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2 Kings Chapter
Five
2 Kings 5
Chapter Contents
Naaman's leprosy. (1-8) The cure of it. (9-14) Elisha
refuses Naaman's gifts. (15-19) Gehazi's covetousness and falsehood. (20-27)
Commentary on 2 Kings 5:1-8
(Read 2 Kings 5:1-8)
Though the Syrians were idolaters, and oppressed God's
people, yet the deliverance of which Naaman had been the means, is here
ascribed to the Lord. Such is the correct language of Scripture, while those
who write common history, plainly show that God is not in all their thoughts.
No man's greatness, or honour, can place him our of the reach of the sorest
calamities of human life: there is many a sickly, crazy body under rich and gay
clothing. Every man has some but or other, something that blemishes and
diminishes him, some allay to his grandeur, some damp to his joy. This little
maid, though only a girl, could give an account of the famous prophet the
Israelites had among them. Children should be early told of the wondrous works
of God, that, wherever they go, they may talk of them. As became a good
servant, she desired the health and welfare of her master, though she was a
captive, a servant by force; much more should servants by choice, seek their
masters' good. Servants may be blessings to the families where they are, by
telling what they know of the glory of God, and the honour of his prophets.
Naaman did not despise what she told, because of her meanness. It would be well
if men were as sensible of the burden of sin as they are of bodily disease. And
when they seek the blessings which the Lord sends in answer to the prayers of
his faithful people, they will find nothing can be had, except they come as
beggars for a free gift, not as lords to demand or purchase.
Commentary on 2 Kings 5:9-14
(Read 2 Kings 5:9-14)
Elisha knew Naaman to be a proud man, and he would let
him know, that before the great God all men stand upon the same level. All
God's commands make trial of men's spirits, especially those which direct a
sinner how to apply for the blessings of salvation. See in Naaman the folly of
pride; a cure will not content him, unless he be cured with pomp and parade. He
scorns to be healed, unless he be humoured. The way by which a sinner is
received and made holy, through the blood, and by the Spirit of Christ, through
faith alone in his name, does not sufficiently humour or employ self, to please
the sinner's heart. Human wisdom thinks it can supply wiser and better methods
of cleansing. Observe, masters should be willing to hear reason. As we should be
deaf to the counsel of the ungodly, though given by great and respected names,
so we are to have our ears open to good advice, though brought by those below
us. Wouldst thou not do any thing? When diseased sinners are content to do any
thing, to submit to any thing, to part with any thing, for a cure, then, and
not till then, is there any hope of them. The methods for the healing of the
leprosy of sin, are so plain, that we are without excuse if we do not observe
them. It is but, Believe, and be saved; Repent, and be pardoned; Wash, and be
clean. The believer applies for salvation, not neglecting, altering, or adding
to the Saviour's directions; he is thus made clean from guilt, while others,
who neglect them, live and die in the leprosy of sin.
Commentary on 2 Kings 5:15-19
(Read 2 Kings 5:15-19)
The mercy of the cure affected Naaman more than the
miracle. Those are best able to speak of the power of Divine grace, who
themselves experience it. He also shows himself grateful to Elisha the prophet.
Elijah refused any recompence, not because he thought it unlawful, for he
received presents from others, but to show this new convert that the servants
of the God of Israel looked upon worldly wealth with a holy contempt. The whole
work was from God, in such a manner, that the prophet would not give counsel
when he had no directions from the Lord. It is not well violently to oppose the
lesser mistakes which unite with men's first convictions; we cannot bring men
forward any faster than the Lord prepares them to receive instruction. Yet as
to us, if, in covenanting with God, we desire to reserve any known sin, to
continue to indulge ourselves in it, that is a breach of his covenant. Those
who truly hate evil, will make conscience of abstaining from all appearances of
evil.
Commentary on 2 Kings 5:20-27
(Read 2 Kings 5:20-27)
Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many
servants, and we read how wise and good they were. Elisha, a holy prophet, a
man of God, has but one servant, and he proves a base liar. The love of money,
that root of all evil, was at the bottom of Gehazi's sin. He thought to impose
upon the prophet, but soon found that the Spirit of prophecy could not be
deceived, and that it was in vain to lie to the Holy Ghost. It is folly to
presume upon sin, in hopes of secrecy. When thou goest aside into any by-path,
does not thy own conscience go with thee? Does not the eye of God go with thee?
He that covers his sin, shall not prosper; particularly, a lying tongue is but
for a moment. All the foolish hopes and contrivances of carnal worldlings are
open before God. It is not a time to increase our wealth, when we can only do
it in such ways as are dishonourable to God and religion, or injurious to
others. Gehazi was punished. If he will have Naaman's money, he shall have his
disease with it. What was Gehazi profited, though he gained two talents, when
thereby he lost his health, his honour, his peace, his service, and, if
repentance prevented not, his soul for ever? Let us beware of hypocrisy and
covetousness, and dread the curse of spiritual leprosy remaining on our souls.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Kings》
2 Kings 5
Verse 5
[5] And
the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of
Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six
thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
Go to, … — It
was very natural for a king to suppose, that the king of Israel could do more
than any of his subjects.
Verse 10
[10] And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven
times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
Elisha sent —
Which he did, partly, to exercise Naaman's faith and obedience: partly, for the
honour of his religion, that it might appear he sought not his own glory and
profit, but only God's honour, and the good of men.
Verse 11
[11] But
Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely
come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike
his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Was wroth —
Supposing himself despised by the prophet.
Verse 12
[12] Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a
rage.
Are not, … — Is
there not as great a virtue in them to this purpose? But he should have
considered, that the cure was not to be wrought by the water, but by the power
of God.
Verse 13
[13] And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if
the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?
how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
My father —
Or, our father. So they call him, to shew their reverence and affection to him.
Verse 16
[16] But
he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he
urged him to take it; but he refused.
He refused - Not that he thought it unlawful
to receive presents, which he did receive from others, but because of the
special circumstances of the case; this being much for the honour of God that
the Syrians should see the generous piety, and kindness of his ministers and
servants, and how much they despised all that worldly wealth and glory, which
the prophets of the Gentiles so greedily sought after.
Verse 17
[17] And
Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two
mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt
offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
Two mules burden of earth — So he seems to farm the money which he brought with him, to express how
little value he now set upon it. Ten talents (above three thousand five hundred
pounds) in silver, with six thousand pieces of gold, (beside ten changes of
raiment) were a burden for several mules. Shall I not give this to thy servant,
Gehazi, if thou thyself will accept of nothing? This seems a more probable
interpretation than the common one, that he wanted to build an altar therewith.
For what altar could be built of the earth which two mules could carry into Syria?
Unless they were as large and as strong as Elephants.
Verse 18
[18] In
this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the
house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself
in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD
pardon thy servant in this thing.
Rimmon — A
Syrian idol, called here by the LXX, Remman, and Acts 7:43, Remphan.
My hand —
Or, arm, upon which, the king leaned, either for state, or for support.
Verse 20
[20] But
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath
spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought:
but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.
Gehazi —
One would expect Elisha's servant should have been a saint: but we find him far
otherwise. The best men, the best ministers, have often had those about them,
that were their grief and shame.
This Syrian — A
stranger, and one of that nation who are the implacable enemies of God's
people.
As the Lord — He
swears, that he might have some pretence for the action to which he had bound
himself by his oath; not considering, that to swear to do any wicked action, is
so far from excusing it, that it makes it much worse.
Verse 23
[23] And
Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two
talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon
two of his servants; and they bare them before him.
Urged him —
Who at first refused it upon a pretence of modesty.
Verse 26
[26] And
he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from
his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive
garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants,
and maidservants?
Olive yards, … —
Which Gehazi intended to purchase with this money: and therefore the prophet
names them, to inform him, that he exactly knew, not only his outward actions,
but even his most secret intentions. What a folly is it, to presume upon sin in
hopes of secrecy? When thou goest aside into any bye-path, doth not thy own
conscience go with thee? Nay, doth not the eye of God go with thee? What then
avails the absence of human witnesses?
Verse 27
[27] The
leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.
And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
For ever —
That is, for some generations; as that word is often used and as may be thought
by comparing this with Exod 20:55. (?) White - Which is the worst kind of
leprosy, and noted by physicians to be incurable. Those who get money by any
way displeasing to God, make a dear purchase. What was Gehazi profited by his
two talents, when he lost his health, if not his soul, forever?
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Kings》
05 Chapter 5
Verses 1-27
Verses 1-19
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the King of Syria.
The History of Naaman’s disease and cure; illustrative of certain
forces in the life of man
I. The force of
worldly position. Why all the interest displayed in his own country, and in
Israel, concerning Naaman’s disease? The first verse of this chapter explains
it. “Now Naaman, captain of the host of Syria, was a great man,” etc. Perhaps
there were many men in his own district who were suffering from leprosy, yet
little interest was felt in them. They would groan under their sufferings, and
die unsympathised with and unhelped. But because this man’s worldly position
was high, kings worked, prophets were engaged, nations were excited for his
cure. It has ever been a sad fact in our history that we magnify both the trims
and the virtues of the grandees, and think but little of the griefs and graces
of the lowly.
1. This fact indicates the lack of intelligence in popular sympathy.
Reason teaches that the calamities of the wealthy have many mitigating
circumstances, and therefore the greater sympathy should be towards the poor.
2. It indicates the lack of manliness in popular sympathy.
II. The force of
individual influence. The influence of this little slave girl should teach us
three things.
1. The magnanimity of young natures.
2. The power of the humblest individual.
3. The dependence of the great upon the small.
III. The force of
self-preservation. The instinct of self-preservation is one of the strongest in
human nature. “Skin for skin; all that a man hath will he give in exchange for
his life.” Men will spend fortunes and traverse continents in order to rid
themselves of disease and prolong life. This strenuous effort for recovery from
disease reminds us oral. The value of physical health. This man had lost it, and
what was the world to him without it? Bishop Hall truly says of him, “The
basest slave in Syria would not change skins with him.”
2. The neglect of spiritual health.
IV. The force of
caste-feeling. “And the King of Syria said, Go to; go, and I will send a letter
to the King of Israel.” He, forsooth, was too great to know a prophet--too
great to correspond with any one but a king.
1. Caste-feeling sinks the real in the adventitious. The man who is
ruled by it so exaggerates externalisms as to lose sight of those elements of
moral character which constitute the dignity and determine the destiny of man.
He lives in bubbles.
2. Caste-feeling curtails the region of human sympathies. He who is
controlled by this feeling, has the circle of his sympathies limited not only
to the outward of man, but to the outward of those only in his own sphere. All
outlying his grade and class are nothing to him.
3. It antagonises the Gospel. Christ came to destroy that middle wall
of partition that divides men into classes. The Gospel overtops all
adventitious distinctions, and directs its doctrines, and offers its provisions
to man as man.
V. The force of
guilty suspicion. “And it came to pass when the King of Israel had read the
letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make
alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy?
Wherefore, consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me?”
The construction that the monarch put upon the message of his royal brother
was, instead of being true and liberal, the most false and ungenerous. Where
this suspicion exists, one of the two, if not the two following things, are
always found.
1. A knowledge of the depravity of society. The suspicious man has
frequently learnt, either from observation, testimony, or experience, or all
these, that there is such an amount of falsehood, and dishonesty in society, as
will lead one man to take an undue advantage of another.
2. The existence of evil in himself. The suspicious man knows that he
is selfish, false, dishonest, unchaste, and he believes that all men are the
same.
VI. The force of
remedial goodness. Though the king could not cure, there was a remedial power m
Israel equal to this emergency. That power, infinite goodness delegated to Elisha.
The passage suggests several points concerning this remedial power.
1. It transcends natural power. “When Elisha, the man of God, had
heard that the King of Israel had rent his clothes, . . . he sent to the king,
saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he
shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” The monarch felt his utter
insufficiency to effect the cure. Natural science knew nothing of means to heal
the leper.
2. It offends human pride.
3. It clashes with popular prejudice. “Are not Abana and Pharpar,
rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in
them and be clean?”
4. It works by simple means.
5. It demands individual effort. “Then went he down, and dipped
himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God.”
Naaman had to go down himself to the river, and to dip himself seven times in
its waters.
6. It is completely efficacious. “His flesh came again like the flesh
of a little child, and he was clean.”
VII. The force of a
new conviction. Observe--
1. The subject of the new conviction. What was the subject? That the
God of Israel was the only God. He felt that it was God’s hand that healed him.
2. The developments of this new conviction. A conviction like this
must prove influential in some way or other. Abstract ideas may lie dormant in
the mind, but convictions are ever operative. What did it do in Naaman?
VIII. The force of
associates.
IX. The force of
sordid avarice. Gehazi is the illustration of this in his conduct as described
in 2 Kings 5:20-22. In his case we have
avarice--
1. Eager in its pursuits.
2. This avarice is in one associated with the most generous of men.
He was the servant of Elisha.
3. This avarice sought its end by means of falsehood.
X. The force of
retributive justice. There is justice on this earth as well as remedial
goodness, and Heaven often makes man the organ as well as the subject of both.
Elisha, who had the remedial power, had also the retributive. Here we see
retributive justice in--
1. Detecting the wrongdoer.
2. Reproving the wrongdoer.
3. It punishes the wrongdoer. (Homilist.)
Naaman the Syrian
1. There is not a man or woman living, however happy or prosperous,
in whose description sooner or later we do not come to a “but.” There is always
some drawback here, some drop in every cup that needs extraction, some thorn in
every path to be removed. And even though this “but” were not in our health and
circumstances, it is always in our nature. Leprosy is God’s one great disease
in the Bible to represent sin. It meant exclusion from the camp and distance
from our fellowmen. Hideous and revolting in itself, it poisoned the springs of
man’s existence. Hence it strikingly represents that sin which is in man, and,
in the absence of everything else, is the terrible “but” which mars and spoils
the fairest earthly picture. Like man by nature, Naaman carried within him that
disease which none but God could heal.
2. Contrast with this great man and honourable, the little maid. Torn
away from her home and friends by rude hands, and probably amid the bitter
tears of parental affection, she had been taken captive and sold as a slave.
But amid all these discouraging circumstances she possessed a secret to which
Naaman, with all his greatness, was a stranger. She knew of God and God’s
healing grace. Naaman felt the disease, she knew the healing. This made all the
difference between her and Naaman. This makes all the difference between a
Christian and one who is not. This makes the mighty difference between one man
and another.
3. God disposes each lot in life. Naaman has his own peculiar sorrow,
and so has the little maid hers. They are widely different. Yet God measures
out to each one their position and circumstances, their blessings and
afflictions, as will best show forth His glory. God had been leading her,
through that strange way, to do for this great man and honourable what he could
not do for himself, nor any one in the royal court of Benhadad. “The Lord had
need of her” for this His great work. Before passing on, notice another truth.
Nanman’s heavy trial had no power to subdue his haughty spirit. Sorrow of
itself can never sanctify. Men may pass through God’s hottest furnaces and only
come out harder than ever. It is only when the Holy Spirit uses our
sorrows--when we put them into His hands to use--that they will ever be made a
blessing to us. Let us learn again, from the difference between Naaman and this
little maid, that inequalities of social position are divine, and are means of
blessing. We have seen two characters here, both of them representative--Naaman
and the little maid. Let us now look at a third--Benhadad, King of Syria. In
him we have man in his loftiness and arrogance. Nothing can be done, he feels,
but through him. He prepares his litter, his gold and silver and raiment. All
this is worldly religion--man’s proud thoughts about God’s ways. And yet all he
does is but “labour lost.” There is yet another character--Joram, King of
Israel. Here is a man who knows about the true God, knows the revelation of His
will, knows of the true Elisha at his very door, and yet, with all this
knowledge, unable to take his true place and act God’s part in directing the poor
leper to the healer in Israel. Here is the man of religion, of true religion,
of many privileges above others around him, yet all lost, and he utterly unable
to direct the diseased one to the saviour prophet!
4. Let us now turn to the saviour prophet, Elisha, and his dealing
with the poor leper. The King of Syria prepares a great price--£7500 value of
our money. Naaman sets out with it on his journey, and King Jehoram acquiesces
m it. Thus the idea of each is that the healing is to be obtained by a price.
It is the latent thought of every man by nature. “Without money and without
price” is God’s Word, and this narrative of the healing of Naaman, and Elisha’s
dealings with him, are an illustration of this. And what is Elisha’s message?
“Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and
thou shalt be clean.” How simple, how plain! Then what am I to do with the
£7500 and the raiment? Has it no value? None whatever in the eyes of Elisha.
None whatever before God. Take it back with thee as the dregs of the sinner’s
righteousness, and learn that all thou art to receive, all that is to set thee
free from sin and death and make thee a new creature in Christ Jesus, is of the
free sovereign grace of God. Thus we see the pride of the natural heart. “Are
not Abana and Pharpar better?” Here is the leper taking his own way of healing,
and regarding it as better than God’s. “He turned and went away in a rage.”
Here is the despising of God s remedy and the enmity of the natural heart
showing itself. And Naaman was right. Abana’s waters were clear and beautiful.
Jordan’s were clayey and muddy. There was nothing for Sight in all this. It was
only for faith. It was God choosing the base things of this world to bring to
nought the mighty. Is it not so still? “What is this blood of Christ?” the
sinner says. “What! are all my prayers, my good deeds, my sacraments, all my
honest efforts to do my best and to please God to go for nothing? But the grace
that can provide for a leprous soul can plead with a reluctant heart. It can
use a ministry as well as open a fountain; and this ministry is, like the
remedy, simple and artless, and exactly suited to its end, for one is divine as
the other. Like the “little maid” before, it is the “servants” now, for such are
God’s means at all times. Human righteousness and greatness, and all nature’s
fond conceits are set aside completely.
5. Observe the effects of the healing the form in which it was
manifested: “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child.” This
is the new birth. It is put before us m this form in other parts of Scripture:
“if there be a Mediator with him, the One above the thousands of angels to show
man (God’s) righteousness, then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him
from going down to the pit; I have found the ransom. His flesh shall be fresher
than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth” (Job 33:23-24). Here the same truth is
brought before us. Again we have it in the New Testament: “Except a man be born
from above he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old
things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.”
6. Observe, in the next place, the manifestation of this new nature
in the conduct of Naaman. From this point it is seen there is a great change in
him. His spirit, his tone, his language, his whole bearing seems from this
moment to form a striking contrast to all that has gone before, so much so
that, had his name not been mentioned, we should have said it could not
possibly be the same man. “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his
company, and came, and stood before him, and he said: Behold, now I know that
there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee,
take a blessing of thy servant.” Observe the fruits of the new nature here, in
their order. Naaman stands with all his company before Elisha. It is not now
the proud and haughty Naaman, but the subdued and humbled one. Here is the
first-fruit of the Holy Spirit in his character. He was humble because he was
washed. Secondly, he makes a goodly confession of the one and only God. He had
learnt the true God through the virtue of His grace exerted on himself--through
the health and salvation he had received from Him. This is the only way the
soul can ever learn Him. Thirdly, he presses his gifts upon Elisha, not now to
purchase the healing, but because he has been healed. He has been forgiven
much, therefore he loves much. Fourthly, he “will henceforth know no other
God.” To this end he seeks materials to raise an altar to the true God. And
fifthly, he has now a renewed conscience, quick and sensitive about any, even
apparent, departure from the God who had so blessed him. (F. Whitfield, M.
A.)
Namman the Syrian
There is scarcely a story in all Scripture of deeper interest than
this of Naaman, the Syrian.
I. The character
and condition of Naaman. There is no mention of Naaman in the Bible, save in
this connection. There is, however, a Jewish tradition as old as the time of
Josephus, which identifies him as the archer whose arrow struck Ahab with his
mortal wound, and thus gave deliverance to Syria. Whether this be true or not,
some brave deed of Naaman had lifted him into special prominence, and crowned
him with exceptional honour. But he was a leper! This made him loathsome and a
burden to himself. Here we learn that no honour, no valour, no victory, can place men
beyond the reach of the sorest calamities of life. These are as likely to visit
the rich as the poor; are as likely to fall on princes as on peasants. No king
is always happy; no prime minister of state but has his fears and sorrows,
Naaman stood next the king, but he was a leper, afflicted more than many a
slave in Syria. There is no possession so vast, no position so high, no
attainment so conspicuous, no employment so congenial, no association so sweet,
as not to have its “but,” revealing sorrow, or some great unmet want. There is,
however, “a skeleton in every home.” Each heart has, and knows, its own
bitterness. One reaps advantage of one kind here, another of another kind
there, but every man reaps disadvantage of one kind or another. The good and
ill of life are far more evenly distributed than most imagine.
II. The character
and service of the little maid. She was by birth an Israelite, carried captive
into Syria. There she became a servant in Naaman’s household. In her early
home, and among her own people, she had become familiar with the worship and
history of Israel. It is possible that she had met the prophet Elisha. Those
homes of Israel were schools for the household. The children there were trained
to believe in, and worship, the God of their fathers. History with them was
sacred. With scepticism and atheism those Israelitish homes were not darkened
and afflicted as our homes are. Egypt, Sinai, Samaria were all alive with
Divine deliverances, which old and young alike appreciated. God was among the
people, and this the children understood. The confidence of children is
remarkable in the beneficence of God and in the influence of the good with Him.
Children may be, not only our greatest comforters, but our wisest teachers and
our divinest helpers. In their simple, childish faith they often put us to
shame, and in their generous desire to serve others, often rebuke our
indifference.
III. The miraculous
cure. It appears that Naaman somehow heard of the desire and faith of this
little maid in his home, and was encouraged to make trial of the prophet. It
appears further, that, aside from the maid, none was more anxious for the cure
than the king. Through the instrumentality,--possibly of some one overhearing
the conversation of this maid with her mistress, or possibly of some one
informed by this woman, and sent by her, or, it may be of Naaman himself, the
king learned of the wish and the faith. It is more than probable that both
Naaman and the king had heard of Elisha as a worker of wondrous miracles; for his fame must have
reached to the farthest bounds of the kingdom. But be this as it may, the leper
sighs for help, and is ready for the experiment of seeking Elisha. Poor man!
There he stood at the prophet’s door, a leper, full of large expectations; yet
dictating as to the manner of the cure, and falling into a frenzy because it
was not to be effected with pomp and parade such as he thought became his rank
and station. Why the prophet bade him go to Jordan instead of the waters of
Damascus, he could not understand. He seems to have forgotten that Jordan
belonged to the God of Israel, and that, in a miraculous cure, relation to God
was of far more importance than the depth or beauty of the stream. Besides,
Jordan was the river appointed; and if Naaman is to be cured by Divine power he
must obey the Divine will. He was, however, proud and haughty--style and rank
were offended. What now? Jordan has become a healing stream for this afflicted
man. No longer shall he compare that river with the waters of Damascus. No
longer shall Elisha be regarded as an enemy, or as indifferent to his welfare.
To be cured of such a disease in such a manner was enough to convince Naaman of
the power of God, and of Elisha as a true prophet of God. Experience is a
wonderful teacher. This cure had been effected by consciously supernatural
means. This he was ready to confess. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Naaman, the Syrian
I. In turning to
the story of this Naaman, the first thing that I would notice is a contrast in
service. We set him before us dwelling in the stately palace of the king, the
commander of the king’s armies; with authority to speak to the whole nation,
and all men are ready to obey him: with troops of horses and hosts of chariots,
and servants that wait upon him and minister to him. Altogether, in council and
in camp, the foremost man in Syria. And as brave as he was wise, of whose
valour many a stirring tale was told. Here is greatness: great in himself,
great in his position, great in his possessions, great in his achievements,
great in his authority: no element of greatness is lacking. Then do you notice
how beside this word great there is set the word little; and alongside of this
mighty man of valour is put the record of this captive maid? Poor little thing,
her story is a very sad one. A troop of Syrians marching one day into
Israel--fierce fellows, burning the homesteads of the villagers, before whom
the frightened people fled to the mountains or caves--had come to some cottage,
and there, it may be, tending a sick mother, too feeble to escape, or guarding
some little one of the family whom she would not forsake, this girl is taken
captive and carried away by the soldiers. They sell her as a slave to Naaman’s
wife. A stranger in a strange land, with the memory of her bitter griefs--in
thought and feeling, and hope and religion, severed from those about her, so
she must wait upon her mistress and do her bidding, with none to befriend her.
We can think of her sighing in her loneliness. “Ah, me; if I were only King of
Syria, or even this great lord, I would set right the wrongs of the poor folks,
and bid the cruel soldiers stay at home. I would have no burning cottages, no
ruined homes, and no poor
captive men or maidens if I were king. How good it must be to be so great! But
I am only a little maiden; what can I do? here there are so many troubles? It
is dreadful to be so weak and little.” And yet this little maid it is who
brings deliverance to the great man of Syria, for in her are two things that
are never little--a kind heart and faith in God. So, in the great world, with
its sorrows,
there is always room for loving-kindness and for faith in God. It is not
greatness that the poor world wants mostly, not chief captains or men of
valour; but love. The little, and the least, with love and faith, can always
find a place for service; a service that is always blessed, and shall have its
golden wages. Our measure for service is not in position, nor in gifts, nor in
greatness, but in love. Her tender love and simple faith do set this little
maid alongside of this great captain. Take it, I pray you, for whom it is
meant, and give thanks to God. Say it and sing it within yourself: “If in this
great world I can do nothing else, I can do this--and since I can do this I
will envy none. Wherever I am I can keep a simple faith in God and a kind
heart.” Thank God, little one, that He has a place for thee.
