The heart and commitment of God
2 Kings 8:7-29
Christian friends of mine struggled with their youngest son from a tender age. While their other children made a commitment to the Lord, their youngest was a trouble child from the start. Rebellious and angry, he would daily shout at his parents that he hated them. When he became a teenager, he refused to go along to church and kept his distance from anything Christian. It is a story all too well known to Christian parents who cannot guarantee that their children will follow the Lord. Seeing those we love walk away from God and, even worse, watching them take their tumble because of bad decisions is a heartache many know.
The Lord’s sovereign involvement
It is a heartache that the prophet Elisha knows, too. As the passage opens, the king of Aram inquires of the Lord’s prophet in illness (2 Kings 8:7-8), whereas an earlier king of Israel sought out a pagan god (2 Kings 1:2). A foreigner shows more faith than God’s own people.[1] Throughout the exchange between the king’s messenger and Elisha, the emphasis is on God showing the prophet what is to happen (2 Kings 8:10, 12, 13).[2] The Lord is never caught out by human action but knows the future and His Word telling of it will come true. Hazael’s answer to the prophecy that he will be king is self-effacing (‘dog’ is a derogatory term for someone insignificant, a nobody; 2 Kings 8:13). Nevertheless, he must have been planning a coup, since spur-of-the-moment actions to seize power can hardly succeed. His ambition, even if he is unsure of himself, is hinted at in his description that causing Israel suffering would be ‘a great thing’ (v.13). Thus, Elisha’s revelation may be the final push he needs to act. The Lord then not only knows what will happen but fully intends it.[3]
God’s heart and commitment
This, of course, is hard for us to read. Indeed, the prophet weeps in anguish at what will happen to Israel (2 Kings 8:11-12). Although God’s feelings are not mentioned here, can we imagine that we, limited human beings, have greater compassion than the Lord? Like Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44), the prophet’s tears are God’s, too, in the face of inevitable judgment (cf. Hos 11:1-4, 8; Ezek 18:31-32). It must happen but the Lord grieves over it. At the same time, the next two sections that bring us up to date on Judah’s kings point to another consideration that shows God’s commitment. The two kings in Judah are Joram/Jehoram (2 Kings 8:16) and his son Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:24).[4] Because Ahab’s daughter becomes Joram/Jehoram’s wife in Judah, her evil (i.e. idolatrous) influence affects her husband and her son (2 Kings 8:18, 26-27). Thus, Judah is no better than Israel and they are beginning to see judgment, too. They lose control over Edom (a vassal state south-east of Judah), and Libnah (a city in the foothills of Judah, south-west of Jerusalem; 2 Kings 8:20-22). Yet God is not willing to destroy them because of His promise to David (2 Kings 8:19 cf. 2 Sam 7:12-16; 1 Kings 11:36).
God’s workings today
Our reading leaves us with mixed emotions. We hope that there is an easy way to carry recalcitrant people to God but sometimes, if they are hardened into resistance, only suffering and judgment may bring them to their senses and sometimes not even that. The exiles who were living the judgment that finally came may have wondered if God cared for them and whether there could have been another way. These vignettes speak of God’s involvement, His sovereignty, even His compassion through the prophet’s tears. They also testify of His firm commitment to His promises and His people. If there was anything that could be done to bring transformation, God had done it and will do it for our loved ones even today. As Christians, we know even more to what length the Father was willing to go to save us, giving His Son’s life in exchange for ours. Yet He will not overrule anyone’s will because our love for Him must be freely given. What we can be reassured of, however, is that the Lord will not leave any stone unturned to bring people to salvation and those who pray and entreat Him for loved ones can know His utter commitment to hear our cries.
[1] The Ben-Hadad here was probably the king of Aram, when Naaman was healed (2 Kings 5:5-6), which would explain how he knew of Elisha and his powers.
[2] It is potentially troubling for us to think that the prophet is deceiving the king by saying he will recover when in fact Elisha knows that Ben-Hadad will die. However, it may be better to see Elisha’s action as a restriction on information. The prophet effectively says that the king’s illness is not life-threatening (‘you will recover’, 2 Kings 8:10) but hides the revelation about the king’s imminent death by another cause. The effect of this is that the king is not on his guard (if he knew he was on his deathbed, he would have presumably appointed an heir).
[3] The way the Old Testament presents this leaves us uncomfortable because it seems like God made Hazael kill the king (spurred on by Elisha’s prophecy) and later oppress Israel. Put this way, God is made to look responsible for the evil things Hazael did, but this is a misunderstanding. The Old Testament emphasises God’s sovereignty as the primary cause for what happens in the world to show that He is in control. Secondary causes, i.e. human intentions and responsibility are not always mentioned but this does not mean that they are not there, only that the biblical writers consider these self-evident. One example where this is made explicit is in Isaiah 10:5-7, where Assyria is described as the rod of God’s anger, i.e. a nation sent by God Himself against Israel to punish them (vv.5-6). However, verse 7 makes it clear that Assyria intends to conquer nations out of its own volition and is not aware of God’s intent. In fact, the motivation is described as Assyria’s arrogance, which God will punish (Isa 10:8-14).
[4] Joram and Jehoram are the same name used interchangeably in these records, like Thomas and Tom or Catherine and Cathy. Confusingly, both the king of Israel and of Judah are called Joram/Jehoram, but one is Ahab’s son (in Israel), the other is Ahab’s son-in-law (in Judah).
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