Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 6:1
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
Ch. 2Ki 6:1-7. Elisha causeth an axe lost in the river to float (Not in Chronicles)
1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha ] There is nothing to indicate which out of the various prophetic communities is here spoken of. But by the proposal which follows, that they should go to the Jordan, and bring from thence each man his beam, we may conclude that the place was not far from the river. The station nearest to the Jordan of which we are told is Jericho, and it may be that there the company had grown beyond their buildings.
the place where we dwell with [R.V. before ] thee ] The R.V. is correct, and gives more truly the picture of Elisha’s relation to these societies. From the other parts of the history we can gather that he made visits to the several settlements from time to time. And when he arrived, and while he remained, the members were about him as scholars around a teacher. They sat before him (2Ki 4:38). Hence the preposition in this verse.
is too strait for us ] The religious activity of the prophetic schools must have been very great during the life of Elisha, and must also have produced its effect upon the life of the nation. We cannot regard these societies merely as retreats from the world, where the servants of Jehovah retired in despair. Such families as that at Shunem, spoken of in the last chapter, must have been of frequent occurrence. And the increase of the number of prophets may be taken as a sign that true religion was growing in the land. ‘It is a good hearing that the prophets want elbow-room.’ (Bp Hall.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The writer returns here to the series of miracles which Elisha performed for the benefit of the prophetical schools under his care. The connection, in this point of view, is with 2Ki 4:44.
The place where we dwell with thee – literally, the place where we sit before thee, i. e. the place where we assemble and sit to bear thy teaching. Elisha visited the sons of the prophets in circuit, staying a short time at each place where a school was established. Perhaps he was now visiting Jericho. Compare 2Ki 2:5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ki 6:1-6
The place where we dwell is too strait for us.
A church-extension enterprise
If there was a church in Israel at all, the school of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that church. They were a communion of godly men.
I. This church-extension enterprise was stimulated by the principle of growth. The old sphere had become too narrow for them, they had outgrown it. This is a principle on which all church-extension should proceed, but in these modern times it is not only ignored, but outraged. Although statistics show that the churches and chapels in England fall miserably short of the accommodation necessary for the whole population, it is three times greater than is required for the number of attendants.
II. This church-extension enterprise was conducted in a manly manner.
1. The best counsel was sought before a step was taken.
2. Each man set to honest work in the matter. Take thence every man a beam.
III. This church-extension enterprise encountered difficulties unexpected. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
IV. This church-extension enterprise obtained supernatural help when needed. When the man who had lost his axe and was crying out in distress, Elisha, the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. (Homilist.)
Age and youth
Few questions are more perplexing than the question as to what should be the character of the relationship between the old and the young. Many of our young people are impatient of the restraints which older people would put upon them, while those who have had long experience of the world are apt to be equally impatient of the impulsive ardour and restlessness of youth.
I. Consider the characteristics of youth. These are well known, and failure to recognise them must mean failure in all dealings with them. Wisdom comes not to the child. We must deal with people as they are, not as we wish them to be. Among the characteristics of youth we select a few:–Dissatisfaction. The sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Elisha seems to have been very content; not so the young men. They wanted a larger place. Desire for improvement (2Ki 6:2). This is the outcome of the other. The desire increases, and the young want to measure their strength against the world.
3. Strength. Compared with the old, the young possess a large amount of energy, so much indeed that they cannot rest.
4. Thoughtlessness. As one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water. With the least care on his part that would never have happened. What, then, ought the young to do? Seek the help of those who are older and wiser than themselves.
II. Consider the powers possessed by age.
1. They have knowledge of the world. They know its temptations, how subtle and how persistent they are.
2. They have experience of human life. They have seen lives begun in promise go out in darkness.
3. They know the power of God. They can tell which way victory lies. They have seen Jesus and learned of Him.
(1) Let no one think the time wasted which is spent in cultivating the friendship and love of the young. Some shallow people would have said that the prophet was wasting his time.
(2) What attention we ought to pay to ourselves. Every man is reproducing his own character in others. No man liveth to himself.
(3) To do this, we must become friends of Jesus. Elisha is a type of Christ. (A. Jubb.)
Helping somebody
On one occasion the wife of General Sir Bartle Frere drove to a railway station to meet her husband. She told the footman to go and find his master. The servant, who had been engaged in Sir Bartles absence, asked how he should know the General. Oh, replied Lady Frere, look for a tall gentleman helping somebody. The description was sufficient. The servant went, and found the General helping an old lady out of a railway carriage. How well it is for men and women themselves, as well as for the world they bless, when they are known by God to be persons who are always trying to help somebody! (Quiver.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VI
The sons of the prophets wish to enlarge their dwelling-place,
and go to the banks of Jordan to cut down wood, when one of
them drops his axe into the water, which Elisha causes to
swim. 1-7.
Elisha, understanding all the secret designs of the king of
Syria against Israel, informs the king of Israel of them,
8-10.
The king of Syria, finding that Elisha had thus penetrated his
secrets and frustrated his attempts, sends a great host to
Dothan, to take the prophet; the Lord strikes them with
blindness; and Elisha leads the whole host to Samaria, and
delivers them up to the king of Israel, 11-19.
The Lord opens their eyes, and they see their danger, 20.
But the king of Israel is prevented from destroying them; and,
at the order of the prophet, gives them meat and drink, and
dismisses them to their master, 21-23.
Ben-hadad besieges Samaria, and reduces the city to great
distress, of which several instances are given, 24-30.
The king of Israel vows the destruction of Elisha, and sends
to have him beheaded, 31-33.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Verse 1. The place – is too strait for us.] Notwithstanding the general profligacy of Israel, the schools of the prophets increased. This was no doubt owing to the influence of Elisha.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sons of the prophets; either at Beth-el, or Jericho or rather, at Gilgal; as may seem from its nearness to the river of Jordan, 2Ki 6:2. With thee, or, before thy face, i.e. under thy inspection and direction; where thou dost frequently dwell with us. Or, to thy face; which may be joined with the following words; and so the sense may be this, It is apparent to thy view that this place is too strait for us. Is too strait for us; the number of the prophets increasing by the gracious providence of God, and by the ministry and miracles of Elijah and Elisha.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. the place where we dwell withtheeMargin, “sit before thee.” The one pointsto a common residencethe other to a common place of meeting. Thetenor of the narrative shows the humble condition of Elisha’s pupils.The place was either Beth-el or Jericho, probably the latter. Theministry and miracles of Elisha brought great accessions to hisschools.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha,…. Or the disciples of the prophets, as the Targum:
behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us: their numbers were so increased, that there was not room enough for them in the house they dwelt in with the prophet; which increase was owing, the Jews z say, to the departure of Gehazi last mentioned, who was a bad man, and used the disciples so ill, that they could not stay in the college; but, when he was gone, they flocked in great numbers; but rather it was owing to the very instructive ministry and wonderful miracles of Elisha: the place where the prophet and his disciples now dwelt seems to be Gilgal, 2Ki 4:38.
z T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Elisha Causes an Iron Axe to Float. – The following account gives us an insight into the straitened life of the pupils of the prophets. 2Ki 6:1-4. As the common dwelling-place had become too small for them, they resolved, with Elisha’s consent, to build a new house, and went, accompanied by the prophet, to the woody bank of the Jordan to fell the wood that was required for the building. The place where the common abode had become too small is not given, but most of the commentators suppose it to have been Gilgal, chiefly from the erroneous assumption that the Gilgal mentioned in 2Ki 2:1 was in the Jordan valley to the east of Jericho. Thenius only cites in support of this the reference in (dwell with thee) to 2Ki 4:38; but this decides nothing, as the pupils of the prophets sat before Elisha, or gathered together around their master in a common home, not merely in Gilgal, but also in Bethel and Jericho. We might rather think of Jericho, since Bethel and Gilgal (Jiljilia) were so far distant from the Jordan, that there is very little probability that a removal of the meeting-place to the Jordan, such as is indicated by , would ever have been thought of from either of these localities.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Iron Made to Swim. | B. C. 893. |
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Several things may be observed here,
I. Concerning the sons of the prophets, and their condition and character. The college here spoken of seems to be that at Gilgal, for there Elisha was (ch. iv. 38), and it was near Jordan; and, probably, wherever Elisha resided as many as could of the sons of the prophets flocked to him for the advantage of his instructions, counsels, and prayers. Every one would covet to dwell with him and be near him. Those that would be teachers should lay out themselves to get the best advantages for learning. Now observe,
1. Their number increased so that they wanted room: The place is too strait for us (v. 1)– a good hearing, for it is a sign many are added to them. Elisha’s miracles doubtless drew in many. Perhaps they increased the more now that Gehazi was cashiered, and, it is likely, an honester man put in his room, to take care of their provisions; for it should seem (by that instance, ch. iv. 43) that Naaman’s case was not the only one in which he grudged his master’s generosity.
2. They were humble men and did not affect that which was gay or great. When they wanted room they did not speak of sending for cedars, and marble stones, and curious artificers, but only of getting every man a beam, to run up a plain hut or cottage with. It becomes the sons of the prophets, who profess to look for great things in the other world, to be content with mean things in this.
3. They were poor men, and men that had no interest in great ones It was a sign that Joram was king, and Jezebel ruled too, or the sons of the prophets, when they wanted room, would have needed only to apply to the government, not to consult among themselves about the enlargement of their buildings. God’s prophets have seldom been the world’s favourites. Nay, so poor were they that they had not wherewithal to hire workmen (but must leave their studies, and work for themselves), no, nor to buy tools, but must borrow of their neighbours. Poverty then is no bar to prophecy.
4. They were industrious men, and willing to take pains. They desired not to live, like idle drones (idle monks, I might have said), upon the labours of others, but only desired leave of their president to work for themselves. As the sons of the prophets must not be so taken up with contemplation as to render themselves unfit for action, so much less must they so indulge themselves in their ease as to be averse to labour. He that must eat or die must work or starve, 2Th 3:8; 2Th 3:10. Let no man think an honest employment either a burden or disparagement.
5. They were men that had a great value and veneration for Elisha; though they were themselves prophets, they paid much deference to him. (1.) They would not go about to build at all without his leave, v. 2. It is good for us all to be suspicious of our own judgment, even when we think we have most reason for it, and to be desirous of the advice of those who are wiser and more experienced; and it is especially commendable in the sons of the prophets to take their fathers along with them, and to act in all things of moment under their direction, permissu superiorum–by permission of their superiors. (2.) They would not willingly go to fell timber without his company: “Go with thy servants (v. 3), not only to advise us in any exigence, but to keep good order among us, that, being under they eye, we may behave as becomes us.” Good disciples desire to be always under good discipline.
6. They were honest men, and men that were in care to give all men their own. When one of them, accidentally fetching too fierce a stroke (as those that work seldom are apt to be violent), threw off his axe-head into the water, he did not say, “It was a mischance, and who can help it? It was the fault of the helve, and the owner deserved to stand to the loss.” No, he cries out with deep concern, Alas, master! For it was borrowed, v. 5. Had the axe been his own, it would only have troubled him that he could not be further serviceable to his brethren; but now, besides that, it troubles him that he cannot be just to the owner, to whom he ought to be not only just but grateful. Note, We ought to be as careful of that which is borrowed as of that which is our own, that it receives no damage, because we must love our neighbour as ourselves and do as we would be done by. It is likely this prophet was poor, and had not wherewithal to pay for the axe, which made the loss of it so much the greater trouble. To those that have an honest mind the sorest grievance of poverty is not so much their own want or disgrace as their being by it rendered unable to pay their just debts.
II. Concerning the father of the prophets, Elisha. 1. That he was a man of great condescension and compassion; he went with the sons of the prophets to the woods, when they desired his company, v. 3. Let no man, especially no minister, think himself too great to stoop to do good, but be tender to all. 2. That he was a man of great power; he could make iron to swim, contrary to its nature (v. 6), for the God of nature is not tied up to its laws. He did not throw the helve after the hatchet, but cut down a new stick, and cast it into the river. We need not double the miracle by supposing that the stick sunk to fetch up the iron, it was enough that it was a signal of the divine summons to the iron to rise. God’s grace can thus raise the stony iron heart which has sunk into the mud of this world, and raise up affections naturally earthly, to things above.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Second Kings – Chapter 6
Iron Afloat! Verses 1-7
Which of the schools of the prophets Elisha was working with at the time of this occurrence is not related, but it seems probable to have been that at Gilgal That Elisha was at that time in residence with the young prophets is apparent from the words to him of the one proposing a new campus. The place there had become too crowded, and they needed to construct a larger one. The proposal was to move to the Jordan valley and rebuild, and Elisha agreed with the proposal and to accompanying them in the project.
So they came to the Jordan and began to fell timbers and fashion beams for the new building. One diligent young fellow had no ax, but had borrowed one. But he had attached the ax carelessly to the handle, so that it came off while he was chopping with it and fell into the river. The young man was distraught, for he had borrowed the ax, and would be required to make restitution for it, as the law prescribed. But it was worth far more than the young prophet could find, and he cried out to Elisha in distress.
Elisha inquired of the place where the ax had fallen, cut down a stick, and cast it into the water. Upon this the ax floated to the top, and the prophet said to his young protg, “Take it up to thee.” And he took it back to him, doubtless to exercise more care in keeping it this time.
There are analogies applied to this story. The ax represented the cutting edge of the young minister. Through careless handling in his zeal to fell trees it was lost, irrevocably it seemed. However he appealed to one, Elisha, who had power to do something about it, and by whom the unusual was made to occur. The young man then reached out and recovered his ax. Many young ministers get so carried away in their zeal, and through their careless zeal something occurs that threatens to put an end to their ministry. There is only one place to seek help, the Lord. He can give them another opportunity, perhaps in a new place, and thus recover their cutting edge of zealous preaching. They need only reach out and take it up to them. Then they may return to their cutting with greater caution this time.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
ELISHA AND THE SYRIAN INVASION
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
2Ki. 6:2. Take thence every man a beamThe wooded banks of the Jordan would furnish timber readily; probably Bethel or Jericho. Although, evidently, the students of Elisha were of a humble character, and he offered them but few indulgences and delicacies, yet their number grew so as to need a larger home, or a more commodious lecture-hall. 2Ki. 6:8-9. In such a place shall be my camp, i.e., shall ye hide yourselvesProbably the word here is from the same root as in 2Ki. 6:9, where it is rendered, For thither the Syrians are come down, i.e., there the Syrians hide themselves; or the two words may have as their roots respectively and ; but the word in 2Ki. 6:8 occurs only there in that form throughout the Bible.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki. 6:1-7
THE DIVINE SYMPATHY FOR LITTLE SORROWS
The miracle recorded in this paragraph presents a striking contrast to that which was wrought on behalf of Naaman. In the case of the great Syrian captain his cure was a public display of Divine power and mercy, and served to extol the God of Israel among the nations. It was a great work, wrought upon a great personage, and would become the talk and marvel of a great and populous nation. The miracle we are now considering was of a humbler character, and taught a different lesson. An obscure and nameless prophet of Jericho is the subject of Divine compassion, and the Divine power is put forth in connection with the humblest and most insignificant affairs of human life and toil. The omnipotence which startles a world with its wonders is also available, in the most modest and unobtrusive form, for the relief of genuine distress. Of this class of Elishas wonderful works, this is the last one recorded, and makes a fitting conplement to his other miracles of blessing. The healing of the waters of Jericho, the increase of the widows oil, the raising of the Shunammites son, the healing of the poisoned pottage, the multiplying of the loaves, and the healing of Naaman, all had more direct reference to the wants of families or societies, and did not so much enter into the particular anguish of one single heart as did this. This receiving of a comparatively little loss and that of a single individual, give assurance that Divine providence will work for the comfort of one suffering heart as well as for the interests of societies or families; and shows that sorrows which we may think of little moment receive great attention from Him who numbers the hairs of our head. It presents a touching and suggestive picture of the Divine sympathy for little sorrows. Note
I. That the Divine sympathy is interested in the temporal comfort of the good (2Ki. 6:1-4). The school of the prophets had outgrown its accommodation, and Elisha was consulted as to a more commodious dwelling. The disciples, not content with simply gaining the consent of their revered teacher to the undertaking, prevailed upon him to accompany them. Elisha represented the Divine interest and intention in the work. God is not indifferent to the temporal welfare and happiness of His people. He looks down sympathizingly on a good man, struggling with straitened circumstances, or upon a church making efforts for extension in the midst of poverty and persecution. He ensures the comfort of the good irrespective of external surroundings. Riches and poverty are more in the heart than in the hand; he is wealthy who is contented, while the disconted millionnaire is poor indeed. The Lord bestows upon His people the unpurchasable blessing of contentment which fills up all the chinks of desire as the molten metal fills up the minutest cavity in the mould.
II. That the Divine sympathy does not overlook the individual in the many (2Ki. 6:5). There was a number of workers in the forest, all engaged in the same occupationfelling timber for the house of the prophets; but there was one only of the number who specially arrested the Divine notice, and called forth the Divine power, and he was unfortunate and distressed. Man often loses sight of the individual in the multitude, but Jehovah never. It is easy for us to sympathize with a nation, and shed tears over its sufferings and sorrows, while we have no particular interest in any one member of the nation. Jehovah cares for the whole human race, by caring for every individual member of it. And if there is one who more quickly than another attracts the Divine sympathy, it is the unfortunate and suffering. The tramp and bustle of the crowd could not deafen the ear of Jesus to the cry of blind Bartimeus. The unseen touch by trembling, but believing fingers, of the fringe of his robe, awoke a sympathetic response in the Saviours heart, and the sufferer for years was in a moment healed. Amid the thousands of warlike Syrians who surrounded the city of Dothan (2Ki. 6:14), the Lord did not forget the solitary Elisha, but provided for his rescue and safety. It is with significant emphasis the psalmist declares a truth which is being constantly exemplified: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles (Psa. 34:6).
III. That the Divine sympathy does not hesitate to exert miraculous power to alleviate what may seem the little sorrows of life (2Ki. 6:6-7). It might appear a trifling matter to lose the iron head of an axe, but to this poor prophet it was a real and serious loss. It was not only that he was prevented taking his share in helping his fellow-workers, but it was the loss of borrowed property which he had no possible means of replacing. This to a conscientious mind would be torture enough, and would exalt what might seem a small trouble into a great one. But with our God these are no little things. What we regard as the little cares and sorrows of the poor may have a magnitude in Gods eye as great as the cares of empire and the afflictions of princes. The loss of the axe was to the hapless borrower a calamity greater than would have been to Naaman the loss of all the treasures he had brought from Damascus. The sorrow was not too insignificant to evoke the Divine sympathy, and the exertion, through the prophet Elisha, of miraculous power for its assuagement. The greatness of God appears in the minute attention and finish that he gives to little things. The tiniest flower, the smoothly-rounded pebble, the geometrically-shaped snowflake, the delicately-tinted ocean-shell, each bears witness to the infinite care and artistic touch of the Divine hand. The smallest troubles of humanity are not unnoticed. The tear quickly dashed away, the half-suppressed sigh, the silent hidden anguish of the heart, bring down the helping arm of God to the soul that appeals to Himthe arm which is as gentle in its soothing ministrations as it is mighty in its terrible vengeance.
LESSONS:
1. There is nothing too insignificant for the Divine notice.
2. What may seem little sorrows to others are great enough to the sufferer.
3. We should carry every trouble, however minute, to God.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki. 6:1-7. The prosperity of the Church. 1. Advances, notwithstanding abounding wickedness and persecution.
2. Often results from the earnestness and diligence of one good man.
3. Demands harmonious co-operation among all Christian workers.
4. Receives the divine sanction and blessing.
2Ki. 6:1. There was no loss of Gehazi; when he was gone the prophets increased. An ill man in the Church is but like some shrubby tree in a garden, whose shape keeps better plants from growing. The kings of Israel had succeeded in idolatry and hate of sincere religion, yet the prophets multiply. Persecution enlarges the bounds of the Church. These tempestuous showers bring up flowers in abundance. The Church, like the palm tree, the more it is pressed with weight, the more it fructifies; like camomile, it flourishes when most trodden; like the lily, it grows by its own tears.
2Ki. 6:5-7. The borrowed axe. I. The loan.
1. Kindly lent to men in need; probably with many promises on the one side, and many injunctions on the other.
2. A very valuable loan at that time. Manufacture of metals imperfectly understood then; manufactured articles were, therefore, more expensive, and more difficult to obtain,
3. A willingness to lend shows a kind heart; sympathy with the object and purposes of the borrower should not, therefore, be abused. A willingness to lend, but never to borrow, which is the proud boast of some, is a pitiful spirit. Sometimes to give one the opportunity of lending, is to do him good by exercising his benevolence and goodwill. II. The loss.
1. Accidental. Not altogether void of thoughtlessness. Should have taken care that the head was more firmly united to the haft, or that the blow was delivered in another direction.
2. Serious. Could not be easily replaced. Axe heads scarce and expensive, and the borrower poor; but the most serious part of the loss was the moral effect of it. The non-return of loans makes lenders chary of assisting those who need such help. People who are remiss in returning, in due time and undamaged, borrowed property, little think what injury they do to benevolent and neighbourly feeling, or what damage they inflict upon others. III. The recovery.
1. He who had lost it did not treat the matter as of no importance. His concern a good sign. Would there were more of it in the world.
2. He noticed where it fell, looked anxiously at the water, probably sounded it, found it deep and turbid. Could not find or recover it. He went in dismay to the prophet.
3. Elisha comprehended the situation at once. The axe must be recovered for monetary, and, above all, moral reasons. He was not the man to work miracles on every pretext. This was no slight matter; no one should have reason to regret he had aided, even by a loan, in the building of the prophets college. Confidence in the prophets should not be damaged by the loss of the axe. LEARN:
1. To be conscientious in the matter of borrowing and lending.
2. To be more anxious concerning the safety of borrowed articles than even of our own.The Class and Desk.
2Ki. 6:5. Genuine honesty. 1 An evidence of true religion.
2. Is found among the poorest.
3. Is scrupulous in caring for and returning that which is borrowed.
4. Is deeply distressed in losing what belongs to another.
5. Will use all possible means to restore what is lost.
2Ki. 6:6. O God! how easy it is for thee, when this hard and heavy heart of mine is sunk down into the mud of the world, to fetch it up again by thy mighty word, and cause it to float upon the streams of life, and to see the face of heaven again.Bishop Hall.
2Ki. 6:7. Gods might and goodness are revealed in the smallest detail, as well as in the greatest combination. He helps in what are, apparently, the smallest interests of the individual, as well as in the greatest affairs of entire nations; and He rules with His grace especially over those who keep His covenant, and turn to Him in all the necessities of life. That is the great truth which this little story proclaims, and, just for the sake of this truth, it was thought worthy to be inserted in the history of the theocracy. The restoration of the axe, whereby aid was given to the prophet-disciple in his need, strengthened all the others in the faith that the God in whose honour they were erecting the building was with them, and would accompany their work with his blessing. They worked now the more zealously and gladly.Lange.
It often happens that the Lord takes from us some possession, or appears to do so, only with the purpose of returning it after a longer or shorter time in some unexpected way, that it may thus come to us as a gift of Divine love, and a pledge of His grace.Krummacher.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
V. A LEVITATION MIRACLE 6:17
TRANSLATION
(1) And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now the place where we sit before you is too cramped for us. (2) Let us go, we pray you, unto the Jordan, and let us take from there each man a beam, and let us construct for ourselves a place in which to dwell. And he said, Go. (3) And one said, Consent, I pray you, to go with your servants. And he said, I will go. (4) And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan, and cut down trees. (5) And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, the axhead fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was a borrowed one. (6) And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut off a stick, and cast it there, and the axhead floated. (7) And he said, Take it up. And he put forth his hand and took it.
COMMENTS
The school of the prophets at Jericho had grown so much that the building it hitherto had occupied was no longer adequate. A larger facility was needed; but the students would make no move without the advice and consent of their prophetic master (2Ki. 6:1). When Elisha next visited Jericho, the students there proposed to him that a new dwelling be built a few miles from Jericho near the Jordan where trees for such a purpose would be readily available. With each student doing his share of the work, the structure could be completed in short order. Constructing the building near the Jordan would save the trouble of conveying the materials from the river back to Jericho. To this proposal Elisha gave his sanction and encouragement (2Ki. 6:2). One of the group was not satisfied with Elishas approval of the project, but wished for his actual presence and supervision. Again in the most simple and direct manner Elisha assented (2Ki. 6:3).
As the men were working, felling trees and fashioning them into rough beams (2Ki. 6:4), an axhead (lit., the iron) flew from one mans haft and into the murky waters of the river. The man who had wielded that ax was distraught, and cried out to Elisha, Alas, my master, for it was a borrowed one! (2Ki. 6:5). What would he tell the owner of that ax! The man made no direct request for assistance, but the tone of his exclamation constituted an oblique call for help. Elisha, being always interested in the personal problems of his disciples, asked to be shown the spot where the axhead entered the stream. The man of God then cut off a branch and cast it upon the water at that point. The axhead miraculously was caused to rise to the surface of the water (2Ki. 6:6).[537] In order to test the faith of the student, Elisha then ordered the student to take up the axhead from the water. He must show that he really believed that the axhead was floating on the surface, and that he was not merely experiencing an optical illusion (2Ki. 6:7).
[537] Naturalistic explanations of this miraclethat Elisha used the stick to pry the axhead from the bottom of the streamdo violence to the account. Rawlinson (PC, p. 120) rightly comments: The sacred writers are not concerned to put on record mere acts of manual dexterity.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
VI.
THE HISTORY OF ELISHAS MIGHTY WORKS CONTINUED.
(1-7) The prophet causes an iron ax-head to float n the Jordan.
(1) And the sons of the prophets said.The form of the verb implies connection with the preceding narrative; but as the section refers to Elishas activity among the sons of the prophets, it was probably connected originally with 2Ki. 4:44. The compiler may have transferred it to its present position in order, as Thenius suggests, to indicate the lapse of some time between the events described here and there; and further, to separate the account of the renewed warfare between Syria and Israel (2Ki. 6:8, seq.) from that of Elishas good deed to Naaman the Syrian.
The place where we dwell with thee.Rather, the place where we sit before thee: scil., habitually, for instruction. The phrase occurred in 2Ki. 4:38. The common hall is meant; whether that at Gilgal or at Jericho is uncertain. Jericho was close to the Jordan (2Ki. 6:2), but that does not prove that it is meant here. The prophets disciples did not live in a single building, like a community of monks. Their settlement is called dwellings (nyth) in the plural (1Sa. 19:18); and they could be married (2Ki. 4:1).
Too strait.Their numbers had increased. (Comp. 2Ki. 4:43.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE LOST AXE HEAD RECOVERED, 2Ki 6:1-7.
This miracle is recorded immediately after that of Naaman’s cure, not because it followed it in the order of time, but because both events were associated with the Jordan, and especially because the one stands in noticeable contrast with the other. The chief point to be noticed in this miracle is not the mere strange wonder that iron is made to swim, but that a lost instrument of labour is miraculously restored to a poor man who could ill afford to lose it. The miracle of Naaman’s cure shows how the power of God relieves from sore distress one of the great and honourable ones of the world, and an idolater. It was a public display of omnipotence and grace, and served to extol the God of Israel among the nations. But lest any should suppose that Jehovah displays his power and grace only on great occasions, or for the great alone, the record of this other miracle is immediately added, teaching precisely the opposite lesson. A poor and almost unknown prophet of Jericho has a miracle wrought in his behalf in the very sphere of what might be called the most insignificant affairs of private life and toil. But with our God there are no little things. What seem to us the little cares and sorrows of the poor of this world, may have a magnitude in God’s eye as great as the cares of empire and the afflictions of princes. The loss of the axe was, to the poor prophet who had borrowed it, a calamity greater than would have been to Naaman the loss of all the treasures he brought with him from Damascus.
It should also be observed, that of this class of Elisha’s wonderful works this is the last one recorded, and that it makes a fitting complement to his other miracles of blessing. The healing of the waters of Jericho, the increase of the widow’s oil, the raising of the Shunammite’s son, the healing of the poisoned pottage, the multiplying of the loaves, and the healing of Naaman, all had more direct reference to the wants of families or societies, and did not so much enter into the particular anguish of one single heart, as did this. This relieving era comparatively little loss, and that of a single individual, gives assurance that Divine Providence will work for the comfort of one suffering heart as well as for the interests of societies or families; and shows that sorrows which we may think of little moment, receive great attention from Him who numbers the hairs of our heads.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. The sons of the prophets The members of one of the prophetical schools, probably the one at Jericho. Compare 2Ki 2:5.
The place where we dwell The house we occupy here at Jericho. Gilgal, which many expositors have supposed to be the place here referred to, was too far from the Jordan to meet well the conditions of this narrative, and the Gilgal where the prophets had a school was certainly not the spot where Joshua first pitched his camp after crossing the Jordan. See note on 2Ki 2:1.
Too strait for us Too small for our accommodation. The numbers of the prophets seem to have increased, both in Judah and Israel, in proportion to the increasing wickedness of the two kingdoms. Here, too, it appears that the prophets dwelt in houses of their own; probably rude huts or booths, which their own hands had made. So in Samuel’s time they had their habitations ( Naioth) near Ramah. See note on 1Sa 19:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Elisha Causes An Axe Head To Float ( 2Ki 6:1-7 ).
This seemingly trivial incident is probably intended by the prophetic author to lay emphasis on an important fact. Just as the axe head was borrowed or begged, and, on being lost, was recovered by Elisha, so the power of Israel was ‘borrowed’ (or ‘begged’) from YHWH (2Ki 2:12), and having been lost was now being recovered by Elisha. It was also a reminder to the group of prophets that although the truth appeared to have sunk to the bottom in Israel, yet its cutting edge was being made available to them by God’s power.
This need not necessarily be intended as a description of prophetic community life in general. It refers to only one small group, living together in a place too small for them, and therefore seemingly in straitened circumstances (unless it was simply because their number was growing). We know already from chapter 2 that there were communities of sons of the prophets at Jericho and at Bethel. Presumably this was the one at Jericho. It is apparent that this group lived as a community, and found that their present accommodation was too small for them. So they had determined to build new premises. ‘By the Jordan’ was the source of their material, not the place where they built. Such an area would have been inhabited by wild animals, such as lions and wild boar, and fever ridden. But plenty of available wood was to be found there which was of a type that they, with their limited facilities, could utilise. They were presumably intending to build in or near Jericho, possibly at Gilgal.
The axe that was lost was not necessarily borrowed (the Hebrew word means ‘asked for’) but it was certainly ‘begged for’ in one way or another, which may be an indication of the poverty of the group. They could not afford to buy iron axes, which were very expensive in terms of what they possessed. Life was seemingly not easy for those who followed YHWH truly. So to lose an iron axe head was, for them, no trivial matter. It may indeed have been the only one that they had, their other available tools being flint axes. This story may also have been placed here as a contrast to the attitude and behaviour of Gehazi, who had used these poverty stricken sons of the prophets as an excuse in order to enrich himself. He had had his eyes on silver and gold and rich clothing. They could not even afford an iron axe head. But the lesson here was that God was their sufficiency.
Analysis.
a
b Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and take from there every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell” (2Ki 6:2 a).
c And he answered, “Go you.” (2Ki 6:2 b).
d And one said, “Be pleased, I pray you, to go with your servants” (2Ki 6:3 a).
e And he answered, “I will go” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood (2Ki 6:3-4).
d But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water, and he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! for it was begged for” (2Ki 6:5).
c And the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” (2Ki 6:6 a).
b And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in there, and made the iron float (2Ki 6:6 b).
a And he said, “Take it up to you.” So he put out his hand, and took it (2Ki 6:7).
Note that in ‘a’ their straitened circumstances are described, and in the parallel YHWH provides for them. In ‘b’ they go to cut down timber for their enterprise, and in the parallel Elisha cuts down a stick in order to aid them in it. In ‘c’ Elisha speaks to them, and the same in the parallel. In ‘d’ one makes a request to him, and the same in the parallel. Centrally in ‘e’ they all go down to the Jordan to begin their enterprise.
2Ki 6:1-2
‘And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell before you is too restricted for us. Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and take from there every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.” And he answered, “Go you.” ’
The request of these faithful men to Elisha, on one of his visits, was for permission to take time off from their teaching work in order to build new premises for themselves. It does not indicate that Elisha lived with them, but it does bring out how faithful they were in their duties. They would not do it without his agreement. ‘Dwell before you’ (literally ‘in seeing you’) was deferential and simply indicated that they looked to him as their master.
They wanted permission to take time off in order to build larger premises. These would not be very luxurious. The timber available from by the Jordan was of the small tree variety (such as willow, tamarisk, acacia and plane trees), but it was nevertheless quite suitable for the kind of shelter that they were intending to build in the hot, dry climate of the Jordan rift valley. Elisha gave his permission. The fact that he was not expecting to go with them points to the fact that he was not the resident leader of that community.
2Ki 6:3
‘And one said, “Be pleased, I pray you, to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” ’
They then asked for his company while they were doing it. They wanted to take advantage of his being with them, and it would give them further opportunity to talk with him. Furthermore they respected his advice. They may also have felt that his presence would act as a protection against wild animals because they knew YHWH’s special care for him. And he agreed to go with them.
2Ki 6:4
‘So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.’
So they all went off to the Jordan and began to cut down wood.
2Ki 6:5
‘But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water, and he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! for it was begged for.” ’
However, as one of them was at work cutting the timber that grew by the river the iron axe head that he was using came off the shaft and fell into the water. If it was the only iron axe head that they had we can understand why he was so distressed, especially as they did not have the resources to obtain a new one. Whether it was borrowed, or had been obtained by begging, is disputed. Either way it demonstrated their poverty.
2Ki 6:6
‘And the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in there, and made the iron float.’
So ‘the man of God’ (the change from Elisha to ‘man of God’ suggests that a miracle was about to take place) asked, ‘where did it fall?’, and on being informed cut down a stick and cast it on the water, and the result was that the iron floated.
2Ki 6:7
‘And he said, “Take it up to you.” So he put out his hand, and took it.’
Then he told the man to reach out and pick it out of the water, which, as a result of the miracle he was able to do. By this lesson the prophets were made to recognise that without God the truth that they presented would have no cutting edge. It was also an indication to them that God would always help them in their difficulties, especially when disaster struck. The story is a reminder to us that life will not necessarily always go smoothly but that our Father is aware of our needs and of our circumstances, and will meet us at the point of our need when the time is right.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Elisha Miracles (2Ki 2Ki 2:1-25 ; 2Ki 4:1 to 2Ki 6:23 ), His Prophetic Involvement In The Victory Over Moab ( 2Ki 3:1-27 ), And Further Subsequent Events Where YHWH’s Power Through Elisha Is Revealed ( 2Ki 6:24 to 2Ki 8:15 ).
We move away in this section from the annals of the kings of Israel and Judah, to the memoirs of the sons of the prophets, although even then possibly intermingled with further extracts from the official annals (e.g. 2Ki 3:1-27). The events that will follow, in which YHWH’s power through his prophet Elisha is remarkably revealed, were crucial to the maintenance of faith in YHWH at a time of gross apostasy. Just as YHWH through Moses had boosted the faith of Israel at the Exodus with specific miracles, and just as Jesus Himself would evidence His Messiahship by even greater miracles (Mat 11:2-6), followed by miracles which accredited His Apostles (Mar 16:17-18; Act 4:29-30; Act 5:12; Heb 2:3-4) so now in these perilous times for Yahwism (the worship of YHWH, the God of Israel), God encouraged the faithful by miracles, some of which were remarkably similar, although lesser in extent, to those of Jesus. To call them pointless, as some have done, is to ignore the privations and dangers facing the ‘sons of the prophets’ and all true Yahwists, dangers under which the very core of the faithful in Israel were living. Under such circumstances they needed their faith boosting in special ways. It is not without note that similar miracles have been experienced through the ages when Christian men and women have been facing up to particular difficulties and persecutions (as with the Corrie Ten Boom miracle described previously at 1Ki 17:16).
It is also interesting to note that in some ways Elisha’s spate of miracles can be seen as having commenced with his seeing a ‘resurrection’, accompanied by a reception of the Spirit, as Elijah was snatched up into Heaven. It may be seen as a pointer to the future.
Note On The Two Contrasting Scholastic Approaches To These Passages.
Scholars are basically divided into two groups when considering these passages. On the one hand are those who believe that God was ready to perform special miracles in certain circumstances, in this case in view of the parlous situation in which most in Israel had mainly lost their faith, and on the other are those who dogmatically assert that such miracles could not have taken place per se, and that they must therefore be seen as legendary a priori (thus they speak of them as ‘saga’). Clearly the sceptical scholar must then find some way of discrediting, at least partially, the material in question, but when they do, it should only in fairness be recognised on their side, that they often do so on the basis of their dogmatic presuppositions, (which they are, of course, perfectly entitled to in a free world), and not on the basis of the text. Indeed had no miracles been involved it is doubtful whether, on the whole, they would have reached the same literary conclusions as the ones they now argue for (and disagree with each other about, like us all).
For the truth is that there are no grounds in the text for rejecting the miracles. Indeed in view of the soberness with which they are presented we can argue that there are actually grounds for accepting that the miracles did occur in front of eyewitness. The case is thus really settled by these scholars on the basis of external presuppositions and philosophical presumptions, which, of course, we all have (or in some cases even through fear of what their fellow scholars might think).
Unfortunately for these scholars their problem is exacerbated by the quantity and diversity of the miracles, and the differing places where they come in the text. Thus their ‘explanations’ have to become many and varied, one might almost say amusing in their complexity, were it not for the seriousness of the issue involved. For the author was not generous enough to limit his account of miracles to one section alone. Thus they even appear in passages almost certainly taken from the official annals of the kings of Israel and Judah. It must be recognised that many of these scholastic interpretations are based simply on the initial dogmatic position that ‘miracles do not happen’ so that they feel it incumbent on them to find another explanation. The literary arguments are then often manoeuvred in order to ‘prove’ their case. because they are convinced that it must be so. As a result they find what they want to find (a danger with us all). That is not the right way in which to approach literary criticism.
While we ourselves are wary of too glib a claim to ‘miracles’ through the ages, and would agree that large numbers of them have been manufactured for convenience, or accepted on insufficient grounds while having natural explanations, we stand firmly on the fact that at certain stages in history, of which this was one, God has used the miraculous in order to deliver His people. And we therefore in each case seek to consider the evidence. There are no genuine grounds for suggesting that prophetic writers enhanced miracles. Indeed it is noteworthy that outside the Exodus and the Conquest, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the times of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, such miracles in Scripture were comparatively rare events. It will also be noted that Elisha undoubtedly had a reputation in his own time as a wonderworker (2Ki 5:3; 2Ki 6:12; 2Ki 8:4). We thus accept the genuineness of the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, considering that it is the only explanation that fits the soberness of the accounts with which we are presented, just as we similarly accept the similar miracles of Jesus Christ and His Apostles because of Who He proved Himself to be.
And that is the point. We do not just accept such miracles by an act of optional faith, or because we are ‘credulous’. We accept them as a reality because they were a reality to Jesus Christ, and because we know that we have sufficient evidence from His life and teaching to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was Who He claimed to be, the only and unique Son of God. And we remember that He clearly assumed Elijah’s and Elisha’s miracles to have been authentic (Luk 4:26-27; Luk 9:54-56). Our belief in the miracles of Elijah and Elisha is thus finally founded on our belief in Jesus Christ as the true and eternal Son of God.
(This is not to make any judgments about the genuine Christian beliefs among some who disagree with us. Man has an infinite capacity to split his mind into different boxes).
End of note.
This Elisha material from 2Ki 2:1 to 2Ki 8:15 can be divided into two sections, which are clearly indicated:
1). SECTION 7 (2Ki 2:1 to 2Ki 3:27). After the taking of Elijah into Heaven Elisha enters Canaan as Israel had before him, by parting the Jordan, and then advances on Jericho, where he brings restored water to those who believe, after which he advances on Bethel, where he brings judgment on those who are unbelievers. And this is followed by a summary of the commencement of the reign of Jehoram, and an incident in his life where Elisha prophesies the provision of water for the host of Israel, something which is then followed by the sacrificing, by the rebellious and unbelieving king of Moab, of his son (2Ki 2:1 to 2Ki 3:27). In both these incidents the purpose of his ministry is brought out, that is, to bring blessing to true believers, and judgment on those who have turned from YHWH,
2). SECTION 8 (2Ki 4:1 to 2Ki 8:15). In this section the kings of Israel are deliberately anonymous while the emphasis is on YHWH’s wonderworking power active through Elisha which continues to be effectively revealed (2Ki 4:1 to 2Ki 8:15). The kings simply operate as background material to this display of YHWH’s power. In contrast from 2Ki 8:16 the reign of Jehoram is again specifically taken up, signalling the commencement of a new section with the kings once more prominent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 8. The Wonder-working Ministry Of Elisha ( 2Ki 4:1 to 2Ki 8:15 )
It will be noted that from this point on, until 2Ki 8:15, no king of Israel is mentioned by name, even though, for example, Naaman’s name is given in chapter 5, and Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, is mentioned in 2Ki 6:24; 2Ki 8:7. (The reign of Jehoram then recommences in 2Ki 8:16). It is clear that the prophetic author was concerned at this point that our attention should be taken away from the kings to the wonder-working power of YHWH through His prophet Elisha. The kings (and the chronology) were not considered important. It was the events, and the advancement of God’s kingdom through Elisha that were seen as important in contrast with the failure of the kings.
Overall Analysis.
a
b Elisha raises to life and restores to a Shunammite her only son (2Ki 4:8-37).
c Elisha restores a stew for his followers and feeds a hundred men on twenty small cakes of bread (2Ki 4:38-44).
d The skin of the skin-diseased Naaman of Aram, who comes seeking Elisha in peace, is made pure as a babe’s (2Ki 5:1-27).
e The borrowed axe-head is made to float, a symbol of the need for Israel to have its sharp edge restored by Elisha (2Ki 6:1-7).
d The Aramaeans, who came seeking Elisha in hostility, are blinded (2Ki 6:8-23).
c Elisha restores food to the people at the siege of Samaria, and feeds a large number on Aramaean supplies (2Ki 6:24 to 2Ki 7:20).
b The king restores to the Shunammite her land (2Ki 8:1-6).
a Benhadad of Aram sends to Elisha in his illness and is assured that he will not die of his illness, but Elisha declares that nevertheless he will die, as it turns out, through assassination by Hazael (2Ki 8:7-15).
Note that in ‘a’ Elisha is approached by a prophet’s widow in her need and is provided for, and in the parallel Elisha is approached on behalf of the king of Aram in his need and is reassured, although then being assassinated. Once more we have the contrast between blessing and judgment. In ‘b’ the Shunammite receives her son back to life, and in the parallel she receives her land back. In ‘c’ the stew is restored as edible in the midst of famine and the bread is multiplied to feed the sons of the prophets, and in the parallel food is restored to the besieged in a time of famine, and is multiplied to them. In ‘d’ Naaman an Aramaean comes in peace and is restored to health, and in the parallel Aramaeans come in hostility and are blinded. Centrally in ‘e’ the borrowed axe-head, symbolic of Israel’s cutting edge, is restored to its possessor.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ki 6:10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
2Ki 6:10
1Ki 17:12, “And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks , that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
2Ki 6:12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
2Ki 6:12
2Ki 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:16
2Ki 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
2Ki 6:17
2Sa 5:24, “And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.”
2Ki 7:6, “For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.”
2Ki 6:18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
2Ki 6:18
2Ki 6:21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
2Ki 6:21
Luk 9:54, “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?”
2Ki 6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
2Ki 6:25
Rev 6:6, “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Reign of Jehoram Over Israel (852-841 B.C.) 2 Kings 2Ki 3:1 to 2Ki 8:15 records the reign of Jehoram over the northern kingdom of Israel. However, much of this material discusses the ministry of the prophet Elisha during his reign as a prophet of God.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Swimming of the Ax-Head.
v. 1. And the sons of the prophets, v. 2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan and take thence every man a beam, v. 3. And one said, Be content, v. 4. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, v. 5. But as one was felling a beam, the ax-head, v. 6. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he, v. 7. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Verse 1-7:20
FURTHER MIRACLES WROUGHT BY ELISHA. The historian relates first a (comparatively) private miracle wrought by Elisha in the vicinity of Jericho, for the benefit of one of the “sons of the prophets” (2Ki 7:1-8). He then tells us briefly of a series of public miracles which brought Elisha into much note and prominence. War, it appears, had again broken out in a pronounced form between Israel and Syria, Syria being the aggressor. The Syrian monarch prepared traps for his adversary, encamping in places where he hoped to take him at a disadvantage. But Elisha frustrated these plans, by addressing warnings to the King of Israel, and pointing out to him the various positions occupied (2Ki 7:8-12), which he consequently avoided. When this came to the ears of the King of Syria, he made an attempt to obtain possession of Elisha’s personan attempt which failed signally (2Ki 7:13 -23), owing to the miraculous powers of the prophet. Benhadad, some time after this, made a great expedition into the land of Israel, penetrating to the capital, and laying siege to it. The circumstances of the siege, and the escape of the city when at the last gasp, are related partly in the present chapter (verses 24-33), partly in the next.
2Ki 6:1
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with theeliterally, before theeis too strait for us. The scene of this miracle is probably the vicinity of Jericho, since both Gilgal and Bethel were remote from the Jordan. The “school of the prophets” at Jericho, whereof we heard in 2Ki 2:5, 2Ki 2:19, had increased so much, that the buildings which hitherto had accommodated it were no longer sufficient. A larger dwelling, or set of dwelling, was thought to be necessary; but the scholars would make no change without the sanction of their master. When he comes on one of his circuits, they make appeal to him.
2Ki 6:2
Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan. Jericho was situated at some little distance from the Jordan, on the banks of a small stream, which ran into it. Along the course of the Jordan trees and shrubs were abundant, chiefly willows, poplars, and tamarisks (see Josephus, ‘Bell. Jud.,’ 4.8. 3; Strabo, 16.2. 41). It would seem that the Jordan thickets were unappropriated, and that any one might cut timber in them. And take thence every man a beam. The meaning is, “Let us all join in the work, each cutting beams and carrying them; and the work will soon be accomplished.” And let us make us a place there. They propose to build the new dwelling on the banks of Jordan, to save the trouble of conveying the materials any long distance. Where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. Elisha, i.e; approved the proposal, gave it his sanction and encouragement.
2Ki 6:3
And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. One of the number was not satisfied with the prophet’s mere approval of the enterprise, but wished for his actual presence, probably as securing a blessing upon the work. And he answered, I will go. Elisha approved the man’s idea, as springing from piety and faith in God. He, therefore, raised no difficulty, but at once, in the simplest manner, acceded to the request. There is a remarkable directness, simplicity, and absence of fuss in all that Elisha says and does.
2Ki 6:4
So he went with them. And when they came to Jordani.e. to the river-bankthey cut down wood. They set to work, each felling his tree, and fashioning it into a rough beam.
