Famine, Restoration, Fulfillment and Trust

 2 Kings 8:1-15

    1 Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years." 2 So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.
    3 It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. 4 Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done." 5 Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him.  So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now."
    7 Then Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, "The man of God has come here." 8 And the king said to Hazael, "Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this disease?'" 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he came and stood before him, and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this disease?'"
    10 And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover.' However the LORD has shown me that he will really die." 11 Then he set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?"  He answered, "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."
    13 So Hazael said, "But what is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?"  And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will become king over Syria."  14 Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me you would surely recover." 15 But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.

This passage is a lesson in restoration, fulfillment, and trust.  The first message for the Shunammite woman whose son Elisha was resurrected to life from death was a warning by the prophet to flee the seven-year famine coming.  After living for those years with the Philistines, she came back to ask to have her property returned by pleading with the king.  God’s sovereign providential timing had Elisha’s servant Gehazi recalling the way his master had brought that woman’s son to life again, just as she walked in to ask the king for her land.  Such providence of grace!  This recounting moments before her entry doubtlessly swayed the king, which was what the LORD had planned and brought to pass.  The next message Elisha had to bring was certainly in the sovereign predetermined will of God, but was not as pleasant; he told the king of Syria that he would recover from his illness when he was told by the LORD that not only would he die, but that his successor Hazael who brought him there would be a cruel and evil leader who would attack Israel and Judah later.  Though this appears to condone lying, it was actually the way that events were set in motion to allow Hazael to murder Ben-Hadad king of Syria.  Elisha told him to tell the king he would love, but really die, and Hazel is the one who actually lied to the king.  Then he preemptively smothered Ben-Hadad with a wet cloth to wipe away the dying man right away in order to take the throne for himself.  His lust for power made him impatient and a murderer.  We must learn patience from this account if nothing else, yet also how expediency does not allow us to sin in order to hurry God’s plans along.  What He does is in His good time and not through our impatient disobedience.  We do better to listen to God’s word like the Shunammite for good to come than hasten our desires by disobeying the commandments.  Psalm 37:4 should remind us to seek our Lord and His will that He may fill our hearts with His desires in place of our own.