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Gehazi - The Book of 2 Kings · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. The leprosy, therefore, of Naaman shall cleave
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  Speaker 1: unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. Then he went
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  Speaker 1: out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
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  Speaker 1: 2 Kings 5.27 In my life, Lord, no matter how
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  Speaker 1: tempting the offers may be, guide me so that I
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  Speaker 1: only receive from others only what you've chosen to release
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  Speaker 1: to me. I declare that I will not act as
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  Speaker 1: Gehazi and allow greed to cloud my integrity and judgment.
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  Speaker 1: Far from it, far be it from me to step
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  Speaker 1: out of alignment and flow with your perfect will, for
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  Speaker 1: I know that whatever you bless me with, there will
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  Speaker 1: be no sickness, sorrow, or guilt attached. When the time
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  Speaker 1: comes for my blessing to overtake me because of my obedience,
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  Speaker 1: I will position my heart and my ears, to listen
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  Speaker 1: for your permission to receive. Until then, I will remain
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  Speaker 1: humble and steadfast, knowing that increase is just around the
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  Speaker 1: corner from my faithfulness. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: for praying with me today. Continue listening for an incredible
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  Speaker 1: Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: In our last story, God healed a foreign warrior by
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  Speaker 2: the name of Naaman. Naaman was plagued with leprosy and
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  Speaker 2: turned down by the king of Israel. Elisha saw this
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  Speaker 2: as a perfect opportunity to show all the nations that
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  Speaker 2: the Lord is a Lord of healing and power. Naaman
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  Speaker 2: was refreshed in the cool water of the Jordan River.
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  Speaker 2: As he bathed himself in the river, his sick and
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  Speaker 2: dying flesh was replaced with new life. Now we learn
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  Speaker 2: of Naaman's newfound love for God and desire to bless
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  Speaker 2: the people of God. However, Elisha's servant Gehazi's heart changes
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  Speaker 2: for the worse as he descends into a cycle of
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  Speaker 2: greed and treachery, inspired by the book of 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In the previous episode, we
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  Speaker 3: learned about Naaman, the Syrian commander who sought healing for
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  Speaker 3: his leprosy from the prophet Elisha in Israel. Despite his
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  Speaker 3: initial reluctance and prideful thinking, Naaman finally acted in faith
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  Speaker 3: and believed God and his skin, his illness, was completely healed. Today,
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  Speaker 3: we'll pick up where we left off yesterday and hear
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  Speaker 3: how Naaman responded to his healings and how Elisha's servant
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  Speaker 3: Gehazi gives in to corruptive thinking and deceit. He suffers
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  Speaker 3: a painful consequence for his choice and became an example
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  Speaker 3: of God's judgment for greed and dishonesty. So, here's today's
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  Speaker 3: Bible reading.
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  Speaker 2: Naaman emerged from the Jordan River a new man. As
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  Speaker 2: the sun set, the old and dying flesh had been
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  Speaker 2: washed away along with his old life. In many ways,
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  Speaker 2: Naaman was a completely new person, He had experienced the
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  Speaker 2: glory of God in the cool river for the first time.
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  Speaker 2: His heart beat with more purpose. His lungs were filled
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  Speaker 2: with new life. He was aware and alert to the
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  Speaker 2: movement of God. This caused joy in Naaman like never before.
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  Speaker 2: He rushed immediately to Elisha and said, I know with
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  Speaker 2: complete certainty that there is no God except the God
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  Speaker 2: of Israel. Then Naaman rolled out gifts of gold and
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  Speaker 2: silver to give to Elisha. Elisha shook his head and smiled. No,
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  Speaker 2: as surely as the Lord lives, I will take nothing
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  Speaker 2: from you. Naaman urged Elisha to receive any type of
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  Speaker 2: gift from him. Although Naaman was trying to give Elisha gifts,
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  Speaker 2: it was really a gesture towards God. Gratitude filled his
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  Speaker 2: heart for the first time in years, and he desired
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  Speaker 2: to bless those who blessed him. Very well, Naaman replied.
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  Speaker 2: but at least allow me to load my mules with
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  Speaker 2: some of the earth from this holy place. I would
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  Speaker 2: like to remind myself continually of this experience. His eyes
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  Speaker 2: began to well up with tears. They were tears of
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  Speaker 2: joy and peace. From now on I will not worship
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  Speaker 2: any god except the Lord. Only may the Lord pardon
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  Speaker 2: me when my king leans on me to bow. Elisha
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  Speaker 2: was filled with the joy of the Lord at Naaman's
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  Speaker 2: change of heart. He could see the transformative power of
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  Speaker 2: God in his life. Go in peace, he told him.