2Ki 6:5
But as one was felling a beami.e. a tree, to make it into a beamthe axe-head; literally, the iron. We see from Deu 19:5 that the Hebrews made their axe-heads of iron as early as the time of Moses. They probably learnt to smelt and work iron in Egypt. Fell into the water. The tree must have been one that grew close to the river’s edge. As the man hewed away at the stem a little above the root, the axe-head flew from the haft, into which it was insecurely fitted, and fell into the water. The slipping of an axe-head was a very common occurrence (Deu 19:5), and ordinarily was of little consequence, since it was easily restored to its place. But now the head had disappeared. And he cried, and said, Alas, master!rather, Alas, my master! or, Alas, my lord!for it was borrowed; rather, and it was a borrowed one. The words are part of the man’s address to Elisha. He means to say, “It is no common misfortune; it is not as if it had been my own axe. I had borrowed it, and now what shall I say to the owner?” There is no direct request for help, but the tone of the complaint constitutes a sort of silent appeal.
2Ki 6:6
And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Two natural explanations of this miracle have been attempted:
(1) that Elisha passed a piece of wood underneath the axe-head, which he could see lying at the bottom of the river, and then lifted it up to the surface (Von Gerlach);
(2) that he thrust a stick or bar of wood through the hole in the axe-head, made to receive the haft, and so pulled it out (Thenins). But both explanations do violence to the text; and we may be sure that, had either been true, the occurrence would not have been recorded. The sacred writers are not concerned to put on record mere acts of manual dexterity.
2Ki 6:7
Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. Elisha does not take the axe-head out of the water himself, but requires the scholar to do it, in order to test his faith. He must show that he Believes the miracle, and regards the iron as really floating on the top of the water, not as merely appearing to dose.
Verse 8-7:20
PUBLIC MIRACLES or ELISHA (resumed).
2Ki 6:8
Then the King of Syria warred against Israel. It may seem strange that, so soon after sending an embassy to the court of Samaria, and asking a favor (2Ki 5:5, 2Ki 5:6), Benhadad should resume hostilities, especially as the favor had been obtained (2Ki 5:14); but the normal relations between the two countries were those of enmity (2Ki 5:2), and a few years would suffice to dim the memory of what had happened. The gratitude of kings is proverbially short-lived. And took counsel with his servantsi.e; his chief officerssaying, In such and such a place shall be my camp; or, my encampment. appears to be “a noun in the form of the infinitive.” It does not occur elsewhere.
2Ki 6:9
And the man of Godi.e. Elisha, who at the time was “the man of God “( )sent unto the King of IsraelJehoram, undoubtedly (see 2Ki 6:32)saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. Some translate, “Beware that thou neglect not such a place, for thither the Syrians are coming down;” but our version is probably correct, and is approved by Bahr and Thenius. Elisha did not suffer his hostile feeling towards Jehoram personally (2Ki 3:13; 2Ki 5:8; 2Ki 6:32) to interfere with his patriotism. When disaster threatened his country, he felt it incumbent on him to warn even an ungodly king.
2Ki 6:10
And the King of Israel sent to the place. Recent commentators (Keil, Thenius, Bahr) mostly suppose this to mean that Jehoram sent troops to the place pointed out by the prophet, and anticipated the Syrians by occupying it. But it agrees better with the prophet’s injunction, “Beware that thou pass not such a place,” to suppose that he merely sent out scouts to see if the place were occupied or no, and finding, in each ease, Elisha’s warning true, he avoided the locality. Which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice; i.e. repeatedly; at least three several times, perhaps more.
2Ki 6:11
Therefore the heart of the King of Syria was sore troubled for this thing. Keil says, “The King of the Syrians was enraged at this;” but exactly expresses “trouble,” “disturbance,” not “rage,” being used of the tossing of the sea, in Jon 1:11. And he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? Benhadad not unnaturally suspected treachery among his own subjects. How otherwise could the King of Israel become, over and over again, aware of his intentions? Some one or other of his officers must, he thought, betray his plans to the enemy. Cannot the others point out the traitor?
2Ki 6:12
And one of his servants saidi.e. one of those interrogated, answeredNone, my lord, O king; literally, Nay, my lord, the kingmeaning, “Think not so; it is not as thou supposest; there is no traitor in thy camp or in thy court; we are all true men. The explanation of the circumstances that surprise thee is quite different.” But Elisha, the prophet that is in Israelcompare “the man of God” (2Ki 6:9); so much above the others, that he is spoken of as if there were no othertelleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber; literally, in the secret place of thy bedchamber. How the Syrian lord knew this, or whether he merely made a shrewd guess, we cannot say. Elisha’s miraculous gifts had, no doubt, become widely known to the Syrians through the cure of Naaman’s leprosy; and the lord, who may possibly have been Naaman himself, concluded that a man who could cure s leper could also read a king’s secret thoughts without difficulty.
2Ki 6:13
And hei.e. Benhadadsaid, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him; i.e. “Send out spies to learn where Elisha is at present residing, that I may dispatch a force to the place, and get him into my power.” The object was scarcely “to find out, through Elisha, what the King of Israel and other princes were plotting against him in their secret counsels” (Cassel), but simply to put a stop to Elisha’s betrayal of his own plans to Jobs-ram. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. The spies were sent, and brought back word that, at the time, Elisha was residing in Dothan. Dothan, the place where Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelites (Gen 37:17), lay evidently not very far from Shechem (Gen 37:14), and is placed by Eusebius about twelve miles north of Samaria. In the Book of Judith (4:6; 7:3) it is mentioned among the cities bordering the southern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon. Modern travelers (Van de Velde, Robinson) have reasonably identified it with the present Dothan, a tel, or hill, of a marked character, covered with ruins, and from the foot of which arises a copious spring, to the south-west of Jenin, between that place and Jeba, a little to the left of the great road leading from Beisan (Scythopolis) to Egypt.
2Ki 6:14
Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host; rather, and a strong force. The expression, , is used by the historical writers with a good deal of vagueness-sometimes of a really great army, sometimes merely of a large retinue (1Ki 10:2) or of a moderate force (2Ki 18:17). We must assign it its meaning according to the context. And they came by night, and compassed the city about. A night march was made, to take the prophet by surprise, and the city was encompassed, that it might be impossible for him to escape.
2Ki 6:15
And when the servant of the man of God was risen earlyhe had, perhaps, heard the arrival of the Syrian forces during the night, and “rose early” to reconnoiterand gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots; rather, an host compassed the city, and horses, and chariots. A force of footmen, a force of horsemen, and a chariot force, are intended. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? Though the servant could not know that it was Elisha’s person which was especially sought, yet he was naturally alarmed at seeing the city invested by a hostile force, and anticipated either death or capture, which last would involve the being sold as a slave. Hence his “Alas!” and his piteous cry, “How shall we do?” Can we, i.e. in any way, save ourselves?
2Ki 6:16
And hei.e. Elishaanswered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Elisha did not need to see the forces arrayed on his side. He knew that God and God’s strength was “with him,” and cared not who, or how many, might be against him (comp. Psa 3:6, “I will not be afraid for ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about;” and Psa 27:3, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident”). His confidence reminds us of that shown by Hezekiah (2Ch 32:7) on the invasion of Sennacherib.
2Ki 6:17
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. If the prophet’s servant was to be reassured, he must be made to see that help was at hand; he would not have found rest or peace in the mere assurance that God was nigh, and would keep his prophet from harm. His mental state required something like a material manifestation; and hence Elisha prays that he may be permitted to behold the angelic host, which everywhere throughout creation is employed at all times in doing the will of God, and accomplishing his ends (comp. Gen 28:12; Gen 32:2; Psa 34:7; Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10, etc.). The prayer is granted. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. As the earthly force, which had alarmed Elisha’s servant, was a force mainly of horses and chariots, so the heavenly force revealed to his eyes was made to bear the same appearance. But the heavenly chariots and horses were “of fire”glowed, i.e. with a strange unearthly brightness (see the comment on 2Ki 2:11).
2Ki 6:18
And when they came down to him. Keil and others suppose this to mean that the Syrians “came down” to Elisha; hut, if they were in the plain that surrounds the hill whereon Dothan was built, as appears from 2Ki 6:15, they would have had to ascend in order to reach Elisha, not to descend. We must, therefore, with F. Meyer, Thenius, and Bahr, translate, “When they [Elisha and his servant] came down to them [the Syrians]”either changing into , as Thenius does, or understanding to refer to the “host” () of the Syrians. Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. Not literal blindness, or they could not have followed Elisha’s lead, and marched a distance of twelve miles to Samaria; but a state of confusion and Bewilderment, in which” seeing they saw, but did not perceive” (compare the “blindness” of the men of Sodom, in Gen 19:11). And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
2Ki 6:19
And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city. This was clearly “an untruthful statement” (Keil), if not in the letter, yet in the intent. Elisha meant the Syrians to understand him to say, “This is not the way which ye ought to have taken if ye wanted to capture the Prophet Elisha, and this is not the city (Dothan) where you were told that he was to be found.” And so the Syrians understood him. In the morality of the time, and, indeed, in the morality of all times up to the present, it has been held to be justifiable to deceive a public enemy. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. It could only be through the miraculous delusion for which Elisha had prayed, and which had been sent, that the Syrians believed the first comer in an enemy’s country, followed him to the capital without hesitation, and allowed him to bring them inside ‘the walls. But for the delusion, they would have suspected, made inquiries of others, and retreated hastily, as soon as the walls and towers of Samaria broke on their sight.
2Ki 6:20
And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. Their delusion was disputedthey returned to their proper senses, and, seeing the size and strength of the town, recognized the fact that they were in Samaria, their enemy’s capital, and so were helpless.
2Ki 6:21
And the King of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father. In his joy at the deliverance of so large a force of the enemy into his hands, Jehoram forgets the coldness and estrangement which have hitherto characterized the relations between himself and the prophet (2Ki 3:11-14; 2Ki 5:8), and salutes him by the honorable title of “father,” which implied respect, deference, submission. Compare the use of the same expression by Joash (2Ki 13:14), and the employment of the correlative term “son” (2Ki 8:9) by Berthadad. Shall I smite them? shall I smite them? The repetition marks extreme eagerness, while the interrogative form shows a certain amount of hesitation. It is certain that the Israelites were in the habit of putting to death their prisoners of war, not only when they were captured with arms in their hands, but even when they surrendered themselves. When a city or country was conquered, the whole male population of full age was commonly put to death (Num 31:7; 1Sa 15:8; 1Ki 11:15; 1Ch 20:3, etc.). When a third part was spared, it was from some consideration of relationship (2Sa 8:2). The Law distinctly allowed, if it did not even enjoin, the practice (Deu 20:13). Jehoram, therefore, no doubt, put his prisoners of war to death under ordinary circumstances. But he hesitates now. He feels that the ease is an extraordinary one, and that the prophet, who has made the capture, is entitled to be consulted on the subject. Hence his question.
2Ki 6:22
And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them. The prophet has no doubt. His prohibition is absolute. These prisoners, at any rate, are not to be slain. “The object of the miracle,” as Keil says, “would have been frustrated, if the Syrians had been slain. For the intention was to show the Syrians that they had to do with a prophet of the true God, against whom no human power could be of any avail, that they might learn to fear the Almighty God“. There was also, perhaps, a further political object. By sparing the prisoners and treating them with kindness, it might be possible to touch the heart of the King of Syria, and dispose him towards peace. Wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? rather, Wouldest thou be smiting those, etc.? i.e. “Wouldest thou, in smiting these persons, be smiting those whom thou hadst made prisoners in war, so as to be able to justify thy conduct by Deu 20:13? No; thou wouldest not. Therefore thou shalt not smite them.” Set bread and water before them. “Bread” and “water” stand for meat and drink generally. Elisha bids Jehoram entertain the captive Syrians hospitably, and then send them back to Benhadad. That they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
2Ki 6:23
And he prepared great provision for them. Jehoram followed the directions of the prophet, carrying them out, not in the letter merely, but in the spirit. He entertained the captives at a grand banquet (Josephus, ‘Ant. Jud.,’ 9.4. 3), and then gave them leave to depart. And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. The Syrian raids, which had hitherto been frequent, perhaps almost continuous (2Ki 5:2), now ceased for a time, and the kingdom of Israel had a respite. Bahr supposes that the raids were discontinued simply “because the Syrians had found out that they could not accomplish anything by these expeditions, but rather brought themselves into circumstances of great peril”. But the nexus of the clause, “So the bands,” etc; rather implies that the cessation was the consequence of Jehoram’s sparing and entertaining the captives.
Verse 24-7:20
The siege of Samaria by Benhadad.
2Ki 6:24
And it came to pass after thisprobably some considerable time after, when the memory of Jehoram’s kind act had passed awaythat Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host. A contrast is intended between the inroads of small bodies of plunderers and the invasion of the territory by the monarch himself at the head of his entire force. And went up. However Samaria was approached from Syria, there must always have been a final ascent, either from the Jordan valley or from the Plain of Esdraelon. And besieged Samaria. Josephus says that Jehoram was afraid to meet Benhadad in the open field, since his forces were no match for those of the Syrian king, and therefore at once shut himself up within his capital, without risking a battle. The walls of Samaria were very strong.
2Ki 6:25
And there was a great famine in Samaria. It was Benhadad’s design to capture the place, not by battering down its walls with military engines, but by blockading it, and cutting off all its supplies, as Josephus tells us (l.s.c.). And, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. The ass, being an unclean animal (Le 2Ki 11:4), would not be eaten at all except in the last extremity, and the head was the worst and so the cheapest part; yet it sold for “eighty pieces” (rather, shekels) of silver, or about 5 of our money; as in the Cadusian famine mentioned by Plutarch (‘Wit. Artaxerx.,’ 24), where an ass’s head was sold for sixty drachmas (about forty shillings). “Dove’s dung” is thought by some to be the name of a plant; but it is better to understand the term literally. Both animal and human excrement have been eaten in sieges, when a city was in the last extremity.
2Ki 6:26
And as the King of Israel was passing by upon the wall. The wall of Babylon is said to have been so broad at the top that a four-horse chariot could turn round on it (Herod; 1:179). All ancient cities had walls upon which a great part of the garrison stood, and from which they shot their arrows and worked their engines against the assailants. From time to time the commandant of the placethe king himself, in this instancewould mount upon the wall to visit the posts, and inspect the state of the garrison, or observe the movements of the enemy. There cried a woman unto him. Houses sometimes abutted on the wall of a town (see Jos 2:15; 1Sa 19:12, etc.), and women sometimes took part in their defense (Jdg 9:53), so that in visiting the posts a commandant might be brought into contact with women. Saying, Help, my lord, O king; rather, save, i.e. “preserve me from perishing of hunger.”
2Ki 6:27
And he said, If the Lord do not help thee. This is probably the true mean-tug. The king is not so brutal as to “curse” the woman ( , Josephus, ‘ Ant. Jud.,’ 9.4. 4); neither does he take upon himself to tell her that God will not save her (Maurer). He merely refers her to God, as alone competent to do what she asks. Whence shall I help thee? Whence, i.e; dost thou suppose that I can save thee? Out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? Dost thou suppose that I have stores of food at my disposal? An overflowing barnfloor, where abundant corn is garnered, or a winepress full of the juice of the grape? I have nothing of the kind; my stores are as much exhausted as those of the meanest of my subjects. I cannot save thee.
2Ki 6:28
And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? Probably, as Bahr suggests, the woman explained to the king that she did not appear before him to beg food, but to claim his interposition as judge, in a case in which she considered herself to be wronged. Such an appeal the king was bound to hear; and he therefore asks,” What aileth thee?” i.e. “What is thy ground of complaint?” Then she tells her story. And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. Compare the prophecy in Deuteronomy, “The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates” (Deu 28:56, Deu 28:57). There is historical testimony that the prophecy was three times fulfilled; viz.
(1) in Samaria on the present occasion;
(2) in Jerusalem during the last siege by Nebuchadnezzar (Lam 4:10); and
(3) in Jerusalem during the last siege by Titus (Josephus, ‘Bell. Jud.,’ 6:3. 4). In modern sieges surrender is made before the population is driven to such straits.
2Ki 6:29
So we boiled my son (setup. Lam 4:10, “The hands of the pitiful woman have sodden their own children”), and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. Some have supposed that the woman concealed her child in order to consume it alone; but it is more probable that, when the time came for carrying out her agreement, she found that she could not give it up, and hid it in order to save it.
2Ki 6:30
And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes. In horror and consternation at the terrible state of things revealed by the woman’s story. And he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked. It is better to translate, with our Revisers, (Now he yeas passing by upon the wall😉 and the people looked; or, and, as he was passing by upon the wall, the people looked. And, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Jehoram had secretly assumed the penitential garment, not a mere sign of woe, but a constant chastisement of the flesh. He wore sackcloth next his skin, no one suspecting it, until, in the exasperation of his feelings at the woman’s tale, he rent his robe, and exposed to view the sackcloth which underlay it. We are scarcely entitled to deny him any true penitential feeling, though no doubt he was far from possessing a chastened or humble spirit. Poor weak humanity has at one and the same time good and evil impulses, praiseworthy and culpable feelings, thoughts which come from the Holy Spirit of God, and thoughts which are inspired by the evil one.
2Ki 6:31
Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on himi.e. “continue on him”this day. The form of oath was a common one (comp. Rth 1:17; 1Sa 3:17; 1Sa 25:22; 2Sa 19:13; 1Ki 2:23; 1Ki 19:2, etc.). It was an imprecation of evil on one’s self, if one did, or if one failed to do, a certain thing. Why Jehoram should have considered Elisha as responsible for all the horrors of the siege is not apparent; but perhaps he supposed that it was in Elisha’s power to work a miracle of any kind at any moment that he liked. If so, he misunderstood the nature of the miraculous gift. In threatening to behead Elisha, he is not making himself an executor of the Law, which nowhere sanctioned that mode of punishment, but assuming the arbitrary power of the other Oriental monarchs of his time, who regarded themselves as absolute masters of the lives and liberties of their subjects. Beheading was common in Egypt, in Babylonia, and in Assyria.
2Ki 6:32
But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him. It is best to translate, Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him, when the king sent a man from before him. Elisha had a house in Samaria, where he ordinarily resided, and from which he made his circuits. He happened to be sitting there, and the elders of the city to be sitting with him, when Jehoram sent “a man from before him,” i.e. one of the court officials, to put him to death. The “elders” had probably assembled at Elisha’s house to consult with him on the critical situation of affairs, and (if possible) obtain from him some miraculous assistance. But ere the messenger came to him; he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head; Elisha was supernaturally warned of what was about to take placethat an executioner was coming almost immediately to take away his life, and that the king himself would arrive shortly after. He calls the king “this son of a murderer,” or rather “this son of the murderer,” with reference to Ahab, the great murderer of the time, who had sanctioned all Jezebel’s cruelties-the general massacre of the prophets of Jehovah (1Ki 18:13), the judicial murder of Naboth (1Ki 21:9-13), the attempt to kill Elijah (1Ki 19:2)and had, by a fierce and long continued persecution, reduced the worshippers of Jehovah in Israel to the scanty number of seven thousand (1Ki 19:18). Jehoram had now shown that he inherited the bloodthirsty disposition of his father, and had justly earned the epithet which Elisha bestowed on him. Look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Keil renders the last clause, “force him back at the door;” the LXX. “press upon him in the doorway” they were not to allow him to enter the apartment. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? Elisha adds this as a reason why the elders should stop the messenger. He could not in a general way have expected them to resist the king’s will as declared by his representative; but he might reasonably ask a short respite, if the king was just about to arrive at the house, to confirm the order that he had given, or to revoke it.
2Ki 6:33
And while he yet talked with themi.e; while Elisha yet talked with the elders, endeavoring probably to persuade them to stop the messengerbehold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said. The narrative is very compressed and elliptical. Some suppose words to have fallen out (as after ); but this is unnecessary. The reader is expected to supply missing links, and to understand that all happened as Elisha had predicted and enjoinedthat the messenger came, that the elders stopped him, and that the king shortly arrived. The king was, of course, admitted, and, being admitted, took the word, and said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; whatrather, whyshould I wait for the Lord any longer? Jehoram had, apparently, to some extent repented of his hasty message, and had hurried after his messenger, to give Elisha one further chance of life. We must understand that they had been in communication previously on the subject of the siege, and that Elisha had encouraged the king to “wait for” an interposition of Jehovah. The king now urges that the time for waiting is over; matters are at the last gasp; “this evil” this terrible suffering which can no longer be endured”is of the Lord,” has come from him, is continued by him, and is not relieved. What use is there in his “waiting” any longer? Why should he not break with Jehovah, behead the lying prophet, and surrender the town? What has Elisha to say in reply?
HOMILETICS
2Ki 6:1-7
Mutual love and help the best bond of religious communities.
“Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down unto the beard, even unto Aaron’s beard, and went down to the skirts of his clothing; like as the dew of Hermon, which fell upon the hill of Zion” (Psa 133:1-3). In religious communities it has been too often the practice to govern by fear. An autocratic authority has been committed to, or assumed by, the head, who has exacted from all the other members an entire, absolute, and unreasoning obedience. Vows of obedience, of the most rigid character, have been taken; and it has been inculcated on all that the sum total of virtue lay in obeying, without a murmur or a question, every order issued by the superior. An iron rule has characterized such institutions, and a cold, unloving temper has prevailed in them. How different is the picture drawn in the beautiful passage before us! How sweet and pleasing is the community-life of Elisha and his prophet-disciples! Though bound by no vow of obedience, they undertake nothing without their master (2Ki 6:2 and 2Ki 6:3). They require an enlargement of their dwelling-place, but they will not commence it without his sanction. Even his sanction is not enough; they ask his presence, his superintending eye, his guiding mind. And he complies willingly, cheerfully. No trouble is too much for him. “Go ye,” he says; but when they object and plead, “Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants,” he at once consents, and says, “I will go.” He goes, he looks on with sympathy, he guides, he aids. At the first touch of misfortune, his sympathy blossoms into help. How charming is the childlike confidence and communicativeness of the disciple, who, on losing his axe-head, immediately reveals his loss to the master, and tells him why it was so especially grievous to him”And it a borrowed one!” And how admirable the kindness and fellow-feeling, which uttered no reproach, made no suggestion of carelessness or of stupidity in selecting a tree so near the stream, but thought only of finding a remedy. Natural means being unavailing, the prophet deems the occasion no unsuitable one for the exercise of his miraculous powers, which he is as willing to exert on behalf of a humble prophet-student as on that of a great Syrian general. The terms on which Elisha and his disciples live are evidently those of mutual confidence and affection, of protection and fatherly care on the one hand; of appeal, regard, and childlike love on the other; and the result is a community which it is delightful to contemplate, and which increases and flourishes, in spite of the contempt and persecution of the world-lover, so that its place is “too strait for it.”
2Ki 6:8-23
Wicked men vainly attempt to outwit God.
Benhadad, after the miracle wrought upon his favorite Naaman, had abundant reason to know that Israel was the people of God, and enjoyed special Divine protection and superintendence. Had he been truly wise, he would have laid aside his hostile designs against the nation, and have made it his endeavor to cultivate friendly relations with them, and, if possible, secure their alliance. But true wisdom is a plant of rare growth, while its counterfeit, cunning, is a weed that grows rankly at all times and everywhere. Benhadad resolved to have recourse to craft against the Israelites, and thought perhaps that, while the protection of their God would not fail them in a pitched battle, he might be able in petty engagements, by means of ambushes and surprises, to snatch an occasional victory. But his plan failed egregiously. God enabled his prophet to foresee where each ambush would be placed; and each time he warned Jehoram of the snare, which was thereupon easily avoided. Craft and cunning were of no avail against the wisdom which is from on highthe Divine foreknowledge, of which the prophet was made in some measure partaker. Benhadad then bethought him of a new device. He would capture the prophet, and thenceforward his plans would be undetected, and the success which he had expected from them would follow. How simple and easy it must have seemed! The prophet moved about from city to city, teaching the faithful, and was now in one place, now in another. What could be easier than to make inquiry, and learn where he was residing at any particular time, and then to make a sudden inroad, surround the place, occupy it, and obtain possession of his person? Such seizures of individuals have been planned many hundreds of times, and have generally been successful. Had Benhadad had only human enemies to deal with, there can be little doubt that his plans would have prospered. He would have outwitted the prophet, and would have got him into his power; but it was necessary that he should also outwit God. Here was a difficulty which had not presented itself to his mind, and which yet surely ought to have done so. What had frustrated his efforts previously? Not human strength; not human wisdom or sagacity; but Divine omniscience. God had enabled Elisha to show the King of Israel the words which he spake in the secrecy of his bedchamber. Why should he not grant him a foreknowledge of the new design? Or why should he not enable the prophet in some other way to frustrate it? There are ten thousand ways in which God can bring the counsels of men to no effect, whenever he pleases. Benhadad ought to have known that it was God, not merely the prophet, against whom he was contending, and that it would be impossible to outwit the Source of wisdom, the Giver of all knowledge and understanding. But men in all ages have thought (and vainly thought) to hoodwink and outwit God.
1. The first dwellers upon the earth after the Flood were divinely commanded to spread themselves over its face and “replenish” it (Gen 9:1). They disliked the idea, and thought to frustrate God’s design by building themselves a city and a tower as a focus of union (Gen 9:4). But God “came down,” and confounded their language; and so “scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (Gen 9:8).
2. Isaac sought to outwit God, and frustrate his preference of Jacob over Esau (Gen 25:23), by giving his special blessing to his firstborn; but God blinded him, and caused him to be himself outwitted by Rebekah and Jacob, so that he gave the blessing where he had not intended to give it (Gen 27:27-29).
3. Pharaoh King of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, thought to frustrate God’s designs respecting his people by a long series of delays and impediments, and finally by shutting them up into a corner of the land, whence apparently they had no escape unless by an absolute surrender; but God gave them a way of escape across the Red Sea, which removed them wholly from his control.
4. Jonah thought to outwit God, when commanded to warn the Ninevites, by flying from Asia to the remotest corner of Europe, and there hiding himself; but God counteracted his schemes and made them of no avail.
5. Herod the Great thought to outwit God, to preserve his kingdom, and to make the advent of Christ upon earth unavailing, by a general massacre of all the young children to be found in Bethlehem (Mat 2:16); but the warning given by God to Joseph and Mary confounded his counsels, and made the massacre futile.
6. Men have, in all periods of the world’s history, endeavored to hoodwink God by professing to serve him, while they offered him a formal, outward, and ceremonial observance, instead of giving him the true worship of the heart. But God has not been deceived; he “is not mocked;” he readily discerns the counterfeit from the genuine, and rejects with abhorrence all feigned and hypocritical religiousness. Every attempt of man to cheat his Maker recoils on his own head. “The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1Co 1:25). We cannot deceive him. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do’ (Heb 4:13).
2Ki 6:16, 2Ki 6:17
The spirit-world, and the power to discern it.
The little episode of the alarm felt by Elisha’s servant, and the manner in which Elisha removed it, teaches us principally three things.
I. THE REALITY, AND PERPETUAL PRESENCE, AROUND US AND ABOUT US, OF THE SPIRIT–WORLD. The existence of an order of spirits intermediate between God and man, who are closely connected with man, and play an important part in the Divine government of the world wherein we live, is an essential part of the scheme of things set before us in the Scriptures. “The doctrine of angels,” as it has been called, is this: “That there lives in the presence of God a vast assembly, myriads upon myriads of spiritual beings (Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10), higher than we, but infinitely removed from God, mighty in strength, doers of his word, who ceaselessly bless and praise God, wise also, to whom be gives charge to guard his own in all their ways, ascending and descending to and from heaven and earth (Gen 28:12, Gen 28:13; Joh 1:51), and who variously minister to men, most often invisibly. All these beings are interested in us and in our well-being. When our earth was created, ‘ all the sons of God burst forth into jubilee’ (Job 38:7) in prospect of our birth, who were to be their care here, their fellow-citizens hereafter in bliss. At the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, they were present in myriads. When God vouchsafed his presence on Mount Zion, and the holy place became a new Sinai, ‘twice ten thousand angels, yea, thousands many times repeated’ (Psa 68:17)were there. They are present with God, witnessing the trials of our race (Job 1:6; Job 2:1; 1Ki 22:19). Their love for man is indicated by the charge given to them when they are set to destroy the guilty in Jerusalem, ‘Let not your eye spare, neither have pity’ (Eze 10:5), as though they would have pity, only that they must needs be of the same mind with God. There is a distinction, or gradation of ranks, among the members of the heavenly hostCherubim, seraphim, archangels, principalities, powers”. It is irrational to explain away as embellishment or poetic imagery a representation of the actual condition of things in God’s universe, which is so frequent, so all-pervading, so harmonious, and, it may be added, so consistent with what we should have naturally expected apart from revelation.
II. THE PERPETUAL REALIZATION OF THIS PRESENCE BY THOSE POSSESSED OF FAITH. There is no reason to believe that Elisha saw the angels that compassed him round, with his bodily eyes. But he knew that they were there. He was sure that God would not desert him in his peril, and had such a confident faith in “the doctrine of angels,” that it was as if he could see them. And so it was with David. “The angel of the Lord,” he says, “encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psa 34:7). So with Hezekiah, who, when Sennacherib invaded his land, “spake comfortably to the people, saying, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him“ (2Ch 32:7). Judas Maccabaeus had probably the same faith when he uttered the words, “It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company: for the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven“ (1 Macc. 3:18, 19). St. Paul realized the continual angelic presence when he declared, “We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1Co 4:9). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews realized it when he told the Jewish converts, Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels” (Heb 12:22). St. John the divine realized it, when he gave the angels a large share in all the later judgments that should befall the earth, and made them dispensers of the blessings and of the wrath of God (Rev 7:1-20:3). If the doctrine has been at any time obscured, it has been when faith wavered, and there was a tendency to confine the supernatural within the narrowest possible limits. It was easy to suggest that the expression, “the angels of God,” was a periphrasis for God himself, and that he had no need to act, and therefore probably did not act, by intermediaries. But the faith of the Church has always been different. The festival of St. Michael and All Angels has been generally celebrated
from a very ancient date; and the Collect for that festival has borne witness to the perpetual ministration of angels, not only in heaven, but also upon earth, and to the part borne by them in the succor and defense of God’s people.
III. THE POSSIBILITY OF A MANIFESTATION OF THE PRESENCE IN QUESTION TO THE BODILY SENSES OF THOSE WHOSE FAITH IS TOO WEAK TO APPREHEND IT. Elisha’s servant did not see a vision. It was not his mind only that was impressed. His bodily eyes beheld an appearance as of chariots and horses of fire (verse 17), which was based on the objective reality of the actual presence of an angelic host upon the hill whereon Dothan was situated. The prophet prayed that his eyes should be opened, and his, prayer was granted. “The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. Physicists are probably right in saying that what is absolutely immaterial cannot be seen by the optic nerve. But we are nowhere told that angels are absolutely immaterial. It is the belief of many philosophers that all finite spirits are attached to bodies of some kind or otherbodies more or less volatile and ethereal. We can readily conceive that the optic nerve may, by an increase of its sensitiveness, be made to see these; and in this way we may account, not only for the wonderful sight beheld on this occasion by Elisha’s servant, but for the many other appearances of angels to men and women recorded in Scripture (Gen 3:1; Gen 19:1-15; Gen 32:24-30; Jdg 6:11-22; 2Sa 24:16, 2Sa 24:17; 1Ki 19:5-7; Isa 6:6; Dan 6:22; Dan 9:21; Dan 10:16-21; Zec 1:11-19; Zec 4:1, etc.; Luk 1:11-19, Luk 1:26-38; Luk 2:9-13; Joh 20:12; Act 5:19; Act 8:26; Act 12:7-10; Revelation, passim). Miraculously, power is given to the optic nerve, which it does not ordinarily possess, and it is enabled to see beings actually present, who under ordinary circumstances are invisible to it.
2Ki 6:24-33
Half-heartedness.
Jehoram was altogether half-hearted in his religion. He “halted between two opinions.” While he paid a certain amount of respect to Elisha, as the prophet of Jehovah, he nevertheless allowed the worship of Baal to continue in the capital (2Ki 10:18-28), if not elsewhere, and maintained the calf-worship also at Dan and Bethel (2Ki 3:3). He had suffered himself to be guided by Elisha in respect of the Syrian prisoners captured by the prophet (2Ki 6:23), and had evidently been in communication with him on the subject of the present siege, had probably been exhorted by him to repentance, and promised that, if he would wait upon Jehovah, in due time there should be deliverance. The prophet’s words had made some impression on him; he had to a certain extent turned to God, had put sackcloth upon his loins, not ostentatiously, but secretly (2Ki 6:30), had borne the privations of the siege without murmuring, had refused to surrender the town, and looked to Jehovah to deliver it. But there was no depth in his penitence, no surrender of the heart and the will to God, no firm and rooted faith in God’s truthfulness, and in the certain accomplishment of his promises. His repentance was but a half repentance. A single incident of the siege, a horrible one certainly, but yet not without a parallel in other sieges and in shipwrecks, shattered the whole fabric of his repentance and his resolution, turned him against the prophet and against Jehovah, caused him to threaten the prophet’s life, and to make up his mind that he would follow his own course, and not wait for the Lord any longer (2Ki 6:33). He thus revealed the true state of his heart and soul, showed his spiritual unsoundness, revealed himself as one whose character was rotten at the core, who had never turned to Jehovah in sincerity and truth. What wonder, then, that God had not granted the deliverance promised to true faith and true penitence, that a half-repentance had not availed with him? So it had been with Ahab (1Ki 21:27; 1Ki 22:34); so it would always be with all those who, after Jehoram’s example, should be half-hearted in religion, should at once “fear the Lord, and serve their own gods” (2Ki 17:33)own for masters both God and mammon. A half-repentance is useless. Nothing avails but to turn to God with all the heart and all the soul and all the strength. God hates waverers. To such he says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth“ (Rev 3:15, Rev 3:16).
2Ki 6:32
Princes may be resisted when they are bent upon wrong-doing.
There was a time when princes were flattered, by being told that they “could do no wrong;” that “a divinity hedged them in;” that their subjects were bound to render them, under all circumstances, an absolute and unqualified obedience. But this is certainly not scriptural teaching. The higher powers are to be obeyed in their lawful commands, but not in their unlawful ones. When Pharaoh, King of Egypt, commanded the midwives to put to death all the male children borne by the Hebrew women, “the midwives feared God, and did not as the King of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive” (Exo 1:17); and God rewarded them for so acting: “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and because they feared God, he made them houses” (Exo 1:20, Exo 1:21). So now Elisha, the prophet of God, bids the elders resist the king’s messenger”hold him fast,” and not let him execute the king’s commands. Again, the higher powers, the great council of the Sanhedrin, commanded Peter and John, shortly after the Day of Pentecost, “not to speak at all nor preach in the Name of Jesus” (Act 4:18); to whom the apostles replied, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Act 4:19, Act 4:20). Resistance to lawful authority, when it commands unlawful acts, is an important part of a Christian man’s duty, and ought to be inculcated just as much as obedience to lawful authority when it commands lawful acts.
HOMILIES BY C.H. IRWIN
2Ki 6:1-7
An early theological college; its life and lessons.
Our theological colleges, where young men are trained for the office of the Christian ministry, do not receive from the Christian public that attention and sympathy, which they deserve, more interest ought to be taken in education generally. The Church should show more interest in Sunday-school work. If office-bearers and parents in every Christian land would visit the Sunday school occasionally, and hear the children repeat their lessons and sing their hymns, it would do themselves good, and it would be a great encouragement to those who are engaged in the important work of Sunday-school teaching. The work of our theological colleges is to a great extent different from that of other places of education. The very nature of the studies is such that the general public could not be expected to take much interest in them. But there are other ways of showing an interest in our colleges besides actually entering a college class-room, or listening to a professor’s lecture. Occasionally, a rich member of the Church leaves a considerable sum to found a scholarship or a bursary; but how little is done by the members of the Church generally! Yet all the members of the Church are interested in having not only a godly, but also a well-educated ministry.
I. THERE WAS INDUSTRY IN THAT COLLEGE. These students in Elisha’s college knew how to work, and they were not above doing their own work. They had not reached that high state of civilization when manual labor is considered a disgrace. Their house, which was college and students’ residence all in one, had become too small for them. So they said to Elisha one day, “Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.” It was an enactment of the Jewish religion that every boy, no matter what his position, should be taught some handicraft. The Jewish Talmud says, “What is commanded of a father toward his son? To circumcise him, to teach him the Law, and to teach him a trade.” Thus we find that the Apostle Paul, who had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and was a distinguished scholar, was also a tentmaker. Even when a preacher of the gospel, he labored with his own hands for his support. It is not generally the custom now for ministers of the gospel to follow any other calling. It is found more convenient that they should devote themselves entirely to the work of the ministry, for all men have not the genius of the Apostle Paul. It is true that the missionaries of certain Missionary Societies all learn a trade, and most of them support themselves by their own exertions at farming or other work. But this also has been found very undesirable, and it has been under serious consideration to abandon the custom altogether. But whether they engage in manual labor or not, all ministers and all students for the ministry should be, as these students in Elisha’s time were, industrious in their work. In whatever calling we are engaged, let us cultivate habits of industry. Let us remember the apostle’s injunction to be “diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
II. THERE WAS DISCIPLINE IN THAT COLLEGE. These young students, excellent and well-conducted as they no doubt were, did not think they might do as they liked or go where they liked. They came to Elisha, and asked his consent to their proposal. And so it should be in all the relationships of life. “Order is Heaven’s first law.” There should be discipline in the family, discipline in the Church, discipline in the Sunday school, discipline in the nation, and regard for constituted authority. Dr. Arnold of Rugby once said to his assembled scholars, when there had been some disorder in the school, and he had expelled several boys, “It is not necessary that this should be a school of three hundred, or of one hundred, or of fifty boys; but it is necessary that it should be a school of Christian gentlemen.” No wonder there is disregard for authority in the nation when it is not properly taught or insisted on in the home. The Christian Church should be a model of order. Order should characterize its services, its management, its work. “Let all things be done decently and in order.”
III. THERE WAS KINDNESS IN THAT COLLEGE. What pleasant and brotherly relations between the prophet and his pupils! He could be stern with the haughty Naaman; he could severely rebuke the covetous, lying Gehazi; but he knew how to unbend among his innocent-hearted students. He had evidently already won their affections. It was a good sign of both him and them they asked him to accompany them. And now he shows his kindly nature once more by going with them at their request. So it ought to be with all Christians. We hardly think enough of Christ’s command that we should love one another. What friendly relations there should be between professors and students, between ministers and their people, between parents and children, between teachers and scholars, between employers and employed, between masters and servants! Authority is never weakened by kindness. Some employers, some teachers, seem to think it adds to their dignity and to their influence to be stern to those beneath them. They make a great mistake. The most respected professors are those who treat their students as brothers, and not as inferiors. The most respected employers are those who are kind and courteous and considerate to those in their employment. Kindness does not weaken influence; it increases it. Oh! to be filled with the spirit of Christ, who made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant. Kindness and humility are twin sisters.
IV. THERE WAS GROWTH IN THAT COLLEGE. Under the influence of such a teacher as Elisha, the number of students increased so much that the place became too small for them, and it was necessary for them to build a new school of the prophets. Let me see growth in a Church and I shall believe in its life. A stone does not grow, because it has no life. A tree grows, because there is life in it. If you see that a tree has ceased to grow, to put forth new leaves in the spring-time, you know that it is dead. A Church that is not growing must be a lifeless Church. If you are a living Christian, let the signs of it be manifest in the growth of your Christian graces.
V. THE PRESENCE OF GOD WAS THERE. This was shown in the miracle which Elisha wrought of causing the iron to swim. It was not by his own power, he was only the instrument in the hand of God, and God owned his efforts, for he was engaged in God’s work. This last feature of that theological college was the best of all. God’s presence was in the midst of it. Without that, of what use would have been their industry or their discipline? Without that, would there have been such bonds of kindness? Without that, would there have been such evidences of growth? “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” Without that, what a mockery it would have been for them to have looked forward to be the teachers of others in the truths of religion! What a mockery for any man to enter a pulpit and speak about the love of Jesus, who is himself a stranger to that love! What a mockery for any man to speak about the grace of God, who has never experienced it in his own heart and life! The late Rev. Dr. Cooke of Belfast once said that “an educated ministry is desirable, but a converted ministry is essential.”C.H.I.
2Ki 6:8-16
God’s presence with his people.
There has been a sudden change in the horizon of Elisha’s life. From the quiet work of cutting down trees and budding a college, he is suddenly called upon to stand a siege from a Syrian army. These changes do come in the lives of most of us. Health suddenly changes into sickness. Friendship suddenly changes into hostility. Wealth suddenly changes into poverty. Such changes will come in the life of the believer and in the history of the Church of God. At one time all seems bright; the next moment the prospect seems dark and discouraging. It is well to be prepared for such changes when they come. The true servant of God will heed them very little. He lives not under, but above, the things of earth.
“As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway cleaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”
So it was with Elisha. Wherever you find him, he always seems the same. On the present occasion the circumstances were such as to strike terror to the stoutest heart. Elisha’s servant trembled at the sight that met him when he rose that morning and looked forth from the city walls. A mighty host, with horses and chariots, encompassed the city round about. It was an unexpected attack. No forces were within the city to defend it against such a mighty host. Elisha was the only one whom the besieging army wanted. In the desire for self-preservation, it was not unlikely that the inhabitants of Dothan might give him up to the enemy, and thus turn away the invader from their gates. From a human point of view it was no wonder that Elisha’s servant said, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” There was no terror in Elisha’s face, no panic in his heart, at this startling news. What calmness, what courage, what sublime confidence there is in that answer of his, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them!” And what was the secret of his confidence? The one reason of Elisha’s confidence and calm was that God’s presence was with him. What a beautiful fulfillment of that promise, “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man; thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues!” We learn from this story
I. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS NOT GENERALLY REALIZED BY THEIR ENEMIES. It was so on the occasion before us. The King of Syria commenced another war against Israel. He held, as we should say, a council of war, and consulted with his generals concerning the arrangements for the campaign. He thought, by skilful strategy, to take the King of Israel unawares. But all his plans and maneuvers were thwarted in some mysterious way. The King of Israel seemed to know all his movements with more certainty than a clever player at a game of skill might anticipate the moves of his opponent. Several times in this way the King of Israel saved himself. At last the King of Syria began to be suspicious. There must be a traitor in the camp. Some of those enjoying the king’s confidence must be revealing his plans to the enemy. And so he asks, “Will ye not show me which of us is for the King of Israel?” The King of Syria was an able general; but like another great general of modern times, Napoleon the Great, there were some forces that he did not take sufficient account of. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. There are other things than military skill and big battalions to be thought of in going forth to battle. When Edward, the English king, came forth to view the Scottish troops before the battle of Bannockburn, he was astonished at the small force waiting on foot to receive the attack of his mighty army. But they were putting their trust in the God of battles, and presently he saw the unusual sight of the whole Scottish army, as their custom was, kneeling down and offering a short prayer to God. “Believe me,” said the general who rode by his side, “you men will win or die.” Of that unseen Power, in whose hands are the issues of battle, the Syrian king took no account. He did not realize that God‘s presence was with his people. Is not this the mistake which the enemies of God’s people have made in all ages? It was the mistake of the persecutors and oppressors of Israel. It was the mistake of those who persecuted the Reformers of England, Scotland, France, and Switzerland. It was the mistake which Pharaoh made when he refused to let the children of Israel go. It was the mistake, which Herod made when he thought to crush the new kingdom that was yet to arise, by slaughtering the helpless babes in Bethlehem and its neighborhood. It was the mistake, which Nero made in his persecutions of the Christians at Rome. It was the mistake which Louis XIV. of France made when he revoked the famous Edict of Nantes. It is the mistake, which the Roman Curia has made in all ages, in thinking to crush out civil and religious liberty by the tortures of the Inquisition, by the martyrdoms of the scaffold and the stake, by the massacres in the Waldensian valley, by the autos-da-fe of Spain. The same thing may be said of the unbeliever and the skeptic. They have not realized that the presence of the living God is with his Church and in the midst of her, and that he, in his own way and in his own time, can vindicate his own truth. How often, during these eighteen hundred years, has the unbeliever exulted in what he has called the overthrow of Christianity! and yet how vain and foolish the boast has proved to be! Voltaire boasted that with one hand he would overthrow the Christianity which it had required twelve apostles to build up. “At this day, the press which he employed at Ferney to print his blasphemies is actually employed at Geneva in printing the Holy Scriptures.” May we not still say, as we think of the enemies of the truth, the enemies of virtue, the enemies of religion, and as we listen to their audacious boasts, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision?”
II. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS NOT REALIZED BY MANY AMONGST THEMSELVES. Elisha’s servant, no doubt, believed in God. If any one had denied God’s presence with his people, he would doubtless have firmly asserted it as his belief. Yet when the time came to put his belief to a practical test, we see how slight a hold it had taken of him. When he went forth in the morning and saw the horses and chariots and the mighty host encompassing the city round about, he said to Elisha, “Alas, my master I how shall we do?” Do you never feel a sensation like Elisha’s servant? You believe you are a child of God, you believe that God takes care of his people, yet perhaps there are times when you are unduly anxious about your business, and allow yourself to be weighed down by foolish and causeless fears. How many are alarmed by the thought of sickness in themselves or in their families, and nervously ask, “What shall we do?” Oh that we would learn to realize God’s presence with us! “My times are in thy hand.” In the same way, how many professing Christians are there who do not sufficiently realize God‘s presence in his Church! How much more active we should be, how much more earnest in Christian work, if we realized that God is working with us! With what power a minister ought to preach if he could only remember to say with John the Baptist, “There cometh One mightier than I after me”! Then how many are easily discouraged by difficulties. Some are always saying when they see a difficulty in the way, “What shall we do?” “Who will roll us away the stone?” Some are always imagining difficulties and foreseeing them at the very beginning of a work. This spirit of timidity, of fear, is a great hindrance in Christian work. Half-belief is almost as bad as no belief, in this respect. Half-hearted-ness in religious work is one of the greatest hindrances to its success. In this, as in everything else, the maxim holds good, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” The boll-hearted ten out of the twelve spies sent to view the promised land frightened the Israelites from going up, and nearly caused God, in his righteous anger at their unbelief, to disinherit them altogether. The half-hearted inhabitants of Galilee prevented the blessing of the Savior of men resting upon them, for we read that “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” The half-hearted followers of Christopher Columbus nearly prevented him from discovering America. There is no room for half-heartedness in religion. There is a loud call for decision and firmness both in belief and in conduct.
III. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IS ALWAYS REALIZED BY HIS TRUE SERVANTS. The King of Syria did not realize that God’s presence was with his people, and he was at his wits’ end to know how to circumvent them. Elisha’s servant did not realize that God’s presence was with himself and his master; and how panic-stricken he was at the danger that seemed to threaten them! But there was one man for whom the armies of the King of Syria had no terror, to whom difficulties brought no dismay, and that was the man who lived near to God, and realized that God was near to him. Hence it is that we find Elisha saying, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” So it has been with God’s true servants in all ages. They have realized that God’s presence was with them, and in the strength of that one idea they have surmounted the greatest difficulties, braved the most terrible dangers, met fearlessly the most overwhelming opposition, and accomplished tasks that to the worldly eye seemed almost incredible. Look at Abraham. He went forth from his native land, “not knowing whither he went.” And why? Because he knew that God was with him. Look at Nehemiah. An exile from his native land, he undertook the wonderful enterprise of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He had plenty of opposition. But he went on with his work in spite of the ridicule and attacks of Sanballat and his companions. And what was the secret of his determination and perseverance? You have it in his answer to Sanballat, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build.” This year is the anniversary of two great events in British historytwo great deliverances which illustrate in a marvelous way God’s presence with his people. It is the three hundredth anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, which took place in 1588. Yet it was not English ships or English power that really turned away that invasion from our shores; but the winds and waves of him who holdeth the sea in the hollow of his hand. It is also the two hundredth anniversary of the revolution of 1688. And while we should never use such anniversaries as the occasion of displaying a vindictive or unchristian spirit towards those who differ from us, yet in the interests of truth, in the interests of true Anglicanism, in the interests of civil and religious liberty, it is most desirable that these two great events should be rightly and piously commemorated. One thing they illustrate very clearly, and that is, that however dark the prospects of God’s people seem to be, and however overwhelming seem the forces arrayed against them, he is able to banish every cloud and to give them the victory over all their enemies.
“God is our Refuge and our Strength,
In straits a present Aid;
Therefore, although the earth remove,
We will not be afraid.”
One or two practical applications.
1. It is well to be on God’s side. In a time of danger or of trouble, a great many people expect God to be on their side, who have never taken any pains to show themselves on his side. If you want to have the unspeakable advantage of God’s presence with you in your time of difficulty or danger, the most important question you could now ask yourself is, “Am I on God’s side?”
2. A word to those who are God’s people. Undertake great things for God. Remember that you have unlimited resources at your command. We should be ashamed of how little we are attempting to do for God, when we have the inexhaustible treasury of Divine grace to help us.
3. Never suffer yourself to be daunted or depressed by difficulties. The greater the difficulties, the greater should be the determination of the Christian. “Let courage rise with danger.” Luther sang his most stirring songs of praise and hope and courage in the darkest moments of his life. Those who have God with them can afford to sing amid the darkness.C.H.I.
2Ki 6:17-23
Eyes closed, and eyes opened.
I. EYES CLOSED.
1. The young man‘s eyes were closed. Me did not see the horses and chariots of fire that were round about Elisha. He did not realize that deliverance was at hand. How many like him are blind to the power of God, to the providences of God! How many are quick to see anything that concerns their temporal advantage, but slow to see that which concerns their immortal souls! How many see no beauty in Christ!
2. The Syrians‘ eyes were closed. This was a judicial act of God in response to Elisha’s prayer. So there is a spiritual judicial blindness. “Seeing they shall see, but not perceive; hearing they shall hear, but shall not understand.” It is a spiritual law which has its analogies in the natural world. If we neglect to use any of our bodily powers, the power itself is soon lost. Similarly, mental or spiritual powers, if neglected, will soon become useless. Let us be careful that we use the privileges and opportunities and talents which God has given us, lest they be taken from us altogether. “To him that hath shall be given,” that is, to him that hath made a good use of his talents; “and from him that hath not”from him that has so neglected his talents that they are practically not hiss“ shall be taken away even that which he hath,”
II. EYES OPENED.
1. The Syrians‘ eyes were opened to see their true condition. Instead of being a victorious army, with Elisha a captive in their hands, they find that he has them in his power, and has led them into the midst of Samaria and into the presence of the King of Israel. They then saw how defenseless and how helpless they were. That is the first step in the path of salvation. The first step for a sinner is to see his need. So with Bunyan’s pilgrim. The first thought that led him to set out on his journey was the feeling of his utter helplessness. “Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment (Heb 9:27); and I find that I am not willing to do the first (Job 16:21), nor able to do the second (Eze 22:14).” “Lord, show me myself.”
2. The young man‘s eyes were opened to see that deliverance was at hand. “The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” This is the second step in the sinner’s salvation. Having seen his need, he next needs to see the Savior. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world? Have you seen your true condition, your spiritual need? Have you seen your need of Jesus as your Savior?
“When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.
“My terrors all vanished before the sweet Name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.”
III. THE POWER OF PRAYER. Elisha’s prayers prevailed three times in this short narrative. There may be some one known to us whose eyes are closed, who is spiritually blind. Have we brought the case to God in prayer? Is it a wandering son? “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” Is it a wayward daughter? a godless friend? We may not reach them by our words; but we can reach them by our prayers.
IV. THE POWER OF DIVINE GRACE. Elisha did not exult in his triumph over his enemies. He did not take advantage of their helplessness. They had come to take him captive, perhaps to take away his life; but he heaps coals of fire on their head. The King of Israel wanted to smite them. But Elisha reminds him (according to one view) that it was not customary to smite even captives taken in war: how much less should he smite those who had been put within his power, not by any exertions of his own, but by the miraculous interposition of God! On the contrary, Elisha recommends that they should be well treated and well fed. This was done. And what was the consequence? “So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” This little act of kindness had turned away their wrath. What an example for us to imitate toward those who treat us ill! “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”C.H.I.
2Ki 6:24-33
Samaria besieged.
I. A CITY IN DISTRESS. Once more the people of Samaria were in great straits. A besieging army was at their gates, and, most terrible of all, the horrors of famine were within their walls. They were reduced to the greatest extremities. The women were actually beginning to cook and eat their own children. Whichever way they looked, the prospect was dark. To open the gates to the Syrians meant death or captivity. And the longer they remained within their walls, the more certainly death and starvation stared them in the face. See here the evil result of forsaking God. To such extremities they had brought themselves by their own sins. They had forsaken the living God, and now their false gods were not able to help them in the day of their calamity. It is an evil day in a man’s history when he turns his back upon God’s Word, upon God’s commandments, upon God’s Son. As it often happens, their calamities had hardened their hearts and blinded their eyes. There was one man in their midst who had often before proved a wise counselor and friend. They had Elisha, the man of God, in their citythe man who, by counseling them to make the valley full of ditches, had delivered the Moabites into their hands; the man, too, who had revealed Benhadad’s secrets, and smitten the Syrian army with blindness. But they had forgotten all that. Instead of locking to Elisha for guidance or help, they blame him for all their troubles. How often does it happen that, when people get into difficulties, they throw the blame upon others! When troubles and difficulties come upon us, our first business should be to search our own hearts and lives, and see whether the trouble may not be of our own causing.
II. A PROPHET IN DANGER. The king was a partaker in the wickedness of the people. He encouraged the prevailing idolatry. Now he shares their suffering. But he never thinks of looking to God for deliverance. He never thinks of humbling himself before God, and confessing his sins. On the contrary, he shows a disposition to cast the blame both on God and on his prophet. When the poor woman in her hunger and distress called to him for help, he answered, “If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?” Though he wore sackcloth, the outward sign of mourning or penitence, there was no sign of inward penitence or humility in his heart. How blind and infatuated he is in his anger and defiance! He threatens to take away the prophet’s life. Jezebel had once said to Elijah, “So let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them [the prophets whom she had slain] by tomorrow about this time.” So here Jehoram says, “God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.” Even Jezebel’s threat had apparently more reason for it than Jehoram’s. Elijah had undoubtedly slain the prophets of Baal. But in this case Elisha was innocent of any charge. Jehoram quite gratuitously holds him responsible for the famine in Samaria, and threatens to take away his life. But man proposes and God disposes. Although Elisha is in danger, he is never in dismay. When the king’s messenger came to take off his head, Elisha bade the elders to hold the messenger fast at the door till the king himself, who was close behind, should arrive. Elisha had had dealings with Jehoram before. He would hear his sentence from the king himself, if at all. Well for those who, like Elisha, live near to God. “Serve the Lord in fear,” said John Knox on his death-bed,” and the flesh will not fear death.” Dangers do not distress them; death brings no dismay. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”C.H.I.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
2Ki 6:1-7
A Church-extension enterprise.
“And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us,” etc. If there were a Church in Israel at all, the schools of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that Church. They were a communion of godly men. The brief narrative, therefore, may fairly be regarded as a record of a Church-extension enterprise, and as such four things are observablethings that all who contemplate such enterprises should ponder and imitate.
I. This Church-extension enterprise was STIMULATED BY THE PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH. The old sphere had become too narrow for them, they had outgrown it. “And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” The numbers who came to listen to Elisha and the increase of students required greater accommodation than the whole place could afford. This is a principle on which all Church-extension, should proceed; but in these modern times it is sometimes not only ignored, but outraged. Although statistics show that the churches and chapels in England fall miserably short of the accommodation necessary for the whole population, it is three times greater than is required for the number of attendants. On all sides empty churches and chapels abound, millions of money contributed for religious purposes lie as the “one talent,” wrapped in a napkin, unused. And yet still, almost every religious denomination seems to feel that the building of new churches is its grand mission. The fact is that church-building has, in many cases, become a business speculation. One church should grow out of another; the grain of mustard seed will create its own organism, multiply its own branches, and propagate its vitality.
II. This Church-extension enterprise was CONDUCTED IN A MANLY MANNER.
1. The best counsel was sought before a step was taken. These sons of the prophets went to Elisha and said, “Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan.” Though they were young, perhaps with all the stirring impulses of youth, they were conscious of their need of counsel, end they sought it. In these modern times in Englandwe speak from extensive experiencechurches and chapels are often built from ignorant zeal and a spirit of rivalry. How unmanly is this!
2. Each man set to honest work in the matter. “Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.” Matthew Henry quaintly says, “When they wanted room they did not speak of sending for cedars, and marble stones, and curious artificers, but only of getting every man a beam, to run up a plain hut or cottage with.” Each man, it would seem, felled his beam, carried and adjusted it. How right, manly, and honest all this! They never thought of putting up a grand place at other people’s expense. Ah me! how far we are fallen in spirit from them l To erect modern churches and chapels, what means do we use? Fawning entreaties, addressed to moneyed ignorance and stupidity, bazaars with their questionable procedures, their displays, their raffles, and their flirtations.
III. This Church-extension enterprise ENCOUNTERED DIFFICULTIES UNEXPECTED. “And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.” Why this distress of the woodman? Was it because the axe was borrowed and he had not the wherewith to pay, or because he was checked in his operation? Perhaps both were reasons for his distress. The former I trow the greater. In all worthy enterprises on this earth difficulties crop up unawares. Perhaps the best enterprises encounter the greatest difficulties. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.” But difficulties are in truth blessings in disguise. They challenge the courage and rouse the forces of the worker. They bring out his manhood. They are to the true worker what tempests are to young treesthey deepen the roots and strengthen the fibers. Besides, there is no consciousness of virtue in doing that which involves no struggle.
IV. This Church-extension enterprise OBTAINED SUPERNATURAL HELP WHEN NEEDED. When the man who had lost his axe was crying out in distress, Elisha, the “man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.” Elisha here, by raising the axe and making the iron swim, overcame a law of naturethe law of gravitation. Up to this point in this enterprise there does not seem to have been any supernatural interposition. They prosecuted their journeying, they cut down the timber, they carried their beams, all by their own natural skill and force. They did not require supernatural aid. But now one of them did, and it came. We must not expect any special power from heaven to do that which we have the natural force to accomplish ourselves. “As thy day, so thy strength shall be.”D.T.
2Ki 6:8-23
The King of Syria and Elisha.
“Then the King of Syria warred against Israel,” etc. In these sixteen verses we have four subjects worth looking intowickedness thwarted, timidity dispelled, supernatural power manifested, and revenge overcome.
I. WICKEDNESS THWARTED. The King of Syria had determined on an enterprise of bloodshed and wickedness. He had made all arrangements, fixed on the place for his camp. “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” Bat Elisha thwarted the bloody purpose of the Syrian king by informing the Israelitish monarch, Jehoram, of the very place where the Syrians had determined to encamp. His words are, “Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.” The king attended to the prophet’s directions, “and saved himself there, not once nor twice.” Terrible was the disappointment of the Syrian monarch. “The heart of the King of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the King of Israel? And one of his servants said, None my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” Observe:
1. That wicked men are most secretive in their purposes. It would seem that the plans of the King of Syria’s bloody enterprise were known only to his most confidential officers, and that they were revealed to them in his bedchamber. There, and perhaps there only, did he detain them, and perhaps with closed doors and soft whisperings. Wicked men, in order to get on in the world, are bound to be secretive. And the more wicked they are, the more necessary for them is this secretiveness. Were dishonest doctors, lawyers, tradesmen, merchants, statesmen, to be open and candid, revealing all that is nefarious in their aims, they would fall into poverty and universal contempt. The good alone can afford to be open and candid; the wicked are bound to be hypocrites if they would live.
2. That none of their purposes are so secret as to escape the notice of Almighty God. How came Elisha to know them? He was far away from the monarch’s bedchamberaway in Israel. It was Elisha’s God who made the communication to him. Solemn thought. There is One who knoweth what is in manin every man. He reads all secrets; he “understandeth our thoughts afar off.”
3. The revelations of a wicked man’s secrets will frustrate his designs. It did so in the case of this king.
II. TIMIDITY DISPELLED. When the Syrian monarch learnt that Elisha was in Israel, he dispatched a spy to find him out; and when he discovered that he was in Dothan, “he sent thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.” All this struck a panic into the heart of Elisha’s servant, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” How did Elisha relieve his servant of this terrible fear? By assuring him that there were more on their side than on the side of their enemies. “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” This assurance he gave not merely with words, hut by ocular demonstration. “And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” It is generally supposed that the reference is here to angels “that excel in strength;” they are in truth the body-guard of the good. They are more in their number than our foes, superior in their power, in their invincible determination, in their authority too. But to see them we must have our spiritual eyes open as the prophet’s eyes were now. Faith in the wonderful resources which Heaven has provided for the good will dispel all fear.
III. SUPERNATURAL POWER MANIFESTED. Supernatural power is here manifested:
1. In opening the eyes of the prophet’s servant.
2. In bringing under his notice the mountain which was full of horses and chariots of fire.
3. In smiting with blindness the army of Syria. “And when they came down to him [that is, the Syrian army], Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.’ These armed legions, whose eyes were glaring with vengeance before, were now in midnight darkness. In this state Elisha becomes their guide and conducts them to Samaria, and when they had come there another supernatural act was performed in the restoration of their sight, and then they beheld their terrible position. “Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria,” in the hands of the King of Israel.
IV. REVENGE OVERCOME. The King of Syria, hearing that Elisha had revealed his murderous plan to the monarch of Israel, and had thus thwarted the purpose and the plan of his campaign, was fired with indignation, and sent to Dothan “horses, and chariots and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.” How furiously we may suppose revenge flamed in every member of the army as well as in the soul of their royal master, as they “compassed the city about!” And this feeling would no doubt be intensified when they found that Elisha had betrayed them into the hands of their enemies. They were in the midst of Samaria, within the very grasp of the King of Israel, and at his mercy. How would Elisha advise the King of Israel to treat these revengeful legions now? “And the King of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?” What was the prophet’s advice? Did he say, “Destroy them?” No. He answered, “Thou shalt not smite them.” Did he say, “Spare their lives, but make them slaves, take them into captivity and make them beasts of burden?” Did he say, “Deprive them of all food, and starve them to death?” No; he said, “Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.” What was the result of this generous treatment? Did they go away with the old passion of vengeance burning in them? Away to reorganize themselves in greater numbers and with greater force to make another attack? No. Here is the result: “So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” The magnanimous kindness extinguished the flames and paralyzed the arms of revenge, so that they came no more into the land of Israel. This is the Divine way, nay, the only way, of conquering our enemies. Evil can only be overcome by good. The most glorious victory over an enemy is to turn him into a friend.D.T.
2Ki 6:15-17
Invincible helpers of the good.
“And when the servant of the man of God was risen,” etc. The context illustrates two circumstances too frequently overlooked, but ever demanding the recognition and study of mankind.
1. The value of a good man to his country. The Syrian monarch makes war with Israel; his counsels are formed, his arrangements are complete, and sanguine are his hopes of victory. But there is a good man in IsraelElishawho reads the hidden purpose of the Syrian despot, sounds the alarm, puts his country on its guard, invokes Heaven, and thus confounds the wily stratagems and thwarts the murderous purposes of the foe. “So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” True piety is the source of true patriotism; its prayers and prophecies are the sure “defenses” of nations. This idea is dawning on the world now; and in coming periods will blaze in broad daylight on mankind. We shall one day see that the victories of truth and prayer were the only victories that ever served the interest of any nation, and that many a pious man, who lived in obscurity and died under oppression, conferred greater blessings on the commonwealth than those statesmen and warriors whose patriotism has been emblazoned in history and sung in verse. The context illustrates:
2. The source of a wicked man‘s weakness. Why did not this Syrian tyrant succeed in his plans? The words which one of his servants addressed to him explain the cause: “Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” His projects would not bear the light. As a principle, wicked men would seldom, if ever, realize their ends were there a prophet to unveil their hearts, and publish all the selfish, sensual, dishonest, and blasphemous thoughts that transpire in the hidden chamber of their souls. Wicked tradesmen, lawyers, statesmen, and others succeed only as they conceal their hearts from public view. Let some prophet, like Ezekiel of old, break open the barred door of their “chamber of imagery,” and expose the hideous forms “portrayed upon the wall,” the impious works that are wrought “in the dark, and forthwith they will lose all public sympathy, patronage, and support. O my soul, cherish thou thoughts that shall bear a prophet’s fiery glanceprinciples that will glow, bloom, and look attractive in the daylight; and purposes that will commend thee to the Divine consciousness of brother spirits, and to the favor of the Everlasting. I proceed to state, with the utmost brevity, a few general truths suggested by the incident before us.
I. THAT THE GOOD ARE OFTEN PLACED IN CIRCUMSTANCES TO REQUIRE SUPERHUMAN HELP. Elisha and his servant were, at this time, at Dothan. The Syrian king, enraged with the prophet for frustrating his military designs on Israel, sends “horses, and chariots, and a great host” in pursuit of him. The mighty army “came by night, and compassed the city about.” Early in the morning the prophet’s servant beheld the armed and ruthless multitude drawn up around the city. Here were enemies, which the prophet himself could not subdue, perils from which his unaided power could not extricate himself. Faint symbol this of the spiritual enemies that surround our dwellings! True, in these days, the antagonists of the good are not so outwardly visible as they were in times that are past. The great enemy does not send forth his host now garbed in the attire of the persecutors. They appear not amongst us in the grim and savage forms of the Julians and the Neros, the Maximins and the Diocletians; they assume an habiliment more consonant with the tastes of this civilized era. Their forms fascinate rather than terrify. They seek to draw rather than to drive. But still, are they any less deadly in their aim, or formidable in their power, because they change their garb, drop the sword, and stretch out the hand of false friendship? It is not the plundering of our property nor the wounding of our bodies that injures us most, but the corrupting of our souls. The awakening within our spiritual natures of an impure suggestion may work a far more fearful ruin than incarcerating us in dungeons, or sending us to the martyr’s stake and flames. I call those forces mine enemies that are unfavorable to my spiritual interests. Whatever dims my inner vision, and tends to veil from me the sublimities of the “unseen;” whatever deadens my sensibility to duty, and interferes with the free and vigorous play of my faculties; whatever draws me from the eternal future, and links me to the transient present; whatever cools, materializes, and contracts my sympathies, and keeps me more in connection with the contingent than the absolute; whatever depresses me in my struggles to reach that ideal of perfection dimly portrayed in my soul, but drawn out in abiding loveliness in the life of Jesus; whatever forces act thus, I call, with emphasis, my foes. And do not such foes surround us? Tell me of a period when “sinful lusts,” which “war against the soul,” were more potent and active than now? Our civilization is little more than a perfection in those arts that minister to the senses, pander to the appetites, and gratify the desires of the flesh. When did worldliness ever wield a more wide and mighty sway? When were the votaries of mammon so numerous and enthusiastic in their devotions? The deepest cry of the age seems to be, “My soul thirsteth for gold.” When did corrupt literature scatter over the social soil the seeds of error, impiety, and licentiousness to such an extent as now? We are as truly hemmed in by antagonistic forces as was Elisha by the horses and chariots and hosts than encompassed him at Dothan. As we glance at them, the impression of the prophet’s servant comes to us, “Alas, master! what shall we do?” We require the help that Elisha hadhelp from withoutfrom Heaven.
II. THAT HEAVEN HAS PROVIDED HELPERS FOR MEN SUPERIOR TO ALL ANTAGONISTS. “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” It is generally supposed that the reference is here to the angels “that excel in strength,” and that they were the horses and chariots of fire that came to the prophet’s help. Angels are the hosts of God, and “the body-guard of the good””ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvation.” This doctrine is so antecedently probable, so clearly revealed in Scripture, and so generally believed, as to require no evidence. It is to their superiority that our attention is now called.
1. They are “more“ in number than the foe. If we confine our attention to merely what we see in this world, we shall conclude that the agents of evil are the mere numerous. A wider survey of the general realm of spiritual being, as suggested by philosophy, and as revealed in the Bible, presents an opposite view. As malformations in nature are few compared with symmetrically organized existences, so evil spirits are few compared with the good. The great cities, principalities, and hierarchies of the universe are loyal subjects of the great King, and zealous agents in promoting his will; it is but a little province that has here and there thrown off its allegiance. Hell is but a withered leaf in the waving forest of lifea flickering meteor in the starry vault of being. It is our happiness to know that evil is the exception in the universe; good is the rule. Thus evil exists as a contingencyit might or might not be; but good exists by an absolute necessityit is and must be, because God is and must be.
2. They are “more“ in the instrumentalities they wield. The agents of evil are not only fewer in number, but inferior also in their armor. Falsehood, selfishness, wrong,these are their miserable weapons; and are they not weakness compared with truth, love, right, the weapons of the good? Ay; they can no more stand before them than “dry stubble” before the raging firethe gloom of the night-heavens before the rising sun. The history of the world gives many instances of one man, with truth and right on his side, subduing countries under the reign of falsehood and wrong.
3. They are “more” in their invincible determination. The power of a moral intelligence in any operation will not be entirely or chiefly determined by the instruments he employs, but by the strength of the purpose under which he acts. A man with a weak purpose, however great his advantages, will not do much. Now, the agents of evil can have no invincible purpose, for the obvious reason that their conscienceswhose sanctions can alone give invincibilityare not on their side. Just as far as any being is under the influence of evil, he must be fickle and fearful. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
4. They are “more“ in the authority under which they act. The Bible teaches that the angels of evil are under the control of one master-spirit of darkness”the prince of the power of the air;” but those of the good are under the authority of the Infinite. His Spirit inspires them, his will they obey, his energy is their strength. Satan, the master of the evil spirits, is himself the creature and slave of God. The moral usurper cannot move or breathe but by the permission of him who “maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” Truly, then, my pious friend, however great the spiritual foes, thy helpers are greater. To the eye of sense, indeed, thou seemest to wrestle against fearful odds. Wealth, fashion, customs, influence, worldly maxims, habits, and even numbers, seem against thee; but “fear not: for they that be with us are mere than they that be with them.” Open the eye of faith, and look beyond the boundary-line of sense, and thou shalt see that the great “mountain” of universal being is “full of horses and chariots of fire round about” thee.
III. THAT THE SUPERIOR HELPERS OF THE GOOD ARE ONLY SEEN BY SOME. Elisha saw the celestial helpers, but his servant saw them notsaw nothing but the enemy. The one, consequently, stood calm amidst the gleaming and rattling weapons of the Syrian army, the other was all perturbation and alarm. Thus men under similar circumstances receive different impressions. The event which overwhelms one with alarm inspires another with hope and heroism. The reason of this is that some have eyes to see only the evil in things, others to see the good as well. Why is this? Why is it that all men cannot see the spiritual helpers that surround them? Several reasons might be assigned.
1. There is the tendency to judge after the senses. The majority of men, like the servant of the prophet, see only with the physical eye. Although true philosophy shows that all things that come within the cognizance of the senses are shadows, not substancessemblance, not essence, they reversely consider the visible and tangible only as real Spirits, therefore, which lie beyond the line of sense, and which are the living creatures in all the “wheels“ of human events, and in all the forms of matter, are never practically realized, and often theoretically ignored.
2. There is the habit of referring everything to secondary causes. This habit allows no room for God, nor for spiritual interpositions, but in a miracle. What is regular it calls natural; what is miraculous alone is Divine. It sees God in holding the sun over Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, but sees nothing of him in rolling these stupendous bodies, age after age, in their spheres, with an undeviating regularity, and a swiftness incalculable. I say nothing of the irrationality of this habit, nor of its prevalence, of which there can be no question. All I say is that, since God helps us by natural laws, this habit manifestly prevents men from seeing the helpers he sends.
3. There is also a gloominess of disposition. This is sometimes a cause. There are men who will not see good. They hear no music in the harp of love; they see no brightness in the unclouded sky of noon. On this earth, even when robed in its summer beauty or laden with autumnal wealth, they sing, or rather groan
“Lord, what a wretched land is this,
That yields us no supply!”
The horses and chariots of mercy may move around them as celestial guards, yet they cry, “All these things are against me.”
4. There is want of sympathy with God. Strong and earnest sympathy with a being always induces the mind to bring that Being nearnear to the inner eye and heart. By this law we bring the distant nearcross oceans and continents. Yes; from worlds beyond the grave the imagination wafts the loved one home to our inmost breasts; and we see the form and hear the voice again. Had we this sympathy with God and holy spirits, we should set them always before us. Jesus had it, and he said, “Ye leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.”
IV. THAT TO SEE THESE SUPERHUMAN HELPERS ONLY REQUIRES THE OPENING OF THE EYES. “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes.” The outward world is to us according to bur five senses. Had we fewer, it would be less than it is; or, if more, it would be greater. There are, probably, properties in the material system which we have at present no sense to discover; or, peradventure, there may be senses closed up within, that will one day be developed, and make this old world a new thing to us. But, likely as this may be, the existence of a sense in the soul for seeing spiritual existences is more probable. I am not disposed to pronounce all who have stated that they have seen such beings to be either fanatics or impostors. The a priori wonder is, not that they should be seen, but that they are not more generally perceived. We are related to the material world, and we have senses to discern material existences. We are, confessedly, more intimately and solemnly related to the spiritual; and is it not natural to expect that we should have a sense to see spiritual beings? Were such a sense to be opened within us, as the eye of the prophet’s servant was now opened, what visions would burst upon us! The microscope gives to us a new world of wonders; but were God to open the spiritual eye, what a multitude of worlds would be revealed! Ah, my skeptic brother! deniest thou a spiritual world? Where is thy reason? Wilt thou plead the fact that thou hast never seen a spiritual existence? This, assuredly, will not serve thee. Wilt thou permit a deaf man to deny that a thunderstorm ever rent our cloudy atmosphere, because he has never heard the terrific rear; or a blind man to deny that a rainbow has ever spanned these skies, because he, forsooth, has never seen the beauteous arch? Why, then, shouldest thou deny a spiritual world? Before the eyes of the prophet’s servant were opened, he might have denied the existence of these helpers. When his master spoke to him of them, he might have said within himself, “Has my master lost his reason, or is he dreaming? I see nothing on the mountain but the Syrian host.” All at once, however, his eyes were opened, and what a scene burst upon him! “The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” Even so it will be with thee, my friend: ere many days shall pass, God will open thine eyes; and that spiritual world in which thou art now living, and whose existence thou deniest, will burst in awful sublimity upon thine astonished soul!D.T.
2Ki 6:24-33
Subjects worth considering.
“And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria,” etc. These verses, brimful of the wicked and the horrible, press the following subjects on our attention.
I. THE INHUMANITY OF WAR. “And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.” The inhumanity of the Syrian king and his host in invading Samaria is [seen in the shameful disregard of the kindness which the Samaritans had previously shown them. In the preceding verses we read that the Samaritans had not only allowed them to escape entire destruction when they were at their mercy, but, at the interposition of Elisha, supplied them with abundant provisions to appease their hunger and to invigorate their frames. Notwithstanding this, they now came to work ruin on their very saviors. War has no gratitude, no sense of right, no sentiment of kindness; often it dehumanizes human nature, transforms the man into a fiend.
“How all minor cruelties of man
Are summed in war, conclusive of all crimes I”
(‘Festus.’)
II. THE TERRIBLENESS OF HUNGER. To such absolute destitution did these ruthless warriors reduce the inhabitants of Samaria, that not only did the ravenous hunger drive them to obtain food from the “ass’s head” and from “dove’s dung,” but from human fleshmothers from the children of their womb. “And as the King of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we killed my son, and did eat him,” etc. Here is a tragic tale, a tale that makes the heart quail, and the nerves quiver with horror. Hunger in itself is a blessing, it implies health and stimulates to action; it is in truth the mainspring that keeps the human machinery of the world in action. But when it becomes intense and unappeasable, it sets all moral commandments at defiance, it will break through stone walls, shatter thrones, and break up empires. It is among the primary duties of rulers to keep the hunger of the people appeased. Alas! everywhere in England we hear its groans; may not these groanings be the mutterings of nature before the volcanic eruption?
III. THE MISDIRECTION OF PASSION. The tale of the famishing woman, and the revolting scenes he beheld, pierced the heart of the King of Israel. His feelings at first seem to have been those of great humiliation and deep sympathy. “And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes.” But they soon became those of raging wrath against Elisha. “Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.” If Elisha had, from a malign spirit, really brought all this distress upon the Samaritan people, this wrath might have been justified. Anger against wrong is right. But it was not Elisha that brought the calamities; it was themselvestheir idolatries, their sins. Elisha was their greatest friend. The misdirection of human indignation is no uncommon evil. How often men are angry with one another without a cause! Passion misdirected put to death the Son of God himself.
IV. THE CALMNESS OF GOODNESS. Whilst all these revolting scenes were taking place, and the king burning with rage against Elisha, was resolving on his destruction, where was Elisha? “But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him.” With his disciples, fellow-citizens, and “elders” Elisha sat, without anxiety or alarm. Mark:
1. It was not the calmness of servile submission. Though he knew the threat of the king, he had no idea of making an apology or seeking to appease unreasonable indignation, or yield with stoicism to his fate. No. Whilst he sat calmly, the pulse of manhood throbbed stronger in every vein, and when he heard the king’s messenger approach the door of his house, he said to the elders, “See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head?” It is grand to hear men give others their proper title, even though they be kings. Were all men thus honest, many of those who are now called “right honorables” would be “right abominables.”
2. It was not the calmness of irresolution. It was not a state of unnerved indifference; on the contrary, there was in it a resolute power. “Look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door.” For the man’s own sake hold him, do not let him contract crime by committing murder. Probably at this moment Elisha saw the king himself hurrying towards him, to revoke his murderous decree. Conscious goodness is always calm. He is “kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on the Lord.”
3. It was the calmness that conquers. The king himself, it would seem, was soon at the door. He had relented, and hurried to prevent the execution of his murderous command. “And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?” This utterance is that of the king, and it would seem it was a response to the prophet’s exhortation to “wait for the Lord.” And he means to say, “This evil is not from thee, Elisha, but from the Lord, and it is hopeless; ‘what should I wait for the Lord any longer?'” It is not likely that such a humiliating utterance as this would have fallen from the lips of the king, had he met Elisha in a state of furious excitement. No doubt it was the moral majesty of calmness that struck the heart of the monarch.D.T.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
2Ki 6:1-7
The borrowed axe.
This is another of Elisha’s miracles of aid. The story belongs to the same class of acts as those related in 2Ki 2:19-22; 2Ki 4:1-7, 2Ki 4:38-44.
I. THE AXE–HEAD NEEDED. The first verses present us with a picture of expansion and extension. The place where “the sons of the prophets” dwelt or “sat“ before Elisha, at Jericho, had become too strait for them. Elisha’s influence was evidently telling on the nation. The religious movement represented by the prophetic schools was growing in force and volume. It is encouraging to hear of growth and progress in the Church. We note:
1. The prophets faced their situation. “Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” They did not stand still, and endeavor to accommodate their increased numbers to the old conditions. They showed a spirit of enterprise, of advance, in correspondence with their altered needs. This was true wisdom. The Church must adapt herself to new needs, to altered circumstances, to the conditions of progress, if she is to hold her ground. “Enlarge the place of thy tent,” etc. (Isa 54:2).
2. They were willing to put forth needful effort. “Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam,” etc. They were prepared to do what was necessary to bring about the changes required. They had the two conditions of successful workunity of spirit, and individual willingness. They were to work together for a common end, and each man was to do his separate part. The individual wood-cutter could accomplish little. Unitedly, they could easily make a place for their common accommodation.
3. They desired Elisha to go with them. “Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.” Elisha was the bond of their community. They desired neither to act without his sanction nor to go where he could not accompany them. The Church, in her changes, must abide by fundamental truth, and do nothing which would exclude the Master.
II. THE AXE–HEAD LOST. Elisha’s sanction given, the baud of prophets was soon busy at Jordan, cutting down trees, and preparing for the new building. Then occurred the mishap and loss which gives its name to the story. As one was felling a beam, the axe-head flew off, and fell into the deep part of the river. It was a borrowed axe, and the man’s lamentations were instant and sincere. Mishaps will occur in the best undertakings.
1. He had lost what a neighbor had lent him. The property was not his own. It had been lent him, probably at his own request, and in the spirit of neighborly good will. Such neighborly acts are pleasing to think of. But the more willingly the axe had been lent him, the more did the loser now regret the mishap which had befallen it. It is well that neighbors should be ready to lend; but the incident also shows the danger of borrowing. We should seek to be as independent of others as we can; then, if misfortune does befall us, what we lose is at least only our own.
2. He could not replace the loss. Had he been able to do so, he would not have required to borrow. The “sons of the prophets” were good men, but poor men. An axe-head was a small thing, but it meant much to the user, and perhaps not less to the original owner. It is a spirit of conscientiousness which speaks in the man’s lament. He held the axe as a trust, and desired earnestly to return it. It is good to see men “faithful in that which is least” (Luk 16:10).
3. He could no longer do his part of the work. The axe-head was indispensable for the cutting down of his beam. He had the handle, but it was of no use without the iron. This also grieved him. Anything that incapacitates a man for bearing his part in the building work of God’s kingdom will be a sorrow to him.
III. THE AXE–HEAD RECOVERED. The indirect appeal made to Elisha in the words, “Alas, master! for it was borrowed,” was not in vain. It was a case in which Elisha might be expected to help, and he did so. In the miracle we see:
1. Human agency. There is a remarkable blending of the Divine and the human in the whole transaction. Elisha asked, “Where fell it?” It might have been thought that if he had the power to bring the iron to the surface, he would also be able to tell where it fell. But the man had to show him the place. Then, when the iron swam, Elisha said, “Take it to thee.” And the man put out his hand and took it.
2. Expressive symbol. The miracle, as usual, was accompanied by a symbolical action. A stick was cut down, and thrown into the water. The act was only an expressive way of saying, “Let the iron swim as this stick does.” Its sole function was to direct attention to the supernatural result.
3. Almighty power. “The iron did swim.” There was here, not the alteration of the properties of iron (else it would be iron no longer), but the introduction of a new cause, which counteracted the natural effect of gravity, and raised the iron to the surface. Nature is but an instrument in the hand of God, and can be bent by him to his own purposes. The lesson of the incident is to trust God for help even in what we might be tempted to call the small things of life. The loss of an axe-head may seem a trivial circumstance to call for an interference with the laws of the universe. But with God there is no great and little. We can make known all our wants to him, with assurance of being helped.J.O.
2Ki 6:8-23
A bootless invasion.
The chronic hostility which subsisted between the Israelitish and the Syrian kingdoms soon broke out again in war. In this, as in other instances, Syria was the aggressor. The invaded kingdom was delivered, not through “the sword and the bow” (2Ki 6:22) of its king, but once more through the interposition of Elisha.
I. FRUSTRATED PLANS.
1. Royal strategy. The war which the King of Syria commenced was intended to be carried on, not by battle in the open field, but by a series of surprises, caused by the planting of ambuscades at convenient spots. It was cunning more than strength that the king relied on. He “took counsel with his servants’ as to the best method of carrying out his plans. Men are apt to overvalue cunning. It plays a large part in the conduct of worldly, especially of political and military, affairs.
2. The failure of plans. If the plotters were “profound to make slaughter” (Hos 5:2), God was deeper than the plotters, “a rebutter of them all ‘ (Hos 5:2). This was the element Benhadad left out of his calculations. Everything that passed in the king’s council-chamber was revealed by God to Elisha, who told it to the King of Israel. What was spoken “in the ear” in Damascus was proclaimed “upon the housetops” in Samaria (Luk 12:3). Thus the King of Israel saved himself “not once or twice.” The wicked greatly err when they say, “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Psa 73:11). Not one of their plans but is “naked and opened” (Heb 4:13) to him. With a knowledge and skill infinitely beyond theirs, he can easily bring the cunningest of their schemes to naught. This is the comfort and safety of those who trust God, and are under his special care.
3. The secret discovered. The King of Syria’s chagrin at the continual frustration of his schemes was great. He could account for it in no other way than that some of his own servants habitually betrayed his counsels. They who have God to fight with must lay their account for many disappointments and troubles. At last the real state of the case was made known to him by one who had learned the facts about Elisha. It was a startling discovery to make, that the things which he spoke in his bedchamber were accurately told by Elisha to his enemy, the King of Israel. None of us would like to be thus supervised in our secret doings by our fellow-men. How little we reflect that, in sober fact, we are being thus morally supervised by the living God! Elisha’s name would be well known in Syria since the healing of the famous captain.
II. INVISIBLE DEFENSE. If Elisha was the medium of discovering his plans, the only practicable course for the King of Syria to pursue was to secure the person of the prophet, and so stop further communications with the King of Israel. Benhadad might have reflected that, if all his plans were known to Elisha, this plan would be known too, and Elisha could easily escape. But wicked men do not, as a rule, reflect on the folly of their opposition to God. The king, having ascertained that Elisha was at Dothan, sent an expedition to arrest him.
1. The encompassing host. The force dispatched against Elisha was “a great host” far exceeding the captains of fifties with their fifties who were sent to arrest Elijah (2Ki 1:1-18.). Benhadad put trust in chariots and horses (Psa 20:7). Yet why so great a company to take one prisoner, if no supernatural arm was there to fight for him? And if God was Protector, what would even this great host avail? Another proof of the inward uncertainty with which this enterprise was entered upon is seen in the fact that the host surrounded the city “by night.” Combined with the worldly man’s belief that physical force is irresistible, there is the lurking fear that it may not prove irresistible after all.
2. The trembling servant. Awaking early the next morning, and going forth, the servant of Elisha saw, to his dismay, the city compassed about with both chariot and horse. His cry, as he rushed back to report the fact to his master, was, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” Thus apt are men to judge of a situation purely by the standard of sense. The material factors are nearly the only ones looked at. Things are esteemed to go well or ill with us according as the natural situation looks favorable or the reverse. It is the constant aim of Bible-teaching to lift us above this point of viewto give us a higher one.
3. The invisible protectors. Elisha prayed that the young man’s eyes might be opened, and then he saw the mistake he was committing. “The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” No wonder that, in this moment of apparent danger, Elisha was full of calm trust. Knowing Benhadad’s designs, he might have escaped had he desired, but with the forces of the invisible King interposed between him and his enemies, he did not feel even this to be necessary. Not less confidently, in seasons of danger from ungodly men, may the believer commit his way unto the Lord. It may not be given him to see the symbols of invisible protection, but not the less surely can he depend that “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psa 34:7). He can say with David, “I will not be afraid of ten thousand of people that have set themselves against me round about” (Psa 3:6). They can do him no further harm than God sees meet to allow. They that are for him are more than they that be against him.
III. GOOD FOR EVIL.
1. The supernatural blindness. Descending from the neigh]souring heights, on which they had encamped during the night, the Syrians now approached to take Elisha. He, on his part, prayed the Lord, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness” The prayer was granted, though the word means rather confusion and dazedness of mind, than absolute deprivation of sight (Gen 19:11). Their movements became aimless, and Elisha, going up to them, said, “This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye sock.” There is the appearance of falsehood in this speech only if we forget that the men were in a mental maze, and probably were actually going aside both from the way and the city in their attempted search for it. Elisha, in promising to bring them to the man whom they wanted, undertook no more than he performed. Only when the Lord opened their eyes, they found they were, not in Dothan, but in Samaria. This is one way in which God frequently discomfits wicked men, pouring confusion into their counsels. They “grope for the wall, like the blind, and grope as if (they) had no eyes: (they) stumble at noonday as in the night; (they) are in desolate places as dead men (Isa 59:10). They are granted the desires of their hearts, but after a fashion of God’s own; and in such a way as to lead to their final discomfiture” (2Sa 15:31).
2. The King of Israel‘s proposal. It seemed at first as if this great multitude of the Syrians had been led like sheep into the slaughter-house. They were now in the King of Israel’s power, and for what end could Elisha have brought them there but that the king might smite them? The king himself was nothing loath. In eager tones, he urged Elisha to be permitted to destroy them. The policy of slaughter is always an easy one. It might seem sanctioned by Old Testament precedents. Probably, however, even in the Old Testament, there is no example of the divinely sanctioned extermination of a multitude who were not captives in lawful war. This is the point Elisha urges in reply. If the king smote this multitude, would he be smiting those whom he had taken with his sword and bow? He would not. God had delivered these captives into his hands, and with other ends than that he should destroy them.
3. Elisha‘s magnanimous counsel. Elisha showed the King of Israel “a more excellent way” (1Co 12:31). Let him set bread and water before them, that they might eat and drink, and go to their master. Here, surely, in the Old Testament, breathes the spirit of the New. It is Christ’s precept of doing good to enemies, of returning good for evil, of seeking to overcome evil with good. The King of Israel behaved more nobly in this way than if he had shed the blood of these captives. God has no pleasure in the unnecessary effusions of blood. An instance of similar clemency to captives took place in the reign of Pekah, at the instigation of the Prophet Oded (2Ch 28:9-15). The King of Israel did as Elisha desired, and the captives were first entertained, then sent back. So generous a deed should have evoked a friendly spirit in Benhadad, but at most it only did so for a time. We are not, however, to be discouraged from acting rightly, because those to whom we show kindness do not appreciate our actionJ.O.
2Ki 6:24-33
The siege of Samaria.
Unwarned by the failure of previous attempts, Benhadad was soon engaged in a new war on Israel. The fresh invasion was made the occasion of a fresh deliverance, more wonderful than any of the preceding, but not before Samaria had been reduced to the most desperate straits.
I. THE HORRORS OF A SIEGE.
1. The city invested. The King of Syria advanced with his army, and struck a direct blow at the capital of the country. Samaria was the key of the situation. In it was the king, the court, the Prophet Elisha, the whole state of royalty. If it could be forced to capitulate, the entire land would be at the mercy of the invader. Benhadad, accordingly, surrounded the city, and, having cut off all supplies, waited till famine compelled it to surrender. The method of siege is common in warfare. Nothing could more awfully illustrate the helplessness of human beings when deprived of the use of the ordinary productions of nature. We depend on God for daily existence, and do not realize it.
2. The fearful famine. With no supplies coming in, the stock of food in Samaria was soon utterly exhausted. We are reminded of the terrible distress in such famous sieges as those of Londonderry in 1689, and Paris in 1870. What in ordinary circumstances would have been deemed unfit for human food, nay, loathed, was eagerly seized upon, and famine prices were gladly paid for it. “An ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver,” etc. Hunger is one of the most commanding of appetites. “In every land and in every age the first and most interesting question the majority of men have to practically solve is, ‘How are we to get bread?’ Man’s social, moral, and spiritual welfare turns to an incalculable extent on that question. Throughout all history, sacred and profane, this great want has been swaying and molding as a first power the nations of men. Hence the significance of the petition in the center of the Lord’s prayer, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ It may seem at first sight a comparatively small petition, overshadowed and dwarfed by the great, spiritual petitions both before and after it; but he who knew what was in man, knew what a powerful influence the question of daily bread had upon his whole life and welfare; and when we ourselves consider what a power it is in the world, we see something of the reason for placing such a petition in the center of a model of prayer” (F. Ferguson).
3. Natural affection destroyed. The shocking episode narrated in 2Ki 6:26-29 illustrates the previous remarks (cf. Deu 28:53-57). The king was stopped when passing by on the wall by a woman appealing to him for help. With not unnatural bitterness he replied, “If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?” Was it out of the empty barnfloor, or the dry winepress? He then inquired into her complaint, and heard from her, her revolting tale. A woman had proposed to her that she should give her son for food to them both that day, and she would give her son next day. The complainant had fulfilled her part of the bargain, and now the second woman had hidden her son. One asksCould human nature, in its direst extremity, ever descend to such revolting deeds? Alas! the instances in history are not few. We have reason to thank God for his goodness in preserving us from such extremity and such temptation.
II. GUILT LAID AT THE WRONG DOOR.
1. The token of humiliation. The woman’s dreadful story, revealing such depths of horror in the city, stung the king to the heart. His first act was to rend his clothes, and, as the people looked, they saw that secretly he had been wearing sackcloth upon his flesh. The commentators, perhaps, hardly do justice to Jehoram in this act. The next verse shows that his religion did not go very deep; but various circumstances suggest that there was a measure of sincerity in his penitence. He had evidently thus far listened to the counsels of Elisha, and tried to “wait on the Lord” for deliverance, lie does not show badly in his sympathy with the people. The very secrecy of his wearing of sackcloth distinguishes it from the act of an ostentatious formalist. He probably, like his father Ahab, really “humbled” himself for a time, “and went softly” (1Ki 21:27, 1Ki 21:29). If, in his outburst of passion, he uttered a threat of death against Elisha, it appears to have been no sooner spoken than it was repented of, and he hastened after his messenger to counteract it. It is good when God’s chastisements lead to humiliation of the soul. We can at least make Jehoram an example in the unostentatiousness of his exercises of penitence (Mat 6:16-18).
2. The threat and its reception. Carried away by his anger and his feeling of the intolerableness of the situation, the king swore an oath that that very day the head of Elisha should be taken from him. It was a wicked and inexcusable utterance. The reasons of it may be thus assigned:
(1) Elisha had apparently urged him to patience and repentance, assuring him that help would come. That hope had been disappointed.
(2) He fixed the responsibility of the delay of help on Elisha, as one who had power with God, and had not exercised it.
(3) He was angry with God himself, and was moved to wreak his vengeance on God’s ministers. Had he properly considered the matter, he would have reflected that Elisha, like himself, could but present his desires to God, and wait God’s time; that the prophet had unweariedly been doing this, and was the one hope and savior of the people; and that, if guilt lay at any one’s door, it was his own wickedness, and that of his associates, that was bringing these calamities upon the nation. Wicked men, however, are seldom willing, except in a very limited degree, to take home guilt to themselves. They will blame God, their fellows, their spiritual counselors, any one but themselves, for their miseries. It is a very different picture we have of Elisha. He sits composedly in his house, with the elders of Samaria around him, no doubt exhorting them and strengthening them to wait on God. By that prophetic clairvoyance of which we have so many instances, he knew of the king’s threat as soon as it was uttered, and bade the elders shut the door against this messenger of “the son of a murderer,” and detain him till the king himself came.
