And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha has done.
A woman returns from seven years abroad to ask the king for her house and land back. At that very moment he is asking Elisha's old servant for stories about the prophet, and God is at work behind the small talk.
The king's request sounds promising. But interest in God's works is not the same as being right with God.
The day comes when Jehoram takes an interest in the miracles of Elisha. His conscience is in no way engaged. He had proven this beyond measure throughout his whole career. Yet one may be very far from God while still showing an interest in Him — in Him personally, and in His work. This is even a prominent feature of the last times. Never have people looked into miracles and into the Word of God more than in our days.
What he wanted was a pleasant hour, not a message.
He was not looking for divine instruction from this former servant of the Lord. He wanted entertainment. Many in Christendom today are the same. They would refuse a plain talk about the realities of eternity, but they have no objection to discussing preachers and what they do. Suppose Jehoram had asked for such talk from John the Baptist or from the apostle Paul. He would have heard words about "righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment" that would have made him shake in his shoes.
The storyteller is Gehazi, Elisha's former servant, now a leper.
The king is talking with Gehazi, who is identified as the servant of the man of God. His circumstances also appear to have changed. Years ago he had coveted "orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants." Now his possessions have carried him up the social ladder, until he has become the friend and companion of royalty. The king would gladly pass an hour hearing of the "great things" that Elisha had done. Gehazi keeps company with the great men of the world. Yet if he wants to speak of "great things," he has to think back to other days, when he walked with the lowly man of God. The "great things" that Elisha did are only a recollection with Gehazi.
Gehazi's report is accurate. Something else is missing, and part of Elisha's record he must leave untold.
Some people, like Gehazi, prefer the advantages the world offers them. Others may still accept them as teachers of the things of God. They speak the truth, but they have no power to apply it to people's consciences. Their own conscience is bad, so they cannot reach the consciences of others. There were, no doubt, subjects a Gehazi would avoid. How could he speak of Naaman's healing when he himself was covered with leprosy?
The stories get told. Writers press the question the king never asked.
The king had asked him to tell all the great things that Elisha had done, and Gehazi tells the story of the woman's son restored to life. No doubt the king was pleased to know that he had such a remarkable man as Elisha in his kingdom. It also fed Gehazi's self-importance. But had these miracles no voice from God? Was not the guilt of Samaria increased ten times over by them? Should the king not have seen that these gracious displays of God's power were all calls to repentance? Where heart and conscience are at work, the goodness of God does indeed lead to repentance.
The woman from Shunem walks in just as Gehazi tells the story of her son raised to life. That is not luck. And the two men God uses could hardly be more different.
He certainly becomes a witness before the king to the grace of God, seen in the "great things that Elisha had done." What is more, the Lord uses Gehazi to give the Shunammite back her house and land. Earlier He had used Elisha to warn her to leave them. But how differently He uses these two men. Elisha serves as a close friend of the Lord, one who shares His confidence. Gehazi serves as the friend and close companion of a wicked king... The Lord uses this strange-looking coincidence to give the Shunammite her possessions back.
Her restoration points beyond herself.
This woman had known the grace of God. In the same way, God will bring the godly remnant of Israel back to the inheritance of their Land, on the ground of grace. They will receive, in overflowing blessing, all that they lost during their exile from the Land of their fathers.
- Curiosity. The king asks for "great things," but his conscience stays untouched. A person can find God's works interesting and still be far from God.
- Entertainment. He wants stories about a preacher, not a word about righteousness and coming judgment. That taste is still common.
- Memory. Gehazi can speak of "great things" only as past days with the man of God. His leprosy keeps part of the story shut.
- Powerlessness. He tells the truth, yet his own bad conscience leaves him unable to reach anyone else's.
- Providence. God uses even the king's curiosity and a disgraced servant's chatter. He times the woman's arrival, and she gets back all she lost.
And 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.
The seven-year famine is over. The woman of Shunem comes home to find her property gone, and she walks into the throne room just as the king hears her own story. Two questions press: who is telling it, and who arranged the timing?
One writer compares this moment to the happy coincidences readers will know from their own lives:
Gehazi and the king were talking of the Shunammite, as the Shunammite came up to the place where they were. And how often have we occasion to notice similar happy coincidences! … And faith will recognise the mercy of such signs. They clear the road and straighten the crooked paths that lead to some desired blessing, as in this case before us. And faith will not complain that it is not always so. For faith says "It is well," whether providence helps us or crosses us.
The same God who sent the woman away through Elisha now brings her back through a very different man:
Gehazi certainly becomes a witness before the king of the grace of God seen in the "great things that Elisha had done." The Lord uses Gehazi to restore house and lands to the Shunammite. Before, He had used Elisha to warn her to leave them. But how different the way these two men are used. Elisha is used as someone in the intimacy of a friend with the Lord, enjoying the Lord's confidence. Gehazi is used as the friend and companion of a wicked king. Elisha speaks as one who understands the mind of the Lord. Gehazi speaks as circumstances and coincidences dictate.
Gehazi once served Elisha; now he entertains royalty with what he used to see:
Years ago he had coveted "olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants." Now, through his possessions, he has climbed the social ladder until he has become the associate and companion of royalty. … Gehazi is in the company of the great men of the world, but if he wants to speak of "great things" he has to go back in thought to other days when he kept company with the lowly man of God. The "great things" that Elisha did are only a memory to Gehazi.
Commentators differ over how to read him here. One writer, who takes the kinder view, leaves the question open:
I am aware that this introduction of Gehazi may not be favourable to him, in the judgment of some. They may think it is a sign that he is still a man of the world, and covetous. After all, he is here at the court, and apparently trusted by the king. It may be so.
She asks for what was hers before she left the land:
This woman of Shunem must have been widowed by the time Elisha spoke to her, because he told her to take her household. If her husband had been living, Elisha would have addressed him. She took her household and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of that time she returned. Her property had evidently been taken over by the government, so she went to appeal to the king for it.
The king hears how Elisha raised a dead child, and asks nothing of himself:
No doubt it pleased the king to know that he had such a remarkable man as Elisha in his kingdom. It also fed Gehazi's self-importance. But had these miracles no voice from God? Was not the guilt of Samaria increased tenfold by them? Should the king not have understood that these gracious displays of the power of God were so many calls to repentance? Where there is exercise of heart and conscience, the goodness of God does indeed lead to repentance.
The outcome reaches far past one widow's title deeds:
She does not merely re-enter her land intact; all that she should have had during the long seven years is given back too. For the Lord will repay with interest all that is due to Israel. And what will He not count as due, when He is pleased to take up the cause of His ancient people?
The story she walked in on shows how such restoration comes:
God has from the beginning shown us that He alone has the power and the will to restore to man all that he has lost, and more too. … Israel will get it all back through the Son raised from the dead, and now alive again.
- Resurrection. The story being told at the throne is a raising from the dead. Resurrection is the ground on which God gives back all that man has lost, and more too.
- Coincidence. Faith sees the woman's arrival mid-sentence as mercy clearing the road to the blessing. Faith also says "It is well" when providence crosses us instead of helping.
- Instrument. God gave this home back through a man at a wicked king's court, not through a prophet. Elisha spoke from the mind of the Lord; Gehazi spoke as circumstances dictated.
- Cost. Gehazi climbed high enough to keep company with royalty. The great things of God are now only a memory to him.
- Full return. She gets back her land and every harvest of the seven lost years. That is what God counts as owed when He takes up His people's cause.