This post is a chapter from the book,
Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ, which is the book version of multiple sermons preached from 2022 to 2025. Since this book was meant to bless the church I am also making it available on this blog.
As we near the end of this passage we have to talk about the
tragic case of Gehazi. Gehazi is the Judas in this story.
Consider Judas Iscariot for just a moment: He spent three
years as a disciple of Christ, he heard most of his sermons, he witnessed the
miracles, he heard the promises, he ate at the same table, his feet were
washed, and he went to hell anyways. What ultimately was his downfall? He had
been pilfering from the money bag for some time (John 12:6) and his greed
finally got the better of him (Matthew 26:15).
Before we delve into Gehazi’s story we have to read 1
Timothy 6:10:
The love of money is a root of
all kinds of evils, it is through this craving that some have wandered away
from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Consider warnings about greed, “The Pharisees, who were
lovers of money, heard all of these things, and they ridiculed him” (Luke
16:14), “An overseer must…not be a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:2–3), and
“Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money…” (2 Timothy 3:1–2). Jesus said
it best when he warned,
No one can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. ~ Matthew 6:24
Gehazi is about to prove that a penny pressed to the eye can
blot out all of creation, and can even blind us to the grace and love of God.
As we meet Gehazi, he is not yet a greedy, sneaky, lying
malcontent. Beloved, if you get one point from this chapter, know this: sin
will lie in waiting, crouching at your door ready to devour you when it gets the
chance. Just because you don’t have a serious temptation to run after money
right now doesn’t mean that that there is not a desire buried deep in your
heart that could, given the opportunity, betray and kill you.
It’s not just about money; it’s about faithfulness in every
facet of the Christian life.
Demas fell in love with the worldly pleasures at
Thessalonica after faithfully serving with Paul, and he ran off, breaking all
of our hearts.
Many men have endeavored to be faithful to their spouse, but
every adultery case I’ve ever counseled was not a case of openly seeking out an
clandestine relationship; it was a matter of unexpected opportunity that
exposed an unguarded and sinful heart.
Let me offer a frightening example: If I offered you $100
every time you shared Jesus with someone, how often would you share the gospel?
If you’ll do it for money, why not for love?
Why does not the pope empty
purgatory for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are
there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable
money with which to build a Church? The former reason would be most just; the
latter is most trivial. ~ Martin Luther, 82nd Thesis
Or consider this: If I offered you a million dollars to work
from sunrise to sunset every Sunday for the next year in a non-ministerial
context, would you take it? If you know where I’m going with this, please
reread the question and answer it afresh.
If you’d be willing to skip church for that money–to neglect
the meeting together with God’s saints–to miss the opportunity to encourage
them so long as it’s called today, then you very well could be the Gehazi in
your own story. I don’t want that, and you don’t want that: so pay attention to
where Gehazi went astray so you can keep to the narrow path.
When we meet Gehazi he is a faithful servant of Elisha
delivering messages and helping to bless people, including the Shunamite woman
who did so much to support Elisha’s ministry. Our first inclination that
something is wrong is when the Shunamite falls at the feet of Elisha and holds
tightly to his feet and Gehazi promptly seeks to push her away. There is no
compassion, no questioning, no prayer… But that’s not a dead giveaway to his
sins, didn’t the disciples do the same?
And they were bringing children
to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus
saw it, he was indignant… ~ Matthew 19:13–15, Mark 10:13, Luke 18:15–17
Elisha likewise was indignant, “Leave her alone, for she is
in bitter distress, and the Lord
has hidden it from me and has not told me” (2 Kings 4:27). What was hidden was
that her son had just died and she was desperation for a miracle. Gehazi’s
heart began to show that maybe he was in ministry for something other than the
joy of serving God and people.
Gehazi is sent ahead of Elisha to lay Elisha’s staff on the
face of the child, but no resurrection occurs. Now, Gehazi can hardly be
faulted, I can’t raise the dead either, but here is an important fact here that
is easy to miss. Elisha was Elijah’s servant, and when Elijah was taken up,
Elisha received a double-portion of the Spirit that rested on him. It could be
assumed that Gehazi was in line to receive a double portion of the Spirit that
was on Elisha. That would be quite a ministry and blessing! But alas, the
student cannot rise above his teacher, but this requires full training (Luke
6:40).
In Gehazi’s failed miracle we see that something is already amiss,
that some hindrance has already moved into his life and is holding him back.
It’s subtle and if what happened with Naaman had not revealed Gehazi’s heart I
wouldn’t mention it just from this example, but it reminds us that weight and
sin can cling so closely to hinder the race that is set before us (Hebrews
12:1). This is why David was so prudent to implore God, “Search me, O God, and
know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24)!
