Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. ‘Oh no, my lord!’ he cried out. ‘It was borrowed!’
The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?”
“Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body. He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

• 2 Kings 6:1-33

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”
“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.
The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”
One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”
So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.
Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

• 2 Kings 7:1-20

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.” 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.
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. 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.” 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.” 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.”
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,” 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?’”
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?’”
Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’ Nevertheless, the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God began to weep.
“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.”
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.
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.” 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.
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. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 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. 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.
In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. So Jehoram 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. To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
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? Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 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. 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.
Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth 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.

• 2 Kings 8:1-29

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

2 Kings 6:1 ‘place where we dwell’: ”Some have understood the term ‘dwell’ in the sense of ‘live.’ This leads to the conclusion that the sons of the prophets, those specially instructed by Elisha, lived together in a communal setting. However, the term ‘dwell’ can also be understood as ‘sit before.’ The term is used this way of David sitting before the Lord in worship (2 Sam. 7:18) and the elders sitting before Ezekiel to hear his advice (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1). Thus, the ‘place’ here refers to a dormitory where Elisha also instructed the sons of the prophets. The growing number of men who wished to be taught led to the need for a larger building.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 6:4 ‘Jordan … trees’: “The Jordan Valley had mostly smaller kinds of trees, e.g., willow, tamarisk, and acacia that did not give heavy lumber. The resulting structure would be a humble, simple building.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 6:6 ‘made the iron float’: ”Elisha threw a stick in the river at the exact spot where the ax head entered, and the stick caused the heavy iron object to float to the surface. Through this miracle, the Lord again provided for one who was faithful to Him.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 6:8-23 ‘The Lord’s Protection of Elisha’: “Elisha prophetically warns Israel’s king to avoid a series of ambushes planned by the Aramean army (6:8-10). Enraged at the unexpected foiling of his plans, Aram’s king demands of his men the identity of the traitor in their midst who had obviously passed along classified information to the enemy camp (verse 11). He was informed that it was not a spy, but Elisha, who had so frustrated his goal (6:12).
“Enraged, the king of Aram sends an impressive army to capture the prophet. In the morning, when Elisha’s servant sees they are surrounded by the Aramean army, he panics. Elisha answers, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them’ (6:16). The servant then sees the supernatural forces the Lord had arrayed to protect them. The prophet then prays that the Aramean army would be struck with blindness. Elisha then leads the blinded foreign army into the heart of Samaria. There, the Lord restores the Arameans’ vision, and they realize chat Elisha has led them into the presence of Israel’s king. Instead of execution, Elisha counsels mercy, instructing the king of Israel to feed the now-humbled army and send them home. Apparently a sufficient impression had been made, for these particular Aramean marauders troubled Israel no more (verse 23).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 6:13 ‘get him’: “The king of Syria’s plan was to capture Elisha, who knew all his secrets (v. 12), so that no matter how great Elisha’s knowledge might be, he would not be free to inform Israel’s king. Dothan. A town in the hill country of Manasseh located about 10 mi. N of Samaria and 12 mi. S of Jezreel. Dothan commanded a key mountain pass along a main road that connected Damascus and Egypt (cf. Gen. 37:17).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 6:17 ‘Christians see beyond the visible’: “The believer in Christ sees much more than any other. A proverb says, ‘Seeing is believing,’ but that is not true. We see many things that, if we are sensible persons, we do not believe since our eyes are apt to be deceived, and optical illusions are common. If we turn the proverb around and say, ‘Believing is seeing,’ we will often find it true. The one who has believed has ‘the proof of what is not seen’ (Heb 11: 1 ). He is like Moses who ‘by faith … persevered as one who sees him who is invisible’ (Heb 11:27). Faith is like new eyes-eyes with a far wider range of vision than natural eyes ever have-eyes that see the truths of God, which natural eyes often do not-eyes that do not grow dim but that, as age increases, grow yet more bright and see farther. Blessed is the one who has the eyesight of faith. Elisha had it and, therefore, when he saw the armies of Syria, with their horses and chariots surrounding the city of Dothan, he also saw the angelic armies with their horses and chariots of fire that God had sent to guard him from the Syrians. “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

