2 Kings 5:1–14

One of the most striking things about this story is the timing of these events. Some context, not

too long ago two things happened, both have to do with majorly important individuals. The first

of those two is Ahab, one of two paradigmatic evil kings (the other being the first king of the

northern kingdom, Jeroboam). He infamously encouraged the worship of Baal in Israel, but

shortly before this story he dies and is succeeded by his son, Jehoram. Jehoram was not as

hostile to YHWH worship as his father; in fact, according to the historian that wrote 2 Kings, the

most notable act of Jehoram is that he put away the pillar his father had set up for Baal.

However, he lacked his father’s political connections and military reputation, so with his father’s

death the nation was now faced with invasion and rebellion.

The second consequential individual is Elijah, Elisha’s mentor. As much as Ahab is one of two

paradigmatic evil kings, Elijah is one of two paradigmatic great prophets (the other being

Moses). Elijah doesn’t die, but he was taken up into God’s space shortly before this. Upon his

departure, Elijah’s role as prophet over Israel is handed down to his disciple, Elisha (see my

previous commentary on 2 Kings 2). Elisha does not have Elijah’s reputation, but he does have

some measure of recognition, and he becomes the leader of a small group of devout Israelites

dedicated to the teachings of the prophets who were called ‘The Sons of the Prophets’, and he

was known by the royal court of Israel as well. Jehoram did not hold the contempt for Elisha

that his father had held for Elijah. Elisha, on the other hand, considered Jehoram to be

complicit in his father and mother’s bloodshed.

Now, why is any of this significant? Because, if I were aware of the history of Israel, and was

told without context when an Aramean general might have sought out the healing of an Israelite

prophet, I’d have guessed the prophet was Elijah, and the timing was during the uneasy

peace-by-stalemate forced between Aram and Israel during Ahab’s reign. That it comes about

while Aram is harassing Israel’s northern borders, after the disappearance of Elijah, during the

waning of the strength of the Omri dynasty is quite frankly shocking. It only happens by what

must have seemed like chance. Here is a slave girl who just so happens to have connections to

a still very small circle of people who knew of Elisha’s exploits, and who happened to be

captured during a raid conducted before war was officially declared; through uncanny

circumstances she ends up in the household of one of the most powerful men in Aram who was

desperately in need of someone like Elisha. And because war has not yet been officially

declared, once this General hears of Elisha’s existence, he is able to travel to the capital of

Israel with diplomatic orders seeking such a prophet. Jehoram knows well of Elijah, and that he

is gone, but of Elisha’s exploits, as yet he knows almost nothing. And upon seeing the offer

given by the king of Aram, he concludes they’re sending for Elijah, and freaks out.

But as ‘chance’ would have it, one of Jehoram’s court officials has connections with the Sons of

the Prophets, in spite of the court’s history of antagonism towards the group, and he sends word

of the missive to Elisha who returns word to the king to send the general his way.

Now, Elisha is currently living in the house of a widow in what is effectively ‘the middle of

nowhere’. So picture this, a General and his entourage, decked out in diplomatic/ceremonial

regalia, leading a caravan filled with more wealth than anyone outside the royal court could ever

hope to see in their lifetime, is trudging out to the backcountry of a nation he’s all but declared

war on, in order to meet up with some nobody living off the generosity of not just a commoner,

but a widow (in a time when widows were held in very low esteem).

This whole scenario is absolutely unimaginable apart from the providence of God. And as if the

cake, the icing, and the cherry weren’t enough, now there is a God-fearing gentile in the top

ranks of one of Israel’s most dangerous neighbors who owes his life to YHWH. Also, if you

aren’t yet fluent in the imagery of Eden and of the Abrahamic covenant as they pop up

throughout scripture, plan on becoming fluent, because it’s everywhere including here. Here is

a man of God becoming a blessing to the nations by sending one who is covered in death to

pass through the waters into new life. Of course… if you keep reading, you’ll be quickly

reminded that we are very much not in Eden, that the world is still broken, and humans still

fallen, but God’s desire to bless, heal, and restore the peoples of the world through his chosen

ones has not diminished or backtracked. Not in these pages, and not in our own day. Friend, in

baptism we pass out of death, through the waters, into new life in Christ. We might be nobodies

from nowhere, but we’re nobodies from nowhere who are filled with the same Spirit as Elijah

and Elisha. We too, should speak truth to power, and to instruct those who are dying in the Way

to new life.