“And Elisha spake unto the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for Jehovah hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. And the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now” (2 Kings 8:1-6).
God was still dealing with His people. An unusually protracted famine came upon them; and He would have them know that His hand had done it. Moreover, He could exempt whom He would from its operation. The Shunammite woman had passed through her trial, and had glorified God under it. The discipline to which she had been subjected had indeed brought forth the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” to her exercised soul, and God does not prolong discipline unduly. “He doth not willing afflict, nor grieve, the children of men,” and in all cases where the object of the trial has been attained, His holiness and truth vindicated, and the lesson learned, He withdraws the trial. In the case before us we have reason to believe that this woman had now become a widow, otherwise it would be difficult to understand her taking the independent action she does here, so evidently in contrast with the propriety of her action on a previous occasion (4:8, 9). The sorrows of her people are strikingly illustrated in her experience, but in close connection with the grace that sustains, and the faith which shines out all the brighter for being tried. The kindness of God toward her is beautifully shown out in His caring for her during these seven years of famine. Jacob and his household were preserved and nourished by Joseph in Egypt. Both are typical of the nation preserved and spared and kept alive, until God's time for bringing them back to the land of Israel.
Yet there is another side of the truth as to Israel in exile; and we must not omit to notice it. “It came to pass in the days that the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem-Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, with her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth; and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband” (Ruth 1:1-5). Here we see a proud, self-sufficient Israelite, who, if he find difficulties in Palestine, will go to live elsewhere. He attempts to run away from the hand of God, and death overtakes him. His two sons choose themselves wives of the women of Moab in disobedience of God's warning, and the hand of God reaches them also. Then it is that Naomi, humbled and weakened, submits to God's hand, and foreshadows the spirit of the remnant, who in the coming day of their repentance, will cast themselves upon the mercy and faithfulness of Jehovah, and will find Him gracious unto them.
Here it is the faithfulness of God secretly working for His people and restoring to them the land and its increase. They will get more than they have lost, and possess it in Christ, the Heir, who has been brought again from the dead. This, however, is still in the future; the seven years are meanwhile running their course; but the land is being reserved for them, and they are preserved for the land. When that time comes it will be seen how God wondrously over-rules and causes all things to fall in with His plans for the accomplishment of the promises made to the fathers, and will indeed give to the people the sure mercies of David. God, in His own due time, after many preliminary dealings with His earthly people, will dispose the hearts of even the most unlikely nations to assist them; but that is when He takes up their cause, as we learn from many scriptures. Even now there is the providential secret working of God on behalf of His people and land, as beautifully portrayed in the scripture before us.
Gehazi (spiritually, a castaway) has advanced greatly in the things of the world. He enjoys the royal favor. To the king, who had asked him to relate all the great things that Elisha had done, Gehazi tells the story of the woman's son restored to life. No doubt it was gratifying to the king to know that he had such a remarkable man as Elisha in his kingdom, as it also ministered to Gehazi's self-importance. But had these miracles no voice from God? Was not the guilt of Samaria increased tenfold thereby? Ought not the king to have understood that these gracious displays of the power of God were so many calls to repentance? Where there is exercise of heart and conscience the goodness of God does indeed lead to repentance. Is it not evident that the hearts and consciences of the people were as insensible to the ministry of Elisha as to that of Elijah? The spirit of scornful indifference so painfully manifested by Gehazi and the king (as also by the king's attendant in the previous chapter) was identical with that which opposed itself to the ministry of the Lord Jesus, of whom Elisha was indeed a type.
“But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of tax-gatherers and of sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. Then began he to upbraid the cities in which most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tire and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Tire and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee” (Matthew 11:16-21).
It is exceedingly solemn to find every testimony and ministry of grace closing in judgment; the more hopeless because the light has been practically extinguished, patience exhausted, every warning neglected, and the pleading of grace answered by the scoffing of unbelief. The Lord Jesus, the rejected Messiah, described and judged the nation's criticism of Himself, as well as of John the Baptist. So too the Holy Ghost here closes the public ministry of Elisha and unsheathes the sword of judgment—first, that of Hazael, then of Jehu (see 1 Kings 19:17); shaking to the very foundations the throne of David, and sweeping away the whole house of Ahab as a thing of naught. Not that Elisha's service in Israel was yet ended, but it had to give place to judgment. Indeed, the office of anointing both these kings, committed to Elijah, had been relegated to Elisha, the minister of grace. With this burden upon his heart Elisha came to Damascus, and the king of Syria (with no true piety, but with a false idea of the superhuman powers of Elisha,) sought to propitiate him with a present, as formerly in Naaman's case. Certainly there was no real turning of the heart to God, any more than there had been with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, when he sent to Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, a precisely similar message. In the case of the Syrian king, however, though it was Jehovah that was appealed to, yet the known character of God was despised. Ben-hadad had come to know a good deal about Jehovah—the cleansing of Naaman, the refusal of the king's gifts, the exposure of his plans against Israel, the sending of his bands to take Elisha, their discomfiture and inflicted blindness, together with the generosity shown them and liberty of return to their master—all these displays of the power and goodness of Jehovah made the Gentile king responsible and without excuse for such a sad mistake.
How offensive to God it is for unrenewed man to ignore the question of sin and come before Him with a gift. We see this plainly in Cain's case; yet infinitely worse is it now since God's Son has been here in grace, meeting only with hatred and death! We have now the Spirit's testimony to the full display of all that God is in Christ. There can be no mistake now as to God's true character—light, love, righteousness and grace—all have been declared by Him who is the “brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person.” It was not, however, here a question of correcting mistakes, or of instructing, as in Naaman's cleansing, but of judgment. This was Elisha's business in Damascus, not himself exercising judgment personally, but giving the divine authority to such as were to execute it, and to whom it would be congenial work. “And 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. And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? So 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? And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit Jehovah hath showed me that he shall surely die. And he settled his countenance steadfastly, until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept” (vers. 7-11).
Here is the light of God shining through Elisha, and making manifest all the workings of the unrenewed heart. Man in the presence of that light is as uncomfortable as he can possibly be. Hazael simulated grief, but Elisha, with a heart overcharged with unaffected sorrow, gave expression to his feelings in an unmistakable way. The servant of Jehovah felt the solemnity of the message given him to deliver, and so it is to-day with every true servant of Christ-divine sympathies are awakened and declare themselves in a way not to be imitated by the cold-hearted professor. Thus it was with another faithful servant of God in his day. “Hear ye, and give ear: be not proud; for Jehovah hath spoken. Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is carried away captive” (Jeremiah 13:15-17).
But if the man of God was thus affected whilst giving his testimony, very different was it with Hazael. First, a hypocritical show of grief-"the show of their countenance witnesseth against them “; then, an outburst of indignation that he should be thought capable of such enormities. “And Hazael said, But what is thy servant? a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And having failed to deceive the man of God, he returns to his master, gives him a false version of the prophet's message, and proceeds at once in the most callous way to fulfill the prediction of Elisha. “So 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. And 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” (vers. 13-15).
[G. S. B.]
(To be continued)