#91. A Man of God… but Not God
Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
II Kings 4:27 NKJV
One of the many great deceits that has been propagated in the Roman Catholic Church is the idea that Mary and the Roman Catholic saints are all-knowing (omniscient) or at least all-hearing. This is linked with another great deceit that calls Roman Catholics to pray to Mary and other dead saints for help and mercy in direct contradiction with the Word of God, which teaches us to pray to God only. There is none who knows all things but God who alone has infinite knowledge. All other knowledge is finite. Consider even the great prophet Elisha, the man of God. The Lord had told and revealed much to him, but the reason for the relentless driving of the Shunammite woman from Shunem all the way up Mount Carmel to the feet of Elisha had been hidden from him. The Lord had not told Elisha the matter that was now before him; He had not told him that the Shunammite’s son had died. Elisha was a man of God, but Elisha was not God.
As we have seen in the past, so we will see in the future, that the prophets of the Lord, while great in wisdom and power from on high, were still limited in their ability and understanding and relied on the Lord to provide all of their wisdom and strength. On the very mountain where Elisha, Gehazi, and the Shunammite woman now stood, Elijah had prayed and God sent the fire down from Heaven.
What a contrast we see between Elisha and the greatest prophet, Jesus Christ. Elisha did not know all things. Jesus knew all things and was able to do all things of His own power. When the Pharisees grumbled in the back of the room in Mark 2 at Jesus telling the man with the palsy that his sins were forgiven, Jesus who knows all things perceived the reasoning of the Pharisees and spoke to them, chastising them for their unbelieving thoughts. He knew what was in the heart of men to tempt Him. He saw Nathaniel under the fig tree, well before Nathaniel stood before His presence (John 1:43-47). How was Jesus the prophet of God able to know all these things and Elisha not able? Elisha was a man of God but Jesus is the God-Man!
Why would anyone consider praying to someone dead? Why would anyone consider praying to someone who does not know all things? All who pray to dead saints pray to those who cannot hear them, let alone answer them. But you who believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation have not come to such a miserable state. You have not come to Mount Sinai or Mount Carmel or any other mountain that may be touched. You have not come to a mere human prophet who knows not all things and will one day die as did Elisha. But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to Jesus the mediator. Scripture does not call Jesus “a” mediator as if He were one of many, but the article “the” denotes “only.” “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…” (I Tim 2:5-6).
In the Old Testament, it was proper for people to go to the men of God for help from God. But in the New Testament, we have been given an even better testimony and access to God. We need not go through mere men but we have access directly to the God-Man Jesus Christ. Go to Him for help, He knows all things and can do all things, and none who ask will He turn away.
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