And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him.
Gehazi stood closer to this miracle than almost anyone. He watched Elisha refuse a fortune, then decided the refusal was a mistake.
A commentator weighs his advantages against what the testing time revealed:
He was a man of great knowledge and extraordinary privilege. He ought to have been a contented man, for he served the man of God, who could command God's resources in every time of need. But when the testing-time came, it found him out. All he seemed to care about was his own enrichment, and he schemed to turn the goodness of God to his own advantage... He did not rejoice in grace. He would have made Elisha and his God as grasping as himself.
The same pile of silver and clothing acted on master and servant in opposite directions.
Naaman's wealth was ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of clothing. It stirred up the covetousness Gehazi had never judged in his heart. Naaman's need drew out the grace of God in the prophet. Naaman's wealth drew out the covetousness of his servant. The grace of God had brought blessing to Naaman. The covetousness of Gehazi would contradict that grace. A rich man willing and delighted to give a handsome gift was too good an opportunity for a covetous man to let pass.
Notice what oath he swears. Elisha had used those exact words to turn the gift down.
This wretched man calls on the name of the Lord to get riches for himself. He uses the very same words his master had used to refuse them. He lies to take another man's goods.
Another writer links the two sins, and shows why one leads to more:
Bringing God's name into a sin makes it a thousand times worse. Covetousness led to lying, for sins seldom travel alone.
Naaman had just learned that healing could not be bought. Gehazi's run down the road put that lesson at risk.
God's grace and power were on display towards this stranger, but Gehazi's heart was untouched. He only thought how he might use the man for his own selfish ends. He was covetous, so he got what he wanted by deceit and lies. He did not care that his wicked conduct might confuse Naaman's understanding of grace, and so dishonour the God of Israel. His sinful act might make the Syrian think that after all the gift of God could be paid for, if not purchased.
Elisha's sentence on Gehazi did not rest mainly on the lying. It rested on what the moment called for.
He, too, knew, or ought to have known, what the occasion called for; but the honour of the Lord was not before his soul. He eyed and coveted Naaman's silver and clothing, just as Achan in his day coveted the plunder of Jericho. He pushed aside every other consideration to get what he wanted... When the prophet announced the solemn judgments about to fall on him, he did so mainly on one ground: Gehazi had failed to act as the occasion demanded, where God's glory and name were concerned. He did not base them chiefly on his deceit and lies, shocking as these were.
This scene is not only about one man's greed. It warns us too.
Does this solemn scene not warn us? If we allow lust or covetousness to go unjudged in our hearts, we shall be ready to fall into temptation when it crosses our path. Further, one sin leads to another. We cannot stop just when we choose on the path of sin. As one has said, "A man cannot stop his boat at will in the strong currents just above Niagara, though he might have avoided them altogether."
The ending matches the sin with exact justice.
If Gehazi had taken Naaman's wealth, he must also take Naaman's disease. He had got two changes of clothing from Naaman by lying and deceit; he also gets a change of skin by the judgment of God. And the leprosy he gets will cling to him all the days of his life. He will soon spend the wealth he got. The leprosy will remain. No waters of the Jordan will cleanse Gehazi.
- Privilege. Gehazi had the best seat in Israel for watching God work. It changed nothing in him, and the testing time found him out.
- Appetite. One gift, two hearts. The same wealth that drew grace out of Elisha drew covetousness out of his servant.
- Cover. Greed swore by God's own name. Then it needed lie after lie, because sins seldom travel alone.
- Damage. Gehazi's errand threatened to teach Naaman that God's gift has a price after all.
- Wages. He took Naaman's silver and inherited Naaman's disease. The money would run out; the leprosy would stay.
And Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he sprang down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?
Elisha has just sent Naaman home cured of leprosy, with the words "Go in peace." He refused every gift the Syrian commander pressed on him. Then the prophet's own servant comes running up the road behind the chariot, and the healed man stops to ask whether something is wrong.
Why did he run? Commentators point back to the moment Gehazi saw what Naaman had brought and what Elisha had refused:
Naaman brought ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of clothing. That wealth stirred up the covetousness that Gehazi had never judged in his own heart. Naaman's need drew out the grace of God in the prophet. Naaman's wealth drew out the covetousness of his servant. The grace of God had brought blessing to Naaman. The covetousness of Gehazi would give the lie to that grace. A rich man willing and delighted to give a handsome gift was too good an opportunity for a covetous man to let pass.
