2 Kings 5 (Part 2) Bible Study (Gehazi's Greed and Punishment) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's come together now to the Book of Second Kings, chapter 5

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

and place your finger there, verse 15.

As we will complete this chapter together this evening, I'll tell

you upfront that the focus of our study will be on two

individuals and the change in their spiritual condition, the

radical change in their spiritual condition.

The 1st is Damon and how his faith was converted to the true

and living God. The second is Gehazi, Elijah's

servant and how he compromised in his faith in the true and

living God. In Naaman, we're going to

witness the remarkable transformations of the

convictions of a very unlikely person.

In Gehazi, however, we are going to look at a minister and a

pupil of one of God's most remarkable prophets in all of

history and how this man was eaten up by covetousness.

This section is not only going to offer us lessons from each of

these individuals, it's also going to highlight striking

contrast between them. And when we carefully examine

those contrasts, it's only going to add to the stockpile of

revelation that we seek to accumulate tonight.

And that's what we do here. We discipline ourselves to read

and study our Bibles carefully, to dig into mine in order to see

all that God has to offer. And so let's do that.

Let's come to 2nd Kings 515. Last week, we studied how naman

was miraculously healed and cleansed of leprosy.

And right away we're going to notice that there was another

type of cleansing that took place in this man's life.

Not externally, internally, not on his skin, but in his soul.

Let's read the first few verses, beginning in verse 15.

Then he being named and returned to the man of God, he and all

his company. And he came and stood before

him. And he said, Behold, I know that

there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.

So except now a present from your servant.

But he said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will

receive none. And he urged them to take it,

but he refused. The Naaman said, If not, please

let there be given to your servant 2 mule loads of earth.

From from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or

sacrifice to any God but the Lord in this matter.

May the Lord pardon your servant.

When my master goes into the House of Ramon to worship there

leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the House of Ramon.

When I bow myself in the House of Ramon, the Lord pardon your

servant in this matter. He said to him, go in peace.

You know what we have before us tonight, The study, one of the

most notable Gentile converts in the Old Testament.

And again, as we mentioned in verse 14, we learned that this

name in his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little

child, and he was clean. But right away in verse 15, we

realized that there was an inner transformation, a genuine

conversion. He was saved.

And I want you to look back at verse 15 because this is more

interactive than on a Sunday. Is there anything from verse 15

that stands out to you that would validate Naaman's

transformation? And you can say it out loud.

You don't have to give a whole sermon, but just a word or two

about what you noticed from verse 15 that would indicate

that this man indeed was different.

Yes. OK, so he returned to the man of

God. That's significant because he's

going to make certain requests to the man of God.

We're going to elaborate on that.

Any other observations from verse 15?

Exactly. He made this claim about the

exclusivity of the God of Israel.

Absolutely. Anything else?

He humbly came and stood before Elijah.

Yeah. So he stands before Elijah.

Different posture, different mindset.

Anything about his mindset that was different from how we

studied him last week. Humble.

Absolutely. So I, I think we can look at 3

marks of this man's transformation and and some of

us already talked about at least two of them.

The first one was his confession, his profession.

He made this claim that there is no other God but the God of

Israel. Now, it was not uncommon for a

Pagan at this time to discover of a new deity and then to Adam,

to his panoply of gods. But that's not what Naaman does

here. He doesn't add this God to the

list of other gods that he respected and revered.

He makes this profession that a faithful Israelite would have

made, that there is no other God but this God.

And that's what the Bible unequivocally declares over and

over and over again, that there is only one Lord and it's this

Lord. And this is what Naaman does.

It's a massive declaration for somebody with his background to

make. Absolutely.

So he's already lining up with what the Scripture says about

the exclusivity of this God and his claims and his prerogatives.

The second thing that Naaman does, though, is that he is

demonstrating a willingness to respond sacrificially to the

experience that he had with the grace of God.

Notice what he says to Elijah. So accept now a present from

your servant. So a couple of people already

mentioned that Naaman goes back to the man of God.

It could have been very easy for him to have that miracle at the

Jordan River and then to make his way straight back home to

Syria. But instead, he, he travels many

miles back to come before the man of God because he wants to

leave something with the man of God.

And as we're about to discover, take something back with him to

Syria. Now, if you think that's

unrealistic for somebody to do this, to go back home after

experiencing such a marvelous thing, do you remember when

Jesus healed 10 lepers? How many of them came back to

give him thanks? One.

And he was a foreigner according to the Lord's words, just like

Naaman was. So Naaman goes above and beyond

to ensure that he can do what he can by properly responding to

this encounter that he had with God.

