2 Kings 8:1-29 "The Fulfillment of Elisha's Ministry" Tonight we are looking at the fulfillment of Elisha's ministry. Back in 1 King 19 God had said that Elijah should anoint Hazael as king over Syria, Jehu as king over Israel, and Elisha as prophet in his place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Elijah never anointed Hazael or Jehu that work fell to Elisha, who completed the task of Elijah. Elijah's ministry was largely done outside the land: in 1 Kings 17 he is east of the Jordan outside the land; after a brief hit-and-run attack at Mt Carmel, he again flees, this time all the way to Mt Sinai, in 1 Kings 19. Indeed "hit-and-run" is probably the best way to describe Elijah's appearances in Israel. He's the "drive-by" prophet who appears out of nowhere, and promptly disappears into the mist. You never hear of Elijah staying in one place. This wandering, nomadic existence reminds us of Moses, leading Israel in the wilderness. In Elijah, the Word of the LORD is in exile and Elijah is taken up into heaven on the east side of the Jordan again, outside the land. Elisha, on the other hand, will spend nearly his entire ministry in the land. We frequently hear of Elisha dwelling in one place either in Samaria (chapters 2, 5, and 7), or around Mt Carmel (chapter 4), or at the Jordan River or at Dothan (chapter 6). Like Joshua, Elisha's ministry begins on the eastern banks of the Jordan River, but its focus is inside the land. Elijah raises a widow's son from the dead but the widow is a Gentile. When Elisha raises a boy from the dead, it is an Israelite, and when he performs a miracle for a Gentile (Naaman) it is using the Israelite river, rather than the rivers of Damascus. In Elijah, God is trying to provoke Israel to repentance by sending his prophet to the Gentiles. In Elisha, God has given up on Israel as a whole, but is calling the remnant the sons of the prophets to faithfulness in spite of the apostasy of their rulers. Now, let's remember where we are in the book of Kings: the book of Kings starts with the establishment of the house of David; then tells of the division of Israel and the establishment of the northern kingdom; It then tells of the establishment of the house of Omri in Israel (and Elijah) 2 Kings 2 is the transition from Elijah to Elisha Now we are going to hear of the death of the house of Omri (and Elisha); then we are going to hear of the death of the northern kingdom of Israel and finally we will hear of the death of the house of David except unlike the rest of the death and destruction in the book of Kings, the house of David will not be utterly destroyed. Kings will end with hope. The Temple will be destroyed. The Kingship obliterated. The People exiled. The Land overrun by foreigners. Everything that Israel had trusted will fail. And yet the gospel according to Kings proclaims a message of hope that beyond the grave beyond the destruction of all their false hopes lies a resurrection from the dead. 1. Jehoram and the Resurrection of Israel (8:1-6) We are reminded of this in verses 1-6 of chapter 8. We saw in chapter 4 that the Shunammite woman was a picture of barren Israel. By the life-giving word of the prophet she conceives and bears a son, but then the son dies and it is only through the word and touch of the prophet that her son is restored to life. Now we hear that before the famine of chapter 6, Elisha had said to this woman, Arise and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years. A seven year famine had forced Jacob (whose name was also Israel) into Egypt. Now a seven year famine forces this woman who symbolizes Israel into Philistia. Now after those seven years of exile from the land, she returns to the land. Of course, this is not just pointing backwards to Israel in Egypt! It also points forwards to the 70 years of exile that is coming. If she is a symbol of hope that what happened to her son will happen to Israel then what will happen when she comes to the land? Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done. And it so happened that as Gehazi was telling about how Elisha had raised her son from the dead, the Shunammite woman came to the king to appeal for the restoration of her land. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, Restore all that was hers, together with the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now. Just as God brought Israel into the land by the hand of Joshua, so also God now restores the faithful Shunammite woman's land by the hand of Elisha, which means that you may have confidence that God will restore his people's inheritance in Jesus. I'd like to call your attention to three things. First, Gehazi is still Elisha's servant. He is now a leper. (While it is always possible that Kings tells stories out of order, this one almost certainly must be towards the end of Jehoram's reign. Elijah was still on earth when Jehoram became king, but was taken up shortly thereafter (1:17). Jehoram only reigned for 12 years, and we have to have time for the