Gehazi answers the question with a claim about his master. That claim starts a chain:
To satisfy his greed, Gehazi does not hesitate to act out lies as well as tell them. He runs after Naaman and says, "My master has sent me." This was the first lie. Then he invents the story of the visit of the two young men of Ephraim — a second lie... Having hidden the goods in the house, "he went in and stood before his master" as if nothing had happened. He acts a lie. When Elisha asks where he had been, he tries to cover his earlier lies by telling another one. One lie leads to other lies.
Why would a commander climb down for a servant on foot? One writer sees the healing at work in him:
Greed made him quick on his feet that day. Naaman was still amazed at how the man of God had acted. He saw Gehazi running, and, like the humbled and grateful man he was, he got down from his chariot to meet him... Naaman gave to him freely, and Gehazi became a richer man than his evil heart had hoped. But he spoiled the grace, and clouded what the Syrian had come to see of God that day.
The money is not the worst of it. Naaman had just learned that God's blessing cannot be bought. Gehazi was about to teach him the opposite:
He dares to dishonour the character of God. The prophet stands for God in the eyes of this new believer, who is still inexperienced and overjoyed with his healing... Gehazi's act compromised the servant of the Lord, and it compromised the free grace of God too. Had that been the only thing involved, it might have brought this new believer back to thinking in terms of law and debt, a yoke of slavery. It would have taken from him the free joy of his salvation. Gehazi preferred the pull of riches to the eternal well-being of a soul... Are we thinking hard enough? The worldliness of our walk may do harm to these little ones in the faith that can never be undone.
The same writer notes the outcome. Gehazi told his lie, but it failed to do the harm it aimed at:
The lie might have raised a doubt in Naaman's heart about Elisha's personal selflessness, or about the free character of the gift of God. But God shows that He cares about spiritual babies, and this disastrous result does not follow. Instead, Gehazi's greed and lying bring out Naaman's generosity and his desire to serve the family of God, the sons of the prophets.
Gehazi lived in the prophet's house. That is what made him so useful to Satan:
Naaman had shown the fruits of grace received: a tender conscience and a devoted heart. In the same way, Gehazi's unchanged heart showed itself in all its horrible ugliness. Satan works most easily, and with the greatest effect, on a mind trained in religion. Some people have learned about God, or about the Lord Jesus Christ, and so they know something of the truth. They make more efficient servants of the devil than those who lack such knowledge.
- Grace given. Naaman leaves healed and at peace because Elisha took nothing. The refusal preached the free gift as loudly as the cure did.
- Grace envied. The same man's need drew grace out of Elisha; his money drew greed out of Gehazi.
- Grace faked. "My master has sent me" is the first lie in a chain. One lie leads to others, until Gehazi stands before Elisha acting innocent.
- Grace endangered. The worst harm was not the theft. It was what a new believer might now think: that God's gift has a price after all.
- Grace guarded. God cares for spiritual babies. The lie failed to rob Naaman of his joy; it only drew out his generosity and his wish to serve God's family.
And he said, All is well. My master has sent me saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment.
Naaman has just been healed for nothing, and Elisha has refused every gift. Now the prophet's own servant chases him down with an invented errand, two young men who never existed, and a plea made in his master's name.
Gehazi invents every word of this speech. One commentator counts the lies one by one.
To satisfy his greed, Gehazi does not hesitate to act out lies as well as tell them. He runs after Naaman and says, "My master has sent me." That was the first lie. Then he invents the story of the visit of the two young men of Ephraim — a second lie.
He asks for one talent and two sets of clothes. The prophet knew that his heart was after a much longer list.
Then follows the solemn exposure. The prophet knew the whole terrible sin, in all its detail. More than that, he knew the motive that prompted the sin. Hidden in Gehazi's heart was a desire for social position: to own olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, male servants and female servants.
Gehazi put the words in Elisha's mouth. Naaman would now hear the prophet asking for payment after all. The damage went past Naaman's purse to what he would believe about God.