And so he makes this offer out of his gratitude.

He wants to repay the spiritual and the human instrument rather

for the miracle. But we're going to learn Elijah

rejects it and for a good reason.

So it's not that he just wants to give something though.

He wants to take something. Look at verse 17.

The Naaman said, if not, please let there be given to your

servant, 2 mule loads of earth. From now on, your servant will

not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any God but the

Lord. Was Naaman commanded to worship

the Lord? No, he he discovered a fresh

desire to worship the Lord, and there's no doubt that his

understanding of the things of God will develop.

But there's no denying the the purity of this priority.

He wants to do what he can to honor God, and it is no

different for a person who has genuinely encountered and been

changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the same way, Naaman wants to go back home and reorient

everything around the true God being central.

When you've really experienced the gospel and responded to it

and repentance and faith, you will want to set up your life in

a way where Christ has preeminence and that he will

have your supreme devotion. If you've been cleansed by the

blood of Jesus, that will be true of you.

And if it's not true of you, then you have to question

whether or not you really have tasted of His grace.

And I find it fascinating how this is the same name in who

earlier when he was commanded by Elijah to go dip himself 7 times

in the Jordan, made these boasts about how the rivers and

Damascus were far greater, right?

And now what is he doing? He wants to take back with him

the dirt of Israel in order to honor God through it above

everything else back home. This man changed.

He's different, but it's not just his view of God that's

altered. How he views himself is

radically changed as well. How does he refer and identify

himself when he comes before the man of God?

He says what? Your servant.

And he says that twice more in verse 18.

Your servant, your servant. Compare this to how we saw

Naaman interact with Elijah in his first introduction.

Look at verse 11 of Second Kings 5, just as a reminder.

But Naman was angry and went away saying, behold, I thought

that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the

name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and

cure the leper. Much different, wouldn't you

say? And just like how Naman wanted

to worship the Lord, go back home and change everything about

how he views the world and views these different gods and his

idols, this is also a pattern for a person who's experienced

the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter who you are, even if

you are the general of a nation's army, like Naman, you

will also want to serve your servant.

So when Christ doesn't work in your heart, He doesn't just

secure you. He doesn't just declare your

positionally as a St. he makes you into a servant, and the

effects of the gospel in that regard are repetitive throughout

the New Testament. One of my favorite texts to

prove that is Titus 214 when it talks about he who redeemed us

and delivered us from all lawlessness and to purify unto

himself a people who are zealous for good works.

You're not saved by good works. You're not saved even by zealous

good works, but you are saved for zealous good works.

So here you have name and now saying, yes, I want to worship

the true God, but I also want to be a servant.

So he calls himself your servant.

When you're saved, you're going to want to serve, serve God's

people, serve God's Kingdom, and you'll do so with joy.

Did you notice that in verse 16, Elisha rejects the gift, but he

said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive

none. And he urged them to take it,

but he refused. This is even more strange when

you remember how Elijah unreservedly accepted the

service of the shanimite woman, all those meals, and she even

extended her home, built a room for him.

He didn't object. So why is Elijah denying this

gift here and now? I believe it's in the same

chapter where you get a clue that indicates Elijah's wisdom

and discretion in this matter. Scroll down to verse 26.

We didn't read it yet, but look at what he says to Gehazi when

he confronts Gehazi about his greed as we're going to read

later verse 26. But he said to him, did not my

heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?

Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and

vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

There it is. It wasn't the right time.

So it's not that Elijah's ministry had this unbending

policy where you couldn't receive any donations or

charity. It's that at this particular

moment he discerned that it was not appropriate to do so.

And why was it wrong? Why would it have been foolish

for him to accept this gift? Here's what I believe.

And I, I think this is the case that the scripture is making.

Elijah understood that he was dealing with a foreigner and he

did not want to give the slightest impression to him,

naman or the people that he was going to go back to that this

miracle was somehow earned or it was purchased in any way.

So Elijah's thinking beyond what's happening here, he's

thinking that when Naaman goes back and those around him that

knew of his condition and travel to Israel to receive healing

from the God of Israel, and they asked how was it that you were

healed by the God of Israel? He would respond based on what

Elisha does here with nothing, nothing at all.

I didn't pay anything. I, I didn't have to perform in

any way. He just asked me to do something

in simple faith, and in simple faith I received my cleansing.

And through that I'm sure that the message of the grace of God

would be unmistakable. That's what Elijah was trying to

protect. Paul made similar objections

when he served among the Corinthians.

