Gehazi [Gē'hā'zī]—denier or valley of vision. The servant of the prophet Elisha who likely stood in the same relationship to Elisha as Elisha had done to Elijah (2 Kings 4:12-36; 5:20-27; 8:4, 5).

The Man Who Was Unholy Amid Holiness

Gehazi’s name, “valley of vision,” is appropriate enough if we think of what he saw as to the nature of wicked men when the prophet opened his eyes. As the servant of Elisha, the man of God, Gehazi should have been a good man. But a holy man had an unholy servant. Gehazi was near, yet far distant from all that was pure and beautiful. It is possible in our time for a man to build churches, yet be a destroyer of Christian doctrine generally.

What a contrast exists between one man and another: Elisha—living a vibrant spiritual life, the grand prayer-life and faith-life; Gehazi—grubbing in the earth and seeking contentment in the dust. And these contrasts still exist.

Dinsdale T. Young enlarges upon the following features of Gehazi, the avaricious servant in this telling fashion:

I. He was familiar with sacred things, yet a stranger to their power. Gehazi was irreligious amid religion. He lived with good men and had a knowledge of God, yet succumbed to the hardening influence of spiritual things.

II. He had the incapacity to understand a saint. Gehazi failed to understand or appreciate both the character and conduct of Elisha.

III. He was enslaved in his youth. Gehazi’s early manhood was marred by evil thoughts, greed, deliberate lying and revolting hypocrisy. How his wrecked youth should warn the young today to remember their Creator!

IV. He prostituted a strong and imaginative mind. The story Gehazi concocted and told to Naaman was skilfully constructed. His invention was a lie, and the cleverness in telling it revealed his depravity. How tragic when genius and gifts sell their birthright for a mess of pottage.

V. He was successful at a fearful cost. He gained the social splendor he desired in the gold and garments Naaman gave him. But think of the price Gehazi paid. He lost his health, for he became a leper, a judgment Gehazi himself felt to be just. Gehazi also brought a blight upon his family. Instead of leaving his ill-gotten gains to his descendants, his judgment likewise fell upon his seed.

VI. He was likely restored to Divine favor. The incident of Gehazi recounting to King Joram the great deeds of Elisha seems to suggest that he had been restored to health and usefulness. For the Gehazi of modern society there is forgiveness. Christ’s blood can make the vilest clean.