II. Notice the
wisdom of Naaman. He no sooner hears that there is a chance of his being cured
than he sets off for the prophet. He does not despise the suggestion because it
is a prophet of Israel who has the power. If this is a chance of his being
cured he will go forth and seek it. He might very naturally have said, “I will
get my master, the King of Syria, to write a letter to the King of Israel, and
he can send the prophet to see me. The prophet is much better able to travel
than I am; and it is altogether more fitting that he should come here. It is an
enemy’s country, and the people may oppose my coming, and I am ill fit to
journey. I will send my horses and chariots, and a company of soldiers for his
escort, and I will pay him well for his coming.” So he might have said, but
that will not do. He will go himself. There must be no delay. If there is a
chance of being cured he will do his best to avail himself of that chance. At once
everybody in the place is set to work to hasten his going. Now do not let this
Naaman the Syrian rise up in judgment against us. We have heard that in Jesus
Christ is our salvation; that there is One who is able to break the power of
our sin, to rid us from its loathsomeness, and to make us whole. To us the
testimony concerning the salvation which is in Christ Jesus comes from ten
thousand who have found in Him their deliverance from the curse and power of
sin, the cleansing from its foul leprosy. Think if he should bid his musicians
sing of this: Elisha, and chant his greatness, and week after week should sit
and listen to the story of the captive maiden. “I like to hear her,” says he,
“she is so much in earnest, and her gestures are so graceful, and her words so
well chosen.” O fool! and all the time the leprosy is eating into him with
horrid cruelty, deeper and deeper, and every day he is growing more hideous and
scarred, and his case becomes more desperate. And the longer he delays the more
he questions about going at all. And now the King of Syria comes to see him.
“Well, have you been?” he asks. “Been where?” saith Naaman. “Why, to the great
prophet that can heal thee of thy leprosy,” cries the king, wondering. “No,”
saith Naaman, “I have not exactly been to him, you know. But I have heard all
about him, and have got quite familiar with his name and history, and what he
has said and done.” “But surely,” cries the astonished king, “it were as well
never to have heard of him if you do not go.” Then one day the tidings spread,
“Naaman is dead”; died of his leprosy. Dead! and he knew so much about the
prophet. And in the palace is heard the wail of the little maiden, “Would God
my lord had gone to the prophet that is in Samaria.” Alas! it is only in religion
that men play the fool like this: only in the deeper and more dreadful leprosy
of the soul! Can you imagine any greater folly, hearing of Christ as the
Saviour, year in and year out, and yet never coming to Him?
III. Notice the
needless preparation. (M. G. Pearse.)
Naaman, the leper
Men who are called to like positions in our own day are generally
the objects of envy. Doubtless, Naaman was such an object in the eyes of many.
But how greatly were they mistaken in the estimate they formed. Naaman knew,
before others knew, that the leprosy had marked him as its victim. The small
spot, herald of the approaching disease, was upon him; the worm was at the root
of the gourd; the cancer was beginning to prey upon his very vitals; the heart
was already feeding upon its own bitterness. Naaman, the illustrious,--Naaman,
the captain of the king’s hosts,--Naaman, with all his greatness, must
henceforth carry about with him a monitor of his own weakness, yea, his own
sinfulness. And, upon the face of the record, do we not read this lesson,--
I. The sinfulness
of pride in the sight of God? All pride will be humbled in like manner. “God
resisteth the proud” (James 4:6) always, at all times, and in
all eases. “He that exalteth himself shall be abased” (Luke 14:11). Pride is the idolatry of self.
Where pride reigns, God cannot reign, but God will judge. Let each beware of
pride. Pride does not help a man to fill his station; it leads him to overstep
his station. Humility ennobles, for it is a Divine grace; but pride degrades,
for it is earth-born, a satanic spirit. If the proud man does not seek the
throne of grace, and humble himself there, pride will prove his ruin.
II. Another truth,
of which the experience of Naaman may remind us, is this,--our entire and
absolute dependence upon God. We are not the arbiters of our own destiny. We
cannot determine our own future. Even to-day’s bread is dependent on God’s
bounty. “As He will,” is the law of our condition, absolutely and without
qualification. Naaman, the captain of the host of Syria, the mighty man of
valour, was no exception to this law. In his leprosy he carried about with him
a silent but a faithful monitor of the supremacy of God. There was manifestly a
will above his will,--a will that had determined his affliction, irrespective
of himself.
III. But there is
yet another, and
a principal lesson, which the experience of Naaman enforces,--the insufficiency
of earthly good to confer happiness upon the possessor. Naaman possessed fame,
and honour, and friends, and wealth; but he was a leper. I ask, Is there not
always some “but,” or some “if,” to act as a drawback on the earthly portion?
Has the man ever lived who, being “of the earth, earthy,” living for this world
only, could say he was so happy as not to need something to be added or to be
taken away? It has even become a proverb, “Man never is, but always to be,
blest.” “Is the child happy?” asks one of our Puritan Fathers. “He will be,
when he is a man. Is the peasant satisfied? He will be, when he is rich. Is the
rich man satisfied? He will be, when he is ennobled. Is the nobleman satisfied?
He will be, when he is a king. Is the king satisfied? Listen! for one is
speaking, ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’” Each is devising a portion for
himself, in which he thinks happiness will be found; but none attain happiness.
Riches may be pursued and acquired; but riches cannot confer happiness. It is a
true testimony, which all experience confirms: “They that increase riches,
increase sorrow with them.” There is always some “but” attached to the best
estate. The knowledge that God is our God for ever and ever--that we are
reconcried to Him by faith in Christ Jesus--that He will be our guide, the
director of our steps, even until death,--this is the knowledge which alone
discovers to us the secret
of happiness--this is the knowledge which places in our possession the key
which may be said to open to man a Paradise regained. (C. Bullock.)
Some modern lessons from an ancient story
This whole story of Naaman, ancient as it is, is not one out of
relation with our present lives. It is a story which can easily teach us some
most valuable modern lessons.
I. The universal
subtraction from our addition. Consider them in Naaman’s case.
1. Consider the addition.
How many items in this addition, and how large the sum of their
values--high military command, great favour at court, splendid reputation,
success, great personal bravery.
2. Consider the subtraction--one vast damaging item, but he was a
leper. Take a New-Testament instance, that of Paul (2 Corinthians 12:1-21).
II. That of
faithfulness to one’s religion in strange place and circumstance. The little Hebrew maid (2 Kings 5:2-4) how unlike her are
those professing Christians who, moving to a new place or city, will not use
their church letters but drop into the sad throng of non-churchgoers!
III. The unwisdom of
making beforehand plans for god.
1. Behold the ancient picture--the letter; the presents worth
$50,000; the ostentatious arrival before the prophet’s door; the message; the
reply and rage (2 Kings 5:11-12).
2. Behold the modern counterpart. Simple was the remedy the prophet
ordered--the washing in the Jordan. So simple is the Gospel--personal
acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. But men, thinking their
thoughts, making beforehand plans for God, say, “Are not the Abana and Pharpar
of my moralities better?” or, “Are not the Abana and Pharpar of my penances better?” or
“Are not the Abana and Pharpar of some shining experience I have imagined
better?”
IV. The wisdom of
doing first what God says (2 Kings 5:14). Have you not been
delaying, and thinking, and imagining, and holding to your way long enough?
Now, in the beginning of this New Year, will you not wisely submit to God, as
Naaman did? Will you not accept Jesus Christ and so, in the only possible way,
find forgiveness for your sin? (Homiletic Review.)
The method of grace
There is much modern application in these Old Testament
circumstances. There is so much humaneness in the Bible which makes it always a
new book. Principles know nothing of years. Truth is not hampered by time. The Scriptures are as old
as eternity, and yet as new as every morning. The Gospel in the narrative may
thus be developed.
I. The gospel
appeals to the man, not his accidents. The prophet’s message was to the leper,
not to the courtier. Naaman came with his horses and with his pageantry. He
came in a lordly air, but the prophet did not even meet him. The true man is
never moved by glitter. Some of us would have bowed as sycophants; it would
have been the reddest-letter day of our lives, if the premier of Syria had
stood at our door. Even if a trinket, or a book, be given to us by a royal hand, we transmit it
as an heirloom. There is a nobility of office, but there is a higher nobility
of character. There is a kingliness of name, but there is also a kingliness of
nature. We should not judge by appearance, but judge by righteous judgment. The
prophet saw through all the haughtiness of Naaman, leprous man. God sees
through all life’s accidents--all our intelligence, parade, wealth, and
respectability--a heart of corruption and sorrow. He sees that the “imagination
of the thoughts of man are evil continually.” The message is to man, not to his
circumstances. It speaks to us as sinners. It speaks, not to contingencies, but
to the human nature that is in us all. It was man that fell, and to man the
message is sent. “He came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
II. The gospel
message and conditions are always simple. It speaks in a language all can
understand. It speaks to the heart, and the heart has but one language, the
wide world over. The tongue speaks many a vernacular, and the lips chatter many
dialects, but the heart’s voice never varies. The great universal heart beats
in us all. The Gospel sees us fallen, and it sends forth the common message and
a universal welcome. “Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.” The
message is one, but its emphasis is varied according to our deafness, and its
strokes to our hardness. The stone is hard, and the sculptor’s mallet must be
heavy, and his chisels sharp. The wound is deep, and the corrosive must burn,
and the instrument probe deeply. The jewel is encased in adamant, and the
lapidary must select his instruments accordingly. Our prejudices are great, our
hearts are haughty, and the conditions are adapted. Christianity is to us what
we are. Loving in disposition, it “speaks in a still small voice.” Impenitent
in heart, it speaks in thunder-tones. Some are so deaf that they can only hear
thunder; others are so divinely sensitive, they can hear angels’ whispers, and
God’s steps on the wind. According to our heart-life, God is either a Father,
or a consuming fire. A revengeful God is the creation of a wicked life. The
Gospel speaks to the heart, and of necessity must temper its voice to its
disposition and difficulties. It is a message so simple that a child can
understand it, and yet its inexhaustibleness challenges the highest mind. So
plain, that the “wayfaring man” need not Stumble; and yet its sublimity creates
a sensation new in angel bosom. Its simplicity reveals its wonders, as its
stoop manifests its height.
III. The gospel
conditions are repulsive to human prejudices. We might swear that it is night
when the sun shines, but the light would only prove our insanity. We may curse
the Book, but its truth is inviolable. We may blaspheme the Gospel, but the
loudness of our voice may only reveal the perfectness of our idiocy. How
presumptuous is man?
1. How we presume on God’s ways? “I thought he would surely come out
to me,” etc.
2. How we presume on God’s means? “Are not Abana and Pharpar . . .
better than all the waters of Israel?”
3. How we presume on God’s patience? “And he turned away in a rage.”
4. How we presume on self-sufficiency? “Some great thing, wouldst
thou not have done it?” The conditions of the Gospel may arouse our resentment,
but to resist is to be blind to our best interests. The prophet said: “Wash and
be clean”; and Naaman turned away in a rage. Christ says: “Sell all thou hast
and give to the poor”; and the young man went away sorrowing. The Gospel says: “Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”; and we are disgusted with
the conditions. The Cross to the “Jew may be a stumbling-block,” and to the
“Greek, foolishness,” but to as many as believe, it is the “power of God unto
salvation.” The answer to all our prejudices is, that it is God’s appointed
way. There is no royal road. The conditions are, believe and live, and the
authority is, “he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not
shall be damned.” Our prejudices may recoil, and we may turn away in wrath. But
we turn our face from the sun only to see our shadow. (W. Mincher.)
Naaman
Let us cast our eyes upon Naaman himself; and then upon the method
of his restoration.
I. Naaman’s
condition.
1. Official.
2. Personal
3. Bodily. “But he was a leper”--the one drawback, and that a
terrible one.
II. Naaman’s
restoration.
1. First notice the providence of God. It was by means of a little
captive maid.
2. Thus, what must have seemed a great calamity to the little maid’s
friends and to herself--to be captured and carried away into an idolatrous
country--became a blessing.
3. Then we have the picture of Naaman, with his equipage and
servants, in state at the door of Elisha, and the prophet sending a message to
him with the command in the text.
4. Let us see the moral and spiritual purposes of Elisha’s treatment.
The spirit of pride had to be subdued. The prophet’s method is unexpected, but
not without design. There is no prayer or personal contact, only a message by a
servant.
5. But for the kindly expostulation of the servants, Naaman would
have returned into his own country a leper, as he set out from it.
III. Lessons.
1. From instances of natural virtue in the heathen world, we learn
that nature, though fallen, is not totally corrupt. We must keep a middle
course between Pelagius and Calvin.
2. What weak and often unworthy means God uses for making known His
truth!--the enslaved Israelite maid!
3. How children should strive to remember what they were taught in
youth about God and His ministers, that it may be a blessing to themselves and
to others! (Canon Hutchings.)
Greatness secondary to goodness
The great Augustine discovered this when a young man. His father,
a heathen, had said to the lad, “Be great.” His mother, Monica, a devoted Christian,
had whispered, “Be good.” “I will be both,” he answered, “but great first.” And
when, after years of folly and then of philosophy, he resolved to “be good,” he
found himself a slave to sin. Not till he cast himself wholly on Divine power
and grace did he gain the “new heart.” Then, the things he had once been afraid
to lose he cast from him with joy. “Thou expellest them,” he cried, in an
ecstasy of joy, “and comest in Thyself instead of them.” Thus Augustine the
sinner became Augustine the saint.
But he was a leper.
The fruits of adversity
How many might be tempted to envy him, how many of his fellow-men
might be tempted to say, within themselves, “Would that I were in his place,
would that I could have done with all these anxious cares, and weary disappointments
which I meet with every day! Would that I could be free from all this drudgery,
and see, at any rate, some result of all my toil! Here am I fighting every day
against difficulty and hardship, yet gaining never a victory; here am I passing
the best part of my days in obscurity, with never a prospect of rising in the
world; there seems to be nothing for me but toils and cares from morning till
night, from year’s end to year’s end. Would that I could be successful in life
as Naaman was, could reach a high and honoured position as he did! Yet stay,
Naaman has his drawback, he is not by any means the happy man you take him to
be. “But he was a leper.” Do not these words--five in English, but only two in
the original Hebrew--seem to throw a deep, dark shadow over the whole life of
Naaman? We cannot possibly know, as well as Naaman did, all that those words
meant. None but a leper can truly know the meaning of leprosy. Yet we do know
that it was something terrible; that it was a serious affliction; that it made
life dark, gloomy, unbearable. There is, in fact, something in the life-history
of every man which gives, or should give to him, lowly views of himself, which
is intended to keep down his pride, and to remind him that this world is a
pathway leading to a country where alone there is nothing to mar our pleasure,
no interruption to our happiness, where alone there is no drawback. There is a
“but” in the history of every soul on this side of the grave. That rich man you
see, and upon whose wealth you may often have looked with envious eye, is the
victim of some serious disorder; death is, as it were, staring him in the face.
That strong and healthy man, who seems able and willing to do battle in the
great world, who possesses an energy equalled by few, and surpassed by none, is
yet a poor man; there is a large family depending upon him; many mouths to be
filled, many backs to be clothed; and that strong, willing worker, heaves a
sigh as he thinks that his earnings will prove miserably inadequate to the
needs of his household. And, if you trace the matter right through, you will
find that this drawback is a very common experience, known and felt not only by
the poor, but also by the well-to-do; not only by those low down in the world,
but also by those occupying high positions. And yet there is a value in these
drawbacks; they are not so utterly hopeless as many would feign imagine; we are
apt to look upon them as a great evil, with not a single redeeming feature. Not
a few might feel disposed to ask, “Why should these things exist at all? Why
cannot I be allowed to pass through life without having to encounter all these
difficulties--these things which interfere so greatly with my happiness? Life
is short, why should it be made miserable? Why should I not be able to enjoy,
to my heart’s content, these days and weeks, these months and years, which are
passing all too quickly away?” These are the questions which probably are going
forth from thousands of hearts to-day; they seem practical questions; let us deal
with them in a practical way. Let us bear in mind that these things come to us
not by chance, they are sent. That difficulty of yours, that matter which is
costing you so many weary days, and sleepless nights, that great heart-sorrow,
that heavy burden has not visited you at random as it were, but has been sent
to you; that is the first thought, the first fact to be carefully remembered.
And the Sender; Who is the Sender? God, the God who loves you with an amazing
love, pities you with wondrous pity, sends you that very thing which is the
cause of much vexation, and which you could heartily wish had never been sent.
Brethren, it seems strange, almost like a contradiction, but it is neither.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye
may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:19; 1 Peter 4:13). This is the kind
action of a loving Father; He is training us and educating us for heaven. Never
let us forget that, and honestly let us ask ourselves what would be the result
if we had everything just as we wished. If, in this life, there were no
difficulties, or trials, or sorrows to meet, what feelings and thoughts would
take possession of us? Should we be filled with earnest longing to reach the
heavenly city? Much of the choicest, holiest portions of a man’s character is
formed in those seasons of his life which call forth the pity of those about
him. When they are pitying, heaven is rejoicing; rejoicing that the feet are turned
Zionwards, that the wanderer is returning home. Brethren, let it be so with us.
Remember “they who suffer with Christ shall also reign with Him,” and that,
“All things work together for good to those who love God.” (E. F. Chapman,
M. A.)
The conquest of disadvantages
1. Among the figures of the Old Testament there is hardly any more
interesting or more attractive than that of Naaman the Syrian. He belongs,
indeed, to a class of persons which never fails to arrest notice and evoke
admiration, the class of those who, afflicted by physical disadvantages which
are commonly incapacitating, have such constancy of purpose, such strength of
will, such nobility of character, that they triumph over their infirmities, and
take rank among the leaders of mankind. Habitual suffering does incapacitate
for exertion; physical infirmity disables the will and abashes the courage.
Marked out from the rest by defects, repulsive or ludicrous, or practically
disadvantageous, men are humbled and cowed by a consciousness of inferiority,
which not rarely becomes a vague sense of wrong, a dreary feeling of unmerited
exile from the common society, and along with these, an embitterment of
character, which, in its turn, adds yet further obstacles to frank fellowship
with ordinary folk. The annals of the English monarchy, for instance, contain
no worthier names than those of Alfred, the traditional founder of our
constitution, and of William III., its champion and restorer, and both those
admirable sovereigns were chronic invalids. Our literature has no greater name
than that of Milton, who was a blind man when he wrote his principal poem; no
name more venerable than that of Johnson, who from childhood was afflicted with
a repulsive malady. It would be hard to find among modern politicians a name
more justly honoured than that of Henry Fawcett, whose sight was destroyed by a
lamentable accident when he was twenty-five years old, but who “bore the
calamity with a superlative courage,” and won for himself a niche in the Temple
of Fame. These show the class to which Naaman belonged, the class of the
intrinsically heroic, to whom, whatever their creed or career, the description
of Scripture seems properly to belong, “who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched
the power Of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made
strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.”
2. It is matter of common experience that the class of heroes which
Naaman represents, is a very large class; we all have known and could name from
among our acquaintance persons who belong to it. Nay, in some sense, we all
ought ourselves to come within it, for there is none of us, however fortunately
placed, who is altogether without some disadvantage, which is capable of
daunting and” disabling us. Of course--if you will--this is the tritest of
moralisations. But he knows little of human life as it proceeds in its cycles
of customary work and common association, who has not discovered that immense
injury to character, and waste of energy, and loss of happiness arise from the
single cause of that sustained resentment of disadvantage which is one of the
commonest of human faults. Perhaps there are reasons why, under the
circumstances of modern life, such resentment should tend to increase among us.
It is matter of common observation that among all classes there is a passion
for enjoyment, which easily induces disgust of work and discontent with all
limitations of liberty. Religion, we shall all agree, is the source of
fortitude and the spur of moral effort. When religion loses authority over the
will, and fails to move the heart, men fall inevitably under the empire of
circumstance, having nothing outside themselves to sustain them under
misfortune, nothing beyond the native resources of character.
3. The disadvantage in Naaman’s case was one for which we may believe
that he was not personally responsible; the hideous disease by which he was
stricken may have been inherited, or contracted by accidental contact with
persons similarly afflicted, or the result of privations endured in his
campaigns. He could not, in any case, blame himself as the cause of his
calamity. In this respect the valorous Syrian represents a great multitude of
afflicted persons. I notice that Mr. Samuel Laing ascribes the prevalence of
pessimistic theories among us to this very circumstance. “In ruder states of
society,” he says, “such weaklings were got rid of by the summary process of
being killed off, while with the more humane and refined arrangements of modern
times they live on and “weary deaf heaven with their fruitless cries.”
It must be allowed that weak health and chronic pain ordinarily tend to induce
such gloomy and morbid mental dispositions, and it is impossible not to feel
compassion for those who, however deluded, are still the victims of their own
undeserved misfortunes; but here, as in all other human affairs, there is an
extraordinary latent power in man himself, which, if brought into action, can turn
back the natural tendency of his circumstances, and bend those very
circumstances to new and higher interests. The magnanimity of the ancient
Stoics rises in the case of the sickly and crippled Epictetus to a genuine
piety. “Dare to look up to God,” he says,” and say, Deal with me for the future
as Thou wilt: I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing
that pleaseth Thee; lead me where Thou wilt; clothe me in any dress Thou
choosest; is it Thy will that I should hold the office of a magistrate, that I
should be in the condition of a private man, stay here or be in exile, be poor,
be rich? I will make Thy defence to men in behalf of all these conditions.”
There is a ring of personal affection in such words which argues that the Stole
philosopher was (though he knew it not) a Christian in spirit. St. Paul s
curiously similar language includes the confession of a discipleship which
Epictetus could not own. “I know how to be abased.”
4. But, though physical afflictions that are undeserved may bring a
sore strain to bear on the character, and can hardly fail, save in the case of
a few extraordinary persons, to cast a gloom over the mind, and give a
melancholy tinge to the whole life, still it is not in such calamities that the
most disabling and daunting influences are found. There are men among us,
richly endowed with gifts of intellect, of character, of fortune, who are held
in a state of degrading idleness by the disabling memory of some moral treason
in the past. Men wonder at them, knowing nothing and suspecting nothing--but to
their own consciousness the sinister fact stands out with threatening
prominence. They have lost faith in themselves; self-respect, the backbone of
character, is broken. I might borrow the words of the text to describe such a
man--“a mighty man of valour, but a leper.” (H. H. Henson, B. D.)
The “buts” of life
There you have a romance and a tragedy summed up in a single
verse. You only need a little imagination to fill in the details, and lo! you
have a book of human life, with its prides and humblings, its grandeurs, and
its shames. The writer
tells you in the same breath of this man’s glory and of his awful cross. “But!”
Ah, if we could only get rid of that little word, how happy we should be! Alas!
it is always popping in to disturb our self-congratulating reflections, It
drops into human speech at every turn. It is found at every stage of human
experience. I hear it every day in the common talk of the people about me. I
catch my own lips dropping it unawares times without number. There is always
something to qualify our congratulations, praises, and thanksgivings. Fortune
has dealt well with you, but! You have had a smooth and prosperous career, but!
Your husband is almost perfection, but! Your children are doing well, but! That
friend of yours has many admirable qualities, but! Your employer is generous
and considerate, but! Your partner is honest and capable, but! Your church is
orthodox and peaceable, and pre-eminently respectable, but! Your minister is a
wonderful preacher, but! There is always that little or big cloud athwart your
sunlight, always the wasp in the honey-cup, always the seamy side to your
bliss, always the dull leaden background to the shield whose face is all gold.
Mercy and judgment meet, and the darkness and the light make up one picture in
every human lot. Naaman was a great man, and honourable, but he was a leper.
Now sometimes we forget this other side in our thoughts of others, and
frequently we make too much of it in thoughts of ourselves. And if the other side relates to
character, we reverse the process, making too much of it in others and
overlooking it in ourselves.
I. Remember that
every Naaman has his cross. The side of the shield which he shows to the world
is perhaps polished gold, but he who walks behind it sees the heavy iron
casing. How foolish we are to envy the great their greatness, the rich their
riches, the honourable their honours, and the wise their wisdom, and to fancy
that because they have more of these things than we they are necessarily
happier and more contented. And how blind we are to overlook our own blessings
and joys, and repine because others seem more fortunate than we. Uneasy is the
head that wears any sort of crown. Where Fortune drops its choicest honours, it
imposes its heaviest burdens, and the path which is lined with roses has most
of the prickly thorns of care. The more brilliant the sunlight, the darker the
shadows. The more a man gets his own way, the more he frets when he cannot get
his own way. You cannot climb high to pluck the choicest fruit and flowers
without getting many a prick and bruise. The man who wears purple and fine
linen before the world has often underneath, if you could see it, rough
sackcloth and chafing cords; and there is a cloud of cares weighing like
midnight on many a heart in which outward fortune seems constantly to smile. In
the old ballad the queen tides by on her gallant palfrey, with cloth of gold
and glittering jewels, and splendid array of attendants, and the village
maiden, looking out of her lattice window, sighs, “Oh! to be a queen!” while
the queen, looking up, sighs far more deeply, and whispers to her heart, “Oh!
to be free from all this burden, and like that happy careless maiden!” Yes;
there are cold blasts on the heights which those below never feel. And many a
time, when all the things of the world go well with a man, his inner life is
anything but right with God. The leprosy of doubt, or the leprosy of sin has
crept over all his thoughts, and corrupted his human affections, and put a
withering blight upon his world, and he knows nothing of the peace and gladness
in which your simple faith walks continually.
II. You are not
likely to forget your own cross. No; but do not make too much of it. No doubt
there is a seamy side to your life. It is not all sunlight. But it is not well
to keep the seamy side always uppermost and talk as if tears and cares and
worries were your meat and drink continually. Why cannot we let our cheerful
thoughts have free course sometimes without stopping them with that everlasting
“but”? “Yes; I have many things to be grateful for, but I” That word often
expresses the concentrated essence of ingratitude. It is a volume of murmurings
and fretfulness bound up in three letters. Do not make too much, I repeat, of
that other side. Your house is not so large as you desire. No; but maybe there
is far more love and happiness in it than in many a bigger house. Your children
are not all shaping as you would wish. No; but some of them, let us hope, bring
brightness to your homes and put music into your hearts continually. Your
business prospects are not brilliant maybe. No; but you have never lacked a
sufficiency of comforts, and your way has always so far been made clear. We
should be far happier and far more generous-hearted men if we did not make so
much of that “but” in thinking of and discussing those who love us and whom we
love. They please us in many things, but! Ah, well, magnify the many things,
and let that other side go by. (J. Greenhough, M. A.)
