[2Ki 5:19b-27] Is This Time to Take Money?

John C. Lim

2 Kings 5: 19b-27   (Part 4 of 4)                  

After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him."

21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. "Is everything all right?" he asked.  

22 "Everything is all right," Gehazi answered. "My master sent me to say, 'Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent ^[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.' "  

23 "By all means, take two talents," said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left. 25 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha.  
      "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked.  
      "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered.  

26 But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? 27 Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

As we have seen, Naaman was healed from his disease and was on his way back to his own country.  The Bible tells us that he had traveled some distance.  And now we have an interesting development.  Look at verse 20.

      Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, "My master was too easy on  Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD  lives, I will run after him and get something from him."

Prophet Elisha’s servant Gehazi had seen all that had taken place.  He saw Naaman being healed of that incurable disease miraculously.  It was a big deal to be cured of leprosy.  He was well aware of Elisha’s refusal to take anything from Naaman’s hand.  And yet, this servant of Elisha makes a very foolish decision to do what he shouldn’t have done.

From what he says in the verse, we learn few things about this man, Gehazi.  First, he has no concept about God’s grace that is freely given.  He claims that Elisha was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean.  Think about what he says here.  He obviously saw Naaman as an Aramean and regarded him as not one of the Israelites.  And that is true.  Naaman is not an Israelite but by saying he is an Aramean, Gehazi believes he can push the limit.  Just because Naaman is not an Israelite, he should not have received such a gift of healing without cost.  Gehazi reveals perhaps his inner belief that everyone else other than Israelites are second class citizen.  Although Elisha freely healed Naaman, Gehazi believes there should have been some kind of compensation for this gift of healing.  Second, he thinks his decision is wiser decision than Elisha’s, the man of God.  He second guesses the prophet of God.  He is making an assertion that his master was wrong in not accepting the gifts.  He presumes to know better than his master, Elisha.  This is quite foolish on his part.  Third, he does not identify himself with the man of God but sees himself independent of Elisha in taking this action.  And in order to carry this out, he lies outright to Naaman.  This is a very fearful thing to have done.  As someone who serves man of God, he more than anyone should have known what a terrible thing it is to bear false witness.  He misrepresents his master, Elisha with a bold lie to Naaman.  His lie actually implicates Elisha even though Elisha had nothing to do with his scheme. 

The sinner in all of us does the exact same thing.  First, we often don’t see that God’s grace is freely given.  We always have this innate desire to make salvation cost something to those who would come to believe on Jesus Christ.  Instead of simplifying the unconditional love and gift of grace from God, we tend to attach shackles to people with all kinds of requirements. We often have addendum to this grace by insisting on many man-made rules and customs.  The sad part is that we don’t even realize how we are corrupting the pure message of God’s grace through the gospel.  We are contaminating the message of grace with works in many occasions.  This is why Apostle Paul in Galatians so staunchly challenged them to reflect on the message of grace that he preached to them and not to fall for those who would bind them with external conformity to various rules and customs.

Second, we at times think we make better decisions than God when it comes to our affairs.  We don’t trust God to lead us in our affairs but take the situations into our own hands and try to force the issues.  We do that when it comes to our careers, finances, families and even churches.  Gehazi believed that he is wiser than his master in pursuing this action.  How foolish that kind of thinking is!  And we deceive ourselves by acting as if we know better than God what is best for us.  No matter how things look to us, when we start to presume we know better than God regarding every aspect of our lives, we make a grave error and we will not fare very well in the end.  No matter what happens, we must trust in God’s will for our lives. 

Third, we often do not identify ourselves on the side of God but believe we stand independent.  This is another major flawed thinking on our part.  No matter where we are and what we do, we want to constantly remind ourselves that we don’t act independently of God but that we conform everything we do to His will for our lives. Elisha represented God’s will in this healing of Naaman.  Gehazi was wrong in pursuing a different path than the one Elisha had set forth.  When Elisha told Naaman to go in peace, it was over.   That was the end of discussion.  When God closes certain doors in our lives, we simply acknowledge that and subjugate our desires and wishes so that we don’t continue to belabor that which is now finished.  Had Gehazi quickly realized this or had he not pursued this unauthorized activity, he would have not been in this situation.  Now, let us see what happens in verse 21. 