2 Kings 6:17 ‘Why do we not trust God?’: “Are we so absorbed with worldly affairs that we do not enjoy God’s promised blessings as we should-right now? Why are we not trusting God to let us inspire one another as we sense the presence of these good, invisible gifts? They are the things that are ours in Christ now because we are part of the body of Christ. Oh, for the spiritual insight and godly trust of an Elisha!
“Remember that Elisha, the prophet in a day long past, lived so close to God that he was able to tell Israel what their great foe, Aram, was doing. The king of Aram inquired of his forces if there was a spy in the ranks. His own-people gave him this answer: ‘But Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber’ (2 Kings 6:12). So the king ‘sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host’ (6:14) to surround Dothan, Elisha’s city.
“The next morning, Elisha’s young assistant came rushing in, pale-faced and trembling, to report the military build-up. ‘Alas, my master! How shall we do?’ he cried (6:15). But the old prophet just bowed his shaggy head in reverent prayer: ‘LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’
“And God answered the prophet’s prayer. God opened the young man’s eyes and let him see the true situation. God showed him the presence of the heavenly host between the city and the enemy forces. The young man saw that ‘the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.’
“As the enemy troops advanced, Elisha prayed again. ‘Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness’ (6:18) God did so, and Elisha himself led the confused and blinded troops to Samaria and to Israel’s king.
“The story ends as well as any in the whole Old Testament. When the king asked Elisha if he should kill the Aramean prisoners, Elisha intervened. ‘Thou shalt not smite them … set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master’ (6:22). And that is just what they did. The Bible record concludes with great significance: ‘So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel’ (6:23).”

• A. W. Tozer, Jesus, Author of our Faith

2 Kings 6:24-7:2 ‘Elisha Predicts Relief’: “During a time of severe famine, Elisha predicts famine relief within the next 24 hours. The officer of Israel’s king, one of the men to whom this prophecy is addressed, scoffs at Elisha’s prophecy. Elisha responds with a prophetic addition to the message: The disdaining unbeliever would be dead within 24 hours and would completely miss experiencing the famine relief. The famine miraculously concludes the following day when the people of Israel realize that the Aramean army had left food in their camp. In their frantic hunger-fueled haste, the mob stampedes through the city gate, in the process fatally trampling the cynical officer of the king, who, as Elisha had predicted failed to enjoy the respite from famine (7:16-20).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 6:24-31 ‘’: “Eventually, King Ben-Hadad of Aram invaded the northern kingdom again and laid siege to Samaria (6:24). Things got so bad that the city was cut off from the outside world and disintegrated into the horrors of cannibalism. One day, as the king walked on the city wall, a woman told him an appalling tale of feeding on her own son for survival (6:25-29). The Lord had warned Israel that such tragedies would befall them if they rejected him as their King (see Deut 28:53-57). Yet, instead of crying out to the Lord in repentance and pleading for salvation at such news, the king breathed murderous threats against Elisha (6:31).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 6:25 ‘a donkey’s head … eighty shekels of silver’: “The siege resulted in a terrible famine gripping the city of Samaria. This ignominious body part of an unclean animal (Lev. 11:2–7; Deut. 14:4–8) sold at an overvalued price of about two lbs. of silver. dove droppings … five shekels of silver. ‘Dove droppings’ was either a nickname for some small pea or root, or literal dung to be used as fuel or food in the desperate situation. Approximately one pt. cost about two oz. of silver.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 7:2 ‘God cannot lie, thus if He promises punishment, it will come’: “The people of Samaria had cast off their allegiance to Jehovah and worshiped other gods. Therefore, according to his solemn threats, the Lord visited them with severe judgments. They were so blockaded by Syrian armies that food could not get to them, and in their hunger they devoured human flesh and the most abominable fare. They could not open the city gates, for they knew the adversary would ransack the city and put them all to the sword. Therefore, they remained cooped up within the city walls to perish. In their dire extremity the Lord had mercy on them and remembered that they were the children of Israel, the seed of Abraham, his friend. Therefore, he would not utterly destroy them but gave them space for repentance. He turned an eye of pity on the famished thousands and promised them relief from the severe famine that had wasted them. The Lord our God is rich in mercy. Sin must be multiplied exceedingly before his long-suffering ceases. Judgment is his strange work; he is always ready with his mercy. He waits to be gracious, yes, but he is slow-footed in punishment. He pauses by the way and deliberates, and before he deals a blow, he often argues with himself and cries, ‘How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel?’ (Hs 11:8). He is a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in mercy. Yet in response to his mercy, they did not lift up a single word of praise. The only response was a prideful, sneering, contemptuous, unbelieving utterance­ base ingratitude for such great mercy. The Lord has a speedy answer to the unbelief that dares defy him: ‘You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.’ If anyone calls God a liar, he will, before long, have sufficient proof in his own person that God’s threats do not lie. “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