Alloy in grandeur
Naaman was a mighty man, but he was a leper. Every man has some
“but” or other in his character--something that blemishes and diminishes
him--some alloy in his grandeur--some damp to his joy: he may be very
happy--very good; yet, in something or other, not so good as he should be, nor
so happy as he would be. (Matthew Henry.)
Verses 2-4
And the Syrians had gone out by companies.
The Hebrew maid
I. Her faith in
God. Plainly she had very strong faith; and it was of the right sort. For there
are wrong kinds of faith. Mere belief even of the truth may be perfectly
powerless. The question is, what side does ]our belief make you take? It should
be a living trust in a living person, a whole faith in the whole Saviour.
Notice the beautiful signs of this girl’s faith. In that land of idols and
idolaters she was not ashamed to own her Lord. And her charity proved her faith
sincere. What wonder if she had nursed revenge, and said in spite, “I’m glad my
master is a leper: it is God’s judgment upon him: it serves him right.” How
beautiful, how Christ-like her forgiving spirit! We should like to know how she
became such a believing child of God. The people of Israel were then
desperately wicked. It was the time of Elijah, of Ahab and Jezebel; and
thousands had forsaken Jehovah for idols. But probably she had such a good
mother as Timothy had. From her lips she learnt about the God of Abraham. Her
mother’s prayers were heard in heaven; and when sin rioted around, faith found
a home in the heart of this dear child.
II. Her
faithfulness. Faithfulness is more than faith. As the Word shows, it is the
fulness of faith. She had so much of the true faith that it filled her whole nature,
and made her faithful under terrible trials. It wrought in her loving loyalty
to her loving God: it made her leal-hearted. Peter had faith, but not enough of
it to make him faithful in the palace of the high priest. How sad that many who
go to heathen countries are faithless to their religion. They act as if their
religion should be shaped by the region where they happen to dwell; they are as
the softest wax on which public opinion may set any stamp: men they are in this
without manhood, who do not belong to themselves but to any owner who boldly
claims them; they are tossed about like pitiable atoms in the centre of a
whirlwind. We greatly value this unselfish loyalty to a cause that seems lost.
The Bible is always pleading with us to be loyal to God, and true to our trust,
whatever it may be.
III. Her
fruitfulness. “Nothing but leaves,” cannot be applied to her. Seeming the
meekest human being in Syria, she proved one of the mightiest. “I am but one,
but I am one. I cannot do much, but I can do something; and all that I can do I
ought to do, and by God’s grace will do.” Thus she became really a great
apostle and missionary. By her the true religion was known and respected in
Syria, and Naaman became a worshipper of Jehovah; and so she has been thought
worthy of a large place in God’s book. But take care not to fall into a mistake
here. You may fancy that you are to do good only by a great and happy effort
once in a while. “How long did you take to paint that picture for which you ask
£100?” a gentleman once said to a famous painter. “Two days,” he replied. “And
do you expect £100 for the work of two days?” “You forget,” answered the
painter, “that my whole life was a preparation for the work of these two days.” So a few words
from this girl moved the household of Naaman; but it was her whole life that
prepared her for giving these few words at the right time, and in the right
way. (J. Wells.)
The little lady’s maid
Syria was a kingdom near to Canaan. For some time a little girl
lived in Syria. She may not have been more than eight or ten years old. We wish
to say seven things about her.
I. This little
girl was a Jewess. She belonged to the best land and the best people. What
advantages she had! In this respect you are equal, yea, superior to her; Canaan
and the Israelites then compared with England and the English now. A complete
Bible and a Saviour who has come. To whomsoever much is given, of them much
shall be required.
II. This little
girl was a slave. Think on her sad condition. Forced away from her land, home,
friends, and parents. Many children have been in the same circumstances--Rome,
Greece, America. Some even in the present day--Madagascar and Africa. “Slaves
cannot breathe in England.” Why? Education. Government. Above all, the Gospel.
Should you not believe it and love it?
III. This little
girl worked as a slave in the house of Naaman. She was in his house, and waited
on his wife. A lady’s maid. From this we learn that, though young, she was
clever, and did all her work well. Imitate her in these things. Never be
careless about what you do. Try to read, write, spell, etc., in the best way.
In after-life you will then do things easily and well. This will be a great
comfort to yourselves and others.
IV. This little
girl was very kind. Here was kindness to one who had not been kind to her. This
was the spirit of Jesus. Hear Him and see Him on the cross. It should be your
spirit. You cannot have it without a new heart, any more than there can be a
stream without a fountain. Because the little maid had the one, she had also
the other. He who gave her a new heart will give you one. Ask Him for it.
V. This little
girl was exceedingly intelligent. This is how she reasoned: Elisha, who, by the
power of God, could raise a dead body to life, could also, if it pleased God,
restore a diseased body to health. Wonderful reasoning for a little girl. Learn
to put things together in your minds. Do this with your school lessons; when
you are reading books, looking at persons, watching the birds flying, and the
ships sailing. You will then be not dull, but clever, and so be able to push
your way through the world.
VI. This little
girl did a great amount of good. Naaman was delivered from his leprosy, and
likewise from his heathenism. Besides, the whole narrative has been used by
thousands to illustrate the Gospel, by which multitudes have been saved from
sin to holiness. Similar results have been produced by a single book, tract,
action, or word. You can all do good; do it every day.
VII. This little girl was highly honoured. By the attention she
received from so many in Syria; by obtaining a place in the Bible; by having
thousands speaking well of her, as we have been trying to do. Her case
illustrates the text, “Them that honour Me, I will honour.” Go ye and do likewise.
Speak for God, like her. Speak for others, and especially the suffering, like
her. (A. M’Auslane, D. D.)
The faith of a little maid
We are deeply attached to this impulsive officer, of sterling
character but many faults, and to the little maid who, though a caged bird,
sang so sweetly the songs of Zion that she led her master into the liberty of
the sons of God.
1. See, then, one whom God determined to bless. Naaman was a heathen.
Naaman was living in Damascus, a city which had stood for some 1100 years, and
was enriched with the wealth and splendour of empires. God wanted a witness in
that great city; and so this heathen general, dwelling in all the luxury of
that great capital, became the object of God’s peculiar favour. He was
certainly one of fortune’s favourites. Everything had gone well with him. He
was a man of many victories. By him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria.
This popular and successful man, who had gained all the world could give him,
was the man God determined to bless.
2. But mark the mysterious means adopted. Strong measures were
necessary, for such favourites of fortune are not easily won. First of all,
Naaman was smitted with leprosy. What we think our greatest troubles often
prove our chief mercies. But there was to be trouble and disaster in another
quarter. A quiet country village on the borders of Palestine is disturbed by a
sudden alarm. A band of Syrian horsemen is rapidly approaching. The peasants
flee in terror and hide in the hills; but some are captured, and amongst them a
little maid. And her friends, when they hear of it, wish that she were rather
dead than the prey of the infidel. But God was working His purpose out. These
two desolate homes were not a work of wantonness, but a part of the Divine
programme of blessing.
3. Consider now the special instrument used. We love to dwell upon
the scene in Naaman’s home. The little maid soon found out that there were sore
troubles in the world besides her own, and her heart was at once drawn out in
sympathy with her mistress. It must have seemed like a nightingale’s song from
a distant grove, heralding the advent of spring. It was a gleam of sunshine
breaking in upon a night of hopeless gloom. Naaman’s house was full of idols.
Sacrifices and libations without stint had been offered to gain the favour of
the Syrian gods. And all had been in vain. But now this Hebrew child tells of a
prophet who can save, of certain healing to be had in her own land of Samaria.
No one could doubt either the sincerity of her confidence or the genuineness of
her sympathy. It was the candid, artless statement of a truthful child, and it
carried conviction to all who heard it. It reached the ears of the King of
Syria, and he determined to act upon it at once. We see here the permanent
results of early religious training. This captive maiden, because she had been
taught to know and trust God, was so strong in faith that she was the means of
bringing salvation to the house of her captivity, and of raising up a testimony
for God which rang through the whole land of Syria.
4. But see the peculiar character of a child’s faith. It is concrete
and objective. It was the prophet who filled her whole area of vision. Though
she knew well all about God’s dealings in times past with her nation, her view
of religion was summed up practically in this: the prophet that is in Samaria
can raise the dead, heal lepers, or do anything. It is a splendid testimony to
Elisha’s character and influence, that he had awakened such confidence in the
soul of this little maid. There is something wrong in the teacher or preacher
if he cannot enlist the enthusiastic love of children. How simple and how real
a child’s faith becomes when the substance of the teaching is the living
Christ! It is specially easy, alas! to inculcate error--to develop superstition
instead of faith--false confidence in images and relics and human priests,
rather than trust in the unseen Saviour. When father and mother can do such
wonders, it is obvious to their simple minds that God can do greater wonders
still, dealing with laws, and touching secret springs of influence unknown to
the wisest men. This little maid was confident that Elisha could and would heal
her master. It was nothing to her simple, generous faith that his disease was
incurable, and.. he himself outside God’s covenant. Surely a bigoted, sectarian
child is one of the most unnatural and most odious monstrosities to be found on
earth. Alas for England, if such a spirit ever prevails in those elementary and
public schools which form the nursery of the nation. Oh for more of the
child-spirit among Christians! “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
Genuine faith in a real God and a real heaven makes the whole Church one.
5. And notice how far-reaching may be the influence of the most insignificant
child of God. This captive maid would have been looked upon as the least
influential person in all Damascus. Her simple faith was the means of winning
her master, who became a living witness to all Syria; and, by her bright faith,
she has been preaching to millions of Bible students for nearly three thousand
years. When Naaman left Damascus, he took with him treasures amounting to about
£12,000 sterling. But he had with him also what was of infinitely greater
value--the prayers of the little maid. Oh, children of God, live up to your
high calling! In this, the land of your exile, you are only strangers and
pilgrims. Confess it. Declare your faith in heaven, and your acquaintance with
One who is able to save to the uttermost. (F. S. Webster, M. A.)
The captive maid
The rich and the poor meet together. The mighty and the ignoble,
the monarch and the slave, are, after all, near companions on the pilgrimage of
life. Naaman the Syrian, mighty and honourable, is a dweller beneath the same
roof with the little captive maid of the land of Israel.
I. We notice, her
recognition of God in providence. She might have looked at the dark cloud of
adversity hanging over her, and failed to discern a gleam of light; but she
believed that the God of providence was behind the cloud, and would disperse it
in His own good time. She had the conviction that God had directed, and would
still direct, her steps. Is not her example a pattern to believers? The captive
maid does indeed reprove and exhort us, in our mistrust of God in providence.
Christian experience may well be tested by the Christian precept which enjoins
us, as believers, to be “careful for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). Afflictions, trials,
disappointments, rightly regarded, would help us in the application of this
test. We might safely reason thus: If we cannot commit the ordering of our
earthly way to our Father, who hath loved us, and “blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:3); if we cannot confide in
His wisdom, and trust in His goodness, under the trials and afflictions lie may
send us, have we not reason to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith at
all? Assuredly the measure of our faith in the God of grace will find no
uncertain index in the measure of our faith in the God of providence.
II. We notice,
secondly, the usefulness of the captive maid in the humble position she
occupied. We see in her an illustration of God’s employment of simple means to
accomplish mighty ends. How great is their folly who despise the day of small
things! There is no station so humble, but God is able to find in it those who
may render valuable service in His Church. Humility of circumstance, when
attended with humility of character, especially commends a man as a fitting
co-worker with God. “Not many wise men after the flesh,” etc. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). Let us
beware of the delusive thought, which paralyses so much Christian exertion,
that our station is too humble, our sphere of influence too circumscribed, to
allow of Christian usefulness.
III. As a concluding
remark on the history of the captive maid, we notice the inestimable value of
her piety, both to herself and others. This lesson may be commended to us in a
twofold form. It may remind us of the value of a pious servant in every
household, and of the value of piety to every servant. It is recorded of the
Rev. Henry Venn, that he often thanked God for a pious servant; and he once
said to his children respecting her, “Ruth is my servant here; but if your
father is found at her feet at the Great Day his place will not be a low one.”
Happy the servant who, by a life of piety, so “adorns the doctrine of God her
Saviour,” as to win from those whom she serves such a testimony of her worth! (C.
Bullock.)
A young captive
In the story of this Syrian girl there are some things which may
suggest thoughts of sympathy with girls nearer home.
I. The first
suggestion is that of a child’s helplessness. We often say, “as helpless as a
child.” The child of our story was a girl--an orphan girl, so far at least as
she was bereft of the parental care--and she was a slave-girl. Thus the child
of the Syrian household stands before us in a situation so pathetic, and seems
to plead for her little sisters of our own time.
II. The second
suggestion of the text is of another kind, namely, a child’s helpfulness.
Helpless as she was, the little maid of the story helped her master to the
recovery of health, and the knowledge of God. Now the basis of her helpfulness
was her religious training. She could help man, because she knew God. When they
carried her away captive she could sing them the Lord’s song in a strange land.
This child knew the Psalms better than some of us know them, and some of
Naaman’s servants got the girl now and then to chant them. “The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want.” It was as if they had brought an angel in their
train when they carried that godly child to Syria. (Samuel Gregory.)
The little captive maid
I. God can do very
great things by very feeble instruments. The cleansing of Naaman from bodily
leprosy was a very great thing. By means of it he was converted to the worship
of the true God--a far greater thing. But, in all likelihood, had it not been
for the little captive maid he would have died a feller and a heathen.
II. God can make
the sinful acts of men to praise Him. Bringing this little maid a captive out
of her native country was a sinful act. But she was brought into the household
of Naaman, and God made her a means of unspeakable good to him. Very likely,
after his conversion, Naaman proved a blessing to others. If so, she had a
share therein.
III. Whither-soever
we go, we should take our religion with us. This little Israelitish maid,
though she was living in a heathen household, was not ashamed to own herself to
be a worshipper of Jehovah. Many who are attentive to the outward duties of
religion at home act like those who make no profession when they go among
strangers.
IV. We should love
our enemies. This little maid was a captive in Naaman’s household. It would,
therefore, have not been at all unnatural had she hated him. But, instead of
that, she pitied him as a leper, and manifested her kindly feelings toward him
by telling her mistress where he could obtain deliverance from his sad
condition. The Lord, by His servant, the prophet Jeremiah, said to the captive
Israelites in Babylon: “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to
be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it.”
V. The mighty of
the earth should not despise the lowly. The former do not know how greatly they
may yet be indebted to the latter. No doubt, many a time Naaman, the
commander-in-chief of the Syrian army, envied the robust health of a private.
For that--could he have done it--he would cheerfully have given him his wealth
and honours. But it was utterly impossible for him, in any way, to buy that
unspeakable blessing. At length he obtained it, but he did so “without money
and without price.” (T. Fenwick.)
A helpful girl
The keeper of a lighthouse on the coast of Cornwall went ashore
one day, and was seized and held a prisoner by a band of wicked men. They
thought that thus they would prevent the lighting of the light, and ships would
be dashed upon the rocks, and then they could get the spoils. But they forgot
the little daughter of the lighthouse keeper. When it came time, all alone and
frightened as she was, she climbed the long stairs and lit all the lights. Many
of God’s purposes are imposed in small agents for fulfilment. The Lord seems to
delight in fulfilling His will by feeble instrumentalities. A child’s hand can
move the lever which launches a mighty ship.
Verses 5-7
And the King of Syria said, Go to, Go.
The problem of Naaman the leper
Naaman the Syrian was a brave, intelligent, resourceful, and
successful soldier, but he was a leper. And that “but” was the fly in the
ointment which made all his brilliant qualities of no worth. The problem was to
remove the fly from the ointment before it was too late. The fact that Naaman
was so capable and indispensable to his sovereign made the necessity the more
urgent. The economist could not bear to see such magnificent plant lying idle.
The patriot felt it grievous that the country should be deprived of the
services of so valuable and loyal a servant. But the question was “How?”
Leprosy was as incurable as it was incapacitating. A man might avoid it, but
once within its toils he could in no wise escape. So every one thought until a
chance word of an Israelite slave-girl reawakened hope. The little maid spoke
with such confidence of the possibility, nay the certainty, of her master’s
cure, could he but be with the prophet in Samaria, that her suggestions became
the staple of the conversation of the court, and finally reached the ears of
the king. Her words carried such conviction that the courtiers found themselves
actually taking the cure for granted, and proceeding to discuss the method by
which it could be accomplished. On that matter everybody had his own theory.
The problem is still with us. On every side are men and women of amiable
qualities and natural ability, capable of estimable service to their day and
generation, who, because of some moral defect, inherited or acquired, are
missing their opportunity, and proving a burden to the commonwealth instead of
a gain. Think for a moment not only of the personal suffering endured, but of
the jeopardy in which the community stands, and the loss of service it sustains
through the prevalence of the leprosy of impurity and drunkenness; of
covetousness and gambling; of jealousy and falsehood; of hate and strife; of
ostentation and laziness. The need of today then, as in Ben-hadad’s Syria, is
to cure the Naamans. Let us briefly glance at the suggested solutions of the
problem.
1. The king’s idea was to send the leper to the King of Israel. So
the letter was despatched whose contents put the King of Israel ha such alarm.
“Am I God,” said the perturbed monarch, “to kill and to make alive, that this
man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? But consider now how he
seeketh quarrel against me.” This time, however, the shrewd suspicion of
Jehoram was at fault. The request was in good faith. It proceeded from a
genuine expectation that if the cure was to be performed at all it must be by
the king. In whom else would the requisite authority be vested? Quaint as the
notion seems, it expresses a distinctly modern creed. For king read State, and
you are in the twentieth century at once. Nothing is more remarkable, and in
some respects more pathetic, than the rapid growth of the widely held belief in
the power of the State as an instrument of reform. And without a doubt the
State can accomplish much--much that was formerly thought not merely beyond its
power, but beyond even its cognizance. It can restrain evil-doers, and reward
them that do well. It can remove sources of temptation, adjust inequalities,
and secure to every man a fair chance. It can alter conditions, and so modify
habits. But its methods are slow, and subject to great alternations. Its chief
instrument of immediate reformation is restraint, separation, stamping out. It
keeps society healthy by shutting up the infected. The result of which is that,
lest they should be found out, men cover up their leprosy and drive it below
the skin. But they are lepers still. A change in the direction of a more
equitable distribution of the results of industry would not in itself be a cure
for covetousness. Prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors will not be
followed by an immediate cessation of the desire for strong drink. The State
has large and undoubted powers, but the best and truest advocates for the wide
extension of its scope of action and administration nevertheless recognise its
limitations, and disclaim on its behalf any attempt at usurpation of the
prerogative of God, or of authority to remove the leprosy of sin.
2. To do Naaman justice, he did not set much store by the letter to
the king. It was, of course, courteous and expedient first to present himself
at the court. But his hope lay in an interview, not with Israel’s king, but
with Israel’s prophet. So, as soon as he could, he relieved the king of the
embarrassment of his presence, and turned the heads of his magnificent
thoroughbreds to the humbler quarter of the city where dwelt the prophet. He
had, of course, indulged in speculation as to the method the prophet would
follow. The sequel shows how thoroughly he was mistaken. But Naaman’s ideas
still persist. The great feature in modern schemes of reformation is the
attempt to preserve a man’s self-respect, or, to use the expressive phrase we
have, borrowed from the East, “to save his face.” If he is a leper, for pity’s
sake don’t tell him so, or let him think that you think he is. Treat him as
though he was not. Soon he will begin to think he isn’t, and then he won’t act
as though he was. And then he won’t be! So seems much current teaching.
Further, it conduces much to a cure that a little ceremony and some symbolic
act shall be introduced, with just a suggestion of magic or the occult! There is
a growing trust in formalism.
3. There remains the suggestion of the unsophisticated and faithful
servants of Naaman, and that was the way they had been taught to tread the way
of humility and obedience, Consent to be, and to be treated as the leper you know
yourself to be. Rid yourself of the idea that consideration is due to you on
the ground of station, attainments, endowments, wealth, reputation. Consent to
be just a leper, a vile leper. And then obey. Don’t dispute the prescription,
but follow it. Don’t argue that, even if you agree to wash, it would surely be
better to wash in the clear, limpid, and beautiful streams of Damascus than in
the turbid waters of Jordan. Possibly Abana and Pharpar are all you think them
to be. But Jordan is the stream chosen. It is a simple thing. Try it. Dip, dip
seven times. (F. L. Wiseman.)
The pilgrimage
This artless child-utterance opens unexpectedly to the diseased
and despairing hero a door of hope--puts a new guiding-star into his midnight
of darkness. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy” “Whosoever
believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Yes; blessed be God,
these and similar declarations are addressed to every spiritual leper in this
sin-stricken world. As with the warrior of Damascus, so with them: they have a
gracious “missive,” a “letter of commendation” to the King of kings. There is a
Greater than the greatest prophet in Israel, who can “recover them of their
leprosy.”
1. Naaman’s first impulse, before setting out on his journey, was to
go and tell his lord. Before he can adopt the suggestion of the young Hebrew,
be feels it his duty, though the most exalted of Ben-hadad’s subjects, to go to
his sovereign, make him acquainted with his design, and receive the royal
sanction. This reads us the preliminary lesson, regarding even the minor,
ordinary everyday details of life, to be careful in observing its proprieties
and courtesies. “Be courteous,” “Let all things be done decently and in order,”
are alike moral and religious obligations. But is there not also a higher
spiritual lesson here for the Christian in his hour of difficulty and peril?
When environed with perplexing paths and providences, and at a loss which to
follow, swaying between the opposing forces of inclination and duty, may he
not--ought he not, like Naaman, to repair to the King of kings--“to tell his
Lord” of what is burdening his spirit?
2. Observe Naaman’s departure and journey. “And,” we read, “he
departed” (2 Kings 5:5). His promptitude, in
the true soldier-spirit of instant surrender to duty--“Go, and he goeth,” is
noteworthy. How unlike the case of many in spiritual things; who stagger
through unbelief; allowing solemn monition and conviction to pass unheeded;
conjuring up to themselves some supposed necessity for postponement and delay;
resolving to set out on the pilgrimage at some time, but “not yet”; imagining
the chariots and horses of salvation to be at their call whenever they wish,
and their malignant leprosy a thing that may be safely postponed for a
death-bed cure. As Naaman felt, so well may they, that restoration may be with
them “now or never.” The king said to the sufferer, “Go to, go.” It is thus our
Lord speaks. This is the Great Physician’s prescription to the seeking soul,
Wait not a moment; linger not in all the plain; confer not with any earthly
adviser. Let the chariots be ordered. Haste thee; flee for thy life! “Go to!
go!” for a long eternity is suspended on the resolve.
3. Let us note Naaman’s reception. The journey is accomplished; the
chief and his retainers have reached Samaria, the capital of Israel, situated
on its steep hill; a city “which combined in a union not elsewhere found in
Palestine, strength and beauty.” Naaman sends one of his troop to the palace of
Jehoram with the royal letter of Ben-hadad. The monarch reads it. Commencing,
doubtless, with the wonted Oriental complimentary salutations, the perusal
leads to a burst of indignant anger. It seemed little else than an insult; an
arrogant imposition on royal credulity; the studied, designed occasion of a
fresh quarrel. He sees in the letter only a pretext for drawing swords again,
for anew ravaging his territories and deluging his valleys with blood. Alas!
will the monarch of Israel--the head and ruler of the theocratic tribes--refuse
to give glory to whom, as it specially became him to testify, glory is due? (J.
R. Macduff, D. D.)
Verse 11-12
But Naaman was wroth, and went away.
Pride overcoming want
The great man and all his cortege are kept outside, and God’s
servant will not even
come out, but sends the message, “Go and wash in Jordan.” That un-courtly
reception is no piece of vulgar arrogance, like the pride of a pope that keeps
an emperor standing in the snow in the castle yard for three days, before he
will absolve him. It is the wise dealing of that Divine Word. With soldier-like
quickness of temper and pride, he flashes all at once into a blaze. The
characteristics which offended Naaman, are the characteristics of God’s cure
for the leprosy of our spirits. They are its glory even though men may stumble
at them. Look at them as brought out here.
I. Note then, what
in this man’s eyes was a fault,-what, to clearer vision, is a glory--the utter
indifference of the Gospel to all distinctions among men. The community in the
sickness of sin destroys all distinctions. There is a prince lying on that bed;
there a stable-boy on that. They are ill of the same disease,, which affects
the man, not his office. They need the same treatment, and--thank God!--they
get it from Him who is no respecter of persons. Such treatment is true to the
fact of man’s condition. For it is a fact that we are all alike in sin. In us
all there has been and is a voluntary divergence and deflection from the line
of right, which darkens a man’s soul. “All the world is guilty before God”! You
cannot refute, and you will not mend that old saying about man’s condition. Let
me put it into plain English. Whether do you think it matters most in your
relation to God--yours and mine--that we are sinners or that we are cultivated
people? Whether do you think it matters most that our hearts have started aside
from Him and our hands have done evil, or that we can read Latin and Greek
books and are scholars? There is something for you. If the distinctions on
which you pride yourselves are worth anything, they will help you to apprehend
and profit by God’s gift. For this treatment of all men as alike sinners, is
the precursor of as universal a mercy. All are alike in two facts--that we have
sinned, and that Christ has died for us. And, therefore, some men turn away
from it. There is the narrow gate! Plenty of room for you--no room for the load
of adventitious distinctions that you carry upon your shoulders. And so “he
turned, and went away in a rage”! And let me remind you how this superb
indifference of the Gospel to all these distinctions of man from man, is its
true glory, and
has wrought wonderful things. The Gospel came into a world all swathed in
ligatures, all cleft into classes, parted from one another by deep gulfs which
there was no bridging, where nations frowned at one another from their
battlements, and caste and class and race and culture rent men apart from their
fellows, and nothing but the grip of an iron hand and the false unity of
conquest held them together. The Gospel, the true democracy, came and struck
the bonds from the slave, taught the sentiment of fraternity, gave a new word
and a new thought to the languages of earth--“humanity”--made men and women
equal possessors of an equal grace! “He turned and went away in a rage”! And
the world turns, and will yet do so in all its peoples and classes--no longer parted,
but blended in one faith and one Lord, to Him who is the equal Saviour to the
whole race of men.
