You may recall that in chapter 4 Elisha had told the Shunammite woman that she and her husband would have a son. They did and then calamity struck when the son died. However, Elisha raised him back to life. Elisha spoke to the woman and told her of the impending famine which would last for seven years, and he told her to move out of Israel and go where they could. She obeyed his words and went with her household to the land of the Philistines for seven years. After the seven years they returned, and she went to the king to request the return of her house and land (v1-3).
It appeared that having left her country, she would forfeit her land after moving to save her family from the famine. Therefore, she went to the king to make her request.
The king talked with Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, and asked him of all the great things Elisha had done (v4-6). As I observed in chapter 7, Gehazi had been cursed with leprosy in chapter 5, so it may seem strange that the king was speaking to him, unless this took place before the curse on him, although he could be speaking to him from a distance, and it may have been out of curiosity because of the things which had happened.
As Gehazi was telling the king about Elisha raising the woman’s son to life, it is evident that she came into the king whilst he was telling him, and Gehazi supported her request for her land. The king asked the woman, and she confirmed what Elisha had done for her. As a result, the king understood that if God had supported this woman, certainly, he would and granted her request. Her obedience was rewarded.
Elisha went to Damascus and Ben Hadad king of Syria was sick (v7-9). He was a new king, and he heard that the man of God had arrived, so, he told Hazael to take a present and ask Elisha if he would recover from his sickness. Previously, the Syrian leaders had tried to kill Elisha, but now, God having delivered the man of God many times, Ben Hadad thought there was much benefit in having Elisha there. Recognising the power of his God, he sent gifts and a request about his own sickness, thinking a large gift would lead to a favourable response.
So, Hazael went to meet Elisha laden with of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads, some gift! On arrival he said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’”
Elisha said that Hazael should tell the king that he will certainly recover. However, he added – that the king will surely die (v10-13). It sounded contradictory but what Elisha had said was not. God had showed Elisha what was going to happen. He stared intently into the face of Hazael, so much so that Hazael was ashamed and Elisha wept. Hazael asked Elisha why he had wept. Elisha answered him, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.” Being a prophet of God was not always easy nor was it always a pleasant duty. It required telling the truth, the absolute truth even when it hurt.
There was then a somewhat strange and scary episode where Elisha stared at Hazael. He knew what was going to take place and it clearly disturbed Elisha so much so that he wept. God had told him that Hazael would take the throne from the king and cause much evil to Israel. Hazael appeared offended by Elisha’s attitude and said, “But what is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?”. Maybe he hadn’t planned it yet. Elisha’s tears were out of his love for his people, and the judgments of a Holy God. One has said that Hazael did not believe that he was capable of such evil. Perhaps Elisha hoped that Hazael would be persuaded from doing his evil deed.
Elisha was correct in that the king did recover from the illness, but he died shortly afterwards. In fact, Hazael killed him the very next day after informing him of Elisha’s words that he would recover from his illness, or he would have done, had not Hazael smothered him by taking a thick, dampened cloth and spreading it over his face that he died (v14,15). This was not God’s plan, but the evil heart of Hazael exercising his freedom to sin. He should have heeded the warning of God instead of acting wickedly in which he was fully responsible. He took advantage of the king’s ill health, perhaps even cooling his fevered brow with a damp cloth!
History indicates that Hazael was a nobody who became king of Syria, in that he was not of royal dynasty. The king would have recovered and died in some other way, but Hazael took his chance to usurp the throne.
Secular history tells us that he reigned for around 42 years. Perhaps indicated by his smothering of the king in this way, Hazael turned out to be a brutal ruler. He committed unspeakably horrible crimes: killing pregnant women, infants, and children. (Classic examples of the acts of the other evil rulers in the Bible.) No doubt the king thought that Hazael was his trusted and loyal servant. He even told Ben Hadad, his king, the truth in that he would recover, but he did not tell the whole truth that he would die, rather he schemed his death to achieve his own ends.
After the interlude with Syria, we return to the history of Israel and Judah. Joram the son of Ahab has been king of Israel for five years when Jehoram, who was thirty-two years old, the son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. He reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Ahab had done when he was king of Israel. In fact, he had married Ahab’s daughter, so it ran in the family (v16-24). Her name was Athaliah. The two kings were, therefore, brothers-in-law, and to complicate matters, were both known sometimes as Jehoram. It was thought that it was sensible to bring the two nations together, but instead of that it brought Judah down spiritually. In 2 Chronicles 21 we read that Jehoram murdered his many brothers and other leaders to achieve his own ends.
However, the LORD did not destroy Judah for the sake of David, to whom He had promised a lamp to him and his sons forever (1 Kings 11:36). Despite Jehoram’s wickedness God kept his promise to king David.
Edom revolted against Judah and made themselves a king, so Joram went with his chariots to Zair, and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded them, by night and the troops fled to their tents.
It can be quite confusing in the names of these kings. Joram is king of Israel, Jehoram is king of Judah, however he is also known a Joram, and it seemed to me that the Joram referred to as attacking the Edomites was Joram (Jehoram) king of Judah (see 2 Chronicles 21:9). Edom continued to revolt against Judah even to the writing of this book, and Libnah also revolted against Judah. Libnah was one of the Canaanite cities conquered by Joshua and the Israelites and was included in the and allotted to the tribe of Judah, and it was assigned to the priests and the Levites. Maybe this was why they rebelled because Jehoram was disloyal to the LORD.
The rest of Joram’s (Jehoram) actions are listed the the book of the chronicles of of the kings of Judah. He died and was buried in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. In 2 Chronicles 21:12-20) we are told that the LORD was against him because of his evil deeds as Ahab had done before him, so much so that Elijah had written him a letter because he had not followed the ways of Jehoshaphat, his father, or the ways of Asa, king of Judah.
He told him that the LORD would strike his people with a serious affliction, their children, wives and all their possessions, and that he would become sick with a continuous disease of his intestines.
The LORD caused the Philistines and the Arabians to invade Judah, and they carried away all the king of Judah’s possessions, his wives, his sons except Jehoahaz (also known as Ahaziah) his youngest son. After this he was struck with an incurable disease in his intestines, just as Elijah had said. At the end of two years, he died in severe pain. His people made no burning for him as they had done for his fathers, and no one was sorry for him, or mourned for him. He was unloved by his people. However, they buried him in the City of David but not in the royal tombs.
In the twelfth year of Joram king of Israel, Ahaziah (see above) became king of Judah at the age of twenty-two. He reigned only one year in Jerusalem (v25-29). This was a very short reign, no doubt because of his evil ways. His mother was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel and daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahaziah was, therefore, son-in-law of Ahab, so, wickedness was not unexpected.
Interestingly, 2 Chronicles 22:2 stated that he was forty-two when he became king. Biblical authorities says that that was a mistake down to the transcribers. It is more likely that he was twenty-two because he had no children to succeed him.
More is told us of Athaliah in 2 Chronicles 22. She was the only reigning queen in the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. She was married to Jehoram (v16) to seal a treaty between Israel and Judah. She too was wicked.
It was as a result of that treaty that Ahaziah went to war together with Joram, king of Israel against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead and Joram was wounded. Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wound and Ahaziah went there to visit him.
