2 Kings 8:13 And Hazael said, But what, is your servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered… The first mention of Hazael is in the First Book of Kings (1 Kings 19:15), where we are told that Elijah after his return from Horeb anointed him to be a king. The next time he is spoken of it is as a Prime Minister to the King of Syria, and a messenger sent to the prophet. Strangely enough, Ben-hadad sends to make inquiry of one who is a servant of the God repudiated by his own nation. The king wishes to know whether he will recover from his illness. He sends a present by the hand of Hazael. Some selfish design was detected therein by the prophet. The prophet, in reply to the inquiry, says that Ben-hadad may, in the ordinary course of things, recover, but he soon sees that a fatal end is at hand; he suspects a sinister design in the messenger. Shuddering awe steals over the prophet. Tears begin to flow down the cheeks, but no word comes from the lips. A vision is before Elisha's eyes. Hazael waits. At length he asks, "Why weepeth my lord?" Then the prophet foretells what Hazael himself will do, desolating lands and destroying the defenceless. Hazael exclaims, "Am I a dog, that I should do this great thing?" — meaning either that he was not so low down as to do such evil, or that he, a mere dog, could not accomplish so much. This in harmony with the revised rendering, The probable intention was to repudiate the opinion formed of him by the prophet as being evil and unworthy. He half suspected the tears had reference to the evil he would do, and yet he seems not to have acknowledged to himself how powerful were the germs of evil in him for working wrong to others, and especially how treacherous were his secret plottings against the king. 1. The wicked propensities in our hearts are oft hidden from us. We are ignorant of the capabilities for evil and for good that lie in us. Hazael knew not his own heart. He would not have acknowledged that he was so ambitious, unscrupulous, or murderous. We have all a realm of mystery within. There are many offshoots in the dark passages of the heart. Few dare to lift the thick veil that hangs over some of them. We have secret rooms, only revealed by the moving of sliding panels. The panels are sometimes not easily distinguishable. We are deceived in ourselves. We are not born utterly depraved, but our natures, like a silent machine, turn out incessantly sins of various shades and degrees of enormity. One piece of ploughed ground in winter appears as brown and free from weeds as another, but let the rains descend and the spring sunshine rest upon it, then up will come the weeds choking the young crop of grain. So with hearts. One man may be like another for a time, but soon circumstances will show what evil is hidden in the soul of one and goodness developed in the other. Both may be ignorant of what can be developed. Irwine the common-sense vicar said to his former pupil Donnithorne: "A man can never do anything at variance with his own nature. He carries within him the germs of his most exceptional action; and if we wise people make eminent fools of ourselves on any particular occasion, we must endure the legitimate conclusion that we carry a few grains of folly to our ounce of wisdom." 2. If certain evils existent in germs in our souls were revealed, we should possibly deny their presence. We are like Hazael, unwilling to have a poor or bad opinion of ourselves. We see our portrait reflected in the camera, but we go away and "straightway" forget what manner of men we are. That amiable-looking boy at school would repudiate the possibility of his ever breaking a mother's heart by his wildness and gambling. That proud bridegroom would repudiate the possibility of his ever speaking harshly or treating brutally that trusting, orange-blossom-crowned girl whose rounded arm rests on his, and whose full eyes reflect his love. The "I will cherish" becomes at times the "I have crushed." That cultured man, noble in mien and lofty in position, would repudiate the suggestion that his little weakness would one day bring him down to the level of the poor fellow, who with tattered garb and blotched face hangs round the corner public waiting to earn a copper by holding a horse. Circumstances are so powerful in developing changes of mind we little conceived. The evil course we enter upon is like getting on a trolly on the inclined plane; if we once lose power over it, we go rushing down to destruction at a rate constantly accelerated. 3. All the hidden sin of the soul can be revealed by God. Elisha was enabled to reveal Hazael to himself. God gave him the power. God's knowledge of us is not the result of observation and judgment, as man gains knowledge of his fellow, but is absolute knowledge. Christ when on earth needed not that any should testify of men, for He "knew what was in man." Without attempting to prove to men that they were sinners, He held up the torch of truth before the conscience, and made men convict themselves; as when Peter said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord"; or when the young ruler went away sadly because he had great possessions; or when accusers of a weak woman sunk away from Him who said, "He that is without sin let him cast the first stone at her." As a skilful musician can place his fingers on the keys and bring out sweetest music or reveal the defects of the instrument, so Christ touched the human soul and revealed its hidden truth or sounded its discordant notes. He shows us that to be sinful is bad enough, but that to be hardened and unabashed therein is frightful. 4. When the sinful state is revealed, alas! warning is not always taken. Hazael should have taken the words of the prophet as an intimation that he was to be merciful to others and to himself. But, however he may shake and shudder at the image of himself presented, he turns not away from the evil. The "means to do ill deed made ill deeds done." Every man has need to be watchful. The cable is not stronger than the weakest link, nor the character than the hidden meanness. The secret sin does not grow in a day, though it may germinate in a moment. A Scotch preacher beautifully illustrated this by referring to the tiny seed dropped by the passing bird into a crevice of a rock, and which, sprouting, grew, and in process of years by its mighty roots moved the massive rock until it toppled over into the loch. So we must beware of the trifling thought of sin. We must search by the power of God's Spirit. Let us be sincere in the searching, and firm in the eviction of the hidden evil. Is it evil temper, cheating, backbiting, murdering character, sly tippling or open drunkenness, harshness and cruelty? Away wit]i it, in God's strength! (F. Hastings.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria. |
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