GEHAZI’S CHOICE

GEHAZI’S CHOICE

2 Kings 5:20-27 NET.

²⁰ Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the LORD lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” ²² He answered, “Everything is fine. My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. Please give them a talent of silver and two suits of clothes.” ²³ Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver. He insisted and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them for Gehazi. ²⁴ When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way. ²⁵ When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” ²⁶ Elisha replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. ²⁷ Therefore, Naaman’s skin disease will afflict you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.

One of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Indiana teams up with his father to track down the legendary holy grail. However, when they arrive at the spot where this treasure lies, their enemy, Walter Donovan, holds them at gunpoint and seeks the grail for himself. The ancient knight who has guarded the grail for centuries warns Donovan to choose wisely, but Donovan lunges for the shiniest gold chalice he can find. Confident that he has discovered the glorious treasure, he quickly fills it with water and drinks. For a moment, nothing seems to change. Then Donovan begins to age rapidly and violently, dying before everyone. That is when the ancient knight states without emotion, “He chose poorly.”

Last week, Penny preached about another man who made a poor choice. She spoke from 1 Kings 12 about Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. He was king over all Israel until he made one bad decision, resulting in most of his kingdom abandoning him. Life occasionally offers us choices. There is a song where the singer must decide whether to go right or left at Oak Street. It’s a simple choice, but the consequences will change everything. This theme of decision-making keeps appearing as we read about the kings of Israel and Judah. It isn’t just the kings who face choices; prophets, priests, and ordinary people do too.

On Wednesday, we read about Elijah on Mt. Carmel. The problem for the people in Elijah’s day was that they had a decision to make, but couldn’t come to a conclusion. Their decision involved which God they would serve. Yahveh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, rescued them, and they should have been serving Him. However, a new god had emerged. The Canaanites worshiped Baal, and the people wanted to follow the crowd. They didn’t want to be different. So, even though they had a history with Yahveh, they were tempted to serve Baal. Many new prophets had appeared—prophets of Baal—urging the people to make a change.

The problem was that the nation could not make a choice, so for a long time, the people remained divided. Elijah asked them, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the LORD is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.

Elijah summoned King Ahab to gather all of Israel on Mt. Carmel, where he constructed two altars. One altar was built for Yahveh, and the other for Baal. They waited to see which God would send down fire to consume the bull on the altar. At one altar stood Elijah, while at the other stood 450 prophets of Baal. From a numerical perspective, the odds favored the prophets of Baal. But Elijah understood that God is sovereign; He will never be outnumbered. Following Him is always the right choice.

You know the story: The prophets of Baal yelled, jumped around, prayed, and cut themselves with daggers and swords until they were a bloody mess. But Baal did not show up. All afternoon, they waited. When it was Elijah’s turn, he ordered the altar of Yahveh to be doused with water three times. At the time of the evening offering, Elijah prayed, “O Yahveh God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Yahveh, answer me, so these people will know that you, Yahveh, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance.” Then fire from Yahveh fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “Yahveh is the true God! Yahveh is the true God!”

Today’s passage is from 2 Kings, chapter 5. At that time, Elijah’s successor, Elisha, was the prophet of Yahveh. The story of this chapter revolves around three men who had to make a choice. I want to talk about those three men, the choices they made, and the consequences of their choices.

• Who was Naaman?

In 2 Kings 5:1, Naaman is identified as the commander of the King of Syria’s army. As most of you know, I was in the military. One of the things we learned in basic training is the ranking system to identify those in command. Officers in the army fall into three categories. The lowest category is company-grade officers, which include Second Lieutenants, First Lieutenants, and Captains. The next higher category is field-grade officers, which consist of Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, and Colonels. The highest category is general officers, which are Brigadier Generals (one star), Major Generals (two stars), Lieutenant Generals (three stars), and four-star Generals. Naaman would have held the highest rank, equivalent to a four-star general. The Bible says he “was esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had given Syria military victories.

