Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Kings 5-7.

There is a lot to be learned from the story of Naaman, but today I am only going to touch on what we can learn from Elisha’s refusal to accept payment and from his servant, Gehazi.  Elisha does not give Naaman a reason for his refusal to accept Naaman’s donations, but we get a hint later when Elisha tells Gehazi, “Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes…”  To me, this suggests that Elisha did not want Naaman, or others, to think that Naaman had bought healing, that Naaman was cured because he was rich and powerful.  God cured Naaman in order to show that He, YHWH, the God of Israel, was God, Creator of the Universe, and ruler over all.  However, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, thought that Naaman, this foreigner, should be made to pay something for receiving God’s healing.  Or, to be more precise, Gehazi thought it was unfair that Naaman, who had so much, should be healed without Gehazi, who was so “poor” (poor being a relative term and we have no idea how well off Gehazi was, but certainly less well off than Naaman), getting some reward.  Let’s be clear, what Gehazi did here was embezzlement or fraud.  He had every intention of keeping what he got from Naaman for his own ends.  He had no intention of turning any of it over to Elisha.  Things would have come out differently if Gehazi had openly asked Naaman for the things for himself.

I am going to touch on the story of Elisha and the Aramite army only long enough to quote what Elisha told his servant:

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Well, perhaps a bit more than that, but only because it fits so well into my thoughts about the siege of Samaria.  During the siege things got really bad, food became outrageously expensive.  The king blamed Elisha, and through him, God, for these troubles, taking no responsibility for them himself.  This despite the fact that Samaria was besieged by the army of Aram, whose king the current king’s father had allowed to escape the consequences of attacking Israel previously.  So, the king was determined to kill Elisha and thus redirect the people’s anger.  However, Elisha was prepared and had barricaded himself with the elders of the city.  Elisha responded to the king’s accusations by telling him that by the following day, food would be unbelievably inexpensive.  There was no humanly conceivable way for things to turn around that fast.  Yet, they did.

So, when we look at where things are today. they are not nearly as bad as they were in Samaria under siege.  Nevertheless, they are bad.  In some ways they do appear as bad as things did for Elisha when the army of Aram surrounded the town in which he lived, looking to capture or kill him.  Those of us who serve God appear to be surrounded and outnumbered by those hostile to our faith.  Yet, I believe even today, what Elisha said to his servant is true…Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.  Just as Elisha was not counting a human army when he said that, I am not counting the living human followers of Christ, or, at least, not just the living human followers of Christ.  Also, just as in the Samaria under siege, it may appear that things can only get worse, but I have faith that God can bring about change such that if you predicted it, everyone would think you crazy.  In fact, despite the fact that I have felt like perhaps Christ’s Return, and God’s Judgement, were almost upon us, reading this today I feel as if God’s Spirit is telling me that God is preparing to show His power in a way which no one would believe if they did not witness it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.