2 Kings 8 (Part 2) Bible Study (Ben-hadad's Murder/Jehoram & Ahaziah's Reign) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Kings chapter 8 and we are completing this chapter this

2 Kings 8 · chapter mention

evening as we begin in verse 7. And I know that we just prayed,

but I would love for us to pray again.

Will you join me in that? Bow your hearts with me, please.

Lord, we look to you tonight again, thankful that you have

brought us into this new year. Thank you for being merciful,

Merciful to this nation, merciful to us as individuals,

merciful to this church and every church represented here.

Lord, we know that this study can easily become a stale

service. But Lord, we think of the power

of the Holy Spirit even now, what's available to us, how you

can make this moment alive and powerful.

We think of what you said of the Messiah in Isaiah 50, where

we're told there that He received the tongue of those who

are taught that He may sustain with a word Him who is weary.

We ask, Lord, that this Bible study would do just that.

It would sustain us. It would infuse a grace in our

hearts so that we could with great strength run this race

into 2025. So we pray for a special

blessing upon this time and that you would receive maximum glory

and praise. Oh Lord, we want to fall deeper

in love with Jesus. We want to be more godly, more

in tune with your Holy Spirit. We want to be more aware of this

grace and the knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ.

We ask these things and commit them into your hands, believing

that you'll answer speedily. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Well, I can tell you ahead of even reading this passage why

this will be a unique Bible study as we've been looking

closely at the life in the ministry of this man of God

named Elijah. Because as we've been exploring

every episode that's been preserved for us in this book,

they all took place within the boundaries of the nation of

Israel. But what you and I are going to

learn right away is that what this episode is about is, yes,

another miracle. You can categorize it as a

supernatural thing, but it's going to happen in an unlikely

place. Not Samaria, not any other city

or town within the Kingdom of Israel, but in Damascus.

We are going to find Elisha within enemy territory, and

there's a reason for that. So let's read this section.

We're going to complete the chapter, but let's read the

section that deals with that particular scene, and then we

will dissect it as we always do. So let's begin in Second.

Kings 87 Now Elisha came to Damascus, Ben Haddad the king of

Syria was sick. And when it was told him, The

man of God has come here, the king said to Hazael, Take a

present with you, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of

the Lord through him, saying, Shall I recover from this

sickness? So Hazael went to meet him and

took a present with him. All kinds of goods of Damascus,

40 camels, loads. When he came and stood before

me, he said, Your son bin Haddad, king of Syria, has sent

me to you, saying, shall I recover from the sickness?

And Elijah said to him, Go say to him, you shall certainly

recover. But the Lord has shown me that

he shall certainly die. And he fixed his gaze and stared

at him until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept.

Let's stop here. I was planning to read on, but I

think this suffices. Before we continue, here's my

first question for us, and I'm actually inviting you to answer

it as long as your answer is not too lengthy.

Why is Elijah in Damascus? Is there any idea?

And let me help with the potential answers here.

We can rule out the option that Elijah is here to see Benedad,

the king of Syria. Why?

Because based on what we read, it looks like Benedad learned of

Elijah's arrival and sought him out, right?

So this is not a planned meeting between the prophet, the man of

God, and the king of Syria. So with that now being

dismissed, what other clues might we have for why Elijah is

here? Who is he here for?

What is he here to do? Any ideas?

And while you guys are thinking about that, Oh, please, guys, if

you can help me with that buzzing, I know all it takes is

a little button and it's there. No, not yet there.

OK, there it is. Any idea?

It's OK. You can guess if you're not

certain. Any idea why Elijah is a

Damascus? No idea.

OK. He's there to do something.

Yes. A miracle.

You can. You can say it's a miracle.

A miracle is going to happen. Any idea?

That's a good guess. Well, we don't have to guess

because the Bible provides us a clear answer.

However, it's going to require us to go back to another book to

see the answer. And the book is the neighboring

book. First Kings chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

This is when Elijah was refreshed and recommissioned by

the Lord after he was rescued from this episode of spiritual

depression. We remember we studied that in

depth, right? So the Lord speaks to Elijah and

he gives him a threefold command.

Following this recovery, look at First Kings 19 beginning in

verse 15. And the Lord said to him, Go,

return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when

you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria,

and Jehu the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over

Israel. And Elijah the son of Shafat of

Abel Meola, you shall anoint to be the prophet in your place.

So we see the threefold command, right?

He's supposed to anoint 3 separate individuals, a new king

in Syria, a new king in Israel, and his successor Elijah.

Now here's what's so interesting.

We are told why Elijah was to set these appointments up and

these nominations. The very next verse look at

first Kings 1917. And the one who escapes from the

sword of Hazael shall J who put to death, And the one who

escapes from the sword of J, who shall Elijah put to death.

So what's the reason for these men being appointed into these

offices? Judgement.

Judgement. God is raising up these two

kings and this prophet to take Elijah's place to punish

Israel's present and future idolatry.

Now here's what's amazing. Out of these three anointings,

which one have we seen come to pass?

Elijah. There is no record of Elijah

anointing the king of Syria or anointing Jeyu to be the king of

Israel, correct? Now, this has troubled some

Bible students. You can imagine why, because

you're left to believe that Elijah didn't obey the Lord

fully, or that he delayed it long enough for Elijah now, who

took his place to complete what was not fulfilled.

