The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 145

all ehe rieseseed. She not only got jUBtice, but generosity. How good it is to be a friend of God.I "IC God be for ue, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31). With him for our Advocate, what need we fear? Having given this woman the greater gift, In reward for her kindness to hie prophet, he does not withhold from her any lesser gift. So may the believer rea.eon, if God "spared noi his own Son," etc. (Rom. viii. 32).--J. 0. Vere. 7-15.-Elisha, and Ha,za,el, Elisha had come to Damascus, probably sent thither by God to carry out in spirit the commission given long before to Elijah (1 Kings xix. 16). I. BENHADAD's lllESSAGJC, 1. Its occasion. "Benhadad the King of Syria was sick." Royal rank affords no protection against the invasions of disease. Nor is the thought of death less alarming to the monarch than to the peasant. Benhadad's heart trembled as he reflected on the possible issues of his trouble, and he gladly availed himself of tbe opportunity of Elisha's presence in Damascus to send a messenger to him. His conduct is in striking contrast with Ahaziah's (eh. i.). That lsraelitish king, forsaking the God of Israel, sent to inquire at an idol shrine at Ekron. Benhadad, though a Syrian and a worshipper of Ri=on, turns in his sickness from Rimmon to Jehovah. 2. The messenger. The person sent was Hazael, one of Benhadad's great courtiers. Hazael was a very different kind of • man from Naaman. He was a bold, bad, ambitious intriguer, who was already cherishing deep thoughts of crime against his master. Yet Benhadad seems to have trusted him. How unreliable are the friendships of the wicked I Men flatter with their tongue, but in their hearts are malice, falsehood, and selfish, ambitious designs (Ps. v. 9). 3. The message. Hazael came to Elisha with great pomp. He brought a present borne on forty camels. If laviilh wealth could buy a favourable answer from Jehovah, surely now it would be obtained. But God is no respecter of persons ; still less does he bestow favour for bribes. We may be sure that, as in a former case (eh. v. 16), Elisha touched nothing of all this wealth that was brought to him. Accompanying the present was a message from the king: "Thy son Benbadad hath sent me to thee, ~aying, bhall I recover from this disease?" For those to whom this world is all, such a question is of very terrible moment. Well may they cling to life who have nothing beyond to hope for. II. THE INTERVIEW WITH HAZAEL. L Elisha's exposure of Hazael'1 motives. Aa Hazael stood before Elisha, the prophet'e clear vision read to the depths of his soul. Haza.al was evidently speculating on the possibilities of his master's death, and had private designs upon the throne. When once the idea of making himself king had occurred to him, he was not the man to let the ambitious project readily drop again. The thought of removing the king by violence had no doubt flashed upon him, but be waited to learn whether the sickness would prove fatal before he framed a settled purpose. Elisha showed by his answer that he read the whole character of the man. "Go, say unto him, Thou sbalt certainly recover "-that was the truth as regards the sickness ; then he added, "Howbeit the Lord bath showed me that be shall surely die." Ha.zael's guilty thoughts would furnish the explanation. We do well to remember that there is nothing we can conceal from the Searcher of hParts. "All things a.re naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. iv. 13). Our thoughts, even in their most inchoate condition, are known to him. He understandeth our thoughts "afar off" (Ps. cx.x.xix. 2). 2. Elisha's prophecy of Hazae"l"s barbarities. Did Elisha approve of Hazael's designs, and mean to give them Divine sanction? We are able to answer this by noting his subsequent conduct. (1) He settled his face steadfastly, and looked with a fixed gaze at Hazael till the latter was ashamed. Then Elisha wept. Elisha stood before Hazael as a kind of outward conscience. He renaleJ Ha.zael to himself, but at the same time condemned the thoughts which he saw in his mind. It was a holy, earnest gaze which Elisha turned on Hazael-a look of reproval, of sorrow, of holy pain; and Hnzael felt that it was so when he blushed under it. (2) When Ha.za.el asked concerning his weeping, Elisha became more explicit, and told him of the awful barbarities be would inflict on Isr,101. The picture was so dre>1Jful that even Ha.zael, with appareut sincerity, asked," Who is thy servant, this dog, that he should do this groat thing?" Hnzael, like many others, was not aware of the p6s~ibi~ lities of his own bee.rt. A certain measure of crime he knew himself to be capable of, but  186 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [err. vm. 1-29.