      So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down  from the chariot to meet him. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

Gehazi didn’t want to lose a moment so he ran to Naaman.  When Naaman saw Gehazi running toward him, he got down from the chariot and met him.  Naaman asks a very good question as he wondered what was going on.  When Naaman was asking whether everything is alright, that was another opportunity to Gehazi that he should have realized what a terrible sin he was committing.  Of course everything is not right.  Something is very wrong.  If Gehazi was open to the work of the Holy Spirit with this simple yet penetrating question from Naaman, he would have fallen down and repented of his sins. 

Gehazi could have stopped from carrying his intent.  Often times, we do think in foolish ways but hopefully we know that we ought not to put our foolish and harmful thoughts to action.  Obviously, Gehazi thought of his foolish and disobedient plan and put it into action.  He wanted to follow through with his wicked plan. 

When what we are about to engage is wrong, we know very well we should not follow through.  There are many opportunities God gives us through Holy Spirit to turn back and resist the temptation.  However, when we resist the work of the Holy Spirit and continue to pursue that which is evil in the sight of God, we will fall into the hands of the evil one.  When Naaman asked if everything was alright, right there, right then, Gehazi could have broken down and repented of his sin and beg for forgiveness and go back.  However, Gehazi is now committed.  He is going to follow through with his plan.  Look at verse 22.

      "Everything is all right," Gehazi answered. "My master sent me to say, 'Two young men from  the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please  give them a talent  of silver and two sets of clothing.' "

We keep hoping that Gehazi would stop dead in this track and go back.  But what does he do?  He implicates his own master in this deception.  He assures Naaman that everything is alright.  He lies.  Now that he lied first time, the lies are coming more easily.  He falsely tells Naaman that he is on a mission from Elisha to request one talent of silver and two sets of clothing.  For some silver and two sets of clothing, he is willing to sell not only his own integrity but that of his master, Elisha. 

Gehazi may have thought that what he was asking was quite reasonable as he didn’t ask for much in his mind.  Gehazi makes up a story about two young men.  Not only does he implicates his master but now falsely testifies the two young men from the company of the prophets in his story.  Perhaps there was an innocent company of the prophets who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.  Gehazi through his action implicates his master and a group of prophets who serve God in this despicable charade he made up.  He was making up this story which means that he carefully constructed the lie that he would pose to Naaman.

What Gehazi may or may not have realized is that his action dishonored what Elisha did in the name of God of Israel.  Elisha healed Naaman free of any cost involved.  Gehazi is now undermining what the prophet or man of God had done by implying cost to his healing.  Look at what Naaman does in verse 23.

      "By all means, take two talents," said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied  up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his  servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.

Naaman was gracious and generous.  He had no idea that Gehazi fabricated the whole story about the two young men and Elisha asking to give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.  Naaman urged Gehazi to take two talents of silver and two sets of clothing.  Not only that but he provided two of his servants to carry them for Gehazi. 

Even at this point, Gehazi could have realized what a terrible sin he was committing and repented of his sins and beg for forgiveness.  But Gehazi is on self destructive path now and will not turn.  In our own lives, at times we may be faced with great temptation to pursue what we know to be a dead end ultimately.  When we realize we are on this path by our own choosing, we repent of our sins and quickly turn away from that path.  Gehazi would not do this.  Look at verse 24.

      When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the  house. He sent the men away and they left.

Gehazi is very meticulous in his evil plan and execution of his evil plan.  Two servants did not go all the way to Gehazi’s house as it would attract unnecessary attention.  He took the things from the servants and put them away in the house and sent the men away.  The evil action is now completed.  He has accomplished his evil plan to the minutest detail.  The deed was done and now everything will be alright he may have thought.  He couldn’t have been more wrong. 

As I mentioned last week, Gehazi is living when there was a true prophet of God.  There was a man of God who would prophesy and his prophecies would come true 100 percent of the time.  Elisha is such a man and though they didn’t have all the modern communication advancements, God’s spirit was upon Elisha and that is a frightening thought.  Look at verse 25.

                 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked. "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered.

After he finished tidying up all the loose ends, he went in and stood before Elisha as if nothing happened.  Let’s look at God’s grace at work even at this point.  Man of God, Elisha asks him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”  At this point, Gehazi could have broken down completely and repented of his sins.  He could have said in effect what a terrible thing he had done and beg for forgiveness.  I mean we are talking about Elisha, the prophet of God here.  I believe Elisha was giving him another opportunity to repent of his sin and confess what he had done.  Time after time, God is giving him a golden opportunity to turn back from his sin and receive forgiveness. 