But we can say that Elijah did obey, though it's not recorded

that he did in secret without the historian putting it in the

Bible. That the Holy Spirit inspiring

the historian to put in the Bible that he did honor what God

asked him to do, which might cause you to ask them, why is

Elijah? Because what we're going to see

this week and next week is that Elijah is going to anoint the

king of Syria and the king of Israel.

So if Elijah did it, why does Elijah anoint them?

Have we ever seen kings being anointed more than once?

Yes, we've seen David be anointed more than once.

We've seen Solomon anointed more than once.

So that's a great possibility. But I think there's even a

better answer. Let's suppose that Elijah

delayed anointing these two kings and prioritize anointing

Elijah to train him to be his successor.

Something happened a couple of chapters after First Kings 19

that indicates that the responsibility to anoint the

king of Syria and the king of Israel was transferred over to

Elijah. First Kings 21.

This is when Elijah was called by the Lord to confront Ahab

after having Nabeth killed for his land.

Do you remember that episode? And Ahab responds in a certain

way and I want you to see it again and notice how the Lord

says something quite spectacular.

First Kings 2128. And the word of the Lord came to

Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, have you seen how Ahab has

humbled himself before me? Because he had humbled himself

before me? I will not bring the disaster in

his days, but in his son's days, I will bring the disaster upon

his house. Does it make sense now because

of Ahab's repentance, God said, I'm going to suspend this

judgement in your days. I'm going to delay it, but I'm

going to bring it about in your son's days.

Now, who is the king of Israel during Elijah's ministry at that

point, or at this point rather, do we remember Jeho Ram?

Who is the son of who? He's the son of Ahab.

So here's how we make sense of this.

Because of Ahab's repentance, God again postponed the

judgement he had planned to carry out.

However, after Ahab dies and his son takes his place, Elisha now

is commissioned because the judgment is reinstated and he is

going to anoint the king of Syria and the king of Israel so

that he can take place. So in other words, Elisha is in

Damascus to anoint Hazel to be the king in order to prepare

judgment against the people of Israel.

That's why he's in Damascus. And I think there are a couple

of lessons that we can learn from this.

The first one is this, God delights in averting judgement.

God takes deep delight in averting judgement.

And we heard in the opening passage through Pasadena, Benna

when he quoted Micah, he delights to forgive.

I think of Ezekiel where it says that he takes no pleasure in the

death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his

evil and live. So this is God's heart.

Whenever there is a hint of repentance, He is willing to

change the judgment that has been designed for that

particular sin that's repented of.

But here's what's so beautiful about God.

Not only is he willing to delay judgment like he does in this

case, he's willing to cancel it altogether.

He's willing to delete it altogether.

But the condition for that to take place is faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ. Only embracing the Son of God is

able to remove every ounce of judgment that has been ascribed

to each of us. Only in Christ, hiding in Him,

being clothed in His righteousness, do we evade

wrath. He's willing.

It's just we have to be willing to repent and to confess and to

turn to Him. The second truth that we get

from this is also very important.

He does delight in averting judgement, but that when he does

judge, God often will raise up cruel leaders to punish the sins

of a people. And this is what we see doing in

here. He appoints these men

particularly to chastise his own.

And as we're going to see in the coming weeks, the the rising of

these two kings is going to unleash waves of devastation

against the people of Israel. It's going to be horrific.

And to think that this is a unique way that God judges

people is to admit ignorance of the Bible because it's not

unique to this episode. God often throughout history has

proven that when he wants to bring about judgment to a

people, to a nation, he will do so through the hands of a

vicious leader or government. I'm reminded of a verse in Hosea

1311 where Hosea is rehearsing the history of the people of

Israel and God speaks to the prophet and says this, I gave

you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.

Who's he referring to is referring to King Saul.

And he tells the people, I did give you Saul, but I did so in

my anger because in your request for a king, you denied me as

your king. And I would say that there's a

broader application to that truth, that God, when he is

angry, rightly angry, he will give people a cruel leader, a

cruel president, Prime Minister, dictator, whatever the case may

be. And it will ultimately culminate

in his final act of judgement. In this world, we believe in

something, someone known as the Antichrist.

And when the Antichrist does come, leading up to the final

events of human history, he will be a government leader that will

take over the globe. And his arrival on the scene,

according to Second Thessalonians chapter 2, is

2 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

defined for us. We know why this lawless one

will come up, why he will be worshipped while he will

dominate everything. And let me read it to you from

Second Thessalonians 29 and 10. You don't have to go there, but

let me read it to you. The coming of the lawless 1 is

by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and

wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are

perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

So, I mean, there's so many things you can say about that

passage, but I remember preaching this at Maranatha a

few years ago. And we use this text to know how

we can all be deception proof. If you want to assure yourself

that you will never be deceived, love the truth.

Love the truth, not just know the truth.

Love the truth. Because there are many people

who know the truth, but will, with the right pressure, the

right prize, compromise the truth.

It's not enough to know the truth.

Many people who are compromising the truth know what the Bible

has to say. But it's only when you love the

truth where you are spared from deception.

But those who refuse to love the truth, they will eat up

everything that the Antichrist has to offer, especially because

he'll back it up with false signs and wonders.

