At a critical time in the history of Israel, God raised up the prophet
Elijah to be His witness to the nation. Elijah had a servant called
Elisha whom God selected as the next prophet to the nation. Elisha had a
servant called Gehazi.
It is an interesting study to see the contrast between Elisha and Gehazi.
Elisha's Faithfulness
God anointed Elisha with a double portion of the anointing that Elijah
had. This was God's seal of approval on
Elisha's life. But before God anointed him thus, he had been tested. As
in the case of all true servants of God,
Elisha too was called to the ministry, while he was faithfully doing his
secular duties. "Elijah found Elisha the
son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before
him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah
passed over to him and threw his mantle on him."(1 Ki.19:19).
Thereafter, Elisha spent many years doing menial
jobs for the prophet Elijah. He was known as the one "who used to pour
water on the hands of Elijah."(2 Ki. 3:11b).
He did not seek great things for himself, but God had great plans for
that young man. Before Elijah went up to
heaven, Elisha had to be tested. And so Elijah told Elisha to stay on in
Gilgal, while he himself went on to Bethel.
Elisha refused to stay back but was determined to go with Elijah. At
Bethel, Elijah again tried to shake off Elisha by
saying that he had to go to Jericho. But Elisha stuck on like a leech.
Finally, at Jericho, Elisha was tested once
more in a similar way. Again, Elisha passed the test of persistence and
accompanied Elijah to Jordan. It was
thus that he got the double portion of the anointing - God's best for
his life (2 Ki.2:1-14).
What is the message here for us? There are various stages in our
spiritual development at which God tests us
to see whether we are satisfied with what we have already received or
whether we will press on to God's highest.
Gilgal stands for the place where our sins are forgiven. "The Lord said
to Joshua, `Today I have rolled away the
reproach of Egypt from you.' So the name of that place is called Gilgal
to this day." (Josh. 5:8,9). Many Christians
get thus far and stop there. Some press on till Bethel (meaning 'the
house of God') - which stands for fellowship
with believers in the family of God. "And Jacob called the name of that
place Bethel. Then Jacob said, `This stone,
which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house.'" (Gen. 28:19,22).
Some stop here. But a few go still further
to Jericho - which stands for the manifestation of the supernatural
power of God. "The people shouted with a
great shout and the wall fell down flat.....and they took the city (of
Jericho)."(Josh. 6:20). This is as far as most
Christians ever go. Very, very few go all the way to Jordan - which
stands for identification with Christ in His death,
as symbolized in baptism. "Then Jesus arrived at the Jordan, coming to
John, to be baptized by him. "(Mt. 3:13).
Very, very few are willing to walk the way of the cross - "the new and
living way that Jesus has inaugurated for us
through His flesh." (Heb. 10:20). But it is these few, who are
wholehearted enough to press on to total death to
Self, who receive the double portion - God's best. All of us are being
tested today, as to what stage we will stop at.
Gehazi's Unfaithfulness
Even as Elisha had succeeded Elijah as the prophet, Gehazi could perhaps
have succeeded Elisha as the next
prophet, if he had been faithful. But Gehazi had to be tested first.
This testing took place when Naaman, the
Syrian general returned to Elisha after being healed of his leprosy. Out
of gratitude for his healing, Naaman offered
Elisha silver and gold worth nearly a million rupees and ten fancy
Syrian suits of clothing. What a temptation for a
lesser man than Elisha! But Elisha turned down the offer without a
moment's hesitation. Naaman was an unbeliever
and a compromiser and Elisha would receive nothing from him. The fact
that Naaman was a compromiser is clearly seen in what he said to Elisha
after he had been healed. He said that he was compelled to worship
idols, because of his official position. Naaman knew that idolatry was
wrong. But he was unwilling to sacrifice his job for the sake of the
truth, just like many today. Naaman told Elisha, "In this matter may the
Lord pardon your servant:
when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he
leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow
myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this
matter. "(See 2 Ki. 5:18). Elisha would not receive anything from such a
man.
The early apostles followed the same pattern. "They went out for the
sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the
Gentiles."(3 John 7). Gehazi had observed Elisha's attitude towards
Naaman's money. But he felt that Elisha
had been foolish to refuse what Naaman had offered so freely. He ran
after Naaman therefore (just like many
Indians today run after Western Christians), told a few lies and
collected forty thousand rupees worth of silver and
two of those Syrian suits. Elisha who could see through a crooked man
easily, immediately exposed Gehazi's
covetousness. He told Gehazi that since he had grabbed Naaman's money,
he would get Naaman's leprosy as well. He told him, "`Therefore, the
leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your descendants forever.'
So Gehazi went out from his presence a leper as white as snow."(2 Ki.
5:27). Instead of getting a double portion of Elisha's anointing, Gehazi
got leprosy instead. Little did Gehazi realize that he was being tested
by God that day. If only he had known what tremendous issues were at
stake, he might have been more careful. We have seen repeatedly, we
don't usually realize when God is testing us - particularly in the area
of mammon. There is a word
written concerning King Hezekiah that at one time "God left him alone to
test him so that he might know what was
in his heart" (2 Chron. 32:31). This was true of Gehazi too. God allowed
him to be in a situation where no-one was
watching him. Only thus could he be tested.
For more articles by Zac Poonen go to:
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