Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.

2 Kings – Bible study Seven

Title: Today’s Gehazi – A Great Need and Warning for Church Leaders.

First, let’s look at the context in which Elisha and Gehazi lived. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel had turned Israel into a nation that followed Baals.

The kings who came after Ahab also did not follow God faithfully like David did.

After Elijah, Elisha was the prophet who proclaimed the word of the Lord and warned the people. It was during a time when the king of Syria was constantly waging war against Israel. In this period of crisis, Gehazi served as Elisha’s personal attendant.

Gehazi had a great responsibility. When a leader walks faithfully in the way of the Lord, it is the duty of his servant to walk faithfully with him – to absorb the thinking of his master and act according to his master’s vision. But Gehazi did not do that.

From the beginning, we can see in the verses that Gehazi had a certain disdain for the poor and an affection for the rich.

The Shunammite woman, who had long been childless, bore a child according to Elisha’s word. When that child grew up and died, the mother came to Elisha, fell at his feet, and pleaded with him. At that moment, Gehazi, unable to understand her feelings, stepped forward to push her away (2 Kings 4:27). This shows his lack of compassion.

Yet at the same time, when Naaman the Syrian was healed and was about to return to his country, Elisha refused to accept the gifts Naaman had brought. But Gehazi said to himself, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” And so he quickly ran after Naaman.
Gehazi, who ran to get gifts from a rich man, had earlier tried to stop a poor woman from expressing her feelings to the prophet. In Gehazi’s heart, love for money had taken root.
As a result, Gehazi committed these sins:
1.He misused the name of the Lord.
2.He lied to Naaman.
3.He misused his master’s name before Naaman.
4.He ultimately lied to his own master.

He failed to see what a time he was living in – a time when there was a need to serve faithfully, to show the Gentiles that his master had no greed for money. Ignoring all this, he turned that period into a time to acquire silver, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, male and female servants.
The result? Gehazi became leprous, white as snow.
We must compare this with today’s context. Leaders in these last days talk about the Lord’s coming, yet there is little thought about living as people free from the love of money. They turn God’s gracious gifts into business opportunities, and they – along with their families – amass wealth to pass down for generations.
At the same time, I am truly thankful for those who serve faithfully.
As for Gehazi, he had no special gift. Even when Elisha, who had gifts, rejected Naaman’s gifts, Gehazi – who had no such qualification – ran after and took silver and clothing.

Today, likewise, some use gifts freely given by God to trap the rich into their nets. Meanwhile, they push aside humble believers and keep them at a distance.
We must deal cautiously with such Gehazis. Lips that should teach the Word of God instead tell lie upon lie, claiming God is with them when He is not, deceiving the people. Even though they know the truth that “the love of money is the root of all evil,” they reject it, and live in luxury with money collected from believers.

In such a time, like the prophet Haggai, we must boldly ask:
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in paneled houses, while God’s house remains a ruin?”
So every believer must have the courage to ask leaders

“Is this the time to take money, and to take clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep and cattle, male and female servants?”

Ezekiel Shanmugavel, [7/5/2025 8:38 PM]
If we don’t have that courage, at least we should stop sending offerings to such leaders. This is something believers should do. Believers should bravely stand up and resist such practices.
In these days, when the world barely respects the Church, when we face many oppositions, and when there is a great need for a life of testimony, our so-called spiritual leaders should live sacrificial and committed lives. Instead, with money sacrificially given by believers through sweat and hard work, they bribe tax officials, give offerings to politicians, invest in real estate, and send only their own children abroad to study by spending huge sums – while failing to help the poor in their churches who cannot even pursue higher education.
In what way is this just? The only question Scripture would ask them is this
:
“Is this the time to take money, and to take clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep and cattle, male and female servants?