II. We may draw
from these words an illustration of what I venture to call the naked simplicity
of God’s Gospel. He said, “Behold, I thought he will come, and stand, and call
on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and so by
all that ceremonial he will recover the leper.” And what does he get instead of
all this? “Go and wash and be clean.” It was very like a heathen, accustomed to
muttered spells and magical incantations, whose whole religion clung close to
the low levels of earth, whose gods and whose worship, whose hopes and whose
fears were alike material, to crave for some external ritual of cleansing. It
was very like a man to long for something visible and tangible for his wavering
confidence to lay hold upon--some fixed point belonging to solid earth to which
he might fasten the filmy frailty of his faith. It was very like God to
contradict the desire and to give him instead--only a promise to grasp, and a
command to obey, which was chiefly a test of his obedience, since common sense
told him that water could not wash away the eating evil, and national pride
rebelled against the pre-eminence of the river of Israel. The like apparent
antagonism between men’s wishes and God’s ways meets us in the Gospel--and the
like correspondence between God’s ways and men’s real wants. Christianity comes
to us--or rather instead of that abstract word let us say Christ, who is
Christianity, comes to us--trusting wholly and only to spiritual remedies. He,
too, says “wash and be clean.” The one power that cleanses is His blood for
pardon, His spirit for holiness. The one condition of receiving these is simple
faith in Him; all externals are nothing. And so people feel out of their
element in a region thus purely spiritual and immaterial. The heathenism which
is in all of us, the sense.bound materialism which sways us all, lays hold of
the pure Gospel which Christ wrought and gives, and reforms it by tacking on to
it an incongruous and heterogeneous appendage of rites and ceremonies, and by
investing the simple ordinances which He enjoined with mysterious power.
III. Then, there is
connected with this consideration, and yet somewhat distinct from it, the
other, the utter rejection by the Gospel of all our co-operation in our own
cleansing. The words of Naaman himself do not explicitly contain his refusal to
do what was required, on the ground that it was so small a thing. But that was
evidently in his mind, as well as the other grounds of offence; and it comes
out distinctly in the common-sense remonstrance by which his servants brought
their irascible master to reason, Men would be a great deal more willing to
accept God’s way of salvation if it gave them some share in their own
salvation. But its characteristic is that it will have none of our work--not
even so much as this man had to do in his healing. The Gospel rejects our
co-operation just because it demands our faith. For what is faith? Is not an
essential part of it the consciousness that we can do nothing, the forsaking
and going out of ourselves, accompanying the flight to Him? The under side of
faith is self-abnegation; the upper side is confidence in Christ. In like
manner, remember that the same principle is further established because our
faith is not the means of our cure, but only the bringing of our sickness into
contact with the means. God’s love in Christ, Christ’s perfect work of
reconciliation, Christ’s Spirit poured out--these be the energies that heal;
our faith is but lifting the eyelid that the light may fill the eye, but
opening the door that the physician may enter. And, therefore, because there is
not a crevice in the whole process where self-trust can creep through, because
from beginning to end God is all and man nought, our hearts rebel, We do not
like to be paupers. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Syrian leper
I. The causes
which induced Naaman to reject the remedy prescribed by Elisha.
1. He expected a direct communication of supernatural influence (2 Kings 5:11). 2 He sought, in the
means appointed, that virtue which belonged to the promise of God (verses 10-12).
3. He shrank from the humiliation involved, as he conceived, in the
use of those means (2 Kings 5:12-13).
II. The
unreasonableness of his conduct.
1. It was not for him to dictate the method of his recovery.
2. He Ought to have tried the means before denouncing them.
3. He should have sacrificed his feelings to his good. The whole case
teaches:--
1. The influence of self-government.
2. The value of faithful counsel.
3. The advantages of religious knowledge. (Homilist.)
The commonplace
This irritation of Naaman is so natural that it hardly requires
any words of explanation. We recognise in a moment what vexed him so, just
because we have been so often vexed ourselves. Naaman expected a striking and
startling cure. He knew how the Syrian magicians would conduct themselves; they
would come forth in procession muttering their incantations, and moving their
hands in mysterious and magnetic fashion over the sufferer. Something of this
kind, no doubt, Naaman was expecting when he rode up in state to Elisha’s door.
Then came Elisha’s message, “Go and wash in Jordan”--go and do something that
any man could do.
I. The widespread
irritation at the commonplace was fairly manifested in the case of Naaman. I
think I need hardly remind you of another Bible story where the most intense
dislike makes itself manifest. “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Do we not know
his brothers?” It was with such words that the Jews discredited Jesus. Like
Naaman, they were intensely irritated with the commonplaceness of this Messiah.
It was a prevalent belief among the Jews that the second Adam would come in
full-grown manhood like the first. They had the convenient habit, which we all
possess, of forgetting the prophecies they wanted to. Suddenly, in some effulgence
of glory, perhaps from the secret of the Temple, Christ would appear. They were
looking for some spectacular performance, like Naaman when he came posting to
Elisha. Then Christ was born in a little hillside village, and he wrought with
Joseph who was a village carpenter, and he played with his comrades in a
village street. But to come nearer home, and think of ourselves. Are we not all
prone to the same irritation? Think, for example, of how we regard our
newspapers. A man takes up his paper with a feeling of expectancy always, and
almost always lays it down with a feeling of disappointment. We say, “There is
nothing in the newspaper this morning--nothing;” and so we throw it down. What
we really mean is there is nothing startling, nothing to thrill us, and hold us
by its tragedy. For every morning there is the record of birth in it, the
echoing music of new created life; every morning there is the record of death
in it, with its untold sorrow and its unimagined fears. “There is nothing in
it.” Is that vain vexation not akin to Naaman’s when he was bidden by Elisha to
go and wash in Jordan? Does it not indicate it is very hard to realise the
value of the ordinary? The fact is, we are half savage at our heart yet, and we
have all the savage’s delight in glaring colours. I cannot help thinking, too,
that much of man’s world-weariness, much of the disappointment that middle life
brings with it is connected by very real, yet subtle, ties with this
deep-seated vexation at the commonplace. When we are young we all dream heroic
dreams. We are all going to be soldiers, sea-captains, car-drivers. We start
from childhood, as Naaman started from Syria, not knowing anything, but seeing
glorious visions. Like Naaman, we are bidden go wash in Jordan. Our joys have nothing
remarkable about them; they are just the joys of every one else in the terrace.
Our sorrows have nothing spectacular about them. There are a thousand hearts
that have been torn like ours. We are not such geniuses as we once thought we
were. Matched with the great world we have come to find our level. My point is
that the wrong handling of that discovery is at the back of half the
disappointment of maturity, at the back of half of its sin, and of its
drunkenness and its divorce. How many men turn away in a rage from life’s plain
duty, not because it is difficult, but because it is dull. And in our Christian
experience, for we are here under the banner of Christ as Christians, have we
not known something in our Christian experience of Naaman’s disappointments? I
think that many men come to Jesus of Nazareth as the commander of Syria came to
the prophet Elisha--we come because we need Him. We come because of the leprosy
of sin. We have read such wonderful things about that great revival moving in
the very heart of Wales, that we come all eager with glorious expectation. God
forbid that I should even hint that these expectations are disappointed; He is
able to save even to the uttermost. But when we come and cannot see Him, when
we hear a voice that says, “Go, wash in Jordan,” when instead of swift miracle
there is only plain command that we have heard from our childhood, when instead
of great deeds there is dull and dreary service, have not men, not to say
women, been moved even against Christ with this feeling that animated Naaman?
You must resist that feeling, you must fight it down. To turn away from Elisha
in a rage was a very poor and pitiable thing; but to turn away from Christ
Jesus in a rage is the one fatal act of a man’s life.
II. There are few things more
dangerous than this dislike. Let me indicate to you three very plain reasons
that make it so perilous to cherish this irritation.
1. Will you remember, first, that the commonplace is the warp
and woof of life? It is the material out of which our days are made. Take
yesterday; think how you spent it till sunset and evening star, and you have
the record of a thousand ordinary things. The fabric of our common days is
commonplace. We waken, we eat, we work, we pray--God grant it--and we sleep. We
go through the dull routine of daily duty; we have our little undistinguished
share of trial. One of our modern novelists says a wise thing about greatness,
that sadly outraged and mismanaged word. Greatness, he says, is to take the
common things of life and to walk truly among them. No matter how stirring your
life may be, it will be a failure if you have never been wakened to the glory
of the usual. There is no happiness like the old and common
happiness--sunshine, love, duty, the laughter of little children. Only a fool
could think that yacht or motor-car was to be laid in the balance with these
abiding things. •
2. Then the commonplace, remember, is God’s preparation for the
great. It prepares us to meet great hours when they come. Simple obedience to a
very plain command, for us as for Naaman, is the path to glorious hours. What
did our Lord mean in that parable when He makes the Master say, “Be thou ruler
of ten cities”? What did He mean when He said, “Out of thy mouth I condemn
thee, thou wicked servant. Take from him the pound and give it to him that hath
ten pounds?” he meant that the capacity for royal government, the power to rise
to great situations and play the king, was rooted in the brave and faithful
handling of the commonplace and ordinary pound. It is always so. Trace back the
failure that makes all the city talk, and you will find its roots in
ill-regulated years. All a man’s hope for a radiant to-morrow lies in his use
of a commonplace to-day. If you cannot be faithful now when all is dreary, there
is little hope of any victory then.
3. Think how Christ insists upon the commonplace. We all wish, do we
not, to follow Him? The more I study Christ s life the more I am impressed by
the value He sets upon the ordinary. He took a common lily that grew in tens of
thousands, and He said, “Not even Solomon, in all his glory, is arrayed like
one of these.” He
took a commonplace child--not over clean perhaps, but with such eyes--and said,
“Of such is the kingdom of heaven.” For Christ there was a whole universe
within the mustard seed; for Christ there was a revelation in the sparrow.
Instead of fretting like Naaman we shall say, “Yes, Lord, because Thou biddest
me, I will go and wash in Jordan seven times. (G. H. Morrison, M. A.)
Behold I thought.
The danger of preconceptions
Naaman had heard of a man who could cure his leprosy,--so he
thought out how this would be accomplished. He made a plan in his own mind, as
we see in the eleventh verse. The great mistake that we have made is, that we
thought we could find out a religion--we could make one. So we have set our
inventiveness to work, and we have said, God must be thus and so. Religion must
surprise by showing the unexpected way of doing things. Religion is not a
condition of our a priori thinking. The religion of the Bible
never professes to meet us half-way, to do half the work if we will do the
other half. Man would rather be flattered and commended, and it would be
pleasant to him to hear the old prophets say: “Thou art a clever man, and thy
astuteness must be most pleasing to God and His angels; thou hast found out the
secret of the Almighty; by thine own right hand hast thou captured the prizes
of heaven.” Who would not be pleased by such commendation? But it is never given. The Bible
pours contempt upon the thought which preoccupies the mind, and has no blessing
but for those who are poor in heart, meek, lowly, contrite, broken in spirit,
childlike, who say with a tender loving reverence, “Lord, what wilt Thou have
me to be and to do? To this man will I look.” How expectation is excited by
that introduction. “Who is the man?” To this man will I look, who is of a
broken and contrite spirit, and who trembleth at my word. Let us apply this
suggestion to two or three of the most vital religious inquiries.
1. Apply it to the subject of inspiration. Instead of coming to the
Book without bias and prejudice, simply to hear what the Book has to say for
itself, we come with what is termed a theory of inspiration. As if there could
be any balance between the terms,
as if in any degree or sense they could be equivalent to one another. Theory
equal to inspiration--inspiration equal to theory. The word theory must be an
offence to the word inspiration! Inspiration is madness, ecstasy, enthusiasm,
the coronation of the soul, the mind in its widest, grandest illumination. Now
open the Book. The Book is as nearly not that as it is possible for a book to
be. What is the consequence? The Book is not inspired, because, forsooth, it
does not answer our preconception of inspiration! What does Naaman say about
the Book? “Behold, I thought it would be all written in polysyllables; I
expected it would be all sublime, with an unprecedented sublimity too grand for
our language, and would need a language of its own too superior for our atmosphere,
and would need an air created for itself.” And, behold, it is so simple, so
graphic, so abrupt, so social. What you have to do with the Bible is to read it
straight through, without saying anything to anybody. You have not to dip into
it just as you please, you have to begin at the beginning and read through to
the final Amen. In doing so you have to be as fair to the Book as you would be
to the meanest criminal that ever stood at the bar of justice. When you have
read the Book thus straight through, there is no reason why you should not form
a distinct opinion about it. Nowhere will the Book take away your power of
thought, reason, and judgment. It will rather challenge you at the last to say,
“Who or what say ye that I am?” The same suggestion has its application to the
great question of Providence. Here, again, we lose much by the indulgence of
preconception. Given God and man. God, almighty, all-wise, and man as we know
him to be, to find out the course of human history. “Behold, I thought it would
he thus. The good man will have a bountiful harvest every year. The praying man
will see every day close upon a great victory of life. Honesty will be
rewarded, vice will be put down, crushed, condemned, by the universal voice.
The true man will be king, and the untrue man will be hated and despised.
Virtue will lift up her head, and vice will pray some sevenfold night to hide
its intolerable ghastliness.” That was your preconception, what is the reality?
Sometimes the atheist has a better harvest than the man who prayed in the
seedtime, and prayed every day until the autumn came. Sometimes the righteous
man has not where to lay his head. Sometimes the true man is put down, and the
false man is highly exalted. Our preconception is so different from this that
we feel the violence of a tremendous shock, and possibly may turn and go away
in a rage. Let us consider and be wise. What business have we to invent a
theory of Providence? We cannot tell what a day may bring forth. We have
already forgotten all the incidents of yesterday, to-morrow we are never sure
of: we are of yesterday and know nothing. What ought to be our mental attitude
and moral mood? The Christian ought to stand still and say, “Lord, not my will,
but Thine, be done. What I know not now I shall know hereafter. I am but of
yesterday and know nothing. Thou art from everlasting to everlasting, and Thou
knowest all the system of compensation which Thou Thyself hast established. In
the long run Thou wilt justify thy providence to man.”
3. What applies to Inspiration and to Providence applies, of course,
to the greater question of Redemption. We had thought that the plan of
redemption would be this or that, and all our preconceptions fail to reach the
agony of the cross, and the mystery of a sacrificial death. You see the
redemption once and the vision passes, you feel the mystery, and after that the
life is transfigured and becomes itself a sacrifice. If the cross has got no
further than your invention, your intellect, your range of scheming, and theorising,
it is not a cross, it is but a Roman gallows. There is no theory of the heart.
There is no theory of love. There is no theory of a mother’s sacrifice for her
ailing and dying child. You must feel it, know it by the heart, see it by some
swift glance of a similar spirit, and after that you will have an understanding
that cannot be put into words and phrases. As in the case of Naaman, so now.
The surprise of Christian revelation is always in the direction of simplicity.
Naaman had a programme, Elisha a command. Naaman had a ceremony, Elisha a
revelation. Naaman required a whole sheet of paper on which to write out his
elaborate scheme, Elisha rolled up his address into a military sentence, and
delivered his order as a mightier soldier than Naaman. Let us burn our
theories, inventions, preconceptions, prejudices, and our forecasts about God,
Providence, Inspiration, Redemption, and human destiny, and throw ourselves
into the great arms, asking only to be and to do what God would have us be and
do. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Dangers of preconception
The history of Naaman, his position, disease, journey to Elisha,
and the cure, so different
from what he had expected.
I. It is natural
for us to have preconceptions. We instinctively form opinions in advance.
Picture the looks of a person whom we expect to meet, or of a place we expect
to visit. Imagine how we will feel and conduct ourselves under certain
circumstances. So with Naaman, who had pictured an impressive, dramatic scene.
The prophet would come out to him, the great soldier, and there would be much
ceremony and pomp. Men have conceptions.
1. Regarding the strength of conviction for sin. Wait for a certain
kind and intensity. It is to be something that will take away sleep and
appetite, that follows them day and night. They are to endure horrors, to be
almost irresistibly driven to the Saviour. Is not this a widespread idea?
2. As to the manner of conversion. It is to be as if the heavens
opened. Overwhelmed with joy and ecstasy. Not saved unless they pass from death
to life shouting.
3. As to religious experience. A certain intensity of enjoyment.
Clear and constant faith and joy, unmoved serenity, like that of some one else
they knew.
4. As to the manner of dying. Clear mind, sight of angels, shouting.
And yet the conviction, conversion, and religious experience may be altogether
different from what we imagined or wished it to be.
II. Why we should
not be influenced by preconceptions.
1. May lose our souls by waiting for what will never come to us. Naaman had perished
had he relied upon his way alone--had he not renounced his preconception. Such
conviction, such conversion as you desire, may not be yours.
2. We will be rendered unhappy if we fall short of them. Better not have them. We will be
unhappy because our conversion is not like that of some one else. We can’t feel
like others--we can’t shout, and therefore think there is something wrong with
us. Many good men are miserable because they have not the experiences of others.
3. God works along the line of individuality and temperament. No two
look, or love, or are impressed alike. We are not cast in iron moulds. One man
is reached through his reason, another through conscience, another through his
emotions. One is alarmed by the thunders of Sinai, another melted by the Cross
on Calvary. A man’s conversion and religious experience are much like his
temperament. There may be sudden light, like Paul saw, or it may come like dawn
He may speak in the tempest, or in the “still small voice.” There may be
ecstasy, or only a sense of quiet peace.
4. Our conceptions have nothing to do with our salvation. God’s own
way for each, not for others to say what it shall be. Nothing in the Bible
about kind of feeling--mode of conversion--a command to
all--“Repent”--“Believe.” You are lepers exposed to death, Christ the only
physician, repentance and faith the only means of salvation. Do not be deceived
by false ideas. It is Christ or death. Call upon Him, obey Him, and you will be
saved. (J. L. Elderdice.)
“I thought”
At the outset, however, we will have a few words for believers.
Preconceptions of what ought to be the Lord’s mode of action are very
injurious, even to those who have true faith in God, and yet they are very
frequently indulged. We map out beforehand the path of Providence and the
method of mercy, forgetting that the Lord’s way is in the sea, and His path in
the great waters, and His footsteps are not known. This folly is seen in
believers sometimes in reference to their way to heaven. They are like the
children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. There is a straight road to
Canaan, why are they not allowed to take it? Does not Providence often perplex
you, and run counter not only to your wishes, but to your deliberate judgment?
That which for many reasons seems to be the best does not happen to you, while
that which appears to be distressingly injurious overtakes you. Your
forecastings do not come true, your day-dreams are not realised, your schemes
for life are not carried out. The like fault will arise in connection with our
prayers. We pray believingly, and an answer comes, for believing prayer never
falls; but the answer comes in an unexpected fashion and not at all as we
thought. We prayed God to bless our family, and, lo, our wife is taken away, or
our child sickens. “I thought,” say you, “but oh, how different from my
thoughts!” Yes, but how much better than your thoughts I You shall find that
the Lord is doing for you exceeding abundantly above all that you asked or even
thought. God is enriching you by your poverty, He is healing you by your
sickness, and drawing you nearer to Himself by driving you further away from
creature confidence. We have cried with Jacob, Joseph is not, Simeon is not,
and ye will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.” May God save
us from that cruel “I thought,” which torments us and belies our God. On the other
hand, we sometimes make flattering forecasts of the future which are equally
untrue. “In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Thy favour
Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong.” That was David’s thought.
Everybody else might be tossed to and fro, but he would be calm and confident.
Now listen to the sequel: “Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled.” Like any
other man, he feared, and his firm mountain turned out to be only a rolling
cloud which fled before the blast. Preconceived notions of the way of salvation
are great hindrances to the very existence of faith in the minds of the
unconverted.
I. How could you
expect to find out the way of salvation by your own thoughts? There are a great
many things which men can discover, and the inventiveness of the human mind
about earthly things appears to have scarcely any limit; but, with regard to
heavenly things, the natural man has not the faculty of discerning, and never
did make a discovery yet, and never will. Whatever is known of God is made
known by God. Upon the face of nature the existence of God is written, but we
look in vain for any indication of a plan of salvation. Jesus alone is the Saviour:
how can you imagine that His way of saving can be known to men except as He has
revealed it? If you could discover the way to heaven for yourself, why has the
Lord given you the Bible? That inspired volume is a superfluity if your
thoughts are to appoint the way of salvation. I will ask every awakened sinner
here who has been settling in his thoughts what the plan of salvation ought to
be, what peace his thoughts have brought to him? How far have your inventions
brought you? They have led you to physicians of no value; they have caused you
to spend your money for that that which is not bread, and your labour for that
which satisfieth not.
II. Should the plan
of salvation be arranged according to your well and judgment? You are a sinner
and want pardon, your nature is, depraved, and needs renewing: should the plan
of forgiving and regenerating you be shaped to please your tastes and whims?
Should the great Lord of mercy wait upon you, and consult you as to how He
shall work out your salvation? As a reasonable man I beg you to tell me, has
not the Lord an absolute right to dispense His favours as He pleases? Shall He
not do as He wills with His own? You yourself perhaps are a man of generous
spirit, and you relieve the poor; but suppose a poor man should dictate to you
how he should be helped, and in what shape you should bestow your charity,
would you listen to him for a moment? “No,” you would say, “I am not bound to
give you anything. If I give, I give freely, but I am not going to be bound by
rules which you may choose to make.” Beggars must not be choosers. Now, you, O
unsaved one, are a beggar needing alms of God. Do you intend to dictate to the
Most High how and in what manner He shall give His salvation to you? Act not so
foolishly; as a reasonable man renounce such an idea. Furthermore, do you not
think that, if the plan of mercy were left to your choosing, you would become
very self-conceited? If you had the sketching of the system of salvation, and
it were well done and fully accomplished, you would say, “My methods were
admirable! Am I not wise? Did I not arrange it well?” Moreover, consider, O
man, you who desire to sketch for yourself the road to heaven; do you not see
how you derogate from the glory of God? Did the Lord ask your judgment when He
made the heavens? when He digged the channels of the deep? when He poured out
the water-floods? when He balanced the clouds? when He set the stars in their
places? With whom took He counsel? who instructed Him? Who was with Him to
stretch the line or hold the plummet? He Himself, in the old creation, made all
things by His infinite wisdom; think you that He needs your aid in the new? In
the work of redemption, did He ask your help or take your counsel when He made
the covenant of grace and fixed it by firm decree?
III. By what rule
are you able to preconceive that plan? You refuse to be told what that plan
really is, because you think you know beforehand. Now by what rule have you
judged? I will tell you in one word. The most of sinners conceive the plan of
salvation to be what they wish it to be. They thought; but their wish is father
to their thought. But you assure me that you have conceived the way of
salvation according to your understanding. Well, then, you have conceived it
wrongly to a certainty, for what is your understanding compared with the
understanding of God? “Well,” say you, “but I have received my ideas from my
parents.” Well, then, who were your parents? for that is a very great point in
such a case. Who were they, and were they saved? Suppose your parents were
lost, is that a reason why you should be? Nobody here who has a blind father
would consider it his duty to put his eyes out by way of honouring his parents. If a man were
born of a crippled parent, and God blessed him with all his limbs and
faculties, he would
not consider himself obliged to limp, or use a crutch, or twist his foot. We
have an old proverb that if a man were born in a stable he need not be a horse;
nor should a man be of a false religion because of his family connections. If
our parents were mistaken, that is no reason why we should be. We regret it for their sakes; but with
the Word of God in our hands we do not intend to follow them any farther than
they were led by God. “Well,” say you, “my idea of how I ought to be saved is
gathered from what I have read and observed. I cannot submit to be saved by
simple trust in Jesus, for I have been reading the biography of a good man, and
I want to feel just as he felt: moreover, I noticed how my cousin was troubled
in mind, and I observed that she had a very remarkable dream; and, beside, she
obtained very extraordinary joys, and unless I have some of these I shall never
believe.” But, do you think that God is tied down to give to each penitent the
same line of experience? “Yes,” says one, “but I judge by the general current
of society, and the opinions that I meet in everyday life. I am a man of the
world, and I form my opinion from men of the world.” Then, for certain, you
form a wrong opinion, for the mind of the world never was the mind of God, and
never will be. “Ye are of God, little children.” saith John, “and the whole
world lieth in the wicked one.” To form your opinion of what light is by
sojourning in darkness is ridiculous. To fashion a notion of liberty from the
prison-house, or to describe life by observations made in a charnel-house,
would be absurd.
IV. How would it
be, supposing your thoughts were the fact? Let us examine the matter. You have
thought, perhaps, that you ought to be saved by undergoing a ceremony. Suppose
it were so; it would be a calamity. For it would give pardon without penitence,
forgiveness without a change of heart. It would be a very unfortunate thing for
you, if by external operation guilt could be removed, because it is clear that
your evil heart would remain, and, therefore, you would still have no communion
with God, and no fitness for heaven. You must be born again, you must believe
in Jesus; these are the necessities of your nature if you are to be happy. True
faith in Jesus works by love and purifies the soul: that is the Lord’s way,
accept it, and forsake your own thoughts. You wish, perhaps, to be saved by
good works; self-righteousness is your thought. Alas, if this were the way it
would be an impossible way for you, for you cannot perform good works. If you
can, why have you sinned at all? Perhaps you think that God might as well
pardon you at once and have done with it; that is your plan. Suppose He did so.
Suppose that He at once blotted your sin from His book, and there was an end of
it; what peace would that give you? What security for the future? A God who
could pardon without justice might one of these days condemn without reason.