3. Why wait longer on the Lord? Jehoram soon arrived, and his first words to Elisha were, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?” That he had departed from his threat may be presumed from Elisha answering him as he did. But his words show his radical misconception of religion. To wait on the Lord was not a duty to be done from regard to its own rightness and propriety. It was, he thought, a means to an end. If benefits were to be gained from it, it was to be done; if not, it was to be set aside. Service of God which springs from this principle is not true service. It is disguised self-interest. It has no real spring of love, devotion, or worship. The spirit is kindred with that of the fetish-worshipper, who prays to his gods for rain, and beats them if he does not get it. But why blame Jehoram, as if he were specially impious? Does not the same spirit show itself in multitudes among ourselves? While the sun shines on them they are willing enough to be religious. If adversity comes, there is unbelief, murmuring, impatience, rebellion at the Divine ordering. “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). It is not enough to acknowledge that evil is from the Lord, we must humble ourselves under his hand, submit to him, own the justice of his dealings, and seek to profit by his chastisements. We must not faint, or grow unbelieving, but be assured that, in protracting the hour of deliverance, God is but waiting to make the deliverance more signal and glorious (Heb 12:5-11).J.O.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
B.The healing of Naaman, punishment of Gehazi, and recovery of a lost axe
2Ki 5:1 to 2Ki 6:7
1Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable [honored], because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. 2And the Syrians had gone out by companies [in marauding bands], and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naamans wife. 3And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with 4the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one [he, i.e., Naaman] went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5And the king of Syria said, Go 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 gold, and ten changes of raiment. [,] 6And he brought the letter [omit the letter] to the king of Israel [the letter], saying [which was to this effect]: 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. 7And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore, [Nay! only] consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8And 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 [learn] that there is a prophet in Israel. 9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11But 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 12the leper [heal the leprosy]. Are not Abana11 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. 13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 14Wash, and be clean? Then he went 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 he was clean.
15And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing [token of gratitude fromomit of] of thy servant. 16But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17And Naaman said, Shall there not then [If not, then let there], I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules burden of earth? [,] for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.12 18In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, [;] that [omit that] when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: [;] when I bow down myself13 in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. 19And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way [some distance].
20But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even [just] now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 23And Naaman said, Be content, [pleased toomit,] take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24And when he came to the tower [hill] he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 25But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? 26And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid servants? 27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. And he went from his presence a leper as white as snow.
2Ki 6:1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 3And one said, 4Be content [pleased], I pray thee, and [to] go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 5But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 6And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and [made] the iron did [toomit did] swim. 7Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
2Ki 5:1. Now Naaman captain of the host, &c. The with which the narrative begins, is used as in 1Ki 1:1, and does not mark the incident as having occurred immediately after the preceding. We cannot decide certainly whether it belongs to the time of Jehoram or to that of the house of Jehu. In any case it refers to a time when the relations between Syria and Israel were not hostile. That Naaman was the man who fatally wounded Ahab is a mere guess of the rabbis, and it is not strengthened at all by the statement of Josephus: , . Naaman is called a great man in so far as he occupied a high position in the service of the king. The statement: by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria, i.e., victory, does not compel us to translate as Thenius does, by a man of great physical strength; the expression marks his military ability. Keil takes it as second predicate: The man was a general though a leper, meaning that, although in Israel lepers were excluded from all human society, in Syria a leper could fill even a high civil office. This is certainly unfounded, for lepers were everywhere physically incapable of performing important duties. is evidently used by contrast, whether the omission of the connective sharpens the contrast (Thenius) or not. He was a mighty military chief, but, on account of his disease, he could not fulfill his duties. It is significant that he who had helped to gain the victory over Israel, is represented as a leper, who must seek help in Israel, and who finds it there (Thenius). [By whom the Lord had given deliverance. In consistency with the standing conception of the Hebrews that Jehovah was the God of all the earth, it is represented as a dispensation of His providence that Naaman had won victories for Syria, cf. 2Ki 19:25-26.W. G. S.] 2Ki 5:3, as in Psa 119:5, utinam. The word i.e., collect, take up, receive, designates the reception into the society of men which followed upon deliverance from leprosy (Num 12:14).
2Ki 5:5. And the king of Syria said, &c. We see, from the kings readiness, how anxious he was for the restoration of Naaman. The treasures which the latter took with him were very valuable; we cannot, however, estimate their value accurately. According to Keil 10 talents of silver are about 25,000 thalers ($18,000), and 6000 shekels of gold (= 2 talents) are about 50,000 thalers ($36,000); according to Thenius the value would be 20,000 thalers and 60,000 thalers ($14,400 and $43,200). On the ten changes of raiment, cf. (Odyss. 8:249). Winer: An Oriental is still fond of frequent changes of apparel (Gen 40:14; 1Sa 28:8; 2Sa 12:20), especially of grand dresses at marriages and other celebrations (Niebuhr, Reise, i. 182). The royal letter is abbreviated in 2Ki 5:6, for it could not begin with Now when. Only the main passage is given here. The letter was simply a note of introduction, and we cannot infer from the words: That thou mayest recover him of his leprosy, that the king of Israel was then in a relation of dependence to the Syrian king. The king probably thought of the prophet, of whom he had heard so great things, as the chief of a sort of magi or as the Israelitish high-priest, who could probably be induced to undertake, on behalf of a foreigner, those ceremonies and functions of his office from which so great results were to be expected, only by the intercession of the king (Menken). The king of Israel, however, so far misunderstood the intention of the letter as to suppose that he himself was expected to perform the cure; he thought that this demand was only a pretext, in order to bring about a quarrel with him. He was thereby so frightened and saddened that he rent his clothes (2Ki 2:12; 1Ki 21:27). The meaning of the words in 2Ki 5:7 is: he demands of me something which God alone can do, so that it is clear that he is only seeking a quarrel. To kill and to make alive is the province of that Divinity alone who is elevated far above the world (Deu 32:39; 1Sa 2:6); leprosy was regarded as the equivalent of death (Num 12:12); to deliver from it was to make alive. It is not probable that the king spoke the words: Wherefore, consider, in the solemn audience in which the letter was delivered to him (Thenius): he uttered this suspicion only in the circle of his most intimate attendants.
2Ki 5:8. And it was so when Elisha the man of God, &c. If the arrival of the celebrated Syrian with his retinue caused a sensation, still more did the fact that the king rent his clothes; the news of it came speedily to the prophet, who was then in Samaria (2Ki 5:3), and not in Jericho (Krummacher). The king, in his fright, either did not think of Elisha, or he did not believe at all that there was any one who could help in such a case. Elisha therefore sends to him to remind him that there is a prophet in Israel, i.e., that the God who can kill and make alive, the God of Israel, in spite of the apostasy of king and people, yet makes Himself known, in His saving might, through His servants the prophets.The house of Elisha, before the door of which Naaman stood (2Ki 5:9), was certainly not a palace, but rather a poor hovel, so that the great man did not go in, but waited for the prophet to come out to him, and receive him in a manner befitting his rank. This, however, the prophet did not do, but sent a message to him to instruct him what he should do. The idea that he did this before Naaman reached his house (Kster) contradicts the words of the text. The reason why Elisha did not come out was not that he was wanting in politeness, or that he was influenced by priestly pride, or that he feared the leprosy, or avoided intercourse with a leper in obedience to the Law (Knobel), but: He wanted to show to Naaman once for all that this princely magnificence, this splendor of earthly honor and wealth, did not affect him at all, and that there was not the least cause in all this why Naaman should be helped. Furthermore, he wished to prevent the foreigner from thinking that the help came from the prophet, and that he had the healing power in himself, and also to prevent him or any other from ascribing the cure to the application of any external means: for the Syrians knew as well as the Israelites that the Jordan could not heal leprosy. Naaman was to understand that he was healed by the grace and power of Almighty God, at the prayer of the prophet (Menken).Thy flesh shall come again to thee, &c. In leprosy raw flesh appears and running sores are formed, so that the diseased person dies at last of emaciation and dropsy (Winer, R.-W.-B. i. s. 115); the cure, therefore, consists in the restoration of flesh.
2Ki 5:11. But Naaman was wroth, &c. Not because he did not meet with becoming honor and attention, but because none of the religious ceremonies which he had expected were performed (Menken). He himself tells what he had expected: Elishas brief answer sounds to him like scorn. The river Abana (2Ki 5:12), or, as the keri has it, Amana, is the of the Greeks, now called Barada or Barady. It rises in Antilebanon, and flows through Damascus itself in seven arms (Winer, R.-W.-B. ii. s. 194). Pharpar, i.e., the swift, is hardly the little river Fidscheh, which flows into the Barada, but the larger, independent stream Avadsch, south of Damascus (see Thenius and Keil on the passage). Both rivers, as mountain streams, have clean fresh water, and Damascus is celebrated to-day for its pure and healthy water; whereas the Jordan is a deep, sluggish, discolored stream (Robinson, ii. 255, ed. of 1841), so that we understand how Naaman could consider the rivers of his native country better (Keil). The address: My father (2Ki 5:13), is at once familiar and respectful, as in 2Ki 6:21, and 1Sa 24:11; the attendants addressed him with mild words and sought to soothe him. Thenius conjecture that is corrupted from , if, is utterly unnecessary. is a conditional sentence without and the object precedes for emphasis (Keil). as in 2Sa 4:11. 2Ki 5:14, means he journeyed down, i.e., from Samaria to the valley of the Jordan.
2Ki 5:15. And he returned to, &c. That which Elisha had aimed at by his direction in 2Ki 5:10, namely, not merely the cure of the leprosy, but Naamans conversion by means of it to the one true God, the God of Israel, was gained, as Naaman himself acknowledges: Behold, now I know, &c. At the same time he desires to show his gratitude to the man of whom God had made use, and he begs him earnestly to accept a gift ( as in Gen 33:11; 1Sa 25:27; 1Sa 30:26). Although Elisha on other occasions accepted gifts for himself, or at least for the body of prophet-disciples (cf. 2Ki 4:42), yet in this case he steadily refused (2Ki 5:16), not certainly from haughty self-assertion in his dealings with the great Syrian, but to show him that the prophet of the God of Israel observed a different conduct from the heathen priests, who allowed themselves to be richly rewarded for their deceitful services; especially, however, in order to establish in the mind of the healed man the conviction that the God of Israel alone, out of free grace and pity, had helped him, and that he owed to that God sincere and lasting gratitude. The refusal of Elisha must have made a deep impression not only upon Naaman, but also upon his entire retinue. As Theodoret observes, there lay at the bottom of this refusal the feeling that our Lord demanded of His disciples: Freely ye have received, freely give.
2Ki 5:17. And Naaman said: If not, let there, then, &c. = , as the Sept. have, not: ut vis (Vulg.), nor: And oh! (Ewald). It was not Naamans object, in his request that he might take a load of earth with him, to sacrifice to Jehovah on this outspread earth, as it were in the Holy Land itself (Thenius), but he wished to build an altar of it. Altars were often made of earth; the altar of burnt-offering even, according to the Mosaic Law, was to be of earth (Exo 20:24; Symbol. des Mos. Kult. i. s. 491). It is almost universally supposed that Naaman was subject to the polytheistic superstition, that each country had its own deity, who could be worshipped properly only in it, or on an altar built of its soil (so the latest commentators: Thenius, Keil, Von Gerlach, &c). But if Naaman had cherished the delusion that every land had its own God, that is to say, that there were other gods by the side of and besides the God of Israel, even though they were not so mighty as He, he would have been in contradiction with his own words in 2Ki 5:15 : I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel, and he would not yet have grasped the main point, nor recognized that truth which forms the distinction of the Israelitish religion from all others, viz., that Jehovah alone is God, and that there is no other beside Him (Deu 4:35; Deu 32:39, &c). Moreover, the prophet could have passed over this delusion least of all without combating it, not to say anything of his replying to it: Go in peace. He must, at the very least, have called the Syrians attention to this error. Peter Martyr explains the desire to take away a load of earth quite correctly: hoc signo suam contestatur fidem erga deum, Israelis, et e terr, tanquam symbolo, voluit ejus admoneri. Not because he ascribed to this earth an especial magical power, but because Israel was the land in which the only true God had revealed and vindicated himself to His people, and now finally to him, did he wish to erect an altar of this earth, which should be, in the midst of a heathen country, a sign and monument of the God of Israel, and a memorial of the prophet of that God. This was why he did not take the load of earth, as he might have done, from any indifferent spot, but begged it of the man through whom he had been brought to a knowledge of the one true God. His request was, therefore, the result of a strong and joyful faith rather than of a heathen delusion. if, in a similar manner, according to the narrative of Benjamin of Tudela, cited by Thenius on this passage, the synagogue at Nahardea in Persia was built only of earth and stone which had been brought from Jerusalem, it was so built by the strict monotheistic Jews, certainly not from polytheistic superstition, but for the same reasons for which Naaman wished to build his altar of sacrifice out of Israelitish earth. [See bracketed note at the end of Histor. 1.]
2Ki 5:18. In this thing the Lord pardon, &c. Rimmon is doubtless a designation of the highest Syrian divinity, abbreviated from Hadad-Rimmon (Movers). See above, Exeg. on 1Ki 15:18. It is of little importance for us whether the name is derived from () i.e., to be high, so that it is equivalent to (Psa 9:2; Psa 21:7), or from pomegranate (the well-known symbol of the reproductive power).The expression: And he leaneth on my hand, designates a service, which appertained to a high official (adjutant) of the king, on occasions when the latter bowed down or arose, or performed any similar ceremony. This service was also executed at the court of the Israelitish kings (2Ki 7:2; 2Ki 7:17). The urgency of the request is marked by the repetition of the words: when I bow down. The meaning of the request is: when I, in the execution of any duty, accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon, and bow down when he bows down, then may that be pardoned me, and may I not be regarded as worshipping that divinity. I will not serve, from this time on, any God but Jehovah. Theodoret: , . The word , which is used of prostration before men as well as before God, and so in itself does not signify a purely religious act, cannot here be understood of an act of worship, for, if it could, Naaman would say in 2Ki 5:18 the very opposite of what he had promised in 2Ki 5:17, and Elisha could not have responded to the request that he might worship Rimmon besides Jehovah with the blessing: Go in peace. Some have very unjustly found, in the request that he might take away a load of earth, and also in the prayer that he might be forgiven for prostration in the house of Rimmon, signs that his faith was still wavering, undecided, and weak. It rather shows that he had a tender conscience, which desired to avoid an appearance of denying Jehovah, and which was forced to speak out its scruples and have them quieted. Such scruples would not have occurred to one who was wavering between service of God and service of the gods.According to Keil, Elisha meant by the words: Go in peace, 2Ki 5:19, to wish for the Syrian, on his departure, the blessing of God, without approving or disapproving the religious conviction which he had expressed: or, according to Von Gerlach, without entering into the special questions involved. But the prophet could not return a reply to a request which proceeded from conscientious scruples, such as the new convert here presented, nor give a reply which was at once yes and no, or neither the one nor the other. Naaman was to proceed on his journey in peace, not in doubt or restless uncertainty. If his request had been incompatible with a knowledge of the true God, the prophet would have been forced to show him that it was so; he could not have dismissed him with an ordinary, indifferent formula of farewell. That he omitted the correction and dismissed him in peace, shows beyond question that he acceded to the request.
2Ki 5:19 sq. So he departed from him a little way, &c. Literally: a length of country, as in Gen 35:16, without definite measure. It cannot have been very far (a parasang, according to the Syrian Version, or three and a half English miles, according to Michaelis). If it had been so far Gehazi could not have overtaken the horses (2Ki 5:9).This Syrian, 2Ki 5:20, Vulg.: Syro isti, i.e., this foreigner, from whom he would have had a double right to take some reward. The oath: As the Lord liveth, stands in contrast with that of Elisha, 2Ki 5:16. Blinded by his avarice, Gehazi considers it right before God to take pay, just as Elisha, in his fidelity, considers it right before God to accept nothing.Descent from a vehicle (2Ki 5:21) is, in the East, a sign of respect from the inferior to the superior (Winer. R.-W.-B. i. s. 501); Naaman honored the prophet in his servant. From Gehazis hasty pursuit he infers that something unfortunate for the prophet has occurred (Thenius), and asks, therefore, Rectene sunt omnia? (Vulg.) In reply to Gehazis assertion (2Ki 5:22), he urges him to accept two talents, one for each prophet-disciple, and he causes the money to be borne before Gehazi in two sacks, as a mark of his eager willingness. Whether means open-worked, basket-like sacks, with handles (Thenius), or not, can hardly be determined from the word. (2Ki 5:24) is not a proper name (Luther), but the hill which stood before the house of Elisha, not before the house of anybody else, an acquaintance, for instance (Clericus).
2Ki 5:25-26. And Elisha said unto him, &c. The words of Elisha: , stand in evident contrast with the words of Gehazi: , and mean: Thou sayest that thou didst not go anywhither; neither did I go away any-whither, i.e., I was not absent when Naaman descended from the chariot to come to meet thee. Instead of I, the prophet says , my heart (1Sa 16:7; 1Ki 8:39; Jer 17:10, &c.), because he was not present there, as Gehazi was, bodily and visibly, but in spirit, invisibly (1Co 5:3). Vulgata: Nonne cor meum in prsenti erat quando, &c. Thenius: Did I not go hence in spirit, and was I not present there? It is not necessary to take it as a question, however, as is usually done. The question begins with . Ewald takes my heart to mean my favorite, so that Elisha here rather refers with a severe pleasantry to his most intimate follower, who could so far transgress against his master, although he was his favorite pupil. It is incredible that the prophet could have introduced the hard punishment of Gehazi (2Ki 5:27) with a jesting, scornful question. [This rendering of Ewald: Had not my dear pupil gone forth when some one (i.e., Naaman) turned back from his chariot to meet thee, makes better sense than any other. It is not so much a jest as it is a sarcastic stripping bare of the falsehood, and it is not at all inconsistent with the revulsion of indignation and severity which prompts the condemnation which follows. Against this explanation, however, is the fact that this meaning for cannot be proved. Ewald refers to the Song of Solomon to justify the explanation, but without citing particular passages, and the context is so different in the two cases that the usage could not be established by its occurrence in that book.W. G. S.] The explanation of Bttcher is equally inadmissible: I, according to my convictions, could not have prevailed upon my heart to go. After 2Ki 5:16 Elisha no longer needed to assert this. It was already clear. Maurers explanation: Non abierat, i.e., evanuerat (Psa 78:39), animus meus, h. e., vis divinandi me nequaquam defecerat, falls, because would have to be taken in a very different sense from what it has in 2Ki 5:25, and because the clear reference to Gehazis words would then be lost. [The explanation of Thenius, practically that of the E. V., is the best. The strain put upon the words to make them mean, I did not go away from the interview between thee and Naaman, i.e., I was present at it, is apparent.W. G. S.]Is it a time, &c., i.e., In any other case better than in this, mightest thou have yielded to thy desire for gold and goods (Thenius). Gehazi had not received olive-trees, &c., but he meant to buy them with the money. [The form in which the Vulgate translates the verse is not literally faithful to the original, but it brings out with great distinctness the antithesis between the objects Gehazi had in view, and which, indeed, he had gained, and the other results which must follow: Thou hast indeed received money wherewith thou mayest buy garments, and olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants; but, also, the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever.] A leper as white as snow (2Ki 5:27), cf. the same expression, Exo 4:6; Num 12:10, where a similar sudden attack of this disease takes place. According to Michaelis this takes place often under great terror or great affliction. The skin around the diseased spots is chalk-white (Winer, R.-W.-B., i. s. 114). Upon the words: Unto thee and unto thy seed (posterity) forever, Menken says: It is the full, strong expression of excited, deep, yet holy and just feeling, which dare not and will not lay its words upon delicate scales, and which, to express the fulness of its abhorrence or its admiration, of its curse or its blessing, seizes upon a formula of the vulgar dialects of the country, even though it may not apply, in syllable and letter, to the case in hand.
2Ki 6:1. And the sons of the prophets said, &c. This story is to be connected with the two in 2Ki 4:38-44, and is a supplement to them. Thenius supposes that it stands here in order to show that what is said here in 2Ki 6:1 did not take place until long after. The connection into which Cassel brings it with chap. 5. is very forced, viz.: that the needy community of the prophets forms a contrast to the rich and mighty military commander; or, that, in spite of Gehazis fall, the number of prophet-disciples had increased so much, that a new house was necessary for them. Theodorets connection is at least more natural: He (Gehazi) sought riches and became a leper; the company of prophet-disciples, on the contrary, loved the greatest poverty. It is hardly possible that the place which had become too small was in Gilgal (2Ki 2:1; 2Ki 4:38), for this lay at a considerable distance from the valley of the Jordan; the same is true of Bethel. It is more likely to have been Jericho. The words: Where we dwell with thee (see on 2Ki 4:38), show that the need was of a larger place of assembly, since the number of prophet-disciples had increased, and amounted at this time to certainly over a hundred (2Ki 4:43). There is no reason to find a reference to dwellings which were to be built for all, as has been done in the interest of monasteries. They wished to go to the Jordan (2Ki 6:2), because its bank is thickly grown with bushes and trees (willows, poplars, and tamarisks. Hitzig on Jer 12:5), so that the building material was conveniently at hand. By the following words they mean: if each one cuts a beam, the work will soon be accomplished. They beg the prophet to go with them, not that he may direct the workhe was no architectbut because they wish to have him in their midst, and promise themselves, from his presence, blessing and success for their labor.
2Ki 6:5. But as one was felling a beam, &c. It has been inferred from , which also occurs in the 3d verse, that it was the same one who is there referred to, but without reason. According to Hitzig and Thenius the before introduces the new, definite subject. According to Keil, it serves to subordinate the noun to the sentence: As for the iron, it fell into the water. In the lament lies also a request for help, which is strengthened by . The person in question had begged for the axe, probably because he was too poor to buy one; hence the loss grieved him more than it would have done if it had come into his possession by gift. Luthers translation [and that of the E. V.], borrowed, is correct in sense, though not exactly the corresponding word. The Vulgate has: et hoc ipsum mutuo acceperam.The words are translated by Luther, following the Sept.: The iron swam, and hence the story, 2Ki 6:1-6, is commonly entitled The swimming iron. Thenius and Keil translate: And he caused the iron to swim. But does not mean swim, like (Isa 25:11), but: overflow (Lam 3:54): Waters flowed over mine head; in the hifil: to cause to overflow; Deu 11:4 : He made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them. The word does not occur out of these two places, in which it is impossible to translate it by swim and cause to swim. Cf. also , honeycomb (Psa 19:10), from the idea of overflowing. Just as Jehovah brought the water over the horses and chariots, so that they were under it, Elisha here brought the axe over the water, so that it was no longer concealed by it. The Sept. translate: , i.e., and the iron aroseappeared upon the surface. Hesychius explains by . If meant swim, it could not, at the same time, have the meaning: to be haughty, to exalt ones self impudently (Plut. Symp. ii. 1, 12). Hence Theodoret, on the passage, says correctly: . , . [The translation swim, meaning simply float, is perfectly allowable for either the Hebrew word or the Greek one, by which the Sept. render it.W. G. S.] The miracle was not, therefore, that the wood which was thrown in sank, while the iron swam upon the surface (Philippson), but, that the prophet, by throwing in the wood, caused the iron to come to the surface, where the young man could get it. Following many of the rabbis, Vatablus and others, including Thenius, have adopted the opinion that Elisha pierced the hole in the axe with the stick, and so raised it out of the water. Of this the text says nothing, it only states that he did bring up the axe, not, however, how he did it; wherefore, it can only be regarded as a guess when Von Gerlach says: He thrust the stick into the water, so that it passed beneath the iron and raised it to the surface.
HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL
1. The first of the two preceding narratives, which fills the whole 5th chapter, is one of the most important in the life and prophetical labor of Elisha, and this is marked, in fact, by the fulness of detail with which it is narrated. Menken, in his excellent homilies upon this chapter (see his Schriften v. s. 77117), says of it with justice: This is a charming testimony to the living God!a worthy part of the history of those revelations and manifestations of the living God, which, in their connection and continuation through many centuries, and in their tendency toward one goal and object, were designed to plant upon earth the knowledge and the worship of the true God! But it offers besides to our consideration a rich store of reflections, in which neither heart nor understanding can refuse a willing participation. There is hardly a single Old Testament story in which the character of the Old Testament economy of salvation is mirrored in any such way; it is a truly prophetical story, that is, an historical prophecy. On the one side it shows the wonderful providence and mode of salvation of God, His saving power and grace, as well as His holy severity, and His retributive justice; on the other, closely interwoven with this, it shows human thought and desire, suffering and action, as well in good as in evil: it is the scheme of salvation epitomized. However, when Krummacher says: We should rather expect to find it upon a page of the Gospel than seek it in an Old Testament book, and affirms: The baptism of the New Testament meets us here already in a type which is full of life, he confounds the economies of the two Testaments. In spite of all its typical force, the story is specifically an Old Testament one. The main point, the proof of the whole, and therefore the thing which is not to be lost sight of, is, that a foreigner, a heathen, who, moreover, belongs to the people by which Israel at that time was most threatened; a mighty commander, by whose instrumentality Jehovah had given victory to the Syrians, finds help from the prophet in Israel (2Ki 6:8), and comes to a knowledge of the one true God, the God of Israel. This is the point, too, which our Lord lays stress upon (Luk 4:25-27) when He, in order to shame and warn His countrymen who were scoffing at Him, refers to the widow of Sarepta, the foreigner, to whom Elijah was sent, and then to Naaman the Syrian, whom Elisha healed. The conjunction of the two is by no means accidental: both these great prophets of action testified, during the time of apostasy in Israel, each of them by an act of assistance towards a foreigner, that Jehovah, with His might and grace, was not confined to Israel; that He takes pity upon the heathen also, and leads them to knowledge, that His great name may be praised among all nations. What the later prophets preached by word, Elijah and Elisha prophesied by acts. As widows and orphans were succored by both (see above on 2Ki 4:1 sq.), so foreigners are helped by both. The story of Naaman, therefore, occupies an essential place in the history of the prophetical work of Elisha; without it one of the chief points of the prophetical calling would be wanting in this work.
[We must endeavor to analyze this story more closely, and to gain a more definite conception of the course of the incidents. Naaman undoubtedly had the religious ideas which were universal throughout ancient heathendom. He regarded the gods of Syria, which he had been educated to worship, as real gods. None of them, or of their priests or prophets, had or could cure him of leprosy. He heard by chance the fame of Elisha, as one who wrought wonders in the name of the God of Israel. No heathen would maintain that his national divinities were the only true gods. Sennacherib declared that he was conquering Judah by the command of Jehovah, whom he recognized as the god of that country. The heathen colonists whom the king of Syria brought to populate Samaria, attributed the ravages of the wild beasts to the fact that the worship of the god of the country was not provided for. It was the notion of the heathen that each country had its god, so that Syrians worshipped Syrian gods, and Hebrews the Hebrew god. To the heathen this seemed perfectly natural and correct. On the other hand, the Hebrews declared that Jehovah was the one only true God of all the earth, and that the gods of the heathen were nullities (vanity, E. V.) Naaman did not violate the principles of his religious education when he went to Elisha; Ahaziah, when he sent to Ekron (chap. 1), did. Naaman came with a letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, and he came with gifts, and in pompall according to heathen ideas of the means of inducing the thaumaturge to exercise his power. He was to be armed with the influence of authority and rank; he was to appear as a great man, for whom it was well worth while for the wonder-worker to do whatever he possibly could, and he brought the material means which his experience among wizards, diviners, soothsayers, and priests, had taught him to regard as indispensable. The king of Israel was terrified at the demand; but the prophet intervened. We are surprised at this feature. If Naamans errand was really to Elisha, the literal words of the letter would not have been a demand that the king should heal him (2Ki 5:6), but that he should command his subject, the prophet, to exercise his powers on the Syrians behalf. Thus the king would have simply referred Naaman to Elisha for the latter to do what he could. The story is evidently so much abbreviated at this point that its smoothness is impaired. Naaman comes in all his pomp to the door of Elisha. He receives the prophets command, and his words in 2Ki 5:11-12 bear witness again to wide and deep heathen conceptions. In 2Ki 5:11 he describes graphically the mode of performance of the heathen thaumaturge. I thought, he will stand (take up a ceremonious and solemn attitude) and call upon the name of his God (repeat a formula of incantation), and strike his hand upon the place (with a solemn gesture) and remove the leprosy. Had he come all that journey to be told to bathe? Could water cure leprosy? If it could, was there not the pure water of Abana and Pharpar, better far than the sluggish and muddy water of Jordan? 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. The deep and permanent truth of this feature, and also of the prophets refusal to accept money, is apparent. The difference between the Jehovah-religion and the heathen religions is sharply portrayed by the contrast in each point, between Naamans expectations on the one hand, and the prophets words and actions on the other. The Syrians servants suggested to him the sensible reflection that he ought not to despise the prophets command. He went, bathed, and was cleansed. He then returned to reward the prophet, but found that the prophet did not give his help as a thing to be paid for. The Syrian was not to think that the prophet had used a power which was his own, and which might be paid for, whereby the obligation would be discharged. The service came from God; it was a free act of grace; a special blessing upon this one, and he a foreigner, while many Israelitish lepers remained uncleansed (Luk 4:27). The prophet and his God were not at the service of any one who came and could pay a certain price; they wrought only where and when there was good reason, and, when they did so, the recipient of grace lay under an obligation which he never could discharge. In regard to Naamans words: Now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel, a careful scrutiny shows that the proposition is not strictly accurate, for the God of Israel is and was not only in Israel, but in all the earth. The true proposition would be: The God of Israel is the only true God, and He reigns over all the earth. In the very form of his confession Naaman shows that his mind was still under the bias of the heathen idea of local deities, so that he says that there is no God anywhere else in the world but in Israel. No other had been able to heal him; but Jehovah had done so by apparently very insignificant means, hence he esteemed Jehovah true, and esteemed the others very lightly or not at all. It should be noticed also that the conception which he seems to have reached was that which was held by very many of the Jews, viz.: that Israel alone had any God, and that the rest of the world was godless; their own gods were nullities, and Jehovah did not care for them, so that they had no God at all. He determined to devote himself to the worship of Jehovah for the rest of his days. He therefore very naturally, in accordance with the same idea of local or territorial divinities, asked for earth from Palestine to build an altar for the worship of Jehovah. He also made one further request. His duty at his masters court (although it is difficult to understand how a leper could have had that office) was to attend his master, and support him when he went to worship in the temple of the Syrian God, Rimmon. The idea that Naaman was converted to the worship of Jehovah in such a sense that he went over to the Hebrew idea of the other gods, is without foundation. It is a modern idea, which has no place in this connection. Naaman did not feel bound at all to keep away from the temple of Rimmon, as an early Christian would have kept away from an idol-temple. His last request to the prophet is, that, when he goes into this temple in the course of his official duty, it shall not be regarded as a violation of his vow to pay all his worship, for the future, to Jehovah, to the neglect of all other gods. To this the prophet answers: Go in peace, i.e., your sincere performance of your vow shall be recognized, and. this conduct shall not be interpreted as a violation of it.W. G. S.]
2. The healing of Naaman did not take place at a mere word, but was like all miraculous deeds of the prophet, attached to some corresponding external means, but to such an one that to it, in itself, no healing power could be ascribed. This power must first be conferred upon it by the prophet, so that the cure must necessarily be recognized as an act of God, whose instrument and minister the prophet was. The external means, a sevenfold bath in Jordan, was a very significant one. Evidently the prophet had in mind what the Law prescribed for the purification of a leper. Such an one was to bathe himself in water (Lev 14:8-9), and throughout the entire ceremony of purification, sevenfoldness is the rule (Lev 14:7; Lev 14:16; Lev 14:27; cf. Lev 14:51; Symbol. des Mos. Kult., i. s. 196, and ii. s. 508, 518). The conduct of Elisha was, therefore, in general analogous to the ordinance in the Law, and, in so far, it referred back to the God of Israel, who had given the Law. Naaman had to bathe in the Jordan because that is the chief river of the promised land, which flows through the long and narrow country, so that it is called simply the land of the Jordan (Psa 42:6). As Canaan was the land of Israel, so the Jordan was the river of Israel. Moreover, it had great importance for the history of Israel. From the passage of the chosen people through this water, which is compared directly with the passage through the Red Sea (Psa 114:3; Psa 114:5), dated the existence of the theocracy in Palestine (Winer, R.-W.-B. i. s. 620). The Jordan was witness, and, in a certain degree, pledge and warrant of the might and grace of God, which were revealed in Israel. It was the water, in and at which Jehovah had manifested himself as the almighty, helping, and saving God of Israel. The fact of being healed and purified by bathing in this water, was designed to draw the mind of the heathen to the truth, that it is the God of Israel who alone can help and save, and that He it was who had helped him; that he therefore owed gratitude to this God alone, and not to the prophet who was only His servant. We have, then, in this case another proof that the miracles of the prophet were symbolic acts, and it is remarkable that the immediate significance of Elishas transaction with Naaman, although it lies upon its face and is so easily to be recognized, has been hitherto almost entirely overlooked. The naturalistic method of explanation is at a loss to account for this miracle. According to Knobel (Prophet. ii. p. 9297): Elisha had the reputation of a good physician among the Syrians as well as among the Israelites The bath, taken in obedience to the command of a man of God, was blessed with an extraordinary efficacy. That this, however, was not the entire curative process employed by Elisha is certain (?), though it is not possible to find out what else he did to Naaman. To relegate the entire story to the domain of myth or legend, on account of the miracle, is the least admissible course to pursue. This story bears in itself the impress of historical genuineness, if ever one did, by virtue of its simplicity, its moderate statements, its numerous characteristic details, and its purely objective representation. To invent such a story is impossible; and it can occur to no one who understands the matter that Naaman is a mythical person. The remark of Kster (Die Prophet. s. 89): The whole story is meant to show that miracles were always intended to extend the worship of Jehovah, is unsatisfactory, because this was evidently not the case in many miracles, and especially in all the rest which are recorded of Elisha (cf. chap. 4). [The most important and most instructive feature of the story seems to be overlooked by our author. It was not the water either of Jordan or of Abana which could heal, it was the obedience of this haughty general to a mandate which seemed to him frivolous and absurd. In the gospels faith is the first requisite in similar cases of healing, and so it was here alsofaith and obedience. Naaman came with his mind all made up as to how he was to be healed, and he turned away in anger and disgust from the course which the prophet prescribed. Yet, when he turned back, even with a lame and half-doubting faith, and a half-unwilling obedience, he was healed. This is the permanent truth which is involved in the story. Naaman was a type of the rationalist whose philosophy provides him with a priori dogmas by which he measures everything which is proposed to his faith. He turns away in contempt where faith would heal him. That is the truth which the story serves to enforce.W. G. S.]
3. In the acknowledgment with which Naaman returns to the prophet after being healed, the story reaches its climax: all the ways in which God led this man tended to this end. With the words: Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel, 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 does not, therefore, exchange one national god for another, but declares that Jehovah is the first and the last, and that there is no God beside Him (Isa 44:6), that the whole earth belongs to Him (Exo 19:5), and that this God has chosen the people of Israel for the salvation of all nations, and revealed himself to them. This is the kernel of Naamans confession, that he does not merely turn from Polytheism to Monotheism, but recognizes the God who has revealed himself to Israel as the one living God. Therefore, also, this land, which God promised and gave to his people, is for him a holy land (cf. Dan 11:16; Dan 11:41; Psa 37:9; Psa 37:29; Pro 2:21 sq.). Therefore he wishes to take earth from this country that he may sacrifice thereon to its God. Such a confession from the mouth of a heathen would be incomprehensible, especially from one who had the disposition which Naaman showed before he was healed (2Ki 5:11-12), if something extraordinary and miraculous had not taken place. For unfaithful, wavering Israel, which had had a far wider experience of the might and glory of its God than Naaman, this confession was a source of shame, of warning, and of reproof.
4. Naamans request (2Ki 5:18) and Elishas reply (2Ki 5:19) have been made the text of extended theological treatises (cf. Buddeus Hist. Eccles. ii. p. 360 sq.). For instance: it has been inferred that, under certain circumstances, it is permitted to participate in the ceremonies of a religion one recognizes as erroneous. Among Roman Catholics the passage has been used to justify the conduct of missionaries who permitted the newly-converted heathen to continue to observe pagan ceremonies; among Protestants, as Starke says, Some have drawn the conclusion that an attendant of a prince or king might accompany him to Mass, and do him service there, if he was in the service of the prince before the latter was converted to a false worship of God. Such a case was that of John of Saxony, whom the Emperor Charles V. asked to carry the sword in procession as Grand Marshal of the empire, when the emperor went in solemn state to Mass. The passage does not, however, give a general rule for all times and all places, because the case of Naaman belongs entirely to the Old Testament, and could not now occur. If Naaman ought not to have continued to exercise his office about the person of his king any longer, then he must have given up, not only his influential position, but also his fatherland and his nationality, and must have become an Israelite, and that too at a time when there was so much apostasy in Israel itself. The entire object of his being healed, viz., that he, in the midst of a heathen nation, which was hostile to Israel, might be a witness and an actual confessor of the God of Israel, and might carry His name into another country, would have been frustrated. Elisha, who had this object before all else in view, does not, therefore, raise any objections to his request: he invokes upon him peace at his departure; and, since he perceives that Naamans purposes are pure, he leaves him to the direction of God, as the one who will guide his conscience (Jo. Lange). Cassel (Elisha, s. 89) not improperly draws attention here to the difference between the conduct of Naaman and that of Themistocles in a similar case. The latter found it necessary to appear before the Persian king, and there prostrate himself before him, according to the Persian custom. As he, however, considered this unworthy of a Greek, he had recourse to the stratagem of allowing his ring to fall, and then, as he picked it up, he bowed before the throne, and so thought that he had given satisfaction both to his conscience and to the king. Naaman did not wish to act thus. He was not willing to deceive or act the hypocrite, for he knew that his God could see through the stratagem, and would not permit himself to be deceived, although men might think that they had concealed their hearts. [There is no reason whatever to suppose that Naaman knew all that; and the heinousness of this stratagem of Themistocles was very different from that of an hypocritical act of worship. Why should we imagine that Naaman, after he was cleansed of leprosy, had the clear conceptions, the pure piety, and the delicate conscience of a modern Christian? Furthermore, it seems that, if the words of the author above are pressed, he will be made to say that any one may engage in hypocritical acts of worship, if he can, by so doing, remain in a position where he can make proselytes! The object of the miracle was not to make a proselyte of Naaman (see above, bracketed note at the end of 1). The Israelites, at this period, made no effort whatever to gain proselytes. The opportunity offered to glorify the God of Israel before a heathen of rank, and it was done. He naturally turned, as a consequence, to the worship of Jehovah, as superior to all other gods. In the addition to 1, it is stated what Naaman meant by this request, and what the significance of the prophets answer was.W. G. S.]
5. Gehazis transgression and its punishment are to be estimated principally from the historical-theocratical, and not alone from the moral standpoint. His act was not a product of mere vulgar avarice, which shrinks back from no falsehood. By it he made his master, all of whose intercourse with him ought to have exercised a purifying influence upon him, a liar, and his oath (2Ki 5:16) an empty phrase. He did not leave Naaman with the undimmed conviction that all the grace he had experienced had come to him gratis, and that there was a prophet in Israel. He did not fear to stain the work which God had done upon a heathen for the glory of His name, and thereby he denied the Holy One, whose might he had just seen manifested upon Naaman. The words which Peter used of Ananias were true of him: Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God (Act 5:4). His act was a betrayal of the prophet, of Naaman, and of Jehovah. A thousand deceits and dishonesties might have been committed, by all of which not one of the dear and holy interests would have been injured, which in this case were in danger, and which, by this act, were criminally and faithlessly betrayed (Menken). Hence it incurred so severe a punishment, which was not arbitrarily or indifferently chosen, but which proceeded out of the transgression, and corresponded to it. The leprosy of Naaman (2Ki 5:27) became the leprosy of Gehazi; as Naaman was a living monument of the saving might and grace of Jehovah, so Gehazi was a monument of the retributive justice of the Holy One in Israel; a living warning and threat for the entire people. By his conversion Naaman was taken up into Gods community of redemption in Israel; by his unfaithfulness and denial of this God, Gehazi brings down upon himself the punishment which excludes him from the society of the prophet-disciples, and of the entire covenant people. Finally, as Naamans cure and conversion was a physical prophecy that God will have pity upon the heathen also, and will receive them into His covenant of grace, so Gehazis leprosy prophesied the rejection of the people of Israel who should abandon the covenant of grace, and persevere in apostasy (Mat 8:11-12; Mat 21:43).
6. The second narrative (2Ki 6:1-7) relates the last of the acts of Elisha which concern individuals. It is distinguished from the two mentioned above, which likewise took place in the circle of the prophet-disciples (2Ki 4:38-44), by the circumstance that here help is given in need to one person, not, as there, to the entire society. The number of the prophet-disciples had become so great, that the construction of another building had become necessary. Here now was to be shown how each separate individual of the company might be consoled by the help of Jehovah even in the slightest need. The loss of the axe, even though it had been begged for, was very slight in itself; but for a poor man, who did not even possess the necessary implements for cutting wood, a greater one than it would be for a rich man, if all his treasures should fall into the water. As before God there is no respect of persons, prince or beggar being all one, so there is also before Him no independent value in things; what is small and insignificant for one person, being great and important for another. The lilies of the field, which bloom to-day and to-morrow are cast into the oven, are as glorious before God as Solomon in all his glory (Mat 6:28-30). His might and goodness are revealed in the smallest detail as well as in the greatest combination. He helps in what are apparently the smallest interests of the individual, as well as in the greatest affairs of entire nations, and He rules with His grace especially over those who keep His covenant, and turn to him in all the necessities of life. That is the great truth which this little story proclaims, and just for the sake of this truth, it was thought worthy to be inserted in the history of the theocracy (Hess). The restoration of the axe, whereby aid was given to the prophet-disciple in his need, strengthened all the others in the faith that the God in whose honor they were erecting the building was with them, and would accompany their work with His blessing; they worked now only the more zealously and gladly.
7. The swimming iron, which is the title ordinarily given to this narrative, is an entirely incorrect designation of it. It has the literal meaning of the text against it, and it misleads to the opinion that the only point of the story is, that Elisha also made iron swim upon water like wood. What significance, however, would such a miracle have under these circumstances? It would not have any proper force, either for the prophet-disciple himself, or for the construction of the building, and would be nothing more than a feat of the divine omnipotence, without either moral or religious foundation, and at most only a thing to excite astonishment. This object has indeed been suggested: the prophet-disciples were to learn here, that God had not only made the forces which have sway in nature, but, also, that He directs them continually; that He makes that easy which is hard, when we only pray him to do so in a just cause (Von Schlsser). In that case, however, every connection with the building of the house would be wanting, and one does not see why so general a truth should be made known to the prophet-disciples precisely on the occasion of the loss of an axe, which its owner had begged for or borrowed. The same objection applies with still more force to the opinion that the miracle of the floating iron proclaimed the following: A light thing raises a heavy thing from the deep The worlds history shows that in the miraculous providence of God, that which is heavy is raised by that which is light. Iron is the symbol of sin; wood, however, serves for peace, reconciliation, sacrifice. He who died upon the wood made all sin powerless; raised it up out of the deep where it lay buried, in history and in the individual man (Cassel, Elisa, s. 100106). This allegorical explanation, which is, to begin with, arbitrary and unfounded, overlooks, from the outset, the fact that it is not a question here of a piece of heavy metal, iron in general, but rather of a definite implement, which was necessary for cutting timber, of an axe which had been lost, and of the poor man who had lost it, after begging for it, and for whom it was to be recovered. In this misfortune the prophet helped him, and this is the main point; not the fact that the iron floated. According to the naturalistic explanation Elisha pierced the hole in the axe with the pointed stick, and so lifted it up (Knobel, Der Proph. ii. s. 98); and Kster (Die Proph. s. 90) says: It was very correctly asserted, even by the Jewish expositors, that this was no miracle. (Buddeus, p. 364, opposes, and maintains the miracle, but cannot tell what was the use of the sharpened stick.) The axe had flown from the handle; Elisha pierced a stick into the aperture of it, and brought it up. The edifying application of it was, that presence of mind becomes a prophet, and is valuable even in the slight affairs of every-day life. But the text says nothing about what would here be the main point, viz.: the sharpening of the stick. (ver 6) does not mean to point, to sharpen, but only to chop off (Gesenius). Besides, it is clear that the narrative is not intended to tell of some ordinary incident, which any one could do in every-day life without especial presence of mind, but of an act which only a prophet, by virtue of the spirit of Jehovah, could do. That he made use for this purpose of an external physical means is true not only here, but also in the case of all his miraculous deeds (cf. 1 Kings 17, Hist. 5).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
2Ki 5:1-19. The Story of Naaman. (a) His Illness (2Ki 5:1-8); (b) his cure (2Ki 5:9-14); (c) his conversion (2Ki 5:15-19).
2Ki 5:1-8. Bender: Naaman; a consideration (a) of the discipline of suffering under which he was; (b) of the star of hope which arose for him in his misfortune; (c) of the path in which he was led by this hope.
2Ki 5:1. Menken: Everywhere where there is, or seems to be, something great and fortunate, there is also a slight discordant but, which, like a false note in a melody, mars the perfectness of the good-fortune. A worm gnaws at everything pertaining to this world; and everything here below carries the germs of death in itself. We ought to consider all human suffering and misery worthy of consideration, wherever we find it. It is found everywhere; it dwells in the palace and in the hovel; it is interwoven with the life of prince and beggar; and it is inseparable from all worldly happiness. This is to the end that we may perceive and be convinced that there is nothing earthly with which a man should be contented, and in which he can find true rest and the ever-enduring peace of the soul, and therefore that the poor and lowly have no reason to envy the rich and great. That which makes us happy in truth and for eternity does not depend upon rank or upon wealth.Calwer Bibel: God treated this heathen in the way in which He is accustomed to treat His children. Just as He is wont to give to them, together with everything joyful which He grants them, also something incidental to restrain their pride, that they may remain humble, and may learn to seek God, so that He may still further glorify himself in them, so He visited this great military chief, whom He had so magnified in other respects, with a disease, which should make him humble, and teach him to seek further grace. That which seems to us and to all the world to be the greatest misfortune, and which is mourned as such, is often, according to Gods wise counsel, the way to our highest good-fortune and welfare. The Lord says: What I do thou knowest not now &c. (Joh 13:7; Heb 12:11).
2Ki 5:2-3. Krummacher: The Foreign Slave-Girl, (a) The momentous purchase; (b) the development of the seed of true religion in a heathen land; (c) the earnest ray of hope in the dark night of sorrow. The Little Girl from the Land of Israel, (a) Her heavy lot (such an one as that of Joseph and Daniel.Menken: Torn from her friends, led away from her people and her fatherland, sold in a foreign country, slave of a heathen, she was a stranger to the joys of youth and the pleasure of life, and sadness and sorrow overclouded her life. How often may she, seized by yearning for the land of her childhood and youth, by longing for father and mother, have cried out to God. She could endure all this because she had learned in early youth to know the God whose eye overlooks all countries, and who holds His hand over all who heartily depend on Him. How necessary it is that parents should early make their children acquainted with the living God and His holy Word, that they may learn to yield themselves to His ways, and may have a light and staff in the dark valley); (b) her good advice. (It came from a heart which was full of sympathy for the trouble of her master, and which did not, like so many, serve with mere eye-service to please men. It was like a sun arising in a dark night, and it was the first movement towards Naamans salvation in body and soul, and towards the glorification of the living God among the heathen. How great things the little maid brought about without knowing it. God often makes use of the most insignificant instruments (1Co 1:28) for building up His kingdom and for spreading abroad His name. The least important person in the household becomes a living proof of the all-controlling, loving care and providence of God, and of the declaration, Isa 55:9.)