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  Speaker 2: And with that, Naaman departed back to his home. Yet
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  Speaker 2: with all the Lord's blessing, darkness still lingered. Gehazi, the
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  Speaker 2: servant of Elisha, stood in bitterness as Naaman left. He
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  Speaker 2: watched as the rich commander left with all his riches.
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  Speaker 2: Why didn't my master accept the gifts he offered, he
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  Speaker 2: said to himself. Led by greed, Gehazi packed his things
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  Speaker 2: to go pursue Naaman to receive gifts for himself. Gehazi
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  Speaker 2: rode fast to catch up to them, intent on satisfying
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  Speaker 2: his fleshy desire for temporary things. Naaman saw him running
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  Speaker 2: after him. He climbed down from his chariot and walked
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  Speaker 2: towards him. Worried that something might be wrong, Naaman shouted,
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  Speaker 2: Is everything okay? Yes, Gehazi said, trying to catch his breath. However...
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  Speaker 2: My master has sent me to tell you that two
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  Speaker 2: of your prophets have just arrived at the house. He
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  Speaker 2: would like seventy-five pounds of silver and two sets of
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  Speaker 2: clothing to give them as gifts. Gehazi lied. There were
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  Speaker 2: no prophets. He fully planned to keep the wealth for himself.
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  Speaker 2: Greed had a chokehold over his heart, and it would
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  Speaker 2: not relent. Naaman smiled, pleased that he could bless the
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  Speaker 2: household of Elisha. Of course, take double the portion. So
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  Speaker 2: Naaman's servants followed Gehazi back. Gehazi took the goods back
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  Speaker 2: to the house and hid the treasures for himself. Then
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  Speaker 2: Gehazi composed himself, brushed the dust off his cloak, and
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  Speaker 2: walked back into the house. He was met with a
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  Speaker 2: sitting Elisha. Gehazi did his best to smile. He passed
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  Speaker 2: his master and began his regular chores. Where have you been, Gehazi?
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  Speaker 2: Elisha asked casually. Nowhere, Gehazi replied while sweeping, doing his
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  Speaker 2: best to avoid eye contact. Elisha sighed, displeased with Gehazi's
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  Speaker 2: unwillingness to repent on his own. He must have known
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  Speaker 2: that Elisha would have found out. Was he really that
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  Speaker 2: ignorant of how the Lord worked? Gehazi, Elisha said gently,
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  Speaker 2: don't you realize that I was with you in spirit
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  Speaker 2: while you approached Naaman on his chariot? Gehazi gulped, realizing
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  Speaker 2: that his sins had caught up to him quicker than expected.
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  Speaker 2: Are we to receive money and clothing? Are we to
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  Speaker 2: receive olive groves, beautiful vineyards, livestock and servants? Is this
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  Speaker 2: who we are? Elisha's voice became more harsh. He stood
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  Speaker 2: to his feet and met Gehazi in the eyes. He
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  Speaker 2: stared at him intensely. Gehazi could feel the eyes of
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  Speaker 2: God on him. Because you have robbed a man healed
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  Speaker 2: of leprosy, you and your descendants will struggle with that
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  Speaker 2: same plight forever. Gehazi's guilt rushed over him. and pain
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  Speaker 2: began to rush up his arms and legs. Then, in
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  Speaker 2: that moment, Gehazi's body crumbled with leprosy.
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  Speaker 3: Today's passage opens up where we ended yesterday. Naaman followed
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  Speaker 3: Elisha's instructions after dipping himself in the Jordan seven times.
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  Speaker 3: He then emerged with new skin, completely healed of leprosy. So,
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  Speaker 3: in 2 Kings 5.15, we read then what Naaman did.
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  Speaker 3: Then he returned to the man of God, he and
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  Speaker 3: all of his company, and he came and stood before him,
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  Speaker 3: and he said, Behold, I know that there is no
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  Speaker 3: God in all the earth but in Israel. This man,
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  Speaker 3: who had such doubts about finding healing in this foreign
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  Speaker 3: river from a prophet who didn't even come out and
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  Speaker 3: make a show of healing him, had experienced a change,
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  Speaker 3: a change deep in his heart, much deeper than his skin.
