2 Kings 5:20 - Meaning and Application

Naaman, the Syrian officer and courtier, had many servants, and they were wise and good (2 Kings 5:13). Elisha, the holy prophet and man of God, had only one servant, and he turned out to be a base, lying, wicked man. People who only heard of Elisha from far away honored him and received benefit from what they heard, but the man who stayed close to him and heard his wisdom made no progress through either his teaching or his miracles. We might have expected Elisha’s servant to be a godly man, just as even Ahab’s servant Obadiah was, but even Christ had a Judas among his followers. The means of grace cannot create grace. The best men and the best ministers often have people around them who bring them grief and shame. Those nearest to the church are sometimes furthest from God. Many will come from east and west to sit down with Abraham when the children of the kingdom are cast out.

Here we see Gehazi’s sin. It was a tangled sin. First, the love of money, that root of all evil, lay at the bottom of it. His master despised Naaman’s gifts, but Gehazi coveted them (2 Kings 5:20). As Bishop Hall says, his heart was packed in Naaman’s chests, and he had to run after him to get it back. Many people, by craving worldly wealth, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. Second, he blamed his master for refusing Naaman’s gift. He treated Elisha as foolish for not taking gold when he could have had it, and he envied his kindness and generosity toward this foreigner, even though it was meant for Naaman’s soul. In short, he thought himself wiser than his master.

Third, when Naaman, like a well-mannered man, got down from his chariot to meet him (2 Kings 5:21), Gehazi told him a deliberate lie. He claimed that his master had sent him, and in that way he took for himself the respect Naaman meant for Elisha. Fourth, he abused his master by falsely presenting him to Naaman as someone who had quickly changed his mind, who was unstable and did not know his own purpose, who would promise and then withdraw, swear and then unswear, and who would undo a good deed as soon as he had done it. His story about the two sons of the prophets was as foolish as it was false. If he wanted a gift for two young students, surely less than a talent of silver would have been enough.

Fifth, he risked turning Naaman away from the holy religion he had embraced and weakening his good opinion of it. Naaman might have said, as Paul’s enemies claimed about Paul (2 Corinthians 12:16, 17), that even if Elisha himself did not burden him, he had been tricked through cunning and sent people who made profit from him. We hope Naaman later understood that Elisha had no part in this, and that Gehazi was forced to return what he had taken wrongly. Otherwise, this may have driven him back to his idols.

Sixth, Gehazi made his sin worse by trying to hide what he had stolen. He hid it, as Achan hid his stolen goods, in a secret and strong place, until he could use it, (2 Kings 5:24). At that point, he thought the money was safely his, and he praised his clever fraud, by which he had deceived not only Naaman’s judgment but also Elisha’s gift of spiritual discernment, like Ananias and Sapphira before the apostles. He also denied it. He went in and stood before his master, ready to take his orders. No one seemed more attentive to his master, though no one had really harmed him more. He must have thought, like Ephraim, “I have become rich; they will find no iniquity in me” (Hos. 12:8). When his master asked where he had been, he answered, “Nowhere, sir, just around the house.” One lie usually leads to another. Sin goes downhill, so we should dare to be truthful.

Now for the punishment of this sin. Elisha called him to account at once. Notice how he was exposed. Gehazi tried to deceive the prophet, but he soon learned that the Spirit of prophecy could not be fooled, and that it is useless to lie to the Holy Spirit. Elisha could tell him what he had done, even though he had denied it: “Did not my heart go with you?” (2 Kings 5:26). Had Gehazi still not learned that prophets had spiritual sight? Did he think he could hide anything from one who was a seer, one who knew the secret counsel of the Lord? It is foolish to think we can sin safely if no one sees us. When you turn aside into a wrong path, does your own conscience not go with you? Does not the eye of God go with you? Whoever covers his sin will not prosper, and a lying tongue lasts only a moment (Proverbs 12:19). Truth will come out, and it often rises to the surface in surprising ways, to the shame of those who make lies their refuge.

Elisha also knew what Gehazi planned, even though he kept it in his own heart. He knew that Gehazi was already planning, now that he had those two talents, to buy land and cattle, leave Elisha’s service, and set himself up on his own. All the foolish hopes and plans of worldly people are open before God. Elisha also told him how evil his action was: “Is this a time to take money?” Was this the right chance to enrich himself? Could he find no better way to get money than by lying about his master and placing a stumbling block before a new believer? Those who are determined to gain wealth at any time and by any means, right or wrong, open themselves to great temptation. Those who will be rich by fair means or foul, caring only for money and not principle, drown themselves in ruin and destruction (1 Timothy 6:9). War, fire, plague, and shipwreck are not, as many people treat them, opportunities for gain. It is not the time to enlarge our wealth when we can do it only in ways that dishonor God, harm religion, or injure our brothers, sisters, or the public.

Then came the punishment: “The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you” (2 Kings 5:27). If he wants Naaman’s money, he must take Naaman’s disease with it. It passes with the burden attached. He had been planning to secure property for his descendants, but instead he passes on a foul disease to the heirs of his body, from one generation to the next. The sentence was carried out at once. No sooner was it spoken than it was done. Gehazi left Elisha’s presence a leper, as white as snow. He was marked and shamed wherever he went. He brought a curse on himself and his family, a curse that would not only expose his wickedness for the moment, but also keep its memory alive.

The getting of treasure by a lying tongue is a useless thing, a windblown profit that leads to death (Proverbs 21:6). Those who gain wealth by fraud and injustice cannot expect comfort from it or long enjoyment of it. What did Gehazi gain by his two talents, if he lost his health, his honor, his peace, his service, and, unless repentance kept him from it, his soul forever? See Job 20:12, and following.