That's not my main point. The main point is this is that

God, often again from the beginning of time to the end of

time, will raise up certain leaders as a way of giving

people over to what they want. You want a God besides me?

Then here's somebody who will rule over you, and He will treat

you accordingly. And so these kings are an act of

judgement, and it reminds of how God judges in this world.

Let's continue to read on. He goes to Damascus.

Benedict learns that he is in the area, but he's not aware of

this anointing that's going to take place.

Instead, he's preoccupied by his own personal need.

It's an urgent need. And he summons Elijah.

Now, this should be shocking. Why?

Because we've studied Benedad, the king of Syria, more than

once in previous studies. And every single time we find

this king hostile towards the prophet.

But his tone is different here in Second Kings 8, at least the

second part of it. Notice how he refers to the

prophet. What does he call him?

Yeah, he says you're the man of God, right?

And then look, peek at the end of verse 9 for a second.

When Hazael comes to Elijah, he says, your son Ben Haddad, king

of Syria, send me to you. So not only is Elijah all of a

sudden now the man of God, he's also a spiritual father to

Benedad. And moreover, what do we have?

We have a Pagan king inquiring of the true God through his main

prophet, because he asked, has I ought to go right?

He says, ask and inquire the Lord through him if this

sickness is going to kill me. And so here's what he's

confessing by that that this God, the God of Israel is far

superior to all the other gods of Syria, all the other idols

that we acknowledge this God is a true God.

It makes you wonder if the healing of Naman made an

impression on him. But here was my question when I

was studying this. Why the change of attitude all

of a sudden? Remember, Naman was healed.

That didn't affect him. His army was spared from

complete annihilation more than once.

That didn't affect him. What changed all of a sudden?

One word, sickness. Sickness.

When the goodness of God touched things and people around him, it

didn't move him. But the moment his body was

afflicted, his tone changed. You know who has insight about

what sickness can do to a man? Satan.

Do you remember when he wanted to test Job and he called God to

put him through the test and the first round was what?

That is his children, his property, anything and

everything besides Job directly was impacted and he didn't curse

God. So he makes a reappearance

before the throne of God. God praises Job, and what does

Satan do? What does he respond with?

Skin for skin. And then he goes on.

I've stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh,

and he will curse you to your face.

You know what he's saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a whole different game when you touch a person's body, when

you afflict them personally. So let's see if this man is

really faithful, as you say is. But it goes both ways.

Sickness can either provoke hatred towards God or it can

drive one to seek favor from him, right?

And in Benedad's case, this ailment, whatever it is, healed

him of his antagonism towards the Lord and his prophet, at

least at this time. And so now he's attracted to the

man of God, and he's attracted to the God that he represents.

And so he he asked for him. But we're left to wonder if

Benedad is sincere here, if what he is doing here is about true

healing or just physical relief. Because you don't get a hint of

repentance here, do you? There is no evidence here that

he is wanting to be reconciled to this God.

It just seems like he wants to know through prophetic insight

if he will continue to live on. And that is not uncommon.

You know, if you don't have people who outright opposed to

the faith, you know what? You'll find some who are still

drawn to the Lord Jesus. For what he offers in the

temporal, I have seen time and time again in the ministry

unbelievers or even nominal Christians who will make a

desperate plea for Christ intervention for some earthly

issue only when every other option has failed them.

And you're saying, well, isn't that good?

Well, depends, because they might be just looking for a way

out of something that has nothing to do with their souls.

Which brings me to this next point.

Have you ever noticed something about human nature?

And I have to be careful here because I'm not saying that God

is not concerned about these needs.

But I have noticed and maybe you share in this observation that

people are much more passionate and urgent when it comes to

something that's temporal rather than something that is more

permanent in their lives. You have you have much more

people willing and asking for healing than for their sins to

be eradicated. That's what I'm trying to say.

It's it's very rare where you see somebody making a desperate

plea for Christ to deliver them from iniquity and bondage and a

pattern of breaking God's law. What you will find more than

that is people saying can he provide for me?

Can he deliver me from this problem?

Can he solve these relational tensions?

OK, God can do all of that, but I'm afraid Ben had dad is

reflecting what we see in most people looking for a cop out and

for some kind of divine help, only for something that deals

with this life and this life alone.

They had that tendency to be delivered from the consequences

of sin and not sin itself. Only the Lord knows Benedette's

heart. But what we're about to discover

as we read that is that God knows every person's heart,

including the one that was dispatched to Elijah, this man,

this deputy. Let's look at verse 10 again.

Hazael comes to him, meets him, ask him if Ben Haddad, king of

Syria, will be recovered from the sickness.

And look how Elisha answers in verse 10.

And Elisha said to him, go say to him, you shall certainly

recover. But the Lord has shown me that

he shall certainly die. That sounds like a contradiction

to me. That sounds quite paradoxical.

Yeah, he's going to. He's going to recover, but he's

actually going to die. But it's not as problematic as

one might think. If you read it carefully, then

you understand what Elijah is trying to convey.

What he is saying is sure Benedad will recover from the

sickness, but he is going to die by another means.

And Elijah knows exactly how Benedad is going to die.

Do you know how he's going to be assassinated?

Who's the perpetrator? The guy that's standing in front

of him, we didn't read that part yet.