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  Speaker 3: He regained the feeling that he had lost in his leprosy.
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  Speaker 3: But more importantly, his heart is warm towards God, the
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  Speaker 3: God of healing, who had healed not only his physical disease,
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  Speaker 3: but washed his spirit. And his response was to confess God,
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  Speaker 3: not just to Elisha, but in the presence of all
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  Speaker 3: his company. This grateful man wanted to repay Elisha for
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  Speaker 3: what he had done, but Elisha would accept no payment.
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  Speaker 3: It was God who had healed, and Elisha would not
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  Speaker 3: profit in this way from his ministry. Naaman then made
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  Speaker 3: a request that may sound unusual. He asked for permission
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  Speaker 3: to load dirt into a cart so he could carry
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  Speaker 3: it home and spread it on the ground there. It
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  Speaker 3: may sound very strange to our ears, of course, but
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  Speaker 3: Elisha would have understood it. Naaman was recognizing that the
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  Speaker 3: soil in Israel represented God's land, God's territory. And now
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  Speaker 3: that Naaman had given his heart and trust to the
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  Speaker 3: one true God, the God of Israel, He wanted to
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  Speaker 3: take some of that territory, symbolically speaking, to his own
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  Speaker 3: home so that he could worship God on his land.
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  Speaker 3: He then asked Elisha to pardon him for when he
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  Speaker 3: had to go before his king to bow down to
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  Speaker 3: a pagan god, Rimen. In other words, he knew he
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  Speaker 3: would have to put on an act if he was
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  Speaker 3: going to pay honor to a false god. and so
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  Speaker 3: he wanted Elisha and God himself to know that his
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  Speaker 3: heart was truly committed to the Lord and not an idol.
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  Speaker 3: Elisha recognized the intent behind these requests and told Naaman
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  Speaker 3: to go in peace. So, Naaman departed, leaving no gifts,
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  Speaker 3: but taking holy ground with him back to Syria. But
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  Speaker 3: while Naaman's heart had been filled with faith in God,
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  Speaker 3: Elisha's servant Gehiza was moving in the opposite direction. He
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  Speaker 3: allowed greed to enter his heart and to fill it
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  Speaker 3: with darkness and sin. Like the leprosy that had filled
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  Speaker 3: Naaman's body and left him unfeeling, greed and sin numbed
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  Speaker 3: Gehiza's heart and he went after Naaman with deceit and
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  Speaker 3: personal gain on his mind. He caught up to Naaman
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  Speaker 3: who asked what he needed. Gehiza lied and said Elisha
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  Speaker 3: had requested silver and clothing to give his gift to
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  Speaker 3: two sons of prophets. Naaman was eager to give generously
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  Speaker 3: and gave a double portion to Elisha's unfaithful servant. Gehazi
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  Speaker 3: hid what he had received, but Elisha knew. So he
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  Speaker 3: questioned his servant, asking where he had been. Again, Gehazi
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  Speaker 3: lied and said he hadn't been anywhere. That's when Elisha
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  Speaker 3: let him know that he had been caught. He rebuked
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  Speaker 3: him for what he had done, taking from Naaman and
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  Speaker 3: making a mockery of what God had done to show
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  Speaker 3: his glory to a foreigner. Elisha sent Gehiza away with
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  Speaker 3: a curse. The leprosy of which Naaman had been healed
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  Speaker 3: would be visited upon him and his descendants. And as
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  Speaker 3: he walked away, Gehiza's flesh was consumed with leprosy. Lord God,
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  Speaker 3: we thank you for the truth of the Bible and
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  Speaker 3: the greatness of these stories that we're hearing. We pray,
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  Speaker 3: O God, that we would learn each day the lessons
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  Speaker 3: we need to live in obedience to you. Help us, Lord,
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  Speaker 3: to have hearts that are full of you and always
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  Speaker 3: sensitive to know and do your will. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
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  Speaker 3: app and make prayer and Bible study a priority in
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  Speaker 3: your life. And if you enjoyed this podcast, tell someone
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  Speaker 3: else about it. We would love to connect with you
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  Speaker 3: at jackgram.org for there are resources and opportunities for you
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  Speaker 3: to continue to grow in your faith through this ministry.
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  Speaker 3: God bless you.