“After
Naaman had traveled some distance, 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.”
2
Kings 5:19-20
Gehazi
was a servant of Elisha. He attended to Elisha’s needs; much like Elisha had
attended to Elijah. This means he would have been familiar with the Word of
God, witnessed mighty miracles, and had a healthy understanding of the depths
of God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.
Yet,
even with this knowledge, Gehazi declared: “My master was too easy on Naaman.”
Because of Gehazi’s covetous heart, he attempted to extract from Naaman
something that would benefit him.
How
often, do we, like Gehazi, become critical of new believers who have not yet
matured to the place “we are.” Then in our best efforts to fix them we try and
extract behavior or conviction out of them that the Lord Himself has yet to
deal with them about. We try to get them to dress right, talk right, and act a
certain way; all but ignoring our own struggles and deficiencies.
Gehazi
suffered from a religious complex; one in which he felt as though his national
or religious heritage elevated him above others. This kind of spiritual
high-mindedness causes us to disregard our own flaws. We ignore our own long
neglected and wrongly justified poor behaviors in order to focus on the tiny
issues of others. This is precisely what Jesus was talking about in Matthew
7:3:
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in
your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Gehazi
felt that Elisha was too easy on Naaman. Naaman was an Aramean. He worshiped a
false god, took part in brutalizing Israelites in military battles, and to
Gehazi was unclean by nature of him not being a Jew. Gehazi reasoned that this
man’s sins required more than him simply dipping in the Jordan. Gehazi was so
focused on Naaman’s perceived problems that he completely ignored his own
covetous heart.
Gehazi
tracked Naaman down and lied to him telling him that Elisha had changed his
mind and needed some of the tribute to help some fellow prophets. He then
returned to Elisha, hiding the loot away in hopes Elisha would be none the
wiser.
However,
the Holy Spirit had shown Elisha what Gehazi had done. When Elisha confronted
Gehazi he pronounced in 2 Kings 5:27:
“Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and
to your descendants forever.”
What
God delivered Naaman from because of his obedience to the Word of the Lord, was
inflicted on Gehazi because of his willful disobedience; but why such a harsh
verdict?
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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