That's why I chose to stop it there.

So Elisha is receiving this prophetic download, if you will.

And Hazael here is standing before him saying, what news do

I bring back? He's going to recover, but he's

going to die. But notice Elisha doesn't tell

him that. Elisha doesn't say exactly how

he's going to die. He just says he's going to die

by another way. And look at verse 11.

Elisha, learning about the future and learning about what

this man is capable of, fixes his gaze and stares at him until

he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept.

So he just stares at him, right? And you can just imagine those

piercing prophetic eyes, how they burned Hezaiah's conscience

at this moment, right? Because we're told he was

embarrassed. Now, you might read that as this

is awkward, like you're not saying anything, you're just

staring at me. But it could be that as a

prophet is looking at him, this man feels as though he's being

exposed. In other words, Elijah saying

what's going to truly happen to the king of Syria.

And by looking at him, the way he's looking at him could be

communicating. I know what you're capable of,

and I actually know what you might really want to do.

I know the deepest desires of your heart.

And he's almost scanning this man, and so he looks at him and

he starts weeping. But before we get to the weeping

part, are we not reminded of something through this man, this

man of God? God sees everything.

God knows everything. There is nothing hidden from his

sight. Every move, every motive, every

meditation is laid bare before the Lord.

And so we even get a glimpse in this that the Lord registers and

takes note of it all. And so there is nothing that we

can conceal from. There's nothing that we can

dodge. There's nothing that we can

hide. And this is supposed to remind

us of that. You know, I think a lot of

Christians are familiar with Hebrews 412, right?

That that famous passage that talks about the power of the

Word of God, that it is what it is living, it is active, it is

sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing to the division of soul

and spirit. And there are many, many people

who are familiar with Hebrews 414 and 15 that talks about how

we have this great high priest who enters into the heavens.

And because he is such a great high priest, he sympathizes with

our weaknesses, right? People know those verses by

heart, but I'm afraid most people don't know the verse

tucked between those two. So you have Hebrews 412 about

the power, the sharpness, the position of of God's word.

Hebrews 414 and 15, this great high priest.

What about Hebrews 413? This is not, this is not one

that's often memorized in Sunday school, but let's go there to

see it. Hebrews 413 It's probably

already behind me. What does the Lord say there?

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and

exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

No wonder it's not memorized. People like to skip over this

one. God sees everything.

That's what it means to live in the fear of God.

By the way, at least partly. I know God is here.

I know God hears. I know God sees.

So I can't get away with anything that's to live as a God

fearing man or God fearing woman in part.

But I'd love to ask these questions because the Bible is

not meant to be quoted like fortune cookies where you take

one verse and no, there's a context.

What's the context of this? You go from talking about the

word of God to God seeing and knowing everything to this great

high priest, right? And I think this is this is the

context after explaining how sharp the word of God is, how

precise it is to discerning the thoughts and the intents of the

heart, we go to verse 13 now where the Holy Spirit tells us

God, like his word is perfect in his judgment.

He is fully aware, he he, he scans perfectly and no one can

dispute him. He evaluates without anybody

being able to protest him. So just like his word, the God

of the Word is accurate in his assessment and no one, no one

can evade his evaluation. And so you read about the Word

of God, then you realize the Word of God is, yes, this

powerful, but it also reflects the God of the Word.

And it's supposed to overwhelm you by the way.

It's supposed to make you feel He knows everything.

That's the point. Only for you not to be overcome

by despair to the point where you're crushed and condemnation.

We're then in verse 14, now we're told about this great high

priest. Do you get it Now He knows

everything. He sees everything.

We're all doomed then. But listen, there's a great high

priest who's able to sympathize with our weakness.

And then you go to Hebrews 416 where we're told that we now,

because of this high priest, though God sees and knows

everything, gives us the confidence to approach the

throne of grace. Isn't that wonderful?

Even in that yes, He sees everything.

He knows everything that can terrify you, and it should.

But you're relieved of that terror when you realize Christ's

forgiveness in your life and how He mediates on your behalf and

how because of that, now, despite anything that you have

done, you are covered in His blood.

And you can boldly approach God and you can come to Him at any

point anytime, even on that final day.

So this man is about to learn that God sees everything.

And it's supposed to remind us that God sees everything.

He hasn't changed. But oh, if you're in Christ,

that shouldn't bother you a bit because in your account you have

Christ's perfection. So what happens?

The man of God wept. Why did he weep?

Because he's now about to disclose the potential evil that

this fellow is about to commit in the near future.

But I don't want to go there right now.

I want to just look at Elisha. The man Elijah was faithful in

preaching the whole council of God, was he not?

He preached judgement when he needed to preach judgement.

However, we've seen continually how he was a man of deep

compassion. Haven't we seen that over and

over, especially when he deals with widows?

There's so much compassion in his heart and that compassion

continues on here. How so?

Because when he was asked, let's look here at verse 12, Hazael

said, why does my Lord weep? He answered, because I know the

evil that you will do to the people of Israel.

You will set on fire their fortresses and you will kill

their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little

ones and RIP open their pregnant woman.

So what is he weeping about? He's weeping about the fate of

his people, Israel. He is overcome with grief in the

realization that though the people have been idolatrous,

though they've been apostate, they're going to be severely

judged. And this broke this man's heart.

