1 & 2 Kings

2 Kings Chapter 8

The Shunammite's Land Restored

2Kings 8:1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.

Seven years previous to this time in the story, the Shunammite was told by Elisha to leave her home taking her family with her. She was to go into the land of the Philistines for seven years until the famine was past. At the end of seven years she had to go to the king to get her land back.

2Kings 8:4 And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

This king was interested in finding all about Elisha from Elisha's servant. If all the kings had done this they might not have had any famines. He wanted to know all the things Elisha did. When he found out about the Shuammite woman and her loss of land, he appointed an officer to restore all that she and her family had previously owned. He even had the fruits of the field restored to her. Evidently the fear of God was there in a measure at least for the king to have done that. This reminds me of King Saul who had his good moments until jealousy and fear caused him to depart from God's ways a few times.

This woman's safety and restoration of her land began when she and her husband prepared a place for Elisha to have refreshment in his travels. She even had her husband build a room onto her home for him to stay in when he passed by. Because of all this, she was blessed by escaping during the famine and having her land restored when she returned. Her kindness to a man of God was rewarded. No one guilted her into doing this. It was something she did from her own compassion. Yet she went through a trial of faith when her son died. However, that turned out good when she sought out Elisha to help.

In the days before Jesus Christ came and brought the way of salvation to us, people usually had to seek out prophets and those that gave their lives to the service of God. Now our duty is to spread the gospel and usher in the way for all who believe to be able to pray and seek God for themselves. The door is open through faith in Jesus for all to believe and receive from God what Jesus paid for with His own life.

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

2Kings 8:7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.
8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

Many of the kings lived how they wanted to live but when they got in trouble sometimes they would seek out the real prophets who knew the real God. I think deep down they knew the idols and false gods could not do a thing but they still used false religion to control the people with fear. Elisha by this time had a reputation of being a true prophet and that is the one Benhadad sought to give him answers. His trust in Hazael was a mistake though.

2Kings 8:9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

Not all prophecies are good and the prophets prophecy bad but they really do not want to speak the things they have to speak. I often wonder how those that were faithful to God must have mourned and wept for their nation.

I've shed many tears over my own nation and how they as a nation have departed from God. It started back in the 1960's and maybe even before that when God was kicked out of the public schools in the name of freedom but schools ended up allowing anything to enter into the schools except Jesus who is considered unconstitutional. Ever since then education has went down hill fast.

They are now into gender identity craziness. Only a decade passed before abortion was legalized starting out in only the 1st trimester but slowly deception and evil over the years ended up with abortion being legal up to just before and even after the birth of the child. This is murder the same as killing a 4 year old. Where are we going to draw the line?

Evolution is taught instead of the creation even though evidence shows us that we have a creator. There is evidence of a world wide flood also. They do not dare teach this in school even though they know things that was once considered true science has been found to be flawed. There is a saying, "Trust the science," but science keeps changing over the years. If they are honest and sincere, they will admit that we didn't evolve by accident over millions of years.

2Kings 8:12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

We see the heart of Elisha here. He didn't enjoy prophesying bad upon his nation. He knew what was coming because of the sins of his own nation. A true prophet will not always enjoy his prophesies but he has to tell the truth.

2Kings 8:13 And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.
15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.

The prophesy comes to pass. Hazael had a chance to repent and ask Elisha to prevent this disaster but the thought of being king was too much of a temptation. He even murdered as many have done in the past to bring it about. This part is my speculation. I'm thinking he could have refused to do this and begged Elisha to pray for him and have God change his heart. Jonah's prophesy was changed because Niniveh repented, so why not Hazael?

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

2Kings 8:16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

It is so important to marry those that are righteous and have the fear of the Lord. Evil passes from generation to generation if something does not intervene in the children's lives to stop the process. Sometimes we rejoice when one does find the Lord and it has happened many times but most of the time they continue the way they were taught.

2Kings 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.

God keeps His promises to David as well as to Abraham. Israel will still survive and be saved in the long run. We must not ever forget that and assume God is done with Israel. This is a mistake some who called themselves a church has made many times. The true Church that knows God's word taken in context will never teach replacement theology which is the false teaching that the church replaces Israel and we become some kind of spiritual Israel. No. Through Jesus we may become adopted into the promises of Israel but we never replace them. Paul says not to be highminded but fear.

Romans chapter 14 makes this clear. I will share only a few verses out of Romans 14:

Romans 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Israel disappeared as a nation in 70 AD but was made into a nation again in 1948. The church might have had an excuse to believe they replaced Israel before 1948 but not now. There were only a few of those that really studied the bible thoroughly that understood this in the past. Some living before 1948 could easily have known that Israel would become a nation again if they studied the scriptures in context and allowed the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the truth of the word of God.

2Kings 8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.
21 So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.
22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

This trouble with Edom arose because Israel departed from God. Under King David, Edom was subdued. Now they rebelled and wars started again.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

2Kings 8:25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
26 Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

Omi wasn't her direct father but inserted as a person of importance perhaps. Like some are called the son of David when David was not the direct father but an ancestor. This is what I got from other bible scholars. Actually Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She was very wicked as her mother was.

2Kings 8:27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.

Athaliah influenced him like Jezebel influenced Ahab. It is sad indeed to read about these kings who knew better because of having had the law and the prophets for centuries. They didn't have to serve useless idols. Looks as if they wanted a religion that allowed them to sin and get away with evil.

2Kings 8:28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

The war with Syria was renewed but caused Joram to become wounded. It won't be long that the prophesy concerning the whole house of Ahab was to come to pass. I repeat over and over again. No one gets by with evil; for they might hide for a while but God sees all. He is a merciful God and gives these kings chances to repent but in the end if they continue in their own ways, they are brought down. DC

2 Kings Chapter 9