Perhaps God is asking of us, where we have been?  What are we doing today that we need to examine ourselves in light of this passage?  Where have we been lately?  What have we been doing lately?  How are we engaged or not engaged in activities that dishonor our Lord and Savior?  When Gehazi was questioned very directly about his whereabouts, he answers rather smugly, “Your servant didn’t go anywhere. “  So he lies outright again to the servant of God.  As much as we would like to be compassionate with Gehazi, he is not helping his own cause.  He lied once again.  He couldn’t even confess before Elisha that what he had done was wrong and beg for forgiveness. 

We have opportunities to ask for forgiveness when we sin.  As Holy Spirit convicts us of what we need to confess, we should quickly admit our sins and plead for mercy from our forgiving and gracious God.  But we also understand that there is time when we can ask for forgiveness and there is time when that is too late.  When we try to walk that fine line, we ought to know that we are playing with fire.  God is not mocked.  Although God is infinitely loving and forgiving, we don’t want to be presumptive as if we have all the time in the world. 

Gehazi now played his last card when he said, “Your servant didn’t go anywhere.”  He made up his bed.  He made his decision that he was going to play this out to the end.  Again, let’s remember that Elisha is a man of God.  He is God’s prophet and Gehazi dares to openly deceive his master.  Look at verse 26.

    But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?

Now, Elisha opens his mouth and questions him.  “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?”

From what Elisha is saying to Gehazi, it is as if Elisha just replayed the scene exactly as it was played out earlier.  They didn’t have DVDs and Camcorder back then but we are talking about God’s prophet here.  Elisha, man of God was filled with God’s spirit and knew exactly what took place when he confronted Gehazi.  Gehazi even at that point in time when Naaman got down, could have yielded to Holy Spirit in his heart and quickly turn back from his sin but he chose not to do that.  Look what Elisha continues to say. 

     Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or  menservants and maidservants?

Prophet Elisha and people were living in precarious circumstances.  King of Israel as well as people of Israel did not worship God but rather idols.  It was dangerous and risky for prophet of God in that time to speak God’s truth to the king or to the people.  There was a sense of urgency as Elisha tirelessly communicated God’s truth to people of Israel.  Although he was powerless in everyone’s sight, he was nevertheless a prophet who spoke directly to people what God wanted them to hear. 

In Elisha’s rhetorical questions, we can sense urgency in Elisha’s voice.  Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes?  For Elisha and Gehazi, their work was to continue to speak God’s word to the people whether they listen or not.  Since Gehazi served Elisha, he was on Elisha’s team.  Elisha represented God to people and therefore Gehazi also represented Elisha’s work. 

As one who chose to serve and work under Elisha, Gehazi had responsibilities.  And this is why Elisha asks if this is the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants. 

They are on a mission from God and needed to concentrate and focus on those activities that are directly from God, not on peripheral activities that other people might be engaged with.  Although there is nothing inherently wrong in doing all those things, Elisha is pointing out that their work is not all about materialistic things.  Look at verse 27.

     Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." Then Gehazi went from  Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

This is a devastating moment for Gehazi.  God’s prophet Elisha solemnly prophesies regarding Gehazi.  Naaman’s leprosy will now cling to Gehazi and his descendants forever.  And when Gehazi went out from Elisha’s presence, he was leprous, as white as snow.

There are consequences for our sin.  Gehazi is someone who worked closely with the man of God.  He had seen God’s miracles as he served Elisha.  Of all the people in Israel, he should have been most well informed of what it is to experience God’s power at work.  And yet, his desire for materialistic realm consumed him.  His priority was not in the matters of God but on earthly riches.  He now pays the price for such wrong priority in his life.   
 
This is what happens when we forget why we live and what we are about in this life.  All the material things in life are needed to sustain ourselves but they are not the end in themselves.  We utilize these things to serve God and to do His will.  When earthly things which we are to utilize to serve God become more important than serving God, we have definitely gone astray. 

In this process, Gehazi sadly dishonored God and cheapened God’s grace by attaching monetary value to it.  As we live in this world, we want to honor God’s name in all that we do.  As believers, we want to be aware of how our actions and our words have tremendous consequences.  Although we fail many times, when we do, we should quickly recognize and confess our sins.  When we are open to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we will quickly realize we are going the wrong way and with the help of the Holy Spirit, will be back on track to do God’s work in our lives.  When we see God’s grace still at work in people’s lives, we ought to be in awe of God and give glory to God.  We may at times be discouraged and feel the strong pull to compromise when we feel we are the only ones adhering to the simple message of the gospel, but we need to remind ourselves of Elisha who remained faithful to God’s calling for his life and rebuked his servant for going astray.