And here's why I moved. People might be moved by the

prophetic knowledge that Elijah had.

People might be impressed by how he was bold despite the 40 camel

loads of gifts. He said this is what God said.

Those are all wonderful things, but here's what I moved by

Elijah was broken about souls. Elijah was overcome and the

realization of the fate of sinners after all those years of

ministry were coming. Near the end of Elijah's

ministry, he did not become jaded.

He didn't become too familiar. He didn't lose his sensitivity

to the eternality of things, the severity of sin, the goodness of

God. His heart was still tender.

And I read that earlier tonight. I thought to myself, Lord, keep

my heart soft towards the lost. Let not frustration with

sinners, let not disappointment caused by sinners ever cause me

to become calloused. It's just OK.

It's just another number, OK? Just in the no, no, no, to

really feel what you feel about people.

And the way that you and I protect our hearts from becoming

cold in that area is by staying connected to the Lord in

communion. Only communion with the Lord and

His Word and His presence will keep your heart warm towards

those who don't know the Lord, towards even the church.

If you don't have Christ's heart beating in this chest of yours,

you'll become very, very, very, very jaded, not just towards

sinners, but even towards the people of God.

But Elijah was not there. Elijah was sensitive.

He still could have tears streaming down his face because

he still had God's heartbeat even after all these years.

This made me want to pray. Lord, I I want that kind of

heart for the rest of my life. I never want to preach with ice

covering my heart. I never want to counsel with an

indifference. I never want to treat people.

Look at them as numbers. I want to see them as you see

them, each one by name, created in your image, loved by you.

You shed your blood for them. Help me see them as you see

them. That's what I find in this

mighty man of God. And so he begins to cry when he

sees in his mind's eye what's about to happen.

How does this man respond? Let's look at verse 13.

And Hazael said, What is your servant who is but a dog, that

he should do this great thing. Now, how would you interpret

Hazael's response? Here's I think, here's what I

think most people understand it to me that he was so repulsed by

this prophecy, he was so almost offended.

In other words, you can almost translate in this way am IA

moral monster that I would commit such heinous things,

right? Is that how most people would

understand it? That's not what he's saying.

That's not what he's saying at all, actually.

And we have two main reasons for that.

One, notice here that he refers himself as a dog.

Look again at verse 13. He says, what is your servant

who is but a dog? Who is but a dog?

Now, when we think of dog, we think of, you know, as as a term

to kind of denote insensitivity or cruelty or selfishness or

animalistic kind of behavior. But that's not what he's saying

In different contexts, it can simply mean one of lowly

position or status 1 who's inferior in position, right?

He says, who am I? I'm but a dog.

And the reason why we can say that is because of how Elisha

answers him. What does Elisha say in

response? He says I'm but a dog, that I

should do this great thing and I should answer.

The Lord has shown me that you were to be king over Syria.

So what he's saying essentially is, you know you're going to be

able to do this because you're going to be king next.

So that confirms that Heziah's answer is not so much about

being offended. He's actually perplexed.

You're saying I'm going to do this.

You're saying that I'm going to have this kind of military

conquest. And I'm telling you, I'm but a

dog in comparison to a king. And if he was talking about his

moral integrity, you would think that Elijah would answer with

no, no, I'll tell you actually, you're actually you're corrupt

or evil, this or that. No, no, Elijah's not.

It's going to happen because you're going to become king.

You're going to have, you're going to attain the authority

and the power to be able to execute these things.

So then we have to now see this in a different light.

This is not this man being offended.

This is the man actually you ready for this, being humbled.

He's being humbled. So he hears this great victory

and instead of like, as you just probably reacted when you heard

the details of what he was going to do, instead of recoiling, he

goes, I can't do that but a dog. So then what are you supposed to

see? You're supposed to see just how

vile this man is. You're supposed to see the

depths of his corruption. He's not humbled because of his

moral depravity. He's humbled because he can't

imagine him being able to do this.

And when he says I'm but a dog, and then he goes on to add who

would do this great thing? He's not talking about this

great thing as was this great act of evil.

He's thinking of it as a positive thing.

I'm going to be able to commit this great thing, do this great

thing, achieve this great thing. So when you see that way, then

you get different insight because the way some people,

most people interpret that is see, just like Hazael, you do

not know the potential of your sinfulness, right?

And they might connect it with Peter, who who refused to

believe that he could deny Christ.

I don't think that's a text to use that for.

Instead, what you're supposed to see in this is that this man

proves to us that so many people are willing to commit great

evils when the right opportunity comes.

That's the lesson. You know, some people think and

believe that only when somebody's promoted to a certain

position of power or they acquire a level of resources

that makes them powerful, that's what corrupts people.

And it can. But I am of those who believe

that when or if somebody attains that position or that status or

that kind of influence, it doesn't corrupt them.

It just exposes the corruption that was in them all along.

And you've probably seen some of those people in your life where

for the longest time they seem calm, they seem sensitive, they

seem understanding. And the moment they climbed a

certain ladder, even within the church, something changes.

Something changes, Something changes in their outlook,

something changes in their attitude, something changes in

how they treat people. Why did the position corrupt

them? It could, but oftentimes it just

reveals what was in their hearts all along, and I believe that's

the case here. Hazael had this in his heart,

and it would ultimately manifest when he occupied the throne.

