5. And the king of Syria said, 2Go 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 3 gold, and ten 4 changes of raiment. 6. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he 5 rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, 6 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. 5. The king of Syria. Benhadad (son or worshipper of the Syrian god Hadad). Probably an official name like Pharaoh. And the king of Syria said. We see from the king's readiness how anxious he was for the restoration of Naaman. Go to, go. Rather, "Go, depart." - Cook. Merely an exclamation equivalent to "Come, now." Todd. I will send a letter. An autograph letter. The king, not knowing anything about Elisha, naturally thought that the shortest way to find him would be through the king of Israel, at whose court he naturally expected to find such a prophet. A godless man would suppose that even a divine gift might be bought, and a despotic king that even a prophet of God must obey a human command. He took with him. To come before any one without a gift when a favor was to be asked would have been inexcusable rudeness; but when the favor was health, and the personage approached a man who had power with the God of his country, no bounty could be too great to propitiate his good-will. Geikie. Ten talents of silver. Worth about £3,420 ($16,400). And six thousand pieces of gold. Worth $48,000.- Bagster. Geikie, and Keil, and other writers each estimate the amount differently. Pieces of gold. Coined money did not exist as yet, and was not introduced into Judea till the time of Cyrus. Gold was carried in bars, from which portions were cut when need arose, and the value was ascertained by weighing. Cook. Ten changes of raiment. Costly robes, suitable for festive occasions. The oriental custom of including clothes among gifts of honor still continues. This very large present was quite in keeping with Naaman's position, and was not too great for the object in view, namely, his deliverance from a malady which would be certainly, even if slowly, fatal. IV. Turned Aside. - Vers. 6-12. 6. He brought. The distance was 110 miles, as the bird flies. And he brought the letter. Incidentally we notice that the art of writing was well known, and that the languages of the Syrian and Hebrew were so much alike as to need no interpreter. They afterwards diverged. - Lewis. Now. The royal letter is abbreviated, for it could not begin with "Now when." Only the main passage is given here. The letter was simply a note of introduction. That thou mayest recover him. There is no reason for supposing that he expected the king to play the physician; in fact, this would not accord with what Benhadad had heard about "the prophet that is in Samaria."-Todd. The words were not so insolent in their meaning as Jehoram supposed, but simply meant: have him cured, as thou hast a wonder-working prophet; the Syrian king imagining, according to his heathen notions, that Jehoram could do what he liked with his prophets and their miraculous powers (Keil), and that only by royal command would this chief of the Magi be induced to exercise his powers in behalf of a foreigner. - Menken. 7. He rent his clothes. Less in horror at the imagined blasphemy than in consternation at the implied threat. The king is terrified because he has a bad conscience (Job 15: 21). Such a man always finds more in a letter than it says. Those who do not trust God do not trust one another. Lange. Am I God? Am I omnipotent? To kill and to make alive. This shows how utterly incurable leprosy was considered. It was the equivalent of death, and to cure would be to make alive. Wherefore consider. Probably said in private council. He had so far misunderstood the intention of the letter as to suppose that he was called on to perform the cure, and that an impossibility was intentionally demanded. It did not occur to him that Benhadad was sincere in his request, nor that God's hand was in it. His obtuseness was equal to Benhadad's ignorance. He seeketh a quarrel. That is, a special ground of quarrel, in addition to the ordinary grounds of national enmity 8. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that 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. 9. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and 3wash in Jordan 4 seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 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. John 3: 7. Zech. 13:1. • Lev. 4:6. 1 Kings 13:43. Josh. 6:4 1 Matt. 11: 28. 2 Luke 7: 16. 8. Providentially, the story of the king's agitation came to Elisha, and he sent him this very sensible message. Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. That is, that in spite of the apostasy of king and people, God still makes his saving power manifest in Israel. 