He dares to dishonour the character of God. The prophet represents God in the eyes of this new believer, who is still inexperienced and overjoyed at his healing. It compromised the servant of the Lord, and it compromised the free grace of God as well. If nothing else had been involved, it might have brought this newborn baby back to the legal idea of obligation — a yoke of slavery. It would have robbed him of the free joy of his salvation. Gehazi preferred the attraction of riches to the eternal well-being of a soul.
Another writer traces the harm to what Naaman himself might now conclude.
His sinful act might make the Syrian think that, after all, the gift of God could be paid for, if not purchased.
Gehazi's cover story is a religious one: young prophets in need. Closeness to God's work had not made him safe.
So it is clear that great religious advantages will not, by themselves, protect anyone against serious sin. Who could have had greater advantages than Gehazi? He lived with one of the greatest prophets the world has known. That prophet is described again and again as a man of God. And yet Gehazi fell. "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."
One writer draws out why familiarity with truth can make a man more useful to the enemy, not less.
Satan works most readily and effectively on the religiously instructed mind. Some have learned about God, or about the Lord Jesus Christ, and so have some knowledge of the truth. They serve the devil better than those without such knowledge.
Gehazi had spent his years serving among people with little to give. Naaman's treasure was the first thing to test what was in him.
Until then he had dealt mainly with the poor, and riches had never stirred his desires. But the sight of this high-ranking man, and of the treasures he offered so freely, became the starting point — or rather the showing up — of what had lain hidden until that day in the depths of his heart.
The desire came first, and the lies followed. That order is the warning for every reader.
Does this solemn scene not warn us? If we allow unjudged desire or covetousness in our hearts, we will be ready to fall into temptation when it crosses our path. Further, one sin leads to another. We cannot stop just when we choose on the path of sin. As someone has said, "A man cannot stop his boat at will in the strong currents just above Niagara, though he might have avoided them altogether."
Gehazi got what he asked for. The price came later.
He had gained two changes of clothing from Naaman by lying and deceit; he also gained a change of skin by the judgment of God. And the leprosy he receives will cling to him all his life. The wealth he has obtained will soon be spent; the leprosy will remain. No waters of the Jordan will cleanse Gehazi.
- Greed first. The wealth Gehazi saw stirred an appetite he had never judged. The lies of this verse only fed it.
- Then invention. Two lies: "My master has sent me," and the two young men of Ephraim. His later conduct acted out the same lie.
- A small ask, a big plan. He names one talent and two garments. His heart wanted vineyards, herds and servants — position, not relief.
- The real victim. The worst damage was not to Naaman's purse but to his view of God, who had just given healing free of charge.
- The wage. Two changes of clothing cost him a change of skin — the money would be spent, the leprosy would stay.
And Naaman said, Consent to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his young men; and they bore them before him.
Naaman is heading home, healed, and still carrying every gift Elisha had refused. Then Elisha's servant Gehazi catches up with an invented story, and the gift Naaman gladly gives turns into a crime.
Gehazi's lie reached a man who had only just come to know the God of Israel. It could have done real damage.
Doubt might have risen in Naaman's heart about Elisha's own selflessness, or about the free character of the gift of God. But God shows that He cares for those who are young in faith, and that disaster did not happen. Gehazi's greed and lying, on the contrary, bring out the generosity of Naaman and his desire to serve the family of God, the sons of the prophets.
Getting the silver was not the end of it. The two bags still had to reach Elisha's house unseen.
To satisfy his greed, Gehazi does not hesitate to act lies as well as tell lies. He runs after Naaman and says, "My master has sent me." This was the first lie. Then he invents the story of the visit of the two young men of Ephraim — a second lie. He gets two talents of silver and two changes of clothing. Then he returns with two of Naaman's servants. They help him carry the gift as far as the hill. Going further would bring them in sight of Elisha's house. So he stops at the hill and lets the men go. Having hidden the goods in the house, "he went in and stood before his master" as if nothing had happened. He acts a lie.
Naaman was a foreigner, and Elisha had sent him home with his treasure untouched. That untouched treasure was itself the message.
The Gentile had just been learning the grace of the God of Israel. The king of Syria had sent talents of silver, pieces of gold, and changes of clothing into the land of Israel. The prophet refused them all. Naaman was carrying them home again, down to the last thread or sandal strap. He had gone to the waters without money and without price. He was the witness that God's gift cannot be bought with money.