2 Kings 7:3 ‘leprous men’: “The account of these lepers is used to tell of the siege’s end and the provisions for Samaria (vv. 3-11). at the entrance of the gate. In the area immediately outside the city gate, 4 lepers lived, shut out of Samaria because of their disease (Lev. 13:46; Num. 5:3). The lepers knew that living in Samaria, whether just outside or inside the gate, offered them nothing but death.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 7:6 ‘The Hittites and … Egyptians’: “Sometime before the arrival of the lepers, the Lord had made the Syrians hear the terrifying sound of a huge army approaching. They thought the Israelite king had hired two massive foreign armies to attack them. The Hittites were descendants of the once-great Hittite empire who lived in small groups across northern Syria (see … 1 Kin. 10:29). Egypt was in decline at this time, but its army would still have represented a great danger to the Syrians.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 7:8-11 ‘even unclean lepers have a conscience’: “The diseased men had a feast and started hauling off the loot when they suddenly had a pang of conscience (7:8). They realized they had to share this good news with their fellow Israelites. If they didn’t, they knew punishment [would] catch up with [them](7:9). So, they ran back to the city and reported what they had found (no-11).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 7:12 ‘what the Syrians have done to us’: “Jehoram greeted the report from the lepers with great suspicion. He thought that the Syrians were feigning the pull back to appear defeated, in order to lure the Israelites out of Samaria for a surprise attack on them to gain entrance into the city. However, vv. 13-15 describe how the leper’s report was confirmed.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 7:14-20 ‘Arameans abandoned their posts’: “When the messengers investigated, they found that the Arameans had truly abandoned everything-clothes and equipment (7:14-15). And soon, in their mad stampede for food, the starving people of Samaria rushed toward the spoils and trampled the king’s right-hand man, who had been put in charge of the city gate. Therefore, he died just as Elisha, the man of God, had predicted (7:16-20; see 7:2).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:1 ‘Prediction of Seven-Year Famine’: “In 2 Kings chapter 8, Elisha successfully predicts a seven-year period of famine over Israel (verse 1).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 8:4-6 ‘Was Gehazi one of the four lepers?’: “In God’s providence, the king of Israel was asking Gehazi, Elisha’s attendant, to tell him all the great things Elisha has done (8:4), just as the woman walked in to ask the king to have her property restored. Having just told her tale, Gehazi was able to inform the king that this was the very woman and son whom Elisha had restored to life. The king thus returned to the woman her house and field, as well as the income her field had generated while she was gone (8:5-6). Obviously; the timing of this encounter happened not by chance, but by divine intervention. There are no chance encounters in your life either: ‘A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps’ (Prov 16:9).
“You may wonder what Gehazi was doing in the presence of the king in light of the judgment God placed on him and his progeny for his greed (see 5:20-27). One answer is that he must have been restored due to passing a retest God gave him to redeem himself. Sometimes, God gives us retests in order to offer new opportunities to reverse the consequences of our sin.
“I think it’s likely that Gehazi was one of the diseased men in 7:3-11. If so, as one of these lepers who went into the Aramean camp, he said it would not be good to selfishly consume the bounty in secret (7:9)-which is an offense not unlike the deed that brought about his leprosy in the first place. From experience, then, he knew that concealing the sin of greed would bring punishment.”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:7-10 ‘Ben-Hadad’s Death Predicted’: “In Damascus, the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad, inquires of Elisha through Hazael whether he will recover from his present illness. Elisha reveals to Hazael that Ben-Hadad would in fact recover from his sickbed, but that he would still die anyway, only not from sickness (8:7-10). Hazael returns to his king, reports to the king that his illness is not fatal, and then himself assassinates the king (8:14-15).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 8:8 ‘Hazael’: “His name means ‘God sees’ or ‘whom God beholds.’ Hazael was a servant of Ben-Hadad and not a member of the royal family. Assyrian records called Hazael the ‘son of a nobody’ and his lineage was not recorded because he was a commoner.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:11 ‘he was ashamed’: ”With a fixed gaze, Elisha stared at Hazael because it had been revealed to him what Hazael would do, including the murder of Ben-Hadad (v. 15). Hazael was embarrassed, knowing that Elisha knew of his plan to assassinate the Syrian king.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:12-13 ‘Prediction of Hazael’s Massacre’: “During Elisha’s conversation with Hazael, the prophet foresees a brutal massacre of Israelites at the hand of Hazael. When pressed by Hazael as to how this could be, Elisha further reveals that Hazael will become Aram’s king (8:12-13). After Hazael assassinates Ben­Hadad, he does indeed become the king of Aram (8:15). Hazael’s destructive path through Israel is described in 2 Kings ro:32; 12:17-18; 13:3,22.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 8:12 ‘Hazael did what he did on his own accord, but God knew what would happen’: “The glittering prospect of wearing the crown of Syria was before Hazael’s eyes. Nothing stood between him and the kingdom but the life of his master. That master lies sick of a fever.  A wet cloth is the usual remedy. He has but to select one thicker than usual and take care, in spreading it over his face, to place it so that the man is suffocated. And so Hazael comes to the throne. What wonder is it that Hazael easily puts his master out of the way and then mounts the vacant seat? None of us will imagine for a moment that he was under constraint unless it was satanic and yet, while he acted as a free agent, is it not clear that God foreknew what he would do and that it was perfectly certain he would destroy his master? The prophet speaks not as one who hazarded a conjecture. He foresaw the event with absolute certainty, yet Hazael acted with perfect freedom when he went and fulfilled the prophecy of Elisha. Is not that which is foreknown certain? Is not the fact sure to be when God foreknows that it will be? How could it be foreknown conditionally? How could it be foretold conditionally? In this instance there was no stipulation or contingency whatever. It was absolutely foretold that Hazael would be king of Syria. The prophet knew the fact right well, and he clearly saw the means-otherwise why should he look into Hazael’s face and weep? God foreknew the mischief he would do when he came to the throne, yet that foreknowledge did not in the least degree interfere with his free agency.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

