Ministers of Wrath

From: Elijah and Elisha

Narrator: Chris Genthree

Duration: 5min

• 4 min. read • grade level: 10

When Elijah made his complaint against Israel at Horeb three persons were named to him by Jehovah as the executors of His will upon the guilty nation—Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha (1 Ki. 19:15-17¹⁵And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: ¹⁶And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. ¹⁷And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. (1 Kings 19:15‑17)). Of these Elisha was brought forward first with his wonderful ministry of grace. This is so like our God. Had Israel possessed eyes to perceive it, Elisha’s service amongst them was the divine interlude between the sentence and the execution of the judgement. It was for Israel to say whether the sentence should take effect or not; for Jehovah is ever willing to turn aside the threatened stroke when men really humble themselves before Him. This is His declared principle of action in Jeremiah 18:7-8⁷At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; ⁸If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. (Jeremiah 18:7‑8), and we get an illustration of it in Jehovah’s dealings with Nineveh in the time of Jonah.

Elisha’s ministry of grace was practically fruitless. Israel sinned more and more. The time had come therefore for the sword to be unsheathed. Accordingly we have the ministers of wrath appointed—Hazael, in 2 Kings 8:7-15⁷And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither. ⁸And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ⁹So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ¹⁰And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die. ¹¹And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. ¹²And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. ¹³And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria. ¹⁴So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover. ¹⁵And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead. (2 Kings 8:7‑15); and Jehu, in 2 Kings 9:1-10¹And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead: ²And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; ³Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. ⁴So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. ⁶And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. ⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: ¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. (2 Kings 9:1‑10).

When Elisha visited Damascus, King Benhadad, who was sick, sent Hazael to him to inquire if he should recover of his disease. Possibly the merciful deeds described in 2 Kings 5 and 2 Kings 6:22-23²²And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. ²³And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. (2 Kings 6:22‑23) had given the prophet favor in the eyes of the Syrian monarch, if only for a season. Like Naaman, he was prepared to pay largely for any benefit he might receive, and so he sent the man of God “a present of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden.” That God is not a trader, but a giver (and a very generous giver) seems a fact exceedingly difficult for men’s minds to grasp. In every dispensation men are disposed to barter with God—so much money or labor for so much blessing.

When Hazael came before him with his message Elisha realized that a fateful moment had arrived for Israel. Hence, after he had informed his visitor that though there was no real reason why the sick man should not recover, but as a matter of fact he would riot do so because Hazael was destined to be king over Syria, he wept. All the barbarities attendant upon war rose up before his mind, and though he knew Israel richly deserved the chastening rod, he loved the people, and mourned over their impending desolation.

When the weeping prophet told Hazael what he would do to the children of Israel in burning their strongholds, slaying their young men with the sword, and massacring their women and children, the Syrian exclaimed in amazement, “What, is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing?” Hazael is not the only person apparently incapable of realizing all the evil of which flesh can be guilty. It is likely that he had never hitherto perpetrated such enormities, and so he recoiled from the terrible suggestions. But the result proves that when he found himself in the place of power he committed all the ferocious deeds of which Elisha warned him. It has been truly said that many of us are harmless only because our position in society does not permit us to be otherwise.

Perhaps some of our readers have not yet learned the hopeless evil of flesh—their own flesh. To such it may be staggering to find the offensive things mentioned in Colossians 3:5⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5) described as “your members.” Or again, it may be painful to ponder the horrible list of the works of the flesh as given in Galatians 5:19-21¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ²¹Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19‑21). The poor, shocked heart is apt to exclaim, “Is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing?”

Let us note it well, there is no evil of which flesh is not capable. It met its end in judgement before God in the cross of Christ, and they that are Christ’s have, by their acceptance of the divine sentence, crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24²⁴And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24)). Henceforward for us confidence in flesh is impossible. Christ is all.