As sovereigns of their nations, both the King of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah suffered defeat at the hands of foreign enemies. They may have racked their brains, unable to fathom how a woman could receive such extraordinary favor from God. What is God trying to tell us through this? Why do kings fall, while a humble woman lives in grace? This is the different end that God has prepared for two kinds of people.

Consider these questions:

What qualities in the woman pleased God?

What evil did the Kings of Israel and Judah commit in the eyes of the Lord?

What revelations have you received from the events involving these individuals? How do you think these revelations can be applied to your life?

The chapter begins with the story of the woman Elisha had helped (see 2 Kings 4:8-37), the King of Israel, and the King of Aram. What is the author trying to convey? When we read, we must learn to discern the author's intent—what concept is the author trying to express in this passage?

We must see the essence of things, not just the surface. For example, if someone invests a million and earns ten million, is that a good investment? Of course! The investor is wise. Seeing the essence of a problem means seeing the outcome. This is a lesson we should learn when studying the Bible.

Why is the theme of this chapter What God Has Prepared for Two Kinds of People? Let us examine what God prepared for the woman Elisha helped and what He prepared for the Israelites.

What God Has Prepared for Those Who Love Him

What God Did for This Woman

What God prepared for the woman Elisha helped was extraordinary, transforming her from poverty to wealth, and giving her a son who was later revived by Elisha after his death. God performed numerous miracles in her life (see 2 Kings 4).

Because this woman had a good relationship with Elisha, he warned her about a seven-year famine in the land, advising her to leave her home. She left, and after seven years, she returned to find her property occupied by others. Ordinarily, this would be unfortunate, as she had no way to reclaim her land. However, God remembered her. When the King of Israel had Gehazi recount Elisha's deeds and mentioned this woman, she happened to walk by. Gehazi then told the king that she was the woman Elisha had helped. The King of Israel's sudden interest in hearing about Elisha's miracles was, in fact, God's preparation to show favor to the woman (see 2 Kings 8:1-6).

God Favors Those Who Have Faith

Those who have faith are favored by God. This woman was a person of faith. She received Elisha in faith, and when her son died, she sought Elisha with the belief that people can be resurrected from the dead. If a person believes in resurrection, they are remarkable—someone who believes that any difficult situation can be turned around.

What does God prepare for such people? Truly miraculous experiences. As the woman reclaimed her property, God prepared an Israelite king to suddenly take an interest in her situation. When Gehazi spoke, she happened to walk by. She told the king of her need, and the King of Israel helped her. We must not misunderstand the story; it is not that the King of Israel needed something, but that God wanted to favor this woman.

If you were this woman, you would need her kind of faith and become someone who pleases God. What God prepares for those who please Him is always good. During the famine, the woman left. When she returned after the famine, the King of Israel happened to hear about her situation, and her land was returned to her.

Coincidence in Life

Speaking of this, I am reminded of the word coincidence. Many stories hinge on coincidences. We must change our mindset and understand that it is better to be in the right place at the right time. In my life, I have often encountered coincidences. For example, when I was capable of managing projects as a project manager, my superior happened to resign, and I was promoted. Later, when I was qualified for my boss's position, he happened to resign, and I was promoted again. God has guided me step by step in this way, through many coincidences.

Our God is a God who creates coincidences. He can make these coincidences happen to you and me, because what God has prepared for those who love Him is beyond what eyes have seen, ears have heard, or minds have conceived (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). The past decade or two have been filled with such coincidences, and today, I have the good fortune to serve God with everyone.

Why did the King of Israel suddenly decide to inquire about Elisha's deeds? It was God at work. God can move anyone. Your boss's thoughts and intentions can change because God favors you; your boss's thoughts and intentions are in God's hands. Our God is the God who controls people's thoughts and intentions, so do not worry or fear. Just please God, be pleasing to Him, and you will receive all good things. Over the years, my wife and I have developed a habit of not giving gifts or hosting banquets, because we know we need no one but our God. Even without entertaining, we still live very well. For those who please God, He prepares coincidences.

