The Price of Defacing Sacred Imagery

Exhibition of human greatness has few men as tall as Moses. God Himself testified of it. In protesting Israel’s sin, He told Jeremiah, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them!” Spiritual greatness derives from someone’s ability to bend omnipotence to human need. Moses’ intercessions altered the course of history. To be sure, this man appeared at Mount Tabor to discuss with Jesus about His impending crucifixion. We more readily identify this holy giant as God’s emissary for Israel’s liberation. But, for all his merits, Moses never got to Canaan. In a moment of wild fury, he struck a rock he should have talked to, effectively sealing his fate. Moses never set foot in the Promised Land!

If that doesn’t frighten us, our religious perspective probably needs reevaluating. There’s not a more solemn warning against presumption.

The Rock Moses hit with his rod represented Christ. The Lamb of God was smitten once for the sins of the world. After that, we talk to Him. By striking the Rock a second time, Moses marred symbolism of great significance. His action implied that to get answers from God, someone must slap Jesus. No, we don’t hit Jesus, we talk to Him. If Moses understood the enormity of his error, extreme emotions got the better of him. Like us, Israel in the wilderness was a vexatious lot. People’s obstinate bickering put Moses in constant exasperation.

While this message isn’t about Moses, he affords us a fitting illustration on the gravity of biblical symbolism. Seemingly inconsequential deeds define Christianity to those who observe our everyday conduct. As someone has said, ‘you are probably the only Jesus your associates will ever see.’ Cavalier conduct is the easiest way to distort Christian testimony.

Giants Among Men

Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind. Talk of great men of God! This one didn’t even have to die to exit planet Earth. Elijah is fondly referred as the ‘prophet of fire’. By calling upon Yahweh to burn his sacrifice, he proved Baal and Ashtoreth worthless gods, and exposed the folly of four hundred and fifty priests who mislead Israel into pagan worship. Incidentally, Elijah and Moses were the two heavenly guests at the Mount of Transfiguration.

Exit Elijah; enter Elisha! The man who took over ministry wasn’t content to fill the shoes of an awesome prophet. Elisha asked for a double portion of his mentor’s anointing! Wow! What sort of men were those? What do they teach us about sacred service, or about devout aspirations? These men only cared about exhibiting God’s matchless ability. They wanted godly values to stand out so nobody could confuse empty religion for godliness.

At the prospect of Elijah’s mentorship, Elisha butchered his plowing oxen, used his ploughs as fuel to roast the meat, invited his friends to a farewell party, and gave up farming. His move was final. There was no turning back. Sadly, some folks in society have a hard time seeing clearly in pristine sunshine. They come to Christian faith wrapped in graveclothes of greed and selfish ambition. The heir-apparent to Elisha’s prophetic ministry was such a man. Gehazi exemplifies the proverbial hyena that pursued scents from two directions and ended up splitting in half. He couldn’t make up his mind between worldly riches and heavenly gains.

Money or The Box?

II Kings chapter five has an interesting story of a Syrian military general who came to Israel seeking cleansing from his leprosy. Mistakenly projecting his actions to a natural mindset, he went to the king of Israel. That nearly set off a conflict between Syria and Israel. The man of God stepped in, not to diffuse tensions between two rival nations, but to exhibit the power of Israel’s God to idolatrous Syria! But when Elisha the prophet heard about the king of Israel’s plight, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet of God here in Israel.”

Ironically, an Israeli slave girl who’d been captured by Syrian invaders told Naaman’s wife that the soldier’s leprosy could be cleansed in Samaria. Isn’t it amazing that the prophet chose to display God’s power, not by military showdown, but by an act of kindness toward an enemy of His people! A man of God seeks amicable solutions to social challenges. He is never a partisan warmonger bent on destruction of human life.

When Naaman finally got to Elisha’s quarters, the pompous reception he had hoped for wasn’t afforded him. Instead, a servant met him with instructions on how to procure his desired healing. Amid protestations, Naaman dipped himself in the Jordan river as instructed. When he came out the seventh time, his skin was as fresh as that of a newborn child. “Now I know”, said he, “that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel…”

Armed with new revelation, Naaman was ready to ‘bless’ the man of God! “…Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” That word ‘blessing’ is problematic. Few words in Christendom are abused half as much. We are asked to give money in order to earn blessings. We bless folks by giving them stuff. When someone sneezes, we bless them. No wonder, a leprous fellow who’d traversed middle eastern deserts to rid himself of a social curse believed he had the wherewithal to bless God’s prophet! What exactly did he have in mind? So Naaman started out, taking gifts of $20,000 in silver, $60,000 in gold, and ten suits of clothing. Wow! Eighty grand worth of gold and silver, plus ten Syrian suits was no small gift in antiquity. But for a man whose name means ‘My God is Salvation’, it was an insult to what he stood for. Elisha would touch none of it. His calling as an instrument of God’s power wasn’t an opportunity to exploit people’s problems for personal enrichment.

Live, and Let Die

Gehazi watched in dismay as the ‘loaded’ blesser’ ferried his ‘blessing’ back to Syria. But before the soldier was too far gone, he heard the clack-clack-clack of the hoofbeats of a trailing ass. The servant of the man of God was hot on his heels. “²² My master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hills of Ephraim have just arrived, and he would like $2,000 in silver and two suits to give to them.” ²³ “Take $4,000,” Naaman insisted. He gave him two expensive robes, tied up the money in two bags, and gave them to two of his servants to carry back with Gehazi.

Elisha’s God wasn’t a poor deity whose servants lived on goodwill handouts. At no time did the prophet try to project such an image of his Lord. When he gave up a livelihood to follow Elijah, Elisha was assured of God’s ability to meet his earthly needs. He saw Yahweh split Jordan River for His servants to cross over. He saw Him raise a dead child. He saw Him replenish flour and oil miraculously to sustain a family through famine. He saw Him float an iron axe-head on water. He’d blinded an entire Syrian army who’d come to arrest the prophet… That’s the God Elisha presented to the people.

“Make hay while the sun shines”, Gehazi thought to himself, “who rejects blessings from willing donors?” To swindle a foreigner for personal benefit was no big deal. It never occurred to the greedy cheat that Elisha was trying to send Naaman back to his pagan country with a vivid testimony of the true God. Yahweh is magnanimous to all who seek Him, and His prophets are as selfless as they are powerful!

Having safely tucked away his loot, Gehazi returned to stand before his master. ²⁶ But Elisha asked him, “Don’t you realize that I was there in thought when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing and olive farms and vineyards and sheep and oxen and servants?  ²⁷ Because you have done this, Naaman’s leprosy shall be upon you and upon your children and your children’s children forever.” And Gehazi walked from the room a leper, his skin as white as snow.

“Is this the time to receive vineyards, oxen, servants…?” What did Elisha mean by that? Gehazi hadn’t received farms or sheep or servants, had he? That was a loaded question. “Does a religious position translate into a lucrative venture that affords you riches and esteem? Do you exploit people under the guise of serving God? Aren’t you bothered when your actions give people a reason to blaspheme God?

When I study God’s Word, I ask Him to teach me, correct me, and align me to His will. Scriptures were not written for the benefit of Bible characters. Their stories are teaching aids on how I should live.

How about you?