2Ki 5:4. Cramer: One ought not to despise the counsel of even insignificant persons, for God can accomplish great things even by means of these.Cassel: When the great and mighty are so bowed down that they do not know where else to get help, they listen even to a child. Nay: such are we all. When the waves reach to our heads we begin to listen to anything; no advice is too contemptible for us; no person too insignificant for us to be willing to listen.
2Ki 5:4-7. Naamans Journey to Samaria. (a) The equipment for it. (The king gives him a letter of introduction: he departs with great pomp, with horses and chariots, and he takes with him rich treasures for gifts. Provided with all this, he has a firm hope of attaining his object. Rank, might, and wealth, those are the things in which a man hopes who has not yet learned to know the living God; but the Scripture says: Put not your trust, &c., Psa 146:3; Psa 146:5; Psa 118:9; and: A horse is a vain thing, &c, Psa 33:17; and: We brought nothing into, &c, 1Ti 6:7.) (b) The Reception in Samaria. (The king is terrified because he has a bad conscience, Job 15:21; Wis 17:11. Such a man always finds more in a letter than it says. Those who do not trust God do not trust one another. In his terror he is at a loss what to do. The king of Israel does not know what the little maid knew (2Ki 5:3). In matters of the kingdom of God the humble and lowly have often more experience than the great, Mat 11:25; 1Co 1:27-28. Naaman was to be made to feel this, Sir 51:10; Psa 88:5, in order that he might come to Him from whom alone help can come, Psa 3:8; Psa 68:20).
2Ki 5:6. Great men, who are accustomed to find every one ready to do their will, often believe, in their blindness, that they can command that to be done which only God can do.
2Ki 5:7. What good does it do to believe in a God who can kill and make alive, if one does not fear Him and bow before Him; does not seek Him, and therefore does not find Him? (Jam 2:19).
2Ki 5:8-14. The Healing of Naaman. (a) The conduct of the prophet (2Ki 5:8; 2Ki 5:10; 2Ki 5:14); (b) Naamans behavior under it (2Ki 5:9; 2Ki 5:11-13).
2Ki 5:8. Cramer: When faithful servants of God see that the unbelief of the godless redounds to Gods dishonor, they hasten to oppose it. God spoke and made known His mercy by the prophets in Israel many times and in many ways. Last of all, He revealed Himself by His Son, who is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person (Heb 1:1-3). He speaks to all who have to console the sorrowing or counsel the despairing: Let them come to me that they may learn that a Saviour has come into the world, who restores the sorrowful and heavy-laden, and in whom they can find rest for their souls.Cassel: In Israel a prophet is never wanting; He lives who goes ever with us; He lives who has washed all wounds in His blood; though all the world should fall in ruins, my Saviour and my prophet lives.
2Ki 5:9-10. Horses and chariots, external grandeur and display, must often be employed to conceal internal misery from the eyes of the world, and to impose upon it. A genuine man of God does not, however, allow himself to be deceived, or to be bribed by pomp and display, but he speaks out whatever God commands, whether it pleases the world or not. In human affairs the word of the Apostle applies: Be kindly affectioned one to another, &c., Rom 12:10. In divine matters, however, when the recognition of truth, and the honor of God, and the glory of His name, are at stake, a servant of God ought not to be governed by the rules of worldly politeness, but only to be guided by that which will contribute to the salvation of souls. It often requires far more self-denial to resist the great than to yield to them; not all is priestly 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.
2Ki 5:11 sq. Menken: This man, convinced of the inadequacy of all human and earthly means to relieve his misfortune, seeks divine help, and when he finds it, and it is before him, so that he only needs to reach out his hands and take it, he is dissatisfied, and complains of the divine help, on account of its peculiar form and character: he turns away from it with anger as from something worthless. And why? Simply on account of his prejudice; because he had made up his mind that what was divine must take place in another way, that its form of acting and helping must be different. He did not stop and ask himself whether he had reason and right for his expectation, nor whether the peculiarity of speech, action, and relief, which displeased him, was unbecoming to what was divine. Trusting to his prejudice without scruple or investigation as to its justice, as it were to an oracle, i.e., trusting to himself as possessing an infallible insight, he departs. How faithful and true the old picture is! How fresh and new it is, as if men of to-day had sat for it! Ask thousands, who are devoted to human pursuits with enthusiasm and zeal, and who leave what is holy and divine in contemptuous neglect, why they do so, and they will be able to give but this one answer: I thought that the divine must speak, and act, and will, and work, in a different way from this; I cannot reconcile it with my opinion; if I should accept this I should have to throw away my opinion, and that of the public and the time.Observe this now well, and do not think it of little importance. This I thought! is the most mighty of all mighty things on earth, and even if it is not the most ruinous of all ruinous things, it is yet certainly the most unfortunate of all unfortunate ones. This I thought brought sin and misery and death into the world, and it prevents redemption from sin and death in the case of thousands. These thousands, if they perish in their opinion, will begin the next life with I thought!Calwer Bibel: How common it is for men to prescribe to God the ways of His providence and the modes of His assistance! Just in order to break this self-will, and to awaken and test our faith and our patience, God must act contrary to our prejudice.Richter: How many a one asks in unbelief: how can water do so great things? Water does not indeed do it, but the word of God, which is in and with the water.The Means by which Naaman was made whole. (a) Their apparent insignificance: (b) their real significance (see Histor. 1 and 2).Menken: Blessed is he who is not offended because of me, said once He, in whom and through whom the divine appeared to men in its purest and most glorious form, and in its deepest and directest sense. Thereby He showed conclusively that the divine has a peculiarity on account of which it is and must be opposed to the perverse sense of sinful men. Therefore we call that man blessed who can believe the divine, and to whom the humble form in which it appears here below is no cause of mistake, and whom the simplicity in which it is dressed for the sake of truth, and the humility with which it is clad for the sake of love, offends so little that he admires and honors and loves it all the more exactly on this account.Cf. 1Co 1:20-29.Naaman became angry on account of the message which the prophet sent to him. So now also the message of salvation is received with anger because it opposes the opinion and the pride of the natural man, who is not willing to admit that he is a poor sinner, and diseased, and in need of salvation (Jam 1:21). That which is offered as a means of life and peace, becomes thus all the greater cause of destruction.Luther: The world wants to earn heaven from God, although He proclaims through the world: I will be your God; I will give it to you out of free grace, and I will make you blessed without a price. [Naaman as a Type of the Rationalist. The a priori notions which men form, which become prejudices in their minds, and by which they measure things. They 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. They form a priori notions of Christ, of the Bible, of religion, and the way in which religion ought to be presented to them, of prayer, of Providence, of the sacraments, &c. If these 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. See Histor 1 and 3, with translators additions.W. G. S.]
2Ki 5:13. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; it is not in word but in power (Luk 17:20; 1Co 4:20).Menken: Thousands, who are sad and heavy-laden under the consciousness of the spiritual misery of sin and death would be glad if the Word would order them to the utmost end of the earth, and would command them to make the pilgrimage without shoes under their feet, or covering upon their heads, and to give all their goods to the poor, and to brand and torture their bodies with chastisements, because that would correspond to their sensual feeling, and to their preconceived opinion; but they cannot reconcile themselves to the gospel of the grace of God, that He sent His Son into the world as a propitiation for sin (1Jn 4:10).Servants and subordinates cannot better prove their love and fidelity to their masters than by dissuading them from angry and violent steps by friendly and humble wordsnot by falling in with and encouraging their temper. (Pro 15:1).
2Ki 5:14. Krummacher: It is a great thing, when a man is willing from his heart to submit himself to the ordinances which God has established for his salvation.Bender: The divine means of grace of the Church are for us what the Jordan was for Naaman. We are called to profit by them by the Holy Ghost, who will therein enlighten us by His gifts, and sanctify and strengthen us in the faith. As Naaman was healed gratis of his leprosy, which threatened him with death, so that his flesh became like that of a little child, so are we, through the compassion of God, which was revealed in Christ, purified from sin and saved through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, so that we may be first-fruits of His creatures, and, as such, heirs of eternal life (Tit 3:5 sq.; Jam 1:18).
2Ki 5:14-19. Bender: The Healing of Naaman. (a) The act of God; (b) Naamans confession; (c) his gratitude; (d) his especial request.
2Ki 5:15. 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 impulsion to confess this faith with joy before men. Without faith there is no confession, and without confession there is no faith (Psa 116:10; Rom 10:10).J. Lange: That knowledge of God which is won by experience of the purification of the heart, and which is enjoyed in the sweet and quiet peace of the soul, is the only real, genuine, and saving knowledge.Starke: Nothing is impossible for faith. It can make of a proud and boastful soldier a pious and humble servant of God (Mar 9:23). Naaman gave with joy, and God loveth a cheerful giver. He gave not only because he had been healed, but because he had come to a knowledge of the true God. After God we owe gratitude to none so much as to those who have brought us to a knowledge of God and a recognition of the truth.
2Ki 5:16. Menken: Godly and holy men, who have devoted their lives to the service and witness of the divine truth among men, have always had two peculiarities, which bad men have never been able to imitate: freedom from all love of gain, and, in neglect of the praise and honor of the world, a pure looking-up to the Father, who seeth in secret (Act 8:18-20).Starke: True Godliness knows when to open the hand and when to close it (Sir. 4:36).A servant of God must always firmly ward off whatever might cast the least evil appearance upon the purity and fidelity of his service to his master.
2Ki 5:17-19. Naamans Two Requests, as testimonies to his firm and decided faith (see Historical, 1, 4). (a) The altar built of the soil of Israel in a foreign land was an indicator of the way to Israel and to Israels God; a physical confession which required strong courage, for it might call down persecution, disgrace, and death. So now it is an act of faith when a messenger of the faith sets up the cross in the midst of a mighty heathen people. How deeply does Naaman shame the Christians who, even among Christians and in Christian countries, do not dare to confess Christ by word and deed, (b) The prayer for indulgence came from a fine and tender conscience, which makes an earnest thing of its faith; to which all hypocrisy is loathsome; which is not willing to lean both ways, but demands confidence and certainty as to whether what it does and what it leaves undone are right in the sight of God, and whether it is maintaining the grace it has won. How rare are those in our times who, in matters of religion, are equally scrupulous!
2Ki 5:17. Cassel: As Naaman was the type of the converted heathen world, and he carried the soil of Palestine to Aram, so did the heathen carry over into their own lands, together with Christianity, the doctrine, life, disposition, and spirit, which had flourished in the Holy Land, and thereby they established for themselves a new home. When we hear here and there in Christian lands the names Bethany, Bethlehem, Zion, &c, what are they but holy places transferred, in their spirit, from their original location into our life and thought and feeling. In thy religious observances the main point is not the correctness and truth of thy knowledge, or of the doctrine which thou professest, but the truth and purity of thine own character. What one may do under his circumstances without violating his conscience, the conscience of another, under other circumstances, will forbid him to do. We have no right to judge him: to the Lord each one stands or falls (Rom 14:1-7).Menken: The higher a man stands in the world, and the more important he has made his position, the more is he bound.
2Ki 5:19. When a man has been heartily converted, and earnestly strives to enter in at the straight gate, we ought not to make harder for him what is already hard, and we ought not to make demands of him which, according to the circumstances in which God has placed him, he cannot fulfill, but look to the main point and not the incidental or external things, leaving him with prayer to the gracious guidance of God, who will complete the work of grace which He has begun in him. God makes the sincere to succeed.Menken: One does not know what to admire most in Elishas mild and simple answer, the clear and correct insight into a genuine heart experience, which, whatever may surround and obscure the main point, still seizes this quickly and clearly; or the holy moderation which, even in the case where it is its prerogative to urge, limit, bind, loose, or burden, still restrains itself; or the pure humanity of disposition, which can so thoroughly sympathize, so completely put itself in the position and at the stand-point of the other. The knowledge of the living God, and the experience of His saving grace, is the fountain of all peace, with which alone a man can go gladly on his way.
2Ki 5:19-27 (cf. Histor. 5). Bender: Gehazi, the False Prophet-Disciple, (a) His disposition; (b) his procedure; (c) his punishment.Krummacher: Gehazi. (a) Gehazis heart; (b) Gehazis crime; (c) the judgment which fell upon him.
2Ki 5:20. Let not desire overcome thee. How mighty are the evil inborn lusts of the human heart! Even in the case of those who have for years enjoyed the society of the noblest and most pious men, who have heard and read the word of God daily, and who have had the example of holy conduct daily before their eyes, lusts arise, take possession of them, and carry them captive (Jam 1:13-15; Mat 15:19). Therefore, Be sober, be vigilant, &c. (1Pe 5:8).The avaricious and covetous are always envious; they are discontented when others neglect chances to become rich, or renounce that which they would be glad to have.Calwer Bibel: Gehazi speaks contemptuously of Naaman because he is a Syrian and not an Israelite, although he was far better than Gehazi. So also now-a-days, unwise Christians and Jews contemn one another. It is plain from his unnecessary oath what kind of a man Gehazi was. Those who swear unnecessarily judge themselves. Covetousness is the root of all evil: where there is covetousness and avarice there is also falsehood and deceit, vulgarity and rudeness, and cunning theft and bold theft.
2Ki 5:22. Bender: Gehazi was Elishas servant. Ye servants, how do you conduct yourselves toward your masters? Are ye open, sincere, honest, obedient, as the apostle says Eph 6:5-6? Is the property and good name of your masters as dear to you as your own property and your own honor, or do ye take advantage of them where ye can? My master has sent meso says many an unfaithful servant, who cares for silver and gold, raiment, fields, vineyards, and gardens, but not for the honor of his masterwho cares more for the wool than for the sheep. Hypocrites do more harm to the cause of God than the godless (2Ti 3:5).
2Ki 5:23. He who himself thinketh no evil and is sincere, does not suspect cunning and deceit in others. Good-hearted, noble men, to whom it is more blessed to give than to receive, are easily deceived, and they follow the inclination of their hearts, instead of examining carefully to whom they are giving their benefactions.
2Ki 5:24. That which we must conceal brings no blessing.
2Ki 5:25. Whence comest thou, Gehazi? Happy are they of whom there is no need to ask this question; who can give an account without falsehood of all the paths in which they have walked, and of all the places in which they have been.Menken: This question should have been to Gehazi like the wind-gusts before a storm, which warn the traveler to seek a refuge-where the coming storms and floods cannot reach him.This is the curse which rests upon a lie, that the man seeks to escape from it by new lies, and so involves himself more and more in the net of him of whom the master says: When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own (Joh 8:44).
2Ki 5:26. If God himself arms His prophets with the gift to be witnesses of hidden sin, and to bring it to the light, how much more will He, before whose judgment-seat we shall all have to appear, bring that to light which now lies hidden in darkness, and reveal the secret counsels of the heart?
2Ki 5:27. Menken: How did the raiment of Damascus appear to the leper, or the pieces of silver to the wretched outcast? How often must he have desired to buy back again with all his treasures one day of his healthful poverty? Then, too, the lost peace of God. Alas! Most incomprehensible, most depraved, most indestructible and terrible of all deceits, deceit of riches, who fears thee, as we all should fear thee? God have pity upon us all, and help us all, that no one may set his hopes upon uncertain riches, but upon the living God, who gives us all richly to enjoy all His blessings. And yet again: They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare (1Ti 6:9-12).The story of Naaman and Gehazi is a prophecy of the salvation of the heathen who seek help and grace, and of the rejection of Israel, if it destroys and rejects salvation (Isa 5:25 sq.). [The leprosy of riches. Gold is taintedstrength required to use it aright; right pursuit of wealth; absorbing pursuit of it; curse which cleaves to it when it is ill-gotten or ill-used; this curse crops out most frequently in the children. A father absorbed in pursuit of wealth, and mother absorbed in fashion, will bring up corrupt and neglected children. Parents love gold, and fashion, and display, children will hold these the chief things in life. Thou hast gotten thee gold, but leprosy shall cleave to thee and to thy seed forever.W. G. S.]
2Ki 6:1-7 (cf. Histor. 6 and 7). (a) Sketch of the Community-life of the Prophet-disciples, (a) Their number does not diminish in spite of all contempt and persecution, but increases (2Ki 6:1); (b) they undertake nothing without their master (2Ki 6:2-3); (c) they help and encourage one another in their work (2Ki 6:4); (d) they experience the divine help and blessing (2Ki 6:5-7).
2Ki 6:1. It is a good state of things when a community can say: Behold the place, &c. How many Churches have room and to spare, and might accommodate twice as many hearers, while the room in the buildings devoted to the lusts of the eye and the flesh, and to the pride of life, is too small.
2Ki 6:2. Pfaff. Bibel: Each one should contribute his share to multiply churches and schools as the population increases.
2Ki 6:5. Starke: Pious people are more careful of what is borrowed than of their own property.
2Ki 6:5-7. Wrt. Summ.: We have here an instance where God is touched by even the least misfortune which visits his children. He will not let himself be hindered by natural laws from helping his servants in their need, that they may not despair in adversity, but trust in God, and be only the more diligent in prayer.Krummacher: It often happens that the Lord takes from us some possession, or appears to do so, only with the purpose of returning it after a longer or shorter time in some unexpected way, that it may thus come to us as a gift of divine love, and a pledge of His grace.
Footnotes:
[1]2Ki 6:8.[The first clause expresses a circumstance of the main action, best rendered by the absolute participial construction. The king of Syria, being at war with Israel, held a council of his officers, and decided, in such and such, &c.Ew. Lehrb. 16l, a, explains as a noun in the form of the infinitive, das Sich lagern. Hence the form of the suff.
[11]2Ki 5:12.[Keri, Amana. See Exeget.
[12]2Ki 5:17.[The Sept. join the first two words of the next verse with this one, , because of this thing.W. G. S.]
[13]2Ki 5:18.Thenius proposes to change the last in to , and it certainly does seem better to do so. This is the reading of the Sept. ( ), and of the Vulg. (adorante eo).Bhr.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The account of the ministry of Elisha is continued yet further through this chapter also, as in the former. He causeth iron to swim. He discloseth the king of Syria’s counsel. He smiteth his army with blindness.
2Ki 6:1
It is more than probable that the place spoken of here, was at Gilgal, for there we find Elisha presiding over the sons of the prophets some time before. See chap. 4:38. But surely the Reader, (if he be acquainted with the Bible) cannot but be put in mind, from the straitening of the sons of the prophets, of that spiritual straitening, it was predicted the sons of the Prince of the prophets, even the Lord Jesus, in after ages should feel, when from flocking to Christ the multitudes should be so great, that there should not be room enough to receive them. Isa 49:20-21 ; Mal 3:10 ; Luk 5:1 ; Mar 3:20 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Invisible Realities of the Eternal World
2Ki 6:16
The invisible realities at times are very real to some and very unreal to others. This incident is an excellent example of it. Danger menaces two men. Death itself seems in the cup for both. But one is a citizen only of the seen and temporal, while the other’s spirit soars up to God and believes in God, and is as certain of the existence of God as that he is alive.
Consider the fruits of this belief in the existence of the eternal verities:
I. There is a Confidence in Time of Perplexity. ‘Fear not,’ said the prophet to his dismayed and affrighted companion. There you have courage after a godly sort in the hour of danger. There is, in some natures, an intrepid, unconquerable element which, when beset by opposition, begets instant resistance and blossoms into conquest. And you have here a man’s faith under searching test. That faith comes out well. It does not flinch in the hour of fiery trial because the man by the eye of faith beheld the invisible.
II. Another fruit of belief in the eternal is The Identification of God’s and the Individual’s Interest. Where there is genuine belief in the realities of the eternal world, man’s protection in danger, man’s companionship with God’s good angel-guards, man’s acquiescence in the rightness of the life-lot is known and believed in to be of God’s giving. In short, whatever is, is for the best.
III. There is also another fruit of belief in the eternal world, viz. Liberation from the Bondage of Doubt. The doubting Christian cannot lead a happy life. With some people there is a tendency of temperament to this. In fact, it is questionable if any soul can escape its ‘passage-at-arms’ with doubt. And where doubt is truly genuine it should enlist deep attention and beget profound respect. If it is honest it will be like that of Thomas, who sincerely doubted Christ’s resurrection, and whose doubt was never scoffed at, but tenderly dissipated by Christ. All the same, the less we know of doubt the better; and just as truly as it is an axiom of indisputable value that ‘prevention is better than cure,’ so the less a mind is troubled by doubts the happier and more useful the life. And what we contend for is that freedom from the bondage of doubt and unbelief is in highest evidence in this prophet. God was a magnificent reality to him. All else was shadow.
Of course it is always some ground for consolation that whatever clouds of doubt may rise to obscure the character of God and darken the sunshine of the love of God, that Divine character is for ever and ever the same, and that heavenly sunshine is steadily falling upon the soul however much it may fancy itself forgotten of God.
Reference. VI. 16, 17. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches (2nd Series), p. 249.
Unseen Environment
2Ki 6:17
Among the men in Dothan who possessed good eyesight, I think Elisha’s servant might be reckoned. And yet, when he came to Elisha and cried, ‘Alas, my master, how shall we do?’ Elisha fell upon his knees and prayed, ‘Lord, open his eyes, that he may see!’ He had seen everything except the brightest and the best. He had been blind to his unseen environment.
I. And so I gather that in the world around us there is the presence and power of a living God, and till we see that presence, we are blind.
It is very hard to see God in today. It needs an opening of the eyes, such as Elisha’s servant got, to catch the trend of the everlasting love in the petty transactions of the present hour.
We need to believe in the immanence of God. We cannot live without a spiritual environment. We must protest against the quasi-scientific spirit that refuses to rise above the secondary cause. For me the secondary must imply the first, and in the second the impulse of the first is vibrating.
II. There are some spheres where the holden eyes are blessed. I do not forget that it is the great compassion of God that keeps us half-blind from the cradle to the grave. They darken the bird’s cage when they teach it to sing; and unless the covering hand of the Almighty darkened the windows here, we should never sing, and never be strong at all. Do not be blind to the untold blessings of our blindness: But I am not pleading for vision for tomorrow. I am pleading for the recognition of the Divine today.
III. And what is the moral value of this unseen environment? It is this. It lifts me above circumstances. It shows me the mightier powers at work around me. It kindles my soul to claim and hold the mastery that I feel in my heart of hearts ought to be mine. The very weakest may be strong in Christ, and the very feeblest be powerful in God, if he will recognize that God is here, and that in every effort for the right, in every struggle to be true, in every sore endeavour to be free, the armies of Syria may block his way, but the horses and chariots of fire are at his bidding.
G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 64.
Illustration. Did you ever hold in your hand one of these puzzle-cards on which there is something clearly and plainly drawn, and some face or figure in the lines that is not evident? Here is the garden, find the gardener, for example. And we study the card, and hold it at all angles, and we turn it round and turn it back again, and for the life of us we cannot see the face, when in an instant, ah! there it is; and now we can see nothing else; and we hand it on and we wonder how our neighbour can possibly escape detecting what is so plain to us. ‘Lord, open his eyes, that he may see! And the Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw.’ And the present moment was filled with the Divine. And the ministries of heaven were near at hand, for the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire.
G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 67.
All Souls
2Ki 6:17
I. The history of Elisha at Dothan is an inspired record of one of these rare glimpses into the invisible world surrounding us which adds to the dignity, the grandeur, the security of this earth life, by assuring us that we are encompassed by spiritual intelligences empowered to act on humanity, guiding, arranging, inspiring, protecting.
II. Let us learn the lesson from the vision of Elisha. It is a picture of the eternal realities that surround these lives of ours. It is a proof that man is not merely an animal organism, but an immortal spirit belonging to two worlds; that though, for educative purposes, he is smothered for a while in the animal, his true ego belongs to the spiritual; that the world of spirits is floating, in all its power and beauty and energy around him, and that greater are they that are with him than they which are against him. The weakest amongst us is not fighting alone. In temptation and trial and soul darkness, when we seem hopelessly overmatched, when the Syrian hosts of our lower nature are besieging us with haunting memories and evil thoughts and faithless suggestions, when the cry goes up, ‘Alas! Master, what shall we do?’ if some Elisha were at hand to pray ‘Lord, open his eyes, that he may see,’ we should see the mountain ‘full of horses of fire and chariots of fire’. It is better that we should not see. ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ It is better that, with a powerful effort of the will, we should cross by faith the threshold of the door which divides us from the world beyond the senses, and simply believe that the unseen is greater than the seen; that more are they that are on our side than they which are against us.
III. ‘Against us!’ But are any of the beings of the spirit world against us? ‘All Saints’ will obviously be on our side, but ‘All Souls!’ would not some of that number harm us if they could? I reply that I think there are ‘seducing spirits,’ disincarnate human beings of low character, imperfect, crude, more ignorant than ourselves. I think that for a while after death they haunt the grosser atmosphere of our world; they are not yet awakened, and they blindly hunger for the limitations they have left. But I am convinced that they are under training, under discipline; they are not overlooked, forgotten, neglected by the Father-Spirit of the world. As for there being any peril to ourselves from them, all the mischief, and all the malice, and all the passions, and all the hate of a Hades full of unregenerate humanity cannot harm the life consciously ‘hid with Christ in God’. One strong act of faith will lift you into that sphere in which ‘they that are with us are more than they which are with them,’ for ‘behold, the mountain was full of horses of fire and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
B. Wilberforce, Following on to Know the Lord, p. 143.
References. VI. 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2215; see also Twelve Sermons to Young Men, p. 397. E. Medley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 227. C. A. Berry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 216. W. Gorman, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 134. H. C. Potter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 309. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Old Testament Subjects, p. 286; see also Outlines of Sermons on the Old Testament, p. 77; Penny Pulpit, No. 599. VI. 18. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iii. p. 100. VI. 19. W. L. Watkinson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 321. VI. 23. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 373. VII. 1-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture 2 Samuel , 1 and 2 Kings, p. 383. VII. 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi. No. 1238. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iii. p. 108. VII. 3. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 193. E. Tremayne Dunstan, Christ in the Commonplace, p. 33. VII. 3-7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No. 1903. VII. 4. Ibid. vol. 1. No. 2894. VII. 9. F. Case, Short Practical Sermons, p. 21. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 34. T. Champness, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 229. A. Connell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 341. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture 2 Samuel , 1 and 2 Kings, p. 390. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1996. VII. 19. Ibid. vol. i. No. 3. VIII. 9, 15. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture 2 Kings from chap. viii. p. 1. VIII. 12, 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2828. IX. 4-7. J. Fraser, Parochial and Other Sermons, p. 144. IX. 16. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 155. IX. 25, 26. A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, part iv. p. 209.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
2Ki 6:1-23
1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell [where we sit before thee] with thee is too strait for us [their numbers had increased (comp. 2Ki 4:43 )].
2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam [the Jordan valley was well-wooded], and let us make a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
3. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants [to superintend; to help in case of difficulty]. And he answered, I will go.
4. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood [timber].
5. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell [Heb., and as for the iron, it fell] into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas [my lord, Elisha], master! for it was borrowed.
6. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither: and the iron did swim.
7. Therefore [And he said] said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
8. Then the king of Syria warred [Now the king of Syria (Aram) was warring, i.e. continually] against Israel, and took counsel [comp. 2Ch 20:21 ] with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp [or, encamping].
9. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass [pass over, across, or through] not such a [this] place: for thither [there] the Syrians are come [coming] down.
10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned [ Eze 3:19 ; 2Ch 19:10 ] him of, and saved himself [was wary; on his guard] there, not once nor twice.
11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled [literally, storm-tost] for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
12. And one of his servants said, None [Nay], my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel [all] the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber.
13. And he said, Go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch [take] him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
14. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host [of infantry; not an army, but a company]: and they came by night [so as to surprise], and compassed the city about.
15. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early [comp., for the Hebrew construction, Psa 127:2 ; Isa 5:11 ; Hos 6:4 ], and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
16. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them [comp. Num 14:9 ; Psa 3:6 ].
17. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw [just as Elisha’s had been opened (2Ki 2:10 , 2Ki 2:12 ). (Comp. also Num 22:31 )], and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire [literally, horses and chariots, to wit, fire (Gen 15:17 ; Exo 3:2 , Exo 13:21 , seq., Exo 19:16 , seq. ; Isa 29:6 , Isa 30:30 , Isa 30:33 , Isa 33:14 )] round about Elisha.
18. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed [mentally, as he approached his foes] unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness [a dazing effect, with mental bewilderment]. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
19. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring [lead] you to the man whom ye seek [an irony]. But he led [guided] them to Samaria.
20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father [comp. 2Ki 2:12 , 2Ki 8:9 (“Thy son Benhadad”), 2Ki 13:14 ], shall I smite them? shall I smite them [or, May I smite, may I smite, my father? How eager was the king to slay his powerless enemies! He asks the prophet’s permission (comp. 2Ki 4:7 )].
22. And he answered, Thou shalt [or, must] not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
23. And he [the king of Israel] prepared great provision [a great feast] for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
Elisha and the Young Prophets
We see in the opening of this chapter some of the simple and happy relations which existed between the elder and the younger prophets. Is it not possible to revive some of these relations? Look at the case: “And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us” ( 2Ki 6:1 ). Put into modern language the statement amounts to this: “Our college is getting too small, we want more room; let us, therefore, consider this practical question, and see what can be done.” Elisha did not live with the young men. That, perhaps, was rather a happy than an unhappy circumstance, though a very beautiful picture could be drawn concerning domestic collegiate life. A college or a school with the teachers and students all living together must, one would surely say, be a little heaven upon earth. What can be, ideally, more perfect than the old prophet surrounded by all the younger prophets, eating and living together, having a common room, and a common hostelry, or a common home? What can be, imaginatively, more taking, more pathetic and satisfactory? Without pronouncing a judgment upon that inquiry, it is enough to be so far just to the text as to say that Elisha did not adopt that system of collegiate life. He went round about from place to place; he visited the schools of the prophets in the various localities; and now, when he came to this place, the young men said: “We have not room enough; we must consider our circumstances, and endeavour to enlarge our accommodation.”
What did they propose? It is well now and again to hear what young men have to suggest. It is useful to listen to young politicians in national crises, that we may hear how they would treat the patient. It is desirable that young voices should mingle with old voices in the common council. Now it is the turn of the young men to speak. What will they propose to Elisha? The answer is given in the second verse: “Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there where we may dwell.” The city was not situated exactly upon the Jordan, but upon a stream a little way from it, which flowed directly into that great river; and now the young men proposed to get a little nearer to the main stream, for the district of it was called The Valley of Palms. Palestine was notably destitute of trees, but in this particular locality timber was to be got. So the young men made the proposition to Elisha. What does the proposition amount to? It amounts to something which in this day might horrify a good many of the successors of Elisha. The young men said: “Let us go and cut down our own timber, and enlarge our college with our own hands.” Did they propose that the question should be “reported upon” that it should be brought under the attention first of the general committee, then be referred to a sub-committee being bound to report to the general committee, and the general committee being unable to attend, or to constitute a quorum, and so go on to forget the whole business? The young men said: “We want room: let us make it; we want a larger college: let us build it.” Why not adopt the same principle today? There is nothing so easy as to send round an appeal for a contribution and never get any reply to it. We, wanting to be missionaries, should go by the next boat; wanting to preach the gospel to the heathen, we should say: “When does the ship start?” and being unable to pay the fare, we should work our passage. And when people ask us what we are doing, and whether we have lost our senses, we should say: “Yes; if we be beside ourselves, it is unto God.” Then an impression might be made upon those who look on. They would say; “Surely these men are in earnest; be they right, or be they wrong: be they fanatical or sober-minded, their earnestness burns in them like a fire, and such men can neither be put back nor kept down.” Without wishing, however, to modernise the details of this incident, which, owing to our civilisation, would be impossible, it is enough to remember that, in the early days of collegiate and school life, the scholars were prepared to do something towards helping themselves. They did not send for builders from Jerusalem, or even from the city of Jericho; they undertook the work at their own impulse and at their own charges. There is a line of beauty even in the proposition of the young men. They desired Elisha’s permission. They said in effect, “Father, may we go?” They were enthusiastic, but they were under discipline; they had fire enough, but they responded to the touch of the master; they were ready, not only to go, but to run, and yet they would not stir a foot until Elisha said, “Go ye.” What then did they do? “And one said [to Elisha], Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants” ( 2Ki 6:3 ). They were stronger when the elder man was with them. Sometimes the eye is the best master. It often happens that the man who is standing in the harvest field resting upon his rake, a picture of dignity and ease, is doing more than if he were sweltering himself by cutting down corn with his own sickle: his eye is doing the work, his presence is exerting an immeasurable and happy influence upon the whole field. Elisha was not asked to go and fell the timber, but to be with the young men whilst they did the hard work; and, becoming young again himself, as old men do become young when associated with young life, he instantly said: “I will go: the work is a common work; it belongs to me as well as to you; it belongs to all Israel, in so far as all Israel is true to the living God; come, let us go in one band: union is strength.” Now they went, the old and the young together. Why would they not go alone? Perhaps they were reminded of what happened when once they did go alone. Elisha ordered that food should be prepared, and when the seething pot was on, one of the young men went out and gathered something and threw it into the pot, and nearly poisoned the whole college. What wonder if some of them, remembering this, said: “No more going out alone, if you please; we once took the case into our own hands, and do you not remember how many of us fell sick, and how we cried to Elisha, ‘Master, father, there is death in the pot!’ and how he kindly took a handful of meal, sprinkled it into the vessel, and restored its healthfulness? The pot was relieved of all the disease which it contained, and the meal happily proceeded.” We should remember our blunders, and learn from them. We are always safer in the company of the old and wise than when we are in our own society. Happy is the man who takes counsel with his elder neighbours, and who can sometimes renounce himself and say to wise men: “Such and such are my circumstances; now, what would you advise me to do?”
Elisha and the young men have now gone down to the Jordan. Elisha felled no tree; but he did his own particular kind of work. What that particular kind of work was will further appear as the narrative proceeds.
The Syrian king could not rest. In his heart he hated or feared the king and the hosts of Israel. There was chronic war between Israel and Syria. The king of Syria said: “I will fix my camp in such and such a place;” and the ninth verse thus reads: “And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down.” There is a ministry of warning. Men may not go themselves to battle, and yet they may be controlling the fortunes of war. We need statesmen, spiritual interpreters, religious teachers, men of thought and men of prayer; and they may be doing more practical work than is being done by those who are engaged in the physical work of leading armies and commanding military hosts. This is what Elisha did. He felled no tree; he wielded no sword; and yet, alike in the building of the college and in the direction of the war, his was the supreme mind. The prophet saved the king. This must always be the case. The great man of the nation is the man who can think most profoundly and most comprehensively. The architect is a greater man than the builder. The prophet is a greater man than the king. He reads more; he sees further; he grasps a larger field. He is master of metaphysical principles: and metaphysical principles alone endure: they wear the clothes of the present time; they adopt the form of the passing generation, but they go on from age to age, themselves always the same, their adaptations being addressed to the immediate necessities of the people. We have been told that “justice is not an intermittent apparition.” That is perfectly true in one sense; but justice is often a deferred creditor, and sometimes that may be done tomorrow which cannot be justly done today. The prophet sees all this; he looks ahead; he has a larger horizon than is accessible to the vision of other men. So let it stand, an eternal lesson, that the greatest men in any nation are the men who can think most, pray best, feel most deeply, and penetrate the metaphysics and the inmost reality of politics and of civilisation.
Spiritual power is not only useful in one direction; it is alarming in another. When the king of Syria felt himself baffled, all his plans thrown into uncontrollable bewilderment, his heart was sore troubled. It is the Immeasurable that frightens men. It is the Unknown Quantity that troubles all their calculations, and gives them to feel that after they have completed their arithmetic their conclusion is a lie. What was in the air? Whose was this ghostly presence that was upsetting Benhadad’s well-laid schemes? What was it, or who, that always went before him, and that made his proposals abortive, and turned all his policies into mocking nothings? Had there been any man who was visible and measurable, that man could have been dealt with. There is always a quantity equal to any quantity that is known. What is wanting in one way can be made up in another; as, for example, what is wanting in number may be made up in quality. As one great leader said in ancient history, when his soldiers were saying they were too few for the battle, “How many do you count me for?” That touched the fire of the army, and inspired the soldiers with confidence. But when the element that troubles the heart is not visible, not measurable, when it is here, there, round about, above, below, spectral, something in the wind, then even Benhadad, with his footmen and horsemen and chariots, cannot come at the awful thing. It is a presence without a shape, an influence without a magnitude. Now, this spectral ministry has never been wanting in human history. There is always something which even statesmen cannot calculate upon. There is not only a spirit in man, there is a spirit in the universe, there is a spirit in wide civilisation. Is it a spirit of justice? Is it a spirit of criticism? Is it a spirit of holiness? There it is, however, whatever it be; and we must take that into account when we lay our plans. The rich man made a map of his estate, drew it in beautiful and vivid and graphic lines, and when it was all done, he said: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry; thy fortune is assured.” “But” then the voice not human was heard “but God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” Then the one thing, as we have often had occasion to say, which the rich man had forgotten in his calculations was God; in other words, was everything; or, in other terms still, was the only thing worth remembering, and ought to have been the first thing in the opening line of the calculation. Consult your own life, and say what it is that upsets your plan. You left the door open, purposing to return presently; and behold, when you do go back the door is shut from the inside locked, bolted; the wood is turned to iron, and there is no admission for you! Who did this? Lift up your voice; cry aloud; demand in emphatic tones: “Who did it?” and the dumb universe will not even grant you the reply of an echo. How is this? Surely “things are not what they seem.” Surely there is a Throne above all other thrones; a Power higher than all known might. The Christian gives the answer a sure, strong, happy answer: “The Lord reigneth: he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.”
Now the matter was revealed to the king, and he took means to remove the spectral influence. He made this arrangement: “Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him;” and when he knew that Elisha was in Dothan the king sent “thither horses and chariots and a great host.” What unconscious tributes bad men pay to good influences! Men do not know wholly what they are doing. Why, this was but a poor prophet, wearing a hairy robe that had descended to him; he was no king; he had no sword, he had no horse: he was but a man of prayer. How did Benhadad propose to capture him? The king sent “horses and chariots and a great host” to take a man whose sword was the word of God, whose helmet was the defence of the Most High, whose breast-plate was Righteousness! Here are three arms of the Syrian service footmen, horsemen, chariots; and remember that these were all employed to bring one poor man to the king’s presence! Might not Elisha have said before Antigonus uttered it, “How many do you count me for?” He might well have taunted the king of Syria, saying: “Why all this ado? Would not one soldier have been enough to take one prophet? He might have come on foot; a horse was not necessary, and certainly not a sword; one soldier might surely have arrested me.” But bad men unconsciously pay tribute to good men. They say, in effect, “Elisha is only one, but a stubborn one; only one tree, but his roots seem to have spread themselves through the earth, and to have taken hold of the entire scheme of things; he is only one, yet, strangely, he is many in one.” And this, indeed, was the interpretation given by Elisha, for he said: “They that be with us are more than they that be with them,” Who can tell how many angels are round about the praying-man? How is it that when the arresting hand is laid upon some men it becomes softened, the muscles relax, and have no more pith in them, and the men come back to say: “Never man spake like this man; arrest him we cannot”? This is a tribute paid to the Christian religion. Men have passed parliamentary statutes against it, but the religion of the cross has outlived the statutes has seen them grow into yellow letters, has observed them being cancelled, or otherwise passing into obsoleteness. Who can hinder the progress of the divine kingdom? Who can stay the chariot of God, saying: “No further shalt thou proceed”? Remember, Christian men, that you do not stand in your units only. You are not simply ones and twos. Not by arithmetic is your force or influence to be measured. You are the mediums through which the Spirit of the living God operates upon the age. Give him a noble outlet. Give him a free way through your heart, and say: “Make use of me, thou living Christ, so that I may be the means of occasioning immeasurable good to the age in which I live.” Blessed are they whose defences are spiritual. Rich are they who are rich in faith, heirs for ever, never to be cut off by any law of parliament, who, through Christ, inherit the kingdom that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.
We are now brought to a very striking point in the incident. The servant of Elisha came back, saying: “Alas, my master! how shall we do? I have been up early, and behold a host compasses the city, both with horses and chariots.” Then Elisha said; “Lord, open his eyes: let this young man see; at present he can only look upon appearances which are not realities. The universe is within the universe. The Bible is within the Bible. The man is within the man. This servant of mine sees only the outer circle, the rim or rind of things, Lord, show him the reality; let him see, and then he will be at peace.” There is a view of sight; there is a view of faith. The worldly man goes by what his bodily eyes notice or discern; the spiritually-minded man walks by faith, not by sight. The telescope does not create the stars; the telescope only reveals them, or enables the eye to see them. If, then, a telescope can do this, shall we deny to that spiritual power within us called Faith the power which we ascribe to a mechanical instrument which our own hands have fashioned? Look upon a given object say you take a piece of glass, two inches square; look upon it, and say: Is there anything upon that glass? And looking with the naked eye, the sharpest man would say: “No, that glass is perfectly free from blot or stain, or flaw, or inscription of any kind whatsoever.” Now put that same two-inch square of glass under a microscope; and look through the microscope. What is upon it? A portrait, or a long writing say the Lord’s Prayer upon a speck not discernible by the naked eye. If, then, we ascribe such wonderful powers to a glass which we ourselves have determined as to its size and relation to other glasses, shall we deny to a certain spiritual faculty the power of seeing that which cannot be discriminated by unaided reason? By all the pressure of analogy, by all the reasoning of inference, we insist that, if such wonderful things can be done mechanically, things at least equally wonderful can be done by forces that are spiritual. The sun does not make the landscape; the sun only shows it. A man may stand upon a high hill on a dull, gray day and say: “I can imagine what this would be when the sun was shining.” But no man can imagine light. It stands as a sacred mystery in our life that the sun never comes within the lines of imagination. The sunlight is a continual surprise, even to the eyes that have most reverently and lovingly studied it. When the sun looks upon the landscape there are new colours, new distances, new forms; a whole work is wrought upon the landscape which can only be described by the word “wizardry.” So it is with the Bible, the great work of the living God. Look at it with the natural vision, and you may discover in it particular beauties. You may say: “The poetry is noble; the English is pure; and the moral sentiment of the book is not without a certain elevation.” But the book wants no such reluctant or impoverished compliments. Let the soul be touched by the Spirit that wrote the book; let the eyes be anointed by the living God; and then the Bible is like a landscape shone upon by the noonday’s cloudless sun. Then the reverent reader says: “The half had not been told me; up to this time I have been as one blind, but now I see;” and evermore the opened eyes are fascinated by the disclosed beauties of revelation, and to the end the observer reads with heightening delight and with still more glowing thankfulness.
Elisha took his own way with the Syrian army, and here occurs a point worthy of special note. When the Lord smote the people with blindness according to the word of Elisha, “Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.” What! Then did the man of God resort to a false strategy? This is a very serious case indeed, and has occasioned a good deal of difficulty. Nor need we wonder, for in The Speaker’s Commentary we find such words as these: “Untruth has been held by all moralists to be justifiable towards a public enemy. Where we have a right to kill, much more have we a right to deceive by stratagem.” When words like these occur in a Christian Commentary, no wonder that infidelity should seize upon the annotation as a prize, or use it as a weapon. No such comment can we adopt in perusing this portion of sacred Scripture. It cannot be justifiable to treat a public enemy by untruth or deception. We have no right to kill, and therefore we have no right to deceive by stratagem. This is not the way to recommend the word of the living God. The incident must be taken in its totality. The reader must not arrest the progress of the narrative by stopping here or there to ask a question; he must see the incident in its completeness, and, seeing it, he will have reason further to glorify God for the pure morality of the book and the noble spirit of the record. Elisha might well so far follow his illustrious predecessor as to use the weapon of irony or taunting in dealing with the Lord’s enemies. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal: “Cry aloud: for he is a god.” As well might we stop there and say: “By Elijah’s own testimony deity was ascribed to Baal.” We forget the irony of the tone; we forget that Elijah was mocking the debased prophets. So Elisha might say: “This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek.” There was a taunt in the tone; there was sarcasm in the emphasis. Nor is the verse to be read in its unity; it is to be read as part and parcel of a whole narrative. Now what became of all this so-called deception and stratagem? When the people were come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” He prayed first that their sight might be taken away. That seemed to be cruel. Now he prays that their sight may be given to them again. “And, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father,” as if he had become a convert. The son of Ahab and the son of Jezebel said to Elisha: “My father” a reluctant and hypocritical compliment, for Jehoram could be neither reverent nor true. But, said he, observing the prize that was before him: “Shall I smite them? shall I smite them?” a Hebraism equal to “Smiting, shall I smite?” an equivalent of “Blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee.” So Jehoram said: “Shall I smiting, smite them?” And the prophet said: “No.” Now let us hear what this man can say who has been judged guilty of untruth and of stratagem? And the prophet said, “Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow?” equal to: “If you yourself have won the victory then you can smite; but you did not take these men, and therefore you shall not smite them: what you have taken by your own sword and spear may be your lawful prize in war: but here is a capture with which you have had nothing to do.” What, then, is to be done? Hear Elisha: “Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” And so great provision was prepared; “and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.” We might even excuse a strategic act in order to secure such a conclusion.
What was the effect? “The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” This is the true revenge. This is the great miracle. “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” “Love your enemies” is the great Christian maxim. Here is Christ operating in Elisha; here is the pre-incarnate Son of God; here is the Gospel in the Old Testament. Let us use our enemies in the same way. If, for a little time, we seem to practise upon them that which brings them into our power, let us see to it, that when they are in our hands they shall feel that, however desirable it may be to have a giant’s strength, it is tyrannous to use it. Having got them into our power, let them hear how we can pray; let them observe how liberal we can be; let them carry back to the land of Syria the news that the kings of Israel are merciful kings, and the prophets of Israel are men of great, glowing, noble hearts. In this way by our benefactions we preach without words. In this way we comment upon the Spirit of the Cross which is the Spirit of Love!