What God Has Prepared for Those Who Do Evil in His Eyes

What God Prepared for the King of Aram and the King of Israel

Hazael smothered the King of Aram with a blanket (see 2 Kings 8:15). When we read the Bible, we must get to the root of it: what is our God doing? God was preparing an Aramaean king, Hazael, to show the Israelites what it means to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. When the Kings of Israel and Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord, they governed the nation according to their own desires, not according to God's will. Always relying on political means is displeasing to God. To not solely rely on God is to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

These people were not ignorant of God; they knew God but were often double-minded. They wanted to rely on God but also on idols, and they also wanted to rely on their own tricks. Ultimately, this became doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Our God is a jealous God; He will destroy anything placed on an equal footing with Him. If you think your future depends solely on your studies and nothing else matters, the outcome will be terrible because you do not believe your future is in God's hands. Raising anything above God's control of your future makes you someone who does evil in the eyes of the Lord. Our God is a jealous God.

The Kings of Judah and Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and consequently, they were defeated. The King of Israel was defeated by Hazael, the King of Aram, and the King of Judah was defeated by the Edomites. The people of Judah charged to fight the Edomites, but the army scattered and returned home (see 2 Kings 8:20-22). The people could not unite; this was not done by people, but by God.

Our mindset must change. We often like to say that the people create history, or that heroes create history, but it is God who creates history. Our personal little histories are in God's hands; the results of pleasing God and provoking His anger are both governed by God. The Kings of Israel and Judah both died miserably. The same is true of nations: a nation that pleases God is prosperous; a nation that provokes God's anger is defeated.

God Gives Warnings and Opportunities to Repent

Here, a fascinating phenomenon is revealed. Before Hazael became king, Elisha made a declaration: Elisha wept when he saw Hazael. Hazael himself did not understand, saying, Your servant is but a dog; how can he do such a great thing? This great thing was that the Israelites would suffer at Hazael's hands (see 2 Kings 8:12-13). This was not said when Hazael was king, but before he became king. Later, all of Israel and Judah knew about these words spoken by Elisha, yet no one paid attention. Eventually, Hazael did become the King of Aram, but still, no one took it seriously.

What does this reveal? God always warns people in advance; God warns in advance, wishing that all would repent, so that He might relent and not bring the predicted disaster (Jonah 4:2-3). Jonah prayed to the Lord, Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live. This was Jonah's understanding of God, who often hopes that someone will stand up and declare that disaster is coming, hoping that those who hear will repent.

However, many people's first reaction is, How can you curse me? These people care about what others say. If they had repented after hearing the warning, there would have been no disaster. God prepared a Hazael to give the Israelites an opportunity to repent, but they still did not repent and continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. As a result, they were defeated by Hazael. In the days that followed, Hazael did to the Israelites just as Elisha had said.

Conclusion: Do Not Do Evil in the Sight of the Lord

We, as parents in this world, often say to our children, If you don't change, I will hit you. But we hesitate, unable to bring ourselves to do it. It's not that parents want to hit their children, but they hope that the threat will make them fear and quickly repent. In fact, if they change, they won't be hit. God has always been telling people to stop living in sin, repent and return to Him, and live a life like the woman saved by Elisha. We must have the understanding in our hearts that when we are not living well, there is a reason for it. Losing a battle is a problem. Good things don't just happen, but bad things do – that's because we have done evil in the sight of the Lord. At this time, we must repent and turn back to God, and then begin to live a blessed life. This is God's intention for us. What has God prepared for two kinds of people? He has prepared love for those who love Him, and wrath for those who hate Him!

Scripture

2Ki 8:1 Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has called for a famine on the land that will last seven years.”
2Ki 8:2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
2Ki 8:3 At the end of the seven years, she returned from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land.
2Ki 8:4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.”
2Ki 8:5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”
2Ki 8:6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
2Ki 8:7 Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way here,”
2Ki 8:8 he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
2Ki 8:9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
2Ki 8:10 Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”
2Ki 8:11 He stared at Hazael until he was embarrassed. Then the man of God began to weep.
2Ki 8:12 “Why is my lord weeping?” Hazael asked. “Because I know the harm you will inflict on the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.”
2Ki 8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?” “The Lord has revealed to me that you will become king of Aram,” Elisha answered.
2Ki 8:14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. “What did Elisha say to you?” Ben-Hadad asked. “He told me that you would certainly recover,” Hazael replied.
2Ki 8:15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
2Ki 8:16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.
2Ki 8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
2Ki 8:18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
2Ki 8:19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
2Ki 8:20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.
2Ki 8:21 So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. He rose up at night and broke through the Edomite forces who were surrounding him and his chariot commanders, but his army fled home.
2Ki 8:22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
2Ki 8:23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 8:24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
2Ki 8:25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
2Ki 8:27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to the house of Ahab.
2Ki 8:28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;
2Ki 8:29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab while he was recovering.