And the corruption of Hazael will begin to manifest in the

next couple of verses. What happens?

Let's read in verse 14. Then he departed from Elijah and

came to his master, who said to him, what did Elijah say to you?

And he answered, He told me that you would certainly recover.

But the next day he took the bedcloth and dipped it in water

and spread it over his face till he died.

And Hazael became king in his place.

You know what? Some people might believe that

Hazael committed this crime because it was predicted by

Elijah. Did Elijah predict that this

would happen? No.

What did he tell this man? He said that, yeah, he'll

recover, but he will certainly die.

He didn't tell him how he was going to die.

So this isn't has a yell mustering up the courage to do

this because he thought, well, it's been prophesied that I'd be

the next king through assassination, so I'm just going

to assassinate him. That's not what's happening

here. Here's what I believe is

happening, that as he's making his way back to his boss, the

thought came to him, Well, if Benedad is going to die anyway,

might as well speed up the process.

That's what's happening. And so he makes his way before

the King. And let me let me make this

point based on that. Lust for power has a way of

arousing and excusing other evils to obtain it.

Lust for power has a way of arousing and excusing other

evils in order to obtain it. Even as I said earlier, within

the context of ministry professing Christians.

Will they not resort to lying, slander, flattery to gain or to

protect some kind of role in the church, especially if it's a

leadership role? If you're really truly called by

the Lord, man or woman, then you will act like David, who is

faithful and whatever he was found in while he waited on the

Lord for his timing. You don't have to do anything of

the flesh. You don't have to resort to

anything of the carnal man in order to get something from the

Lord or get something from somebody else.

Hazael is quite different from David.

In fact he's the opposite. So he makes his way to the

bedside of this king. The king asked what's what's the

message and what is? Hazael said you shall certainly

recover. Is that the full truth?

No, it's not the full truth. What's the full truth?

You're going to recover, but you're going to die too.

And I can't help but think, but if Hezbollah was righteous, then

he would have delivered the full thing.

And if he delivered the full thing, that he might have

granted Ben Haddad the opportunity to get right with

God before he slipped into eternity.

But he doesn't. Why?

Because he wants to fulfill that second part.

He wants to ensure that he is dead and he doesn't want to

raise up any suspicion. So he just says you're going to

recover from the sickness and he can hardly wait.

So he does it the next day. I think as I'll here is a

reflection of many things, but he's primarily a reflection of

how Satan works. How does Satan work with the

word of the Lord? If he can't stop God's word from

being preached altogether, then he will find people to leave out

the parts that would necessitate you to reflect and potentially

repent. He will lull you to sleep in

your condition by giving you. Is that not part of Elijah's

word? Yes, it was.

You shall certainly recover. That was part of the message.

That was what he was he was exposed to.

So it's partly God's Word, but not totally God's Word.

And I find that what we see with this man is what we see in many

pulpits. If you can't stop the Word from

being shared, He will have those who share it withhold the parts

that stirred urgency to make the appropriate response.

And he will deceive messengers into using the Word, O Lord, to

lull people into a complacency until they die in their unbelief

and sin. Is that not true?

It is true, and like the King, to be so relaxed that they never

consider repentance. Now, I'm thinking of this from

Hazel's point of view, and I'm also thinking of this from

Benedict's point of view, because this man has received

ample opportunity to repent. How much has God done for this

man? How many experiences of His

grace has he tasted for Him to finally change his ways?

And he refused to do so. And now, when it comes to him

being riddled with this disease, he shows some interest in the

true God. And though we think here that

this is a bedside opportunity to repent, it's not really.

Because instead of an invitation, a revisitation of

the truth being brought to him in his final moments, what's

there? An incomplete truth you can say.

A lie that robbed him of the opportunity of getting right

with God. Bedside repentance is never

guaranteed for anyone, even if you find yourself on a bed

knowing that you're going to die in any moment.

Because like Ben had died, instead of having the

opportunity to get right with the Lord through Jesus Christ,

you might be surrounded by the lies of the enemy to the point

where they overwhelm and overtake any opportunity to come

to the truth. I remember a time many, many

years ago, maybe a year or two into me moving to the city here

in Chicago where I receive. I'll be as broad as possible.

I don't want to be too specific, that I received a phone call

from a relative who was at the hospital visiting another

relative who was sick. And while this relative was

visiting this other relative, she heard her name being called

down the hospital aisle from a young man who went to my high

school. My brother and I had a chance to

play basketball with this fellow and the relative who engaged

with this young man who recognized, called her name,

told this person that he's dying of cancer and he's my age.

And so my relative contacted me and said so and so is dying of

cancer. Can you believe that I bumped

into him or he bumped into me? This is the Lord because this

person doesn't know the Lord. And so I received the number to

contact him while he's in the hospital.

I haven't seen this man in years.

And the last that I knew of him is that he was a troublemaker.

He got in trouble with the police.

He had a broken family life. So I called this young man, I

called him from Chicago and I talked to her for 10 minutes and

I. And I thought to myself, surely

this is of the Lord to give this man a chance to repent if he's

not healed. And so I, I had short

conversation with him just about, you know, life.