Selected Note
Does the king of Syria devise well-concerted schemes for the destruction of Israel? God inspires Elisha to detect and lay them open to Jehoram. Benhadad, on hearing that it was he that thus caused his hostile movements to be frustrated, sent an armed band to Dothan in order to bring him bound to Damascus. The prophet’s servant, on seeing the host of the enemy which invested Dothan, was much alarmed; but by the prayer of Elisha God reveals to him the mighty company of angels which were set for their defence. Regardless of consequences, the prophet went forth to meet the hostile band: and having again prayed, God so blinded them that they could not recognise the object of their search. The prophet then promised to lead them to where they might see him with the natural eye. Trusting to his guidance, they followed on till they reached the centre of Samaria, when, the optical illusion being removed, Elisha stands in his recognised form before them! Who can tell their confusion and alarm at this moment? The king is for putting them all to death; but, through the interposition of him whom they had just before sought to destroy, they were honourably dismissed to their own country (b.c. 892). But a year had scarcely elapsed from this time when Benhadad, unmindful of Israel’s kindness and forbearance, invests Samaria and reduces its inhabitants to such a state of starvation that an ass’s head, a proscribed animal by the Levitical law, was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab a quart or three pints of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
IV
THE SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS
The more important passages bearing on this subject are 1Sa 3:1-4 ; 1Sa 10:5 ; 1Sa 10:9-12 ; 1Sa 18:13-24 ; 1Ki 19:18 ; 1Ki 19:20-21 ; 1Ki 20:35 ; 2Ki 2:3-5 ; 2Ki 4:38 ; 2Ki 6:1 ; 1Ch 29:29 ; 2Ch 9:29 ; 2Ch 12:15 ; 2Ch 13:22 and other chapters in that book I do not enumerate. The last one is Amo 7:14-15 . The reader will understand that I give these instead of a prescribed section in the Harmony. These constitute the basis of this discussion.
Let us distinguish between the prophetic gift and the prophetic office , and give some examples. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, his seventy elders, Balaam, Joshua, and others before Samuel’s time had the gift, but not the office; perhaps we may except Moses as in a measure having the office. After Samuel’s time, David, many of his singers, and particularly Daniel, had the gift in a high degree, but not the office. Moreover, the high priests from Aaron to Caiphas in Christ’s time, were supposed to have officially the gift of prophecy that is, to hear and report what the Oracle said but Samuel is the first who held the office.
The distinction between a prophet and a son of a prophet is this: A son of a prophet was a candidate for the office, ministering to the prophet, a disciple instructed by him, consecrated to the work, and qualifying himself to perform the services of the office with the highest efficiency. A prophet is one who, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks or writes for God. In this inspiration he is God’s mouth or pen, speaking or writing not his own words, but God’s words. This inspiration guides and superintends his speech and his silence; what is recorded and what is omitted from the record. The gift of prophecy was not one of uniform quantity nor necessarily enduring. The gifts were various in kind, and might be for one occasion only. As to variety of kinds, the revelation might come in dreams or open visions, or it might consist of an ecstatic trance expressed in praise or song or prayer. If praise, song, or prayer, its form was apt to be poetic, particularly if accompanied by instrumental music.
As to the duration of the gift, it might be for one occasion only, or a few, or many. The scriptures show that the spirit of prophecy came upon King Saul twice only, and each time in the form of an ecstatic trance. In his early life it came as a sign that God had chosen him as king. In his later life the object of it was to bar his harmful approach to David. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12-14 inclusive, explains the diversity of these gifts and their relative importance.
There are two periods of Hebrew history in which we find clearest notices of the schools of the prophets, the proofs of their persistence between the periods, and their influence on the nation. The notices are abundant in the time of Samuel, and in the time of Elijah and Elisha, but you have only to study the book of Chronicles to see that the prophetic order, as an office, continued through these periods and far beyond. Later you will learn that in the time of persecution fifty of these prophets were hidden in a cave and fed regularly. The object of the enemy was to destroy these theological seminaries, believing that they could never lead the nation astray while these schools of the prophets continued. Their object, therefore, was to destroy these seats of theological education. Elijah supposed that every one of them was killed except himself, but he was mistaken.
Samuel was the founder of the first school of the prophets, and the scripture which shows his headship 1Sa 19:20 , where Saul is sending messengers to take David, and finally goes himself and finds the school of the prophets, with Samuel as its appointed head. The reason for such a school in Samuel’s time is shown, first, by an extract from Kirkpatrick’s Commentary on 1 Samuel, page 33. He says:
Samuel was the founder of the prophetic order. Individuals in previous ages had been endowed with prophetic gifts, but with Samuel commenced the regular succession of prophets which lasted through all the period of the monarchy, and did not cease until after the captivity. The degeneracy into which the priesthood had fallen through the period of the judges demanded the establishment of a new order for the religious training of the nation.
For this purpose Samuel founded the institutions known as the schools of the prophets. The “company of prophets” at Gibeah (1Sa 10:10 ) and the scene at Ramah described in 1Sa 19:18 ff., imply a regular organization. These societies are only definitely mentioned again in connection with the history’ of Elijah and Elisha but doubtless continued to exist in the interval. By means of these the Order was maintained, students were educated, and common religious exercises nurtured and developed spiritual gifts.
Kirkpatrick’s is a fine commentary. The priests indeed were instructors of the people, but the tendency of the priesthood was to rest in external sacrifices, and to trust in a mere ritualistic form of sacrifice. That is the trouble always where you have a ritual. And after a while both priest and worshiper began to rely upon the external type, and on external conformity with the ritual. God needed better mouthpieces than those, hence while in the past there was a prophetic gift here and there, he now establishes the prophetic school, or society, in which training, bearing upon the prophetic office, should be continuous. The value of these schools of the prophets is also seen from Kirkpatrick, page 1 Samuel 34:
The value of the prophetic order to the Jewish nation was immense. The prophets were privy-counsellors of kings, the historians of the nation, the instructors of the people. It was their function to be preachers of righteousness to rich and poor alike: to condemn idolatry in the court, oppression among the nobles, injustice among the judges, formality among the priests. They were the interpreters of the law who drew out by degrees the spiritual significance which underlay ritual observance, and labored to prevent sacrifice and sabbath and festival from becoming dead and unmeaning forms. Strong in the unshaken consciousness that they were expressing the divine will, they spoke and acted with a fearless courage which no threats could daunt or silence.
Thus they proved a counterpoise to the despotism of monarchy and the formalism of priesthood. In a remarkable passage in his essay on “Representative Government,” Mr. John Stuart Mill attributes to their influence the progress which distinguished the Jews from other Oriental nations. “The Jews,” he writes, “had an absolute monarchy and hierarchy. These did for them what was done for other Oriental races by their institutions subdued them to industry and order, and gave them a national life. . . . Their religion gave existence to an inestimably precious institution, the order of prophets. Under the protection, generally though not always effectual, of their sacred character, the prophets were a power in the nation, often more than a match for kings and priests, and kept up in that little corner of the earth the antagonism of influences which is the only real security for continued progress.”
I was surprised the first time I ever saw the statement from Mill. He was a radical evolutionist and infidel, but a statesman, and in studying the development of statesmanship among the nations, he saw this singular thing in the history of the Jews, unlike anything he saw anywhere else, and saw what it was that led that nation, when it went into backsliding, to repentance; what power it was that brought about the reformation when their morals were corrupted; what power it was that was the real light of the nation and the salt of the earth, and saw that it was this order of prophets which was the conservator of national unity, purity, and perpetuity. I have the more pleasure in quoting that passage, as it comes from a witness in no way friendly to Christianity, just as when I was discussing missions I quoted the testimony of Charles Darwin to the tremendous influence for good wrought by the missionaries of South America.
Particularly in this case of the schools of the prophets we find their value, by noting very carefully the bearing on the case under Samuel. We have already noticed the corruption of the priesthood under Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas; how the ark was captured, the central place of worship desecrated; how Samuel, called to the office of prophet, needed assistance, and how he instituted this school of the prophets. He gathered around him the brightest young men of the nation and had the Spirit of God rest on them, and in order that their instruction might be regular he organized them into companies, or schools; he would go from one to another, and these young “theologs” were under the instruction of Samuel and for twenty years worked as evangelists in making sensitive the national conscience. It took twenty years to do it, and he could not have done it by himself, but with that tremendous power, the help he had, at the end of twenty years, he saw the nation repentant and once more worshiping God. I am for a theological seminary that will do that.
I give a modern example somewhat parallel: Mr. Spurgeon was called to the city of London, when about nineteen years old, to be the pastor of the old historic church of Dr. Gill, and in his evangelical preaching impressed a number of men to feel that they were also called to preach (if your preaching does not impress somebody else to preach, you may be sure that you are not called to preach), and it impressed the women and a multitude of laymen to do active Christian service. Therefore, Mr. Spurgeon organized what is called “The Pastoral College.” He wouldn’t let a drone be in it; he did not want anybody in it that was not spiritually minded. In other words, he insisted that a preacher should be religiously inclined, and should be ready to do any kind of work. He supported this institution largely through his own contributions, although the men and women all over England, when they saw what it was doing, would send money for its support. I used to read the monthly reports of the contributions and the list of donors that accompanied them.
Mr. Spurgeon determined to work a revolution, just as Samuel did, and he used this school of the prophets for that purpose. Consequently, hundreds of young preachers belonging to that school of the prophets preached in the slums of the city, in the byways, in the highways, in the hedges, in the mines, on the wharves to the sailors, and in the hospitals. Hundreds of laymen said, “Put us to work,” and he did; he had pushcarts made for them, and filled them with books and so sent out over the town literature that was not poisonous. He put the women to work, and established) or rather perpetuated in better form, a number of the almshouses for the venerable old women who were poor and helpless, following out the suggestion in 2 Timothy, and he erected a hospital. Then they got to going further afield. They went all over England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, crossed over into the Continent, crossed the seas to Australia, and the islands of the seas, and into heathen lands. I have always said that Spurgeon’s Pastoral College came nearer to the Bible idea of a seminary than any other in existence. There was not so much stress laid on mere scholarship as on spiritual efficiency.
It is important to note particularly what I am saying now, because it was burnt into my heart as one of the reasons for establishing a theological seminary. The nature of that society was that it was a school. They left their homes and came to stay at this school, with what we now call a mess hall in which all the theological students, by contributing so much, have their table in common. It was that way then; they had their meals in common. In preparing dinner one day for the sons of the prophets, somebody put a lot of wild gourds into the pot, and when they began to eat it, one of them cried out: “Ah, man of God, there’s death in the pot!” Once I preached a sermon on this theme: “Wild Gourds and Theological Seminaries,” to show that to feed the students in theological seminaries on wild gourds of heresy is to put death in the pot; they will do more harm than good, as they will become instruments of evil.
In determining what were their duties, we must consult quite a number of passages. We gather from this passage that they were thoroughly instructed in the necessity of repentance, individually and nationally, and of turning from their sins and coming back to God with faithful obedience. That lesson was ground in them. They were taught the interpretation of the spiritual meaning of the law, all its sacrifices, its feasts, its types, and therefore when you are studying a prophet in the Old Testament you will notice how different his idea of types and ceremonies from that of the priests. They will tell you that to do without eating is fasting, but the prophet will show that literal fasting is not true fasting; that there must be fasting at heart; that there must be a rending of the soul and not the garment as an expression of repentance; that to obey God w better than a formal sacrifice.
Another thing they were taught, which I wish particularly to emphasize, was music, both vocal and instrumental. In that school of the prophets started the tremendous power of music in religion so wonderfully developed by David, who got many of his ideas from associating with the schools of the prophets. And from that time unto this, every evangelical work, and all powerful religious work, has been associated with music, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament; not merely vocal, but instrumental music. The heart of a religion is expressed in its songs, and if you want to get at the heart of your Old Testament you find it in the hymnbook of the Hebrew nation the Psalter. It is indeed an interesting study to see what has been the influence of great hymns on the national life. There is an old proverb: “You may make the laws of the people, if you will let me write their ballads.” Where is there a man capable of measuring the influence of “How Firm a Foundation,” or “Come, Thou Fount,” or “Did Christ O’er Sinners Weep?” There is a rich literature on the influence of hymns on the life.
In the awful times of the struggle in England, Charles I against the Parliament, one faction of the nation held to ritualism, while the other followed spirituality, even to the extreme of not allowing any form, not even allowing any instruments of music. One of the finest stories of this period is the account of a church that observed the happy medium, using instrumental as well as vocal music, and congregational singing as well as the use of the choir; every sabbath somebody’s soul was melted in the power of that mighty singing. I can’t sing myself, but I can carry the tunes in my mind, and I can be more influenced by singing than by preaching. It was singing that convicted me of sin. It was on a waving, soaring melody of song that my soul was converted. I once knew a rugged, one-eyed, homely, old pioneer Baptist preacher, who looked like a pirate until his religion manifested itself, and then he was beautiful. I heard him one day when a telegram was put into his hand stating that his only son had just been killed by being thrown from a horse. While weeping, his face became illumined; he got up and clapped his hands and walked through that audience, singing, “O, Jesus, My Saviour, to Thee I Submit.”
John Bunyan wrote that song while in Bedford Jail. They had put him there to keep him from preaching, and looking out through the bars of the dungeon he saw his poor blind girl, Mary, begging bread, and he sat down and wrote that hymn. The effect of the old preacher’s singing John Bunyan’s song was a mighty revival.
The relation of the schools of the prophets to modern theological seminaries is this: The purpose was the same. And so in New Testament times, Jesus recognized that if he wanted to revolutionize the world by evangelism he must do it with trained men. He did not insist that they be rich, great or mighty men. He did not insist that they be scholars. He called them from among the common people, and he kept them right with him for three years and a half, and diligently instructed them in the principles and spirit of his kingdom. He taught them in a variety of forms; in parables, in proverbs, in exposition, illustrating his teachings by miracles, and in hundreds of ways in order that they might be equipped to go out and lead the world to Christ. You cannot help being impressed with this fact: That the theological seminaries in Samuel’s time and in Christ’s time were intensely practical, the object being not to make learned professors, but to fill each one with electricity until you could call him a “live wire,” so that it burnt whoever touched it.
This is why I called Samuel a great man, and why in a previous discussion, counting the men as the peaks in a mountain range, sighting back from Samuel to Abraham, only one other peak comes into line of vision, and that is Moses.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the more important passages bearing on the schools of the prophets?
2. Distinguish between the prophetic gift and the prophetic office and illustrate by examples.
3. Distinguish between a prophet and a son of a prophet.
4. What is the meaning of prophet?
5. In what two periods of Hebrew history do we find the clearest notices of the school of prophets, what are the proofs of their persistence between these periods, and what is their influence on the nation?
6. Who was the founder of the first school of the prophets?
7. What scripture shows his headship?
8. What was the reason for such school in Samuel’s time?
9. What was the value of these schools of the prophets, and particularly in this case, and what illustration from modern instances?
10. What was the nature of that society, and what was the instruction given?
11. What was the relation of the schools of the prophets to modern theological seminaries?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
IX
ELISHA, THE SUCCESSOR OF ELIJAH
2Ki 2:13-13:21
For the sake of unity, this chapter, like the one on Elijah, will be confined to a single person, Elisha, who was the minister, the disciple, and the successor of the prophet Elijah. “Minister” means an attendant who serves another generally a younger man accompanying and helping an older man. A passage illustrating this service 2Ki 3:11 : “Elisha, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” We may here recall a situation when no wash basin was convenient, and the water was poured on our hands for our morning ablutions. A corresponding New Testament passage is Act 13:5 : “Paul and Barnabas had John Mark to their minister,” that is, the young man, John Mark, attended the two older preachers, and rendered what service he could. Elisha was also a disciple of Elijah. A disciple is a student studying under a teacher. In the Latin we call the teacher magister. Elijah was Elisha’s teacher in holy things. Then Elisha was a successor to Elijah. Elijah held the great office of prophet to Israel, and in view of his speedy departure, God told him to anoint Elisha to be his successor, that is, successor as prophet to the ten tribes.
About four years before the death of Ahab, 800 B.C., Elijah, acting under a commission from God, found Elisha plowing, and the record says, “with twelve yoke of oxen.” I heard a cowman once say that it was sufficient evidence of a man’s fitness to preach when he could plow twelve yoke of oxen and not swear. But the text may mean that Elisha himself plowed with one yoke, and superintended eleven other plowmen. Anyhow, Elijah approached him and dropped his mantle around him. That was a symbolic action, signifying, “When I pass away you must take my mantle and be my successor.” Elisha asked permission to attend to a few household affairs. He called together all the family, and announced that God had called him to a work so life-filling he must give up the farm life and devote himself to the higher business. To symbolize the great change in vocation he killed his own yoke of oxen and roasted them with his implements of husbandry; and had a feast of the family to celebrate his going into the ministry. It is a great thing when the preacher knows how to burn the bridges behind him, and when the family of the preacher recognizes the fulness and completeness of the call to the service of God.
The lesson of this and other calls is that no man can anticipate whom God will call to be his preacher. He called this man from the plow handles. He called Amos from the gathering of sycomore fruit; he called Matthew from the receipt of custom; he called the fishermen from their nets; he called a doctor in the person of Luke. We cannot foretell; the whole matter must be left to God and to God alone, for he alone may put a man into the ministry. I heard Dr. Broadus preach a great sermon on that once: “I thank Christ Jesus, my Lord, for that he hath enabled me and counted me faithful, putting me into this ministry, who was before a blasphemer.”
Elijah served as a prophet fifty-five years. That is a long ministry. There were six kings of Israel before he passed away, as follows: Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash. There were five sovereigns of Judah, to wit: Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah (this one a woman) and Joash. Athaliah was queen by usurpation.
God said to Elijah, “Anoint Elisha to be thy successor; anoint Jehu to be king of Israel, and anoint Hazael to be king of Syria.” Now here were two men God-appointed to the position of king, as this man was to the position of prophet, and we distinguish them in this way: It does not follow that because the providence of God makes a man to be king, that the man is conscious of his divine call, like the one who is called to be a preacher. For instance, he says, “I called Cyrus to do what I wanted done: I know him, though he does not know me.” The lesson is that God’s rule is supreme over all offices. Even the most wicked are overruled to serve his general purposes in the government of the world.
The biblical material for a sketch of Elisha’s life 1Ki 19:16 to 2Ki 13:21 . Elisha means, “God the Saviour.” The Greek form is Elisaios; we find it in the Greek text of Luk 4:27 , where our Lord says, “There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elisaios. ” “Elijah” is Hebrew, and “Elias” is the corresponding Greek word; “Elisha” is Hebrew, and “Elisaios” is the corresponding Greek form.
We will now distinguish between the work of Elijah and Elisha, giving some likenesses and some unlikenesses. In the chapter on Elijah attention has already been called to the one great unlikeness, viz: that Elijah did not live in public sight; he appeared only occasionally for a very short time. Elisha’s whole life was in the sight of the public; he had a residence in the city of Samaria, and a residence at Gilgal; he was continually passing from one theological seminary to another; he was in the palaces of the kings, and they always knew where to find him. He had a great deal to do with the home life of the people, with the public life of the people and with the governmental life of the people. There were some points of likeness in their work, so obvious I need not now stop to enumerate them. Elijah’s life was more ascetic, and his ministry was mainly a ministry of judgment, while Elisha’s was one of mercy.
The New Testament likenesses of these two prophets are as follows: Elijah corresponds to John the Baptist, and Elisha’s ministry is very much like the ministry of Jesus in many respects.
There were many schools of the prophets in the days of Elijah and Elisha. Commencing with Jericho we have one; the next was at Bethel; the third at Gilgal not the Gilgal near Jericho but the one in the hill country of Ephraim and there was one at Mount Carmel. These stretched across the whole width of the country four theological seminaries. The history shows us that Elijah, just before his translation, visited every one of them in order, and that Elisha, as soon as Elijah was translated, visited the same ones in reverse order, and there is one passage in the text that tells us that he was continually doing this.
I think the greatest work of Elisha’s life was this instruction work; it was the most far-reaching; it provided a great number of men to take up the work after he passed away. Indeed the schools of the prophets were the great bulwarks of the kingdom of God for 500 years during the Hebrew monarchy. We cannot put the finger on a reformation, except one, in that five hundred years that the prophets did not start. One priest carried on a reformation we will come to it later. But the historians, the poets, the orators, the reformers, and the revivalists, all came from the prophets. Every book in the Bible is written by a man that had the prophetic spirit. Elisha was the voice of God to the conscience of the kings and the people, and when we study the details of his life we will see that as the government heard and obeyed Elisha it prospered, and as it went against his counsel it met disaster.
We have two beautiful stories that show his work in the homes. One of them is the greatest lesson on hospitality that I know of in the Bible. A wealthy family lived right on the path between the Gilgal seminary and the Mount Carmel seminary. The woman of the house called her husband’s attention to the fact that the man of God, Elisha, was continually passing to and fro by their house; that he was a good man, and that they should build a little chamber on the wall to be the prophet’s chamber. “We will put a little table in it, and a chair, and a bed, and we will say to him, Let this be your home when you are passing through.” Elisha was very much impressed with this woman’s thoughtfulness, and the reason for it. He asked her what he could do for her. But she lived among her own people, wanted no favor from the king nor the general of the army. Elisha’s servant suggested that she was childless, so he prophesied to her that within a year she would be the mother of a son. The son was born and grew up to be a bright boy, and, like other boys, followed his father to the field. One hot day when they were reaping and it was very hot in reaping time over there he had a sunstroke and said, “My head! My head!” The father told his servant to take him to his mother as usual, let a child get sick and the daddy is sure to say, “Take him to his mother.” I don’t know what would become of the children if the mothers did not take care of them when they are sick. But the boy died. The woman had a beast saddled and went to the seminary at Mount Carmel. She knew Elisha was there for he had not passed back. It was a very touching story. Anyhow, Elisha restored the boy to life, and to show how it lingered in his mind, years afterward he sent word to her that there would be a famine of seven years, and she had better migrate until the famine was over. She went away for seven years, and when she came back a land-grabber had captured her home and her inheritance. She appealed the case to Elisha, and Elisha appealed the case to the king, and then the kin said, “Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.” When he had heard the full story of this man’s work he said, “Let this woman have her home back again, and interest for all the time it has been used by another.” This is a very sweet story of family life.
There is another story. One of the “theologs ” I do not know how young he was, for he had married and had children the famine pressed so debt was incurred, and they had a law then we find it in the Mosaic code that they might make a bondman of the one who would not pay his debts. The wife of this “theolog” came to Elisha and said, “My husband is one of the prophets; the famine has brought very hard times, and my boys are about to be enslaved because we cannot pay the debt.” Then he wrought the miracle that we will consider a little later, and provided for the payment of the debt of that wife of the prophet and for the sustenance of them until the famine passed away.
These two stories show how this man in going through the country affected the family life of the people; there may have been hundreds of others. I want to say that I have traveled around a good deal in my days, over every county in this state. It may be God’s particular providence, but I have never been anywhere that I did not find good people. In the retrospect of every trip of my life there is a precious memory of godly men that I met on the trip. I found one in the brush in Parker County, where it looked like a “razor-back” hog could not make a living, and they were very poor. I was on my way to an association, and must needs pass through this jungle, and stopped about noon at a small house in the brush, where I received the kindest hospitality in my life. They were God’s children. They fixed the best they had to eat, and it was good, too the best sausage I ever did eat. So this work of Elisha among the families pleases me. I have been over such ground, and I do know that the preacher who is unable to find good, homes and good people, and who is unable to leave a blessing behind him in the homes, is a very poor preacher. I have been entertained by the great governors of the state and the generals of armies, but I have never enjoyed any hospitality anywhere more precious than in that log cabin in the jungle.
The next great work of Elisha was the miracles wrought by him. There were two miracles of judgment. One was when he cursed the lads of Bethel that place of idolatry and turned two she-bears loose that tore up about forty of them. That is one judgment) and I will discuss that in the next chapter. Just now I am simply outlining the man’s whole life for the sake of unity.
The second miracle of judgment was the inflicting on Gehazi the leprosy of Naaman. The rest of his miracles were miracles of patriotism or of mercy. The following is a list (not of every one, for every time he prophesied it was a miracle): 2Ki 2:14 tells us that he divided the Jordan with the mantle of Elijah; 2Ki 2:19 , that he healed the bad springs of Jericho, the water that made the people sick and made the land barren, which was evidently a miracle of mercy. The third miracle recorded is in 2Ki 2:23 , his sending of the she-bears (referred to above) ; the fourth is recorded in 2Ki 3:16 , the miracle of the waters. Three armies led by three kings were in the mountains of Edom, on their way to attack Moab. There was no water, and they were about to perish, and they appealed to Elisha. He told them to go out to the dry torrent bed and dig trenches saying, “To-morrow all of those trenches will be full of water, and you won’t see a cloud nor hear it thunder.” It was a miracle in the sense that he foresaw how that water would come from rain in the mountains. I have seen that very thing happen. Away off in the mountains there may be rain one can’t see it nor hear it from where he is in the valley. The river bed is as dry as a powder horn, and it looks as if there never will be any rain. I was standing in a river bed in West Texas once, heard a roaring, looked up and saw a wave coming down that looked to me to be about ten feet high the first wave and it was carrying rocks before it that seemed as big as a house, and rolling them just as one would roll a marble.. So his miracle consisted in his knowledge of that storm which they could not see nor hear. If they had not dug the trenches they would have still had no water for a mountain torrent is very swift to fall. In that place where I was, in fifteen minutes there was a river, and in two or three hours it had all passed away. But the trenches of Elisha were filled from the passing flood.
The fifth miracle is recorded in 2Ki 4:2-7 , the multiplying of the widow’s oil, that prophet’s wife that I have already referred to. The sixth miracle is recorded in 2Ki 4:8-37 , first the giving and then the restoring to life of the son of the Shunamite. The seventh is given in 2Ki 4:38 , the healing of the poisonous porridge: “Ah, man of God! there is death in the pot,” or “theological seminaries and wild gourds.” The eighth miracle is found in 2Ki 5:1-4 , the multiplying of the twenty loaves so as to feed 100 men. The ninth, 2Ki 5:1-4 , the healing of Naaman’s leprosy, and the tenth, 2Ki 5:26-27 , the inflicting on Gehazi the leprosy of which Naaman was healed.
The eleventh miracle is found in 2Ki 6:1-7 , his making the ax to swim. One of the prophets borrowed an ax to increase the quarters; the seminary was growing and the place was too straight for them, and they had to enlarge it. They did not have axes enough, and one of them borrowed an ax. In going down to the stream to cut the wood, the head of the ax slipped off and fell into the water and there is a text: “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.” The miracle in this case was his suspension of the law of gravity, and making that ax head to swim, so that the man who lost it could just reach out and get it.
Twelfth, 2Ki 6:8-12 , the revealing of the secret thought of the Syrian king, even the thoughts of his bedchamber. No matter what, at night, the Syrian king thought out for the next day, Elisha knew it by the time he thought it, and would safeguard the attack at that point.
Thirteenth, 2Ki 6:15 , his giving vision to his doubtful servant when the great host came to capture them. The servant was scared. Elisha said, “Open this young man’s eyes, and let him see that they who are for us are more than those who are against us.” What a text! His eyes were opened, and he saw that hilltop guarded with the chariots of God and his angels. We need these eye openers when we get scared.
Fourteenth, the blinding of that Syrian host that came to take him. He took them and prayed to the Lord to open their eyes again. An Irishman reported at the first battle of Manasseh, thus: “I surrounded six Yankees and captured them.” Well, Elisha surrounded a little army and led them into captivity.
Fifteenth, 2Ki 7:6 , a mighty host of Syrians was besieging Samaria, until the women were eating their own children, the famine was so great. Elisha took the case to God, and that night, right over the Syrian camp was heard the sound of bugles and shouting, and the racing of chariots, and it scared them nearly to death. They thought a great army had been brought up, and a panic seized them, as a stampede seizes a herd of cattle, and they fled. They left their tents and their baggage: their provisions, their jewels, and the further they went the more things they dropped, all the way to the Jordan River, until they left a trail behind them of the cast-off incumbrances. The word “panic” comes from the heathen god, “Pan,” and the conception is that these sudden demoralizations must come from deity. I once saw sixteen steers put an army of 4,000 to flight, and I was one of the men. We were in a lane with a high fence on one side and a bayou on the other side, and suddenly, up the lane we heard the most awful clatter, and saw the biggest cloud of dust, and one of the men shouted, “The cavalry is on us! The cavalry is on us!” and without thinking everybody got scared. A lot of the men were found standing in the bayou up to their necks, others had gone over the fence and clear across the field without stopping. I did not get that far, but I got over the fence.
Sixteenth, 2Ki 8:2-6 , the foreseeing and foretelling of the seven years of famine.
Seventeenth, 2Ki 8:11 , the revelation of the very heart of Hazael to himself. He did not believe himself to be so bad a man. Elisha just looked at him and commenced weeping. Hazael could not understand. Elisha says, “I see how you are going to sweep over my country with fire and sword; I see the children that you will slay; I see the bloody trail behind you.” Hazael says, “Am I a dog, that I should do these things?” But Elisha under inspiration read the real man) and saw what there was in the man. One of the best sermons that I ever heard was by a distinguished English clergyman on this subject.
Eighteenth, 2Ki 13:14 , his dying prophecy.
Nineteenth, the miracle from his bones after he was buried. We will discuss that more particularly later.
We have thus seen his great teaching work, his relation to the government, and his miracles.
Now, let us consider some of his miracles more particularly. The Romanists misuse the miracle of the bones of Elisha, and that passage in Act 19:11-12 , where Paul sent out handkerchiefs and aprons, and miracles were wrought by them. On these two passages they found all their teachings of the relics of the saints, attributing miraculous power to a bit of the cross, and they have splinters enough of that “true cross” now scattered about to make a forest of crosses. In New Orleans an’ auctioneer said, “Today I have sold to seventeen men the cannon ball that killed Sir Edward Packenham.” The greatest superstition and fraud of the ages is the Romanist theory of the miracle working power of the reputed relics of the saints. Some of Elisha’s miracles were like some of our Lord’s. The enlargement of the twenty loaves to suffice for 100 men reminds us of two miracles of our Lord, and his curing a case of leprosy reminds us of many miracles of our Lord like that. In the Bible, miracles are always numerous in the great religious crises, where credentials are needed for God’s people, such as the great series of miracles in Egypt by Moses, the series of miracles in the days of Elisha and the miracles in the days of our Lord.
The greatest of Elisha’s work is his teaching work, greater than his work in relation to the government, his work in the families, or his miracles. I think the more far-reaching power of his work was in his teaching. There were spoken similar words at the exodus of Elijah and Elisha. When Elijah went up, Elisha said, “My Father! My Father! The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!” The same words are used when Elisha died. What does it mean? It pays the greatest compliment to the departed: that they alone were worth more to Israel than all its chariots, and its cavalry; that they were the real defenders of the nation.
At one point his work touched the Southern Kingdom, viz: When Moab was invaded, and he wrought that miracle of the waters, filled the trenches and supplied the thirsty armies. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah was along, and for his sake Elisha saved them.
There are many great pulpit themes in connection with Elisha’s history. I suggest merely a few: First, “Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me” that was his prayer when Elijah was leaving him; second, “The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof”; third, when he came to the Jordan he did not say, “Where is Elijah?” but he smote the Jordan and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” for it made no difference if Elijah was gone, God was there yet; fourth, “The oil stayed” not as long as the woman has a vessel to put it in; fifth, the little chamber on the wall; sixth, “Ah, man of God! There is death in the pot” or “theological seminaries and wild gourds” radical criticism, for instance there is death in the pot whenever preachers are fed on that sort of food; seventh, “Is it well with thy husband?” “Is it well?” and I will have frequently commenced a meeting with that text; eighth, Elisha’s staff in the hands of Gehazi, who was an unworthy man and the unworthy cannot wield the staff of the prophets; ninth, “Alas, my master, it was borrowed!”; tenth, the Growing Seminary “The place is too straight for us”; eleventh, “Make this valley full of trenches,” that is, the Lord will send the water, but there is something for us to do; let us have a place for it when it comes; twelfth, the secret thoughts of the bedchamber are known to God; thirteenth, “They that be with us are more than those that be against us”; fourteenth, “Tell me, I pray thee, all the great works done by Elisha.”
These are just a few in the great mine of Elijah or Elisha where we may dig down for sermons. The sermons ought to be full of meat; that is why we preach to feed the hungry. We should let our buckets down often into the well of salvation, for we cannot lower the well, and we may draw up a fresh sermon every Sunday. We should not keep on preaching the same sermon; it is first a dinner roast, then we give it cold for supper, then hash its fragments for breakfast, and make soup out of the bones for the next dinner, and next time we hold it over the pot and boil the shadow, and so the diet gets thinner and thinner. Let’s get a fresh one every time.
QUESTIONS
1. Who was Elisha?
2. What is the meaning of “minister to Elijah”? Illustrate and give corresponding passage in the New Testament.
3. What is the meaning of “Elisha, a disciple of Elijah”?
4. What is the meaning of “Elisha, a successor to Elijah”?
5. Give the date, author, manner, and nature of Elisha’s call, his response and how he celebrated the event.
6. What is the lesson of this and other calls? Illustrate.
7. How long his prophetic term of office and what kings of Israel and Judah were his contemporaries?
8. What secular calls accompanied his, how do you distinguish between his and the call of the others and what is the lesson therefrom?
9. What is the biblical material for a sketch of Elisha’s life?
10. What is the meaning of his name?
11. What is the Greek and Hebrew forms of his name? Give other examples.
12. What likenesses and unlikenesses of the work of Elijah and Elisha?
13. What New Testament likenesses of these two prophets?
14. How many schools of the prophets in the days of Elijah and Elisha, and where were they located?
15. What was Elisha’s great teaching work in the seminaries? Discuss.
16. What was Elisha’s part in governmental affairs?
17. What of his work in the families? Illustrate.
18. What two classes of his miracles and what miracles of each class?
19. What is the Romanist misuse of the miracle of Elisha’s bones and Act 19:11-12 ?
20. What miracles were like some of our Lord’s?
21. When and why were Bible miracles numerous?
22. Which of Elisha’s works was the greatest?
23. What words spoken at the exodus of Elijah and Elisha and what their meaning?
24. At what point did Elisha’s work touch the Southern Kingdom?
25. What New Testament lesson from the life of Elisha?
26. Give several pulpit themes from this section not given by the
27. What is the author’s exhortation relative to preaching growing out of this discussion of Elisha?
X
GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS THAT NOTHING BE LOST
The title of this chapter is a New Testament text for an Old Testament discussion. For the sake of unity the last two chapters were devoted exclusively to Elijah and Elisha. It is the purpose of this discussion to call attention to some matters worthy of note that could not very well be incorporated in those personal matters, and yet should not be omitted altogether.
It is true, however, that the heart of the history is in the lives of these two great prophets of the Northern Kingdom. In bringing up the record we will follow the chronological order of the scriptures calling for exposition.
Jehoshaphat’s Shipping Alliance with Ahaziah. We have two accounts of this: first, in 1Ki 22:47-49 , and second, in 2Ch 20:35-37 . I wish to explain, first of all, the locality of certain places named in these accounts. Tarshish, as a place, is in Spain. About that there can be no question. About Ophir, no man can be so confident. There was an Ophir in the southern part of Arabia; a man named Ophir settled there, but I do not think that to be the Ophir of this section. The Ophir referred to here is distinguished for the abundance and fine quality of its gold. Several books in the Bible refer to the excellency of “the gold of Ophir,” and to the abundance of it. Quite a number of distinguished scholars would locate it in the eastern part of Africa. Some others would locate it in India, and still others as the Arabian Ophir. My own opinion is, and I give it as more than probable, that the southeastern coast of Africa is the right place for Ophir. Many traditions put it there, the romance of Rider Haggard, “King Solomon’s Mines,” follows the traditions. The now well-known conditions of the Transvaal would meet the case in some respects.
Ezion-geber is a seaport at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, which is a projection of the Red Sea. What is here attempted by these men is to re-establish the famous commerce of Solomon. I cite the passages in the history of Solomon that tell about this commerce. In 1Ki 9:26 we have this record: “And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram (king of Tyre) sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon.” Now, 1Ki 10:11 reads: “And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of Almug trees and precious stones.” This “almug-trees” is supposed to be the famous sweet-scented sandalwood. The precious stones would agree particularly with the diamond mines at Kimberly in the Transvaal.
Then1Ki_10:22 reads: “For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: Once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” The ivory and apes would fit very well with the African coast, but we would have to go to India to get the spices, which are mentioned elsewhere, and the peacocks. A three years’ voyage for this traffic seems to forbid the near-by Arabian Ophir, and does make it reasonable that the merchant fleet touched many points Arabia, Africa, and the East Indies. It is, therefore, not necessary to find one place notable for all these products gold, jewels, sandalwood, ivory, apes, spices, and peacocks. Solomon, then, established as his only seaport on the south Eziongeber, a navy, manned partly by experienced seamen of Tyre, and these ships would make a voyage every three years. That is a long voyage and they might well go to Africa and to India to get these varied products, some at one point and some at another.
Now Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah (king of Israel) made an alliance to re-establish that commerce. The first difficulty, however, is that the Chronicles account says that these ships were to go to Tarshish, and the Kings account says that they were ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir. My explanation of that difficulty is this: It is quite evident that no navy established at Eziongeber would try to reach Spain by circumnavigating Africa, when it would be so much easier to go from Joppa, Tyre, or Sidon over the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. “Tarshish ships” refers, not to the destination of the ships, but to the kind of ships, that is, the trade of the Mediterranean had given that name to a kind of merchant vessel, called “Ships of Tarshish.” And the ships built for the Tarshish trade, as the name “lndianman” was rather loosely applied to certain great English and Dutch merchant vessels. It is an error in the text of Chronicles that these ships were to go to Tarshish. They were Tarshish ships, that is, built after the model of Tarshish ships, but these ships were built at Eziongeber for trade with Ophir, Africa, and India.
1Ki 22:47 of the Kings account needs explanation: “And there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king.” The relevancy of that verse is very pointed. If Edom had been free and had its own king, inasmuch as Eziongeber was in Edom, Judah never could have gone there to build a navy. But Edom at this time was subject to Judah, and a Judean deputy ruled over it. That explains why they could come to Eziongeber.
One other matter needs explanation. The account in Kings says, “Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.” Ahaziah attributed the shipwreck of that fleet to the incompetency of the Judean seamen. He did not believe that there would have been a shipwreck if he had been allowed to furnish experienced mariners, as Hiram did. So Kings gives us what seems to be the human account of that shipwreck, viz: the incompetency of the mariners; but Chronicles gives us the divine account, thus: “Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath destroyed thy works. And the ships were broken.” How often do we see these two things: the human explanation of the thing, and the divine explanation of the same thing. Ahaziah had no true conception of God, and he would at once attribute that shipwreck to human incompetency, but Jehoshaphat knew better; he knew that shipwreck came because he had done wickedly in keeping up this alliance with the idolatrous kings of the ten tribes.
THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH Let us consider several important matters in connection with the translation of Elijah, 2Ki 2:1-18 . First, why the course followed by Elijah? Why does he go from Carmel to Gilgal and try to leave Elisha there, and from Gilgal to Bethel and try to leave Elisha there, and from Bethel to Jericho and try to leave Elisha there? The explanation is that the old prophet, having been warned of God that his ministry was ended and that the time of his exodus was at hand, wished to revisit in succession all of these seminaries. These were his stopping places, and he goes from one seminary to another. It must have been a very solemn thing for each of these schools of the prophets, when Elisha and Elijah came up to them, for by the inspiration of God as we see from the record, each school of the prophets knew what was going to happen. At two different places they say to Elisha, “Do you know that your master will be taken away to-day?” Now, the same Spirit of God that notified Elijah that his time of departure was at hand, also notified Elisha, also notified each school of the prophets; they knew.
But why keep saying to Elisha, “You stay here at Gilgal; the Lord hath sent me to Bethel,” and, “You stay here at Bethel; the Lord hath sent me to Jericho,” and “You stay here at Jericho; the Lord hath sent me to the Jordan”? It was a test of the faith of Elisha. Ruth said to Naomi, “Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to forsake thee; for where thou goest, I will go; and God do so to me, if thy God be my God, and thy people my people, and where thou diest there will I die also.” With such spirit as that, Elisha, as the minister to Elijah, and as the disciple of Elijah, and wishing to qualify himself to be the successor of Elijah, steadfastly replied: “As the Lord liveth and thy soul liveth, I will not forsake thee.” “I am going with you just as far as I can go; we may come to a point of separation, but I will go with you to that point.” All of us, when we leave this world, find a place where the departing soul must be without human companionship. Friends may attend us to that border line but they cannot pass over with us.
We have already discussed the miracle of the crossing of the Jordan. Elijah smote the Jordan with his mantle and it divided; that was doubtless his lesson to Elisha, and we will see that he learned the lesson. I heard a Methodist preacher once, taking that as a text, say, “We oftentimes complain that our cross is too heavy for us, and groan under it, and wish to be relieved from it.” “But,” says he, “brethren, when we come to the Jordan of death, with that cross that we groaned under we will smite that river, and we will pass over dry-shod, and leave the cross behind forever, and go home to a crown to wear.”
The next notable thing in this account is Elijah’s question to Elisha: “Have you anything to ask from me?” “Now, this is the last time; what do you want me to do for you?” And he says, “I pray thee leave a double portion of thy spirit on me.” We see that he is seeking qualification to be the successor. “Double” here does not mean twice as much as Elijah had, but the reference is probably to the first-born share of an inheritance. The first-born always gets a double share, and Elisha means by asking a double portion of his spirit that it may accredit him as successor. Or possibly “double” may be rendered “duplicate,” for the same purpose of attenuation. The other prophets would get one share, but Elisha asks for the first-born portion. Elijah suggests a difficulty, not in himself, but in Elisha ; he said, “You ask a hard thing of me, yet if you see me when I go away, you will get the double portion of my spirit,” that is, it was a matter depending on the faith of the petitioner, his power of personal perception. “When I go up, if your eyes are open enough to see my transit from this world to a higher, that will show that you are qualified to have this double portion of my spirit.” We have something similar in the life of our Lord. The father of the demoniac boy says to our Lord, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus replied, “If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.” It was not a question of Christ’s ability, but of the supplicant’s faith.
The next thing is the translation itself. What is meant by it? In the Old Testament history two men never died; they passed into the other world, soul and body without death: Enoch and Elijah. And at the second coming of Christ every Christian living at that time will do the same thing. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they shall be changed.” Now, what is that change of the body by virtue of which without death, it may ascend into heaven? It is a spiritualization of the body eliminating its mortality, equivalent to what takes place in the resurrection and glorification of the dead bodies. I preached a sermon once on “How Death [personified] Was Twice Startled.” In the account of Adam it is said, “And he died” and so of every other man, “and he died.” Methuselah lived 969 years, but he died. And death pursuing all the members of the race, strikes them down, whether king or pauper, whether prophet or priest. But when he comes to Enoch his dart missed the mark and he did not get him. And when he came to Elijah he missed again. Now the translations of Enoch and Elijah are an absolute demonstration of two things: First, the immortality of the soul, the continuance of life; that death makes no break in the continuity of being. Second, that God intended from the beginning to save the body. The tree of life was put in the garden of Eden, that by eating of it the mortality of the body might be eliminated. Sin separated man from that tree of life, but it is the purpose of God that the normal man, soul and body, shall be saved. The tradition of the Jews is very rich on the spiritual significance of the translation of Enoch and Elijah. In Enoch’s case it is said, “He was not found because God took him,” and in this case fifty of the sons of the prophets went out to see if when Elijah went to heaven his body was not left behind, and they looked all over the country to find his body. Elisha knew; he saw the body go up.
Now, in Revelation we have the Cherubim as the chariot of God. This chariot that met Elijah at the death station was the chariot of God, the Cherubim. Just as the angels met Lazarus and took his soul up to heaven, and it is to this wonderful passage that the Negro hymn belongs: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Elisha cried as the great prophet ascended, “My Father! My rather I The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,” the meaning of which is that thus had gone up to heaven he who in his life had been the defense of Israel, worth more than all of its chariots and all of its cavalry. Now these very words “were used when Elisha died. “My Father! My Father! The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,” signifying that he had been the bulwark of the nation as Elijah had been before him.
ELISHA’S MINISTRY, 2Ki 2:19-25 As Elijah went up something dropped not his body, but just his mantle his mantle fell, and it fell on Elisha, symbolic of the transfer of prophetic leadership from one to the other. Now, he wants to test it, a test that will accredit him; so he goes back to the same Jordan, folds that same mantle up just as Elijah had done, and smites the Jordan. But, mark you, he did not say, “Where is Elijah” the man, Elijah, was gone, but, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” and the waters divided and he came over. There he stood accredited with a repetition of the miracle just a little before performed by Elijah, which demonstrated that he was to be to the people what Elijah had been. And this was so evident that the sons of the prophets recognized it and remarked on it: “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” It is a touching thing to me, this account of more than fifty of these prophets, as the president of their seminary is about to disappear, came down the last hill that overlooks the Jordan, watching to see what became of him. And they witness the passage of the Jordan they may have seen the illumination of the descent of the chariot of fire. They wanted to go and get the body the idea of his body going up they had not taken in, and they could not be content until Elisha, grieved at their persistence) finally let them go and find out for themselves that the body had gone to heaven.
I have just two things to say on the healing of the noxious waters at Jericho. The first is that neither the new cruse nor the salt put in it healed the water. It was a symbolic act to indicate that the healing would be by the power of God. Just as when Moses cast a branch into the bitter waters of Marah, as a symbolic act. The healing power comes from God. The other re-mark is on that expression, “unto this day,” which we so frequently meet in these books. Its frequent recurrence is positive proof that the compiler of Kings and the compiler of Chronicles are quoting from the original documents. “Unto this day” means the day of the original writer. It does not mean unto the day of Ezra wherever it appears in Chronicles, but it means unto the day of the writer of the part of history that he is quoting from. More than one great conservative scholar has called attention to this as proof that whoever compiled these histories is quoting the inspired documents of the prophets.
THE CHILDREN OF BETHEL AND THE SHE-BEARS Perhaps a thousand infidels have referred Elisha’s curse to vindictiveness and inhumanity. The word rendered “little children” is precisely the word Solomon uses in his prayer at Gibeon when he says, “I am a little child” he was then a grown man. Childhood with the Hebrews extended over a much greater period of time than it does with us. The word may signify “young men” in our modern use of the term. And notice the place was Bethel, the place of calf worship, where the spirit of the city was against the schools of the prophets, and these young fellows call them “street Arabs,” “toughs,” whom it suited to follow this man and mock him: “Go up, thou bald bead; go up, thou bald head.” Elisha did not resent an indignity against himself, but here is the point: these hostile idolaters at Bethel, through their children are challenging the act of God in making Elisha the head of the prophetic line. He turned and looked at them and he saw the spirit that animated them saw that it was an issue between Bethel calf worship and Bethel, the school of the prophets, and that the parents of these children doubtless sympathized in the mockery, and saw it to be necessary that they should learn that sacrilege and blasphemy against God should not go unpunished. So, in the name of the Lord he pronounces a curse on them had it been his curse, no result would have followed. One man asks, “What were these she-bears doing so close to Bethel?” The answer is that in several places in the history is noted the prevalence of wild animals in Israel. We have seen how the old prophet who went to this very Bethel to rebuke Jeroboam and turned back to visit the other prophet, was killed by a lion close to the city.
Another infidel question is, “How could God make a she bear obey him?” Well, let the infidel answer how God’s Spirit could influence a single pair of all the animals to go into the ark. Over and over again in the Bible the dominance of the Spirit of God over inanimate things and over the brute creation is repeatedly affirmed. The bears could not understand, but they would follow an impulse of their own anger without attempting to account for it.
