1 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.” 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.” 5 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.” 6 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.”
We began in 2 Kings Chapter 8 with a story about a famine. First we have to ask ourselves why there is a famine in Israel. Is it just a natural thing or something more. Well, we know that Israel is way out of whack with God. This famine could be noted as a “Covenant Curse”, which is prominently featured in Leviticus 26:14. There, God shows us that if we continually turn our back on Him, eventually his wrath will come. He will turn our lives against us and create calamity, and as far as Israel, that is exactly what has happened. The Shunamite woman in the story is warned of the famine by Elisha and told to go anywhere to avoid it. This is because she has shown Elisha two great things: her hospitality and unwavering faith in God. She and her family run to the land of the Philistines for 7 years (the duration of the famine) and when she returns she realizes her home and possessions have fallen back to the king. When she goes to plead her case to the king, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant is there to tell the king of all the great things Elisha has done, including resurrecting a boy. She happens along right when Gehazi is saying this and the king returns her land. What’s the significance? Well, the Shunamite woman acted in faith. She could have believed Elisha to be crazy but we again see faith in action. On Elisha’s word she leaves in faith. She returns in faith once the ordeal is over. And she is not penalized for her faith. The king returns her land. It is a great story of faith and providence.
7 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,” 8 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?’” 9 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?’” 10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’ Nevertheless, the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God began to weep. 12 “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.” 13 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. 14 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.” 15 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.
Hazael is the assistant to the king of Syria, a guy named Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad is ill, and again through providence Elisha finds himself in Damascus. The king hears about Elisha being near and send 40 camel loads of Syrian wares to proffer a good reading from Elisha on his health. Elisha does tell the king that he will recover, but there is still a forecast of death. His death will come at the hands of Hazael, who doesn’t understand how he could do such a thing. Elisha is sickened by the terror Hazael will bring, and it isn’t long after Elisha’s proclamation that he makes good on his rise to the throne. He murders Ben-Haddad and grabs power, just as Elisha has predicted.
Jehoram King of Judah 16 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. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 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. 19 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. 20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 21 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. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time. 23 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? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles 21:4 offers an expanded story of King Jehoram. The Chronicles story is more in-depth than the kings treatment. We learn that once Jehoram establishes himself as king he immediately kills all of his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah. This is out of character because Jehoram is not a king in Israel but in Judah. His father was Jehosophat, probably the best leader Judah has had since David. So why such a sudden departure. You may recall that Jehoram is married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. This was a political alliance contrived by Jehosophat to keep the nations at peace. Asa and Jehosophat both had the issues of alliance rise in their reigns, and God called them both out for those misalignments. Now it claims a disastrous hostage, and that is the entire nation of Judah. We see the former subjects of Judah, Edom and Libnah, revolt. We also see the Philistines again rising, as well as the Arabs. In a land that for so long has been at peace and moving in alliance with God, we see it crumble in a mere eight years. Elijah writes a letter to Jehoram and tells him that because of his actions the Lord will strike Judah well as afflict him with a disease of the bowels. Jehoram is buried but not honored, telling us that the people of Judah did not follow him with their hearts.
Ahaziah King of Judah 25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 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. 27 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. 28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[c] 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.
Zipping back to 2 Kings 8:25, we learn of the next king of Judah, a guy named Ahazia, the son of Jehoram. He too is following in his father’s footsteps and we see that his reign is a year. This is telling in God’s blessing of the kingdom. And although we don’t learn a lot about Ahaziah, we do learn that he is close to the king of Israel, Joram. Joram is injured in battle and he goes down to visit him. Enter Jehu, the commander of Israel’s army. A young prophet (according to Jewish legend this is Jonah), goes to Israel and anoints him King of Israel. He has a mission, too: to kill the house of Ahab. Jehu, by all accounts, is up for the job. First he goes to Jezreel, where Joram and Ahaziah are staying, and kills them both. Then he sends letters to the kingdom where all of Ahab’s sons are and makes a demand: either you are with me or I will come to attack. This scares the officials and they comply with Jehu, but not before Jehu demands they send him the heads of all the princes. They do this and Jehu has cut off the royal line of Ahab in one swoop. But Jehu isn’t finished. He goes after Jezebel, fulfilling the prophecy that she will be eaten by dogs. He kills Ahab’s relatives and then sets up a sting to end Baalism in Israel. He creates a mock Baal ceremony, making it mandatory for all the Baalers to attend, then once they are in the temple kills them all, wrecks the place and burns it, thus killing Baalism in Israel. For all his zeal for God’s wrath, Jehu isn’t perfect. He is locked into the Jeroboam problem, and he is not careful to keep God’s commandments. Thus, we see Israel shirking in those times, the kingdom dwindling, because Israel is still unable to follow God with a compete heart. We finished by examining 1 Kings19, where Elijah is taken to Mt. Horeb. We will remember that Elijah was shown a great fire and wind and earthquake, but God said he operates in a whisper. This is evident in these stories because we see God’s long game. By moving the people in place, God is able to use even the bad for his will. Hazael is not a good person, but he, nevertheless, was to be annointed by Elijah. Same with Jehu. Both were destined, from a long ways back, to be part of God’s plan for reconciling Israel. We need to remember that when we get caught up in the frailty and frivolity of those in authority, that God had primed them to be there, good or bad, to do his will.