He refused to be a financial burden to the Christians of that

area because he discerned that in that context, there were

adversaries that were trying to muddy his testimony and claim

that he was doing this for financial gain.

So he gave him no evidence to work with.

Even though he cut off the right of an apostle to receive

compensation for his work, he would not exercise that right

because he had a greater ambition in mind.

Both Elijah and Paul, among others, serve as a wonderful

example for ministers today and how they should operate in

wisdom. You have to learn how to be

flexible in your ministry and in your service, especially when

people want to respond by giving you something for your service.

There are times when the best thing to do is to not receive

anything. Could have Elijah use this As

the leader of the sons of the prophets?

We got a glimpse of how much the sons of the prophets needed

support, material support. I'm sure he could have used

this. I'm sure his students could have

benefited from this. But he refused to accept it

because in this mind he understood that there is a

superior spiritual goal that overrided any temporary material

profit. This is a man who had great

wisdom. Unfortunately, it wasn't shared

by his assistant, as we're going to discover.

So he tried to give it to him and he wouldn't take it.

So notice what he says in verse 17.

Naaman, that is the Naaman said, if not, please let there be

given to your servant 2 mule loads of earth, for from now on

your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to

any God but the Lord. OK, you won't take anything.

Fine. Can you at least do me this

favor? Can you fill up two of my cars

with some of the dirt of the land of Israel?

I want to go back and I want to worship God and honor him.

What does dirt have to do with devotion?

Here's how some explain it. That name.

And though he is truly changed, he's still in the infancy of his

faith. And with many heathens of this

time, they understood gods as localized deities.

So you have the God of the hills and the God of the valleys and

the God of that country and the God of that city.

And some would claim that Naman is still operating with that

filter. And when you, when you read back

at first kings, you don't have to turn there now where the

Syrians go to war with Ahab, God criticizes the Syrians for that

very kind of thinking that the God of Israel is is is the God

of this location and not that location.

And the Lord proved otherwise, that he's the God of everything

and over everything. So the idea here is that in the

innocence of his heart and the purity of his devotion, in order

to stay connected to the Lord, the God of Israel, he wants to

take some of the ground that God governed so that he can relate

and engage with him. That's the explanation many

people give. Here's why I have trouble with

that. Because if this is how Naman was

thinking, surely Elijah would have corrected him.

He would have gently redirected him and clarified this

misunderstanding. What's more likely is that

Naman, though he he was freshly saved, perhaps was able to

gather some information about how this God, the God of Israel,

should be worshipped. And there is one particular law

from the book of Exodus that would give commentary to why

Naman made this request and why Elijah allowed it.

You have to turn to Exodus 20 to see it and look down with me in

verse 24. This is the Lord speaking to the

people of Israel and what He demanded of them and how they

should worship Him. An altar of earth You shall make

for me and sacrifice on it Your burnt offerings and your peace

offerings, Your sheep and your oxen.

In every place where I caused my name to be remembered, I will

come to you and bless you. An altar made out of what?

Dirt, Earth. So this was before the

Tabernacle would be instituted and the temple would be

constructed. God made a way for the people of

Israel to construct an altar to worship Him, and even after the

Tabernacle in the temple was made, this was still applied in

many instances on special occasions.

Or people were too far from the temple and they desired to

glorify God in this fashion. Why dirt though?

Here's why God is so practical and so kind.

This would leave it open for anybody to worship.

This didn't limit people who had the ability to put together

special materials or stones in order to God, for God to be

honored, even if you couldn't afford anything.

Everyone has access to dirt, which means that it's an open

invitation for anybody to seek him and honor him and glorify

him, no matter where they are. It speaks of the accessibility

of God. And Naman, living in Syria,

understood that he couldn't make his way to the to the House of

God in Jerusalem. And so he asked, can I take some

of this dirt and build an altar so that I can present burnt

offerings on it? Elijah has no objections to

that. And it's evident that in this,

this man's conscience is is changing and he's now becoming

more sensitive to matters that he was not really concerned

about before. And it could be that on his way

back from the Jordan to the man of God in Samaria, he's not

thinking about his way of life back in Syria.

And he's concerned about how different things are going to

conflict now with his new found convictions, including his job.

And so he couldn't wait, I'm sure, to get to Elijah to get

some kind of guidance and clarity about something that was

pricking his heart. And he brings it up in verse 18.

Notice what he says in this matter.

May the Lord pardon your servant.

When my master goes into the House of Ramon to worship there

leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the House of Ramon.

When I bow myself in the House of Ramon, the Lord, pardon your

servant in this matter, there's something bothering Naman.

