-2 Kings 8:7-15 ESV

7 Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels' loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.


REMORSELESS.

Benhadad was desperate to ask help for healing. He asked Hazael, who brought extravagant gifts [40 camel-loads of goods] with him, to Elisha, who was in town. He wanted prognosis about his future more than seeking for revenge for the past. It is ironical that he consulted the Lord while an Isralite king Ahaziah in the past had consulted Baal-zebub.

And, as Hazael told Elisha, he must had been puzzled to hear the prophet’s answer. Elisha said, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” Furthermore, Hazael should had humbled and felt embarassed himself upon hearing the reason of the prophet’s weeping. Elisha wept because he knew beforehand that Hazael would become king someday and will harass his people ruthlessly. He said, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.”

Simply said, Hazael had a wicked plan to usurp the kingdom and Elisha knew everything about it. The Lord had revealed it to Elisha. Sadly, he has had an unconscionable or hardened heart. It was so hard that he just answered nonchalantly, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” The words and tears of the prophet did not soften his heart. He went back to Syria and murdered the king by suffocating him in a cold blood and clandestine fashion.

A hardened heart is impervious to the Holy Spirit’s conviction. The Spirit’s role is to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. [John 16:9,10] Thus, if we sinned and we feel guilty, we must be thankful. For, such feeling of shame and guilt do remind us of the grace of God for making our hearts sensitive. Let’s therefore “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”[Heb 3:13]

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