Seize the Moment – Dat 849
Trust God for the Big Picture!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 14.
Have you ever been asked to do something that you didn’t understand, but you knew it had to be done? That’s the situation Elisha found himself in when he visited Damascus. King Ben-hadad was sick and sent his servant Hazael to inquire of Elisha if he would live. After telling Hazael that his master would recover, but still die, he gazed at Hazael and wept. Their conversation, recorded in 2 Kings 8:12-13, illuminates the difficult life of a prophet:
Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.” Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
In verse 15, Hazael murdered Ben-hadad and seized the throne for himself. Elisha was obedient to fulfill Elijah’s mandate from 1 Kings 19:15, “you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram.” While Hazael would go on to do grave evil against the people of Israel, he was also used by God to bring judgment against His people for their disobedience and idolatry, as recorded in 2 Kings 13:3, “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram.” Elisha may have been conflicted with this turn of events, but He trusted God’s sovereignty and obeyed the Lord, regardless.