2 Kings 8:7-15 - Daily Devotion - 24 July 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

7 Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”

11 Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

13 “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael.

And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

14 So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.” 15 But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face.

So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Matt Radloff

When we see evil in the world, how should we respond? When we hear of horrific actions and atrocities committed against the innocent, how does God want us to react? Elisha came face-to-face with a terrible man, Hazael. God showed Elisha who this man would become. He showed him what this man would go on to do, actions which can only be described as pure evil. Hazael was to become the future king of Aram. But he would only achieve it by murder and treason. And then with his new power, Hazael would bring terror onto God’s people, committing unspeakable acts of evil. Seeing this man standing before him, Elisha weeps. Elisha knows that God is in control, but that doesn’t stop the tears. Rightly, Elisha weeps over the evil in this world.

Many years later, another man wept. As Jesus looked at the tomb which held his friend Lazarus, tears rolled down his cheeks. Facing the evil of this world, facing the wrongness of death, Jesus responded rightly. Even knowing that he was about to raise Lazarus from the grave, knowing that he would conquer death forever, Jesus wept.

As we see evil and hear about the great injustices of the world, it's right for us to weep. It’s right for us to be moved to grief over the wrongness of death, pain and suffering. We long for the day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes, when all things will be made right and all evil destroyed forever. In the meantime, while we wait, it's right to cry out to God through the tears, “Come Lord Jesus”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt is one of our student ministers.