But Naaman faced a challenge. He suffered from a skin disease, and it was more than just a minor annoyance. In those times, people believed that skin ailments indicated that a person was cursed. Naaman likely exhausted all the resources at his disposal to free himself from that affliction. Yet, the disease persisted.

The Syrians were oppressing the Israelites in many ways during those days. One thing they would do was launch raiding parties that would invade Israelite territory and capture people to make them their slaves. Naaman’s wife had an Israelite slave—a young girl. One day, Naaman’s wife was speaking to her slave about her husband’s disease. The young slave girl said, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”

Naaman, the king’s general, not only traveled to Israel but was also given a letter from the king that provided him protection and made his visit an official state occasion. He also went to the King of Israel with that letter and a considerable amount of loot. However, the King of Israel thought it was a trap, believing that Naaman was provoking him. But Elisha heard about this and told the king to send Naaman his way.

• Who was Elisha?

Elisha was a great prophet who had been anointed by the prophet Elijah and had asked for double the spirit of that great prophet. The Lord answered that prayer. The Bible records seven great miracles performed by Elijah and fourteen great miracles performed by Elisha. Naaman came with horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed.” Naaman went away angry, saying, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. His servants approached and said to him, “O master, if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, you would have been willing to do it. It seems you should be happy that he said, “Wash and you will be healed.” So, he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. His skin became as smooth as a young child’s, and he was healed.

Naaman had a choice. He could have healing from the Lord, but it had to be on the Lord’s terms. Naaman chose wisely.

Not only was Elisha empowered by the Lord, but he also possessed the Lord’s wisdom. When Naaman approached Elisha, ready to express his gratitude with a gift (similar to the one he had given the king), Elisha declined. He refused to accept anything. Had he received the gift, Naaman would have perceived it as payment for the blessing, leaving no room for grace. Furthermore, according to the customs of that time, accepting the gift would have obligated Elisha to Naaman in the future.

Elisha allowed Naaman to bring back some dirt from Israel. Naaman believed that if he sacrificed his offerings over that dirt, it would be counted as a sacrifice to Yahveh. Elisha may not have thought that such a compromise would actually work. His only reply to Naaman was “Go in Peace.”

Elisha had a choice. He could represent the God of grace or pretend to be the power behind his ministry himself. Elisha chose wisely.

• Who was Gehazi?

The title of today’s message comes from what happened next. After Naaman left, Elisha’s servant Gehazi thought that his master was wrong to refuse a gift from Naaman. He caught up with Naaman and lied to him, suggesting that Elisha really could use a gift. Naaman happily gave Gehazi twice what he asked for. But when Gehazi got back to his master, Elisha revealed that he knew what he had done.

Gehazi had a choice. He could either represent the God of grace or seek to satisfy his greed. Gehazi chose poorly. The consequence of that poor choice was that the skin disease that had afflicted Naaman now plagued Gehazi and his family forever. He had aimed to gain from Naaman, and he did gain. He gained Naaman’s pain and shame. Now, the name Gehazi is synonymous with greed. We don’t know about anything else that Gehazi did. His one choice irreparably altered his life.

The truth implied in today’s text is summarized in one of God’s titles. He is Yahveh Yireh, which you may have heard pronounced Jehovah Jireh. It means that the Lord is the provider. Gehazi—a servant of Elisha—had likely witnessed many miracles. However, he trusted Naaman’s money to get what he desired. His actions were driven by more than greed; he failed to trust God. This is where this story connects with us. We trust in God’s grace for our eternal salvation. Will we trust Him with the daily decisions we make? The same God who saved us wants us to follow Him. He desires for us to depend on Him.

At some point in the future, you and I will face a choice. The way of the Lord will lie before us, but we will also encounter a shortcut. We will have to choose between staying on the path God has given us or taking the shortcut to achieve what we desire. Our Savior encountered the same choice. The devil offered him all the kingdoms of the world without requiring him to die on the cross. Jesus rejected that shortcut, and that rejection was a victory over Satan and his lies. Therefore, when we confront temptation, we should remember Christ and Gehazi, trust God, and continue following his way.