2 Kings 8:7 - Meaning and Application

Here we may ask why Elisha was in Damascus, the chief city of Syria. Was he sent only to the lost sheep of Israel? It appears not. Perhaps he had gone to visit Naaman, his convert, and to strengthen him in choosing the true religion. That would have been especially needed if Hazael was then commander of the army, since Hazael may have given up that office, or been removed, because he would not bow sincerely in the house of Rimmon.

Some think Elisha went to Damascus because of the famine. Others think he went because he was obeying the command God had given Elijah, or his successor, in (1 Kings 19:15): “Go to Damascus and anoint Hazael.” Either way, God had a purpose in it.

We also see that Ben-hadad, a great and powerful king, was sick. No honor, wealth, or power can protect anyone from the common sicknesses and troubles of life. Palaces and thrones are just as open to illness and death as the poorest cottage.

It is surprising that the king of Syria, in his sickness, should make Elisha his prophet to consult. Soon he heard that the man of God, well known in Syria since he had healed Naaman, had come to Damascus (2 Kings 8:7). Ben-hadad said, “Now is the right time. Go and ask the Lord by him.” In health he had bowed in the house of Rimmon, but now that he was sick, he no longer trusted his idol and wanted to ask the God of Israel. Trouble often brings people to God when prosperity had made them careless. Sometimes sickness opens a person’s eyes and corrects his thinking.

This is especially noticeable for two reasons. First, not long before this, a king of Israel had, in his sickness, sent to ask a false god, the god of Ekron (2 Kings 1:2), as if there were no God in Israel. God sometimes takes for himself the honor that is denied him by his own people. Second, not long before this, Ben-hadad had sent a large army to treat Elisha as an enemy (2 Kings 6:14), yet now he courts him as a prophet. Sickness often changes how people think about God’s ministers and teaches them to value the advice and prayers of those they once hated.

Ben-hadad also wanted to honor the prophet. He did not send for Elisha as if Elisha were beneath him, but sent to him, perhaps thinking himself unworthy that the man of God should come under his roof, like the centurion in the Gospels. He sent Hazael, his chief minister, not a common servant. It is no shame for the greatest men to attend to the prophets of the Lord. Hazael was to meet Elisha at the place where Elisha had arranged to meet his friends.

The king also sent a rich gift, “every good thing of Damascus,” enough to load forty camels (2 Kings 8:9). This showed respect for the prophet, welcomed him to Damascus, and provided for him while he stayed there. It is likely Elisha accepted it, since he had refused Naaman’s gift. Ben-hadad also told Hazael to call the prophet his son, Ben-hadad, using Israel’s way of speaking, since the prophets were often called fathers. In asking, “Shall I recover?” he honored Elisha as one who knew the secrets of heaven. It is natural for people to want to know what will happen in time, while they give little thought to eternity.

What passed between Hazael and Elisha is especially striking. Elisha answered that the king would recover, meaning the sickness itself was not fatal, but that he would die another way, a violent death, not a natural one (2 Kings 8:10). There are many ways to leave this world, and often while people try to avoid one end, they fall into another.

Then Elisha fixed his eyes on Hazael with such deep concern that Hazael blushed and Elisha wept (2 Kings 8:11). The man of God was not afraid of the man of war. Elisha did not read Hazael’s future in his face, but God revealed it to him, and that sight brought tears. The more foresight people have, the more sorrow they may feel.

When Hazael asked why he wept, Elisha told him the great harm he foresaw Hazael would do to Israel (2 Kings 8:12). He would destroy their strongholds and cruelly kill men, women, and children. Israel’s sins had brought God’s judgment, yet Elisha wept to think that Israelites should ever be treated so terribly. Though he foretold it, he did not wish for that painful day. See how much ruin war brings, how much ruin sin brings, and how sin has twisted human nature and stripped away even common humanity.

Hazael was very surprised by this prediction (2 Kings 8:13). He asked, “What? Is your servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?” By “this great thing,” he meant two things. First, it was an act of great power, something only a crowned ruler could do. He did not think he would ever rise to that level. Many are lifted into rule they never expected, and it often becomes harmful to them (Ecclesiastes 8:9). Second, it was an act of great cruelty, the kind of thing only someone without honor or virtue would do. “Is your servant a dog,” he says, “to tear, destroy, and devour?” He thinks such a crime is beneath him.

This shows two things about Hazael. First, he had a very low view of the sin. He saw it as great wickedness, more fitting for a beast of prey than for a man. Yet a wicked person can, under the pressure of conscience, strongly hate a sin and still later accept it. Second, he thought too well of himself. He believed it impossible that he would ever do such barbarous things. We are often sure we are safe from sins that later overcome us, as Peter was sure he would not deny Christ (Matthew 26:35).

In reply, Elisha only told him that he would be king over Syria. Then he would have the power to do it, and then he would find it in his heart to do it. Rank often changes a person’s temper and behavior, and seldom for the better. Elisha was saying, in effect, “You do not know what you will do when you become king, but I tell you that you will do this.” Those who are low in the world cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and success are. If they ever rise to that level, they often discover how false their own hearts were, and how much worse they are than they thought.

The result was that Hazael cheated his master in a shameful way and lied about the prophet (2 Kings 8:14). He told Ben-hadad, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

This was a very wicked lie. Elisha had told Hazael, Ben-hadad’s officer, that the king would die (2 Kings 8:10), but Hazael hid that truth unfairly and without loyalty. He may have done it because he did not want to upset the king with bad news, or because he already wanted to carry out the bloody plan he had formed when he learned he would be king after him.

The devil often destroys people by telling them they will surely recover and do well. That kind of false peace lulls them into security, and nothing is more dangerous. Hazael’s lie hurt the king, because it kept him from preparing for death, and it hurt Elisha, because people would then call him a false prophet.

2. Hazael also murdered his master, and so the prophet’s word came true (2 Kings 8:15). He took a thick cloth, soaked it in cold water, and spread it over Ben-hadad’s face, pretending he was cooling and refreshing him. But in fact he cut off the king’s breath and suffocated him at once, because the king was weak and unable to defend himself, or perhaps asleep.

This shows how fragile the life of even the greatest people is, and how exposed rulers are to violence. Hazael had been Ben-hadad’s trusted friend, yet he became his murderer. Some think no one suspected him, and that the truth was known only because this inspired historian recorded it. We had seen this proud king before, and he had seemed like a terror to the mighty in the land of the living, but he went down killed to the grave, with his sin still resting on him (Ezekiel 32:27).