Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 8
This was near to the end of Joram’s rule as king, which lasted for 12 years. Soon, God’s judgment against Joram and his family would, at last, happen, as Elijah had declared (1 Kings 21:20-24).
Joram was an evil man, who probably cared little about his responsibilities as Israel’s chief judge. On a day when people came for legal judgments, he preferred to listen to Gehazi. He asked Gehazi to tell him all about the great things that Elisha had done. Perhaps the king just wanted to listen to Gehazi’s stories for entertainment. However, he may have hoped to hear a reason to accuse Elisha of some wrong act. Only recently, Joram made a serious promise that he would murder Elisha (6:31-32).
Gehazi had been Elisha’s servant until Gehazi lied in order to obtain gifts from Naaman. God’s judgment against Gehazi was for him to suffer the skin disease called leprosy (5:26-27). Because of that skin disease, Joram would not allow Gehazi to come near him. Instead, Gehazi stood away from the other people, at a great distance from Joram. He probably spoke with a very loud voice; Gehazi was a strong man. That arrangement was possible in the great yard near to Samaria’s city gate. Here, Ahab had gathered 400 men to hear their messages from the spirit world (1 Kings 22:6).
Gehazi’s account was of extraordinary events. We have seen the Bible’s record of the wonderful things that God did through Elisha. King Joram perhaps found Gehazi’s account of these things difficult to believe. However, Gehazi was a witness of these events – and Joram himself had seen Elisha do several wonderful and powerful things.
Next part: Joram accepts the account of the boy whom God raised to life (2 Kings 8:5-6)
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