II Kings 8: Walk This Way

Several times in scripture we hear a phrase like "he walked in the way of the house of Ahab" (vs. 18, 27).  This signaled that the king in question turned to wickedness and tolerated evil during his reign rather than promoting the worship of God and the good of his subjects.  At other times, the Bible says something like the new king "walked in the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord" (I Kings 22:43).  In this case, a righteous model was chosen and the king followed in his footsteps.  Even though you may not be a king, do you realize that you are responsible for the way in which you choose to walk?  Have you ever stopped to consider in whose way you do walk?

Elisha was a powerful prophet who came in the name of the Lord.  The kings of Israel and Judah could have easily chosen to emulate him and allow him to instruct them in purifying their land.  The king of Israel, in fact, wondered about Elisha and asked questions about his deeds (vs. 4).  There was a respect for Elisha (at least for his power), but rather than choosing him as a model to follow in his ways, the kings of his day turned instead to a quest for power and walked in the ways of Ahab and his family.  Inter-marriage between the royal families of Judah and Israel, meant to strengthen the monarchy's hold on power, only compounded the problem.

The story recounted in verses 7-15 shows that power can have a corrupting influence.  A servant of King Ben-hadad is dispatched to Elisha to ask him if the king will recover.  Elisha fixes the man with a stare to the point that it makes him uncomfortable.  It is revealed to the prophet that the servant will one day become king himself and treat the people of Israel very cruelly.  The servant, Hazael, dismisses the idea that he could ever do such things.  But when he returns to his master's sickbed, he assassinates him and takes over his throne.  Hazael, too, will choose to walk in the ways of the evil pagan kings before him, rather than turn his heart to the Lord of Israel and follow a man of God like Elisha.

It is worth asking the question of ourselves from time to time: How are we walking?  Are we gliding through life on automatic pilot, just doing what comes naturally?  Have we chosen a role model or mentor that has some serious spiritual defects?  Or are we committing our way to God and striving to follow after him, walking in the way of the Lord?  "Follow me," Jesus said (Matthew 9:9).