He knows that he's heading back to a place that honors and

worships different deities, but he made this claiming confession

that he will not worship anything or anyone else except

the God of Israel. So this scenario is playing in

his mind and he needs to be soothed.

He needs some kind of assurance. And what we learned from this

scenario is that Naman was not just the governor, rather the

general of. Of the army of Syria.

He was also some kind of an aide to the king of Syria, and one of

his responsibilities evidently was to join the king of Syria.

Whenever the king would go into the temple of Ramon and worship

this false God, and he would assist them in his worship.

It could be that the king of Syria was advanced in age and he

needed some kind of assistance to posture himself in certain

ways in order to worship Ramon the way Ramon demanded to be

worshipped, which will then require Naman to position

himself in a similar fashion. And and this concerned him.

He was discovering who the God of Israel was and he and he's,

he's asking the prophet, look, this is part of my duty.

I'm not really worshipping though, but when he leans on my

arm, notice how that's that's highlight that's so important,

showing that he's depending on naman again for physical

assistants to participate in these rituals.

When he leans on my arm and part of my job is to help him do

that. Will the Lord pardon me?

This is probably a very poor equivalent to kind of make sense

of this. Just imagine a Christian

caregiver who is living with a old elderly Muslim man.

And that Muslim man is a devoted Muslim and, and so he needs help

to pray several times a day and requires help to realign himself

and posture himself in order to pray in the way his religion

tells him to, to, to pray. And this requires the Christian

caregiver to do what he needs to do to assist him in that regard.

This is the struggle that Naaman has, and it amazes me how

practical something from the Old Testament can be to our lives

today. You know why?

Because it provides instructions for many of us who are in

settings or employed in places that intersect with people or

organizations that believe differently than you.

What do you do when you are surrounded or when you are

connected, not in your faith, but in your interactions and in

your duties with systems or beliefs or employers that don't

line up with the Scriptures? And there there is wisdom here

from name inside, and there is discretion and instruction from

Elijah's side from naming. You know what we learned that

when you're put in positions where you don't know if you're

compromising, you should seek the guidance of godly people,

including your spiritual leaders.

Our thinking can often be clouded when we're trying to

assess situations, and we can be overwhelmed, causing us to

either overestimate or underestimate our involvement in

certain actions or practices. That's where the body of Christ

comes in. And don't just go to any nominal

Christian. Naaman went to Elijah, the man

of God who represented the Word of God.

And so he's really seeking a person who operates and is

sensitive to what God's will is in his Word.

Do the same, do the same and from Elijah side what we learn

mature believer is not to be so rigid or legalistic and how you

also advise and counsel people in nuanced predicaments.

You know you have some Christians who believe

everything is black and white. I'm sorry to tell you not

everything is so straightforward.

Are the things in the Scriptures that are clear and indisputable?

Absolutely. And wherever it is clear, you be

clear with your convictions and with your counsel.

But there are some things that are muddy.

There's some things that are Gray.

And if you're not careful in how you advise other believers, you

can hinder them and you can actually invite unnecessary but

great harm in their lives because you are not considerate

or careful of how to apply God's Word in a situation that

necessarily doesn't have a verse to give direction in.

And I've seen it. I've seen it.

People become overly simplistic in how they deal with people's

lives and situations in their lives and they get those people

in trouble or confused or falsely condemned.

So be prayerful, seek the Lord for wisdom and and and

discernment on this and and ask God to be as close as possible

to his will. And something that doesn't seem

to be so obvious. What does he tell him?

Go in peace. God knows your heart.

You don't have to worry about that.

You're not worshipping him. This is not this is not Naman

going into the House of worship of Ramon so that he can blend in

and pretend that he's not really a different person.

Remember, he's going back home with piles of dirt to dedicate

an altar to the God of Israel. That's going to get you some

attention. This is him saying, look, I

serve my king. This is my job.

And part of my job is I have to go into this place.

He leans on my arm. I have to go down with him to

make sure I can bring the old man back up.

Is God going to condemn me for that?

And I just go in peace. Go in peace now we noted the

beginning of the study. Three significant changes in

Naaman that validate his conversion, while in contrast, I

want us to look at 3 unfortunate marks of Gehazi's change.

Naaman knew it. Inner cleansing.

Gehazi is about to see an inner decay.

Let's read verse 20. Gehazi, the servant of Elijah,

the man of God said, see my master has spared this name in

the Syrian in not accepting from his hand what he brought.

As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from

him. What stands out to you from

verse 20? Again, short answers.

What stands out to you that's concerning red flags in Gehazi.

Yes, I will run after him and get something from him.