2 Kings 8:15 ‘he died’: “Hazael took a bed furnishing, soaked it, and killed Ben-Hadad by suffocation. Hazael reigned. Upon Ben-Hadad’s death, Hazael took the kingship of Syria and ruled ca. 841–801 B.C., during the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, and Jehoahaz in Israel and Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Joash in Judah.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:16-19 ‘although corrupted by sin, God keeps His covenant with David’s lineage’: “For the first time in 2 Kings, the focus shifts to Judah in the south. The first king of Judah described in this chapter was Jehoram, who was the son of the godly king Jehoshaphat (8:16). Unfortunately; he was condemned as evil in the LORD’s sight because he was greatly influenced by his wife, who was wicked Ahab’s daughter (8:18). Thus, the evil of Ahab’s legacy flowed, not only through the kings of Israel, but now also through the kings of Judah. Nevertheless, God in his faithfulness preserved Judah from destruction for the sake of his servant David. The Lord made a covenant promise to give a lamp to David and his sons forever in the form of a king to rule on his throne (8:19). Ultimately; the ‘forever’ of this promise will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:18 ‘as the house of Ahab’: “Jehoram officially sanctioned Baal worship in Judah as Ahab had in Israel (1 Kin. 16:31–33). the daughter of Ahab. Jehoram was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (v. 26). Just as Jezebel incited Ahab to do evil in the sight of the Lord (1 Kin. 21:25), so Athaliah influenced Jehoram. Athaliah’s wicked actions are recorded in 11:1–16; 2 Chr. 22:10–23:15.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 8:22 ‘Edom has been in revolt … to this day’: “During the reign of Jehoram, Edom defeated the Judean army, took some border lands, and became independent of Judah’s rule. The continuing sovereignty of Edom proved that not one of the future kings of Judah recorded in 2 Kings was the anticipated Messiah because He would possess Edom (cf. Num. 24:18). Libnah. A town located in the Shephelah on the border with Philistia, about 20 mi. SW of Jerusalem (Josh. 15:42; 21:13). The revolt of Libnah was probably connected with that of the Philistines and Arabians recounted in 2 Chr. 21:16, 17.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

