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2 Kings 8 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The pattern of Elisha’s service to the Lord consistently reflects the act of leading others to a spiritual mind. There was the birth and healing of the Shunammite woman’s son, the enlightening of his servant’s eyes to the army of the Lord, and now we come to Chapter 8.
The king of Aram, Ben-hadad, was sick. He sent Hazael (an official) with a gift to ask Elisha to inquire from the Lord if he would get well again. Hazael arrives and asks Elisha what will happen with the king.
Elisha answered, “The LORD has revealed to me that he will die; but go to him and tell him that he will recover.” 11 Then Elisha stared at him with a horrified look on his face until Hazael became ill at ease. Suddenly Elisha burst into tears. 12 “Why are you crying, sir?” Hazael asked. “Because I know the horrible things you will do against the people of Israel,” Elisha answered. “You will set their fortresses on fire, slaughter their finest young men, batter their children to death, and rip open their pregnant women.”
2 Kings 8:10-12 GNB
Had Hazael already planned this assassination and now was playing dumb? We can’t know for sure. However, we do know that Hazael was not forced to kill the king. If he was truly shocked by Elisha’s words, he should have done some soul searching as to why such a harsh word was spoken over him. The shame and embarrassment that Elisha saw in Hazael prove that the thoughts he was entertaining were sinful. This also demonstrates that his heart was not too calloused to repent from this evil plan!
“The prophet gazed long and fixedly into the eyes of Hazael. It would seem that he saw far more in the soul of the man than any other had seen, perhaps more than the man himself was conscious of.”
G. Campbell Morgan
The truth is, Jesus does this every day. He looks into our hearts and minds and knows the evil we are plotting. He knows more than we are conscious of. I imagine Elisha would have found a way to stop Hazael if he could have, but he wept instead. Jesus could have forcefully stopped us, but He chose to die instead. He knew the evil we would commit before we acted and He took responsibility for the thoughts and actions of His beloved children. This is what makes His grace so amazing.