Is that in alignment with the man of God or in defiance of the

will of God? Defiance, yes.

Anything else? As the Lord lives, this man even

has the audacity to invoke the name of God in this matter.

Good. Anything else?

Go ahead. OK, in what way?

He presume that they should have proceeded.

Yeah. So he thinks that this whole

thing of Elijah not accepting this gift is actually foolish of

him. So he's criticizing Elijah

ultimately. Any other observations before we

break this down together? Yeah.

Why did Elijah do this? Why did he let this man go

again? It's it speaks of his criticism

of the man of God. Well, that's precisely what's

happening here. The concern is that he says

something against Naman. He says something against

Elijah, and he does something with the name of God.

How does he address Naman? Look back again at verse 20,

This name in the Syrian, does that sound like the language of

somebody who values another person created in the image of

God? Nor is there any evidence that

Gehazi is rejoicing in this rare transformation that took place

in Naaman's life. There's there's no mention of

how this man is different. There's no mention of how this

man changed and aligned himself to the truth.

All you see here is that he is a dollar sign to Gehazi.

Notice what he says. As our brother mentioned, I will

run after him and get something from him.

Unfortunately, that's how some leaders in ministry view people.

View souls that walk into the church as profitable consumers

to fill their pockets or satisfy their egos.

I will get something from him. A true servant of God, like

Elisha, is someone who will be willing to help others even if

they don't get anything in return.

A true servant of God will be concerned with the spiritual

change, transformation, and development of any person,

whether or not they put something in the donation box,

whether or not they partner with that ministry financially.

A true man of God will trust in God providing for His ministry

as He ministers to people's souls, not their pocketbooks.

But men like Gehazi view ministry as a profitable

business. They use it as a platform to

gain, and that is a very dangerous approach to the

ministry, as you're going to discover.

So it's not just how he views Naaman, though.

How he views this man's miserable condition manifests

and how he speaks about the man of God, the true man of God.

Don't you find it interesting? Look back at verse 20, how the

Holy Spirit reminds us that Gehazi was the servant of

Elijah, the man of God. We already know who Gehazi is.

We we've read this enough to understand Gehazi was Elijah's

personal assistant. So why is the Holy Spirit

bringing this to our attention once more so that we again would

see and not forget that Gehazi experienced something special.

He had certain advantages that other people did not have.

He had a personal discipleship relationship with Elijah.

He witnessed remarkable miracles.

He saw in Elijah that it's possible to be consistently,

wholly, consistently compassionate.

He learned what it meant to walk with God in private by by

observing Elijah's ministry. And with all of that, and all

these other privileges, he still succumbed to covetousness.

You know what we learned from that?

We learned that unusual spiritual advantages do not

promise personal change. They certainly can help promote

it. But please know this.

The choice to be influenced depends on the heart living in

that environment. You've probably been puzzled as

I have been early in my walk, where you see somebody who sat

under incredible spirit empowered, faithful preaching of

God's Word, or someone who grew up with parents that were truly

godly and, and, and not fake godly, not legalistically godly,

no godly with joy and with the fruit of the Spirit and with

testimonies of God's provision and power.

And they served and they made service to God.

An incredible thing to seek and to enjoy.

Or maybe even somebody who had access to incredible resources

or relationships that would enable them to still serve God

and yet they still pursue the world.

If that's ever confused you, don't be too confused.

Look no further than Ghazi. He's seen it all.

He heard it all, and yet his heart was still filled with

wickedness and even criticize him like he didn't learn

anything. He didn't interpret the

situation the way his master did.

He says, as our brother said, my master has spared this name in

the Syrian. In other words, what a fool.

We're struggling here. We're suffering here.

Instead of understanding that Elisha was being strategic

spiritually because his heart was coated with covetousness, he

can only see a loss. And lastly, let's look at how he

invokes the name of the Lord. You might be thinking that

Gehazi is conscious of God and how he assesses this, but I say

it's just the opposite. Notice he says as the Lord

lives, as the Lord lives, I will run.

I will run after him and get something from him.

What what do you think he means by saying as the Lord lives?

Here's what I think. I think he's careless and I

think he's just being offhand, like how people throw around the

name of Jesus and and express the name of God flippantly.

So for him to use the name of the Lord in this situation tells

me something. He didn't fear God.

He wasn't truly conscious of God.

He didn't truly Revere God. And it shows right here as the

Lord lives, we see that the absence of this genuine

reverence for the Lord is seen in how he is committed to

materialism. Does he say I will walk to him?

No, he says I will run after him.

I'm not going to lose this opportunity.