V. Let me ask you,
then, do you mean to be damned for the sake of a whim? Do you mean to lose
heaven and be cast into hell for ever for the sake of your proud fancies? For,
oh, I assure you in God’s name His plan will not alter for you. If the Lord
should alter His gospel for you, then He must alter it for another, and
another, and it would be as shifting as a quicksand. There it is; take it or
leave it, but alter it you cannot. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved” is always true, and the other side of the question is true too,--“He
that believeth not shall be damned.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Man’s thoughts and God’s thoughts
1. How often are these words employed with regard to the dealings of
Providence. In the midst of mysterious dispensations which befall us, whether
as individuals or as communities, how apt are we to impugn the Almighty’s
faithfulness, question the wisdom of His procedure, and set up our wills in
opposition to the Divine. Is not this oftentimes the silent utterance of the
misgiving heart,--“Behold, I thought”--it were better had such an event been
ordered otherwise? What is the answer to these and suchlike unworthy
surmisings? “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,
saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). To the eye of sense,
however baffling and mysterious be the ways of the Supreme disposer, it is not
for us to “think,” but to believe; not to question, but like Job, to kneel and
to adore: not to say, “Behold, I thought” that Thy judgments are right, and I
have been deceived; but, I know that they are right, and that Thou in
faithfulness hast afflicted me: not, “I thought” that “all things are working
together for good”; but, “I know” they are so.
2. But these three brief words admit of more solemn interpretation,
and more solemn lessons still, if we connect them with the sinner and with an
eternal world. Let us anticipate the scene. Let us conjure up some of those
“thoughts” which, up to that moment, may have deluded and deceived, but which
will then dissolve like a rope of sand.
What bars the way
Naaman went to the prophet’s door to tell him how to preach, and
because the prophet did not take his lesson from Naaman, Naaman went home in
wrath. My brethren, salvation is not cut to your pattern. Leprosy is not cured
on your prescription; its true and only cure has laws, and rules, and
obediences, and submissions, and sacrifices of its own that may all anger you
to be told them, but it can be had in no other way. What do you say to humble
yourself for once, and to try the thing that has hitherto most exasperated you
to be tied down to it? All the chances are that your salvation lies not in the
direction of your pride, and self-importance, and self-pleasing, and saving
yourself of all trouble and pain. It may lie in the direction of far more secret
prayer, far more self-denial, far less eating and drinking, far less talking,
and far more submission of your opinions and habits of life to other men. It
may lie in putting away all your present reading, and giving up much more of
your time and attention to books that treat of the soul, its diseases, its
discipline, and its salvation. I advise you to get over your temper, and to try
that very way that you have up till now been so hot and so loud against. It will humble
you to do it, and you are not a humble man; but if you ever come back from
Jordan with your flesh like the flesh of a little child, you will be the
foremost to confess that you had almost been lost through your pride, and your
prejudice, and your ill-nature. (Alex. Whyte, D. D.)
Pride must give way
Pride has to be broken; his lofty spirit must have a fall. One of
the greatest oculists that ever studied the structure of the human eye was Von Grafe, who
devoted himself, body and soul, to the hospital in the city in which he lived.
His services were given to the poor. He took a delight in walking the hospital
and in putting the results of his medical skill at the disposal of all. The
Dowager Queen of Prussia was very anxious that Von Grafe should come and see
her about her eyes; but he refused again and again. At last he gave way to the
pleading of those at court, and left the hospital for Potsdam, where the Queen
resided. A special train brought him to Potsdam, the carriages were waiting
there to bring him to the palace. Upon his arrival there the lady-inwaiting of
Her Majesty came to him and said that Her Majesty was not up yet, but “she says
that she will receive you in an hour.” Von Grafe took out his watch and said,
“In an hour I will be in the hospital in Berlin.” No such words had ever been spoken in the
palace before. Yes, in an hour, you can tell her, I will be back in my
hospital.” And she came, she hurried; three minutes did her, for Von Grafe had
the royalty of manhood, while she had only the royalty of artificiality. And
Von Grafe, after hearing and examining her, was back in his hospital in Berlin,
with ten minutes to spare of his hour. Oh, you sometimes send word to God’s
messenger that it is not convenient just now; that if He will wait your
convenience you will come and see Him; and Naaman just fell into that mistake.
“Go and tell the prophet to come.” Pride has to be broken, and God took a
means, as He takes a means with all of us to break our pride, and tumble us in
the mud, and make us glad to be saved. (J. Robertson.)
The two roads
There are two roads before us. The one steep, rough, narrow, hard,
but always climbing steadily upward, and sure to reach its goal; the other
broad, easy, flowery, descending, and therefore easier than the first. One is
the path of obedience for the love of Christ. In that path there is no death,
and those who tread it shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon
their heads. The other is the path of self-will and self-pleasing, which fails
to reach its unworthy goal and brings the man at last to the edge of a black
precipice, over the verge of which the impetus of his descent will carry his
reluctant feet. “The path of the just is as the shining light which shineth
more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness; they
know not at what they stumble.” (Alexander Maclaren, D. D.)
Superior sinners
I remember a gentleman taking exception to an address based upon
the words of God concerning Jew and Gentile, that both are guilty before God. I
remarked, “But the Word of God distinctly says, ‘There is no difference, for
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’” (Romans 3:22-23). My friend replied, “Do
you mean to say that there is no difference between an honest man and a
dishonest one, between an intemperate man and a sober man?” “No,” I remarked;
“I did not affirm that there was no room for comparison between such cases; but
my position is, that if two men were standing here together, one an intemperate
man and the other a sober man, I should say of the one, ‘This man is an
intemperate sinner, the other is a sober sinner.’” My friend did not know how
to meet the difficulty, but answered, “Well, I don’t like such teaching.” Very
quietly I replied, “Then I will make some concession, and meet your difficulty.
I will admit that many are ‘superior sinners’ and that you are a superior
sinner.” I shall not soon forget my friend’s expression of countenance when he
had taken stock of the argument. (Henry Varley.)
Divine prescriptions must be heeded
When you take a prescription to the chemist you do not expect him
to originate some medicine of his own imagining, but to make up exactly what
the physician has written down. So we have not to discover some new remedy for
sick souls, but to give them what the Great Physician has prescribed. His cure
is infallible.
Seeking entrance at the wrong door
There are some even now who cannot make up their minds to come to
God as sinners. Like the Pharisee, they go to Him with words of
self-congratulation on their lips, thanking Him that they are not as other men.
Pastor Spurgeon used to tell the story of a man who came to him in deep
distress because he could gain no assurance of his soul being saved. He had
been under religious influence from childhood, had read the Bible regularly,
prayed, attended church, and lived a moral life, yet could not be sure that he
was really a Christian--that he had been born again. He explained all this to
Mr. Spurgeon, and asked him what he should do. “So you are not sure that you
are in God’s family,” that you have entered His household? “No.” “Did you ever
try to enter at the sinner’s door? You know, in great houses there is a door
for visitors, and a door for servants. Perhaps you have been trying to go in at the wrong
door. If you go to God as a sinner, instead of as a good man, you will get in.
None are refused who go in that way. It was sinners, not the righteous, Jesus
came to call.” The man went away meditating. He did not consider himself so
great a sinner as others. But eventually he went to God pleading for mercy and
claiming the promises made to sinners, and found peace.
Misconception as to what is primary
James Matthews tells that he called one time on an acquaintance in
the West, where a young woman was boiling sorghum sap to make sugar. This is
not a very cleanly business, as
may well be supposed. Persons get daubed and begrimed with dirt
and smoke and syrup, and hence are not in a very presentable condition. When
the young woman saw “the minister coming,” she hurried away from her work,--not
to wash her face and hands, but to put on some brass earrings and a breastpin,
to make herself presentable. “So,” said Mr. Matthews, “there are people who are
anxious about dressing when they really need washing. They need to be cleansed
up, and instead of that they go and ornament themselves.” The first thing
needful for a Christian is cleansing, not adorning
Verse 12
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel.
Mr. Evil Questioning tried and executed
Proud Self and Evil Questioning are two of Satan’s firmest allies,
and two of the chief destroyers of the souls of men. Both of these adversaries
attacked Naaman at once.
I. Let us detect
old Mr. Evil questioning. He does not go by that name in the world. When he was
brought up to be tried as a traitor, he had the impudence to tell the Judge
that his name was not Evil Questioning at all. “My Lord,” he said, “my proper
name is Honest Enquiry, not Evil Questioning. There may be a man of the name of
Evil Questioning, but I am not that person at all, and I hope it will never
become a sin for a man to make an honest enquiry, and freely to ask the ground
of any truth that is propounded to him. For, my Lord, if we are to take things
upon mere credence, matters of faith upon the witness of men, indeed we shall
soon make great fools of ourselves. My name is ‘Honest Enquiry,’ my Lord, and I
think myself to be a very honest citizen.” Since Evil Questioning goes by that
name, then, and you will not, therefore, readily detect him, I must take you
round to see if we can find him out by his speech, for it is not by his name,
but by his prating, that you may know this fellow. Now, Lord Will-be-will,
according to John Bunyan, in his allegory of the Holy War, kept an officer
called Mr. Diligence, who used to go about listening under people’s windows,
catching every word he beard, and then he would bring to his Lord intelligence
if any traitor were harboured within the gates. Let me play the part of Mr.
Diligence, and we will listen a moment or two while we hear old Mr. Evil
Questioning talk. He is a ready fellow, he can talk upon almost any subject; I
heard him the other day preach a sermon upon doctrine. This minister had
preached the truth as it is in Jesus, and he had earnestly exhorted him to lay
hold on Christ Jesus, but Mr. Evil Questioning put it thus--“Now, if there are
so many to be saved, and there are a certain number of people that are not to
be saved, then it can make no difference to me, I had better leave it as it is;
for if I am to be saved I shall be saved, and if I am not to be saved I shall
not be saved. Besides,” said he, “it is irresistible grace that saves men. Now,
if God sends that grace into my heart, then I shall be saved, and if he does
not, why I cannot do anything, and therefore I may as leave sit still as try
and do anything you know. I hear the minister say that faith and repentance are
the gift of God; well, if they are the gift of God, how inconsistent he was to
exhort me to believe and repent. The man does not understand logic. I shall not
believe, I shall not repent. For, do you not see that it does not stand to reason
that I should try to do either the one or the other, because they are both the
gift of God.” Thus the man satisfied himself, and while I heard him talking, I
thought to myself, “I know you, Mr. Evil Questioning, well, and I know your
father too; you are a descendant of the old fellow that was hanged in Bad
Street, in old Bunyan’s time, and I only wish I had the hanging of you again.”
He went another day to hear a preacher. He heard this preacher talking about
the universal love, and the universal mercy of God; and this minister exhorted
him to lay hold on Christ. But Mr. Evil Questioning is like a spider, he can
suck gall out of any flower; so he went home and he said--“Well, if God is so
infinitely merciful, then my sins are very little things indeed. I need not
make all this fuss and bother about them. I will just go on in them, and no
doubt God will not be hard with me at the last, but will just forgive those
sins off-hand, whether I believe or not. And, besides,” said he, “His mercy is
so lasting, that when I come to die I will just say, ‘Lord, have mercy upon
me,’ and then I shall enter into the kingdom of heaven as well as the best of
them. And what is the use of that man exhorting me to believe and to repent,
for he told me I might fall from grace? I might as well not begin, as begin
now, presently to leave off, so I will wait till the end of my life before I
begin, and then I shall run the less risk of falling from grace afterwards.”
Thus he reasoned with himself. Now whenever you hear that kind of argument, you
may know at once there is a traitor there. You have discovered him. That is old
Mr. Evil Questioning. Do not lose a moment, run straight up to your chamber,
and tell the Lord that you have found out a traitor; ask Him to send at once a
warrant after him, to arrest the fellow who is doing the utmost he can to
destroy your soul.
II. We will go on
to describe him. Mr. Evil Questioning often boasts that he is the child of
Human Reason; but I will let you know a secret or two about his parentage. Mr.
Human Reason was once a very respectable man. He had a country-seat in the
garden of Paradise, and he was then great and honourable. He served his God
with all his might, and many a great and marvellous thing did he discover for
the good of mankind; at that time he had a family, and they were all like
himself, right good and loyal. But after the fall this man married again, and
he took to himself one called Sin to be his partner, and this old Evil
Questioning was one that was born after the fall. He does not belong to the
first family at all. The first family was not so numerous as the last. There
was one called Right Judgment born at that time. I hope he is still alive, and
I believe he is. But the second family was very black and of tainted blood.
They did not take at all after the father, except in one point, that at the
time of the fall Mr. Human Reason lost his country-seat at Paradise, and
together with the rest of the servants of Adam fell from his high estate and
became perverted and depraved. His children are like him in their depravity,
but not in their power of reasoning. They take after their mother, and they
always have a predilection for sin, so that they “put darkness for light and
light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” The old gentleman
never mentions his mother’s name if he can help it. He always likes to boast
that he is a lineal descendant of Human Reason, and so indeed he is, but he is
a descendant of fallen Human Reason, not of Human Reason as it was in its
glorious perfection. Now, all the powers of Adam were by the fall spoiled and
ruined. They are there, but their bias was turned from that which is good to
that which is evil, and now reason is not a trustworthy guide. Enlightened by
the Spirit of God it can judge righteous judgment, but unenlightened and
uninstructed, its bias is towards that which shall excuse man in his rebellion,
which shall dishonour God, and which shall seek to raise the human race in
proud rebellion against their Lord and Master. Understand then, that the
parentage of Evil Questioning lies here; man’s perverted reason meets with man’s
love of sin, and these twain do join to bring forth these evil questions. It is
not your reason that makes you talk against God, except it be your perverted
reason. It is your love of sin that sets your reason on the wide-awake watch to
try and discover some difficulty, and to make that a pretence why you should
not be obedient to the heavenly command.
III. Having thus
described this old enemy I bring him out to execute him. I must give you a hit
from John Bunyan’s Holy War, for it is so wonderfully suggestive, and so
thoroughly worthy of its quaint author. Mr. Evil Questioning was detected
harbouring four doubters, who had come to attack the town of Mansoul; when he
was brought up, the indictment was that he had studied the ruin of the town of
Mansoul, that he had feloniously and treacherously harboured four of the king’s
enemies, and that he had expressed in the hearing of one Mr. Diligence his wish
that there were ten thousand such doubters in Mansoul. The old fellow when he
was brought before the bar, first denied his name, and said his real name was
Mr. Honest Enquiry, but when it was proved that he was old Evil Questioning,
for Lord Will be-will in the time of his evil estate had known him very
intimately, then the old fellow pleaded “Not Guilty,” and he began at once to
utter his defence. “I answer,” said Evil Questioning, “the men that came into
my house were strangers, and I took them in, and is it now become a crime in
Mansoul for a man to entertain strangers? That I also nourished them is true,
and why should my charity be blamed? As for the reason why I wished ten
thousand of them in Mansoul, I never told it to the witnesses nor to
themselves. I might wish them to be taken, and so might wish well to the town
of Mansoul. I also bid them take heed that they fell not into the Captain’s
hands, but that might be because I am unwilling that any man should be slain,
and not because I would have the king’s enemies escape.” So Mr. Evil
Questioning was true to his name, he kept on questioning till the verdict was
given, the sentence of death pronounced, and carried into execution; for they
hanged him, as Bunyan says, opposite the door of his own house at the top of
Bad Street. Ah! but I am afraid that he is alive now, still living and going
about: I wish therefore to bring him up again to trial, and we will see if we
cannot bring some charges against him; we will empanel an honest jury, and I
know what the sentence will be, we shall lead him out to execution. Men and
brethren, if you have been questioning, instead of believing, if you have been
making enquiries, instead of saying, “What must I do to be saved?” which is the
only allowable question, let me first beg of you to drive out this Evil
Questioning, because he is a traitor to the King of heaven. He does not wish
your good, but your ill; more than this, he is sent by Satan to prevent your
obeying the commands of God: he is come to betray you. And then, again, I beseech
you turn him out, for he is a liar. All the conclusions to which he has brought
you are false ones, and you know they are. Another accusation I bring against
him is this: he has led you into a world of mischief. This habit of questioning
has often blunted the edge of some sermon that you have heard; when the Word
was coming right home to your conscience, this Mr. Evil Questioning has held up
a shield and prevented the point from entering into your heart; besides that,
have you not sometimes when under the influence of his delusive logic gone off
to the place where your lust has been cultivated, and where your conscience has
been lulled to sleep? I have one other charge, and then I shall have closed up
the accusation. Men and brethren, this man must die, for he has been a
murderer. Oh I what millions of souls has Evil Questioning sent to hell! There
are many gates to hell, but this is one of the widest and it is one of the most
frequented, because it is a respectable gate.
IV. Old Mr. Evil
Questioning is the father of a large family, and John Bunyan tells you about
his family. He says, he married one called Miss No-hope, she was the daughter
of old Dark, and when old Dark was dead, her uncle Incredulity took her and
brought her up as his own daughter, and then he gave her to old Evil
Questioning, and he had by her several children. I will give you the names of
them, because it shall be my earnest endeavour to fire a shot at them this
morning, as well as at their old father. Their names are these--Mr. Doubt, Mr.
Legal Life, Mr. Unbelief, Mr. Wrong Thoughts of Christ, Mr. Clip Promise, Mr.
Carnal Sense, Mr. Live-by-Feeling, and Mr. Self Love. All these were the
offspring of the father, and against all these a warrant was issued by the
prince Immanuel that they should be hunted down, and every one of them given to the
sword. Now, I will take the eldest son, there is Mr. Doubt,--Is he not the
child of Evil Questioning? Why, you can see his father’s image in his face.
Another child is Mr. Clip-Promise. Do you know him? He does not doubt the
promise, but he clips the edge of it. He makes out that it will not all be
fulfilled, only a part of it. Now there is a proclamation issued against Mr.
Clip-Promise, that whoever will arrest him shall be greatly honoured, for he is
a notorious villain, by whose doings much of the King’s coin was abased,
therefore it was expedient that he should be made a public example. And, Bunyan
says, “They did take him, and they first set him in the pillory, and afterwards
they tied his hands behind him and they whipped him through the streets of
Mansoul, bidding all the children and servants whip him, and then at last they
hanged him. And,” says mine author, “this may seem very hard treatment, but
when one considers how much loss the town of Mansoul may sustain by the
clipping of the promises which are the coins with which they trade, I can only
say I hope that all his kith and kin may be treated with the like severity.”
Oh! if you have attempted to cut the promise down, have done with it I pray you;
and do take it as it stands in all its plenteousness of grace and all its
sufficiency. Then there is Mr. Wrong Thoughts of Christ. Do you know him? Do
you know what this fellow had the impudence to tell me? He said, “Oh! Christ
will never receive such a sinner as you are.” And when I had come to Christ,
and He received me, he said, “Oh! Christ will not hold you fast.” He will if
you let Him, but then you will not let Him, for you are such a sinner He cannot
hold you, and He will not. He has often made me doubt my Master’s immutability
or His faithfulness, or His power to save. But as far as I am personally
concerned of late, I was able to seize him, and I have laid him in prison; I
think he is dying of a consumption, for I have not heard much of him lately.
Glad enough shall I be to have him buried once for all. There are two others
whom some of you may have known, Mr. Legal Life, and Mr. Live-by-Feeling. I
think they were twins. Mr. Legal Life sometimes gets hold of the Christian and
makes him judge himself by legal evidences, and not by evangelical evidence.
When the Christian has kept a commandment, Mr. Legal Life will say, “There,
now, you live by your works.” He knows that Christians would die by their
works, and that the best of them can only live by faith. And when a Christian
has made a slip, and has not kept the commandment, in comes Mr. Legal Life, and
he says, “You are a lost soul, for you have not kept the commandment,” though
he knows right well, “that if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.” Yet he tries to make his life by the law, which no
Christian ever did do or ever will do, for the law is of death and not of life.
Then there is Mr. Live-by-Feeling, who makes us judge ourselves according to
what we feel. If we feel happy and devout, “Oh,” he says, “now you are in a
blessed frame, the Master will accept you.” Anon you feel unhappy, and dull,
and cold, and dead. “Oh,” says Mr. Live-by-Feeling, “you are no child of God,
or else you would not be like this.” Now catch both these fellows, if you can,
and away with them; away with such fellows from the earth. One of the children
of old Evil Questioning was Mr. Carnal-Sense. Now John Bunyan tells us, and I
believe that he is right, at least I have his authority for it, and that is no
mean authority, that there is a proclamation set up in the market-place at
Mansoul, that whosoever shall bring Mr. Carnal-Sense, dead or alive, to the
King Immanuel, shall be made a nobleman, shall have a right to sit at the king’s
table every day, and moreover, he shall be made keeper of the treasury of the
city of Mansoul. There, you see, is a noble opportunity for you. There remains
another one upon whom I must speak just for a minute. It is one called Mr.
Self-Love. Ah, he is one of the biggest of the children of Mr. Evil
Questioning. Now Mr. Self-Love was tried and condemned to die, but he had so
many friends in the city, that they did not like to hang him outright. There
was, however, a brave man in the king’s army, a common soldier, a man
that was used to sleep out in the fields at night, and to do much hard
work--his name was Mr. Self-Denial, and coming out from the midst of the crowd,
just when the prisoner was going to be acquitted, he said, “If such villains as
these are winked at in Mansoul I will lay down my commission.” He then took him
from the crowd and had him among the soldiers, and there he was put to death.
For this, the king made the common soldier a lord, and he was honoured in the
town of Mansoul. “Though,” says Bunyan, “there were a good many people in the
town that did not like it, and they used to mutter at it, but they did not say
much as long as King Immanuel was there. Oh, do you know that old Self-Love?
You will never get rid of him unless you get Mr. Self-Denial to help you;
unless you are ready to deny the affections and lusts, to pluck out right eyes,
and cut off right hands, and to yield up one delight after another, that so
self may be trodden under foot, and Jesus Christ may be all in all. There is one
other child--I have left him to the last--and then I have done with the
family--Mr. Unbelief. “Now,” says Bunyan, “Unbelief was a nimble fellow.” He
was often caught, but he was like the hero of the wicked Shepherd, he always
broke his prison and was out again. Although he has often been kept in hold, he
has always escaped, and he is every day about somewhere or other. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
.
God’s way and ours
“And Naaman said . . . Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of
Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be
clean? So he turned and went away in a rage” (2 Kings 5:12). We have here another
illustration of the truth that a man himself is not necessarily the best judge
of his condition, or of the course he should take to improve it.
I. Our attainment
of knowledge, and of that practical wisdom which fits us for our earthly life.
We cannot acquire this without laborious study, patient observation, repeated
thought and consideration. The mastery of the elements of learning often seems
to be wearisome drudgery, and if we do not “go away in a rage,” we are tempted
to break off in vexation and to long for the “royal road” to learning and
wisdom. But we must accept the method which God has prescribed for us, or
remain in ignorance or folly.
II. The formation
of our character. We wish to be strong and brave, to be characterised by
fortitude and endurance, to be masters of ourselves, to be able to respect ourselves,
and to command the esteem of the wise and good. We should like to be all that
is admirable and, if possible, all that is noble in the character that we form.
But how shall we build up within ourselves this honourable character? God has
arranged that we do this
III. Our entrance
into the kingdom of truth. We want to know all that can be learned about God,
about our spiritual nature and its capacities, about our human life and its
possibilities, about the future world. We prefer to solve these great problems
by the exercise of our mental faculties, by interrogating our own nature, by
scientific researches, by logical and philosophical reasoning. But this is not
the path that conducts to the gate of heavenly wisdom. We must become “as
little children” if we would enter the kingdom of truth--must be docile,
trustful, inquiring.
IV. Our possession
of eternal life. Of all the great questions we ask, the greatest and most
practical is this, What shall we do that we may enter into the life which is
eternal, that life which is found in the favour, the likeness, the near
presence of God? Here we are disposed to insist upon the course which commends
itself to our own judgment. (W. Clarkson, B. A.)
God’s method of healing offensive to the pride of man
I. That great men
are not exempted from the evils which attach to our common nature. From one
class of evils riches might exempt their possessors--the evils of poverty,
perplexity, anxiety, and embarrassment. But from other ills they have no
exemption.
1. None from those which attach to the body.
2. None from those which attach to the soul. Great men like others
are involved in the effects of the original transgression.
II. That there are
no evils attaching either to body or soul, which God cannot remove.
1. He can heal the body.
2. He can heal the soul.
III. That the
simplicity of God’s remedies are frequently offensive to the pride of man. Look
at the ease before us. What could be more easy than the remedy suggested? “Go,
and wash in Jordan seven times.” But its simplicity was that which rendered it
objectionable with Naaman.
1. It led the Jews to reject Christ. They desired the Messiah, as
Naaman desired a cure.
2. It leads many to reject the peculiar doctrines of the gospel. The
divinity of Christ, the doctrine of the atonement, and spiritual regeneration.
3. It hinders many from closing in with God’s method of justifying
the ungodly. He offers a free pardon to men as sinners. The pride of the human
heart rejects this, and brings a price--comparative innocence, works Of
righteousness, acts of charity, or tears of penitence.
IV. When God’s
remedies are adopted, they never fail to succeed. Look at the case before us,
verse 14. In the cures by the brazen serpent, in the case of the man whose eyes
were anointed with clay, in the conversion of St. Paul, of the Philippian
jailer, of the great cloud of witnesses in every age, and especially of the present.
Conclude--
1. With an address to those who are insensible of their disease. See
how the moral leprosy has affected all your powers.
2. Address those who desire to be healed. The Jordan is flowing, the
fountain is open. Come now, wash and be clean. (Skeletons of Sermon.)
Submission to God’s way of salvation
Mr. Moody remarks: “A man dreamt that he built a ladder from earth
to heaven, and when he did a good deed up went his ladder a few feet. When he
did a very good deed it went still higher, and when he gave away large sums of
money to the poor, up it went further still. By and by it went out of sight,
and as years rolled on, it went up, he thought, past the clouds, clear into
heaven. When he died, he thought he would step off his ladder into heaven, but
he heard a voice roll out from paradise: ‘He that climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber.’ Down he came, ladder and all, and he awoke.
