MyChurch: Doyle Crowe's Profile

Warnings from the failures of others

1. Gehazi:   We read in 2 Kings, Chapter 5, that out
of gratitude for his healing, Naaman, the Syrian General
offered Elisha silver and gold worth nearly a million rupees
and ten fancy Syrian suits of clothing. What a temptation
for a lesser man than Elisha. But Elisha turned down the
offer without a moment’s hesitation. Naaman was an
unbeliever and a compromiser and Elisha would receive
nothing from him. Gehazi had observed Elisha’s attitude
towards Naaman’s money. But he felt that Elisha had been
foolish to refuse what Naaman had offered so freely. He ran
after Naaman, told a few lies and collected forty thousand
rupees worth of silver and two of those Syrian suits.
Elisha who could see through a crooked man easily,
immediately exposed Gehazi’s covetousness. He told Gehazi
that since he had grabbed Naaman’s money, he would get
Naaman’s leprosy as well. He told him “therefore, the
leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your
descendants forever. So Gehazi went out from his presence a
leper as white as snow. ( 2 Kings 5:27)   Instead of getting
a double portion of Elisha’s anointing, Gehazi got leprosy.
Little did Gehazi realize that he was being tested
by God that day. If only he had known what tremendous
issues were at stake, he might have been more careful.

2. Achan: God allowed Achan to be alone in a house with no
one watching him in order to test him to see whether he
would take what God had forbidden or not. Achan failed.
Achan describes his fall thus: I saw…. I coveted… I took… I
Hid… (Joshua 7:21) Achan and his family thereby missed their
inheritance in Canaan.

3. Balaam:   Balaam was a prophet on whom the Spirit of God
had rested at one time. We read that at one stage “Balaam
lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe and
the Spirit of God came upon him. (Number 24:2) He went
astray, not because he was unrighteous in money matters, but
because he loved money. The love of money and the love of
honour from an earthly king so blinded Balaam that he could
not even see that he was going against the will of God. God
tested Balaam to see what was in his heart. When Balaam
sought God’s will at first, as to whether he should go with
king Balak’s messengers to meet the king, God had given him
a clear answer: ‘Do not go with them’ (Num 22:12). That
answer could not have been clearer. But when Balak offered
more money and greater honour, Balaam was tempted to ask for
permission again. When God saw that Balaam really wanted to
go, He told him to go. But Balaam suffered the
consequences. God may at times grant our request, even
though it is not His will, just because He sees that we
desire that thing so greatly. But the spiritual result will
be just as it is written concerning the Israelites in Psalm
106:15 “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into
their soul” Little did Balaam realize that he had been
tested and that his love for money had led him astray.
He continued to prophesy, but he had taken the first step
downward on the slippery slope of seeing earthly gain and
it was just a matter of time before he reached the bottom.
He who had once known such intimate communion with God ended
up as a sorcerer and was slain by Israelites. The record
says “The sons of Israel killed Balaam the diviner” (Josh
13:22)

What shall we say of multitudes of Christians today who have
the examples of Gehazi, Achan & Balaam to warn them and who
have still gone astray. The love of money is a root of all
sorts of evil. God has allowed material things to attract
us in order to test our faithfulness and our devotion to
Him.

We cannot serve both God and Mammon(material things).
We have to love one and to hate the other and hold on to one
and despise the other (Luke 16:13).

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.