Full Circle

2 Kings 1-8 describes a startling contrast: it begins with a king of Israel, the Lord's chosen people, looking for prophecy from pagan gods, and ends with the king of Syria, Israel's archenemy, inquiring of the Lord. In between is the bulk of the ministry of Elisha, who works miracles well noted on both sides of the border.  Now God's plans to end the reign of Ahab's family begin to take shape:  Hazael is revealed as the next king of Syria, as God had told Elijah when he fled to Horeb.  Hazael begins by fighting Jehoram, king of Israel and second son of Ahab and Jezebel, and wounding him in the battle.

Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.  Through a captured Israelite girl who knew of Elisha, God reaches Naaman and through him, Ben-Hadad king of Syria recognizes the significance of Elisha and tries to capture him and later starve his people, only to admit in the end that Elisha's God might very well have answers worth listening to.  And thus the meeting is arranged for Hazael to hear that he will be the next king.

God does work in mysterious ways.  And just as Elijah, Elisha, Naaman and many others in their time, we can trust God without seeing the final results.