And then I got to it. I hear what's happening in your

life. I hear what's happening to your

body. And I just gave him the gospel.

Now, here's what's interesting. This man's father was a Muslim

and he identified as a Muslim. And So what he allowed me to

share the gospel that at some point he said, yeah, but do you

understand that I'm a Muslim? I said, with all due respect,

Muhammad can't save you. Your faith can't save you.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save you.

You need to repent and put your trust and faith in him.

And as I am presenting the gospel, I hear people in the

background coming into the hospital room.

And I could tell that he was getting distracted and I could

tell that I need to give a little bit more oomph to my

presentation here to get his to get his attention.

So I tried only for me to be interrupted with brother, I'm

sorry, but my family's here and I have to go.

It's good hearing your voice and the conversation ended.

I don't know what happened to this young man.

I actually ended up learning that he did pass away.

I don't know when, but I wonder if I was the last voice that was

able to give him the truth or if whatever I said was eclipsed by

family that believed in a different God that maybe

cancelled out the things that I was able to share with him.

I'm putting my faith and trust that the seed of the gospel was

able to do something in that young man's heart.

But I was reminded that as much as we think God is gracious

enough to meet us in our final moments, Satan is vicious enough

to make sure that you don't make it in your final moment.

Azael came to this man supposedly with a word from the

Lord, but it was a lie, half truth, one that would not

prepare him to meet with his God, but one that left him

unprepared. Well, we can end here, but look

at all those verses left. So hang tight because we're

going to complete this chapter. You know, if you've been

studying with us in Second Kings, then you'll realize that

the writer has primarily focused on the events concerning the

northern Kingdom of Israel. And this is going to be

overview. We're not going to be touching

on every verse here, but what's interesting with the remaining

verses of this chapter is that we are transported from the

events taking place in the Kingdom of Israel and the

affairs related to the Kingdom to the transfer and the change

of politics in the Kingdom of Judah.

And the question is why? And here's the answer.

Because the corruption and the evil that overtook the nation

and the Kingdom of Israel was seeping into the Kingdom of

Judah. So the the very sin that invited

God's judgement, the judgement that was ready to be unleashed

to the king of Syria being elected and the king of Israel,

this man J, who is going to show up in the next chapter.

Now we're left to wonder that sin that brings about this

judgment, it's now seeping into the Kingdom of Judah and we're

wondering what's going to happen to Judah.

Now, if you need proof of that, look down here at Second Kings.

Let's just read verse 16 down. It says here in the fifth year

of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was

king of Judah, Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah,

began to reign. Now you might be wondering

what's going on here. I thought Joram was the king of

Israel. That's the son of Ahab, right?

Joram is the son of Ahab. But we learn here that there's

another Joram who's going to be the king of Judah.

Ready for this? It's not a contradiction.

People can share the same name, right?

Daniel, Daniel. Right, Daniel, Daniel, Jairam,

Jairam. It's possible.

So you had Jairam of the king of Israel, and then now you have a

Jairam who's the king of Judah. He was 32 years old when he

became king and reigned 8 years in Jerusalem.

Now here, here's the important verse, verse 18.

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the House of

Ahab had done. For the daughter of Ahab was his

wife. And he did what was evil in the

sight of the Lord. So we're supposed to, as the

readers go, this is bad. He married a daughter of Ahab,

and now he's walking in the ways of the king of Israel.

You just read up to this point that God is ready to judge,

fulfill the word that he gave to Elijah.

Hey, Hezail is going to come up and he's going to be an

instrument of judgement. Jehu's going to come up.

He's going to be an instrument of judgement.

So what's going to happen to the Kingdom of Judah then?

Are they going to face a similar fate?

Are they going to see a worse fate?

And then look at what happens here, verse 19.

As though the Lord anticipated this question, we get an answer.

Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah for the sake of

David His servant, since He promised to give a lamp to him

and to his sons forever. So God is going to treat the

Kingdom of Judah differently. Why?

Because of the Davidic dynasty. So he is not going to wipe out

the Kingdom of Judah. He's not going to destroy them

completely because he made a promise.

And this is so important as you read through the whole Bible

that from time to time when you see the people of God

entertaining sins that are worthy of God, deserting them

and keeping them in that place, we are frequently reminded God

is faithful even though His people are faithless, and that

he is a covenant keeping God. And he made a promise to David,

and despite his descendants, he would hold on to his promise to

his seed. Say, well, does that mean that

they can do whatever they want? No, because they would still

experience chastisement. That's what you read in verse

20. In his days, Edom revolted from

the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own.

Then Joram passed over Zaire. Now Joram, you see that?

That's an alternate way of spelling Jahoram.

So Joram, Joram, same person, passed over to Zaire with all

his Chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot

commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his

army fled home. So Edom revolted from the rule

of Judah to this day. Then Libna revolted at the same

time. Now the rest of the acts of

Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of

the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

So Joram slept with his father's and was buried with his father's

in the city of David, and his son reign in his place.

In other words, they were chastised and discipline for

their sin. But God would have put an end to

this Kingdom because everybody said to David, right, Edom was

raised up to depart from them. Libna was raised up to revolt

against him, and that was his. If you want proof that that was

God's doing, let me quote to you Second Chronicles.