Now, we don’t want to be heresy hunters or throw out any
wheat with the tares, so I would never have encouraged Elisha to fire Gehazi
right then and there, but I do want to point out that when we see failures in
ministry or character that we should be calling our friends to repentance and
ensuring they’re not on the path to destruction or shipwreck (James 5:19–20, 1
Timothy 1:19–20, 6:9–10). Two examples from my life grieve me deeply.
The first was a friend who asked me to baptize him. I
thought I’d seen fruit in his life and so I agreed. He was enamored with the
early church and discovered that in certain segments of early Christianity it
was common for both baptizee and baptizer to fast before the baptism. I’m
always up for a fast, so we agreed on a nice easy 30-hours. The afternoon of
the baptism at the local lake I asked him how his fast had gone because mine
had been rougher than I expected. He shrugged it off and nonchalantly said that
he hadn’t fasted. This may be a minor point but my conscience was troubled. However,
because many of his family members had come, I succumbed to social pressure and
baptized him. Or I should say I got him wet, because he has since run off to
make shipwreck of his faith and family. In our last conversation he told me
that I place too much emphasis on Jesus. Was it Leonard Ravenhill who said,
Many pastors criticize me for
taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day,
Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Len, you took Me too seriously’?
Another friend preached a heartfelt message on how he had
been on the brink of suicide and had come back. As he closed the sermon, I
realized there had been no mention of Jesus or the gospel and barely any
mention of God. After the sermon I approached him and said I was glad he was
still with us, but that next time he needs to point the glory to Jesus and
explain how someone in a similar situation could find hope. He–just like my
other friend–shrugged it off. Unfortunately, he is now out chasing titles and social
media followers and Jesus is still absent from his messages.
Now, I want to reiterate that we don’t expel someone for a
mistake or lack of power or even a sin. I won’t criticize Elisha, but I will
criticize me: I should have been much more somber and prayerful in confronting
those young men than I was.
I still pray for their salvation and fruitfulness, and
indeed I stopped to pray for both of them while writing this. Could many who
were on the path of Gehazi and Judas be turned from their wicked ways before
they fell? Indeed, and many are saved and that’s why their stories aren’t
cautionary narratives in the Bible. The verse that won’t leave my mind is
“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline
drives it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15).
Now we get to the sad part of the story, Gehazi had seen the
miracle of cleansing and he had witnessed Naaman transformed into a new man,
but he had not rejoiced in either. What he had seen all too clearly was Elisha
turning down millions of dollars’ worth of spoils. Didn’t Elisha know what
could be done for the seminary with that sort of money? Didn’t Elisha see the
opportunity he is squandering?
Consider these ethical dilemmas surrounding money: Imagine a
person in your church won the lottery and wanted to tithe on their winnings,
would you accept? What if a large casino wanted to donate a large sum of money
to your ministry?
Both of these are real world events and–in the cases I’m
aware of–both were turned-down. Doesn’t that seem like such a waste? After all,
money is fungible, it is not tied to the sins that earned it, is it? Both the
lottery and casino prey on souls: they help to keep the poor in poverty and
offer fleeting pleasure as a bait and switch for lasting sin and suffering.
Probably the only place I agree with the Pharisees is when they wouldn’t accept
the blood money back from Judas but instead used it to buy the cemetery he would
be buried in. In the case of the casino, the ministry was a rescue mission and
the director said, “I can’t accept their money, half the people I serve are
here because of them.”
But that’s not exactly what’s happening in Naaman’s story,
is it? It’s similar, but different. Imagine if you could purchase healing and
salvation. The earliest antichrist to invade the church was a man named Simon
Magus, or Simon the Magician. He was a local hero in Samaria until Philip the
deacon showed up. Both of them were doing mighty wonders, but only Philip had
the Word of God, and the people paid attention to it and there was much joy
(Acts 8:8).
Even Simon believed and was baptized, but folly was still
bound up in his heart, just like Gehazi’s. He was a man who previously liked to
claim himself to be somebody great, and on a fateful day Peter and John arrived
to lay hands on the new converts. Simon watched in absolute amazement as this
incalculable gift was poured out on the new believers in Samaria.
His greed got ahold of him and he offered to buy this
ability, begging, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my
hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:19). Peter rebuked him sharply, and
while there was initial worldly sorrow, an early Christian writer named Irenaeus
tells that after Simon was rebuked by Peter, he applied himself not to
repentance but to his dark arts, even to the point that “he is said to have
been honoured with a statue [by Claudius Caesar], on account of his magical
power.”
From Simon we have derived the word “simony” or the idea
that you can buy salvation or sell blessings.
Had Elisha accepted even a penny then Naaman would have been in a position to
tell the Syrians that he had purchased his healing.
