. Elisha was not isolated and unpredictable as Elijah often was. Instead, he spent time with people, sharing meals and staying in their homes. He travelled throughout the kingdom on a donkey, visiting villages and the communities called [sons of the prophets.] Elisha’s miracles among these people reflect a deep compassion for the poor and needy. Elisha’s effect on Israel’s political life was equally vital. His work spanned the reign of four kings and took him both south and north of Israel’s borders. Despite this loyalty to Israel, Elisha relentlessly fought against the idol worship of her kings. Obedience to YHVH’s Instructions took him as far north as Damascus, where he appointed the Syrian king who would eventually oppress Israel. A similar mission in Israel brought the downfall of her evil kings and a massacre of the prophets of Baal.