9. So Naaman came. He finally draws up with his chariot and escort at the humble door of the prophet; unwilling, perhaps, to intrude on the holy man, or thinking, it may be, that Elisha might well come out to one in his high position. — Geikie. With his horses. That is, with the whole company of his attendants, who were mounted on horses, while he himself rode in a chariot. Naaman travels in royal state, but the contrast between the equipage and the rider is very great. The house of Elisha. The prophet seems to have had a residence of his own in the city of Samaria (comp. chap. 6: 32). 10. Elisha sent. As God's representative, he was superior to any earthly noble (2 Sam. 22: 27). It was not because he feared contact with a leper. Messenger. Gehazi. Go and wash in Jordan. As the washing in Jordan could have no natural tendency to cure leprosy, we must suppose the prophet to speak "by the word of the Lord." The address resembles that of our Lord to the blind man, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” In each case a command is given which tests the faith of the recipient, and the miracle is not wrought until such faith is openly evidenced. - Cook. Seven times. Sevenfoldness is the sacred rule of completeness. Thy flesh shall come again. That is, become sound. "Was not Elisha a little disrespectful, rather bluff, and deficient in true Christian politeness?" We do not know how fully Elisha was led by a divine monition within, but judging from the result, we may infer that his bearing was not displeasing to God. As a prophet, it was his business to rebuke sin of every sort, and it was necessary to teach this haughty heathen that "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter therein." I often requires far more self-denial to resist the great than to yield to them; not all is pride which seems to the world to be such. That which Naaman believed to be contempt and rudeness, really proceeded, in the case of Elisha, from genuine love to him, and humility and obedience to God. — Bähr. He had been turned back once by ignorance; now he was by pride. II. Wroth. His pomp and state were thrown away: the man of God did not even come to look at them. His high credentials were wasted; the means of cure prescribed for him might have been prescribed for the poorest outcast in Israel.— Bähr. I thought (“said within myself"), He will surely come out to me. According to the unwritten code of Eastern hospitality, Elisha should have greeted Naaman at the door. He describes graphically the pompous manner of pretended wonder-workers. And call on the name of the Lord his God. Literally, "of Jehovah his God." Naaman is aware that Jehovah is the God of Elisha (comp. the occurrence of the name of Jehovah on the "Moabite Stone"). Strike his hand. Wave it over. It is a very common superstition that the hand of a king waved over a sore will cure it. In the last century, the King of England "touched for the king's evil," or scrofula. He would be cured, and in his own way. This man turns away with anger from the divine help he has come so far to seek. And why? Because he trusts to his unreasoning prejudice, as to a divine oracle, and regarding himself as possessing infallible insight, has made up his mind that what is divine must act and appear differently. How faithful and true the old picture is! how fresh and new!— Menken. 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. 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? 14. Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and 2 he was clean. 15. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, 3 Behold, now I know that there is 4 no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, 5 take a blessing of thy servant. 16. But he said, 6 As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive And he urged him to take it; but he refused. none. 1 Jer. 45: 5. 2 Lev. 142, 7. 6:26, 27. 3 Rom. 10: 9. Isa. 43: 10. Deut. 32:39. Dan. 2: 47; 12. Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus. Abana is no doubt the modern Barada, which rises in the table-land, some twenty-three miles from Damascus, and flows through the city in seven beautiful streams. The Pharpar passes a little below the city. Better than all the waters of Israel. From the clay and marshes through which the Jordan goes on its winding way of 200 miles from Anti-Libanus, its waters are muddy and nauseous. Better. Not for his purpose as he may easily prove. May I not wash in them, and be clean? "If a bath is all I need, I could have spared myself the journey." He went away in a rage. He is furious at the exaltation of the turbid yellow stream of the Jordan above the crystal waters of Abana and Pharpar, the real "rivers" of Damascus. - Stanley. Men invent a God in their own minds and go to the Bible to see if they find the same God there; if not, they reject him. If their a priori notions of Christ and the way of salvation are not satisfied, they turn away angry. If the diseases of their souls cannot be healed as they have made up their minds that they ought to be healed, then they will not have them healed at all. - Shedd. Naaman came very near the loss of his cure. 13. Fortunately, he had with him servants more sensible than The respectful and affectionate salutation of a confidential servant. Something difficult to carry out, which better accorded with his pride. himself. My father. Some great thing. V. The Healing Waters. -Ver. 14. 