Interview with Old Testament Figures – Gehazi: The Holy Bible has many applications to humans. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
I needed to bring this up, especially for our readers that might question the choice of the interviewee. The fact that someone fell into a grievous sin does not preclude a redemption story woven out of his or her mistake. We are on earth to learn from ours’ and others’ mistakes. The day we stop learning, we effectively stopped living. Our guest for this session is Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the prophet.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for honouring our invitation Mr Gehazi.
Gehazi: I am delighted to share my experiences with your readers. Thanks for having me.
Shepherd Heart: Kindly give us a pen picture of yourself.
Gehazi: I served Elisha the prophet as his valet and was with him for several years. In the course of my interaction with him, I witnessed several miraculous interventions by the LORD God of Israel, including the raising of the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead, as recorded in 2 Kings 4:11-37.
Shepherd Heart: Scripture records that Elisha also served Elijah the prophet all through the latter’s ministry. Where you there as an apprentice prophet or just providing basic human services to him?
Gehazi: The idea was for me to learn spiritual things from him and to inherit his mantle as he received that of Elijah.
Shepherd Heart: Was that your expectation or his?
Gehazi: Both of us wanted a continuation of his ministry and I was the obvious heir apparent.
Shepherd Heart: You testified earlier that you witnessed many miracles God performed through your master. Were you never tempted to operate in the miraculous yourself?
Gehazi: Laughs. Your generation is blessed to encounter God through His Son Jesus Christ. You assume on His mercy to do things that would have been scandalous in our days. There is no man living in Elisha’s time that would have dared to invoke God’s name to promote his own ambition. Such a person would have been struck dead immediately.
Shepherd Heart: Though you have a point there, I still believe that your desiring to operate in the miraculous might not have incurred God’s wrath if your intent was to counter the idolatrous activities of ancient Israelites. Elisha asked for double portion of Elijah’s anointing for that particular purpose. How would it have been wrong for you to do it?
Gehazi: I see where you are coming from. It would indeed appear that I was not interested in confronting idolatry in Israel. Perhaps, God saw through my charade and prevented Elisha from pushing me in the direction of ministry.
Shepherd Heart: Now, we come to the part of your story that attracts condemnation for your person from people across the ages – Your conduct with Naaman the Syrian. Where you facing any kind of deprivation while working with Elijah?
Gehazi: Of course not! Let us call a spade a spade. Greed over-powered me and I have nothing to say in my defence.
Shepherd Heart: For the sake of some of our readers that are not conversant with your story, we would appreciate a brief summary of it.
Gehazi: Naaman was a captain in the Syrian army. I was not actually aware of his status at the time he arrived at my master’s house. I got to know this much later. Apparently, he heard about Elisha from an Israeli slave girl serving his wife. The girl, had in the course of her interaction with the family, saw that Naaman was plagued by leprosy and that this bothered him. She had heard about Elisha’s spiritual exploits and thus, assured Naaman that the prophet had the power to cleanse him of his leprosy.
The Syrian eventually came to Israel and was healed after he dipped his body in the Jordan River seven times as instructed by Elisha. To show gratitude, he returned to my master’s house and offered him huge gifts, which Elisha rejected. I was not happy about the situation, so, I followed Naaman to where he was resting with his team and collected a sack of money from him. When I got back to my master’s house, he accosted me and pronounced a curse of leprosy on me.
Shepherd Heart: Our interviews are not meant to castigate or condemn anyone. They are meant to provide opportunities for our readers to learn from the mistakes of others. With the benefit of hindsight, would you have acted so foolishly?
Gehazi: It was not even a question of hindsight. Something in me rose up against my action. My conscience troubled me, but the greed in my heart had the upper hand.
Shepherd Heart: I believe that the enemy of God that caused ancient Israel to embrace idolatrous practices of neighbouring heathen nations did not want a successor to Elisha who might have ended up with a double portion of his anointing. Sure. Greed is a sin, but like all other sins, it originated from the heart of satan. Sin is actually his nature, just as holiness is the nature of Almighty God. What advise do you have for young men and women that might find themselves in similar position as yourself?
Gehazi: I want everyone to have eternity in mind while taking decisions that could influence their destinies. Having an eternity-conscious mind-set is the key to defeating the antics of the devil. When you compare what he has to offer you with what awaits you in heaven, you would boldly declare as Jesus the Messiah did, “Away from Me, Satan!” It takes the grace of God for believers to overcome temptations. That is why it is critically important for them to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you very much for your counsel. Only the wise love and embrace the truth.
Gehazi: The pleasure is mine. Thanks once again for having me.