Sometimes, we will think about someone from our childhood or an actor you haven’t seen in a while, and wonder “whatever happened with them?” There are a few people in the Bible that seem to disappear from the scene, then reappear later; we can learn from their experiences.
Elisha
In the book of 1 Kings in the Old Testament, we see the prophet Elijah. He was an incredible man of God, used in very powerful ways. God told him to anoint a man named Elisha to be his successor. Elisha became his servant, always with him, helping him in any way he could. At the same time, Elisha was learning how to be a true man of God.
After Elijah was taken up into heaven (2Ki.2:11), Elisha became the main prophet in Israel. He had asked for, and apparently did receive, a double portion of Elijah’s anointing.
After Elijah was gone, Elisha had a servant by the name of Gehazi.
Gehazi
We first meet Gehazi in 2 Kings 4:12, where he is helping Elisha thank a Shunammite woman for her hospitality. The woman said that she did not need anything, but Gehazi suggested to Elisha that she did not have a son, and her husband was old. At this time, it was very hard for a single woman or widow to make a living, because most jobs were hard, manual labor. A son would be able to take care of her in her old age. Elisha told the woman that she would have a son by that time next year, which she did.
2 Kings 4:13-14 (NASB)
13 He said to him, “Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army? ” And she answered, “I live among my own people.”
14 So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Truly she has no son and her husband is old.”
Years later, the son died, and Gehazi was there, assisting, when Elisha raised the son from the dead. Gehazi was observing, ministering, and learning, just like Elisha had ministered to Elijah. Maybe Gehazi was picturing himself in that position.
At some later point, we see Gehazi again, still ministering to Elisha.
Naaman
The nation of Israel at this time had been unfaithful to God, so He allowed the nation of Aram (Syria) to be used to discipline Israel. The captain of Aram’s army was a man named Naaman, who also happened to have leprosy. This was a horrible disease in that day. It had no cure, would continue to spread, and made the leper an outcast, because no one wanted to catch it from him.
Naaman heard about the prophet Elisha, so he took a large amount of money and treasures with him to meet Elisha and ask for healing of his leprosy.
2 Kings 5:9 (NASB)
9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.
Naaman was a very important person, and he came to Elisha, prepared to show him just how important he was. Elisha, though, was not impressed by worldly possessions and strength.
Jordan River
2 Kings 5:10-11 (NASB)
10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.”
11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.
Naaman was insulted. Didn’t Elisha, a lowly (in that day) Jew, realize how important he was? Didn’t Elisha care that Naaman could make him very rich? Eventually, Naaman’s servants convinced him to humble himself just a little and do what the prophet said. Naaman did that, and he was healed, and convinced that Elisha’s God was the only true god. He went back to Elisha, prepared to give him all the treasures that he had brought with him – ten talents of silver (about 750-100 pounds), six thousand shekels of gold (about 40 pounds of gold), and 10 changes of clothes. Keep in mind clothes were also very valuable, because they were all hand made, including the fabric and even the thread.
Elisha, however, was not impressed. He knew the power and provision of God.
Jordan River
2 Kings 5:15-16 (NASB)
15 When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.”
16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
God wanted Elisha to depend on him, not riches from an ungodly king. Elisha was not being rude, just obeying God. Gehazi, however, saw all of these riches that they could have. He might have even reasoned that his master, Elisha, seemed to only be getting by, and there were times that Elisha, Gehazi, and the schools of the prophets barely had food to eat. Besides, Gehazi thought, this was a pagan. It’s only right that he should pay for the blessings of God.
2 Kings 5:20-21 (NASB)
20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”
21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”
Now, Gehazi goes from lusting after the treasures to lying.
2 Kings 5:20-21 (NASB)
22 He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes. “
23 Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him.
24 When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.
God wanted Naaman to know that His blessings were not for sale. He is looking for righteous people, not those who could buy their own “blessings.”
It’s amazing how we sometimes think, consciously or unconsciously, that we can hide our sins from God.
2 Kings 5:20-21 (NASB)
25 But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”
26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?
27 “Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
Gehazi not only lost his position serving Elisha, he also lost the approval and respect of all of the prophets and everyone else that he knew. Because he was now a leper, he also became an outcast from society. He thought that he would improve his standing in the world, but he totally destroyed it.
Whatever happened to Gehazi?
Gehazi Later
2 Kings 8:4-5 (NASB)
4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
5 As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
Gehazi was now reliving some of his “glory days” when he was serving the man of God. Instead of being a man of God, he was remembering how he once served a man of God.
What great plans did God have for Gehazi? What could he have been? If only he had remained faithful and focused on God, his calling, and his ministry to Elisha, his life would have been far different.
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