Elisha's rebuke does not fall first on the theft or the lying. It falls on the moment Gehazi chose.
Gehazi met the prophet's withering rebuke and the swift, solemn judgment of God. It was not only the greed he showed, nor the falsehood and deception he practised, that brought this on him. It was the occasion — "Is it a time to receive," and so on. God had drawn near to His rebellious people in grace. Israel could not keep that grace to itself, and the Gentile could not become its patron or buy it. Elisha was a spiritual man. He entered fully into the mind of God, and refused the gifts Naaman would have pressed on him. Yet his servant thought it a time to enrich himself by grasping at what his master had refused.
The same treasure passed before two men and produced opposite results.
Naaman brought ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. That wealth stirred up the covetousness Gehazi had never judged in his own heart. Naaman's need drew out the grace of God in the prophet. Naaman's wealth drew out the covetousness of his servant. The grace of God had brought blessing to Naaman. The covetousness of Gehazi would contradict that grace. A rich man willing and delighted to give a handsome gift was too good an opportunity for a covetous man to let pass.
The judgment that follows matches the exact items Gehazi carried up that hill.
If Gehazi had taken Naaman's wealth, he must also take Naaman's disease. He got two changes of clothing from Naaman by lying and deceit. He also gets a change of skin by the judgment of God. The leprosy he gets will cling to him all the days of his life. He will soon spend the wealth he gained. The leprosy will stay. No waters of Jordan will cleanse Gehazi.
- Free. Naaman went to the water without money. He carried his treasure home untouched. God's gift cannot be bought.
- Grasped. The same wealth drew grace out of the prophet and covetousness out of the servant. To Gehazi, a willing giver was just an opportunity.
- Doubled. Naaman presses two talents on Gehazi. The kindness of the healed man only deepens the guilt of the man deceiving him.
- Hidden. Gehazi told the lie, then acted it. Two bags went only as far as the hill, then into hiding in the house, and Gehazi stood before Elisha as if nothing had happened.
- Kept. He would soon spend the silver, but the leprosy stayed. What he seized for a moment marked him for life.
And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed.
Gehazi has just run after Naaman and lied to get two talents of silver and two changes of clothing. Now he covers his tracks: he stops short of home, hides the bags indoors, and sends the witnesses away.
Gehazi plans every move here.
To gratify his greed, Gehazi does not hesitate to act lies as well as tell lies. He has just got two talents of silver and two changes of clothing from Naaman. Two of Naaman's servants come back with him to help carry the gift as far as the hill (not "tower", as the Authorised Version has it). To go further would bring him into view of Elisha's house. So he pauses at the hill and lets the men go. He hides the goods in the house, then "he went in and stood before his master" as if nothing had happened. He acts a lie.
Why hide the goods at all?
Gehazi hides all these riches. Hiding them from men is the result of a bad conscience on a crooked path. But will he succeed in hiding this from God?
Distance was no cover.
He had not felt it or realized it. From a distance the prophet's eyes had followed his every movement and read his thoughts. And much more! Elisha's heart had gone with him, "when the man turned from his chariot." What mattered most to the man of God was the danger to the soul of the man who had just left him in peace.
How could he think he would get away with it?
We learn that the pursuit of sin destroys all sense of the presence and power of God. Gehazi must have seen it again and again: the man of God could read men's hearts and discern the motives behind their actions. No one knew better than Gehazi this power of God that was with the prophet. Still, Gehazi is busy satisfying his greedy heart. That heart is so taken up with the ruling passion of greed that, for the time, he loses all sense of the presence of the all-knowing God.
The theft was not the worst of it.
In estimating the sin of Gehazi, the prophet first looks at it in connection with God and His grace. How will his act affect the testimony of God? He sees that Gehazi's sin presents an entirely false view of the grace of God. Elisha had been careful to refuse Naaman's gifts. He did not want this Gentile to think that God's blessings can be bought with gifts. Gehazi's sin would tend to cancel this testimony to the freeness of the grace of God. It was no "time" to receive gifts.
So what did the hiding buy him?