The story of the ax head that floated started with needing a bigger place to have their meetings.  I called it a guild last week.  Possibly this was a school for people who felt a call to be a prophet.  They were learning at Elisha’s feet, but their place was crowded.

Have you ever noticed that the countries that persecute Christians have some of the fastest growing churches in the world?  During the reign of Jehoshaphat, Judah might have been an accepting place, but not after Jehoshaphat, at least for a while.  And Israel did not like the prophets of the true God.  People do not like people who are constantly telling them that they are doing everything wrong.  That is one of the biggest reasons there is so much division in the world.  The discord that exists is fueled and exaggerated by the media.  After all, discord sells advertising.  And people do not seem to care if the discord is made up or not.  I think there is a silent majority that just wants the madness to stop.  But as the madness turns to persecution of Christians, God fights back in having the church grow.

But with that diversion aside, one of the young prophets has a mishap.  His ax head comes off and falls into the river.  It was a borrowed axe, so he was upset.  Elisha puts a stick into the water where the ax head had gone, and the ax head floated to the surface.

This is a rather interesting miracle.  It involves breaking the laws of Physics, and it is something that is mundane.  No feeding of hundreds or thousands of people, no oil in a jar that never gets empty, no healing, no raising from the dead.  It was simply an ax, but in those days, the Hittites were the steel experts and Israel may not have had any means to get more ax heads.

The next few verses are rather strange.  Ahab would have done the opposite of anything Elijah had told him to do, but the king of Israel at the time was probably Joram, the last one mentioned.  This makes this stretch of chapters about Elisha interesting.  In dealing with the king, there is no name mentioned.

But the point is that Ben-Hadad is at war with Israel and Elisha repeatedly tells the king not to go to one place or another or at least be on guard.  The king listens and is on his guard when Elisha warns him.  Ben-Hadad was wanting to ambush the king and kill or capture him.

So, Ben-Hadad sends a large force to Dothan, where Elisha was staying.  If he could silence Elisha, then he can have the upper hand on Samaria.  The force surrounds the city.

The next morning, Elisha’s new servant, since Gehazi is no longer there, tells Elisha that the city is surrounded.  And Elisha says what each of us should say when things look hopeless.  “There are more of us than there are of them.”  And Elisha asks God to open his servant’s eyes.  The servant’s eyes were already open, and he could see the Aramean army, but now, he saw God’s army.

The next miracle is what sitcoms are made of.  Elisha could have asked for the army to be destroyed, but he did not.  He asked God to blind them temporarily.  The Arameans suddenly could not see and of course, the person that they asked to lead them was Elisha himself.  He leads the army into the city of Samaria, and at that point, outnumbered and surrounded, the Aramean forces get their sight back.

And Elisha instructs the people of Samaria to not kill them.  He has them treat the enemy army with mercy (not killing the enemy they are at war against) and grace (giving them the gift of food and drink they did not deserve).  And these same men who would return to lay siege on Samaria were released to return to Syria, to Damascus.

And with my sense of humor, I love the twists in this story, but have you ever felt down and fervently prayed, “God, if only the veil could be opened for a second or two…  Just knowing how many angels are in the room, watching over me now…  That would be such a boost.”  But, I do not know if God’s answer was “no” or if His answer was “not yet.”  But I am still waiting.  And as I am waiting, I am thinking that God knows that I will get the work done whether I physically see them or not, knowing that they are there, knowing that the Holy Spirit is within me, and Jesus is there, and the Father is on His throne, and He is in control.