THE INCREASE IN THE WIDOW’S OIL, 2Ki 4:1-7
We have already considered this miracle somewhat in the chapter on Elisha, and now note particularly:
1. It often happens that the widow of a man of God, whether prophet or preacher, is left in destitution. Sometimes the fault lies in the imprudence of the preacher or in the extravagance of his family, but more frequently, perhaps, in the inadequate provision for ministerial support. This destitution is greatly aggravated if there be debt. The influence of a preacher is handicapped to a painful degree, when, from any cause, he fails to meet his financial obligations promptly. In a commercial age this handicap becomes much more serious.
2. The Mosaic Law (Lev 25:39-41 ; see allusion, Mat 18:25 ) permitted a creditor to make bond-servant of a debtor and his children. For a long time the English law permitted imprisonment for debt. This widow of a prophet appeals to Elisha, the head of the prophetic school, for relief, affirming that her husband did fear God. In other words, he was faultless in the matter of debt. The enforcement of the law by the creditor under such circumstances indicates a merciless heart.
3. The one great lesson of the miracle is that the flow of the increased oil never stayed as long as there was a vessel to receive it. God wastes not his grace if we have no place to put it: according to our faith in preparation is his blessing. He will fill all the vessels we set before him.
DEATH IN THE POT, 2Ki 4:38-41 We recall this miracle to deepen a lesson barely alluded to in the chapter on Elisha. The seminaries at that time lived a much more simple life than the seminaries of the present time; it did not take such a large fund to keep them up. Elisha said, “Set on the great pot,” and one of the sons of the prophets went out to gather vegetables. He got some wild vegetables he knew nothing about here called wild gourd and shred them into the pot, not knowing they were poisonous. Hence the text: “O man of God, there is death in the pot.” I once took that as the text for a sermon on “Theological Seminaries and Wild Gourds,” showing that the power of seminaries depends much on the kind of food the teachers give them. If they teach them that the story of Adam and Eve is an allegory, then they might just as well make the second Adam an allegory, for his mission is dependent on the failure of the first. If they teach them the radical criticism; if they teach anything that takes away from inspiration and infallibility of the divine Word of God or from any of its great doctrines then, “O man of God, there is death in the pot” that will be a sick seminary.
In a conversation once with a radical critic I submitted for his criticism, without naming the author, the exact words of Tom Paine in his “Age of Reason,” denying that the story of Adam and Eve was history. He accepted it as eminently correct. Then I gave the author, and inquired if it would be well for preachers and commentators to revert to such authorities on biblical interpretation. He made no reply. We find Paine’s words not only in the first part of the “Age of Reason,” written in a French prison without a Bible before him, but repeated in the second part after he was free and had access to Bibles. I gave this man a practical illustration, saying, “You may take the three thousand published sermons of Spurgeon, two sets of them, and arrange them, one set according to the books from which the texts are taken Gen 1:2 , Gen 1:3 , etc., and make a commentary on the Bible. By arranging the other set of them in topical order, you have a body of systematic theology.” Now this man Spurgeon believed in the historical integrity and infallibility of the Bible, in its inspiration of God, and he preached that, just that. As the old saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the chewing of the bag.” He preached just that, and what was the result? Thousands and thousands of converts wherever he preached, no matter what part of the Bible he was preaching from; preachers felt called to enter the ministry, orphan homes rose up, almshouses for aged widows, colportage systems established, missionaries sent out, and all over the wide world his missionaries die in the cause. One man was found in the Alps, frozen to death, with a sermon of Spurgeon in his hand. One man was found shot through the heart by bush rangers of Australia, and the bullet passed through Spurgeon’s sermon on “The Blood of Jesus.” Now, I said to this man, “Get all your radical critics together, and let them preach three thousand sermons on your line of teaching. How many will be converted? How many backsliders will be reclaimed? How many almshouses and orphanages will be opened? How many colportage systems established? Ah! the proof of the pudding is in the chewing of the bag. If what you say is the best thing to teach about the Bible is true, then when you preach, it will have the best results. But does it?”
We have considered Elisha’s miracle for providing water for the allied armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom, when invading Moab (2Ki 3:10-19 ). We revert to it to note partakelarly this passage: “And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land” (2Ki 3:26-27 ). On this passage I submit two observations:
1. Not long after this time the prophet Micah indignantly inquires, “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” The context is a strong denunciation of the offering of human sacrifices to appease an angry deity. The Mosaic law strongly condemned the heathen custom of causing their children to pass through the fire of Molech. Both this book of Kings and Jeremiah denounce judgment on those guilty of this horrible practice. The Greek and Roman classics, and the histories of Egypt and Phoenicia, show how widespread was this awful custom.
2. But our chief difficulty is to expound the words, “There was great wrath against Israel.” But what was its connection with the impious sacrifice of the king of Moab? Whose the wrath? The questions are not easy to answer. It is probable that the armies of Edom and Judah were angry at Israel for pressing the king of Moab to such dire extremity, and so horrified at the sacrifice that they refused longer to co-operate in the campaign. This explanation, while not altogether satisfactory, is preferred to others more improbable. It cannot mean the wrath of God, nor the wrath of the Moabites against Israel. It must mean, therefore, the wrath of the men of Judah and Edom against Israel for pressing Mesha to such an extent that he would offer his own son as a sacrifice.
QUESTIONS
I. On the two accounts of Jehoshaphat’s shipping alliance with Ahaziah, 2Ki 22 ; 2Ch 20 , answer:
1. Where is Tarshish?
2. Where is Ophir?
3. Where is Ezion-geber?
4. What is the relevance of 1Ki 22:47 ?
5. Explain “ships of Tarshish” in Kings, and “to go to Tarshish” in Chronicles.
6. What commerce were they seeking to revive, and what passage from 1 Kings bearing thereon?
7. How does the book of Kings seem to account for the wreck of the fleet, and how does Chronicles give a better reason?
II. On the account of Elijah’s translation (2Ki 2:1-18 ) answer:
1. Why the course taken by Elijah by way of Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho?
2. How did both Elisha and the schools of the prophets know about the impending event?
3. What was the object of Elijah in telling Elisha to tarry at each stopping place while he went on?
4. What was the meaning of Elisha’s request for “a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit and why was this a hard thing to ask, i.e., wherein the difficulty? Illustrate by a New Testament lesson.
5. What was the meaning of Elijah’s translation, and what other cases, past or prospective?
6. What was the meaning of Elisha’s expression, “My Father! My Father! The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,” and who and when applied the same language to Elisha?
7. How does Elisha seek a test of his succession to Elijah and how do others recognize the credentials?
III. How do you explain the seeming inhumanity of Elisha’s cursing the children of Bethel?
IV. On the widow’s oil (2Ki 4:1-7 ), answer:
1. What often happens to the widow of a prophet or preacher, and what circumstance greatly aggravates the trouble?
2. What is the Mosaic law relative to debtors and creditors?
3. What one great lesson of the miracle?
V. On “Death in the Pot” answer:
1. What the incident of the wild gourds?
2. What application does the author make of this?
3. What comparison does the author make between Spurgeon and the Radical Critics?
VI. On Elisha’s miracle, the water supply, answer:
1. What is the allusion in Micah’s words, “Shall I give my first-born,” etc.?
2. What the meaning of “There was great wrath against Israel”?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XI
THE STORY OF NAAMAN, THE SIEGE OF SAMARIA,
AND THE DEATH OF JEHORAM (OF JUDAH)
2Ki 5:1-8:24
We commence this chapter with the story of Naaman, recorded in 2Ki 5:1-24 , which is a continuation of the record of Elisha’s miracles. In this passage we have a very graphic and complete account of two miracles which are especially remarkable in their relation to each other. One was the cure of leprosy and the other was the infliction of leprosy. One was wrought on a foreigner and a man of prominence; the other, on a Hebrew and a servant. The second was consequential on the first and the two together must have given Elisha a great reputation at home and abroad, and at the same time extolled Jehovah as the great God in the surrounding nations.
This Naaman was by nationality a Syrian, by position a captain, a great and honorable man. “He was also a mighty man of valor,” one who had rendered valuable services to his country in giving deliverance (Hebrew salvation) from an oppressor. Here arises the question, “What was this deliverance of Naaman?” To this question we find no reply in the Scriptures but there is evidence enough from the Assyrian monuments. Prior to this time an Assyrian monarch had pushed his conquests as far west as Syria bringing this country into subjection, but Syria revolted after a few years and once more gained her independence. It was this deliverance that was wrought by Naaman in which he distinguished himself and won the special favor of the Syrian king.
But Naaman had one serious defect. He was a leper. The way this fact is introduced is most natural, viz.: by the adversative conjunction but. It is true that the conjunction is in italics, showing that the word does not occur in the original, yet the adversative idea is there. It is suggestive of the fact that too often people spoil a splendid recommendation of other people with the introduction of some defect; as, Byron was a great poet but was clubfooted. Or that man is an excellent gentleman but he has one failing, etc. So we go on describing people, saying all the good things we know about them, and then marring their fine reputation by pointing out some fault, altogether unlike the spirit of the inspired historian here in the case of Naaman. This thought is further illustrated in the case of David. Nathan said to him, “Jehovah hath put away thy sin, howbeit,” and then follows with a long list of consequences of the sin which would come upon David. We find the adversative conjunction used to introduce good qualities also, as in 2Ch 19:3 . After Jehu the prophet had rebuked Jehoshaphat for his sin, he said, “Nevertheless there are good things found in thee,” etc. Other examples might be given but these are enough. To sum up what I have said: But may be used adversely to introduce the bad when the good is mentioned first, and to introduce the good when the bad is mentioned first. A fact generally admitted by all, is that both qualities are found in varying ratios in all of us. Therefore we should remember the saying, “There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it scarcely behooves any of us to say anything about the rest of us.”
As has already been stated, this defect of Naaman was leprosy, which comes from the Hebrew word meaning a stroke, because the ancients regarded this disease as a stroke from God. Of course it carried with it the idea of penalty for sin committed, just as the three friends of Job reasoned with respect to his case. They said, “This stroke is from God because of your sins.” They thus attributed all afflictions to sin as the cause and to God as inflicting the penalty. The Greek word from which we get our word leprosy means “a scale” and thus indicates a certain characteristic of the disease, viz: that in certain stages of the disease the skin becomes scaly.
There is a most impressive lesson here for us in the instrumentality of this miracle. On some one of their marauding expeditions into northern Israel they had captured a little Jewish maiden who was made servant to Naaman’s wife. The beauty and radiance of her life are seen in the few words here said about her. She expressed a most ardent desire that her master might be healed and pointed out the source of such healing as her God, who would effect such a cure through his servant, Elisha, the prophet in Samaria. All this is an expression of affection, the affection of a servant for her master. How sublime such affection under such conditions! A captive maiden, with the loyalty of a child for a parent, reveals to her master the true source of healing. May we not think of this little Jewish maid in her love for and her loyalty to her oppressors, as a kind of type of Christians in their relation to the world? Surely the human instrumentality in this great divine transaction should not be underestimated. Neither can we fail to recognize the human in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. This little maid played her part and played it well. Are we doing our part in the great plan of God as well as she?
The transactions from this point in the story are rapid and interesting. Naaman appeals to the Syrian king who in turn sends a letter to Jehoram the king of Israel asking for the recovery of Naaman of his leprosy. This royal courtesy of the Syrian king was misunderstood by the king of Israel, who thought that the king of Syria was seeking a quarrel with him. Just here Elisha intervenes to save the day, by offering to do what Jeroboam in his royalty could not do, viz: to heal Naaman of his loathsome disease. But how simple the prescription! Dip in the Jordan seven times. Why seven? Seven was a symbol of perfection and here symbolized the perfect obedience required upon the part of Naaman. But Naaman was wroth and went away saying, “Behold, I thought, he would surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and recover the leper. Are not . . . the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean?” This reply shows what was in Naaman’s mind. He expected Elisha to make a great display, and he seems also to have expected an incantation by which the cure would be effected, but the prophet understood human nature too well to be engulfed into violating the law of his God. The captain’s anger was most natural; it was the result of a keen disappointment, but it prepared the way for a hearing from his servants, which resulted in his cure.
There are several lessons here for us: (1) Human nature calls for display. This is true often in the most vital matters, such as the salvation of the soul; (2) May we not find in this incident an illustration of the simplicity of the plan of salvation? Upon this point many stumble. They say, “What shall I do to be saved?” or “What shall I give?” (3) Healing is obtained by taking the remedy: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Joh 3:18 ).
It is noteworthy in this connection that the servants of Naaman interceded with him as children begging a father and this influenced him to try the offered remedy. Their reasoning with him was simple and effective: “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather then when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean”? This was sufficient. He went down, dipped himself and was healed. Here arises the question of the virtue of his cure. It was not in the Jordan, nor in the seven dips, but in the power of God. Of course, it came in response to conditions met, just as in the case of all other blessings.
May we not find here a parallel case to the New Testament teaching on baptismal regeneration? Hardly; here the dipping was made a condition of Naaman’s healing, but in the New Testament we do not find baptism a condition of salvation, but the conditions of salvation are repentance and faith. However there is this parallel: that God’s own prescribed conditions must be met before there is any blessing. In this connection it is well to note also that the word for “dip” here, in the Septuagint, is bapto from which comes the New Testament word “baptize,” and that this word means the same as the original Hebrew word, viz: to dip, to immerse. This Old Testament incident is an illustration of the meaning of bapto and baptize and thus confirms the New Testament teaching of baptism by immersion.
Naaman’s gratitude for his healing is very beautifully and impressively expressed: (1) He returned from the Jordan to Elisha, a journey of forty or fifty miles out of his way; (2) he offered the prophet the presents which he had brought from Damascus; (3) he embraced the Jehovah religion and made a vow to renounce all other gods but Jehovah; (4) he honored the request of Elisha (as he thought) by his servant, Gehazi. In all this one is reminded of the incident in the New Testament where the one leper returned to thank our Lord for his healing, evidencing the additional blessing of salvation, yet this act of Naaman involved far more trouble and inconvenience than that of the Samaritan leper..
It should also be noted here that Elisha refused his presents, not because he was not worthy to receive them, but to show this heathen man that not all of God’s prophets were mercenary, as was the case with the priests of other religions. It sets forth Elisha in a beautiful light. We see here the spirit of self-denial which reminds us of Paul’s life and teaching. One could wish that he might always be able to find just such a spirit in the prophets of Jehovah in this twentieth century. Alas, too often the spirit of Gehazi possesses them rather than the spirit of Elisha. But we thank God that the majority are walking in the steps of Elisha.
But what did Naaman mean by wanting “Two mules’ burden of earth”? It cannot be definitely known just what was in his mind, but of all the theories proposed, the context seems to have a great bearing on the one which says that he wanted this earth from the land of Israel to erect an altar to Jehovah in the land of Syria or, perchance, to sprinkle it upon a certain area of his own land, thereby making it “holy ground” and suitable for the worship of Jehovah. History tells us that some of the Jews carried earth from their own land when they were carried into captivity to Babylon. This seems to have been the prevailing idea among the Orientals. Yet another matter should be considered here, viz: If Naaman here embraced the Jehovah religion, why should he bow himself down in the house of Rimmon? This seems to be a reference to his work, as an attendant upon the king of Syria, to perform certain duties relative to his master in the house of Rimmon. He seemed to realize that Jehovah was a jealous God, but he was not strong enough to become a martyr to the Jehovah religion. In this we may not judge Naaman too severely, especially in view of the fact that Naaman was a heathen, reared in a heathen religion, and going back to a heathen environment, and may we not confidently expect to meet Naaman in the “Sweet By and By” as one of God’s jewels gathered out of a foreign land? One could wish that he might greet this Syrian general and this little Jewish maid along with Elijah’s widow of Zarephath, Elisha’s Shunammite woman and our Lord’s Syro-Phoenician woman on the bright shores of everlasting deliverance.
Over against this cheering picture of Elisha and Naaman hangs the blighting picture of Gehazi, a renegade Jew. With the spirit of avarice he seized his opportunity to get the presents offered his master. His sin was manifold. He was guilty of lying, covetousness, and sacrilege. He lied to Naaman outright in the matter of the presents; he was prompted in it all by the spirit of covetousness; and he committed sacrilege in the ill use he made of the name of his master and in his profane oath. But the eye of the seer was there and he was completely caught. May we not rejoice that justice found her own, or shall we revolt at the severity of the penalty inflicted? If the latter, then must we pass by the case of Ananias and Sapphira and a multitude of others like unto them? We will rejoice rather in the prophetic and apostolic judgments since they are strokes of God through his own appointed executioners. But what of the descendants of Gehazi involved in this penalty? Here comes in the law of heredity which he could escape only by denying himself of the privilege of marriage which he may have done; we do not know. One could wish that he might lift the curtain and see further into the course of Naaman and Gehazi, but we must be content with whatever revelation has disclosed, and dare not to intrude into the precincts of the Most Holy uninvited. Here they pass from our view never to reappear.
Turning to the Scriptures we meet again Benhadad II, king of Syria, who was under treaty with Israel twelve years during which time Ahab furnished troops in a league against Assyria, but now he breaks the treaty and invades Israel according to the prophecy given Ahab when he let Ben-hadad go (1Ki 20:35-43 ). What a pity Ahab did not obey the Lord and put an end to him. But we should not have had this great lesson of national sin and its penalty.
This Benhadad comes now, besieges Samaria and causes sufferings in Israel unparalleled in their history. The head of an ass, the most undesirable part of the most undesirable animal, sold for 80 shekels, about $50.00; a kab of doves’ dung sold for 5 shekels, about $3.00; and the women killed their own sons and ate them. Such indicates the horrors of this terrible siege. But this is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Deu 28:56-57 , which has three literal fulfilments in the history of the Jewish people, viz: (1) in this instance, the siege of Samaria by Benhadad; (2) in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and (3) in the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, A.D. 70. The story here of the two women and the appeal of one of them to the king is very pathetic. Who can censure the mother for hiding her son? The mystery is that the other one ever gave up hers. All this shows the dire straights into which they had become because of this siege.
For all this the king of Israel proposes a remedy, viz: that the head of Elisha be taken from his shoulders. But we note the fact that this was contrary to law. An Oriental monarch might do such a thing consistently. Beheading was practiced in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, but it was positively forbidden by the Jewish law. Why should he strike for Elisha when such a calamity came? He evidently thought that Elisha was to blame for their condition. He may have associated this instance with the drought which came at the word of Elijah, or he may have thought that Elisha could work miracles at will and that he purposely refused to relieve the people. However the case may be, it is the common plea of the enemies of God’s cause against his agents and ministers. So with an oath he vows to take the head of God’s prophet.
But Elisha was not to be so ill-treated. He was a seer and the Spirit of God in him was sufficient for every emergency. He saw the plan before the messenger of vengeance arrived and made counterplans to defeat the whole purpose of the king. The story of this incident is beautifully told in the record: how Elisha stopped the messenger and even his master, and with keen insight into the future made a most interesting prediction, viz: that on the morrow they would be amply supplied at reasonable prices. The messenger was doubtful but this prediction allowed for Elisha a probation and a respite from the wrath of the king.
The fulfilment of this prediction is found in the incident of the lepers, the story of which is given in the record. The lesson of this incident is illustrative of the condition of the sinner: “Why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter the city, when the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit here, we shall die also . . . if the Syrians kill us, we shall but die.” This pictures the state of the sinner and his reasoning when he faces the question of decision: “I can but die; therefore, will I trust him.” This text has been used by hundreds of preachers to illustrate the point of decision. There is also another fine text in this connection, viz: “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace.” What a good missionary text! They told it and so should we. The world, like Samaria, is perishing for the necessaries of life, and we know where there is plenty. Let us tell it, lest when the blessed light of God’s eternal morning bursts forth upon us our sin of omission will overtake us.
They did tell it, but as is often the case when we preach, they did not believe it. It was received with distrust; they thought the Syrians had set a trap for them and so they sent messengers and chariots after them to ascertain the facts in the case. The report of these messengers was convincing. They pursued the Syrians as far as the Jordan and found garments and vessels scattered all along the way. Evidently the Syrians had gotten a good “scare” but this is easily explained when we take into consideration that it was the Lord’s “scare.” He made them to hear a great noise of chariots, of horsemen and of a great host. It is no wonder that they ran for their lives. In this connection we find the fulfilment of the prophecy of Elisha to the messenger of vengeance in two important aspects, viz: (1) the price of flour and barley became reasonable; (2) the messenger of vengeance was made gatekeeper by the king and was trodden to death, thus fulfilling Elisha’s statement that he should see it with his eyes but should not eat thereof. This must have been a horrible death, to be trampled to death while starving and yet in sight of plenty. We may think of this as illustrating another class of sinners, those who die in sight of plenty and yet because of their previous course in sin are altogether unable to get to the table of God’s kingdom. This man died because of his unbelief, 2Ki 7:2 ; 2Ki 7:19 f.
The next event according to our study of this section is the death of Jehoram king of Judah and his sad funeral. He had a complication of dreadful diseases, which are mentioned in any good commentary. The sad feature of his funeral is the fact that he was not buried in the usual way in which they buried their kings. He had no burning for him, and was not interred in the sepulchers of the kings. It is sad to have such distinction in one’s death. But such must be the lot of those who sin against Jehovah. We may be sure our sins will find us out.
It is well to note that the book of Obadiah falls in this period, and will be studied in the light of this history when we take up the prophets of the Assyrian period.
QUESTIONS
1. Tell the story of Naaman, the leper.
2. Who was Naaman and what was his standing?
3. What was Naaman’s victory for God?
4. What word introduces the defect in Naaman, what play on it and what the lesson?
5. What this defect and why was it considered such a misfortune?
6. What was the instrumentality of his healing and what the lessons?
7. What was Elisha’s prescription, what was Naaman’s reply, and what the lesson?
8. How was he finally induced to take the remedy and in what was the virtue of his healing?
9. What was the word here in the Septuagint translated “dipped,” and what was the bearing on the New Testament usage of the word?
10. What was the effect of this healing on Naaman and how did he show his gratitude?
11. Explain Naaman’s request for “two mules’ burden of earth” and his bowing himself in the house of Rimmon.
12. How did Gehazi get the reward, what was his sin and what was his punishment?
13. Who was Benhadad and what was his relation to Israel at this time?
14. What indicates the great suffering in the siege of Samaria?
15. What was the king’s proposed remedy and what the meaning of it?
16. Give the story of the king’s messenger of vengeance and Elisha’s promise of plenty.
17. Give the story of the four lepers at the gate. What was the lesson?
18. What missionary text in this connection?
19. How was the message of the lepers received, how was it verified, and how were Elisha’s promise and prophecy fulfilled?
20. Describe the awful sickness and death of Jehoram, and his sad funeral.
21. What prophetic book has its setting here?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
2Ki 6:1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
Ver. 1. The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. ] Our college is so crowded, that unless some course be taken, some of us shall be necessitated to lie out of doors; as bees hang out of the hive’s mouth on heaps, through lack of room within. This access to the number of the young prophets was in the days of idolatrous Jehoram. Plures efficimur quoties metimur, a said the old Christians. The Church, like the palm tree, the more it is pressed with weight, the more it fructifieth: like the camomile plant, it flourisheth when most trodden: like the lily, it groweth by its own tears, as Pliny hath it. Fish thrive better in cold and salt waters, than in warm and fresh: the ground is most fruitful that is most harrowed: the walnut tree beareth best when most beaten, &c. Elisha’s fame might draw more resort to him, and, as the Hebrews say, Gehazi’s removal, who grumbled that the young prophets should partake of the provision brought in by good people to his master Elisha, in those hard times.
a Tertullian.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
strait = narrow.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Now Naaman was the captain of the host of Syria, he was a great man with his master, he was honorable, because the LORD had actually helped him to subdue many nations. He was a mighty man and very brave, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and brought away captives out of the land of Israel and a little maid happened to be the servant of his wife. And she said, It’s too bad your husband isn’t with the prophet there in Israel, because he could heal him of his leprosy. And so it was told to Naaman and he told the king that there was a prophet in Israel that could cure him of his leprosy. And so the king of Syria Benhadad sent a formal letter to the king of Israel [and sent Naaman down] ( 2Ki 5:1-5 ).
And in the letter it said, “I want you to heal my general of this leprosy.” So when the king of Israel saw Naaman come in, knew who he was, this captain of the Syrian host and all, and when he gets this note, “I want you to heal this guy of his leprosy,” the king just became excited and concerned.
He said, “Look how this guy is trying to pick a fight. Am I God that I can heal him of his leprosy? The guy is just looking for trouble. He’s trying to start a fight. And so the king had torn his clothes and was all upset.”
And word came to Elisha of how the king was so upset because of this demand. And he said, “Send him down to me, and he will know that there is a God in Israel.” And so Naaman came to Elisha’s house and Elisha didn’t even go out to meet him but sent his servant Gehazi out with the orders, “Go down to the Jordan River and just dip in the Jordan River seven times, and after you’ve dipped seven times, you’ll be cleansed of your leprosy.” So Naaman became enraged. He said, “That guy didn’t even have the graciousness to come out and meet me himself. Sent a servant out to me and then tells me to duck in that Jordan River. We’ve got better rivers up in Damascus.” And he headed home in a rage. Just mad. And as they were going along, one of his servants said to him, “You know, had that prophet told you to do some great deed, you know, go out and slay the dragon and get the seven golden apples, had he given you some great deed to do, you would be glad to do it. Because it’s just such a simple thing, why don’t you try it? What’s it going to hurt?” And so they came to the Jordan River and Naaman dipped himself in the Jordan River, and when he came up the seventh time, his flesh was pink like a baby’s flesh. The leprosy was gone.
He was so excited he headed back to the prophet’s house because he was loaded down with all kinds of gifts that the king of Syria had sent. And he came to Elisha and he sought to give to Elisha some of these gifts that he had brought from Syria and Elisha said, “No, I don’t want your gifts. Keep them.” Now in coming back, he acknowledged that there was no God in all the earth but in Israel. “I know that,” he said. “I pray that you’ll take this blessing.”
But Elisha said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing. And Naaman urged him to take it; but he refused ( 2Ki 5:16 ).
Now I told you that a fellow that would have this kind of a gift would have problems. And unfortunately, some people who have had a ministry of healing or whatever have been guilty of using that to enrich themselves. People become very excited when they see God work. They want to lavish the servant of God with gifts. But here is Elisha refusing the gift. Rightfully so. He didn’t heal Naaman. The Lord healed Naaman. Why should Elisha receive a gift for him? And the guy urged him, but still he refused.
In the healing of Naaman we find some interesting things, and one of them is that typically, we, all of us, really have difficulty with just accepting the grace of God. We would all of us like to do some great wonderful thing for the Lord. You know, I would like to go out and conquer a thousand giants or something. I want to do some great thing for God. Just to receive from God the simplicity with which God gives to me. And the fact that He gives to me so freely and in such a simple way that I can’t get any credit for it. Somehow I would like to deserve or earn God’s blessings. But I can’t. I can only receive by grace the goodness of God.
And salvation is such a simple thing. The Lord says just “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” ( Act 16:31 ). Oh how simple it is. But we rebel against that simplicity. “Now Lord, I’m going to serve you and I’m going to go out and witness, and I’m going to pray, and I’m going to do this and… ” I’m telling God all of the things that I’m going to do for Him because of what He’s done for me. It’s awfully hard to accept grace gracefully, isn’t it? Just to accept the fact that God loves me and to receive His gifts gracefully.
Now the servant Gehazi, when he saw Elisha turning down these gifts, he began to think, “Wow, what I could do with just a little bit of that loot. I could buy an olive orchard, a vineyard. I can hire me some servants. Man, I could be set up if I just had a little bit of that loot.” And he started thinking of what he could do with some of that reward that Naaman was offering.
And so he went chasing after Naaman. And they said, “Hey, it looks like the servant of the prophet’s coming.” And so he said, “Let’s wait. Maybe something’s gone wrong.” And when Gehazi came up, he said, “Is everything fine?” He said, “Yea, everything’s fine, except that my master had a couple of young prophets come in and they didn’t have much. And so, he’d like a couple of changes of apparel for them and a talent of silver.”
And Naaman said, “Here, take a couple of talents of silver,” and he was happy to give it to him. And in fact, they sent a fellow back carrying a bag. But when they got to the gate of the city, Gehazi said, “That’s great. I’ll take it from here.” And he took it and put it in his house. And came whistling in.
Elisha said, Where have you been? Didn’t go anywhere. And he said, Did not my spirit go with thee, [when you received] when you went out to their chariot and stopped them and you received the money, and you received the garments, and the oliveyards, and the vineyards, and the sheep, and the oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? ( 2Ki 5:25-26 )
Now you see, he starts to read his mind at this point, or he starts to discern what was on his heart. These are the things he thought he would buy with the money: the oliveyards and vineyards, he’s going to have servants of his own. He was going to buy some oxen, and then he’s going to buy some sheep. He’s going to set himself up. And the prophet starts laying out the things that he had in mind to do with this money. And he said,
The leprosy that was upon Naaman is going to be upon you and your family. And so Gehazi went out from his presence a leper ( 2Ki 5:27 ).
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
2Ki 6:1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
It seems to have been a habit of the prophets to gather about them companies of young men whom they instructed in the holy Scripture and in the truths of revelation. Many of these young men became prophets themselves and were the instructors of the people. Elisha, then, was the President of a College for young men who were being trained for the sacred ministry of God. They had grown so numerous that they were cramped in their lodging and they said, The place is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us fit place there, where we may dwell. They were ready to work to build their own lodging; they do not appear to have gone into debt for it, and to have saddled themselves and the institution for many years afterwards, but they put their own shoulders to the wheel as good men should do when there is any work to be done for the cause of God.
2Ki 6:2-3. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
His presence would be an encouragement to them; his holy conversation would make their work more pleasant, they would feel also as if they were more truly working for God when they had the presence and the patronage of Gods servant. He, on the other hand, was quite ready to go. Gods ministers, if they are what they should be are quite ready to help in any kind of work. We find Paul the Apostle picking up sticks to make a fire, and we find Elisha going with his dear friends to the forest when they would cut down timber to make a house. We sometimes regret that spiritual work should so often have to come into contact with common-place things, and yet so it is. Young prophets must have a house, and when we gather a congregation we must build them a meeting-house. In this country we cannot meet every day in the open air, and we often regret this, yet I believe it is meant by God to be a discipline for His Church. If the Church cannot come into contact with common life without its spirituality being endangered, so much the worse for its spirituality. It must be flimsy stuff if it cannot bear the wear and tear of common life.
2Ki 6:4-5. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
These young men were too poor to buy tools of their own, and they therefore asked for a kindly loan of an axe-head that they might use it in the Lords service. It was very natural, therefore, that this young man should regret that the axe which he had borrowed should fall off into the water. This made him say,- Alas! Be very careful about loans, be sure to repay them in due time, and be very particular that nothing happens so that you cannot. He said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
2Ki 6:6. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
God can do all things, he can make iron swim-we cannot-and yet you see the prophet did it, and he did it by the use of a stick. He cut down a stick. Was there any connection between the stick and the iron? I cant see any, and yet God does use means, and he would have us use means. He cut down a stick and cast it in thither, and the iron did swim. If youre in great trouble tonight, have confidence in that God who can make the iron swim. If you have some worry, and you do not know how to meet it, some work, and you do not know how to do it, look to him who made the iron swim and he can do the same for you. Trust him, rest upon him and see if he does not do it.
2Ki 6:7-8. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
Of course, he wanted to keep it secret, and pounce upon Israel here and there without notice and so win an easy victory.
2Ki 6:9-11. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing;
He could not understand how all his well-laid plans were baffled.
2Ki 6:11-12. And he called his servants and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O King.
There is no traitor here, there is no one who blabs out the royal secrets, not anyone,
2Ki 6:12. But Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
For the Lord knows what we say in the bedchamber when no ears can hear; if we speak to ourselves he hears it, and if we whisper in all quietness into the ear of one who will never repeat, it is written in the book of the divine record Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
2Ki 6:13. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him.
Not a very wise project, for if Elisha knew all about the words of the king it was not very likely that he would catch him.
2Ki 6:13-15. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, beheld, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
That is a question we have often asked, How shall we do. We shall do nothing at all. How shall we do? If that were the question we might sit down in despair. The proper question is, How will God do? How will God deliver us? But it is only the man of faith who thinks about God at all. How many there are of you who are in trouble and you are wondering how you shall get out of it. Poor things! Poor things! Oh, if we had but faith to look to that Omnipotent arm that is moving among us, and to that great and wise heart that is thinking of us, and then trust our case with him.
2Ki 6:16-17. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he sSaw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
More of these horses of fire than there were horses of flesh, more of these chariots of flame than there were chariots of iron.
2Ki 6:18-19. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
In all which-though I grant you it seems a stratagem Elisha spoke neither more nor less than the truth; Dothan was not his city, Samaria was the city where the man of God dwelt. He was then outside Dothan, and he said, I will bring you to the man whom ye seek, He did lead them to him, took them to his own home, to the very place where he lived. I think I see him leading all these blind men; they had come to catch him, and he had caught them, and he led them to Samaria.
2Ki 6:20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
In the central square of the city. They opened their eyes and found themselves caught like rats in a trap. What cannot God do!
2Ki 6:21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
His hand was on his sword, he would call his men to come forward with their lances. My father shall I smite them? See the fine spirit of the prophet, the magnanimity of the man of God!
2Ki 6:22. And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow?
For if you had conquered them in fair fight you would not think of killing them; I have captured them by Gods power, I have taken them prisoners and they had not be put to death.
2Ki 6:22. Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
This is the way of carrying on war, the best way in all the world; to conquer by grace, to conquer by kindness.
2Ki 6:23. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.
Now mark the consequences.
2Ki 6:23. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
No, they could not come any more to vex a people who had treated them so generously, and thus the man of God was master of the situation, his noble spirit was put to the front, and God was glorified.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
2Ki 6:1-7
2Ki 6:1-7
MORE MIRACLES PERFORMED THROUGH ELISHA;
MAKING THE IRON TO FLOAT
“And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand and took it.”
Dentan alleged that this event is “the most trivial of the stories told of Elisha.” On the other hand, it is actually one of the most important miracles performed by that remarkable prophet. Why? It emphasizes God’s concern for the problems pressing upon the hearts of the poor. It was no trivial matter at all that confronted this young man!
He did not have the money to purchase an axe, so he borrowed one. And, if he had not been able to recover it, he would have been unable to replace it. After the brutal custom of the times, he could have been sold into slavery for such a trivial debt. Oh yes! Amos mentioned those who “sold the poor for a pair of shoes” (Amo 2:6). God’s honoring the willingness of Elisha to recover that axe-head demonstrates God’s care for the concerns of the poor. As Jesus said, “Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven” (Luk 6:20).
The mercy and tenderness of the love of God for his own shines in such a wonder as this. Christians today have the privilege of asking through their prayers for God’s help, no matter how “trivial” their requests may seem to others.
The whole situation of this paragraph was that of one of the schools of the prophets, most probably the one at Jericho, having outgrown their cramped quarters, and having no money to buy or build a larger place, they proposed to build them a shelter near the Jordan River, where there was plenty of timber available.
When the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in 1620, they built such shelters as what the sons of the prophets decided to build for themselves.
Several important deductions from what is written here are justified: (1) Elisha’s work had been successful. More and more people were believing in the One God, and the sons of the prophets were increasing in number. (2) Their love for Elisha is evident in their desire that he should accompany them. (3) The sons of the prophets were entitled to be praised for their creative energy and industry.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ki 6:1. Too strait means too narrow or cramped for their needs.
2Ki 6:2. A beam was the body of a tree, and the plan was for each man to cut down a tree, then use the log in building a dwelling.
2Ki 6:3. Elisha had approved of the proposal of the prophets, and upon their request agreed to go with them to Jordan to get the timber.
2Ki 6:4-5. These men were cutting down the trees growing on the bank of the Jordan. The ax slipped off the handle and disappeared in the water. It showed a good principle to be concerned over the loss of the article because it was borrowed. It indicated unselfishness and a regard for the interests of another.
2Ki 6:6-7. This is another place to consider the comments at 2Ki 2:8.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The incident of the swimming of the iron axe head is interesting, but quite secondary. The chief value of the story lies in its revelation of the influence Elisha was exerting in the nation. The growth of the school of the prophets was most remarkable. It was necessary that they should enlarge their borders, as they had not room to dwell. Their relation to Elisha is clearly manifest.
In an hour of national peril he rose above the gentler works which were chiefly characteristic of his ministry. Revealing the plans of the Syrians, he saved his people from peril. The picture of the prophet shut up within the city in company with his servant is very fine, as it brings to light facts of which Elisha was conscious, but which were not seen ordinarily by men closely associated with him. When his servant cried out in despair at the situation of peril, Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened; and there appeared to the trembling man that of which the prophet was perpetually conscious, the presence of the flaming hosts of God round about him.
It is in such consciousness as this that a man is strong. If he acts in co-operation with God he knows that Hell is nigh, but God is nigher, Circling us with hosts of fire.
The siege of Samaria by the Syrians brought about a state of famine which resulted in most fearful conditions. When a woman in her sore distress appealed to the king he became angry with Elisha. In all probability Josephus is right when he suggests that his anger was kindled because Elisha did nothing to relieve the situation.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Servant of the Lord of Battles
2Ki 6:1-13
To us, the first of these miracles may appear somewhat trivial, but we must remember the value of an iron axe-head at that time, the inconvenience and delay caused to the builders, and the slur accruing to religion if it were irreparably lost. The story shows how keen was the sympathy of the great prophet for a poor man overtaken by an ordinary trouble, and how ready Elisha was to seek the help of God to redress the mischief. See Joh 2:1-14. It is right to go to God about matters of this kind, as well as greater issues. What wonders faith can do! Hearts may be as heavy as lead at the bottom of the stream, but when a splinter of the Cross of Calvary is inserted, they rise to the surface and swim.
The king believed that Elisha could wield superhuman power and knowledge, yet he thought to secure him with chariots and horses. He acknowledged that Elisha was a servant of the Most High God, yet he expected to take him captive, by sending a mighty host! To such folly men descend when they begin to fight against the Most High!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
2Ki 6:1-2
There are two conditions of real personal power in the world. One is the power of insight, and it is that which redeems life from being regarded as commonplace. Everything is tinged with heavenliness for those who see heaven’s light above all, and the possession of this power gives that dignity of conception to life which is one of the secrets of power. The other condition is the strength of personal assertiveness, the power of personal action. These two gifts Elisha possessed.
But there is a third qualification still which is needed in order that these two powers may be brought into contact with life. Great men are men who are in touch with their own age. A man may have insight and energy of character; but if he have no power of adjusting his capacities in language understood of the men amongst whom he lives, all that power will be thrown away. The scene before us explains that Elisha was largely possessed of this gift. He identifies himself with the men of progress; he allies himself to their individual life. He allows the freest scope of individual activity, but yet preserves them in the great unification of their work. The scene is the type of all great movements, and Elisha shows us the fitting attitude of those who would direct and control such movements.
I. It is not the cry of the Jewish Church only, it is the cry of all ages, “The place is too strait.” The history of the Church of Christ is the history of a thousand regrets. The spirit of prejudice surrounds every aspect with which we regard life and Church movement. It is difficult for a man bred in one communion to believe in the types of saintship which have become the favourites of another.
II. Whenever a new doctrine or a new truth has come up in the history of the Church, it has been held in the first instance by men who lived by it and tied their own lives to it. No power of that axe-head slipped off into life’s stream. Truth is not a thing of the intellect only; it descends into our moral nature; it grafts upon our affections and conscience. The natural history of a doctrine is this: when men are taking it rightly, using it as for God, rightly handling it, it is a power in their hands. Taken up for its own purposes, for the purpose of evading the claims of God which other truths may be making upon their minds, it then becomes evacuated of its power; it is impotent; it is buried underneath the stream of constantly changing time. When men believed in the inspiration of God and the Bible, it was a power to them; but when this dropped down into a belief that every jot and tittle was part and parcel of God’s inspiration, then they merely crystallised into a dogma what was a great and living truth.
III. You are surrounded by workers. Your mind is often disturbed among the many cries and many sounds; but believe it, each of you has your own beam, and God can put into your hand the weapon which you are to use in hewing it down. Go forward, and be not afraid.
Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Anglican Pulpit of To-Day, p. 157 (see also Contemporary Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 317).
References: 2Ki 6:1, 2Ki 6:2.-J. Menzies, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 276. 2Ki 6:1-7.-A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 185. 2Ki 6:1-23.-Parker, vol. viii., p. 156. 2Ki 6:5.-W. Meller, Village Homilies, p. 23; T. Kelly, Pulpit Trees, p. 49.
2Ki 6:6
These words describe something that happened for the servants of God. Iron does not swim for the servants of evil. No such skill has their master, much as he boasts. But in how many instances has the “impossible” been accomplished by faith and prayer.
I. Notice that these sons of the prophets were industrious. “Take every man a beam.” This building had to be put up, and they felt they should like to work at it themselves.
II. They were self-reliant. They did not ask for subscriptions towards building them a larger place. They believed God would bless them if they were bent on doing their utmost.
III. Though self-reliant, these men were not bumptious. They said to the prophet, “I pray thee, be content, and go with thy servants.” Do you wonder that he said, “I will go”? Old age likes to be thought fit to go with youth. The men of today have something to learn from the men of the past. The same thing holds good about books and old-fashioned ideas.
IV. These sons of the prophets were honest, if poor. It would be well for Christianity if all its professors felt about debt as the loser of the axe did. It is well for us and a sign of grace when the word “borrowed” calls up a sigh and “Alas!”
V. This story teaches us the danger of loose things. The axe-head was loose, and so flew off; and the wonder is, it did not kill somebody. Loose habits, like our old clothes, fit us easily, but they are dangerous.
VI. What a great deal of trouble is home-made! Many so-called accidents are the result of carelessness.
VII. Notice how the axe was got up again. “He cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.” Example is better than precept. He did not tell it to swim; he showed it how.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 222.
References: 2Ki 6:6.-J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 93; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. no. 2Ki 6:8-23.-Parker, Fountain, April 12th, 1877.
2Ki 6:15-17
I. The first remark which this incident suggests is as to the heavy pressure of outward and visible things upon us who are still in the body. The young man could see the Syrian host compassing the city to take his master, but nothing besides. Is not this a true parable for us? We talk of living by faith, not by sight, but what truth has it for us? Take the life of any one day; would it be very different if this world were all, if there were no judgment and no eternity? (1) There is the business of life. (2) There are the pleasures of life. (3) There are the trials of life. All these are real things. Engrossed in them, a man will live hemmed in and blocked up by the present and blind to all the realities which are not of earth, and sense, and time.
II. And yet the history before us is designed to show how very near all the while lies another world and another life, altogether of spirit and heaven, and God. It needed just the opening of the eyes, and nothing more, to show this young man a whole concourse of existences and agencies unseen and unsuspected till that moment. If the word of God is true, we are inmates of two worlds: a world seen and a world unseen; a world of time and a world of eternity. We may be walking blindfold in the midst of truths and realities.
III. Such a truth is the revelation of God’s providence. If we could see the spiritual world as we see the natural, we should find that every life is held in God’s hand, every faculty kept for us by God’s keeping, every step taken, every word spoken, and every work done in virtue of a power not our own.
IV. A man passes out of the life of sight into the life of faith by that opening of the eyes of which the text tells. Prayer is the means of passing from a life of sight to a life of faith.
C. J. Vaughan, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. no (see also Good Words, 1864, p. 916).
References: 2Ki 6:16.-R. Heber, Sermons Preached in England, pp. 18, 42. 2Ki 6:16, 2Ki 6:17.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 84; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 149.
2Ki 6:17
The young man looking abroad and seeing nothing but the hills, and the fields, and the Syrian army is a picture of a man without faith. But the same young man looking abroad and seeing not only the hills, and fields, and enemies which everybody saw, but also the flaming host-the symbol of God’s presence, love, and power-is a picture of a man with faith. I wish to make you look at three wide prospects: nature, providence, the Bible. And as you look at each, we will put up the prayer, “Lord, open Thou mine eyes.”
I. Our eyes need to be opened to see God in nature-God, with His love, and wisdom, and power. One man looks abroad over a piece of God’s world and sees neither its beauty nor its Maker in it. A second looks over the same scene and sees the beauty which the first did not see, but yet does not see the Maker. But a third looks, and he is like Elisha’s servant: his eyes are opened, and he sees what neither of the others has seen-he sees God passing His hand over all and dropping beauty on it from His fingers.
II. We need to have our eyes opened on providence, that in all we undertake and suffer we may see God as our Guide, and trust Him, so that, whatever fortune we may be led into, we may never feel ourselves alone. This will give us courage and comfort such as nothing else can give.
III. We need to have our eyes opened on the Bible. It is a moment never to be forgotten when the truth which has been known and handled like a dry piece of wood for years suddenly flares forth into bright flame; when over the meadows of the Bible, where nothing but ordinary grass appeared before, there start up suddenly the horses and chariots of fire; when this truth, for instance, “My soul is infinitely precious and immortal,” thrills through me, and all the world seems as nothing compared with my soul.
J. Stalker, The New Song, p. 75.
References: 2Ki 6:17.-A. W. Momerie, The Origin of Evil, p. 248; J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young Men, p. 119; H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, No. 599, and Old Testament Outlines, p. 77; Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes, 1884, p. 91; Husband, Church Sermons, vol. ii., p. 74. 2Ki 6:17-23.-A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 208. 2Ki 6:18.-Bennett, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 85; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 100. 2Ki 6:24-31 and 2Ki 6:32-vii. 2.-A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, pp. 219, 230. 2Ki 6:24-33 and vii.-Parker, vol. viii., p. 169. 2Ki 6:26.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 163. 2Ki 6-Parker, Fountain, May 24th, 1877. 2Ki 7:2.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1238; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 108. 2Ki 7:3.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 73. 2Ki 7:3-7.-Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1903. 2Ki 7:3-9.-A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 242.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
5. Elisha and the Syrians
CHAPTER 6
1. The lost axe-head recovered (2Ki 6:1-7)
2. Elisha makes known Ben-hadads plans (2Ki 6:8-12)
3. Elishas arrest planned (2Ki 6:13-17)
4. The blinded Syrians led to Samaria (2Ki 6:18-23)
5. Samaria besieged (2Ki 6:24-30)
6. The kings wrath against Elisha (2Ki 6:31-33)
It has been truly said that the miracle of the swimming axe-head reveals the condescension of divine power and the grace of benevolence. We see the great man of God in fellowship with the sons of the prophets. He goes with them and when they are in distress the power of God is manifested through him. Rationalistic critics have always ridiculed the miracle of the swimming iron. The story is perhaps an imaginative reproduction of some unwonted incident, saith Farrar, the higher critic. Then he adds, all the eternal laws of nature are here superseded at a word, as though it were an every day matter, without even any recorded invocation of Jehovah, to restore an axe-head, which could obviously have been recovered or resupplied in some less stupendous way than by making iron swim on the surface of a swift-flowing river (Expositors Bible). And Ewald, the German critic, explains, he threw on to the spot where it had sunk a piece of wood cut to fit it, which caught it up! These men all aim at the denial of miracles of any kind. They delight in making an omnipotent God, in whom they profess to believe, a helpless slave to the laws of nature, a God who has neither power nor inclination to set aside these laws in behalf of His trusting people. We say it again, the rationalistic critic is an unbeliever of the worst type.