Look at Scripture and you will find that God has usually shamed in this world the very people who promised themselves the most secrecy in their sinning. So Gehazi played his part with cunning. It made him bold enough to come before his master and lie to his face without shame, never dreaming that his master knew about his sin. Yet this man is found out. He got clothing from Naaman by a lie, and the Lord gave him another garment to wear as the uniform of his sin: leprosy. It lasted longer than the two changes of clothes he had from the Syrian. It lasted him all his life. It was not worn out even then. His children after him had to wear it.
What he stored in the house he could not keep. What he did not want came to stay.
The exposure is followed by the judgment. If Gehazi had taken some of Naaman's wealth, he must also take Naaman's disease. By lying and deceit he got two changes of clothing from Naaman. By the judgment of God he also gets a change of skin. And the leprosy that he acquires will cling to him all the days of his life. The wealth he has gained will soon be gone. The leprosy will remain. No waters of Jordan will cleanse Gehazi.
- Hidden — Gehazi stopped at the hill, out of sight of Elisha's house, and sent the carriers away. The hiding was a bad conscience at work.
- Watched — from a distance the prophet's eyes had followed every movement, and his heart had gone with him. Greed had blotted out Gehazi's sense of the all-knowing God.
- Costly — the bags cancelled the testimony Elisha had guarded: God's blessings cannot be bought.
- Exposed — he walked in and lied to his master's face, certain he was safe. He was found out.
- Kept — the silver would soon be gone; the leprosy stayed for life and passed to his children. Grasping Naaman's wealth meant inheriting Naaman's disease.
And he entered in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Whence [comest thou], Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.
Gehazi comes back from chasing Naaman's gifts and hides them. Then he walks in and takes his usual place in front of the prophet. Elisha's question is simple. The answer is false.
Before Gehazi speaks a word to Elisha, his posture is already dishonest. One writer traces the whole chain of lies, down to the spot where Gehazi sent Naaman's servants away.
To satisfy his greed, Gehazi does not hesitate to act lies as well as tell them. He runs after Naaman and says, "My master has sent me." That was the first lie. Then he invents the story of the visit of the two young men of Ephraim — a second lie. He gets two talents of silver and two changes of clothing. Then he comes back with two of Naaman's servants to help him carry the gift as far as the hill (not "tower," as in the older translation). To go further would bring him into view of Elisha's house, so he stops at the hill and lets the men go. Having hidden the goods in the house, "He went in and stood before his master" as if nothing had happened. He acts a lie. When Elisha asks where he has been, he tries to cover his earlier lies with another one. One lie leads to other lies.
The denial was not a sudden slip. It was the next stage of something Gehazi had let run.
Does this solemn scene not warn us? If we allow unjudged lust or covetousness in our hearts, we will be ready to fall into temptation when it crosses our path. Further, one sin leads to another. We cannot stop just when we please in the path of sin. As someone has said, "A man cannot stop his boat at will in the strong currents just above Niagara, though he might have avoided them altogether."
Gehazi takes the same position others in this chapter had taken. He had no idea that the prophet's eyes had followed him the whole way.
Gehazi "went in and stood before his master," as Naaman had stood before Elisha (v. 15), and as Elisha himself stood before God (v. 16). What audacity beyond description — if he was the least bit aware that he was known and examined by the Lord. He had not felt or realised it. From a distance, the prophet's eyes had followed his every movement and read his thoughts. And much more! Elisha's heart had gone with him, "when the man turned from his chariot." One thing mattered most to the heart of the man of God: the danger to the soul of the man who had just left him in peace.
One writer sets Gehazi's calm denial beside the kiss of Judas.
Brazenly he went in to Elisha's presence. When Elisha asked where he had gone, he coolly lied that he had gone nowhere (v. 25). Just as Judas thought he could deceive the Lord Jesus when he kissed Him, so Gehazi thought he could deceive the prophet of God. Judas had watched the Lord discern the thoughts of other people. But he had no faith to apply such facts to his own conduct. So with Gehazi. He knew Elisha was a true prophet of God, yet thought he could get away with deceiving him. Such is the folly of unbelief.
One writer says the lie was not the worst of it.
So it was a terrible thing to have all this testimony confused. Well might the prophet ask, was this a time to take the Syrian's money? Could anything be more grievous to the Spirit? The lie, it is true, was detestable — the lie first to Naaman, and then to Elisha himself — it was all detestable. But what shall we say of this sad counter-testimony? It clouded the brightness of the grace of God. It gave an opening to those who might be looking for one.
