- The most brutal king in the Bible.
He executed the former king and his people.
Hazael was anointed to be king of Syria
by Elisha at the specific command of the Lord.
1 Kings 19:15.
Amplified Bible.
"The Lord said to him,
'Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus;
and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king
over Aram, Syria.'
Together, Hazael and Jehu were to serve as the instruments
of judgment that God chose to use against Israel
and the family of King Ahab,
who had been so idolatrous and wicked
throughout their reign.
Hazael served as an official in the government
under King Ben-Hadad.
Ben-Hadad fell ill one day,
and so he dispatched Hazael to meet the prophet Elisha,
who was traveling to Damascus at the time.
Elisha wept as he told Hazael that Ben-Hadad would die,
but that Hazael would live.
2 Kings 8.
8 to 15 Amplified Bible.
"And the king said to Hazael,
'Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God,
and inquire of the Lord by him, saying,
'Will I recover from this illness?'
So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him
of every good thing of Damascus,
forty camels' loads;
and he came and stood before him and said,
'Your son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you,
asking, 'Will I recover from this illness?'
And Elisha said to him, 'Go, say to him,
'You will certainly recover,'
but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.'
Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed,
and then the man of God wept.
Hazael said, 'Why are you weeping, my lord?'
He answered, 'Because I know the evil that you will do
to the sons, descendants of Israel.
You will set their strongholds on fire,
kill their young men with the sword,
smash their children to pieces,
and rip up their pregnant women.'
Then Hazael said, 'Surely not!
For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog,
that he would do this monstrous thing?'
And Elisha answered, 'The Lord has shown me
that you will be king over Aram.'
Then Hazael departed from Elisha and came to his master,
who said to him, 'What did Elisha say to you?'
And he answered, 'He told me you would certainly recover.'
But the next day, Hazael took the bedspread
and dipped it in water and covered the king's face,
so that he died.
And Hazael became king in his place.
2 Kings 8:15.
Amplified Bible.
"But the next day Hazael took the bedspread
and dipped it in water and covered the king's face,
so that he died.
And Hazael became king in his place."
The king certainly did recover,
or would have, had not the wicked Hazael committed murder.
By drawing an evil conclusion from Elisha's prophecy,
Hazael was able to seize control of the kingdom
and rule it to his own advantage.
He gave in to the evil in his heart
rather than using the announcement of the prophet
as a wake up call to investigate the evil within himself.
As a result, he bears full responsibility
for the actions he took
as a direct result of his own free will.
It may be asked if Elisha should have told Hazael this.
Perhaps he set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy
and actually inspired the assassination
of the king of Syria.
However, there are many reasons
for thinking that Elisha did exactly the right thing
when he said this to Hazael.
Elisha did not reveal how the king would pass away
to Hazael.
He did not reveal that he would be assassinated.
Elisha did not tell Hazael
how he would become Syria's next king,
nor did he tell him to assassinate the king.
Elisha went against his own compassionate
and patriotic interests in telling Hazael this,
making it more likely that he did it at God's prompting.
Elisha perhaps hoped that this amazing prophecy
would touch's Hazael's heart
and turn him away from the evil
he would later commit against Israel.
As it turned out, God knew the actions of Hazael,
but He did not make Hazael do it.
It was absolutely foretold
that Hazael would be king of Syria.
The prophet knew the fact right well,
and he clearly described the means,
else, why should he look into Hazael's face and weep?
God foreknew the mischief that he would do
when he came to the throne,
yet that foreknowledge did not in the least degree
interfere with his free agency.
Spurgeon.
Shortly after Hazael came to power, Joram,
son of Ahab and Ahaziah of Judah,
formed an alliance in order fight against Hazael,
and they traveled to do so.
Joram, son of Ahab, ruled over the Israelite kingdom
in the north, and Joram was just as corrupt as his father.
His father was undoubtedly not the best role model for him.
Ahab had led the people astray
into the practice of idolatry,
directing them away from the genuine God
of their forefathers, and toward the worship of Baal,
the God of his wife, Jezebel.
The consequence of Ahab's choices
carried into his son's reign.
2 Kings 8:25-29.
Amplified Bible.
"In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab
king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Joram
king of Judah began to reign.
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king,
and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Athaliah,
the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab
and did evil in the sight of the Lord,
as did the house of Ahab,
for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
Ahaziah went with Joram the son of Ahab
to battle against Hazael, king of Aram, Syria,
in Ramoth-Gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram.
