Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

In this part of the sermon: Martin identifies and provides background for the three main characters: King Ben-Hadad II, explaining his prior encounters with Elisha and Jehovah; Hazael, whose name means 'God…

Martin quotes from the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary to clarify the meaning and significance of the title 'Ben-Hadad' and to distinguish between the different Ben-Hadads in Scripture, aiding in understanding the historical context.

I want to quote from a very helpful book, and I would encourage every Christian family to have this volume if you don't have it, the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. You'll find it most helpful in many, many things. And under the section dealing with Ben-Hadad, just these few sentences that I think will be of great help to you in understanding his significance, in this particular portion of the Word of God. The term Ben-Hadad is a term of title as opposed to a proper name.

5:16 - 5:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Elisha's arrival in Damascus is noted, likely by divine revelation, where Ben-Hadad, gravely ill, sends Hazael with a lavish gift to inquire about his recovery. Hazael complies…

Martin explains the oriental custom of presenting gifts, clarifying that 'forty camels' burden' signified respect rather than literal camel-loads of wealth, helping the audience understand the cultural context of Hazael's offering.

He says, take a gift in thy hand, and go to the man of God. And those who have studied oriental culture are all agreed on this point that it was customary then to show respect that you would take a gift that perhaps one man could carry and you divide it up amongst ten people and each one would carry a part and so you had this great entourage coming and in this way it made, as it were, a big thing out of a little thing. And so when the text says that the man of God was greeted with forty camels, forty camels worth of gifts, we are not to think of that in terms of a camel laden to the hilt with ...

16:22 - 17:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: One has said that God's left enough bones in his word that those who are determined to can choke themselves if they will.

Martin uses the analogy of 'bones in his word that those who are determined to can choke themselves' to acknowledge the existence of difficult passages in Scripture, while affirming its plenary inspiration.

And I would be less than honest if I told you otherwise. One has said that God's left enough bones in his word that those who are determined to can choke themselves if they will. And though we believe with all of our hearts in the plenary, the full verbal inspiration of the word of God, we are realistic as we face the fact there are problem passages. The problem is not an unresolvable one, but there are problems.

19:42 - 20:12 Read in full sermon

Driving home: One has said that God's left enough bones in his word that those who are determined to can choke themselves if they will.

Martin humorously describes scholars who 'drive themselves to glass, like the bottoms of Coke bottles studying critical apparatus' to illustrate the extreme difficulty of textual criticism, excusing himself from resolving all the passage's problems.

Now I'm not going to weary you with what all those problems are. Some of them, they're over my head. I just read about them in The Men Who Know. And I say if those poor fellows can't sort it out, who drive themselves to glass, like the bottoms of Coke bottles studying critical apparatus, then surely this poor preacher is not going to be able to sort out the difficulty.

20:12 - 20:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Find consolation in God's absolute sovereignty amidst the rise of wicked rulers and political turmoil.

Martin uses the crucifixion of Christ as the greatest example of God's sovereignty working through wicked human actions, demonstrating that God can ordain evil acts without being the author of sin.

My friend, listen to me. You have problems with that. There is a greater problem. The greatest crime that was ever perpetrated upon the face of the earth was the vicious, unjust trial and crucifixion of the Son of God.

36:02 - 36:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Find consolation in God's absolute sovereignty amidst the rise of wicked rulers and political turmoil.

Martin shares a passing thought about taking a 'leave of absence from the ministry and try to go into politics for three years' to see if an honest person can exist there, illustrating the perceived corruption and difficulty of maintaining integrity in politics.

All you need to do is look at the news once a week and have some sensitivity to what is going on in our own country, in the international scene. We find the Hazels speaking all of their political platitudes. Men simply trying to climb upon the gullibility of the populace, to bring themselves to a place of influence. Some of us at times wonder if we shouldn't take a leave of absence from the ministry and try to go into politics for three years just to see if it's possible for anyone who's honest and has right motives to exist in that arena.

40:08 - 40:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray for God to humble and purge our nation of its 'Baal worship' rather than longing for its worldly triumph.

The story of the disciples fearing the storm on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus slept is used to illustrate the foolishness of fear when Christ is present and sovereign, providing comfort to believers.

You see the poor disciples got nervous. One of those fierce storms was coming down upon the Sea of Galilee and the Lord Jesus is sound asleep and they go and they shake him Lord we're going to perish! How ridiculous. If they perished he would have perished with them.

43:48 - 44:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Acknowledge that the same capacity for wickedness seen in Hazael exists within your own heart by nature.

Hazael is presented as a 'mirror of the human heart let loose to be true to its own capacity for wickedness,' serving as a vivid metaphor for the inherent depravity within every person.

But then secondly the abiding message is this it constitutes a frightening revelation of the depths of human depravity a frightening revelation of the depths of human depravity. Hazel is a mirror of the human heart let loose to be true to its own capacity for wickedness. May I repeat that? Hazel is a mirror of the human heart let loose to be true to its own capacity for wickedness.

44:41 - 45:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Take heed lest you fall, remembering that remaining sin in principle is capable of great wickedness, even for those in grace.

Martin uses the concept of 'remaining sin' in believers to explain that while grace dethrones sin's mastery, the principle of sin is still capable of producing great wickedness, hence the need for vigilance.

Or are you offended when I say that? Do you really believe that there is nothing Hazel did that you could not do given the proper circumstances without anything coming in from without that there is enough wickedness innately within your own breast to produce everything that was produced in Hazel? My friend if you cannot answer that question without hesitation in the affirmative I doubt you have ever had a sight of your heart. And though grace has come to many of us or God has come in grace and dethroned sin in its mastery over us never forget this that remaining sin in principle not in power n...

48:48 - 50:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Think about death, as it is the only certainty in life, and prepare for it.

Ben-Hadad's transition from mighty warrior to helpless, dying king is used as an analogy for the universal experience of death, emphasizing its certainty and the frailty of human life.

take heed lest he fall. But then in the third place the abiding message of this passage is to be understood not only in that it constitutes a vivid demonstration of the sovereignty of God a frightening revelation of the depths of human depravity but oh hear me on this point it constitutes a sobering manifestation of the frailty and the brevity of life. The same man Ben-Hadad who led forth the armies of Syria in conquest time and time again now look at him so helpless that he cannot even call his courtiers and say saddle up the royal horse I want to go have a chat with the prophet he's lying he...

50:12 - 51:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Take ten looks to the immovable throne of Jehovah for every look at the newspaper or TV, finding comfort in His reign.

Martin uses the phrase 'pie in the sky by and by' to refer to the hope of God's ultimate sovereignty and future kingdom, affirming that this hope is the 'sheet anchor' and 'rock' for the child of God.

if God put them there you better not be found fighting against God hmm I'm sure Elisha didn't dance a jig going back home after he delivered that message God he showed me you're going to be king in Syria when he's going to rip up women with child and dash little kids to pieces that's not a pleasant thing but my friend looking from Elisha's perspective now do you think he has any regrets that he submitted unquestionably to the will of God he sees as you and I will one day see we see now through a glass darkly but then face to face and we'll look back through all the tangled mess through which w...

62:43 - 64:08 Read in full sermon