One writer shows how the punishment matched the payment.
In this world God has usually shamed those who promised themselves the most secrecy in their sinning. Gehazi played his part cunningly enough. That made him bold enough to come before his master and lie to his face. He never dreamed that his master knew of his sin. Yet God found this man out. He got clothes from Naaman by a lie, so the Lord gave him another garment to wear as the uniform of his sin: leprosy. It lasted longer than the two changes of clothes he had from the Syrian. It lasted him all his life. It was not even worn out then, for his children after him had to put it on.
- Greed starts it. Covetousness left unjudged makes a man ready to fall when temptation crosses his path. Gehazi entered a current he could not stop in.
- Lying continues it. He acted a lie by taking his usual place, then told one to cover the two he had already told. One lie leads to other lies.
- Nearness does not shield it. He knew Elisha was a true prophet of God, yet thought he could deceive him — the folly of unbelief.
- Grace suffers by it. The lie was detestable. The worse harm was clouding the brightness of God's grace.
- God exposes it. God shames those who count most on secrecy. Gehazi lied to get clothes, and God gave him a garment of leprosy that outlasted them.
And he said to him, Did not my heart go, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and bondmen, and bondwomen?
Elisha's servant has just come back from a secret errand with silver and clothing, taken from Naaman, the Syrian commander God had healed. No one told the prophet — yet he describes the moment on the road, and turns it all into one question about timing.
The prophet had no report to go on. His heart had gone with Gehazi on the road — watching him, and caring for the man he had just sent away in peace.
Gehazi "entered in and stood before his master," as Naaman had stood before Elisha (v. 15), as Elisha himself stood before God (v. 16). What astonishing boldness — if he had any sense that the Lord knew him and searched him. He had not felt or realised it. From a distance the prophet's eyes had followed his every movement and seen his thoughts. And much more! Elisha's heart had gone with him, "when the man turned from his chariot." One thing mattered most to the man of God: the danger to the soul of the man who had just left him in peace. If his heart went with Gehazi, we may conclude he had begged the Lord to keep this newborn believer in the faith. The Lord answered his prayers.
Gehazi did not only steal. He believed he could stand in front of Elisha and not be found out.
Just as Judas thought he could deceive the Lord Jesus when he kissed Him, so Gehazi thought he could deceive the prophet of God… He knew Elisha was a true prophet of God, yet thought he could get away with deceiving him. Such is the folly of unbelief… And what could Gehazi do with his ill-gotten gains now? Elisha had exposed his sin, and told him he knew that Naaman had turned back from his chariot to meet him.
The rebuke names things Gehazi never received — land, flocks, servants. The list reaches past the theft to the plan behind it.
Then follows the solemn exposure. The prophet knew the whole terrible sin, in all its detail. But more than that, he knew the motive behind the sin. Hidden in Gehazi's heart was the desire to gain social position — to own olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, male servants and female servants.
Elisha's question turns on the hour. And the hour was a nation sliding toward ruin.
Yes — was it the time to acquire something for oneself? Israel lay in ruin, and the final judgment already hung over the people. The nation stood on the eve of destruction. Was that the character a servant of the Lord ought to be showing? A solemn question, which speaks to our consciences too.
Elisha had refused Naaman's gift so that a Gentile would not go home thinking God's blessing has a price. His servant collected what his master had turned down.
With Gehazi, it was not only the greed that came to light. Nor was it the falsehood and deception he practised. What brought on him the prophet's withering rebuke, and the swift and solemn judgment of God, was the occasion — "Was it a time to accept money and garments," etc. God had drawn near to His rebellious people in grace. Israel could not keep that grace as private property, and the Gentile could not sponsor or buy it. Elisha was a spiritual man. He entered fully into the mind of God, and refused the gifts Naaman would have pressed on him. Yet his servant thought it a time to enrich himself by grasping at what his master had refused.
Gehazi's deceit and lies were shocking. Yet the prophet's sentence rests on heavier ground still.
But nothing is hidden from God; everything is naked and exposed in His eyes, and Gehazi soon found it so. The hidden things are made clear. The prophet of God then announces the solemn judgments about to fall on him. He does it above all because Gehazi failed to act as the occasion demanded, in a matter touching God's glory and name — not chiefly because of his deceit and lies, shocking as these were.
