The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 38

It is this that makes it such e. book of universal comfort a.nd instruction. We ca.n a.II find something in it that suits ourselves. As we read of the men a.nd women whose lives are recorded in it, we learn more from their faith and their failings, from their tempte.tlons and their victories, than we could from any abstract discourses about the benefit of virtue e.nd the evil of vice. We learn that they were men and women of like passions with ourselves. We learn that the temptations they conquered we can conquer by the help of the same Spirit; that the trials they endured we can endure; and the.t the faith and holiness to which they attained are within our reach also. And then how homely and how practical the Bible is! Its heroes and heroines do not live in a Utopia.. It shows them to us under very much the same conditions as we live under still. It shows them to us in their homes and at their business, in their loves and in their married life, at the plough and in the fishing-boat, at the marriage-feast and at the funeral. Perhaps we think it hard to be religious in our business, in society, or amid the petty cares and worries of our daily life. The Bible shows us men and women living under the same conditions, and yet living so much in the fear of God and the presence of eternity that they triumphed over their distractions, and, whilst in the world, were not of it. Such a glimpse of everyday life we obtain in the narrative before us. We learned some valuable lessons from the palace of King .Ahaziah; we may learn quite as important ones from the humble home of a prophet's widow. I. INNoOENT BUFFERING, There is a good deal of suffering in the world. Many suffer innocently. But not all those who think they suffer innocently are really innocent. Here, however, there appears to be a case of really innocent suffering. It is a poor widow who comes to tell Elisha her tale of want and woe. Her husband had been one of "the sons of the prophets "-a word that was used in a general sense to signify those who were pupils of the prophets, trained by the prophets. He had unfortunately got into debt. llow he was led into it we are not told. He was a God- fearing man. It was not, therefore, through dissipation or sin. But it may have been through his own imprudence or improvidence. Or it may have been through some unexpected loss, or through failure on the part of others to meet their liabilities to him. At any rate, he died in debt, e.nd his poor widow is the sufferer. 1. This inci- dent, and there are many like it happening every day, shows us the fully and danger of getting into debt. One of the worst features of it is that so often the innocent-the wife or children who perhaps know nothing at all of the debt-have to suffer for the folly or the dishonesty of others. We need to have a more awakened conscience on this subject of using money which really is not our own. As a matter of worldly policy and prudence, it is a great mistake. .As e. matter of morality, it is very doubtful indeed. How many of the tremendous crashes which have taken place in the com- mercial world are the result of men living beyond their means I They made too large demands upon the future. They incurred liabilities which they had no means of meeth,g. .And in many cases debt proves to be a temptation to dishonesty. I have yet to learn the difference between the dishonesty of the man who gets a month's imprisonment for a petty theft, and the dishonesty of many who are legally protected in their crime by the strange device of the bankruptcy court. Not that every bankrupt is dishonest. But many who are thus protected are. We want a clearer and a cleaner public conscience on this question of debt. 2. There is a word here also for c-reditors. The creditor in this story was a regular Shylock. He wanted his pound of flesh. He would be satisfied with nothing less. Mark the utter heartlessness and cruelty of the man. He knew the poor widow was unable to pay. There were no goods an,l chattels that he could seize, or none worth seizing, so he actually came to make her two sons his slaves. Even the slightest touch of humanity might have led him to content himself with one of the sons. He might have left the other to be the solace e.nd support of his widowed mother. But no. There is no mercy, no pity, in his hard and selfish heart. He must he.ve the two sons to satisfy his claim. Now, the Scripture, while it counten- ances lending to those who are in we.nt, and while it commands the payment of debts, recommends the exercise of mercy and humanity in exacting this payment. J<'or instance, in Exodus it is said, "Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry e.t e.11 unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall we.x: hot, and I will kill you with the sword; e.uu your wives shall  74 THE SEOOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [en. 1v. 1-44,