Shunammite to conceive and bear a son (one year), for the child to grow up (say 4 years), and for the seven year famine. That's already 12 years. So chapter 8:1-6 is certainly at the end of Jehoram's reign.) While Gehazi's sin had consequences the leprosy of Naaman would cling to his house forever Elisha did not therefore cast him out. Gehazi the leper is still Elisha's servant. Has God ever made you "pay" for your sins? Please understand the distinction between "consequences" and "casting out." You may see consequences for your sin; but God will never cast out those who repent of their sins and cling to him. But second, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, is talking with a leper. In the last episode Jehoram was ready to cut off Elisha's head, but here he is respectful to Elisha, honoring the prophet and his mighty deeds even allowing a leper into his presence because he is the servant of the man of God. And third, I cannot refrain from pointing out that it was at the end of seven years that she returned. It was not during the seventh year. The seventh year was the sabbatical year. It was at the end of the seventh year. Her exile was a seven year exile. It is only at the beginning of the eighth year that she returns to the land. And when she comes, the king restores not only the land, but also her lost harvests (perhaps not much given that it was a famine era!). But the point is that the king does far more than she ever asked or imagined. He restores the years that the famine had eaten. After the week of famine, the Lord brings a day of plenty. As we will see next Sunday morning, it is on the eighth day the day after the Sabbath of the old creation, the first day of the new creation that our Lord Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. It is on the eighth day that our Lord Jesus Christ broke bread with his disciples Remember that! Jesus has come to restore us to fellowship at his table. And so you may have confidence that whatever loss you suffer for the sake of Christ, he will restore far more than you ever lose! But that leads me to ask, when was the last time that you lost anything for the sake of Christ? When was the last time that you denied yourself? Denying yourself for the sake of Christ may mean not getting something you want, so that you can serve him more with your time, your money, your energy. Especially as we approach Christmas the season of "getting"-- I would ask you to consider how you can serve Christ self-sacrificially. 2. Elisha and the Rise of Hazael (8:7-15) But, at just the moment when Jehoram appears to be trusting in the LORD's prophet, the very next thing Elisha does is go to Damascus the capital of Syria in order to raise up Hazael against Israel! And then Elisha will send one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu to slaughter Ahab's house. As Peter Leithart puts it, "This is jarring. . . . Just when the Omride dynasty is looking good, Yahweh releases the avenger." (We'll see the same thing at the end of the book, when the glorious reign of Josiah is too little, too late.) Jehoram is the best of the house of Ahab, but that's not really saying much. His restoration of the Shunammite woman's land, is simply "too little, too late." So Elisha goes to Damascus. Ben-Hadad had earlier tried to capture him. Now Elisha walks right into the city and announces that he has come. But now Ben-Hadad is sick. As usual the sickness of a king demonstrates that there is a problem in his kingdom. But when Ben-Hadad hears that Elisha has come, he says to Hazael, his trusted servant, Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of Yahweh through him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?' It is not really that remarkable that Ben-Hadad wants to inquire of Yahweh. After all, Yahweh has repeatedly defeated him in battle, so as a polytheist, he would have a healthy respect for Israel's god. But this is not a confession of faith. Nonetheless, it stands in stark contrast to 2 Kings 1, where Ahab's sick son, Ahaziah, sent to inquire of Baal-zebub! At least the king of Syria inquires of the god of Israel! So Hazael went to meet him with 40 camel loads of goods and stood before Elisha and calls Ben-hadad Elisha's son once again attesting to Elisha's power. Even the king of Syria acknowledges that Elisha is the dominant figure in the region! But Elisha says, Go, say to him, You shall certainly recover, but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die. And he fixed his gaze and stared at him until he was embarrassed. Has anyone ever done that to you? In the middle of a conversation, just fixed you with his eye, and stared at you in silence? It is very disconcerting! And the man of God wept. 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. These were some of the things that Moses had prophesied would happen to rebellious Israel in Deuteronomy 28. 