Gehazi lived beside a great prophet. It did not keep him.
Clearly, great religious advantages will not, by themselves, protect anyone from serious sin. Who could have had greater advantages than Gehazi? … and yet Gehazi fell. "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."
- Heart — Elisha's heart went with Gehazi on the road. He watched every move, and cared most about the danger to Naaman's new faith.
- Hidden — The rebuke exposes the motive, not just the act: a quiet ambition for land, livestock and servants.
- Time — The question is about the moment. With Israel near its end, it was no time for a servant of God to be acquiring things for himself.
- Free — Elisha refused Naaman's gift so that grace would look free. Gehazi's grab risked teaching a Gentile that God's blessing can be bought.
- Take heed — Living close to a man of God did not protect Gehazi. Thinking he could deceive the prophet was the folly of unbelief.
But the leprosy of Naaman shall fasten upon thee, and upon thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence leprous, as snow.
Naaman goes home clean, and in the same hour Elisha's own servant walks out white with Naaman's disease. A story of free grace ends in judgment — why did the man nearest the prophet end up furthest from blessing?
Gehazi took Naaman's wealth. He also took something he had not bargained for.
If Gehazi had taken Naaman's wealth, he must also take Naaman's disease. He had acquired two changes of clothing from Naaman by lying and deceit; he also gets a change of skin by the judgment of God. And the leprosy that he acquires will cling to him all the days of his life. He will soon spend the wealth he obtained. The leprosy will remain. No waters of Jordan will cleanse Gehazi.
Gehazi's lie was not only theft. It touched what Naaman would believe about God's gift.
He was covetous. By deceit and falsehood he got what he wanted. He gave no thought to how his wicked conduct might confuse Naaman's understanding of grace, and so dishonour the God of Israel. His sinful act might make the Syrian think that the gift of God could be paid for after all, if not bought. That is why the punishment that fell on him was so severe.
Everyone can see that Gehazi lied. The prophet charged him with something else.
The prophet (v. 26) does not challenge him on the ground of his having lied to Naaman, but on quite another form of evil that was in his conduct. "Was it a time," says Elisha to his servant, "to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?"
Elisha's servant thought his errand was invisible. It was not — he had a witness with him the whole way.
However fast you sin, your conscience can write it all down after you… So Gehazi played his part with enough cunning. He was bold enough to come before his master and lie to his face, never dreaming that his master knew of his sin. Yet this man is found out. For the garments he got from Naaman by a lie, the Lord gave him another, which he was to wear as a uniform for his sin, for he wore leprosy as his clothing. It was a garment more lasting than the two changes of suits he had from the Syrian, for it lasted him all his life. It was not worn out then either: his children after him were to put it on.
The verse does not just say Gehazi became a leper. It names whose leprosy it is.
It is Naaman's leprosy! The impurity of the flesh which had marked that idolatrous man, a stranger to God, is the same impurity which the Lord placed upon the prophet's unfaithful servant. There is no difference between them. The horror of sin is not lessened by belonging to the people of Israel, or by holding a place of nearness and special relationship with the Lord while being morally far from Him. Instead of blessing him, God marks him, so to speak, with His abhorrence, and all his descendants are defiled by it.
The chapter ends with the outsider healed and the insider struck. Another writer finds the same pattern in Acts, where a married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, lied about their gift and died.
A Gentile enemy of Israel was healed and clearly brought in true faith to God, while a Jewish servant of the prophet suffered the solemn judgment of God… In the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead at once for greed and falsehood (Acts 5:1-10), at a time when the apostles were beautifully proclaiming the grace of God in Christ Jesus. In the same way, Elisha pronounced judgment on Gehazi at a time when grace had been so beautifully shown to Naaman.
- Coveted — Gehazi wanted Naaman's money and clothes, and deceit and falsehood got them for him.
- Lied — he lied to Naaman to get the gift, then lied to his master's face.
- Exposed — his master saw the whole errand; secret sin has a witness that writes everything down.
- Exchanged — he took two changes of clothing and got a change of skin. He would soon spend the money; the leprosy would stay.
- Inherited — the leprosy passed to his children. Nearness to a prophet does not lessen the horror of sin, and a price tag on God's gift dishonours the God who gives it free.