14. The advice seemed reasonable. Then went he down. The land descends from Samaria to the Jordan. Seven times. To show that the healing was a work of God, for seven is the stamp of the works of God. – Keil. His flesh came again. The festering corruption became like the flesh of a little boy.- Keil. Was clean. Leprosy is always spoken of as pollution. Evidently, the prophet had in mind the directions of the Jewish law for the purification of a leper (Lev. 14: 7-9). VI. The New Life. Vers. 15, 16. 15. And he returned to the man of God. From the Jordan to Samaria was a distance of not less than thirty-two miles. Cook. Now I know that there is no God. That is, no true and saving God. He renounces the fundamental error of heathenism on the one hand, viz.: that every nation had its own god; and on the other hand he acknowledges that there is only one God on earth, and that he reveals himself in Israel. He who has come to faith in the living God, who revealed himself to Israel by his prophets, and to us by his Son, feels an impulse to confess this faith with joy before men. Without faith there is no confession, and without confession there is no faith (Ps. 116: 10; Rom. 10: 10).— Lange. Take a blessing. His special object in returning seems to have been to relieve his feelings of obligation by inducing the prophet to accept a gift. Cook. Next to God, we owe gratitude to those who have brought us to his knowledge and love. 16. As the Lord liveth, etc. Concerning this solemn formula, see note on previous lesson. I will receive none. On other occasions, Elijah received gifts for himself or his fellow-prophets, as he had a right to do; yet in this case, he thought it better to refuse. It was important that Naaman should not suppose that the prophets of the true God acted from motives of self-interest, much less imagine that "the gift of God might be purchased with money.” — Lange. He urged him to take it; but he refused. This was not a mere ceremonious contest, such as is common in the East. Both parties were evidently in earnest. "God's prophets never stand in such deep needs, that God must be dishonored by their supply. God scorned to be thought to send for Naaman to possess his treasure or enrich his prophet." In the Daily Readings we follow this story a little further, and see the great general asking for a little of the earth of Israel, now sacred to him, and explaining that his position will demand his attendance at the heathen temple. We see also Gehazi's cupidity, and his delight in his ill-gotten gains turned to mourning, as he hears that he and his will bear the leper's mark, in punishment for his sin. Of all Elisha's miracles of blessing, this cleansing of Naaman's leprosy was the only one he wrought upon a heathen. Naaman's cure, effected by his meeting the conditions of the word of the Lord through Elisha, is a standing type of salvation from sin by the Gospel. Our Lord uses the story as an illustration of the sovereignty of God (Luke 4: 27). He does not mean, however, that God exercises his sovereignty capriciously and unreasonably, but only that we must refer to the sovereign pleasure of God those events whose meaning and reason we cannot yet discover. -Todd. LIBRARY REFERENCES. Commentaries, as under previous lessons, especially Geikie's Hours with the Bible; Stanley's Jewish Church; Krummacher's Elisha; Lange's Commentary; the Rob Roy on the Jordan, for a description of the rivers; for a striking description of leprosy, see Ben Hur, by Gen. Lew Wallace, and Thomson's Southern Palestine, 529–535. I. 2. 3. 4. PRACTICAL. No biography is complete without the word but. "Young lips may teach the wise, Christ said; Small feet sad wanderers home have led." "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can." 5. We are now in the place where God expects us now to be useful. 6. 7. "Whose life lightens, his words thunder." When the surroundings are trying, we can at least "pray for the peace of the city whither we are carried captive." 8. Heathen cannot understand why all people in Christian lands are not Christians. "A bad conscience finds more in a letter than is meant." "Those who do not trust God do not trust one another." 9. 10. II. What we are unwilling to give up at God's command is what comes between us and salvation. 