Prophetic Stare-down

Elisha just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the prophet started crying. 2 Kings 8:11

The story around this verse is amazing and filled with God's revelation; feel free to take a quick excursion there when you have time. This is the big stare-down, one you don't want to get into with Elisha, because he might just burst into tears? That isn't usually the result of winning the stare-down by making the other person uncomfortable. In the story we learn the reason for Elisha's sudden emotional breakdown. The prophet sees while this other fellow is standing there a vision of what will come. It would be sort of like a person getting one of those bluetooth calls while you are trying to hold a conversation with him and the call is so stunning that he loses track of what his eyes are doing and stares you down without saying anything, like, "Excuse me, important call," or something like that.

The revelation God gives to Elisha in that moment is much like the revelation our Lord gave to us concerning what will happen leading up to the very end of this age. It is stunning, fantastic, and frightening all at once. The seals, the trumpets, the vials poured out on the earth are such that we might rather not know of the suffering and carnage these produce. So it is with Elisha as he sees a vision of such suffering that he bursts into tears while staring at this man Hazael. We might be in the same condition one day should God give us a meeting with the Antichrist and we suddenly see what he will do in his time.

The knowledge in our Lord's Revelation is tough knowledge, but we must endure to the end, the very end where our Lord returns in His glory!

Bucky