Gehazi - The Faithful Unfaithful Servant

Gehazi was the name of a faithful servant of a Hebrew prophet named Elisha. Faithful as long as he was with Elisha and there was no temptation.  The most well-known story about Gehazi concerns a sin he committed, the cover-up he attempted, and the punishment that followed (2 Kings 5:15–27).

GREBBER, Pieter de - Elisha Refusing Gifts from Naaman by Faces of Ancient Europe, on Flickr

One day a man who was sick of a skin disease came to the prophet for healing. Elisha cured the man but refused to take money or accept any reward for what he had done. Gehazi was privy to the exchange between these two men. Seeing that Elisha could not be persuaded to accept any form of payment, the man went on his way intending to return home, but Gehazi chased after him. When he caught up to the man he told him that his master had a change of heart and would be more than happy to take a talent of silver and two changes of clothing. For the needy? But of course!

LIAR LIAR! PANTS ON FIRE!!

Elisha had said no such thing.

Gehazi lied! Gehazi gave in to his own greed and misused a position of public trust to STEAL!

Did his sin go unpunished? NO! This is a Bible story. Where moral lessons abound and good always overcomes evil, and black is black, and white is white. If you want to know what happened you can read about it in 2 Kings.


So what is the moral of Gehazi's story?

MORAL LESSONS:

1. You can lie to others, but not to yourself.
2. You can always see your true colors even if nobody else does.

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Gehazi, The Sinner Detected: A Sermon-in Puritan style-on Temptation and Secret Sins: "Be sure your sin will find you out." Numbers 32