I'm going to exert all the energy.

I'm going to give up whatever time it takes for me to catch up

to naming. And I want to tell you today

that that is dedication. This is enthusiasm.

And unfortunately, many professing Christians show

greater excitement for personal gain than for spiritual maturity

and influence. They'll run after to make more

money. When you ask those same people

to serve in the church, that running turns into crawling

there. There's a lot of hesitation

there, hesitation to work double the hour so that you can make a

little bit more cash. No problem with that.

I will run after him. OK, run.

See what's going to happen when you make money your God.

So what happens? He arrives in verse 21.

So Gehazi followed Naman, and when Naman saw someone running

after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said is

all well. So this is what something about

Naman, his change is consistent because he recognizes somebody

running to him. And he quickly learns that this

is Elijah's servant. And remember, this is the

commander of the Syrian Army Army.

He doesn't have to get out of his chariot.

But what does he do? He gets out of his chariot and

he meets him on his level. I believe we're going to see

Naman in heaven. And so he meets him face to

face, eye to eye, the ass. Is everything OK?

And what does Ghazi do? Lies.

Gehazi lies about himself. Gehazi is going to lie in the

mouth of Elijah. Gehazi is going to lie about the

sons of the prophets. Gehazi is going to lie to a lie

to a brand new believer. Read it with me verse 22 and he

said all is well. That's a lie about himself.

He's self deceived. All is not well.

Do you remember the last time that this question was asked?

It was when Elijah asked the Shunammite woman is all well,

she said all is well. In her case all was well, in his

case nothing was well. Far from being well, all is

well. Do you think people are honest

with their spiritual condition? Many cases no.

Either they are lying to themselves or they are self

deceived. All is well.

Now the next slide. My master has sent me to say did

Elijah send him? No, he misrepresented the man of

God. There have just now come to me

from the Hill Country of Ephraim, two young men of the

sons of the prophets. Please give him a talent of

silver and two changes of clothing.

He's lying about the sons of the prophets.

What do we learn from this? When a person is consumed with

greed, he rarely becomes an honest person in the process.

When a person lives for selfish material gain, that will often

be met with the encouragement to manipulate, to be disloyal, and

to implement trickery so that you can attain more.

And the way that Gehazi lies shows that he was he was a

skilled deceiver. Why?

Because he uses the guise of religious and charitable work to

demand and donation from Naman. We have two students from our

seminary that needs some money and some change of clothing.

Are you willing to make that donation?

Haman says. I'm going to give you more than

what you're asking. Remember, this is a changed man

now. He's generous, right?

You're telling me that I can make Elijah's multiply in

Israel? Let's do it.

It pains me to say this, but I have to tell you the truth.

It really does hurt me to say this, that there are some

ministries today that do the same.

They do one, they convince generous, good hearted people

like Naman that they're helping fulfill a need when in actuality

all they're doing is adding more to their personal bank accounts.

You don't think ministries are doing that at 2024?

You'll be shocked at the judgement seat of Christ.

Oh yeah, there are many people. We're taking advantage of God's

vineyard not to serve and feed and help and clothe and bring

the gospel, but so that they can they can have more and they're

willing to use the gifts of God's people to do so.

If you're that kind of a minister in this place or

hearing this later on, you don't fear God and you better repent

because I'm telling you straightforward, God's going to

expose you. You don't play around with God.

You don't play around with God's people and how they partner with

the gospel for personal advantage.

You evidently have No Fear of Him and you should.

Lying begets more lying, doesn't it?

Verse 23 and Naman said be pleased to accept 2 talents and

he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags

with two changes of clothing and laid them on two of his servants

and they carried them before Gehazi.

Obviously this is a sizable donation.

It's not like something you put in his pocket.

Neyman had to send two service to carry the stuff.

Gehazi is a little nervous here because he knows that he had to

escape the supervision of Elijah to make this happen.

So he has a little plan like he really thought this.

I don't know how long this run was, but he came with an

elaborate scheme. Verse 24, when he came to the

hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house

and he sent them in away and they departed.

So he didn't let him come too close to Elijah's whereabouts.

He's OK. Stop here.

Thank you so much. God bless you.

We'll send you your tax receipt. Thank you for your donation.

And he makes his way back to Elijah.

And look at the slithery snake verse 25.

He went in and stood before his master.

Standing in the Bible is a posture of service.

So he comes before his his teacher as well.

Nothing had happened and he's just waiting for any orders for

the day. Now I can understand where

Gehazi found the confidence to lie to Naman but to have the

courage to lie to the prophet. What's wrong with you?

