Hazael

Hazael was a Damascus court official whom God, at Mount Horeb, told Elijah to anoint as future king of Syria - one of the strangest commissions in Scripture, appointing a foreign oppressor as an instrument of judgment on Israel. When Elisha later met him in Damascus, the prophet stared at him and wept, foreseeing the atrocities Hazael would commit against Israel: fortresses burned, young men slain, infants and mothers brutalized. Hazael protested, 'Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?' - then returned to his master Ben-hadad, smothered him with a wet cloth, and seized the throne. As king he did all Elisha foresaw, crushing Israel throughout the reigns of Jehu and Jehoahaz until Israel's army was reduced to almost nothing, and even threatening Jerusalem until King Joash bought him off with the temple treasures.