The next few verses talk about the siege of Samaria and there was a great famine in the city.  Yeah!  Sure!  There was a famine in the country, more on that later, but this was a siege!  That is what sieges do.  If you can successfully cut off the water supply and food supply to the city, you might not have to fire a single shot.  That is, if you have enough time.  A siege is one of the nastiest ideas that mankind has wrought against his fellow man.  In this story, it talks about eating a donkey’s head.  A donkey is an unclean animal, but then the mother who ate her own child?

It was not a siege, but the area near Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada is where the Donner party camped in a blizzard.  As the people died, they became the food of the survivors, although some survivors refused to eat it.  But the siege of Vicksburg, MS was not far from where I was born.  I remember how the governor ordered the state, on the one hundredth year of the fall of Vicksburg.  He ordered the flags to no longer be flown at half-mast.  He ordered the state to celebrate the day, after all, it was the Fourth of July.  Yes, the state had a day of mourning for those who suffered and fell at Vicksburg.  It was not just an event, sieges become visceral even when you were not part of it.

But in reading about the price of a donkey’s head, I think of the rider of the black horse.  The Apostle John is talking about a severe famine when he speaks of two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages.  They understood supply and demand in biblical times.  We did not invent it during the industrial age.  When food becomes scarce, someone holding the food can ask for a king’s ransom.

When the king heard about the cannibalism, he tore his robes.  This was normally a sign of humility and contrition.  But he says that the trouble is all God’s fault and Elisha’s head must be removed from his shoulders.

Elisha knew not to open the door to an assassin, and the king says “We all know God has brought this on us.”

Is it not funny that when there is evidence to the contrary, politicians state “We all know…”  In this case, God is behind this, but really allowing Satan to punish Samaria for their sin, but the king will not be humbled.  It is God’s fault in the king’s mind, and he will not back down.

Elisha responded with a prophecy that the food shortage would be over by the next morning.  The person who was at the king’s side said that not even God could pull that off.  I guess this official knew about supply chains and such.  Then Elisha prophesied against him in particular.  He would see it but not eat of it.

During the night, God allowed the Arameans to hear chariots.  They thought that Samaria had allied with both the Hittites and the Egyptians.  They fled in terror, leaving all their supplies behind.

But no one in the city knew that.  The Aramean tents were still there and their banners.

But four lepers decided that they would surrender to the Arameans.  They were not allowed in the city due to their leprosy and if they were in the city, they would be starving along with everyone else.  But as they went into the camp, no one was there.  They grabbed what they could and started to leave.  Then one said that it was not right if they did not tell the Samarian people.  They made the announcement that the army had fled and the person in charge of the gate was the official who had mocked Elisha the day before.  He saw the famine lifted, but he was trampled to death by all the starving people who ran to get the food left by the soldiers.

Yet, this was just a momentary setback for the Arameans.  They would return, but not with Ben-Hadad as king.

But in this brief interlude, we return the focus to the Shunammite woman.  Elisha told her of a seven year famine.  She went with her family to the Philistines, but now the famine was over, and she wanted her property returned.

At this very moment, Gehazi was explaining to the king how Elisha had brought a boy back to life, and the Shunammite woman entered the room to ask for her property back.  Gehazi exclaimed that here was the woman.

Many would argue that does not meet the criteria of a miracle.  Okay.  I had an old pastor who once told me that something that happened to me was a GMC.  I asked what a truck has to do with it.  The pastor laughed and said, “GMC, God Made Coincidence.”  Whether a miracle or a GMC, God is in control and the Shunammite woman got her property back.

Now the focus turned to Damascus.  Elisha goes there, and Hazael, a servant of the king Ben-Hadad, asks Elisha if the king will live, since Ben-Hadad was very ill.  Elisha starts to cry.  Hazael wonders why Elisha is crying.  Elisha says that Hazael will do horrible atrocities against the people of Israel. Since Hazael is only a servant, he asks how that could be.  Elisha says that Ben-Hadad will not die from his illness, but Hazael will kill him and become king himself.

