Double Portion of Elisha, a Leprosy for Gehazi
Gehazi was an infamous man of God. He was remembered for nothing other than leprosy. He was the right hand man of Elisha, the man of God with the double portions of Elijah the prophet. If Elisha inherited double portions from Elijah, then Gehazi would have quadruple portions from Elisha. He would have done greatest work ever, if I am to guess. Why then did he inherit leprosy and lost a place of history?
He was Elisha’s messenger…personal secretary…media officer…chief of staff... Next of kin. They dined together. He knew everything about Elisha. He witnessed all his works.
When King Ahaziah asked Gehazi about the works Elisha. Gehazi’s tongue wagged and spooled on without end. He recited them in the manner of a record player. Among many things he told the king was that Elisha, the prophet , raised the dead son of a widow back to life…out of nothing gave food to the hungry.
Then the questions many people ask today are:
How could this person lose this lofty height? How did he miss out on the persona of Elisha, the great prophet? Why didn’t he succeed him? Why was he dismissed…his appointment terminated? Why was he fired? Why did Elisha at the twilight of his mission called sons of prophets to do errands for him as replacements for Gehazi? Is it a case of a sadistic master and an Orphan.
Weighty questions…critical issues need earnest clearing up. It happened at a pool of water.
A pool of water is a place of healing. It is a place of refreshment, and renewal. It is a place of divine grace. At a pool of water, a man regained his sight. Jesus Christ, an Ethiopian eunuch and many others got baptized in a pool of water. Beside a pool of water, Moses found a wife. At pools of water, camels and goats and sheep renewed their strength. Pools of water are places of holidays and long vacations, high brow places for great meetings. Why would Gehazi’s reward for representing the might man of God by a water pool be leprosy and not Quadruple portions of grace of God?
The Word of God. He lost the Word of God…and so lost everything forever.
He knew his people were in famine…on food blockage. He knew his people were at war the Syrians. He knew Jezeebel and her household were still in power…pulling strings of death. He knew God’s mercy and how it works. He knew and had the Word of God in his heart. That mercy of God rewards every humble heart. He knew God sent the Great General of the Syrian army to Elisha to be healed of leprosy. He that the General must be healed free of charge regardless of his battle with Israel.
Yet at the pool, far from home, he collected thirty pieces of silver from the healed General. Even when the king had rejected the offer. And when his master, Elisha, had also rejected the offer. He went behind his master. He collected it, and hid it from him
.
That was all. He became leprous.
Greed…. No...Yes…May be…May be not. What is it then? Covetous…. Yes, I think it is.
He was not faithful to the Word of God. Still he was 'working' in his vineyard. He had never participated successful in any work Elisha gave him to do. And he refused to learn the trade. For example, he would have been the first prophet to raise the dead to life but he failed to do the instructions, disobeyed the Word. Therefore lost the opportunity. Everyone in the community knew him as a covetous man. And avoided him. A woman refused the request of Elisha. Who asked Gehazi to go with the woman to perform a critical activity on mercy. The woman refused. If Elijah would not go with her, she would not go. Though she was hard hit, she refused. Elisha later followed her.
Gehazi lost everything when he played around with the Word of God. He scammed and skimmed for material things in the services of God. In the end, he became leprous. He lost the quadruple portions in Elisha, and the sons of the prophets took over his place.
Our leaders today have lost the Word of God. They have lost everything. Nobody believes them anymore. They are looting the treasury…the coffers of men and treasures of God. They are leprous. They can’t see it, even in a mirror, because habits have become blinds on them. They don’t even know they are leprous. Gehazi is the reminder of what they have become.
Gehazi was an infamous man of God. He was remembered for nothing other than leprosy. He was the right hand man of Elisha, the man of God with the double portions of Elijah the prophet. If Elisha inherited double portions from Elijah, then Gehazi would have quadruple portions from Elisha. He would have done greatest work ever, if I am to guess. Why then did he inherit leprosy and lost a place of history?
He was Elisha’s messenger…personal secretary…media officer…chief of staff... Next of kin. They dined together. He knew everything about Elisha. He witnessed all his works.
When King Ahaziah asked Gehazi about the works Elisha. Gehazi’s tongue wagged and spooled on without end. He recited them in the manner of a record player. Among many things he told the king was that Elisha, the prophet , raised the dead son of a widow back to life…out of nothing gave food to the hungry.
Then the questions many people ask today are:
How could this person lose this lofty height? How did he miss out on the persona of Elisha, the great prophet? Why didn’t he succeed him? Why was he dismissed…his appointment terminated? Why was he fired? Why did Elisha at the twilight of his mission called sons of prophets to do errands for him as replacements for Gehazi? Is it a case of a sadistic master and an Orphan.
Weighty questions…critical issues need earnest clearing up. It happened at a pool of water. A pool of water is a place of healing. It is a place of refreshment, and renewal. It is a place of divine grace. At a pool of water, a man regained his sight. Jesus Christ, an Ethiopian eunuch and many others got baptized in a pool of water. Beside a pool of water, Moses found a wife. At pools of water, camels and goats and sheep renewed their strength. Pools of water are places of holidays and long vacations, high brow places for great meetings. Why would Gehazi’s reward for representing the might man of God by a water pool be leprosy and not Quadruple portions of grace of God?
The Word of God. He lost the Word of God…and so lost everything forever.
He knew his people were in famine…on food blockage. He knew his people were at war the Syrians. He knew Jezeebel and her household were still in power…pulling strings of death. He knew God’s mercy and how it works. He knew and had the Word of God in his heart. That mercy of God rewards every humble heart. He knew God sent the Great General of the Syrian army to Elisha to be healed of leprosy. He that the General must be healed free of charge regardless of his battle with Israel.
Yet at the pool, far from home, he collected thirty pieces of silver from the healed General. Even when the king had rejected the offer. And when his master, Elisha, had also rejected the offer. He went behind his master. He collected it, and hid it from him
.
That was all. He became leprous.
Greed…. No...Yes…May be…May be not. What is it then? Covetous…. Yes, I think it is.
He was not faithful to the Word of God. Still he was 'working' in his vineyard. He had never participated successful in any work Elisha gave him to do. And he refused to learn the trade. For example, he would have been the first prophet to raise the dead to life but he failed to do the instructions, disobeyed the Word. Therefore lost the opportunity. Everyone in the community knew him as a covetous man. And avoided him. A woman refused the request of Elisha. Who asked Gehazi to go with the woman to perform a critical activity on mercy. The woman refused. If Elijah would not go with her, she would not go. Though she was hard hit, she refused. Elisha later followed her.
Gehazi lost everything when he played around with the Word of God. He scammed and skimmed for material things in the services of God. In the end, he became leprous. He lost the quadruple portions in Elisha, and the sons of the prophets took over his place.
Our leaders today have lost the Word of God. They have lost everything. Nobody believes them anymore. They are looting the treasury…the coffers of men and treasures of God. They are leprous. They can’t see it, even in a mirror, because habits have become blinds on them. They don’t even know they are leprous. Gehazi is the reminder of what they have become.
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