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. This is the first time that one of Israel's prophets has been sent to establish a Gentile king. 1 Kings 19 even uses the word "anoint" (though here in chapter 8 there is no oil involved). And as Elisha speaks, so Hazael does. The Word of the LORD is powerful. It rules over both Israel and the Gentiles. But even as Elisha prophesies and indeed encourages the rise of Hazael, Elisha also weeps for Israel. Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, even as he prophesied its destruction, so also did Elisha. In Jesus Christ, we are all prophets. And we are called to speak of the coming judgment that Jesus is bringing against all the earth. If we would be true disciples of our master, then let us learn to weep over the destruction of the wicked! 3. How the House of David Came under the Curse of Ahab (8:16-29) We've been talking about the northern kingdom of Israel for the last 16 chapters. Chapter 8, verses 16-29 then give us a brief interlude, explaining what was going on in Judah. We are back to the "boring" repetitious pattern: in the nth year of so-and-so, the son of such-and-such, king of that place, the other so-and-so, the son of the other such-and-such, became king of the other place; etc. Do you remember why these parts of Kings are boring? Because sin is boring! Rebellion against God is not fun and interesting. Sin leads to death. How much fun is that? But this Judaic interlude is not just here for the fun of it (or lack thereof!). You need to know verses 16-29 if you are going to understand what comes next. Because what comes next is the annihilation of the house of Ahab, and the house of David is nearly destroyed at the same time. And the reason for that is revealed in verses 16-29 of chapter 8. Remember Jehoshaphat? The king of Judah during the days of Ahab? He was a good and faithful king of Judah, who sought to reunite the northern and southern kingdoms. He was a promoter of ecumenicity, you might say! The problem was not his goal, but his methods. In those days the way to unite two kingdoms was through marriage. So Jehoshaphat took a daughter of Ahab and gave her to his son, Jehoram. (And yes, Jehoram of Judah has the same name as Ahab's son Jehoram). (And yes, Ahaziah of Judah has the same name as Ahab's son Ahaziah). The two kingdoms are becoming indistinguishable. Judah is becoming like Israel. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. This is an ominous statement, because God's curse is upon the house of Ahab, and by marrying into the house of Ahab, the house of David has brought itself into jeopardy. Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. Yes, God's curse is upon the house of Ahab, but his blessing is upon the house of David. What happens when God's curse and God's blessing meet? As Paul puts it in Galatians, the promise comes first. God will keep his promises and even his curses will work toward the end of fulfilling his oath. The only episode worth noting in the 8-year reign of Jehoram of Judah is the revolt of Edom. When Israel rebelled against God, God started removing territory from Israel think of the rebellion of Moab in chapter 3. Now Judah is acting like Israel, and so God is removing territory from Judah. And the rebellion of Edom sounds eerily like the rebellion of Moab. Jehoram of Judah strikes Edom, like Jehoram of Israel struck Moab, but in the end, Judah runs away leaving Edom free. After the death of Jehoram of Judah, his son Ahaziah takes the throne. He reigned for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel; we'll hear more about her later! But Ahaziah also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. Judah has become like Israel. The house of David has become like the house of Ahab Brothers and sisters, you who have been united to the son of David! Do not be conformed to the house of Ahab! And remember that Ahab is not a pagan. Ahab is an Israelite he is a circumcised member of the people of God. In modern parlance, he is a Christian. Remember that Acts 11:26 is the only occurrence of the word "Christian" in the Bible, and it refers simply to the community of disciples. "Christians" are those who are baptized and are part of the church. Many Christians in America have fallen prey to worldliness. We love the things of this world. Our eyes (and our hearts) are focused on our own agendas for life. 1 John 2:15-17 warns, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." John could have been talking about how the anointed house of David was falling prey to the anti-Christ house of Ahab. After all, it is in the very next verse that John warns that antichrists are coming and have come. The whole point that John is making about antichrists is that they arise within the church. Do not love the world or the things in the world. Notice how John defines the things in this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He is not talking about creation. He is talking about the desires of the flesh. He is talking about the principles of this world. The principles of this world call you to seek your own kingdom your own goals your own desires.