He said if he wanted to get salvation he must get it in another way than by
good deeds, and he took the other way, which is by Jesus Christ.”
Saved in an irregular way
When we were in Scotland during a former visit to Great Britain,
there was an employer who became converted, and he then went to work among his
employees and tried to lead them to Christ. He tried to get them to the
meetings and succeeded, with one exception. The young man with whom he
experienced the difficulty said, “If I am going to be converted, it shall be in
the regular way--in the Presbyterian Church. As for those two impertinent
Americans, Moody and Sankey, I am not going to hear them. His employer tried
every way to induce him to come, but he did not succeed. We went into the north
of Scotland, to Inverness; this employer sent the young man to that city on
business, thinking he might possibly there come to hear us. One day we were out
on the banks of the river preaching. The young man happened to be passing, and
seeing a crowd gathered, he wondered what was going on. He came to see, and the
text pierced him like an arrow. The truth entered his soul. The man was saved;
he was converted in the very way in which he said he would not be converted. (D.
L. Moody.)
Verse 13
And his servants came near, and spake unto him.
Naaman, a type of the world
The Syrian Naaman, whose story is contained in the chapter from
which our text is taken, was a type of the world. As race answereth to face in
water, so the heart of man to man; and we cannot read this story without
discovering in it the history of ourselves. It needs no argument to convince
men that they are sinners, They all acknowledge it--at times with sorrow and
grief. They feel the corruption of their own hearts, how incapable they are to
live up to their own standard, much more to attain perfection. While they think
they are still masters, they have became slaves, and sin holds them in an
inexorable grasp; its chains are iron. You have all seen such a man, perhaps
the intemperate, striving with tears and sighs against the evil that beggars
his family and ruins himself, and alas! how often striving in vain. Then
perhaps, when you have found how vain is human help, when you have learned by
painful experience how true is that Scripture doctrine of man s inability to
reform and save himself, you take up your Bible or you go to church, with the
inquiry in your heart, if not on your lips, what must I do to be saved? Go,
wash in Jordan seven times, is the reply you hear. Repent of your sins, and
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; use the means of grace God has placed in your
hands, the sacraments and ordinances of the Church. Like Naaman, you are wroth,
and go away. You thought surely the prophet would come out to you. You
expected, or at least you wished, some miraculous call--that there might be
some wonderful interposition of Providence on your behalf; that, like St. Paul,
you might see a light from heaven or hear a voice; that, like Cornelius, you
might see a vision, or, like the wife of Pilate, dream a dream. So doing, you
would give the true reason of your present refusal and delay. You would answer
the question of Naaman’s servants “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do
some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?” Simply to wash and be clean,
simply to repent and believe, to seek grace in the waters of baptism, or in the
broken body and shed blood of their dying Lord, or in the laying on of hands,
gives them no credit. It adds nothing to their glory; it undervalues, as they
think, the Abana and Pharpar of their love. It mortifies their vanity and
humbles their pride; for it shows them that, so long as they refuse to look at the brazen serpent or to
step into the troubled pool, so long they are not only wretched, but helpless;
so long must they be content to move on, great men and honourable it may be,
but lepers still. It takes away all pretence for human merit; it is mercy and
grace, and not a deserved gift. It robs the rivers of Damascus of their
pretended virtue, and remits the world to that fountain in which alone Judah
and Jerusalem may wash; which, taking its rise in the blood of the Cross, has extended
its cleansing streams into all lands. It is offered freely and without price,
and men refuse to purchase; it is the gift of grace, and they will not accept
it. What we need is to realise the nature of our own hearts, and to feel that
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble, that obedience is
better than sacrifice, and that the humble and contrite spirit is with God of
greater price than the rivers of Damascus, or all that the wit of man can
devise. (G. F. Cushman, D. D.)
Relation between master and servants
Naaman must have been a considerate master, and his servants must
have been reliable men, or that sensible and timely remonstrance of theirs
would have been impossible. It implied friendly relations on both sides. Among
the ruins of ancient Rome was discovered not long since a broken urn containing
some half-burned bones. They were really the ashes of one who, as appeared from
the inscription on the tablet, had belonged to the Imperial Household, and
whose virtues as a faithful, honest, and devoted servant the emperor himself
had taken means to record. Near the “grey metropolis of the North” is a
cemetery, where can be seen a monumental stone, erected by the late Queen
Victoria to the memory of an attached and honoured domestic. The gifted John
Ruskin once wrote: “There is no surer test of the quality of a nation than the
quality of its servants”
Verse 14
Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan.
Naaman’s cure
The story of Naaman’s cure is a brief, yet beautiful, episode in
the current of Jewish history. It is inserted in order to convey an impressive
lesson. That lesson is, God’s particular interest in each individual.
I. Note Naaman’s
disease. “He was a leper.”
1. There is a singular equity in God’s administration. In every
station of life there is some drawback.
2. This affliction was specially severe. Whether it was the direct
effect of personal sin in Naaman (as in others), history does not say. The core
of the calamity was this: it was incurable by art or skill of man. If there be
anywhere a remedy for leprosy stored up in the cells of herbs, it has never
been discovered.
3. Leprosy is an emblem of human sin. The Jewish prophets were
accustomed thus to view it. For, like leprosy, sin gradually spreads its
malignant virus through the whole man. It degrades, and corrupts, and destroys
every part. And as leprosy, in olden time, excluded a man from temple worship,
so still the leprosy of sin creates a gulf between man and God. “Your sins have
separated between you and Me, saith the Lord.”
II. Note the simple
prescription. The prescription was that he should dip himself seven times in
Jordan.
1. The prescription was marked by great simplicity. The prophet’s counsel
was as plain as language could run. There was no difficulty on the ground of
painfulness or expense. No course of treatment could be easier; nothing could
be pleasanter than to bathe in the cool stream. If, disregarding so simple a
remedy, he should retain his disease, would not his soul be stung with remorse?
Would he not become a laughing-stock among his comrades? And is not the remedy
of the Gospel equally simple? To repose a sincere trust in the Son of God is
simplicity itself. The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin.
2. Yet the prescription was galling to Naaman’s pride. It is pride
that keeps men back from a frank confession of their sins. Pride prevents our
making reparation for the wrong done to others. Pride hinders us from putting
our whole trust in God’s mercy. Pride blinds our moral vision, so that we do
not see the baseness of our deeds; and often the pride in us disdains to be
saved on the same terms as thieves and harlots. “Pride goeth before
destruction.” “The proud, our God knoweth afar off.” Humility is the first
essential to salvation.
3. The prescription obtained all its value from the power of God. “My
soul! wait thou only upon God.”
III. Observe the
speedy cure.
1. The cure was almost missed. Seldom has a man been so near the margin of ruin, and
yet been rescued. His soldierly pride had been a tremendous stumbling-block. He
had actually turned his back upon the healing stream; but the tender appeals of
his own servants loosened the tenacity of his pride. An hour or two more, and
his mettled steeds would have left afar in the rear the vale of Jordan, and
death would have put his irrevocable seal upon him. The hour of opportunity was
just about to close, the last days were fading in the west, when lo! his
self-will relented. He turned his face toward Jordan.
2. The cure was sudden. Life was a new experience, the dawn of a
better day. Speedily his home was invested with fresh charms, filled with an
atmosphere more sacred than before. He would bestow an earthly fortune upon
that little serving-maid. Already he foresaw the festive welcome that awaited
him on the threshold of his palace. Already he heard the congratulations of his
army, the congratulations of his king. The suddenness of his joy was a very
peril to his life. The winter of his misfortune was in a moment transformed
into summer glory.
3. Such gladness may be the symbol of our own. (J. Dickerson
Davies, M. A.)
The cure of Naaman
But in studying our subject of the cure of Naaman, let us
note:
I. That he got to
the wrong house. In the community there are other houses which are strong
beside those which seem so, which are strong on invisible and Divine lines. In
estimating the forces which make for “the health of my people.” we must not
leave out of count the most effective of all--those homes, whether rich or
poor, where God is honoured, His laws observed, His name revered, His love
enjoyed. These are the homes which are the healthgivers of the community, the
places from which the Divine and vitalising leaven works which is to leaven the
whole of the body politic. You cannot enumerate the salvatory forces of the
world and leave the man of God out. He may be overlooked or sneered at, as he
sometimes is, but the fact remains that if he is true to himself, to his fellows,
and to the God whose commission he bears, he is one of the uplifting forces,
and one of the strongest. Remove all such prophets, vocal or silent, and try to
get on without them. Leave in those forces which work in the same direction,
such as healthy writers and philanthropic institutions. They will run on for a
time, like a coach slipped from a railway train; but at length there will be a
slowing down, a stop, then a rush back down the recline to crash and wreck.
Such men keep God’s waterway open, keep it from silting up; they are dredgers,
if you like, true ministers, serving men’s best interests by bringing to bear
God’s truth and power upon the world’s life.
II. When he got to
the right house, he lost his temper. “And he turned and went away in a rage.”
Now, what is it that is the matter with Naaman? It is that which is the
fruitful mother of hindrances to God’s doing His best for men--“the pride of
life.” Elisha’s method is “not good enough,” not great enough. Naaman wants
something which shall be more on a level with his position, something more
adequate to that society standard which is, of course, the unquestioned
standard. By no means is Naaman without his modern representatives. Thousands
of proud men do not understand, or will not recognise that, for the most part,
the power of God moves on lowly levels. It is in a peasant child and in
lowliest circumstances that He incarnates Himself when He comes for the world’s
salvation; Divine and authoritative wisdom comes from the lips of the working
man of Nazareth. His throne of redeeming power and grace is a Cross, and Naaman
joins hands with those to whom the Cross is folly or a stumbling-block. Yet it
is the power of God unto salvation. It is a pity when a man holds his head so
high that he cannot see God at his feet. It is both a pity and a mistake when a
man resents and forsakes the methods of God’s communication with him because
theirs are “not good enough”; when the river of their spiritual Israel and of
their healing becomes too small, or too something; when that Church or agency
which has, under God, laid the foundation of our home, and has fostered all
that is best in our character, is forsaken and ignored, and that not for
conscientious reasons, against which, of course, no objection could be raised,
but simply from motives which rule in the social world. It is a pity and a
mistake both, when the birthright is sold. Abana and Pharpar are not better,
for healing purposes, than all the waters of Israel.
III. Naaman had the
grace and good sense to fall in with the Divine arrangement. New heavens and a
new earth opened to Naaman when, coming up out of the Jordan waters, he found
that his flesh was as that of a little child. The steadily accumulating mortal
burden of years is lifted off, and he swings free, clean shoulders; the east
wind fades out of the sunshine; the fatal flaw is remedied. How he must have
longed to go post haste to tell his wife the good news! It says much for the
natural goodness of this fine character that at once he recognised the God who
had healed him. He will take home two mules’ burden of earth on which to erect
an altar that he may always sacrifice to Jehovah. And so the story which begins
in a heathen land, in a palace, in pride, in leprosy, finds a resting-place,
for the present, in Israel, at the prophet’s humble door, m a lean heart and a
right spirit, in cleanness and sweetness and health. It is on parallel lines
with the whole Gospel story, with all the saving operations of the Almighty as we know them. The law
of entrance is the humbling of our pride; the lintel of the door is low, and we
must bend our heads to get in. But when we do bend our heads and enter in, the
oppressive burdens are removed, the soul is cleansed from all its defilement of
flesh and spirit, and we go free into all the gracious liberty wherewith God
makes His children free. (J. Feather.)
God’s plan of salvation
We propose to take the narrative as illustrative of the great
truth--the necessity of conforming with God’s plan to secure salvation.
I. That God’s plan
is contrary to the expectations of man. So it was here. Naaman had been
thinking within himself how the prophet would act. “Behold, I thought,”
etc. Men would cross the ocean and wander in far-off lands in search of wisdom,
they would survey the heavens, and descend to the lowermost parts of the earth,
but God’s word of life is nigh unto us, in our mouth and in our heart. “If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
II. That God’s plan
tends to humble the pride of man. Naaman thought there was some royal cure for
a royal patient, and an honourable way to deal with such an honourable man. How
indignant he felt when the prophet only sent a messenger to him, and the remedy
prescribed being so humiliating too. So God’s plan of salvation is mortifying
to the pride of the sinful heart. The Pharisees were offended at the Saviour
for making no distinction between them and the sinners. We find Peter, having received
the consent of the Master, walking on the sea; but the moment he began to trust
himself, and feel safe in the power of his own strength, the boisterous winds
and the treacherous waves frightened him, and, conscious of his weakness, he
with gladness entered the ship, and was “safe in the arms of Jesus.” The gate
is strait, and the road is narrow, but he who is humble and obedient is led at
last to safety and bliss.
III. That he who
truly feels his need will accept God’s plan. Though Naaman was at first most
seriously disappointed, and turned away in a rage, yet on the counsel of his
servants, strengthened by his own need and his inward conviction, he complied
with the directions given by the prophet. When the sinner really feels sin a
burden, and believes that the meek and lowly Jesus is powerful to remove it, he
will not quarrel with the method of salvation, but will Come at once and cast
his burden down, and when he truly feels his guilt he will come to the fountain opened for sin and
for uncleanness.
IV. That conformity
to God’s plan will secure a man’s salvation. Naaman obeyed, and he was
accordingly cured. “His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean.”
1. Some means are generally used. The miracles of the Old and New
Testaments are similar in this, that means were used in bringing about such
wonderful deeds.
2. The means were not sufficient in themselves apart from the
blessing of God to cure his leprosy, but as it was God’s plan it effected its
purpose.
3. Naaman’s cure was instantaneous. What a happy moment for him when
he discovered that the cause of his anxiety, trouble, and humiliation was
removed. So the man who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and flees to Him for
refuge, is from that moment free from condemnation. The Son hath made him free,
and he is free indeed.
4. His cure was complete. His flesh was made like “the flesh of a
little child.” So he who accepts God’s plan is wholly renewed, created anew in
Christ Jesus. (H. C. Williams.)
Verse 15-16
Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
Naaman’s money
This chapter contains valuable lessons concerning money; how the
servants of God ought to use and to regard it. Some of our Lord’s weightiest
and most solemn sayings were addressed to those who had much money, or were
spoken with reference to them, as in the case of the rich fool, the man clothed
in purple and fine linen, and the young ruler. The prominence given to this
matter m Scripture need not be wondered at; for,
1. Money represents the good things of this world, which all are
prone to love too well (Mark 10:22).
2. As the Lord Jesus has
bought us, He claims absolute proprietorship over us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and
therefore His claim extends to our money.
3. The manner in which a man acknowledges or repudiates this claim
is, to a great extent, decisive of his spiritual condition (Matthew 6:21). In the latter part of this
chapter the money test is applied to three characters, Naaman, Elisha, and
Gehazi:
I. Naaman longs at
once to prove his gratitude, convinced that he was indebted to the God of
Israel for the cure of his leprosy (Psalms 116:12; Luke 17:15). He was wealthy, and to offer
Elisha a present was the most natural way of showing his thankfulness. It is
well when thank-offerings are common in families, when special gifts are offered
for special mercies received by individual members of the household; thus the
young are trained to recognise God’s claim on their possessions. But, more
generally, a man who, through the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, has
been cured of the leprosy of sin, will (if he has the means) pour his grateful
offerings into the Lord’s treasury (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).
II. But Elisha
firmly declined the gift. He feared lest Naaman should imagine him to be
influenced by selfish considerations, and to be exercising the prophet’s craft
for filthy lucre’s sake. He must not leave Naaman with false impressions as to
the principles of the worshippers of the true God. Bishop Patrick says: “It
gives great authority to a teacher of virtue, not to be covetous.” This example
shows what an all-pervading principle true piety is; it leads its votary to
make the glory of God his supreme end, and to shape his course accordingly (cp.
Acts 8:20; 1 Corinthians 9:15).
III. Tried by the
money test, Gehazi is found wanting. He had every religious advantage: the constant
attendant of Elisha, the witness of his miracles, the hearer of his words, the
observer of his godly life, he ran well for a time. Covetousness, the love of
money, is his ruin (1 Timothy 6:10; see verse 20). It
made him a liar, and his lie made him a leper (Proverbs 21:6). Compare the cases of
Judas and Demas. (F. F. Goe, M. A.)
Verse 18-19
In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant.
Compromise
Naaman returned to Elisha; full of gratitude and generous
recognition of his own error and Elisha’s successful power, he and all his
company came and stood before He paid a willing and a grateful homage to the
God of the conquered Israelites, and like Saul of old, with the same generosity
and openness and natural disposition, he was compelled at once upon conviction
to own the errors of the past, and to declare his firm intention of reformation
for the future. His next act was the offering a gift to Elisha; free and
generous in heart, he noticed the poverty of the prophet, and he wished to
relieve it. On the refusal, Naaman put forward the request to be permitted to
have two mules’ burden of earth: for, said he, “thy servant shall henceforth
offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.”
This request is based on the old impression that the Syrian earth was sacred,
as especially belonging to the land that God had blessed. Of course he might
have taken as much as he pleased, but the gift of the prophet, in Naaman’s
eyes, consecrated the burden. He probably intended to raise an altar in his own
land, on which to sacrifice to the true God, from an impression of the high
sanctity of the country in which Elisha ministered, and the healing Jordan
flowed. It is a singular circumstance that there was a strong impression
amongst the heathen nations that earth conveyed a sanctifying influence. The
Mahometans value the smallest modicum of earth from Mecca; and the Jews
themselves have so high a veneration for the earth of Palestine, that they
count it their highest privilege to be carried from the land of their sojourn
to be laid in the dust of their fathers. If this is impossible, their custom is
to have small portions of the sacred earth, which is placed under the head of
the corpse. This m the case at this day among the Jews in England, so that
earth is brought over in quantities continually to be laid in and consecrate
their graves. Elisha seemed to imply that Naaman might do as he wished, and
take what he would. Are we right in dissembling our real opinions and faith in
God in deference to the opinions of another, even though he be our superior and
master? Is the permission of Elisha to extend to all eases of difficulty such
as the one in which
Naaman was placed? or is there some exceptional condition in the position of
the Syrian, which excepts the applicability of his case to our own? But we must
find the solution to this difficulty in the peculiar kind of difficulty which
Naaman represents, and for that purpose we must look back to the traits which I
have mentioned. We have seen throughout that there was a consistency as well as
a peculiarity in his condition. He was like thousands around us--honest in
heart and in intention; earnest-minded and desirous to do their duty;
nevertheless, as being in the position of recent converts or of young beginners
in religion, such men are placed in positions of difficulty and peril:
everything depends on the sincerity and integrity of their purpose and the
simplicity of their mind. These were determined in the case of Naaman by
certain traits of character. The disposition must be tried by the standard of these
traits before the conduct of the individual can be included within the
limitations to which Elisha’s permission was granted. Here lies the point of
the question. Once sufficiently show that the character be exactly that of the
Syrian captain--so simple, so sincere, so little open to second motive, so
fresh and earnest in its efforts to know and serve God, and Elisha’s permission
takes effect. If God be satisfied with the integrity of our purpose, if with a
full and fair opportunity of knowing our character, a religious teacher grant
us a permission to act as Naaman wished to act, we are safe in doing it; but
where such conditions do not exist, we take that permission to the peril of our
souls. But I will take some cases in order to illustrate more clearly my
meaning. A young person in the bosom of a family, whose parents have called
forth from him deep sentiments of respect and affection, has a strong
conviction that a certain course of conduct, hitherto pursued under the sanction
and wish of those parents, is wrong, and can only be persevered in to the
danger of the soul, and at the expense of duty to God. It may be that a certain
circle of society in which such a man has hitherto moved bears to him an
irreligious aspect; or an amusement has been indulged in which appears in a
more than doubtful character. It is difficult, in such cases, for a young
person to appear to set himself up as a teacher by breaking away from what his
parents have hitherto esteemed harmless. May he continue the suspected practice
in deference to the wish of the parent, and despite the violation of his own
sense of right? or is he bound at once to denounce the practice, and virtually
those who defend it, by suddenly giving it up? Where there is an entire
simplicity and honesty of heart in such a person towards God, may we not feel
that, in deference to Elisha’s permission, he had better still pursue the
suspected course? And may we not feel that where a religious adviser can
discover such traits of simplicity as the prophet might have done in the
Syrian, that he may grant the permission to succumb externally to the
prejudices and mistaken notions of others who stand in the relationship of
authority. And that for many reasons, partly lest vanity or an over-strong
expression of egotism be developed in the young; partly lest sincere intention,
though mistaken judgment, might be so hindered in such a manner as to cheek
religion or improvement in the character altogether. If, however, there be a
swerve from perfect integrity of purpose, such advice would be out of place.
Our own infirm nature and the world outside us offer so many temptations for
lowering the standard of truth, that we should live in continual anxiety lest
the conditions laid down above be not applicable to our case. Then the bowing
in the house of Rimmon would simply be an attempt to serve God and Mammon. (E.
Monro.)
No compromise
I have often found myself wishing that this incident was not
recorded in the Bible, not because it is not possible to offer a guarded
justification of Elisha’s consent to what was undoubtedly an insincere action,
but because under the shelter of his prophetic authority so many deeds of moral
cowardice and hypocrisy have contrived to exist. To any one who is a believer in
a progressive revelation, and who does not expect to find in the Old Testament
as final a statement in regard to what is right and what is expedient as in the
New, it is sufficient to say that this sanction of Elisha to Naaman’s request
belongs to an early stage in the education of the conscience. So long as a man
believes in polytheism, or so long as he believes nothing, no moral problem
presents itself. But when a man is driven to the conviction that this faith and
worship alike are false and idolatrous, and that they hold back mind and soul
from the recognition of the true God, clearly a serious problem in ethics
arises. May a man with such a belief render in the temple of idols even an
external and formal homage to that from which his whole soul revolts? To what
extent is it possible here to have what we call a compromise? Is it right that
any man should act so as deliberately to suggest that he believes what he does
not believe, and supports what he cannot support? Is it right that action
should speak one way and conscience another, and that attitude should be
allowed to contradict the sacred conviction of the mind? This is the problem.
Naaman has enough, shall I say, of the spirit of the diplomatist left to
foresee the situation that must arise when he returns to his duties at the
Court. He tells Elisha that on no consideration will he ever again offer
burnt-offering or sacrifice unto other gods, but only unto Jehovah. But on
those occasions when his duty binds him to accompany the king to the idol temple
to worship, and when he is required to bow down in formal homage to the idol of
the house, he prays to be forgiven this offence against truth and conscience.
Elisha reassures him, and tells him to go m peace. Now, one can easily see how
far this view of compromise might carry a man, and how disastrous it might
become to sincerity and reality in matters of religion. It is, if I may say so
without any offence, the perilous theory that is inseparable from a State
establishment of religion. We have had, for instance in England, eminent
examples of kings, such as Charles II. and James II., who were Romanists at
heart, and even avowedly. Their position, however, as head of a Protestant
Church, required them to take an oath denouncing their own most cherished convictions.
They did it. I daresay they would have said that they bowed down in the house
of Rimmon. But clearly the one horrible result of such an attitude is that you
can no longer believe that any one speaking in that capacity does honestly and
heartily mean what he says. As soon as you begin to transfer the casuistry of
diplomacy to the sphere of religion you inflict an irreparable injury upon the
religious life. Men begin to make statements, sign creeds, wear vestments, and
perform ceremonies which it is diplomatic to make and sign and wear and
perform. And the suspicion soon ripens into conviction in the popular mind that
even in the sphere of religion men do not act out of a perfectly sincere,
honest heart, but having regard rather to what is expedient than to what is
right and true. Unreality and insincerity may be, and are, objectionable
everywhere. Nobody likes them in social life. They create in business life an
atmosphere of distrust. But they are mortal to religion. If Christianity is not
built upon conscience, it is a mockery. We are so often told of the harm that
is done by being over-scrupulous--a temptation which does not appear so
especially to beset the twentieth century--that we may do well to trace out a
little further the education of the conscience. Elisha sanctioned this
particular compromise, under which Naaman was permitted diplomatically to
honour where conscientiously he abhorred. But now pass on to a piece of Old
Testament literature which, as we know, was the product of a much later age.
What was the view taken of the obligations imposed by conscience, and the
possibilities of compromise, in the Book of Daniel? The Book of Daniel
introduces us again to the problems connected with a State-established
religion. Here is the narrative of the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar the
king had set up, and to which all the nation was compelled by law to do homage.
Now notice how convenient to the three Hebrew youths had been Elisha’s sanction
of compromise if they had only felt able to plead it. They were only required
to bow down in the house of Rimmon. An outward and formal gesture of conformity
was all that was necessary, and a man may keep his thoughts to himself. But
during the interval it is quite evident the sense of the obligations due to
conscience as a Divine monitor had developed. Compromise of the Elisha sort has
become impossible, even contemptible. A man must avoid even the appearance of
falsehood, and face the most fiery ordeal sooner than lend formal sanction to
what his conscience and intellect condemn. That is an early part of the Book of
Daniel. Later on comes an even closer parallel to the case of Naaman. For
Daniel himself is a Government official, a State officer, as was Naaman; and
what is required of Daniel is not a public overt homage to a false and
idolatrous system, but merely to refrain from any conspicuous practice of his
own forms of religious worship. Hero surely is a proper case for compromise. As
one in influence at Court, it will not be politic to resist the law. And, after
all, no law could prevent his putting up silent petitions to Jehovah, though he
were compelled for the time to discontinue a religious custom. But so
inexorable has become the law of conscience that to cast a slight upon his own
sacred convictions and a slur upon his own sacred convictions and a slur upon
his own religion, to discontinue the public confession and worship of the God
of him and of his fathers, is a thing now unthinkable. And it remains true, I
think, that, in the sober judgment of mankind, Daniel’s protest on behalf of
liberty to worship God after his own fashion was not an impolitic act,
diplomatically foolish, but an honourable and heroic deed of moral integrity.
