The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 79

there wns the simple oommand to wash in Jordan. " 7hat a down-come from the imposing cei:emonial he expected I Men have their preconceived ideas about religirn, about salvat~on, about the methods of spiritual cure, which they oppose to God's ways. They say Wlth Naaman, "Behold, I thought, He will surely" do this or that. The Jews rejected their Messiah because he was" as a root out of a dry ground 11 (Isa. !iii. 2) • they rejected Christianity because its spiritual, unceremonial worship did not accord with their sensuous ideas. Others reject the gospel because it does not accord with the spirit of the age, is not sufficiently intellectual, philosophical, or msthetica.1. God rcmi~ds us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts," etc. (Isa. Iv. 8). (2) He wn ■ required to submit to what seemed to him a humiliation. He was told to bathe in the ,vatel'B of Jordan, a stream of Israel, when there 'll"ere rivers as good, nay, better, in his own country, to which, if bathing was essential, he might have been sent. "Are nof Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus," etc.? It seemed like a studied slight put upon his native rivers, an intentional humiliation put upon himself, to require him to go and bathe in this local stream. How often does wounded pride rebel at the simple pro- visions of the gospel, because they involve nothing that is our own, that reflects glory on self, or allows glory to self I This is the very purpose of the gospel. "Where is boasting, then? It is excluded 11 (Rom. iii. 27). Things are as they are, "that no flesh should glory in his presence " (1 Cor. i. 29). When Christ's atonement is extolled, the cry is, "Have we not rivers, Abanas and Pharpars, of our own?" "Naaman came with his mind all made up as to how he was to be healed, and he tumed away in anger and disgust from the course which the prophet prescribed. He was a type of the rationalist, whose philosophy provides him with a priori dogmas, by which he measures everythiog which is proposed to his faith. He turns away in contempt where faith would heal him" (Sumner). 3. N=man's obedience. Thus a second time the blessing was nearly missed-this time through his own folly and obstinacy. But, fortunately, a remonstrance was addressed to him, and he proved amenable to reason. (1) The remonstrance of his servants. '!'hey, looking at things through a calmer medium, and with less of personal pique, saw the situation with clearer eyes. '!'hey addressed him soothingly and affectionately. They touched the core of the matter when they said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?" It was Naaman's pride that had been offended. But they pointed out to him, in very plain terms, the folly or his conduct. Was it not a cure he wanted? And 1f it was, then, surely, the simpler the means prescribed the better. Why quarrel with the conditions of cure because they were so simple? The same reasoning may be applied to the gospel It is the simplicity of its arrangements which is the beauty of it. If men really wish to be saved, why quarrel with this simplicity? Surely the simpler the better. Would men not be willing to do "some great thing" to obtain peace with God, pardon of sin, renewal and purity of heart? How much more, then, when it is said, "Wash, and be clean"? (2) The washing in Jordan. Naaman's ire had cooled. Re felt the force of what his servants urged. He might prefer Abaoa and Pharpar, ifhe liked; but it was Jordan the prophet had named. If he did not choose to submit to bathe in this river, he must go without the cure altogether. "Neither was there salvation" (Acts iv. 12) in any other river than this one. This d~cided him. He went down without further parley, bathed seven times in Jordan as directed, and, marvel of marvels, "his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little t:bild, and he was clean." So speedy, sure, and complete was the reward of his ubedience. As effectual to procure salvation and spiritual healing is the look of faith to JesUB, the appropriation of the merit of his blood, the spiritual baptism of the Holy Ghost. III. N.uHAN'e GRATITUDE AND PIETY. What joy now filled the heart of the newly cleansed Ne.a.man ! How clearly he saw his former folly I How glad he was that he had not allowed his anger to prevail against the advice of his servants and his own better reason ! At once he returned to Elisha; and it was very evident that his heart was overflowing with gratitude, and that he was a changed man. Like the leper in the Gospel. he returoed "to give glory to God'' (Luke xvii. 17, 18). Gratitude is ~oRt becoming in those who have received great mercies from God. Salvation awakens JOY; gratitude prompts to comrecration-not in order to salvation, but as the result of it, 11,an becomes "a new creature" (2 Cor. v. 17). We observe: 1. His acknowledgment CH, V. 1-27.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 117