2 Kings 8:8, commentary and pictures

Ben-hadad, the diseased king of Syria, sent Hazael with a present in his hand to Elisha, the man of God, in Damascus, to inquire of the Lord by him whether he would recover from his disease and whether his illness would end in death. In that encounter Elisha bore faithful witness to the king amid widespread rebellion against God. The errand brought Hazael to a decisive test bearing on his eternal destiny, opening before him the temptation to grasp advantage by crime, to barter his own soul as for a mess of pottage, to ward off pressure by a wrongful act, and to become a traitor and betrayer who would rob the cause of God to be revenged.

Hazael in this history illustrates the depths of evil to which people sink when under the control of satanic agencies, proving that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and revealing the evil of an unconsecrated, unsubdued natural heart. Though a person may have every opportunity for obtaining a rich experience in spiritual things, failure to appreciate those advantages leaves him open to Satan, who takes advantage of circumstances to arouse every evil tendency of the natural heart and set every evil propensity on fire. A single spark is enough to turn an unsanctified temper into a seething cauldron he cannot control, so that he is no longer master of himself but becomes the dupe of the father of deception and falsehood, with Satan speaking through him as a channel for the power of darkness. He is thus so long molded and controlled that he has no power to escape the snare.

That test decides destiny, for yielding reacts with unforeseen force and forever separates a person from God and from His people, while halting at the precipice, humbling the heart as a little child, and walking in safe paths brings reward and forgiveness. His history warns against daring to defy God and provoking His wrath, and calls for return to God with contrition of soul that He may heal.