And this is important. You don't have to turn there,

but just to know as a reference, 2110, this is the parallel

account, and here's what the chronicler says.

So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day.

At that time, Libna also revolted from his rule because

he had forsaken the Lord, the God of the fathers, of his

fathers. So this uprising of the Edomites

and the people that lived now was because Joram the king of

Judah departed from the Lord and walked in the ways of the kings

of Israel. So what happens?

Does it get any better with his son of Heziah?

Let's read 25. In the 12th year of Joram, the

son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahazzai, the son of Joram, king

of Judah, began to reign as I was 22 years old when he began

to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri,

king of Israel. His mother's name was Athalia.

I believe it was Matthew Henry who said when you choose a wife,

you have to understand you're also choosing the mother of your

children. So his mother's name was

Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri,

king of Israel. He also walked in the way of the

House of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,

as the House of Ahab had done, for he was the son-in-law to the

House of Ahab. Now notice what happens here.

He went with Joram the son of Ahab.

That's Joram, king of Israel, not the one that just died, king

of Judah. I hope I'm not confusing

anybody. He went with Joram, the son of

Ahab, to make war against who? The new king of Syria, Hazel,

king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram

King Jerem returned to be healed, and Jezreel of the

wounds that the Syrians had given him at Rama when he fought

against Hazael king of Syria, And Haziah the son of Joram king

of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab and Jezreel

because he was sick. So now you see this alliance

between the king of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel as Zion

now is checking up on Jerem after this war against Syria.

And though they felt as though they potentially evaded Hazel's

punishment, his ruthless antics and ability, they don't see

what's coming in the next chapter because there's still

one more person out of the three from First Kings 1915 to be

anointed. Who's that person?

Jehu. And Jehu is going to be the

instrument in God's hand that's going to bring an end to the

House of Ahab. And we have to come next week to

see it. Why don't we stop here and give

thanks to God for this study? Lord, we thank you for the

study. We bless your great and holy

name. That Lord, just as your word

says in Hebrews 412. This word is indeed living and

active. It is as a double edged sword.

There is no part of it that doesn't cut us.

Every part of Your word has the potential of pricking our

conscious or comforting our weary souls.

Thank You that every part has an edge and we've experienced that

tonight in this chapter. Lord, receive maximum glory and

praise from the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of praise,

as we acknowledge Your greatness in Your word and in our lives.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen.

Let's praise the Lord for His goodness and his wisdom and His

glory. You know, if there's one take

away from this Bible study, it's this.

When God says something, he means it.

When God promises something, he means it both for our good and

both for his justice if it means the pain of those who deny His

good. So he keeps his word.

Let's stand, let's give him thanks tonight.

God keeps His word, whether it's a warning or it's a promise.

You know, I left something out for my our Bible study tonight,

but I'm going to share it in closing.

Who are the Edomites? They're the descendants of Esau.

Who is Esau? Jacob's brother.

Remember that, right? And what did Jacob do to make

Esau very, very upset? He stole his inheritance and he

took away his blessing. And so Esau comes to his father

and begs him, Oh, do you have something left for me?

Do you have something left for me?

And really, it's a bottom of the barrel prophecy that he grants

him. But there's something in it that

is related to 2nd Kings Chapter 8, and it's quite staggering.

It says here in Genesis 27 verse 39.

Genesis 27:39

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, away

from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away

from the dew of heaven on high by your sword you shall live,

and you shall serve your brother right though he was older, he

was going to serve his brother. But notice what happens.

But when you grow restless, you shall break his yoke from your

neck. So it wasn't a permanent

servitude to Jacob and his descendants.

At some point ISON his descends would grow so restless that they

would break free from the yoke of Jacob.

When do you think that happened? And what you heard in the final

verses of Second Kings chapter 8, that when the Edomites broke

2 Kings 8 · chapter mention

free from Israel and became their own independent Kingdom,

why do I bring that up? Because a promise that God gave

in Genesis was fulfilled in Second Kings.

Why? Because God doesn't forget his

word. When God says something, he

means it. And so even in things that we

have not yet realized, he will bring it to pass.

Even things from Genesis that have not yet been realized, it's

going to happen because as God is true.

Amen. We thank you, Lord.

You're a trustworthy God. This book in our hands is the

living Word. It's your breath, it's your

voice, it's your promise, it's your guidance in our lives.

We honor you for it, Lord, May we love it every day.

I pray personally for every person here, and I pray for

myself that there would be an appetite for the Word in 2025

that has never been realized in prior years.

We pray that you would enlarge our hearts, that we may run in

the way of Your commandments. We honor you, we thank you, we

pray that this church, by your grace, would be a Bible

preaching, Bible believing, Bible heralding, Bible honoring

church until you come and bring us home.

Lord, may we not be like Hazel and shy away from everything you

have to say, but we may believe that even the strongest words,

the strongest warnings are for our good for people's lives to

be saved, including our own. We bless you.

Bring us back again safely in Jesus name, Amen and Amen.

Lord willing we will see you this Sunday.

We're breaking bread together. We're going to welcome in new

members and again we're going to hear from the Lord.

No Bible series just yet. Still preaching different

messages. So be praying for the next

series will be pleased. That would be wonderful for me

and for the leadership. We'll see you there Lord

willing. God bless you.

Be safe, take Care now.