Have you not seen what God can do through this man of God?

Are you not persuaded that you could be exposed?

Well, this is one of the marks of a person who does not fear

God. You believe that God is limited

in many ways. A person who doesn't fear God

thinks that he can actually keep things a secret in his life.

That's how you know, if you don't fear God, that you

actually think that there's there's parts of who you are

that will never be disclosed, that will never be unveiled,

that will never be made known. The person who fears God

understands that God not only sees things and knows all

things, he can make these things known.

One of the greatest fuels to sin is secrecy, but a person who

fears God doesn't believe that they can keep their sins a

secret. Name it rather Gehazi.

He can invoke the name of the Lord and he can lie to the man

of God who had unusual abilities because he didn't fear God.

To fear God is to believe all that he says that he is and it

actually applies to your life. That is not just some Sunday

school story that it's real in 2024.

That's why we're doing these Bible studies to realize, OK,

you can't play the fool with God.

This man does. So what does he do?

He went and stood before his math master and Elijah said

them. Where have you been, Ghazi?

I would be sweating bullets. Doesn't even blink before he

says the next thing. And he said them.

Your servant went nowhere here. Here's one of the strongest

contrast in the story. There are many.

We're not going to be able to touch on all of them.

What was Naaman's concern when he went back to Syria?

That when he would go into the temple of Ramon and his boss

would lean on his arm and he would fall down with him, that

God might judge him for that? When does Elijah say go in

peace? The Lord knows your heart while

you have Ghazi, who pretends to be a servant of God, standing

before his master, ready to do what he's called to do, when in

reality his heart was corrupt with covetousness and he would

be judged for it. What's the lesson in this?

Here's the lesson. Before God sees what you do with

your knees, with your hands, with your lips.

Above all else, he looks at your heart.

What's in your heart tonight? Not what's in your hand, not

what you're highlighting, not what songs you sing, not what

the preacher preaches. What is in your heart that is

what God considers above everything else.

That is the loud louder than your voice, more meaningful than

what you do outside of your inner man.

What is in the innermost part of your being?

God saw what was in Naman when He would go back to Syria.

God saw what was in Gehazi while he was still in Israel.

And the Lord only cares about that and where that leads to the

sincerity, the purity and the posture of your heart.

Above all else He lies. Look at verse 26.

But he said to him, Did not my heart go when the man turned

from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money

and garments? Olive orchards and vineyards,

sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

What did Gehazi take from Naman? What do you take specifically?

Yeah, two talents of silver and two changes of clothing, Right.

So why is Elijah giving this whole catalogue of things that

are not even mentioned in the story?

Like, at first he mentions what? Look at it again.

Was it time to accept money and garments?

Well, that's what he took. But then he goes on to say olive

orchards and vineyards, sheep and ox and male servants and

female servants. What is he saying here?

Can I tell you what he's saying here?

He is revealing to Gehazi what his true desires are in life.

He's exposing Gehazi for what his ultimate ambitions are in

life. To have money, to have nice

clothes, to have land, to have estates, to have influence, to

have comfort, to have profit. He might even be exposing what

Gehazi was planning to do with that silver that he got from

Naman. And essentially he is revealing

to him that he knows, God knows what he ultimately wanted.

And what he was doing was he was willing to use the ministry as a

means to achieve those selfish things.

What's the punishment? The last verse of our study.

Therefore, the leprosy of Naman shall cling to you and to your

descendants forever. So he went out from his presence

a leper like snow. You want Neiman's money?

Take his leprosy too. Leprosy is one of the most

severe conditions that any human can endure.

We learned that a little bit last week.

So for the Lord to unleash this kind of disease on this man says

something about how he feels about Gehazi's decisions.

God doesn't play favorites. He healed a Gentile from leprosy

and he inflicted an Israelite with leprosy.

Do you see that? There's no partiality with God.

Sin is sin no matter who sins. Righteousness by faith, as

righteous as my faith, no matter who offers it.

OK, here's here's a question for you.

Now, as extreme as this might be, and you got to understand

that this is, don't you dare believe that God is going

overboard here, not, not for a moment.

This could have had generational consequences.

This could have made an impact not just on Naaman's perception

of God, but others that Naaman would testify to what just

happened. Now, Naaman ended up giving what

Elijah said don't give because he wanted to, to protect the

message and the image of God. And Gehazi just blows it all up.

So this is severe. This could impact souls.

But isn't the only time that the Lord Almighty inflicts his

servant with leprosy in the Bible?

If you know of another person in the Old Testament where the Lord

calls for leprosy to infect them, well that would have all

the same time. Wow.