Beloved, the second you pay for grace, it is no longer
grace. If you have any reason to think that you can stand before Jesus in heaven
and declare that you have earned your adoption, your forgiveness, your
reconciliation, your place in heaven, or any such thing, then you are in store
for a painful awaking. The entire book of Galatians is written to this point
that if you desire to earn your salvation by keeping the law, you are
obligated to keep the whole law.
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have
fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait
for the hope of righteousness. ~ Galatians 5:3–5
Therefore, it was not just an act of generosity that Elisha
would not accept anything from Naaman’s hand, it was eternally important and
theologically vital to declare that the grace and blessings of God are not
earned by any amount of obedience or money or prayer or scripture reading or
fasting or synagogue attendance or any such thing. Because of Elisha’s refusal
to be compensated, Naaman could go home with a clear understanding that the Lord of all the earth was a God who gives
abundantly out of his grace, freely and without expense.
Imagine for a moment that Elisha had accepted those millions
of dollars? What message would that send to the world? Redemption is available,
If you can afford it. Theologically
it was imperative that Naaman not pay a cent towards his cleansing. Paul would
later say that “to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but
as a due” (Romans 4:4), and that if we work for it “grace would no longer be
grace” (Romans 11:6).
But when Naaman left, the heart of Gehazi was bound up in
his saddlebags. Gehazi was watching an immense fortune disappear into the
distance and he couldn’t stand it. Notice that instead of considering if it was
a sin, he justified himself by saying that Naaman had been spared of paying.
Sin has a nasty way of making you think you deserve its fleeting pleasures
(Proverbs 16:2). And so, he ran after Naaman, his feet struggling to catch up with
his covetousness.
As he reached Naaman he isn’t just covetous, he made himself
a liar: inventing a fanciful story that Elisha had sent him to provision two
new prophets. Sin begets sin, and one sin rarely stays solitary. We know that
Gehazi knew he was wrong because he hid the spoils in his own house. Always
remember that what’s done in the darkness will be brought to the light, and
that secrets have a way of making us feel ashamed, fearful, and guilty. If you
have any temptation to hide what you’ve done, you ought not have done it. If
you’re currently hiding something, bring it to the light as soon as possible so
God doesn’t have to expose it for you!
Gehazi had one final sin to commit when he returned to
Elisha, who–in wonderful emulation of God–didn’t accuse, though he already knew
the truth. He asked, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And Gehazi, instead of
confessing his sin, dug himself in deeper, “Your servant went nowhere.” Always
remember, if you find yourself in a pit of sin, the first thing to do is stop
digging!
Elisha already knew the truth, so he pronounced the judgment:
the leprosy of Naaman would find its way into Gehazi, and instantly his skin
was like snow. Further, because leprosy is so contagious, the curse did not end
at Gehazi, but it extended to his entire family as well.
This may seem unfair, but truth be told, what really
happened was that Gehazi’s skin now matched his heart which had already been
exposed. Diseased, sick, far from God, and festering in the effects of sin and
selfishness. Because of their association with Adam first and Gehazi second, his
followers and family were already defiled, now their skin would show what was
in their hearts.
But there is hope for lepers, is there not? Indeed, there is!
Just as Naaman sought a cure and met the living God, so could Gehazi have gone
and dipped in the Jordan seven times and humbled himself before the Lord, praying, seeking his face, turning
from his wicked ways, and the Lord
would have heard from heaven and healed the leper.
But for whatever reason, most likely pride and bitterness,
Gehazi did not do any of that. Jesus tells us,
In the days of Elisha there were
many lepers in Israel, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the
Syrian. ~ Luke 4:27
Maybe someone didn’t exhort him in that direction or maybe
he refused. It certainly wasn’t that God’s arm was shortened and he couldn’t
cleanse Gehazi. Most likely it was because Gehazi’s eyes were still on the
treasure, which by no accounts did he repent of or return. Spurgeon gives this
warning of how an idol can blind us to salvation,
If, indeed, you do look at
anything except Christ, it may be the Holy Spirit will never strive with you
again, your conscience will become hardened, and you, being given up to your
idols, will perish, utterly perish, under the sound of the gospel! Perish with
the light of the gospel shining in your eyes, perish from the serpent bite
while the brazen serpent is lifted high, perish from thirst when the water of
life runs rippling at your feet, because you are not content to stoop down and
take it as God presents it to you.
If we are fortunate, we’ll be confronted with a choice when
we are caught in sin. Consider Peter and Judas; both men had betrayed Jesus
appallingly, both thought they were lost for eternity. If you read about Peter
after his betrayal, I am sure he thought he was the son of perdition.
Similarly, if you read about Judas, there is genuine sorrow for his actions,
but his sorrow does not lead him to seek Jesus, it leads him to seek the
priests and to end his suffering in any way possible (Compare 2 Corinthians 7:10).