King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds
which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah
when he fought against Hazael king of Aram.
And Ahaziah the son of Joram, king of Judah,
went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab,
in Jezreel because he was sick.
Joram was later killed by Jehu
as God's justice against the idolatry of Ahab's family,
and Jehu became king of Israel.
2 Kings 9:14-15.
Amplified Bible.
"So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi,
conspired against Joram to dethrone and kill him.
Now Joram with all Israel was protecting Ramoth-Gilead
against Hazael, king of Aram, Syria,
but King Joram had returned to Jezreel
to heal from the wounds
which the Arameans had inflicted on him
when he fought with Hazael king of Aram.
So Jehu said, 'If this is your intent, let no one survive
and leave the city, Ramoth-Gilead,
to go and tell of the plan in Jezreel, the capital.
As the Lord continued to bring judgment
on Israel's religious infidelity and sin,
he allowed Hazael to capture large swathes of Israel,
overpowering the Israelites in those areas.
2 Kings 10:32.
"So in those days the Lord began to cut off portions
of Israel; Hazael of Aram defeated them
throughout the territory of Israel.
As Hazael moved south,
he eventually overran most of Ephraim
and turned to attack the kingdom of Judah
and the city of Jerusalem.
2 Kings 12:17-18.
Amplified Bible.
"Then Hazael king of Aram, Syria, went up,
fought against Gath in Philistia, and captured it.
And Hazael resolved to go up to Jerusalem.
So Jehoash, the king of Judah,
took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram
and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated,
and his own sacred things
and all the gold that was found in the treasuries
of the house, temple of the Lord, and of the king's house,
and sent them to Hazael king of Aram,
and Hazael departed from Jerusalem."
King Jehoash of Judah sent the temple treasures as a tribute
to Hazael so that Hazael withdrew from the attack.
For several years, Hazael was permitted by the Lord
to continue to oppress Israel
until ultimately, King Jehoash of Israel
turned back to the Lord
and the Lord listened to his prayer.
2 Kings 13:3-5.
"So the anger of the Lord was kindled
and burned against Israel,
and He handed them over time and again to Hazael,
the king of Aram, Syria, and of Ben-Hadad,
the son of Hazael.
But Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord,
and the Lord listened to him,
for He saw the oppression of Israel,
how the king of Aram oppressed them.
Then the Lord gave Israel a savior
to rescue them and give them peace,
so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans;
and the sons, descendants of Israel,
lived in their tents as before.
As they turned in prayer,
so the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion,
and showed concern for them
because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
2 Kings 13:23.
Amplified Bible.
"But the Lord was gracious to them
and had compassion on them
and turned toward them for the sake of His covenant
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and He was unwilling to destroy them,
and did not cast them from His presence until now."
Hazael died and Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz,
has king of Israel, was able to fight Hazael's son,
Ben-Hadad, and win back much of Israel's territory.
2 Kings 13:3.
Amplified Bible.
"So the anger of the Lord was kindled
and burned against Israel,
and He handed them over time and again to Hazael,
the king of Aram, Syria, and of Ben-Hadad,
the son of Hazael."
2 Kings 13:24-25.
Amplified Bible.
"Hazael king of Aram, Syria, died.
Ben-Hadad, his son, became king in his place.
Then Jehoash, Joash, the son of Jehoahaz,
recovered from Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael,
the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz,
his father, by war.
Three times Joash defeated Ben-Hadad
and recovered the cities of Israel.
Hazael was a great oppressor.
2 Kings 13:22.
"Hazael, the king of Aram,
oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz."
The prophet Amos also spoke against the family of Hazael
for all his evil in attacking Israel,
promising that Ben-Hadad's fortress would be smashed.
Amos 1:4.
Amplified Bible.
"So I will send a fire of war, conquest, and destruction
upon the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the palaces
and strongholds of Ben-Hadad, Hazael's son."
Hazael was still responsible for his own actions
in attacking God's people and seeking to subdue them,
even though the Lord allowed Hazael to win many battles
because it was His will to draw Israel back to repentance
and true worship.
However, despite the fact that Hazael began his leadership
by betraying the confidence of his boss,
he never stopped to consider the repercussions
of his example.
He couldn't have reasonably anticipated anything different
from his people, could he?
Individuals who do this may expect a haunting ripple effect.