12. "Men invent a God in their own minds, and if they do not find the same God in their Bible, they reject him." 13. God's way is not to be despised because it is simple. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. Fill in the portraits here outlined. (1) We have NAAMAN, with his perfect soldier's character, brave (ver. 1), loved by his enemies (vers. 3, 13), credulous (ver. 4), generous even to lavishness (vers. 5, 23), fond of display (ver. 9), sensitive about his dignity (vers. 9, 10), easily made angry (ver. 11), easily pacified (vers. 13, 14), grateful (vers. 15, 23), impetuous (ver. 15), strict in notions of honor (ver. 18). (2) The KING OF SYRIA, a careless heathen, but ready of sympathy and appreciative of the merits and sufferings of his general. (3) The KING OF ISRAEL, wicked, and therefore suspicious; afraid, less of God than of man, unmindful of all his benefits. The King of Syria knew more about his great prophet than he did. Heathen cannot understand that all dwellers in Christian lands are not missionaries. Illustration. The former pupil of a Christian school in Syria, while travelling in America, was told by a lady that she did not believe in missions. "I thought all Christians believed in missions," was the Syrian woman's answer. "O, I am not a Christian," carelessly said the American. "What! and are you a heathen?" "A heathen, indeed! and for what do you take me?" "You must excuse me if I say anything wrong," said the Syrian; "I am a stranger here. In my country, we know only two ways, the heathen and the Christian; but if there is a third way, I should be so glad to know it." (4) The loving service of Naaman's servants is worthy of remark, particularly THE LITTLE MAID, brought from the devout training of a godly family into servitude in a heathen household. She has so commended herself and her people to her mistress, that her words are counted worthy of going to the king. She has not spent her days in foolish prattle. As Leprosy is always a type of Sin, we have as the SUBJECT, THE ONE REMEDY. I. The disease (ver. 1), loathsome, fatal, hopeless, the but in every life, however noble and fair. II. The remedy suggested. God's message does not fail to find a sin-sick soul. It may be a little child that leads home the lost, or a servant, or a poor stranger. The messenger's life must commend his religion, more than his words can. III. The remedy sought. We ask the intercession of our friends, we prepare to offer our best treasures, we wander through the world asking, Where is he, that I might find him? IV. Two great obstacles are (1) blind guides, who neither enter into salvation themselves or know how to direct others. When we hear One saying "Come unto me," we wait aloof, expecting to be saved in our own way. (2) Proud rejection of the simple Gospel plan is the second obstacle. Illustration. "Life's great things," like the Syrian lord, Our hearts can do and dare, But oh! we shrink from Jordan's side, And Pharpar's brighter wave. — Whittier. V. God grant that better counsels prevail, and that we apply the remedy exactly according to the directions given by the Master. VI. Then will the new life be one of (1) confession and (2) open profession, (3) of gratitude and (4) worship. LESSON XIII. - SEPT. 27. REVIEW. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. I. THE MAP. Showing the extent of the kingdom when this quarter began, and how it was divided between the two kingdoms; which tribes belonged to Israel and which formed Judah. II. THE HISTORY. — Impress clearly the outlines of the history of this almost a century of national life, — nearly as long as the United States has been a nation. Let the scholars repeat in concert the names of the kings of Judah and of Israel, and learn thoroughly two or three of the more important dates. Give a view of the differences between the two kingdoms in their religious character, and in their prosperity. III. THE PERSONS IN THIS HISTORY WHO STAND AS A WARNING TO US. - Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Omri, Ahab, Jezebel, indeed nearly all the kings; the young advisers of Rehoboam; the elders of Jezreel; the prophets of Baal; Gehazi. What were their deeds which we should avoid? What were the characters out of which these deeds proceeded? What commandments were broken by them? The results of their evil courses. IV. THE PERSONS IN THIS HISTORY WHO STAND AS EXAMPLES TO US. — Such as Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Naaman, the little Jewish girl; and to these, in a far lesser degree, may be added the 100 prophets Obadiah preserved from Jezebel; the prophets who were persecuted, the 7000 who refused to worship Baal. What were the good deeds they did? What elements of character should we emulate? What good results followed their good actions? Call for the best person, the noblest deed, the bravest and most heroic act, the act requiring the greatest faith, the most benevolent deed. 239 |