“And Elisha replied, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But actually the Lord has shown me that he will surely die!” Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping. “What’s the matter, my Lord?” Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!””
2 Kings 8:10-12 NLT
Was Elisha lying when he said ,” go and tell him you will surely recover.”? No. The truth was that the king would have recovered. But this didn’t mean that his sins were not going to catch up to him. Instead he would be betrayed by Hazael and that is how death would come upon him, not by sickness. Perhaps this plot was already in Hazael’s heart and Elisha was able to see into him, or perhaps Elisha’s revelation that he would recover is what prompted Hazael to begin to plot to kill him now. Either way, Elisha knew both truths, that he wouldn’t die at the hand of sickness, but rather at the hand of Hazael. The his troubled him deeply, to the point that he stared a him, making the seasoned warrior uncomfortable in the exchange. This passage can be an uncomfortable passage to disseminate because it highlights two factors. First, God looks deep into the hearts of men. He looks past what they have revealed to what they hide. Second, what they hide is often deeply disturbing. Make no mistake, God always knows.
JOSH McGARY. COM 