Well, now, the question will, I doubt not, arise whether Christianity
strengthened or modified these later Jewish beliefs as to the sovereignty of
conscience. I have always personally maintained that Christianity is
transcendent common sense. When its principles came to be applied among people
who lived under other governments, and in the presence of various idolatrous
customs which had the sanction of the State, problems arose exactly similar to
those presented in the Book of Daniel. We are all of us familiar with that
popular pictorial representation of the fair young Christian maiden offered
life on condition that she would drop the sacred bean into the censer of Diana.
It was understood to be merely a formal compliance with a State Custom, and she could preserve her
faith and her life by consenting to this compromise. According to the
diplomatic view of religion, she would have been entirely exonerated if she had
been governed rather by policy than by principle. But the early Church, less
confused, perhaps, by casuistries and doctrines of expediency than we are, was
inflexible in its resistance to what used to be called in England, in later
days, occasional conformity. The State censer of Diana remained empty and the
uncompromising Christian carried her clear, free conscience to the scaffold,
and died without a blot upon her escutcheon, or a stain upon her honour. And
mark, it is vain to deny that it was this heroism of constancy that broke down
the power of an established paganism, as it never would have been broken down
if Christianity had consented to weak compromises. The clear dictates of
conscience are the beliefs which require and deserve to be supported, even by
the awful final argument of martyrdom. At the same time, we must fairly and
frankly recognise that even then all Christian people did not take the same
view as to what conscience demanded, and many people who would never have
abjured the faith did, for the sake of what they would have called, I think,
peace and social harmony, feel justified in doing things which to others were
doubtful, if not criminal. So far I have been rather stating principles than
dealing with the practical difficulties of their application. But I do not want
to deny or to ignore those difficulties. There are plenty who say, “These
principles are possible of application in the Church, but impracticable in the
State.” The great thing we need in the State is a modus vivendi. If the
Daniels of Society insist upon their own personal convictions against the
settled judgment of the general citizenship, Society becomes impossible. There
must be give and take. The majority must rule, and the minority must accept its
ruling, and cheerfully submit. To that statement of civic duty there is clearly
something to be added. It becomes the problem of a wise State not to intrude
into that sanctuary where a man’s religious beliefs have their being, and not
to seek to compel him to give direct sanction and support to what he believes
to be error and falsehood. Of course, this is a modern principle of civic life.
In Mr. Morley’s classic discussion of compromise he has some very caustic
things about the theory of what he calls the “plenary inspiration of
majorities” and “the House of Commons’ view of human life.” We are familiar
with the idea. If a man happen to be intellectually and spiritually built so
that he is in a permanent minority in this country, he may, therefore, be
compelled to contribute financial aid to institutions against which his most
sacred convictions hourly protest. Political attempts to outrage religious
convictions are few and far between, and, despite recent experience, they will
become less and less frequent until it is recognised, as it must be recognised
some day, that what is impolitic is not the resistance of the individual to
laws that outrage his conscience, but the action of the State that can
endeavour to put such laws into operation. But, men and women, there remains a
larger and nobler cause to plead. The religion of Jesus Christ is the religion
of no compromise. In this sense
I mean: He asks all or nothing. Paganism would have given Him a place in the
Pantheon among all other deities. It is impossible; He will accept no divided
loyalty. When He speaks He expects to be obeyed. Lord, suffer me first to do
this or that. No, no; Christ first, and this or that afterwards. No master was
ever so exacting. The half-and-half life may succeed here and there; it is a
deadly failure in Christianity. Christ’s service is to command our
uncompromising support. No man ever made his mark as.a Christian who was not
out and out. “Put on,” said Paul, “the whole armour of God.” To wear one piece
of the harness, or two, is to invite failure, and it is to play at
Christianity. Christ’s will--the whole of it; Christ’s teaching--the whole of
it; Christ’s blessed gift of life--pardon, sanctification, redemption, all He
has to give and all He stoops to ask--the whole of it. No compromise. That is
Christianity. God give us grace to seek Him and serve Him with all our heart. (C.
S. Horne, M. A.)
The house of Rimmon; or, questionable conduct
What is related in the context concerning Naaman may help us in
some measure to account for these words. He does not appear to be a
thorough-going, substantial, steady character; on the other hand, he is turned
about by every wind. After having expressed his unqualified contempt of the
waters of Israel, which he had no occasion to do, in a very short time he
professes such attachment to the soil of Israel, that he begs two mules’ burden
of it to carry home with him, which is equally unreasonable. Surely, then, the
man who could thus fly from one absurd extreme to another, in obedience to mere
impulse, was not one from whom we should have expected great consistency of
conduct. We should have expected the very reverse; we should have expected him
to be weak, changeable, and undetermined--professing the highest reverence for
God, and yet doing what he feared God would not approve of. Possibly the
prophet made allowances for him on this account; he knew something of the
instability of his character, still, he would hope the best concerning him;
hence, instead of reading him a lecture upon the necessity of firm, consistent,
uncompromising adherence to duty, he simply said, “Go in peace,” trusting,
perhaps, that as he became more enlightened in Divine truth, his loyalty to it
would increase in proportion. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent;
and no man needs to understand this more than God’s prophet; for even the most
excellent speech, if spoken at an inopportune moment, may produce a certain
amount of positive harm. The conduct of Naaman was to some extent excusable.
Had it not been so, it is not probable that the prophet would have said, “Go in
peace.”
1. He was but imperfectly enlightened in Divine truth. This must have
been the case; for he was a benighted heathen upon whom the light of knowledge
was only beginning to dawn. We read of no one about his person who could have
instructed him, except, indeed, the little captive maid who dwelt in his house;
but it is not very likely that she had the power to teach him a great deal, and
it is still less likely that she had the opportunity of doing so. When a
heathen is converted to Christianity in our own day, the missionary is not so
sanguine as to hope to find him at once a fully developed Christian. He is glad
to witness the beginning of the Divine life in his heart; he despises not the
day of small things; he is content, if by months, or even years, of diligent
instruction, he will grow into anything like the full proportions of Christian
manhood. But we may look nearer home. When an aged sinner, who has all his
lifetime been accustomed to do evil, comes under the saving influence of the
gospel, we hardly expect great things from him. We know the terrible power of
vicious habits, especially such as have been long contracted, and the immense
difficulty with which they are overcome. Consequently we excuse divers
imperfections in him which we should have deemed unpardonable under different
circumstances. We need not wonder, therefore, that the prophet, while really
disapproving of Naaman’s conduct, should be disposed to say at the time, “Go in
peace.”
2. It may be that Naaman’s patriotism led him to speak thus. In spite
of certain shortcomings he was unquestionably “a great man with his master, and
honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria”: he was
also a mighty man in valour. It appears that he was, in fact, the king of
Syria’s right-hand man. By his wisdom in counsel and bravery in battle, he had
saved his country from the power of its enemies. His services were therefore
essential to the well-being of his nation. But it is just possible, that by
refusing to accompany the king into the house of Rimmon, he would have
disqualified himself in the eye of the law for the post which he held. He may
have reasoned thus: “If I decline to take part in this trivial ceremony, this
bowing down in the house of Rimmon, I shall deprive myself of all my power to
serve my country; and what real advantage after all will the truth gain by my
consigning myself to a life of obscurity? Will it not be far better for me to
retain my position--influence--power, when it can be done at so small a
sacrifice, and employ them in promoting the welfare of my people and the
interests of truth?” To a man in his circumstances, I think such thoughts as
these would have naturally suggested themselves. Be it observed, however, that
though Naaman may have been excusable, in consequence of the peculiarities of
his condition, still you must not rashly conclude that all others are
excusable, who may adopt a similar policy. The Jesuits hold that no act is
blameworthy by which their own sect may be served. No matter how unjustifiable
the act may be in itself, the object secured is a sufficient set-off, The end,
they say, sanctifies the means. This is a most pernicious doctrine. Moreover,
the conduct of Naaman himself, though excusable, was nevertheless extremely
dangerous.
3. By going into the house of Rimmon, he might have relapsed again
into idolatry. He might have been gradually, and almost unconsciously, led to
give over sacrificing to Jehovah, and think of calling upon no other god than
Rimmon, his old and first love. We have seen men who had indulged for years in
certain vicious habits, mustering sufficient courage to renounce them at once
and for ever. By one tremendous effort they broke their bonds asunder, and
reached the vantage-ground of liberty. But these invariably found, that their
safety lay in avoiding their former associates, their former haunts, their
former ways, everything, in fact, that might have tempted them to fall back
into their old sins.
4. By going into the house of Rimmon he set a bad example before
others. He occupied a high position, he was popular among his countrymen, he
was looked up to as a man of sterling worth and blameless conduct. It would
have been impossible to estimate the influence he must have wielded, he could
have had no conception of it himself, people whom he had never known, never
seen, never heard of, watched his movements and copied his example. Have you ever thought of the
responsibility by which power is ever accompanied? No matter how trivial, how
insignificant, the power may be, there always attaches to it a certain amount
of responsibility.
5. Let us, therefore, dwell upon the following subject:--The evil of
following a questionable course of conduct. I do not merely affirm that it is
wrong to do what is positively bad--what is considered wicked by universal
consent, but I maintain that it is wrong to do that concerning which we have
any misgivings, that which we only suspect to be evil, that respecting which
the heart entertains but a vague dissatisfaction. Consider that--
Worldly conformity
This portion of Scripture is often misunderstood. It is thought by
many that Naaman asks permission to offer some measure of worship to Rimmon
while he mainly worshipped Jehovah; and that the prophet grants his request. An
examination of the passage will, however, set it in a different light.
1. Naaman came to Elisha as an idolater and a leper. The miracle by
which he was cleansed made such an impression upon him, that he became a
convert to the Jewish religion, and he asked from the prophet permission to
take two mules’ burden of earth from the land of Israel, as possessing superior
sanctity, to build therewith an altar, as is generally supposed, in his own
country, declaring his resolution to offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice
unto other gods, but unto the Lord. It is very evident that Naaman does not ask
permission to worship Rimmon, for he had lust asserted that he would henceforth
offer no sacrifice to any god, but the Lord. And we may observe that our
translators have marked their sense of the passage, by using two different
words in our text to express Naaman’s act, and his masters: “When my master
goes to worship, and I bow myself,” an interpretation of which the original is
susceptible, so that he asks no permission, in their opinion, to worship
Rimmon. It seems that it was Naaman’s duty to attend the king of Syria when he
went to pay his idol homage, and as the king leaned upon him with his arm upon
his shoulder, and bowed very low, he could not well avoid bending his own body
with the king. And he meant to ask, whether, if he did this out of duty to his
master, and not of reverence to the idol, he should commit sin. It showed great
tenderness of conscience in him. If the same question were put to us, we should
say that it would depend very much upon circumstances whether it would be right
or wrong for Naaman to do this. Elisha said unto him, “Go in peace,” that is,
Do as you have said, and you will not sin. Was not the prophet right in this
decision? There was a precisely similar question in the apostles’ days. The
meat in the markets had generally been offered before some idol, then taken
away and sold, and it became a matter of scruple whether a Christian might eat
of that meat. St. Paul decided the question just as Elisha did a similar one.
If any ate of it without intending to honour the idol at all, there was no sin
in eating; but if their act was considered as sanctioning idolatry, they were
to abstain. There are cases of a similar nature occurring in the present day,
that may be similarly settled. A Christian traveller sometimes gains admission
to a mosque, but is required to put off his shoes at the entrance; now he does
not consider that as sanctioning Islamism, nor does his guide suppose that he
has changed his religion thereby; therefore, there is no sin in it.
2. But there is another explanation of our text which may be more
satisfactory, though that already given seems conclusive. We need not consider
Elisha’s answer as at all deciding Naaman’s question. He saw, perhaps, that
Naaman was already doubtful as to the expediency of the thing; he knew that his
heart was, in the main, right, and he may have preferred to leave him to the
teachings of his own conscience, as he became more enlightened, rather than to
give him a solution of his scruples. And therefore he may have waived the
question, bid him go in peace, and not trouble himself for the present in the
matter. Now, taken in this view, it is easy to justify the prophet’s answer.
Some regard must be had, in unfolding truth, to the state of the inquirer’s
mind. The natives of Hindostan, for instance, are divided into castes. If the
missionaries were to insist at the outset on the entire renunciation of caste,
they could do nothing, and therefore they prudently say but little upon the subject, and gain the
beliefs of their converts to the great truths of Christianity, trusting that
they will gradually renounce caste, as indeed they do, But it would be a very
different thing to attempt to introduce caste into a Christian country. There
was a like state of things in the apostles’ days. Many of the Jewish converts
were strongly attached to their old Jewish rites. They believed in Christ, and
yet kept the laws of Moses. Now the apostles allowed them to go on in their
customs, and to become gradually weaned from them, and did in effect say to
them as Elijah did, “Go in peace.” But when the question was, whether the
Gentile converts should come under Jewish rites, every apostle was opposed to
it. Let none call this a time-serving doctrine, nor condemn the prophet for not
as decidedly refusing Naaman’s request. Let none say that the whole truth
should be told, and that every man must come up at once to the standard of
duty. The whole truth must, indeed, be told, but some regard must be had to the
order and mode of telling it, as our Lord has taught us in saying, that new
wine must not be put into old bottles. We do not let in the full blaze of noon
on the eyes of one just recovering his sight. Religion has its milk for babes
and its strong meat for men. When a city is besieged, the first point is to
gain the chief defences, and the besiegers do not stop to carry every private
house that may contain an enemy, but press on and seize the fortress first, and
then proceed to take other posts in detail. So Elisha was satisfied for the
present with having gained the citadel of Naaman’s heart, and expected that he
would gradually yield in everything to the truth.
3. We may learn from our text, so explained, some useful lessons on
the subject of worldly conformity. What Rimmon, Baal, and Belial were to
ancient believers, the riches, honours, and pleasures of the world are to Christians.
The only safe guide in the matter is a heart filled with the love and the
Spirit of God. Elisha left Naaman to this guidance, and God leaves the
Christian to the same.
If we love God supremely, we shall be in no danger of loving the world too much;
and if we love our fellow-men, we shall not embitter them against religion by
any fanatical austerity.
4. We may learn, again, from our text, that no Christian can always
judge how far his fellow-Christian may go in conformity with the world.
5. And finally, while we are charitable in our judgment of others, we
ought to be strict in watching against worldly conformity in ourselves. (W.
H. Lewis, D. D.)
Bowing in the house of Rimmon
Peculiar characteristic of the Bible that its claims upon us are
of a sovereign order. We may dispute its authority. But friends and foes alike
confess that the Bible makes pretensions which other books fail to make or to
sustain in anything like the same degree. Those who assail the Scriptures say
that this very claim is their weakness. They point to commands which they
allege are immoral or unjust, and which yet, they say, are asserted to have
come from God, and they ask how can the Book be inspired which lends its
sanction to immorality and injustice. And it must be admitted that the
apologists of the Bible have not always been wise in their defence. They have
treated every part of Scripture alike. They have not been careful to
distinguish between what the Bible narrates and that which the Bible
authorises. These remarks apply directly to the narrative in my text. Here we
find Naaman making an excuse, it is said, for dissembling his religious
convictions, and Elisha accepting the plea. Naaman is convinced that Jehovah is
the true God, and will worship Him, but is not prepared to make any sacrifice
for his faith. To bow in the house of Rimmon is the condition on which he
retains rank and honour and his master’s favour, and the prophet does not
forbid the outward act o| idolatry. What is this but to open a wide door for
every species of dissimulation, and to make expediency, not truth, the rule of
conduct? Now, to state the question thus is to answer it to every honest mind.
But to state the question thus is not to state it fairly.
1. In the first place, even if Elisha did not accept Naaman’s plan,
it would not follow that he was right. An inspired prophet was not equally
inspired at all times. Except when he distinctly claims to speak as a messenger
of God, there is no reason to suppose that any Divine sanction attaches to his
words (St. Peter publicly rebuked by St. Paul).
2. But in the next
place, did Elisha accept Naaman’s plea? The evidence turns entirely upon
Elisha’s answer: “Go in peace.” These words, it is said, do give the permission
which Naaman craves. But is it so? These words do not imply all that they may
seem to our western ears to imply. They are the common form of Oriental
leave-taking. Sometimes, it is true, in Holy Scripture, the phrase means
something more than “Farewell,” conveys apparently the further notion of
approbation. (Instances: Exodus 4:17-18; 18:6; 1 Samuel 1:16-17.) And we know how
in the New Testament our Lord has given a sanctity to the phrase (Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). Such words in His lips were
more than valedictions; they were benedictions also. But in the Old Testament
they would have no such fulness of meaning. On the part of Elisha they do not
necessarily express even acquiescence in the conduct which Naaman was seeking
to excuse. They may have been little more than a courteous dismissal. Hence he
would not sanction Naaman’s want of consistency on the one hand, nor condemn it
on the other. He declines the office of judge. He leaves conscience to do her
work. Elijah would have thundered in his ears, “If the Lord be God, then follow
Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” Elisha says, “Go in peace.” The prophet saw
Naaman’s weakness, but he saw also Naaman’s difficulty. Put the worst construction
upon his words, and you will say he evades the question. Put the best, and you
will say he exercises a wise forbearance.
4. But a question remains which may fairly be asked: how far is
Naaman to be excused in urging the plea which he urges in the text for compliance
with an idolatry which he professed to have renounced? If we would judge a
righteous judgment we shall not judge Naaman by a light and according to a
standard which he did not possess. We shall look fairly at his circumstances,
we shall consider his opportunities. The miracle had deeply impressed him. He
vows that henceforth he will worship no God but Jehovah. Doubtless he was
perfectly honest in the expression of his convictions. He intended to make no
secret of them; for he was prepared to build an altar to Jehovah. He was even
alive to the inconsistency of his conduct; he felt that he was asking an
indulgence for what he could not wholly justify--“The Lord pardon thy servant
in this thing.” But we see also that superstition mingled with his faith. He
thought that one place was holier than another. The soil of Israel must, he thought, be holier
than the soil of Syria; and so he will have two mules’ burdens of earth of the
prophets that he may build an altar to Jehovah. It is not from such a man that
you could look for clear insight or heroic resolution.
5. But another and different question is suggested to us by this
history. How far is Elisha’s conduct a guide for those who go as missionaries
to the heathen now? (1 Corinthians 8:10-11). Here we have
the broad principle of truth and charity which Elisha had not the knowledge,
even if he had the courage, to lay down. But Naaman had no “weak brother” to be
offended by his conduct. And the mighty, overpowering motive, “for whom Christ
died”--Naaman knew nothing of this. Naaman had not heard, Elisha had not heard
of One “Who being in the form of God,” etc. (Philippians 2:6-30 that He might breathe
into them something of His own spirit of self-sacrifice; that He might teach
them to take up their cross daily and follow Him. (The Dean of Peterborough.)
There are no little sins
Some suppose that Naaman referred to the past; that when he said,
“In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant,” he entreated forgiveness of what
he now saw was criminal; and that when the prophet answered, “Go in peace,” he
announced the pardon entreated; but to this view of the case there is a serious
objection. To avoid it, therefore, others conclude, and with them I fully
concur, that Naaman spoke prospectively, and that the prophet, aware of
Naaman’s conviction, that bowing with the king in the house of Rimmon was
wrong, left it to produce its effect; assured, that by the grace of God, he
would soon see that idolatry must be totally abandoned, and that he who would
serve God acceptably, must abstain from the appearance, as well as the reality
of evil. Incorrect views of the evil of sin are, however, still entertained by
those whose minds are altogether unenlightened; or only, as was most probably
the case with Naaman, partially illuminated. Every attempt to extenuate sin
discovers great depravity. You do not proceed thus as to trespasses against
yourselves and society. Does a man take away, without authority, a part of your
property? You do not call it a mistake, or a misappropriation, but a theft.
Yes, in such cases you are sagacious in discerning, and inexorable in judging;
you make no allowance for the suddenness of surprise, or the power of
temptation; a single failure convinces you of the absence of moral principle,
and is deemed sufficient to blast the reputation--to destroy the character of
him who discovers it. But, I ask, are you thus eagle-eyed, jealous, and
rigorous, as to sins against God? Let the expressions current among us furnish
a reply. Is a man proud? He is said to maintain his proper dignity. Is he full
of wrath? It is said, the things he suffered were enough to make him angry. Is
he profane? It is said, he has contracted an unfortunate habit. Does he eat and
drink to excess? It is said, he lives rather too freely.
I. That many acts
which men account little, have been visited with signal expressions of God’s
displeasure. Why, for instance, were Ananias and Sapphira struck dead? It was
in each case for a single act of equivocation! Why was a prophet devoured by a
lion? because he yielded to the solicitations of another prophet, to eat and
drink, instead of pursuing his way? Why were forty-two young persons torn in
pieces by bears? because they mocked Elisha! Why was an Israelite stoned to
death? because he gathered sticks on the Sabbath Day!
II. To assign some
reasons for the Divine procedure. And be it remarked,
1. That an act in itself inconsiderable, may indicate the existing
state of feeling as clearly as one that is more palpable. As the motion of a
leaf shows the quarter from which the wind blows, as certainly as the agitated
branches of an oak, so you may gather any one’s dislike, though he does not
strike you, or abuse you, or attempt insidiously to destroy your reputation.
2. That a sinful act is not isolated and alone, but is commonly the
commencement of a series of iniquities. So it is in reference to the individual.
“Sins,” says Henry, “are like circles in the water, when a stone is thrown in;
one produces another.” Gehazi committed the sin of avarice,--this urged to the
sin of fraud; and the sin of fraud prepared for the sin of falsehood. Cain
cherished the sin of unbelief,--this gave rise to the sin of anger; and the sin
of anger issued in the sin of murder. One leak may sink a vessel;--one spark
may explode a fortress;--one wound may kill the body;--one lust may damn the
soul!
3. That every sin is inimical to the character and government of God.
A common and sound principle of judgment has determined that the guilt of an
act depends, in part, on the object at which it is aimed. To strike a beast
wantonly is inhuman--to strike a father is parricidal--to strike a king is
traitorous, and, by the consent of nations, merits death. “Against thee, O
Lord, against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.”
III. To trace the
bearings of this subject on our knowledge and practice.
1. The subject casts a revealing light on the future punishment of
the wicked.
2. The subject urges on us faith in Christ, and habitual dependence
on Divine influence.
3. The subject demands the cultivation of Christian delicacy. This is
easily distinguished from hypocritical scrupulosity; the one regards great
things, the other all things the one is accompanied by bitterness, the other by
kindness of spirit; the one is merely public, the other is secret also; the one
is transient and occasional, the other regular and habitual.
IV. This subject
should stimulate us to the employment of every counteractive and every
preventive of sin. Some of you are in possession of means of usefulness, which
God has greatly owned and blessed. As heads of families, walk before your
households with a perfect heart, and “train up your children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.” As teachers of the young, aim diligently and devoutly
to lead them to Him, who “gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in
his bosom.” As visitors of the ignorant,--the poor,--the destitute, show with
affection, faithfulness, and zeal, how they may become “rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom of heaven.” And consecrating your time, your talents, your
property, your influence, to the cause of God, go forward, until the curse
shall be removed, and “righteousness and praise spring forth before all
nations.” (C. Williams.)
The new convert and idolatry
On Naaman’s bowing in the house of Rimmon, and Elisha’s
non-interference (2 Kings 5:18-19), Dean Farrar writes
thus: “Elisha’s permission must not be misunderstood. He did not hand over this
semi-heathen convert to the grace of God . . . The position of Naaman was
wholly different from that of any Israelite. He was only the convert, or the
half-convert, of a day . . . To demand of one who, like Naaman, had been an
idolater all his days, the sudden abandonment of every custom and tradition of
his life, would have been to demand from him an unreasonable, and, in his
circumstances, useless, and all-out impossible self-sacrifice. The best way was
to let him feel and see for himself the futility of Rimmon-worship . . . But the
general principle that we must not bow in the House of Rimmon remains unchanged.”
Conscientiousness
Von Zealand, Frederick the Great’s finest general, was a Christian
although his Royal master was a scoffer. One day he was making his coarse jokes
about the Saviour, and the whole place rang with guffaws of sympathetic
laughter; and it was too much for old Von Zealand. Standing up amid the hush of
the Court flatterers and parasites, shaking his grey old head solemnly he said:
“Sire, you know I have not feared death. I have fought and won thirty-eight
battles, but I am an old man, and shall have soon to go into the presence of a
greater than thou, the Mighty God who saved me from my sin, the Lord Jesus
Christ, against whom you blaspheme. Sire, I cannot stand to hear my Saviour
spoken of, as thou hast spoken of Him. I salute thee, sire, as an old man who
loves the Saviour, on the edge of eternity.” Then he sat down. Frederick, with
a trembling voice, replied, “General, I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon.”
The company dispersed in silence, and the king that night reflected as he had
never done before on the King of kings whom his brave general reverenced as his
Saviour. (Life of Faith.)
True to conscience
Our late Queen, Victoria the Good, once noticed a sergeant of the
Scots Guard drilling one of the Duke of Connaught’s children, and being pleased
with him she invited the sergeant to appear at some private theatricals. The
sergeant hesitated, and then asked if Her Majesty would graciously allow him to
decline, for the theatre had been a snare to him in the past. The Queen agreed
at once, and said she liked to have about her men who kept to their
convictions, and shortly
afterwards sent him a token of royal favour.
Verses 20-27
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha.
Gehazi
The name Gehazi means “valley of vision,” and is appropriate
enough if we think of what Gehazi saw as to the nature of wickedness when the
prophet opened his eyes.
1. Gehazi was “the servant of Elisha, the man of God.” Surely then he
would be a good man? Can a good man have a bad servant? Can the man of prayer,
whose life is a continual breathing unto God of supreme desires after holiness,
have a man in his company, looking on and watching him, and studying his
character, who denies his very altar, and blasphemes against his God? Is it
possible to live in a Christian house and yet not to be a Christian? Cause and effect
would seem to be upset by such contradictions. There is a metaphysical question
here, as well as a question of fact. A good tree must bring forth good fruit;
good men must have good children; good masters must have good servants;
association in life must go for something. So we would say--emphatically,
because we think reasonably. But facts are against such a fancy. What is possible
in this human life? It is possible that a man may spend his days in building a
church, and yet denying God. Does not the very touch of the stones help him to
pray? No. He touches them roughly, he lays them mechanically, and he desecrates
each of them with an oath. Is it possible that a man can be a builder of
churches, and yet a destroyer of Christian doctrine and teaching generally?
