[Music] the most brutal King in the Bible he executed the former King and his people Hazel was anointed to be king of Syria by Elijah 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 Hazel as king overaram Syria together Hazel 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 Hazel served as an official in the government and a king Ben Haddad Ben Haddad fell ill one day and so he dispatched Hazel to meet the prophet Elisha who was traveling to Damascus at the time Elisha wept as he told Hazel that Ben Haddad would die but that Hazel would live 2 Kings eight eight to Fifteen Amplified Bible and the King said to Hazel 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 Hazel went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus 40 camel's loads and he came and stood before him and said your son Ben Haddad 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 Hazel until he was embarrassed and then the man of God wept Hazel 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 Hazel 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 overaram then Hazel 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 Hazel took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king's face so that he died and Hazel became king in his place [Music] 2 Kings 8 50 Amplified Bible but the next day Hazel took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king's face so that he died and Hazel became king in his place the king certainly did recover or would have had not the wicked Hazel committed murder by drawing an evil conclusion from Elisha's prophecy Hazel 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 Hazel 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 Hazel Elisha did not reveal how the king would pass away to Isaiah he did not reveal that he would be assassinated Elisha did not tell Hazel 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 Hazel this making it more likely that he did it had God's prompting Elisha perhaps hoped that this amazing prophecy would touch Hazel's heart and turn him away from the evil he would later commit against Israel as it turned out God knew the actions of Hazel but he did not make hazel do it it was absolutely foretold that Hazel would be king of Syria the prophet knew the fact right well and he clearly described the means else why should he look into Hazel'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 agree interfere with his free agency Spurgeon shortly after Hazel came to power joram son of Ahab and the hazier of Judah formed an alliance in order to fight against Hazel 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 to 29 Amplified Bible in the 12th year of jaram jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel ahasia the son of jehoram King of Judah began to reign the hazier was 22 years old when he became king and he reigned one year in Jerusalem his mother's name was Italia 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 ahasia went with jonath the son of Ahab to battle against hazale king of Aram Syria in ramoth Gilead and the aramaians wounded challan King joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the aramaians had inflicted on him at Rama when he fought against Hazel king of Aram and ahasia the son of jehora 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 giraffe to Dethrone and kill him now jiram with all of Israel was protecting ramaph Gilead against hazeo king of Arab Syria but King joram had returned to Jezreel to heal from the wounds which the aramaians had inflicted on him when he fought with hazel King veram so jehu said if this is your intent let no one survive and leave the city ramoff 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 Hazel 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 Hazel of Aram defeated them throughout the territory of Israel as Hazel moved South he eventually overran most of every and turned to attack the kingdom of Judah and the City of Jerusalem 2 Kings 12 17 to 18 Amplified Bible then Hazel king of Aram Syria went up fought against gath in philistia and captured it and Hazel resolved to go up to Jerusalem so jehosh the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and jehoram and ahasia 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 Hazel King veram and Hazel departed from Jerusalem king joash of Judah sent the temple Treasures as a tribute to Hazel so that Hazel withdrew from the attack for several years Hazel was permitted by the Lord to continue to oppress Israel until ultimately King jehohi has of Israel turned back to the Lord and the Lord listened to his prayer 2 Kings 13 3 to 5. so the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Israel and he handed them over time and again to Hazel the king of Aram Syria and of Ben haddat the son of haseo but Jehovah has 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 aramaians 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 two kings Thirty twenty three 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 died and jehosh Son of jehoi has king of Israel was able to fight Hazel's son Ben Haddad and win back much of Israel's territory two kings thirty three Amplified Bible so the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Israel and he handed them over time and again to Hazel the king of Aram Syria and of Ben Haddad the son of Hazel 2 Kings 13 24 to 25 Amplified Bible Hazel king of Aram Syria died Ben Haddad his son became king in his place then jehosh joash the son of Jehovah has recovered from Ben Haddad the son of Hazel the cities which he had taken from Jehovah has his father by War three times joash defeated Ben Haddad and recovered the cities of Israel Hazel was a great oppressor 2 Kings 13 22. Hazel the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehovah has the prophet Amos also spoke against the family of Hazel for all his evil in attacking Israel promising that Ben Haddad's fortresses would be smashed Amos 1 4.