Hazael then takes a wet cloth, something he often did to relieve Ben-Hadad’s pain, and he covered Ben-Hadad’s face and smothered him.  Hazael had chosen a thicker cloth for the job.

Next the focus shifts to Judah.  Jehoshaphat died and was replaced by his son Jehoram, who had married a daughter of king Ahab, Athaliah.  Jehoram did evil in the eyes of the Lord, controlled by his wife.  During his reign, the Edomites rebelled.  Note that the change in kings led to the Moabites rebelling against Israel, now it is the Edomites turn when the Edomites had joined with Israel and Judah in fighting the Moabites.  Odd how greedy cousins devour each other when the iron is hot.

Following Jehoram’s death, Ahaziah became king of Judah.  He reigned only one year.  Second Kings 8 ends with Ahaziah going to see his cousin, Joram, who had been wounded in a battle against the Arameans.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

2 Kings 6:1-7 An Axhead Floats Does God deal only in the big issues? Do you pray for parking places or good weather? Why doesn’t God answer starving Christians who pray for bread?
2 Kings 6:8-23 Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans 1. Is it easy to be generous to adversaries when you have the upper hand? Does being one of God’s people mean always having the upper hand? Explain.
“2. Is a little deception okay, when it achieves a worthwhile goal?
“3. What military strategy is Elisha modelling, which applies to the evangelism efforts of you and your church?
“4. Is love always stronger than violence? Why do we resort to violence more readily than love?
2 Kings 6:24-7:2 Famine in Besieged Samaria 1. Faced with the choices of the women in this story, what is the right thing to do? Should the king have enforced the verbal contract?
“2. When is ‘helping’ a person not helping? Do some people simply have to live through their troubles in order to learn from them? Have you withheld help recently for this reason?
“3. Might God be using a hard situation now to bring about a change of heart on your part? How so?
2 Kings 7:3-20 The Siege Lifted 1. Ever seen God reverse, unexpectedly, the circumstances in your life? How so? If not, would you like to see God do so? In what arena of your life? 2. Are some behaviors (like plunder and killing) fair ‘in love and war’ that would normally be wrong? Are morals justified by circumstances?
“3. Do you prefer complete answers to everything? Or are you content with some issues open-ended? What issues does this chapter leave open-ended for you?
“4. This story emphasizes the trustworthiness of God’s prophetic word. Where are you with regard to God’s word: (a) Still leaning on my reason and trusting only that which I can figure out? (b) Leaning in the direction of God’s authority, but not risking too much? (c) Placing my full weight on it, letting it control my actions?
2 Kings 8:1-6 The Shunammite’s Land Restored 1. Do you believe in good luck? Chance? Coincidence? How would that be evident to a casual observer?
“2. When blessings overflow, do you feel closer to God, or more independent of him?
2 Kings 8:7-15 Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad 1. When might it be okay to tell a lie: (a) To a bandit? (b) To a jilted lover? (c) To a person intent on killing your family? (d) To a cancer patient or AIDS partner not yet ready to hear the truth?
“2. What can you tell by a person’s eyes? How good are you at ‘reading’ people?
2 Kings 8:16-29 Jehoram and Ahaziah, Kings of Judah 1. Jehoram and Ahaziah could have used better role models. What friends of yours are positive models for your children? Are these friends good for you, as well? How so?
“2. How are you a controlling person: (a) You like to control the outcome? (b) The means to get there? (c) Your reaction whatever the outcome? (d) Others’ reaction to the outcome? Why might it be hard to release control and let others be themselves?
“3. What alliances, inside the family and out, have helped you get to know and trust God? Which have hurt?
“4. Which parent are you most like? Have the ‘sins of your fathers’ been visited unto you? How so? (Are your relationships with the opposite sex like that of your parents? Do you treat your kids as you were treated?)”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Second Kings 6 and 7 have three sets of questions combined as noted. There are three sets of questions for 2 Kings 8 as noted.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.