Today I read 2 Kings 8 which contains a self fulfilling prophecy. In this chapter the King of Syria is taken sick and sends his servant to see Elisha to see if it is the will of God that he will recover. When the servant asks Elisha he seems to be given conflicting information. Elisha tells him that the King will in fact recover, however he will die. Elisha then begins to cry and the servant, whose name is Hazael, asks why he is crying. Elisha states that the Lord has shown him all the atrocities that Hazael will commit against the children of Israel. Hazael seems taken aback and asks Elisha if he is a dog that he would to these things. Elisha then states that Hazael will be king.
When Hazael returns to the King of Syria, he reports that he will recover from the illness. However, that night Hazael suffocates him with a wet cloth and reigns in his place. Now this is, in my opinion, a self fulfilling prophecy. If Elisha had not told Hazael that he would be king, would it have happened? If he had not put the idea into the servants head, would he have still killed the King and taken over the kingdom? I am not sure, but given the order of events and how it happened, it seemed likely that Hazael would NOT have killed the king without the idea that Elisha gave him. This of course does not negate Hazael's action and he will have to stand for his crime in the eyes of God. As we have stated in the past, just because something is prophesied to happen does not mean that the people who do them get a free pass from their actions. We are all responsible for what we do, all of us. Until tomorrow.
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