O how I wish one of those priests had said to Judas, “You
know I can’t help you! Why don’t you go ask your Messiah who you spent the last
three years with and see if he won’t put some of his forgiveness and redemption
to work in you?” I’m saddened by how many people think that God cut Judas off
from salvation: the story is clear that Judas cut himself off from hope when he
committed suicide. What a different story it could have been if just one person
had reminded Judas of the gospel he had heard so many times and rejected.
Imagine how the story of Gehazi could have been different if
someone had reminded him of Naaman’s healing and exhorted him to go and do
likewise. If you were Gehazi’s friend, wouldn’t you say something like, “Hey,
I’m going swimming in the Jordan and I’m going to pray and seek the Lord, want to come with me?” Or maybe a
friend like Amrah to pick him up–exposing themselves to the disease in the
process–and carry him to the bank of the Jordan and throw him in…repeatedly? I
say fairly often, “If I could shake you and make you obey the gospel, you’d
better believe you’d be getting shaken right now.” If I could cleanse Gehazi by
throwing him into the river, he’d better plug his nose.
Beloved, do you have friends like Gehazi and Judas who have
rejected Christ and are on their way to a hopeless and Christless eternity? Won’t
you remind them of the cleansing power? Is it too late for them? As long as
their hearts are beating, their lungs are breathing, and their brain is waving,
it’s not too late. Maybe this line from William Cowper’s hymn There is a
Fountain will speak new life into your evangelistic zeal:
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power,
’Till all the ransomed church of GodBe saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more,
’Till all the ransomed church of God,
Be saved, to sin no more.
We meet Gehazi one more time a few chapters later. Some
commentators think that chapter eight happened before chapter five, but while
some authors like John Mark use asynchronous storytelling in his gospel account,
the author of First and Second Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles does not make a
habit of it. Plus, chapter eight happens seven years after chapter four, so
it’s very hard to say this was before Gehazi had been cursed with leprosy.
There is a wonderful story in chapter four of lepers who
started to hide spoils, but then come to their senses and bless the whole city
of Samaria. Some would want to force Gehazi into this story, but I believe he
would be named if he were there, and I believe his repentance would be made
much of.
But in chapter eight we meet Gehazi speaking to Jehoram
about the miracles of Elisha. Now, Jehoram has had much time to acquaint
himself with these miracles and should have sought Elisha personally to hear of
his work many years hence. But Jehoram is still rejecting Elisha. As the quote
goes, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best to
plant a tree is today.”
Likewise, “The best time to seek the Lord is when you first learned to listen,
the second-best time to seek the Lord
is today!” Jehoram is seeking from a distance, hearing about the works of God
through an unlikely source. The law did not forbid conversation with lepers,
only being in close proximity to them. How it was that Gehazi gained an
audience with the king is not stated, but he is there at the exact right moment
when the Shunamite woman from chapter four seeks the king to regain her
property which somehow had been lost. Gehazi is able to vouch for her and sway
the king to have all of her property restored.
In the redemption of that woman’s property, Gehazi gets
another reminder that God redeems the irredeemable. Yet there is still no
indication of his repentance, and definitely no indication of his restoration.
Paul reminds us that just because we’re serving God doesn’t mean we can’t fall.
He could have pointed this at Gehazi, or he could have pointed it at you and I,
but instead he points it at himself,
I discipline my body and keep it
under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
~ 1 Corinthians 9:27
For this reason, I have an affinity for Gehazi, because in a
lot of ways he is me. Worldly pleasures catch my eye constantly, the love of
money is rooted and hidden deep in my heart, sin is constantly crouching at the
door, and salvation is so close I can touch it.
I am a collector and connoisseur of testimonies and I know
how God has quickened dead souls to life. I have seen him redeem the
irredeemable. I have seen him restore marriages that had already ended in
divorce. And I have seen him “restore the years that the locusts have eaten” in
dozens if not hundreds of ways.
And so had Gehazi. By the grace of God, the difference
between him and I is that I have sought this miracle working God to work in my
life, to cleanse me in the inner places, and to restore my soul. But I can sing
with absolutely no deceit,
O to
grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy grace now, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee:
Prone to
wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and
seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above. ~ Robert Robinson
I cannot fathom the pride and bitterness that could keep a
person from so great a salvation, but Gehazi helps me to understand. I know
that without God’s grace that I would make Gehazi astonished at my obstinance.
There is no use in praying for the dead, but I sincerely hope that Gehazi
sought the Lord before he stepped
into eternity.
There
but for the grace of God go I. ~ John Bradford
Hope was at hand, the question is: Did he reach out and take
hold of it? Beloved, have you? Whatever happened to Gehazi, he is your warning
take hold of the cure while it may be found.
Be more like Peter and less like Judas as you seek the
blessings of God.