Gehazi did not understand the spirit of his master. He did not know what his
master was doing. How is it that men can be so far seperated from one another?
How is it that a man cannot be understood in his own house, but be thought
fanciful, fanatical, eccentric, phenomenally peculiar? Gehazi had a method in
his reasoning. Said he in effect: To spare a stranger, a man who may never be
seen again; to spare a beneficiary, a man who has taken away benefits in the
right hand and in the left; to spare a wealthy visitor, a man who could have
given much without feeling he had given anything; to spare a willing giver, a
man who actually offered to give something, and who was surprised, if not
offended, because his gift was declined! there is no reason in my master’s
policy. It never occurred to Gehazi that a man could have bread to eat that the
world knew not of. It never occurs to some men that others can live by faith,
and work miracles of faith by the grace of God.
2. Gehazi prostituted an inventive and energetic mind. He had his
plan (v. 22). The case was admirably stated. We have no hesitation in saying
that the men of the world in most cases overmatch the men of the Church in
matters of strong thinking regarding practical subjects and practical
ministries and uses. We who are in the Church are afraid: we want to be let
alone; not for the world would we be suspected of even dreaming of anything
unusual; we would have our very dreams patterns of neatness, things that might
be published in the shop windows, and looked upon without affronting the
faintest sensibility on the part of the beholders. But the Gehazis, if they
were converted, they would be men of energy, dash, courage, fire; we should
hear of them and of their work.
3. But Gehazi was successful. Now all is well: lust is satisfied,
wealth is laid up; now the fitness of things has been consulted, and harmony
has been established between debtor and creditor, and Justice nods because
Justice has been appeased. Were the test to end with the twenty-fourth verse we
should describe Gehazi as a man who had set an example to all coming after him
who wished to turn life into a success. Who had been wronged? Naaman pursues
his journey all the happier for thinking he has done something in return for
the great benefit which has been conferred upon him. He is certainly more
pleased than otherwise. The man of God has at last been turned, he thinks, into
directions indicated by common sense. All that has happened is in the way of
business; nothing that is not customary has been done. Gehazi is satisfied, and
Elisha knows nothing about it. The servant should have something even if the
master would take nothing. It is the trick of our own day! The servant is
always at the door with his rheumatic hand ready to take anything that may be
put into it. We leave nothing with the master; it would be an insult to him. So
far the case looks natural, simple, and complete; and we have said Elisha knows
nothing about it. Look at Elisha: fixing his eyes calmly upon Gehazi, “Went not
mine heart with thee?” Oh that heart! The good man knows when wickedness has
been done: the Christ knows when He enters into the congregation whether there
is a man in it with a withered hand; He says, There is a cripple somewhere in
this audience. He feels it. “Went not mine heart with thee?” Was I not present
at the interview? Did I not hear every syllable that was said on the one side
and on the other?
4. Then the infliction of the judgment: “The leprosy therefore of
Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever” (v. 27). Thou hast
touched the silver, thou didst not know that it was contagious and held the
leprosy; thou didst bring in the two changes of garments, not knowing that the
germs of the disease were folded up with the cloth: put on the coat--it will
scorch thee! “He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.” A
splendid conception is this silent departure. Not a word said, not a protest
uttered; the judgment was felt to be just. Men should consider the price they
really pay for their success. Do not imagine that men can do whatever they
please, and nothing come of it. Every action we perform takes out of us part of
ourselves. Some actions take our whole soul with them, and leave us poor
indeed. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Defilement of God’s work by covetous men
It is at once most surprising and most saddening to know that some
of the best works that have been done on earth for God, and some of God’s most
eminent workers, have been defamed and lowered, if their influence has not been
actually counteracted and nullified, by inferior workers and by unworthy men.
This defiling of God’s work has generally come from one source, and is the
result of one vile lust or passion, covetousness--the desire for the means of
gaining power or wealth, or place, or self-indulgence; the desire for dominion
or money as the means of self-exaltation and aggrandisement. As illustrating
this I need only mention the repulsive histories of Balaam, of Achan, of
David’s impious numbering of Israel, the story of Gehazi now before us, and the dark atrocity
of the life and death of Judas Iscariot.
1. The action and duplicity of Gehazi are of singular unworthiness.
Like so many other histories they show that intercourse with good men and
association with God-like work may become only the occasion of worse vileness
in a man. The followers of Luther were seldom worthy of him. The followers of
Calvin have not been true to their master. The adherents of the hallowed
Wesleys did not take their sacred work only. The converts of Paul almost broke
his heart. And the followers and servants of Jesus--where is there one of us
who is worthy of his Master? Too often has it been found that one of the most
repressive influences about the work of great men and good servants of Jesus
Christ is in the fact that some of their nearest followers have had unworthy
souls; and could turn their Master’s greatness into the service of their own
inferior aims and into the means of advance in this world. Do not many of us
come to Christ with selfish feelings and serve our God for hire? Being with the
good and great will not necessarily make us similar; otherwise Gehazi would have
been a better man.
2. Gehazi’s covetousness was of a gross, material kind--the love of
money; and the miserable influence of it upon him is seen in this: that it
produced inability to appreciate Elisha’s spiritual motives. All that Gehazi
let himself see was, that with the departing Naaman so much money went away
too. More especially, however, notice that, as with Gehazi, so, generally, the
covetous and unprincipled man lowers himself to a level on which he is unable,
in daily life and business, to appreciate other motives than those of getting
gain; or to measure anything in life’s movements and enterprises by any other
gauge than that of the money that can be gained or must be lost. Because of
this abasing and prostituting of nature, Paul earnestly declares covetousness
to be practically idolatry, and has its legitimate consequences on man’s inner
life, in antipathy to Jesus, and self-mutilation, with much sorrow. Gehazi
could not feel the power of Elisha’s spiritual motives in sparing Naaman and
letting him go free of payment. He rather thought--why should my master not
have taken the money? What good was it to let the talents of silver and gold
and the beautiful Syrian robes go? The fair damask raiment of Damascus--why
should it be lost? Naaman could afford it; and it would be far less than the
equivalent of what he had received from Elisha. Look which way he would, the
money that had been lost, the gain that had not been made, was ever alluring
his debased soul Elisha’s noble determination that the mercy of his God should,
in Naaman’s case, be had literally “for the asking”: his resolve that the
goodness of God should be then, as we say now, of grace, and not of buying or
deserving, either before or after it had been obtained,--this to such a soul as
Gehazi’s was useless, fanciful, intangible.
3. In several other ways Gehazi’s covetousness involved him in sin,
and further defiled the good work that had been wrought by Elisha. To notice
these is to see a testimony to a law of God that the young cannot heed too
much--the law that forbids the possibility of solitary sins, isolated
transgressions. There are no lonely, single sins. Sin needs sin to help it
along, to buttress it, to back it, and give it success. One deception leads to
another, and needs it. One lie begets another, and requires it to succeed. And
it may be well for us all to remember that all the good and gains of this grand
world are not worth one little lie.
4. Now we come, as men say they have so often in daily life and
business, to face this misery--the success of the lie. The falsehood has
thriven; to deceive has been found to be the short road to wealth; to insult
God, to defame His work, to misrepresent Elisha and plunder Naaman, these
things have “paid,” as men say. (G. B. Ryley.)
A voice of warning
I. Let us note the danger of unimproved and abused
spiritual privileges. Gehazi’s religious advantages, in all probability, began
at a date anterior to the time and mission of Elisha. One tradition speaks of
him as the boy who sped at the bidding of the Tishbite to the top of Carmel, to
watch the rising of the expected cloud over the Mediterranean, precursive of
the longed-for rain. This, at all events, we know, that seven years previous to
Naaman’s pilgrimage, he was the witness of Elisha’s greatest miracle, when he
brought back the Shunammite’s son to life. Doubtless, during these intermediate
years, he had seen many other signs and wonders authenticating his master’s
Divine call He had mingled with the youths--his own contemporaries and fellow-students--in
the college of the prophets: and, above all, in common with them, and more than
them, he had been the privileged eye-witness of the pure, exalted character and
consistent walk of his honoured superior. Alas! that no fall is so low and so
fearful as the fall of a man “once enlightened,” and who has “tasted of the
heavenly gift.” No recoil to sin is so terrible as the recoil on the part of
one who has “tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.”
The religious training and pious fellowship which softens and ameliorates the
docile, teachable heart; if abused and rejected, will only serve to stir up the
natural, innate tendencies of evil. Let us write “Beware” on our seasons of
loftiest privilege, and on our moments of highest inspiration. “Beware” of a
spirit of indifference to Divine things, harbouring aught that would blunt the
fine edge of conscience, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God; allowing religion
to become a weariness; outwardly professing godliness, while inwardly in league
with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
II. A second lesson
we may learn from the story of Gehazi, is the certainty of sin’s detection. It
was a boldly conceived and a boldly executed scheme of the audacious criminal.
Such were the air-castles which Gehazi, in common with thousands of
accomplished graduates in crime, have reared for themselves. But he forgot, or
tried at least to bury from remembrance, the truth which he had embodied in his
own thoughtless imprecation, that “Jehovah liveth.” It is true that sentence
against an evil work is not always (indeed, is seldom) executed speedily. God
many times seems to “keep silence”--to be like the Baal of Carmel, “asleep.”
The daring and presumptuous venture their own sceptic conclusions on this forbearance
of the Most High, in thinking Him “altogether such an one as themselves”--“The
Lord doth not see, neither doth the God of Jacob regard” (Psalms 94:7). If, however, there be in
the present state, exceptions to this great retributive law in God’s moral
economy, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” And
as the detection will be sure, so also will the punishment be commensurate with
the crime. In the case of Gehazi, most meet and befitting was the nature of the
retribution. He would rob the restored Commander of his festal garment; a white
garment, too, he shall have in return, but very different truly from the one he
has avariciously appropriated:--a garment of terrible import, which in a
terrible sense shall “wax not old,” for it shall go down a frightful heirloom
to his children’s children. It is a robe of leprosy, “white as snow.” Be not
deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap!”
III. A third lesson
we may draw from the narrative
is, the tendency of one sin to generate another. When the moral sense becomes
weakened, and moral restraints are withdrawn, the horde of demons gather
strength;--the avalanche of depravity acquires bulk as well as velocity, in its
downward course of havoc and ruin. “These wild beasts--the wolves of the
soul--may hunt at first singly, but afterwards they go in packs, and the number
increaseth the voraciousness thereof.” When the citadel of the heart is carried
by assault, one bastion after another is dismantled, and its treasure abandoned
to the enemy. The Reaper angels, in the final harvest of wrath, are pictured as
gathering, not single stalks, or even sheaves, but “bundles to be burnt.” Mark
the sad experience of Gehazi:--
1. Note his covetousness. Avarice was the besetting sin of his
nature--the prolific parent of all the others.
2. But the motive-power of covetousness roused into action other
depraved, and, till now, slumbering forces. We have to note next, his
untruthfulness. Isaac Watts’ child-hymn, in simplest child-language, expresses
in brief the sad experience of this covetous attendant--
For he who does one fault
at first,
And lies to hide it, makes
it two.
3. Scarcely distinguishable from Gehazi’s sin of falsehood--akin to
it, and a part of
it--(a sister-spirit of evil)--let us note his hypocrisy. (J. R. Macduff,
D. D.)
Gehazi
I. That the
highest religious advantages, unless duly improved, will fail to produce any
saving results.
II. That where
unholy dispositions are cherished in the heart, they will break forth, when a
favourable opportunity presents itself, in corresponding action.
III. That while we
proceed in a course of iniquity, it is in vain for us to expect either
concealment or impunity.
1. All your sin is known to God. Man cannot read the heart of his
fellow-man without a special revelation from heaven; but though man can only
judge from outward appearances, and is consequently incapable of forming a
right estimate, all things are known to God. “I, the Lord, search the heart and
try the reins of the children of men.”
2. All sin thus beheld is abhorred by God. The Lord is a God of
infinite purity and righteousness. There is no object we can contemplate or
conceive, that is half so offensive to the most delicate eye as sin is to God.
3. God, in His infinite wisdom, has a thousand means which we cannot
conceive, of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness. Gehazi thought
that his secret wickedness would never be discovered; but the whole scene
passed, as it were, in panoramic view before his master. The Lord can suggest a
single thought to the mind of a person acquainted with us, that may lead to a
train of reflections, observations, and inquiries which will discover our secret
iniquities. (T. Jackson.)
Gehazi
Let us derive a few general and useful reflections from the whole
narrative.
I. Persons may be
very wicked under religious advantages. The means of grace and the grace of the
means are very distinguishable from each other, and are frequently found
separate.
II. Here is a
warning against the love of money. “Take heed, and beware of covetousness.”
III. See the
encroachments and progress of sin; and learn how dangerous it is to give way to
any evil propensity.
IV. How absurd it
is to sin with an expectation of secrecy! “There is no darkness nor shadow of
death where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves.”
V. Abhor and
forsake lying. It is in common peculiarly easy to detect falsehood. Hence it is
said that every liar should have a good memory. And what an odious character is
a liar! How shunned and detested when discovered! To every mortal upon earth,
the appellation of a liar is the most detestable. A liar is the emblem of “the
devil, who was a liar from the beginning, and abode not in the truth.” (W.
Jay.)
Gehazi
In dwelling on our subject we have suggested:--
I. Gehazi’s
inestimable privileges. He held no ordinary position. He was servant to the
greatest of prophets, and lived in an atmosphere of the most exalted purity and
the highest piety. He had an example to contemplate which few others have been
favoured with. Hence he could not excuse himself by the plea of ignorance. He had the means of
knowing what was right. He was in constant contact with God’s Divine word, and
knew well the Divine law. He saw and probably enjoyed the ministrations of his
master. Yet notwithstanding all this he sinned in a notable and presumptuous
manner.
II. Gehazi’s
complicated sin. How one crime is tied to another! They follow like children of
a family. They are like the birds that collect after carrion. We seldom see one
prominent sin hovering in the moral atmosphere unaccompanied by others. Bad men
consort together. Bad spirits seek congenial company.
III. Gehazi’s
exemplary punishment. We may imagine the radiant glee of Elisha’s servant as he
returned home well satisfied with his day’s work on his own behalf. He was
proud at the success of his well-contrived and ably executed stratagem. With
these self-complaisant thoughts he went in and stood before his master, and
glibly covered his sin with the lie. As if he could deceive God! He went out!
In one moment he was transformed, both body and soul. We sometimes come upon
these sudden revulsions of feeling, when in a single instant the whole current
of a man’s life is changed at once and for ever. The lessons which this subject
has for ourselves are manifest:--
1. We see the danger of a covetous spirit. It is the mainspring of
half the sins of the present day, as it has been the exciting cause of half the
wars and crimes of the world.
2. We see in Gehazi the type of all sin. All sin is like his in its
method. It never remains stationary. It grows and stretches from one thing to
another. All sin is like Gehazi’s in its selfishness. Surely he might have
respected his master’s honour and position in the sight of the foreign prince.
Sin is selfishness. It is placing personal interests and ease and
aggrandisement before the interest of others. And the simile is continued in
the last point. All sin is alike in the certainty of its punishment. The wicked
may persuade themselves that their wickedness is unobserved, but it will soon
be manifest that every thought is known and that the day of reckoning must
arrive. (Homilist.)
One man’s blessing another man’s curse
Judging only as we are able to do of one another now, Gehazi’s plan
had succeeded, and he had done well for himself. But he had left out of his
scheme the remembrance that God had something to do with it.
I. Lying and false
ways of earthly prosperity always leave out God. Liars and deceivers ignore
God’s interest in their life, God’s knowledge of their plans and schemes and
the execution of them. And in their apparently untroubled doing without God
these men and their actions become most hurtful stumbling-blocks to many tender
souls, such as that most pure and deep thinker Asaph--or the man who wrote
psalms for his use, who mourned over the wicked that they say, How doth God
know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the ungodly who
prosper in the world; they increase in riches.” Such sin is either a practical
ignoring of God altogether, atheism in daily action and business (which is much
more pernicious than atheism of intellect), or it is a defaming and insulting
of God’s omniscience.
II. One sin, one
lie, makes others easier and worse. The lie came from him easily and readily:
for he had prepared himself beforehand, and the lie he had told to Naaman
trained him to insult, by deceiving, his master. The way to perdition is
downhill, on a slippery way, with a descent that is ever quickening.
III. Gehazi’s
exposure and shame come now before us. How soon the scheme came to an end, and
such an end! How soon the bubble burst! Gehazi had deceived Naaman and had
gotten his money, but he had misled himself much more.
IV. Elisha’s
patriotism cried out against Gehazi’s sin.
V. Gehazi pierced
through with many sorrows. He had sought his good here; but with Naaman’s money
he got his leprosy, too. The blessing of the Syrian became the curse of the
servant of the man of God. (G. B. Ryley.)
The covetousness of Gehazi
I. We have here
covetousness seeking to make gain of a connection with goodness. Gehazi was the
servant of Elisha. It was surely no small privilege to be an attendant upon the
prophet of God,--to be brought into such close connection with a man so good
and holy. One might have supposed that he could scarcely help feeling the
influence of Elisha. Now, covetousness of any kind is bad enough; but
covetousness hanging on the skirts of goodness,--covetousness taking advantage
of some outward connection with religion, and even with unselfishness,--this is
surely one of the lowest forms of vice. Oh, it is a fearful thing when a man
comes to value his religious reputation chiefly as a portion of his
stock-in-trade.
II. We have here
covetousness leading on to falsehood and theft.
III. We have here
covetousness hindering the progress of the divine kingdom. Like a true prophet
as he was, Elisha was seeking to advance the kingdom of God. He cared far more
for the extension of Jehovah’s name and the promotion of Jehovah’s glory than
for his own advantage. If he magnified his prophetic office and stood on his
honour, it was that, through him, Jehovah might be honoured. This was no doubt
the secret of his treatment of Naaman. (T. J. Finlayson.)
Deception detected and punished
I. The deception
practised. Naaman was proceeding on his way, thoughtful, grateful, prayerful,
hopeful, joyful. He is overtaken by Gehazi, who, unknown to his master, asks a
gift of him. After all Gehazi’s profession and all his religious opportunities,
who would have expected such action? Influences of pious homes, etc., are
sometimes all lost. The secret of Gehazi’s action was covetousness. This is a
rock on which many split. Gehazi thinks of all Naaman is taking back, and of
his willingness to make the prophet a present. He regrets the loss of an
opportunity of gain. He longs for the silver, etc. He resolves to seek for it.
It is dangerous to parley with temptation. Unobserved, as he supposes, by the
prophet, he pursues after Naaman. Unheard, as he supposes, by the prophet, he
tells his story.
II. The deception
succeeding; that is, for the time, and so far as regards the obtaining of that
for which he asked, and more than he asked for. Naaman pauses, descends from
his chariot, kindly inquires after the prophet’s welfare, listens to Gehazi’s
application, grants all he sought and more. Note the confidence, the
artlessness, the unsuspiciousness of a young convert to the faith of the God of
Israel. He cannot suppose a prophet’s servant could be guilty of a falsehood.
Men expect much of those who profess godliness; guilty indeed are they who, by
disappointing such expectations, cast a stumbling-block in the way of young
believers (Matthew 18:6). Gehazi obtains his desire;
but how does he feel as he returns to his master?
III. The deception
detected. Verse 24, “When he came to the tower.” In the Revised Version that
reads--“When he came to the hill”; probably the hill brow from which he could
see his master’s house, and where his master, therefore, might possibly see
him, he then hid his ill-got treasure. He did not think of that eye that over
sees (Psalms 139:1-12; Jeremiah 23:24). Could he think to hide
from the prophet, of the Lord that which he had done? He did so think; but it
was not hidden (verses 25, 26). He thought he had managed all very cleverly! .
. . Deception led to falsehood; it often does. Yet only ultimately to increase
the shame of detection. “Be sure thy sin will find thee out.”
IV. The deception
punished. Shortlived is the prosperity of the wicked. If Gehazi will have
Naaman’s treasure, he shall have Naaman’s leprosy. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Avarice a fatal vice
Andrew Fuller one day went into a bullion merchant’s, and was
shown a mass of gold. Taking it into his hand, he very suggestively remarked,
“How much better it is to hold it in your hand than to have it in your heart.
Goods m the hand will not hurt you, but the goods in the heart will destroy
you. Not long ago, a burglar, as you will remember, escaping from a policeman,
leaped into the Regent’s Canal, and was drowned--drowned by the weight of the
silver which he had plundered. How many there are who have made a god of their
wealth, and in hasting after riches have been drowned by the weight of their
worldly substance! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
When disguises are removed
A large lake in a nobleman’s park was a little time ago drained
off for repairing purposes. During the day it had shone under the sunlight like
a sheet of gold, and at night a silver sheen from the moon turned it into
poetic beauty. It looked an emblem of purity and peace. But when the water was
drawn away what an awful contrast! Down in the oozy slime at the bottom of the
lake were thousands of crawling and wriggling abominations of reptile and parasitic
order. The waters, so fair in outward seeming, were a very haunt of evil
squirming horrors. What a terrible revealing will the withdrawing of life make
to many a Christless soul. When all disguises, veils, and falsities are taken
away, and the horrors of cherished sin are all laid bare. (H. O. Mackey.)
Verse 25
Thy servant went no whither.
A lie sticks
A little newsboy, to sell his paper, told a lie. The matter came
up in the Sunday school. “Would you tell a lie for a penny?” asked a young lady
teacher of one of her boys. “No ma’am,” he answered very decidedly. “For
sixpence, then? No ma’am.” “For a shilling? “No, ma’am?” “For a thousand
shillings?” Dick was staggered. A thousand shillings looked big. Wouldn’t it
buy a lot of things? While he was thinking, another boy behind him called out,
“No, ma’am.” “Why not?” asked the teacher. “Because,” said the boy, “when the
thousand shillings are all gone, and all the things they’ve got with them have
gone too, the lie is there, all the same.” It is so. A lie sticks. Everything
else may be gone, but that is left, and it must be carried with you, whether
you will or not.
Heredity not wholly a disadvantage
A young man complains to Jupiter that in consequence of his
father’s debaucheries he is pierced with pangs and punished with pains for sins
not his own. Jupiter replies that in accordance with the very law of which he
complains, he also receives from his father delicate nerves, vigorous muscles,
and keen senses which are inlets of joy and many noble capacities and faculties
of mind and heart. Jupiter offers in his case to suspend the offensive organic
law; but warns him that, in losing his pain, he shall also lose all advantages
and benefits through that same law of hereditary descent. And he further
reminds him that even his pain is a monitor to warn him from the paths of vice
trodden by his father. The sufferer withdraws his complaint, resigns himself,
and resolves by pious obedience to all bodily laws to bring back his body to a
normal and healthy state. (Combe on the ”Constitution of Man. ”)
Continuity of evil influences
Suppose a company of shipowners started a sea captain with an
imperfect chart and with an unseaworthy vessel, and after the vessel has been
gone five days they feel sorry about it, and wish they had not let the vessel
go out in that way. Does that make any difference to those who have gone out?
No! In the first storm the captain and the crew go down. And if you come to God
in the latter part of your life, when you have given your children an impulse
in the wrong direction, those ten, or fifteen, or twenty years of example in
the wrong direction will be mightier than the few words you can utter now in
the right direction. So it is with the influence you have had anywhere in
community. If you have all these years given countenance to those who are
neglecting religion, can you correct that? (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Heredity may transmit predisposition to disease
We know from experience that a full measure of health is not often
the happy condition of human tissues; we have, in short, a variety of
circumstances which, as we say, predispose the individual to disease. One of
the commonest forms of predisposition is that due to heredity. Probably it is
true that what are known as hereditary diseases are due far more to a
hereditary predisposition than to any transmission of the virus itself in any
form. Antecedent disease predisposes the tissues to form a nidus for bacteria;
conditions of environment or personal habits frequently act in the same way.
Damp soils must be held responsible for many disasters to health, not directly,
but indirectly, by predisposition; dusty trades and injurious occupations have
a similar effect. Any one of these three different influences may in a variety
of ways affect the tissues and increase their susceptibility to disease. Not
infrequently we may get them combined. (Newman, “Bacteria.”)
Verse 27 The leprosy
therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.--
Gehazi smitten with leprosy
The sin which led to this punishment suggests--
I. That it is a
mark of the highest contempt of the Holy God to link His name with our sinful
purposes. “As the Lord liveth,” said Gehazi, “I will take somewhat of him” (2 Kings 5:20). To stamp base metal
with the image and name of the king is regarded as a great crime against the
country and the monarch. How much greater the crime of stamping upon our evil
actions the name of God. Yet some of the most diabolical acts that stain the
page of history have been wrought in the name of the sinless Redeemer.
II. That the
transgression of the first table of the moral law is a step to the
transgression of the second. The man who will speak lightly of a good master
will find it an easy matter to misrepresent the character of his
fellow-servant. The child who dishonours a good parent will not be likely to be
a kind brother. Those who “fear not God,” will as a rule “regard not men” (Luke 18:2). The sin against the less,
comes easily after the sin against the greater. Gehazi first profaned the name
of God, and then wronged his earthly master.
III. That those who
will lie in order to deceive, must lie in order to conceal. Gehazi’s lie to
Naaman was soon
followed by another to Elisha. It has been said that “a lie has no legs.” There
are men in the world who have no limbs upon which they can walk, and are
indebted to the artificial help of crutches to make their way in the world. So
a lie must be kept up by the crutches of other lies. The punishment for the sin teaches--That those
who sin and seek to cover it by concealment, will be compelled, in time, to be
the means of its revelation. (Outlines of Sermons by
a London Minister.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》