The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 78

bo,re with h\m ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten chan:;cs of rn1ment, '1.hese _enoyrncus e~ms were, no doubt, !hougl,t certai1;1 to purchase the cure. Another heathemsh idea, akm to the modern not10n that anythm"' can be bouc,ht wit,h Il!oney. Elisha t011ght him differently when the cure was ad'ornplished (~er. 16). S!Dlon Magus would have bonghL even the power to communicate the Holy Ghost with gold (Acts viii. 18, 19). There arc blessings which are beyond the reach of money and y~t ~n be had "without !Doney and without price" (I~a. l_v. 1). 2. The King oj Israels distress. When the Kmg of Israel read the commumcat10n, he was both indi"'- nant and distressed. As be viewed the letter, it was: (1) A request for the impossibl~. "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy?" This was, at any rate, a frank acknowledgment of his own helpless- ness. It sets in a stronger light the Divine character of the cure by Elisha. (2) An attempt to force upon him a quarrel. His interpretation of the letter was not unnatnral. Yet it was mistaken. We do well to be careful in forming judgments and imputing motives. (3) An attack upon his weakness. It was this that distressed him so much. He did not feel able to make war against the King of Syria, and therefore he resented the more keenly this attempt (as he conceived it) to drive him into a corner.-J. 0. r Vere. 8-l9.-17ie story of Naaman: 2. 17ie sugg~tive oure. The cure which Naaman came to seek was, nevertheless, obtained by him. We have here- I. TnE INTERPOSITION OF ELISHA. Naaman was on the point of being sent away, when Elisha interposed. God's prophet vindicates God's honour. 1. Elisha sends to the king. " He sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? " etc. His words were: (1) A rebuke of faithlessness. The king was not God, to kill and to make alive; but was there not a God in Israel who could? Had he already received no proofs of this God's power? Wherefore, then, had he rent his clothes? How much of our despondency, fear, despair, arises from want of faith in a living God! (2) An invitation to seek help in the right quarter. "Let him come now to me." The proof that there was a prophet, and behind the prophet a living, wonder-working God, in Israel, would be seen in deeds. Why does the sinner rend his clothes, and despair of help? Is Christ not able to save? Docs he not invite him to come? 2. Naaman comes to Elish~ (1) He seeks cleansing. (2) Yet with unhumbled heart. His horses and chariot drive up to Elisha's door. 'l'he great man has no thought of descending to ask the prophet's blessing. He waits till he comes out to him. He is the man of rank and wealth, whom Elisha should feel honoured in serving. But Elisha does not come out. Not in this spirit are cures obtained at the hand of God. Naaman must be taught that gold, silver, horses, chariots, rank, avail nothing here. To be saved the highest must become as the humblest. Pride must be expelled (Phil. iii. 7, 8). II. THE MODE OF CURE. 1. Elisha's direction. Instead of himself appearing, Elisha. sent a messenger to Naaman, directing him to wash seven times in Jordan, and he would be clean. The means of cure was: (1) Simplicity itself. Nothing could be simpler or more easy than to bathe seven times in Jordan. Any leper might be gl:J.d to purchase cleansing by plunging in a river. God's way of salvation by Christ is cha- racteristically simple. It involves no toilsome pilgrimages, no laborious works, no :erotracted ceremonies. "Delieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31). (2) Symbolical. Jordan was the sacred stream of Israel; bathing was the Levitical mode of the purification of a leper (Lev. :xiv. 8, 9); seven was the sacred number. Leprosy, as the type of sin, was fitly cleansed by these purificatory rites. '!'hat which answers to the bathing in the Rpiritual sphere is "the washing of regenera- tion, and of renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus iii. 5). (3) In its very simplicity, fitted to humble the proud heart, As we are immediately to see, it humbled Naaman. It did not strike him as a mfficiently great thing to do. Thus many are offended by the very simplicity of the gospel. It seems treating them too much like children to ask them simply to believe in the crucified and risen Saviour. Their intellectual eminence, their social greatness, their pride of character, are insulted by the proposal to efface themselves at the foot of the cross. 2. Naaman's anger. "Naaman was wroth, and went away." The c&usee of his anger were: (1) His expectations were disappointed. He thought the prophet would have shown him more respect; would have employed impressive words and gestures ; would have given the cure more eclat. Instead of this,  118 THE SECOND BOOK OF TEIE KINGS. [oR, V, 1-27.