The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 121

of thoir position. What could they do? If they stay where they are they must die, and if they enter tho city they must die. There remains the alternative, only to be contemplated BB a last resource, of going over to the camp of the enemy. This has been put off as long as possible; but it appears now to be the only course which affords them any chance of life. Suppose the Syrians kill them, they are no worse off then before; if the Syrians take pity on them and save them alive, they shall li ~e. The chance of life may be faint, but it is the only one lelt, and better than none. When men are in earnest, a very slight probability suffices them to act upon. They discover the truth of Butler's axiom that " probability is the guide of l\ fe." Did these meu not act rationally in allowing even a. slight probability to turn the balance of their action? How should it be otherwise when we deal with spiritual thiugs? A man is in doubt as to the existence of God, as to the reality of a future life, etc. It may seem to him that the evidence for these truths amounts to no more than probability. He perhaps makes this an excuse for dismissing the consideration of them from his mind. But ought he not to give weight to this probability in action? In another way the doubter may take a leaf from the lepers' book. If he remains where he is, he perishes, for atheism can hold out to him no other hope. But if, on the ground even of a. slicrht l,alance of probability, he acts on the lines of Christ's religion, he can be no w~,e than he is, while, if that religion is true (we speak only from his standpoint), he obtains eternal advantage. Or is the doubter one who does not question the truth of the gospel, but only questions his own right to appropriate its provisions ? Let such a one imitate Esther, who, with the words on her lips, "If I perish, I perish" (Esth. iv. 16), went in to Ahasuerus. Let him cast himself on Christ, and leave him- self there. He will find, like Esther, that he does not perish. 3. The Divine will and the human will. In these consultations among themselves, the lepers were moved only by the consideration of their own misery. They neither knew of Elisha's prediction, nor had any thought of aidinz to fulfil it. Yet all the while they were working out God's secret counsel. They were, while seeking their own ends, •he unconscious iustruments of a higher will than their own. 'l'hus are we all. Man's passions, ambitions, wants, follies, sins even, are subordinated in providence to the fulfilling of all-wise, comprehensive purposes, of which the immediate actors have no glimpse. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever; the thoughts of his heart to all gene. rations" (Pa. xxxiii. 11). II. THE DESERTED OAMP. 1. An astonishing discovery. .At nightfall, in pursuance of their purpose, the lepers betook themselves to the camp of the Syrians. It was the evening of the day on which Elisha had made his promise. Of the hope then held out they were ignorant, but they were to be the first to make the discovery that deliverance had been wrought. It would be with fear and trembling that they approached the well-appointed tents, and the very silence that everywhere prevailed would strike them at first with new awe. But now an astonishing state of things revealed itself. The camp was there-that camp so lately astir with military life-but not a soul was to be seen in it. Absolute stillness roigned throughout the tents; or, if sounds were heard, they were only those of the horses and asses which were left without masters. Thus near may our salvation be to us, and we know it not. 2. The flight of the Syrians. 'l'he explanation of the state of things which the lepers discovered is given in vers. 6, 7. The Syrians themselves may in later years have told the story, or it may have been got from Elisha, whose prophetic gift gave him the knowledge of what had taken place. Th~ Syrians, it appears, had heard strange noises-sounds as of chariots and horses and of a great host; and, smitten with sudden panic, believing that the Hittites or Egyptians had brought help to the Israelites, they at once abandoned everything and fled.. The ranic was of supernatural intensity, as the sounds wero of supernatural origin. The mind of man, no less than external natural conditions, is in the hand of God. He can smite with "madness, and blindness, and astoni8hment of heart" (Dent. x..xviii. 28); can make mon the sport of their own imaginations and delusions. Such penalties are threatened against the wicked. 3. Dividing the spoil. The first impulse of the lepers, wheu the.v discovered that the camp was literally empty, was to supply their own wants. We can fancy them rubbing their eyes, and wondering if what they beheld was not all a dream. There around them, as if in some region of enchantment, were food nnd drink in abundance, with gold, silver, raiment, and valuables of every kind. U. KINGS. II  162 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [en. VII, 1-20.