There is much comfort for Gods trusting children in the miracle of the swimming iron. The mighty power of God condescends to help those who trust even in the smallest things of life. Our Lord fills the throne in glory and is the upholder of all things, yet as the sympathizing priest, He enters into the lives of His people. His power answers faith, if we but learn to bring our little troubles to Him as the man came in distress to Elisha.
When war broke out between Ben-hadad and the King of Israel, Elisha made known the secret counsels of the King of Syria. The man of God, walking in constant fellowship with Jehovah, received this supernatural information, and thereby an additional evidence was given to apostate Israel that the Lord is for His people and a very present help in time of trouble. Then one of Ben-hadads servants suggested that it was Elishas work, and the king in his blindness sent a great host to capture Elisha. (Certainly not Naaman as some have surmised. Yet the knowledge that Elisha had been the instrument of healing the Syrian captain moved some unknown servant of Ben-hadad to suggest that Elisha was responsible for the revelation of the kings plans.) What Ahaziah attempted with Elijah (chapter 1), Ben-hadad now undertakes with Elisha. But Elisha, who acts in grace, does not call down fire from heaven to devour the men who compassed Dothan. Elishas servant (not Gehazi) is terror stricken when he beheld the besieging host. Elisha knows no fear, for he knows they that are with us are more than they that be with them. He had seen the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof before (2:12). He knew that the Lords hosts compassed him about. He did not need to pray for himself, that he might see, for he saw, because he believed. He prayed for his servant that his eyes might be opened. Then the servant saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots round about Elisha. Angelic ministry and protection may be termed one of the lost comforts which Gods people have. They are still ministering spirits to minister unto the heirs of salvation.
I doubt not, a host or constellation of angels, those heavenly creatures, which, excelling in strength, stand in the presence of God, or go forth to minister on account of those who are heirs of salvation. For of them we read that God maketh His angels spirits (winds) and His ministers a flame of fire; and again, The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. At the divine behest, they get ready to serve in whatever the exigency of the saint, or the occasion under the throne of God, may require. They formed a travelling chariot to convey Elijah to heaven, and to carry Lazarus to Abrahams bosom. They now form chariots of war, when Elisha is beleaguered by the hostile bands of Syria. Either singly or in company they visit the elect on earth, and either alone or in concert celebrate the joy of heaven in the audience of the earth. They have drawn the sword to smite a guilty city, or with the strong hand of love dragged the too reluctant one forth from the doomed city. They are either as winds or as fire. They are messengers of mercy, and executors of judgment, as the Lord who is among them may command. They attended on Mount Sinai when the law was published, and they hovered over the fields of Bethlehem when Jesus was born. And here, in their order and strength, they are as a wall of fire, a wall of salvation, round about the prophet.
Very blessed all this is. And still more blessed to know, that ere long, the hidden glories, which are now only known to such faith as Elishas, will become the manifested things; and the threatenings of the enemy, the noise and the din and clang of arms, which are the present apparent things, all of fears and sorrows for the heart, shall have rolled by, like the past thunder-storm, but to leave the sunshine the brighter (Meditations on Elisha).
Elisha then prayed that the besieging host should be smitten with blindness. The prayer was at once answered. He led on the Syrian forces into Samaria. But was it not deception when the man of God said to the blinded enemies, I will bring you to the man whom ye seek, leading them into Samaria? It was not. Samaria was the home of the prophet and he was then on his way there. His object was to demonstrate to the Syrians, as well as to the King of Israel, that Jehovah is the God and all-sufficient helper of His people. What mercy he then showed to his captives. Jehoram would have smitten them, but Elisha fed them and had them sent away in peace. In this he is a type of Him who taught, Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you (Mat 5:43-44).
Some time after Ben-hadad besieged Samaria and a great famine followed, and there was such a distress that women ate their own offspring. It was but a fulfilment of the threatened judgments upon an apostate people (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53). The same horror occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Lam 4:10) and also, according to Josephus, during the siege by Titus 70 A.D. The wicked nature of the king asserted itself in blaming Elisha for the misfortune which had fallen upon his kingdom. He seeks to slay the man of God. After all the mighty miracles God had wrought by the hands of Elisha, the representative of Israel, wants to kill the prophet. This also foreshadows our Lord, when they sought to kill Him after His gracious ministry. But Elisha knew the murderous purpose of the long ere the messengers came. He called the king by the right name this son of a murderer, for such Ahab was. And when the king appeared in person he said, Behold this evil is of the LORD, what should I wait for the LORD any longer? He realizes the impending judgment on account of Israels sin.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
the sons: 2Ki 2:3, 2Ki 4:1, 1Ki 20:35
the place: 2Ki 4:38, 1Sa 19:20
too strait for us: Jos 17:14, Jos 19:47, Job 36:16, Isa 49:19, Isa 49:20, Isa 54:2, Isa 54:3
Reciprocal: 1Sa 10:5 – a company 2Ki 2:15 – bowed 2Ki 9:1 – the children Amo 2:11 – I raised Amo 7:14 – neither Joh 21:3 – I go
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE LOST AXE-HEAD
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
2Ki 6:1-2
There are two conditions of real personal power in the world. One is the power of insight, and it is that which redeems life from being regarded as commonplace. Everything is tinged with heavenliness for those who see heavens light above all, and the possession of this power gives that dignity of conception to life which is one of the secrets of power. The other condition is the strength of personal assertiveness, the power of personal action. These two gifts Elisha possessed.
But there is a third qualification still which is needed, in order that these two powers may be brought into contact with life. Great men are men who are in touch with their own age. A man may have insight and energy of character; but if he have no power of adjusting his capacities in language understood of the men amongst whom he lives, all that power will be thrown away. The scene before us explains that Elisha was largely possessed of this gift. He identifies himself with the men of progress; he allies himself to their individual life. He allows the freest scope of individual activity, but yet preserves them in the great unification of their work.
I. It is not the cry of the Jewish Church only, it is the cry of all ages, The place is too strait. The history of the Church of Christ is the history of a thousand regrets. The spirit of prejudice surrounds every aspect with which we regard life and Church movement. It is difficult for a man bred in one communion to believe in the types of saintship which have become the favourites of another.
II. Whenever a new doctrine or a new truth has come up in the history of the Church, it has been held in the first instance by men who lived by it and tied their own lives to it.Truth is not a thing of the intellect only; it descends into our moral nature; it grafts upon our affections and conscience. The natural history of a doctrine is this: when men are taking it rightly, using it as for God, rightly handling it, it is a power in their hands. Taken up for the purpose of evading the claims of God which other truths may be making upon their minds, it becomes evacuated of its power; it is impotent, it is buried underneath the stream of constantly changing time. When men believed in the inspiration of God and the Bible, it was a power to them; but when this dropped down into a belief that every jot and tittle was part and parcel of Gods inspiration, then they merely crystallised into a dogma what was a great and living truth.
III. You are surrounded by workers.Your mind is often disturbed among the many cries and many sounds; but believe it, each of you has his own beam, and God can put into your hand the weapon which you are to use in hewing it down. Go forward, and be not afraid.
Bishop W. Boyd Carpenter.
Illustration
When the episode happens, which often does happen in the story of great movementswhen one mans heart is smitten through with despondency, when the work is still before him, but the power of carrying on the work has dropped from his hand, slipping into the stream which is ever ready to drown our best endeavours, Elisha stands beside a man in despondency, cheers his spirit, which is overwhelmed by hopelessness, and restores to him hope, capacity, and power. This is a man who is, in a great sense, a true prophet of this day, not simply posing for personal admiration, not merely asserting himself and destroying the capabilities of those about him, but with that sweet flexibility and that wondrous firmness combined, which is capable of giving movement to the young life about him, and at the same time drawing them into the one great purpose of existence. And thus it seems to me that the scene spreads beyond its own age. It is a type of all great movements, and it gives us a fitting attitude of those who would direct and control such movements.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Lessons in Service
2Ki 6:1-7
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The Old Testament is written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages is come. Its chief message is Jesus Christ. However, there is an abundant display of spiritual truths of all sorts found in its messages.
We come, today, to the story of one of the outstanding miracles of the Old Testament; a miracle which broke the power of the law of gravitation into shreds. It is useless for ungodly scholarship to seek to explain the miracles upon any scientific basis. While ungodly wisdom cavils and complains, many of the wisest of earth take off their shoes and worship the God who worketh out His will, in all things, according to the greatness of His power.
Iron does not naturally swim, for iron is heavier than water. Nevertheless this iron did swim. A ball shot high into the air by the bat of a league-hitter may sail far along, but it is surely destined to fall to the earth. Is it? Perhaps a league-catcher may stand on the tip of his toes, and throw up his hand and hold the ball in mid air. If he does he breaks the law of gravitation to shreds-a ball destined to sink to the ground, does not sink. So also can the God, who made a law we call gravitation, temporarily check its sway.
We need to get back to the God of the miraculous. Why seek to explain the wonder workings of the living and eternal Jehovah? It is not in man to understand God, nor to comprehend His power. We need to get back to a God who is before all things, and by whom all things consist-the creative God. To deny God is to deny the miraculous. To deny the miraculous is to deny God.
I. A CALL FOR ENLARGEMENT (2Ki 6:1)
The sons of the prophets said, “The place where we dwell * * is too strait for us.” Should they have been satisfied with their circumscribed quarters? We wot not.
There came a time when the Lord said to Moses, “Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.” Once more God was saying, “Go forward.”
Jehoshaphat said, “Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not?”
Paul wrote, “Having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hands.”
1. Is there not room for enlargement in our Christian experiences? Are we satisfied to dwell where we are? Where we are, is where we have been for the most part, since we were saved. The Spirit wants us to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. The Spirit wants to transform us each day, more and more, into the image of our Lord. Shall we remain babes, whereas we should have been past the milk age long ago? Shall we eat milk, when strong meat should now be our portion?
2. Is there not room for enlargement in our service for the Lord Jesus? Are we diligently serving? Are we buying up every opportunity? The field of the slothful soon grows up with weeds. Shall we be slothful? The Word says, “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.”
The gifts which God has given us, are for use. If we have the gift of prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith. If we have the gift of ministering, let us wait on our ministering. If we have the gift of exhortation, let us exhort; or, the gift of giving, let us give.
3. Perhaps there is room for enlargement in our Young People’s work. Are we growing in numbers? Are we growing in spiritual fervor and power? So many Societies are no larger, and no more effective, than they were months ago. They are satisfied to eke out an existence. They are willing to have the same fifteen and twenty present, when there are scores of young people roaming the streets uninvited; and, so far as they know, undesired.
We trust that it is different with you-we trust you are saying to your pastor, “The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” We trust that you are so alive to your opportunities, that you are going out into the highways and byways, into the jails and hospitals, and to many places where you are increasing your quarters, by enlarged service.
II. CO-OPERATIVE SERVICE (2Ki 6:2)
How delightfully does this verse present to us unity in the work of Christ. “Let us go,” they said to the prophet: “let us make us a place.”
Far back in the beginning God saw that it was not good for man to dwell alone; therefore, He gave man an helpmeet When the Lord Jesus Christ sent out His Apostles, He sent them out two by two. When Paul traveled on his missionary journeys, it was Barnabas and Paul; or, it was Paul and Timothy; or, it was Paul and Silas.
Our study today, however, goes beyond dual cooperation. It reminds us more of that verse which describes Pentecostal scenes,-“And all that believed were together.” Again, They “had all things common”; again, “They continuing daily with one accord.” This is real co-operation.
We remember the little quotation, “United we stand, divided we fall.” The days of Ezra and of Nehemiah give great examples of united service. In Ezr 3:1 we read, “The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.” Then, “they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them.” “They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles.” “They gave money.” “They sang together.” “All the people shouted with a great shout.”
III. A CALL FOR COMRADESHIP (2Ki 6:3)
The sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, “Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants,” and he answered, “I will go.” “So he went with them.” If the Lord labor not in the house, they labor in vain that built it. If we go forth together, and yet without the Lord’s presence, we go in vain. The great army may be united, but it must have a leader. The general goes with his army. He shares their case, with them. Our Lord Jesus Christ is called in Heb 12:1-29,-“The Author and Finisher of our faith.” Someone has translated that verse, the File-leader of the faith. The file-leader not only goes with his people but he goes before them. The shepherd not only knows his sheep, and calls them by name, but he goes before his sheep and leadeth them out.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “All [authority] is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go * * and, lo, I am with you.” Thank God for this hallowed presence of the Son of God! He never has asked us to go anywhere, or to do anything, that He will not go with us, and aid us. On the other hand, He has said, “Without Me ye can do nothing.”
When the prophets dwelt in their narrowed quarters, Elisha dwelt with them. For, to him they said, “The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” When they went forth, they asked him to go with them, and he went.
Have we asked the Lord to tarry with us, when we are at home and, to take up His abode with us? When we go forth by day, do we ask Him to go with us?
IV. A MANIFESTATION OF HUMAN FAILURE (2Ki 6:5)
This brings us to the most striking thing thus far. The sons of the prophets went with Elisha, and “when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood: but, as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water.”
1. The lost ax head. So much of the work which we do seems covered with blunders. It is spoiled by accidents which measure in effect this accident among the sons of the prophets. Just as everything seemed to be running smoothly, and progress is being made, something happens to mar our activity. The loss of an ax head put the activities of one of the men out of commission. In fact, we are sure that all of the others came running in response to the cry of this one young prophet to bemoan his loss. Thus the work was hindered. It proved worth the while, now, that the Prophet went with them. He was able to solve the difficulty as we shall soon see. If we travel alone we will not only lose our ax head, but we will be unable to restore our loss.
2. The lost ax head was borrowed. When the young man met his accident, he cried, “Alas, master! for it was borrowed.” Are we laboring for Christ? If so, we are laboring with the gifts which He has given, or loaned us. We need not boast anything that we possess, for it is borrowed. The prodigal boy who wasted his substance, was, in fact, wasting that which was given him by his father; just as truly as the young prophet who lost his ax head, lost that which was borrowed. The Christian graces are all called spiritual gifts. Gifts may be diverse, but they are all from the same Spirit.
This is the way the Bible reads: “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit.” All of these things are not only given by the Spirit, but the selfsame Spirit is the one who worketh these gifts and makes them effectual.
V. WHERE WAS IT LOST? (2Ki 6:6)
When the young prophet went to Elisha with the cry that he had lost his borrowed ax head, the Prophet asked, “Where fell it?”
The lesson for us in this statement, is this: Where is the place that we lost our testimony? Where was the place that we departed from the Lord? If we would regain our loss, we must go to the place where we stepped aside, and begin afresh, from there. It may be easy to wander into forbidden paths, and to travel quite a distance away from God and duty into paths of worldly pleasures. It is not pleasant, but it is necessary to retravel the same paths, back to the point of departure.
Peter left the Lord when he said “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.” On and on Peter went, until he cursed and swore, and said, “I know not this Man of whom ye speak.” With what sorrow did Peter retrace his steps, until at last he came back to the place where he departed! The second time he refused to boast his own love and fidelity, as superior to that of the other disciples. Christ said, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” Peter confessed no love beyond John, or Thomas, or Thaddaeus, or Bartholomew; he simply said: “Thou knowest that I love Thee.”
Samson left the Lord, as with his head pillowed in Delilah’s lap, he told that his power was in the Nazarite vow, made sure by his long hair. After months of suffering and shame, Samson found his power, once more, just where he had lost it. When his hair was once more long, and his vow renewed, his power came back to him.
Let us not think for a moment that we can pass by the place where we lost our power and our fellowship with the Lord. We must go to that place and say, Here is the place where I sinned. If we remember that our brother has ought against us, we must first go to that brother, and become reconciled; and then come, and offer our gift.
VI. THE IRON DID SWIM (2Ki 6:6, l.c)
When the son of the prophet had shown Elisha the place where the ax head fell, the Prophet cut down a stick and cast it in thither and the iron did swim.
We have before us one of the outstanding miracles of the Old Testament. However, the restoration of the lost ax head was no more a miracle, than is the restoration of a backslider’s lost power.
We should remember that there are mighty forces at work to undo a believer, and to rob him of his power. In Zechariah we are told that one named Joshua stood before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan stood at his right hand to resist him. “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the Angel.” Satan is always there to resist the cleansing of saints; and it takes power, mighty power, to rebuke such an one.
There is a verse in Ephesians where Paul prays that we may know the power that God wrought toward us, in Christ, when He raised Christ from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the Heavenly places. That was a mighty power, and a power toward us, because, we were quickened together with Him and raised together with Him, and made to sit together with Him in the Heavenly places. Which is more miraculous? Causing the iron, which by nature would lie in the bottom of the water, to swim; or causing us, who by nature would wander in the murk and the mire of evil communications and corrupted manners, to live with Christ above the clouds?
AN ILLUSTRATION
For our illustration today we are quoting a beautiful little poem by Annie Johnson Flint, which aptly explains the beauty of a life raised (like the iron was raised) by power Divine from the bottom of the murky waters of sin and shame.
“When first I woke to life,
Deep down in the river’s bed,
I could not breathe for the stifling ooze
And the blackness over my head.
In darkness I longed for the light,
Prisoned, I yearned to be free,
In dreams I pined for the sky and the wind,
For star and bird and tree;
And I said: ‘I will rise to that upper air,
And the life that draweth me.’
The twining weeds of the water-world
Reached out and held me fast;
The lithe reeds wove a tangled net
To catch me as I passed;
The creeping things of mire and mud
Beckoned and bade me stay;
In the treacherous current, swift and strong
I felt my weak stem sway;
But through them, over them, past them all
I took my upward way.
Till, white, white,
Brimmed with sunshine and steeped in light,
I lifted up my fragrant cup-
Bloom of the daytime and star of the night-
In rapture I gazed at the heavens blue
And knew that all my dreams were true.
And pure and fair my white leaves bear
Never a trace of slime and mold,
And the crawling things of the underworld
Have left no taint on my heart of gold.
In peace I rest on the river’s breast,
And living, I love, and, loving, live,
And breathing deep of that upper air,
My life to the world in sweetness give.”
May God help us, even as the iron was raised from the depths, and the water lily was lifted from the mire, that we may be raised and made to sit with Him in the Heavenly places.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
ELISHA AND THE SYRIAN INVASION
THE STRATAGEM AT DOTHAN (2Ki 6:8-23)
The incident in 2Ki 6:1-7 seems an interpolation; and some think it belongs at 2Ki 4:38 in connection with the two miracles, having a somewhat similar occasion. Swim (2Ki 6:6) is in the Hebrew the same as float, and the idea seems to be that by throwing the stick into the water the iron was caused to come to the surface where the young man could get it.
It is difficult to say when the event of 2Ki 6:8 occurred, but it is assumed in the reign of Jehoram, with which we have been dealing since Elishas ministry began. At a time when the Syrians were intending to encamp at a particular spot, and attack the Israelites as they passed by, the prophet gave warning to Jehoram, which enabled the latter to station troops in the threatened position and frustrate their plans (2Ki 6:8-10).
This disconcerted the Syrian king, and, learning the truth of the matter, he tried to get hold of Elisha (2Ki 6:11-14).
The servant of 2Ki 6:15 is not Gehazi. To open the eyes (2Ki 6:17) meant to give that soul-vision which the bodily members can never behold. The horses and chariots of fire were the symbols of Jehovahs presence and might. Blindness (2Ki 6:18) is not absolute loss of sight, but an inability to recognize the prophet.
Elishas words (2Ki 6:19) are not an untruth, as his real residence was Samaria; and in the end he led them to himself, not to harm them, but repay evil with good (2Ki 6:21-23). His inquiry of the king (2Ki 6:22) presents difficulty, but probably means couldst thou be justified in slaying with sword and bow these whom thou hast taken captive? (See Deu 20:10-13.)
THE FAMINE IN SAMARIA (2Ki 6:24 to 2Ki 7:20)
An interval of some time must be considered since the close of 2Ki 6:23. The famine caused by the siege was intense as gathered by the price paid for the meanest food (2Ki 6:25). Doves dung is understood by some as an insignificant species of pease resembling it.
The kings putting the blame on the prophet (2Ki 6:30-31) recalls what episode in Elijahs time? Had Elisha advised against the surrender of the city, or did the king think he might have put an end to the distress in some other way? 2Ki 6:33 suggests that the king, who had doubtless followed his messengers, had repented of his threat against Elisha, but nevertheless had lost hope in Jehovah.
This brings forth the new promise of 2Ki 8:1-2. The remainder of the chapter presents no difficulties, but we should note the fulfilled prediction (2Ki 6:19-20).
THE END OF BEN-HADADS REIGN (2Ki 8:1-15)
The event referred to (2Ki 8:1-6) doubtless took place sometime before this, as the records of Elishas ministry are not arranged chronologically. Compare 2Ki 4:38 for the period. Gehazis appearance (2Ki 8:4-5) further strengthens the thought that it was before his offense and punishment by leprosy.
The event that follows is tragical indeed (2Ki 8:7-15). Hazael, though not related to Ben-hadad, had been the divine choice as his successor (1Ki 19:15). When Elisha says the king may recover, yet he shall surely die, he is telling the exact truth, as 2Ki 8:15 portrays. Had Hazael not murdered him he would have lived. It was Elisha who looked at Hazael until the latter was ashamed, as he might well have been (2Ki 8:11).
QUESTIONS
1. Give in your words the story leading up to the event at Dothan.
2. How would you harmonize the prophets words to the Syrian soldiers?
3. What striking prediction is fulfilled in this lesson?
4. What allusion in 4:38 leads to the supposition that the opening of this lesson refers to that period?
5. How would you harmonize Elishas words about Ben-hadad?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
2Ki 6:1-2. The sons of the prophet said to Elisha Probably those that were at Gilgal, for that is the place last mentioned where the prophet was, (chap. 2Ki 4:38,) and was also near to Jordan. Let us go unto Jordan To the woods near Jordan; and take thence every man a beam A piece of timber for the building. Hence it may be gathered, that although the sons of the prophets principally devoted themselves to religious exercises, yet they sometimes employed themselves about manual arts.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 6:1. Sons of the prophets. See on 2Ki 2:3; 2Ki 2:5. Their number had evidently encreased, though in evil times. Their college was a plain home-built house.
2Ki 6:5. Borrowed. , this root, as in Exodus 11., will not bear any other sense than to borrow or to ask. The loss of an axe was almost irreparable, where steel forges were scarce and distant. The recovery of this axe by a miracle was a special mark of the divine favour, towards the new enlargement of the school. The people, though the times were hostile, secretly supported those schools, that glory might dwell in the land.
2Ki 6:18. Blindness. The LXX read, , not seeing, or not seeing distinctly; seeing some things, and not seeing others, as might be the case with the men of Sodom.
2Ki 6:25. An asss head. The shekels were of various weight and value; the lowest fifteenpense, and the highest something more than half a crown. The cab, a small measure for grain. Bochart seems to be right in his assertion, that a species of pulse was called doves dung.
2Ki 6:32. This son of a murderer. Jehoram bears a bloody hand on his coat of arms, because his mother Jezebel had murdered Naboth, and the prophets. The ghosts of martyrs and murdered men besiege the throne of heaven for the visitations of divine justice.
REFLECTIONS.
This passage, more than any other, opens to us the situation of the sons of the great and highly inspired prophets. They are sometimes called young men, candidates for the ministry. They lived in solitude and retirement, but we frequently find them assisting the higher prophets in their ministry; and as they went to deliver for them some of the important messages of heaven, they were evidently employed as prophets, though they still continued to live in or near their beloved retreat. Seminaries may introduce youth to language and literature, but they cannot make preachers. They must have the Spirit, and all the natural endowments of body and mind for the sanctuary, before they go, else education is misapplied. We have next a farther discovery of one of the greatest of Ahabs errors and sins, in sparing the life of Benhadad, whom God had sentenced to die for twice invading Israel, immediately after the terrible drought. This man lived long to be the constant enemy and scourge of Israel. He was inveterately wicked, neither awed by judgments, nor softened by mercy. Let us then beware, for the sparing of one sin may occasion us calamities all our days.
In those evil times, when Israel was weak, and her enemies many, what a blessing were Elijah and Elisha to the land. They were the fathers of the church, and the guardians of their country. They stood alone like the tall monuments which overlook the hills, and singly brave the tempests. Elisha gave the king counsel and advice of the enemies plans; he struck the detachment with blindness who came to seize him, and there is no saying what he would have done, had the people followed the divine counsel. In Samaria he saved the city during the famine, by affrighting all the alien host; for God would deny no good thing to his prayers.
We see next the inveterate enmity of Ahabs house against the Lord and his prophets. When the woman cried concerning the breach of covenant in hiding a son, a sad proof that Mosess prediction of eating children during the straitness of the siege was in part come to pass, the king was deeply affected, and so far off his guard during the moment of passion, that he swore to destroy Elisha, and sent immediately to execute him, because he would not by another miracle relieve the city in its anguish. The ministers of Baal were busy enough, no doubt, in throwing all the blame on Elisha; but how could the prophet pray for them, till famine in all its horrors had driven them to cry to the Lord. Kindness shown to the righteous by the consummately wicked is merely because they are popular, or because they have an interest in their friendship; they still hate both God and his servants in their heart. Through the whole of those awful times we see a protecting hand is over the faithful. The shining host of angels protected Elisha and his people in Dothan; and now, fear of the people, and terror of conscience, protected him against the oath of the king. What then has a good man in calamities to fear? The Lord is able to deliver him; and if he abandon him to martyrdom, it is to serve some more glorious purpose in his church.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 6:1-23. An Axehead Swims. Elisha and the Syrians at Dothan.In several minor miracles Elisha is always represented as working them not by his word, but by some expedient. Thus he heals the miscarrying waters by salt, and the pot by meal, and recovers the axehead by casting a stick into the water.
The prophet appears in the second narrative as the moving spirit in the Syrian war. Whenever the king of Syria devised an ambush (2Ki 6:8, with a slight alteration of reading), Elisha revealed the secret. Elisha was at Dothan (2Ki 6:13), a city standing on a hill about 10 miles N. of Samaria, on the caravan road from Egypt to Damascus (Gen 37:17, p. 30). Elisha was defended, as we are finely told, by horses and chariots of fire (2Ki 6:17). His blinded adversaries were led to Samaria, and Elisha ordered them not to be destroyed, but to be treated with kindness. Throughout the long war between Syria and Israel similar acts of chivalrous courtesy are manifested (cf. Ahabs sparing Ben-hadad as his brother, 1 Kings 20, and Naaman the Syrians conduct throughout 2Ki 6:5).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
“TOO SMALL FOR US”
(vv.1-7)
The sons of the prophets are often spoken of in connection with Elisha’s history, but when banded together, they did nothing (so far as the record goes) that indicated they were led by God. Once do we read of one of the sons of the prophets carrying a message from God. Elisha told him to take a flask of oil and anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, giving him a message from God at the same time. The son of the prophet did so alone (2Ki 9:1-10). This was work done for God, for the young man acted by faith, without help from others. Another case was that of one of the sons of the prophets telling his neighbour to strike him (1Ki 20:35). When he would not, a lion killed him. Then another did strike and wounded him. This man was acting alone at the Word of God, so that afterward he was called a prophet (1Ki 20:38), and he fearlessly brought God’s message to Ahab (ch.20:39-42).
The general tendency was for the sons of the prophets to live on the reputation of their fathers, which was not personal faith. These young men had evidently been attracted to Elisha and were living with him. But the time came when they felt themselves too confined (v.1). If it is not faith that has brought us into the place of enjoyment of the Lord’s presence, we too will begin to feel too confined. It is natural to desire a larger place for ourselves than that which God has provided, and there are many today who direct their energies into building something that will satisfy them.
These men did not want to dwell where Elisha was in their midst, but they wanted his presence with them in what they were doing (v.3). How much like many Christians today who feel restricted where two or three are gathered together to the name of the Lord Jesus, yet in building their own churches they desire the Lord to go with them.
Elisha let them have their way and graciously went with them, just as we know today that the Lord often blesses those who are building in their own way. It was not Elisha who suggested or directed this project, though he did not oppose it. But rather than ambitiously building for ourselves, is it not wiser to be content with what the Lord Jesus says, “On this Rock I will build My church” (Mat 16:18)? Since believers are a vital part of His church, it is inconsistent of us to be building another church. Yet in the Lord’s sovereign wisdom and grace, He does give His blessing to those who have some good motives, though mixed with selfish motives.
We do not read of the work of these men having any good and lasting result. In fact, the record only reports that as one man was cutting down a tree the head of his axe flew off into the water. He did not even appeal to his fellow workers, but rather told Elisha. “Alas master, for it was borrowed” (v.5). This is too often the case with “sons of the prophets.” The axe speaks of the truth of the Word of God, a tool that can be most effective when well used. But we may be using “borrowed” truth, that which someone else has gained for his own profit, but which we have not really acquired in our own souls. It may have been learned intellectually in a Bible school, but not vitally in the school of God. If so, there will always be some sort of failure in our work.
However, just as the man appealed to Elisha, we may appeal to the Lord Jesus, who is sufficient for every need. Elisha cut off a stick from a tree and threw it into the water (v.6), and the iron axe head miraculously floated to the top of the water. The stick reminds us of a connection with the cross of Christ, as the stick is connected to a tree.
SYRIANS – BLINDED, CAPTURED AND RELEASED
(vv.8-23)
Though the commander of the Syrian armies had been healed through and Israelitish prophet (ch.5), the king of Syria was still determined to wage war against Israel. His plan was to ambush Israel’s army, deciding by consultation with his servants where his army should camp to best accomplish his purpose (v.8).
But the Lord revealed to Elisha what Syria was doing, and he warned the king of Israel, Jehoram, not to pass in the direction of Syria’s camp (v.9). Jehoram sent spies who confirmed that Syria’s camp was in the place of which Elisha told him. This happened more than twice. If we pay attention to the Word of God we shall be preserved from the deceptions of the enemy. God was by no means showing His approval of Jehoram by giving him this information, for Jehoram was not approved by God (2Ki 3:14). But God rather showed the king of Syria that Israel was God’s nation, and He would protect them in spite of their bad king.
The king of Syria was so disturbed that his plans were known to Israel that he thought there must be a traitor in his own court (v.11). But one of his servants knew (by whatever means) that Elisha the prophet told the king of Israel the words the king of Syria spoke in his own bedroom (v.12). Certainly this information could come to Elisha only by the power of God, and the king of Syria ought to have realised he was dealing with One infinitely higher than himself. In such a case, the only wise thing for him to do was to leave Israel alone.
Having received knowledge that Elisha was revealing to the King of Israel the secrets of the King of Syria in planning warfare, the King of Syria foolishly decided to fight against God by taking Elisha captive, possibly hoping to kill him. He sent horses and chariots and a great army with the intention of capturing one lone, defenceless man! Similarly, the chief priests and Pharisees sent “a great multitude with swords and clubs” to arrest the Lord Jesus (Mat 26:47), though He had no weapons and nothing like an army to protect Him. Why did they think it necessary to have such crowds, either in the case of the Lord Jesus or in that of Elisha? Because they were afraid of spiritual power, but thought that overwhelming numbers could defeat that power. How pathetically foolish! The Lord Jesus showed His superior power in speaking the words, “I Am,” causing all the crowd to go backward and fall to the ground (Joh 18:6). Thus they were helpless before His face, yet He allowed them to get up and take Him prisoner! Why? Because He had said His hour had come (Joh 17:1).
The Syrian armies came by night and surrounded the city (v.14). They used all the strategies of a major war engagement! Elisha’s servant, when he rose early in the morning, was terrified and asked, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (v.15).
With perfect calmness Elisha answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v.16). Then he prayed that the Lord would open the servant’s eyes, and the young man saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (v.17). Is there any less protection for believers today? Believers may not see the angel of the Lord camping round about us, but this is nevertheless true (Psa 34:7). Those redeemed by the blood of Christ have no reason to fear any enemy, for God is their Protector.
Elisha prayed that the Syrians might be stricken with blindness, then went boldly out to them, telling them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city” (v.19). Then he led them in their blindness to Samaria, where they were surrounded by Israel’s men. He prayed again, asking the Lord to open their eyes, and they found themselves prisoners in the enemy’s camp! (v.20).
The king of Israel eagerly asked Elisha if he should kill these men, but Elisha refused to give him permission, asking him if he would kill men whom he had taken captive. Rather, he told Jehoram to give them food and water and allow them to return to their master (v.22). What a lesson for these men! Though God had shown them His great power, yet He would also show them His great grace. Would they ever forget an experience like this? The king prepared a great feast for them before sending them away. We are told therefore that the bands of Syrian raiders did not come any more into the land of Israel.
THE SIEGE OF SAMARIA BY SYRIA
(vv.24-33)
The grace shown by the king of Israel to the Syrians did not, however, have a very lasting effect. For though the Syrians did not send bands of raiders to Israel, yet Ben-Hadad king of Syria took his whole army to lay siege to the City of Samaria (v.24).
The siege caused severe famine in the city, so that a donkey’s head was sold for 80 shekels of silver and a small amount of dove’s droppings for 5 shekels. Why did the king of Israel not even consider praying to the Lord in this predicament? He could speak of the Lord (v.27), but had no faith whatever in God’s sovereign goodness.
A woman cried out to the king for help, but not asking for food. Rather, she had a complaint against another woman with whom she had made an agreement that they would kill and boil their sons on different days so that they could eat. She claimed she gave her son the first day, whom they killed and ate. Now she said the other woman had hidden her son when it was her turn to provide him as food (vv.26-29).
Certainly the king could not remedy this matter, and was so affected that he tore his clothes, a sign intended to express repentance, though true repentance was not in the king’s thoughts. In fact, when he tore his clothes, people were able to see that he had sackcloth underneath (v.30). The sackcloth was also intended to be a sign of repentance, but he was wearing it as a sort of religious charm, hoping by this means to remedy the bad situation of Israel. This was merely hypocrisy.
Verse 31 is a proof of his hypocritical attitude. He swore by God that Elisha must be killed. Why? Because Elisha was the one person in Samaria who represented God and Jehoram blamed God for the famine. Certainly God could have prevented it, but He did not, for the famine was an infliction because of Jehoram’s guilt. Instead of Jehoram judging himself, he determined to judge Elisha, the one man through whom he could have found deliverance. But his judging Elisha was the one way he could show his hatred toward the God of Israel. How many there are who bitterly condemn the Lord Jesus when they are in trouble! Yet He is the one source of true help for them!
Elisha, sitting in his house with the elders of the city, knew perfectly well that King Jehoram had sent a man to kill him, and told the elders of this, instructing them to shut the door and not allow the man to come in (v.32). He spoke of Jehoram as “this son of a murderer,” for Ahab was certainly a murderer. But God would see to it that His servant was protected.
Serious trouble ought to melt people’s hearts, but the heart of Jehoram was only hardened instead. Blaming the Lord for the famine, he said, “Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (v.33). But if he would not wait for the Lord, what could he do?
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
God’s ability to revive the nation 6:1-7
"In contrast to Gehazi who had received the reward of his unfaithfulness, the account unfolded here is a demonstration of the reward of faithful labor." [Note: Patterson and Austel, p. 192.]
The expensive [Note: R. L. Hubbard Jr., First and Second Kings, p. 157.] iron ax head was similar to Israel since it was an instrument used for constructive and destructive purposes (cf. Exo 19:5-6). Like the ax, Israel had belonged to another, Egypt, but God used it for a job He had to do since the Exodus. Unfortunately Israel had gone its own way (flown off the ax handle) and appeared lost to any further usefulness. Perhaps the water symbolized the nations among whom Israel had sunk since water often represents the Gentile nations elsewhere in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, God was able to restore His people to a place of usefulness again, even as Elisha restored the ax head to its user. I suspect that around the fireside that night, after this incident took place, Elisha explained the significance of this miracle for the sons of the prophets. From then on they passed this story along until it became part of the folklore of Israel. Several interpreters have seen the symbolism that I have suggested in this story as well as in the other Elisha stories, but not all have, of course. Allegorists repudiate the factuality of these accounts.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
ELISHA AND THE SYRIANS
2Ki 6:1-23
“Now there was found in the city a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.”
– Ecc 9:15
ELISHA, unlike his master Elijah, was, during a great part of his long career, intimately mixed up with the political and military fortunes of his country. The king of Israel who occurs in the following narratives is left nameless-always the sign of later and more vague tradition; but he has usually been identified with Jehoram ben-Ahab, and, though not without some misgivings, we shall assume that the identification is correct.
His dealings with Elisha never seem to have been very cordial, though on one occasion he calls him “my father.” The relations between them at times became strained and even stormy.
His reign was rendered miserable by the incessant infestation of Syrian marauders. In these difficulties he was greatly helped by Elisha. The prophet repeatedly frustrated the designs of the Syrian king by revealing to Jeroboam the places of Benhadads ambuscades, so that Jeroboam could change the destination of his hunting parties or other movements, and escape the plots laid to seize his person. Benhadad, finding himself thus frustrated, and suspecting that it was due to treachery, called his servants together in grief and indignation, and asked who was the traitor among them. His officers assured him that they were all faithful, but that the secrets whispered in his bed-chamber were revealed to Jehoram by Elisha the prophet in Israel, whose fame had spread into Syria, perhaps because of the cure of Naaman. The king, unable to take any step while his counsels were thus published to his enemies, thought-not very consistently-that he could surprise and seize Elisha himself, and sent to find out where he was. At that time he was living in Dothan, about twelve miles northeast of Samaria, and Benhadad sent a contingent with horses and chariots by night to surround the city, and prevent any escape from its gates. That he could thus besiege a town so near the capital shows the helplessness to which Israel had been now reduced.
When Elishas servitor rose in the morning he was terrified to see the Syrians encamped round the city, and cried to Elisha, “Alas! my master, what shall we do?”
“Fear not,” said the prophet: “they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” He prayed God to grant the youth the same open eyes, the same spiritual vision which he himself enjoyed; and the youth saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
This incident has been full of comfort to millions, as a beautiful illustration of the truth that-
“The hosts of God encamp around
The dwellings of the just;
Deliverance He affords to all
Who on His promise trust.”
“Oh, make but trial of His love,
Experience will decide,
How blest are they, and only they,
Who in His truth confide.”
The youths affectionate alarm had not been shared by his master. He knew that to every true servant of God the promise will be fulfilled, “He shall defend thee under His wings; thou shalt be safe under His feathers; His righteousness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” {Psa 91:4}
Were our eyes similarly opened, we too should see the reality of the Divine protection and providence, whether under the visible form of angelic ministrants or not. Scripture in general, and the Psalms in particular, are full of the serenity inspired by this conviction. The story of Elisha is a picture-commentary on the Psalmists words: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” {Psa 34:7} “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” {Psa 91:11} “And I will encamp about Mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with Mine eyes.” {Zec 9:8} “The angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” {Isa 63:9}
But what is the exact meaning of all these lovely promises? They do not mean that Gods children and saints will always be shielded from anguish or defeat, from the triumph of their enemies, or even from apparently hopeless and final failure, or miserable death. The lesson is not that their persons shall be inviolable, or that the enemies who advance against them to eat up their flesh shall always stumble and fall. The experiences of tens of thousands of troubled lives and martyred ends instantly prove the futility of any such reading of these assurances. The saints of God, the prophets of God, have died in exile and in prison, have been tortured on the rack and broken on the wheel, and burnt to ashes at innumerable stakes; they have been destitute, afflicted, tormented, in their lives-stoned, beheaded, sawn asunder, in every form of hideous death; they have rotted in miry dungeons, have starved on desolate shores, have sighed out their souls into the agonizing flame. The Cross of Christ stands as the emblem and the explanation of their lives, which fools count to be madness, and their end without honor. On earth they have, far more often than not, been crushed by the hatred and been delivered over to the will of their enemies. Where, then, have been those horses and chariots of fire?
They have been there no less than around Elisha at Dothan. The eyes spiritually opened have seen them, even when the sword flashed, or the flames wrapped them in indescribable torment. The sense of Gods protection has least deserted His saints when to the worlds eyes they seemed to have been most utterly abandoned. There has been a joy in prisons and at stakes, it has been said, far exceeding the joy of harvest. “Pray for me,” said a poor boy of fifteen, who was being burned at Smithfield in the fierce days of Mary Tudor. “I would as soon pray for a dog as for a heretic like thee,” answered one of the spectators. “Then, Son of God, shine Thou upon me!” cried the boy-martyr; and instantly, upon a dull and cloudy day, the sun shone out, and bathed his young face in glory; whereat, says the martyrologist, men greatly marveled. But is there one deathbed of a saint on which that glory has not shone?
The presence of those horses and chariots of fire, unseen by the carnal eye-the promises which, if they be taken literally, all experience seems to frustrate-mean two things, which they who are the heirs of such promises, and who would without them be of all men most miserable, have clearly understood.
They mean, first, that as long as a child of God is on the path of duty, and until that duty has been fulfilled, he is inviolable and invulnerable. He shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shall he trample under his feet. He shall take up the serpent in his hands; and if he drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt him. He shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flieth by day; of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the demon that destroyeth in the noonday. A thousand shall fall at his right hand, and ten thousand beside him; but it shall not come nigh him. The histories and the legends of numberless marvelous deliverances all confirm the truth that, when a man fears the Lord, He will keep him in all his ways, and give His angels charge over him, lest at any time he dash his foot against a stone. God will not permit any mortal force, or any combination of forces, to hinder the accomplishment of the task entrusted to His servant. It is the sense of this truth which, under circumstances however menacing, should enable us to
“bate no jot of heart or hope, but still bear up, and steer uphillward.”
It is this conviction which has nerved men to face insuperable difficulties, and achieve impossible and unhoped-for ends. It works in the spirit of the cry, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel be thou changed into a plain!” It inspires the faith as a grain of mustard seed which is able to say to this mountain, “Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,”-and it shall obey. It stands unmoved upon the pinnacle of the Temple whereon it has been placed, while the enemy and the tempter, smitten by amazement, falls. In the hour of difficulty it can cry, –
“Rescue me, O Lord, in this mine evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy mighty power,
Enoch and Elias from the common doom;
Noe from the waters in a saving home;
Abraham from the abounding guilt of heathenesse;
Job from all his multiform and fell distress”
“Isaac when his fathers knife was raised to slay;
Lot from burning Sodom on the judgment day;
Moses from the land of bondage and despair;
Daniel from the hungry lions in their lair;
And the children three amid the furnace flame;
Chaste Susanna from the slander and the shame;
David from Golia, and the wrath of Saul;
And the two Apostles from their prison-thrall.”
The strangeness, the unexpectedness, the apparently inadequate source of the deliverance, have deepened the trust that it has not been due to accident. Once, when Felix of Nola was flying from his enemies, he took refuge in a cave, and he had scarcely entered it before a spider began to spin its web over the fissure. The pursuer, passing by, saw the spiders web, and did not look into the cave; and the saint, as he came out into safety, remarked: “Ubi Deus est, ibi aranea taurus, ubi non est ibi taurus aranea” (“Where God is, a spiders web is as a wall; where He is not, a wall is but as a spiders web”).
This is one lesson conveyed in the words of Christ when the Pharisees told Him that Herod desired to kill Him. He knew that Herod could not kill Him till He had done His Fathers will and finished His work. “Go ye,” He said “and tell this fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following.”
But had all this been otherwise-had Felix been seized by his pursuers and perished, as has been the common lot of Gods prophets and heroes-he would not therefore have felt himself mocked by these exceeding great and precious promises. The chariots and horses of fire are still mere ant are there to work a deliverance yet greater and more eternal. Their office is not to deliver the perishing body, but to carry into Gods glory the immortal soul. This is indicated in the death-scene of Elijah. This was the vision of the dying Stephen. This was what Christian legend meant when it embellished with beautiful incidents such scenes as the death of Polycarp. This was what led Bunyan to write, when he describes the death of Christian, that “all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.” When poor Captain Allan Gardiner lay starving to death in that Antarctic isle with his wretched companions, he yet painted on the entrance of the cave which had sheltered them, and near to which his remains were found, a hand pointing downward at the words, “Though He slay me, yet will I put my trust in Him.”
There was a touch of almost joyful humor in the way in which Elisha proceeded to use, in the present emergency, the power of Divine deliverance. He seems to have gone out of the town and down the hill to the Syrian captains, and prayed God to send them illusion (ajbleya), so that they might be misled. Then he boldly said to them, “You are being deceived: you have come the wrong way, and to the wrong city. I will take you to the man whom ye seek.” The incident reminds us of the story of Athanasius, who, when he was being pursued on the Nile, took the opportunity of a bend of the river boldly to turn back his boat towards Alexandria. “Do you know where Athanasius is?” shouted the pursuers. “He is not far off!” answered the disguised Archbishop; and the emissaries of Constantius went on in the opposite direction from that in which he made his escape.
Elisha led the Syrians in their delusion straight into the city of Samaria, where they suddenly found themselves at the mercy of the king and his troops. Delighted at so great a chance of vengeance, Jehoram eagerly exclaimed, “My father, shall I smite, shall I smite?”
Certainly the request cannot be regarded as unnatural, when we remember that in the Book of Deuteronomy, which did not come to light till after this period, we read the rule that, when the Israelites had taken a besieged city, “thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword,” {Deu 20:13} and that when Israel defeated the Midianites; {Num 31:7} they slew all the males, and Moses was wroth with the officers of the host because they had not also slain all the women. He then (as we are told) ordered them to slay all except the virgins, and also-horrible to relate-“every male among the little ones.” The spirit of Elisha on this occasion was larger and more merciful. It almost rose to the spirit of Him who said, “It was said to them of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies; forgive them that hate you; do good unto them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” He asked Jehoram reproachfully whether he would even have smitten those whom he had taken captive with sword and bow. He not only bade the king to spare them, but to set food before them, and send them home. Jehoram did so at great expense, and the narrative ends by telling us that the example of such merciful generosity produced so favorable an impression that “the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.”
It is difficult, however, to see where this statement can be chronologically fitted in. The very next chapter-so loosely is the compilation put together, so completely is the sequence of events here neglected-begins with telling us that Benhadad with all his host went up and besieged Samaria. Any peace or respite gained by Elishas compassionate magnanimity must, in any case, have been exceedingly short-lived. Josephus tries to get over the difficulty by drawing a sufficiently futile distinction between marauding bands and a direct invasion, and he says that King Benhadad gave up his forays through fear of Elisha. But, in the first place, the encompassing of Dothan had been carried out by “a great host with horses and chariots,” which is hardly consistent with the notion of a foray, though it creates new difficulties as to the numbers whom Elisha led to Samaria; secondly, the substitution of a direct invasion for predatory incursions would have been no gain to Israel, but a more deadly peril; and, thirdly, if it was fear of Elisha which stopped the kings raids, it is strange that it had no effect in preventing his invasions. We have, however, no data for any final solution of these problems, and it is useless to meet them with a network of idle conjectures. Such difficulties naturally occur in narratives so vague and unchronological as those presented to us in the documents from the story of Elisha which the compiler wove into his history of Israel and Judah.