Say, say 1. Miriam is 1.

And the other one, Miriam, is the first case of leprosy.

We learned that last week. But there's another one.

There's a total of 3, including Ghazi.

If you know, you can say you said it.

You're right. King Uzziah.

Miriam. King Uzziah, Ghazi, what do they

all do? They all sinned.

I understand they all sinned, but they all sinned in a unique

way. What led to Miriam's leprosy?

What was her sin? She spoke against the man of

God, Moses and Numbers 12, verse one.

What was Uziah's sin? Let me read it to you in Second

Chronicles 2616. But when he was strong, he grew

proud. He grew proud to his

destruction, for he was unfaithful to the Lord, his God,

and enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of

incense. And what was Gehazi?

Sin, greed and deception. So Miriam was leprous because

she was a gossip. Uziah became leprous because of

pride. Gehazi became leprous because of

greed and deception. Miriam was temporary.

Uzziah was permanent. Ghazi is an interesting case, as

we're going to read in the next chapters.

That teaches me, when I consider all of those individuals, how

God feels about these particular sins.

For him to call for leprosy shows me how he views these

particular vices. He feels very strongly about

gossip. He feels very strongly about

pride. He feels very strongly about

greed and deception. You know what's interesting

about all those cases? Every single one of them served

God in a unique way, and every single one of them, because of

their leprosy, were disqualified from ministry.

Miriam was a prophetess. She became a leper, temporary,

and she was isolated. Uzziah was called to be a king,

but he was so arrogant that he thought that the rules of

ministry didn't apply to him. So he dabbles in the priesthood.

He's disqualified for ministry. Gehazi uses the ministry as an

assistant to the prophet to try to make money, and he lies

through his teeth just for an extra buck, and he's

disqualified for ministry. Here's what this teaches me when

I consider all of these things. If I'm a gossip, if I'm proud,

if I love money, if I lie, I can't be used in the ministry.

And that's for all of us. What did Gehazi forfeit for two

talents of silver and two changes of clothing.

So he went out the last part of verse 27.

So he went out from his presence a leper like snow.

He personally lost any potential to be used by God in a more

significant way, and his sin brought havoc to his home.

Because this would have generational effects.

When we consider the pain that sin brings, when we consider

what sin takes from us, it will be less attractive to the

alternative in righteousness. A bit of a heavier Bible study

tonight, but it's the Bible, and we have to thank God for His

warnings as much as we might thank Him for His promises.

Can we do that? Let's thank Him.

And if the praise team can join the platform, Before I begin to

pray, I just want to encourage you in this silent moment.

Take these truths, meditate on them, and communicate them

before the Lord. Ask the Lord to protect your

heart. How we need you, Lord, Tonight

we thank you for the purging, fiery, sharp word of God.

We don't recoil, we don't shrink back, we don't duck.

When the word of God in its surgical ability comes for our

hearts, we open our arms and we extend our bosoms and we say do

a work in this life. Whatever you need to cut out,

Lord, cut it out. The early stages of things that

might lead to catastrophes like Gehazi, we pray that you would

deliver us from it right away. In the same way that we saw

early signs that there's something off about Gehazi.

Lord, if there's anything that's leading us in the wrong path

that would create greater harm and devastation because it was

not dealt with early on, we pray that you would consume it this

evening. Please, Lord, help us really

believe, like Elijah, that spiritual goals far outweigh

anything in this life, and even if we have to make sacrifices

for the temporary things in this world, it's always worth it for

the eternal reward. Help us never forget that.

Give us wisdom and discretion in all matters, how we advise, how

we seek advice. Lord, may you renew that purity,

in that longing that we see in Naman, who was so excited to

worship, so excited to testify, so sensitive in his conscience,

not wanting to grieve God in any matter.

Lord, may you show us any area in our lives where we become too

relaxed, but when we also know your comfort in places where we

are overly analyzing. We need your help, Lord, Give us

Your help in all things. And Lord, we all want to be used

by You, and so in this case, we pray that You would keep our

hearts from being infected by greed.

That Lord, if we rely on lies and dishonesty for personal gain

for any reason, Lord, we just pray that tonight would be the

night where we would never lie through these lips again and

that we would rather bear the reproach of telling the truth

than to enjoy temporary gain from our lies.

Use us, use us Lord, we want to. We want to be used until our

final day and we want no sin to get in the way of our potential.

So Lord, we pray this prayer as we sing the song.

It's really a cry from our hearts that you would make into

a reality in our beings. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen, Amen. Let's stand and worship the

Lord.