Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 6
King Joram’s deep sense of shock turned into extreme anger against God and against Elisha. Joram did not blame his own evil deeds or his family’s evil deeds for these troubles. If he had done, he would have humbly asked God to forgive them and to show kindness to his city. He did not even blame his cruel enemy, Ben-Hadad, to whom Ahab had foolishly shown kindness (1 Kings 20:30-42).
Instead, Joram blamed God. He believed that God has all power – so he believed that God had caused these troubles. Of course, Joram could do nothing to hurt God in heaven. So, he decided to act with extreme cruelty towards Elisha, who, as Israel’s prophet, spoke on God’s behalf. His plan was to order a soldier to cut off Elisha’s head. By that evil act, Joram would show his complete disgust for God.
Of course Joram expected God to be angry about this wicked act. However, Joram no longer cared. With awful words he invited God to punish him even more severely if he failed to kill Elisha that same day.
This was the same Joram whose life God saved, with the lives of his army, in 2 Kings 3:9-20. God gave Joram complete success against his enemy, Moab. In the past, Joram had often been desperate for Elisha’s help (3:13; 5:7-8). He had seen God’s great power in his (God’s) actions against Aram’s army, and that too caused him to respect Elisha (6:18-23).
However, Joram now only wanted to murder Elisha. All this was happening on the day before God rescued Joram and his city, Samaria. Of course, Joram did not yet know what God would do, just a few hours later.
Next part: The prophet's work in a city in desperate circumstances (2 Kings 6:32)
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