Today's Video Devotion

Wednesday 3/29/23

The Lord Repays Our Sacrifice

📺️ 2 Kings 8 🔊

¹Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.

 ²And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

 ³And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.

 ⁴And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.

 ⁵And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.

 ⁶And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

 ⁷And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.

 ⁸And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

 ⁹So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

 ¹⁰And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.

 ¹¹And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

 ¹²And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

 ¹³And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.

 ¹⁴So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.

 ¹⁵And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.

 ¹⁶And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Je hoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

 ¹⁷Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

 ¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

 ¹⁹Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.

 ²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

 ²¹So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.

 ²²Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

 ²³And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

 ²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

 ²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.

 ²⁶Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

 ²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.

 ²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

 ²⁹And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Jeremiah

Date Penned: (586 BC)

Overview: A History of the Kings of Israel and Judah (c 1-25)

Theme: A Divided Kingdom (c 1-17)

Message: Hazael Murders King Benhadad (v 1-29)

2 Kings 8 Commentary 

(8:1-6) A Woman's Land is Returned - This account happened before the events recorded in 2 Kings 5 because the seven-year famine would have ended before Ghazi was struck with leprosy. This shows Elisha's long-term concern for this widow and also how his miraculous public ministry is complemented by his private ministry to this family. Elisha exemplifies the kind of concern we should have for others.

(8:2-15) Hazael's Impatience - Elisha's words about Hazel's treatment of Israel were partially fulfilled in 10:32-33. Apparently Hazael had known he would be king because Elijah had anointed him (4 Kings 19:15). But he was impatient and, instead of waiting for God's timing, took matters into his own hands, killing Ben-hadad. God used Hazael as an instrument of judgment against the disobedient Israelites.

(8:12-13) When Elisha told Hazel he would sin greatly, Hazael protested that he would never do that sort of thing. He did not acknowledge his personal potential for evil. In our "enlightened" society, we might think that we are above gross sin and can control our actions. We might be tempted to believe that we would never sink very low. Instead, we should take a more biblical and realistic look at ourselves and admit our sinful potential. Then we should ask for God's strength to resist such evil.

(8:18) Jehoram and Athaliah - King Jehoshaphat arranged the marriage between Jehoram, his son, and Athaliah, the daughter of wicked Ahab and Jezebel. Athaliah followed the idolatrous ways of the northern kingdom, bringing Baal worship into Judah and starting the southern kingdom's decline. When Jehoram died, his son Ahaziah became king. Then, when Ahaziah was killed in battle, Athaliah murdered all her grandsons except Josh, who barely escaped, and made herself queen (11:1-3). Jehoram's marriage to Athaliah may have been politically advantageous, but spiritually it was deadly for him and the nation.

(8:20-22) Edom and Israel - Although Judah and Edom shared a common border and a common ancestor (Isaac), the two nations fought continually. Edom had been a vassal state of the united kingdom of Israel and then the southern kingdom of Judah since the days of David (2 Samuel 8:13-14). Here Edom rebelled against Jehoram and declared independence. Immediately Jehoram marched out to attack Edom, but his ambush failed. Thus, Jehoram lost some of his borderlands as punishment for his failure to honor God.

(8:26-27) Ahaziah Rules Judah - Ahaziah was the only remaining son of Jehoram (also called Joram) of Judah. Although he was the youngest son, he took the throne because the rest of his brothers had been killed by marauding bands of Philistines and Arabians (2 Chronicles 21:16-17). Ahaziah is also referred to as Jehoahaz.

(8:26-27) Ahaziah's Genealogy - Ahaziah's mother was Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (former king and queen of Israel) and granddaughter of Omri, Ahab's father and predecessor. The evil of Ahab and Jezebel spread to Judah through Athaliah.

(8:29) Jezreel's Location - Jezreel was the location of the summer palace of the kings of Israel.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Today we continue the book of 2 Kings with Chapter 8. In our text, we see a woman has her land returned, and Hazael murders King Ben-hadad, and the rulers of Judah, Jehoram, and Ahaziah. What catches my eye is the account of a woman who followed the advice of Elisha to leave for the famine. She left behind all that she had in obedience to follow the Lord's instruction given by Elisha. When she returned, and the King saw what the Lord had done, he restored her land to her and even replaced the fruit it produced. In applying, we see a principle in the Word of God that if we obey the Lord's calling, the Lord will repay a sacrifice. Today the Lord still calls us to do things that seem to cost us a sacrifice, but just in our text today, the Lord will repay. It reminds me of my son, who gave the Church $20 he was saving for some legos. He felt the Lord would have him give this money so he could provide a few Bibles for a needy soul. After giving them his money, my wife called Lego to see if we could purchase a set of legos to reward his sacrifice. When the Christian lady we talked to heard of what my son did, she sent us two huge boxes of lego's worth $1000 for FREE. The Lord repaid his sacrifice. How about you? Do you see this principle in your life of God repaying our sacrifices? Let us learn from our text today and the life of this obedient woman in our text today to remember that God repays our sacrifices.