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In Biblical times, a servant spent a lot of time with their master they served and learned from them. For instance, Abraham's longtime servant, Eliezer, was scheduled to inherit his great wealth before Isaac was born (Genesis 15:2). Afterward, he was trusted to select a wife for the young man (Genesis 24). Eliezer had learned from Abraham to believe in God and rely on Him to find Isaac's wife while serving as an emissary on his master's behalf.
Elisha was a servant to Elijah, and in that role, he watched the senior prophet wield God's power. He became his son and successor, inheriting a double portion of his spiritual power (2 Kings 2:9). This could have been the case for his servant, Gehazi, but the younger man displayed some troubling flaws. In 2 Kings 4, he displayed a spirit of disbelief when asked to share 20 loaves of bread with a gathering of 100 men (2 Kings 4:42). He forgot all the ways he'd seen God move through his master. It wasn't until Elisha prophesied that the bread would feed the men and there would be leftovers that he set the loaves for them to eat.
Gehazi also exhibited the spirit of greed when Naaman was healed of leprosy. Elisha had instructed the Syrian to bathe in the muddy Jordan River, and once done, Naaman's "flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy" (2 Kings 5:14). When Elisha refused to accept any gift for the miracle, Gehazi secretly accepted the gifts and hid them. However, the lord revealed what Gehazi had done, and for his greed, Elisha cursed him and his generations with the same leprosy that Naaman once had.
He also displayed a spirit of fear when the Arameans showed up looking for Elisha in 2 Kings 6. When he saw that the enemy army had surrounded them, he worried for their safety. Elisha, on the other hand, remained calm and told him not to be afraid, saying, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16). He then asked the Lord to open Gehazi's eyes so he could see the angelic army watching over them. He went on to pray that the enemy be blinded, and the Lord fulfilled his prayer.
Why was Gehazi this way? How could he, having seen God's raw power at work in his master, still behave like someone who didn't know better? Gehazi had witnessed Elisha purify the waters of Jericho (2 Kings 2). He witnessed the prophet bring forth a miracle that turned a little oil into vats of olive oil that allowed a widow to pay off debt and keep her sons from slavery. So, how did he struggle to walk in faith and godliness? It is likely because he hadn't allowed the truth of who God was to fully sink into him. He hadn't fully committed to God and His ways. It is possible that he still had one foot in the world in some way or another and wasn't completely sold out to the God his master served.
And before we get hypercritical about Gehazi, the truth is that we have all been just like him. Yes, we've seen God do mighty things, and yet, we've broken faith with Him. We've doubted His ability to come through for us and thought we needed to rely on the ways of the world to take care of ourselves, just as Gehazi did when he submitted to greed. We've forgotten our 'Jericho Moments' - the ways God worked a miracle for us - and bowed to the spirits of disbelief and fear, putting God's faithfulness in question.
Thanks be to God that His love and mercy endure forever. He knows we are human and that we struggle, so He continues to show us grace and to display His power in our lives and all around us. He doesn't do these things just to 'show off.' No, He provides blessings so our faith will increase, and so we will obey Him. He wants our confidence in Him to be unshakeable. He is building us up to stand firm in the face of anything the devil will throw our way to discourage and distract us. God doesn't want us to be like Gehazi - a person who had a front row seat to the wondrous works of God and yet did not appreciate the spiritual things. A person whose instincts were often carnal.
To be fair to Gehazi, there were bright spots to his story. He played an essential role in the life of the Shunammite woman, for instance. She'd convinced her husband to build a room on their roof for Elisha so he could rest there whenever he was in their area. It was Gehazi who pointed out that she had no sons. Elisha prophesied, and the Lord gave her a baby boy (2 Kings 4:14-17). Years later, Gehazi helped this woman once again. He was speaking to the king as she entered the throne room to get an audience. Gehazi vouched for her, and the king instructed an officer to give her more than she'd initially requested (2 Kings 8:6).
As we can see, Gehazi's life offers great lessons to us Christians. Yes, God can use us to positively impact the lives of people, even when we're not necessarily where we need to be in our faith. But that should not be enough for any of us. If it is, then we might end up like Gehazi, who struggled to let go of the ways of the world so that the ways of God could take complete control of him. The Lord wants our instincts to be godly and righteous. He wants us to reflect Him in all we do and be emissaries, just as Eliezer was. He knows it may take a while to get us there, but He is willing to patiently put in the work, and we should be too, so we become more like the ultimate servant, Jesus Christ.
As you await fellowship, consider reading the Altar Call below and the following previous P&P messages:
