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2 Kings Chapter
Four
2 Kings 4
Chapter Contents
Elisha multiplies the widow's oil. (1-7) The Shunammite
obtains a son. (8-17) The Shunammite's son restored to life. (18-37) The
miracle of healing the pottage
and of feeding the sons of the prophets.
(38-44)
Commentary on 2 Kings 4:1-7
(Read 2 Kings 4:1-7)
Elisha's miracles were acts of real charity: Christ's
were so; not only great wonders
but great favours to those for whom they were
wrought. God magnifies his goodness with his power. Elisha readily received a
poor widow's complaint. Those that leave their families under a load of debt
know not what trouble they cause. It is the duty of all who profess to follow
the Lord
while they trust to God for daily bread
not to tempt him by
carelessness or extravagance
nor to contract debts; for nothing tends more to
bring reproach upon the gospel
or distresses their families more when they are
gone. Elisha put the widow in a way to pay her debt
and to maintain herself
and her family. This was done by miracle
but so as to show what is the best
method to assist those who are in distress
which is
to help them to improve
by their own industry what little they have. The oil
sent by miracle
continued flowing as long as she had empty vessels to receive it. We are never
straitened in God
or in the riches of his grace; all our straitness is in
ourselves. It is our faith that fails
not his promise. He gives more than we
ask: were there more vessels
there is enough in God to fill them; enough for
all
enough for each; and the Redeemer's all-sufficiency will only be stayed
from the supplying the wants of sinners and saving their souls
when no more
apply to him for salvation. The widow must pay her debt with the money she
received for her oil. Though her creditors were too hard with her
yet they
must be paid
even before she made any provision for her children. It is one of
the main laws of the Christian religion
that we pay every just debt
and give
every one his own
though we leave ever so little for ourselves; and this
not
of constraint
but for conscience' sake. Those who bear an honest mind
cannot
with pleasure eat their daily bread
unless it be their own bread. She and her
children must live upon the rest; that is
upon the money received for the oil
with which they must put themselves into a way to get an honest livelihood. We
cannot now expect miracles
yet we may expect mercies
if we wait on God
and
seek to him. Let widows in particular depend upon him. He that has all hearts
in his hand
can
without a miracle
send as effectual a supply.
Commentary on 2 Kings 4:8-17
(Read 2 Kings 4:8-17)
Elisha was well thought of by the king of Israel for his
late services; a good man can take as much pleasure in serving others
as in
raising himself. But the Shunammite needed not any good offices of this kind.
It is a happiness to dwell among our own people
that love and respect us
and
to whom we are able to do good. It would be well with many
if they did but
know when they are really well off. The Lord sees the secret wish which is
suppressed in obedience to his will
and he will hear the prayers of his
servants in behalf of their benefactors
by sending unasked-for and unexpected
mercies; nor must the professions of men of God be supposed to be delusive like
those of men of the world.
Commentary on 2 Kings 4:18-37
(Read 2 Kings 4:18-37)
Here is the sudden death of the child. All the mother's
tenderness cannot keep alive a child of promise
a child of prayer
one given
in love. But how admirably does the prudent
pious mother
guard her lips under
this sudden affliction! Not one peevish word escapes from her. Such confidence
had she of God's goodness
that she was ready to believe that he would restore
what he had now taken away. O woman
great is thy faith! He that wrought it
would not disappoint it. The sorrowful mother begged leave of her husband to go
to the prophet at once. She had not thought it enough to have Elisha's help
sometimes in her own family
but
though a woman of rank
attended on public
worship. It well becomes the men of God
to inquire about the welfare of their
friends and their families. The answer was
It is well. All well
and yet the
child dead in the house! Yes! All is well that God does; all is well with them
that are gone
if they are gone to heaven; and all well with us that stay
behind
if
by the affliction
we are furthered in our way thither. When any
creature-comfort is taken from us
it is well if we can say
through grace
that we did not set our hearts too much upon it; for if we did
we have reason
to fear it was given in anger
and taken away in wrath. Elisha cried unto God
in faith; and the beloved son was restored alive to his mother. Those who would
convey spiritual life to dead souls
must feel deeply for their case
and
labour fervently in prayer for them. Though the minister cannot give Divine
life to his fellow-sinners
he must use every means
with as much earnestness as
if he could do so.
Commentary on 2 Kings 4:38-44
(Read 2 Kings 4:38-44)
There was a famine of bread
but not of hearing the word
of God
for Elisha had the sons of the prophets sitting before him
to hear his
wisdom. Elisha made hurtful food to become safe and wholesome. If a mess of
pottage be all our dinner
remember that this great prophet had no better for
himself and his guests. The table often becomes a snare
and that which should
be for our welfare
proves a trap: this is a good reason why we should not feed
ourselves without fear. When we are receiving the supports and comforts of
life
we must keep up an expectation of death
and a fear of sin. We must
acknowledge God's goodness in making our food wholesome and nourishing; I am
the Lord that healeth thee. Elisha also made a little food go a great way.
Having freely received
he freely gave. God has promised his church
that he
will abundantly bless her provision
and satisfy her poor with bread
Psalm 132:15; whom he feeds
he fills; and what
he blesses
comes to much. Christ's feeding his hearers was a miracle far
beyond this
but both teach us that those who wait upon God in the way of duty
may hope to be supplied by Divine Providence.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Kings》
2 Kings 4
Verse 1
[1] Now
there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto
Elisha
saying
Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy
servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two
sons to be bondmen.
Prophets —
Who
though they were wholly devoted to sacred employment
were not excluded
from marriage
any more than the priests and Levites.
Fear the Lord —
His poverty therefore was not procured by his idleness
or prodigality; but by
his piety
because he would not comply with the king's way of worship
and
therefore lost all worldly advantages.
Bondmen — Either
to use them as his slaves
or to sell them to others
according to the law.
Verse 2
[2] And Elisha said unto her
What shall I do for thee? tell me
what hast
thou in the house? And she said
Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the
house
save a pot of oil.
What shall I —
How shall I relieve thee
who am myself poor?
Verse 7
[7] Then
she came and told the man of God. And he said
Go
sell the oil
and pay thy
debt
and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Unto her son — To
one of them: for she had two
verse 1.
The oil stayed — To
teach us
that we should not waste any of his good creatures; and that God
would not work miracles unnecessarily. We are never straiten'd in God
and in
his power and bounty
and the riches of his grace. All our straitness is in
ourselves. It is our faith that fails
not his promise. Were there more
vessels
there is enough in God to fill them
enough for all
enough for each.
Verse 8
[8] And
it fell on a day
that Elisha passed to Shunem
where was a great woman; and
she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was
that as oft as he passed by
he turned in thither to eat bread.
Great —
For estate
or birth and quality.
Verse 9
[9] And she said unto her husband
Behold now
I perceive that this is an holy
man of God
which passeth by us continually.
This is — A
prophet
and that of eminent holiness: by our kindness to whom
we shall
procure a blessing to ourselves.
Verse 10
[10] Let
us make a little chamber
I pray thee
on the wall; and let us set for him
there a bed
and a table
and a stool
and a candlestick: and it shall be
when
he cometh to us
that he shall turn in thither.
On the wall —
That he may be free from the noise of family business
and enjoy that privacy
which
I perceive
he desireth for his prayers and meditations.
A bed
… — He
will not be troublesome or chargeable to us: he cares not for rich furniture or
costly entertainment
and is content with bare necessaries.
Verse 12
[12] And he
said to Gehazi his servant
Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her
she stood before him.
She stood —
The relation seems to be a little perplexed
but may be thus conceived. It is
in this verse recorded in the general
that the prophet sent Gehazi to call
her
and that she came to him upon that call: then follows a particular
description of the whole business
with all the circumstances
first
of the
message with which Gehazi was sent when he went to call her
and of her answer
to that message
verse 13
and of Gehazi's conjecture thereupon
verse 14
and then of her coming to the prophet at his
call: which is there repeated to make way for the following passages.
Verse 13
[13] And
he said unto him
Say now unto her
Behold
thou hast been careful for us with
all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the
king
or to the captain of the host? And she answered
I dwell among mine own
people.
I dwell — I
live among my kindred and friends; nor have I any cause to seek relief from
higher powers.
Verse 14
[14] And
he said
What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered
Verily she hath
no child
and her husband is old.
He said —
Hast thou observed any thing which she wants or desires? For the prophet kept
himself much in his chamber
whilst Gehazi went more freely about the house
as
his occasions led him.
Verse 16
[16] And
he said
About this season
according to the time of life
thou shalt embrace a
son. And she said
Nay
my lord
thou man of God
do not lie unto thine
handmaid.
Do not lie — Do
not delude me with vain hopes. She could not believe it for joy.
Verse 17
[17] And
the woman conceived
and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto
her
according to the time of life.
Time of life —
See note on Genesis 18:10.
Verse 21
[21] And
she went up
and laid him on the bed of the man of God
and shut the door upon
him
and went out.
Bed of the man of God — Being apt to believe
he that so soon took away what he had given
would
restore what he had taken away. By this faith women received their dead raised
to life. In this faith she makes no preparation for the burial of her child
but for his resurrection.
Verse 23
[23] And
he said
Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon
nor
sabbath. And she said
It shall be well.
New moon
… —
Which were the usual times in which they resorted to the prophets for
instruction.
It shall be well — My
going will not be troublesome to him
nor prejudicial to thee or me.
Verse 26
[26] Run
now
I pray thee
to meet her
and say unto her
Is it well with thee? is it
well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered
It is well.
It is — So
it was in some respects
because it was the will of a wise and good God
and
therefore best for her. When God calls away our dearest relations by death
it
becomes us to say
it is well both with us and them. It is well
for all is
well that God doth: all is well with them that are gone
if they are gone to
heaven. And all is well with us that stay behind
if by the affliction we are
furthered in our way thither.
Verse 27
[27] And
when she came to the man of God to the hill
she caught him by the feet: but
Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said
Let her alone;
for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me
and hath
not told me.
The feet —
She fell at his feet and touched them
as a most humble and earnest supplicant.
Withal
she intimated
what she durst not presume to express in words
that she
desired him to go along with her.
Let her alone —
Disturb her not
for this gesture is a sign of some extraordinary grief.
Hid it —
Whereby he signifies
that what he knew or did
was not by any virtue inherent
in himself
but from God
who revealed to him only what and when he pleased.
Verse 28
[28] Then
she said
Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say
Do not deceive me?
She said —
This child was not given to me upon my immoderate desire
for which I might
have justly been thus chastised
but was freely promised by thee in God's name
and from his special favour.
Deceive me —
With vain hopes of a comfort that I should never have. And I had been much
happier if I had never had it
than to lose it so quickly.
Verse 29
[29] Then
he said to Gehazi
Gird up thy loins
and take my staff in thine hand
and go
thy way: if thou meet any man
salute him not; and if any salute thee
answer
him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
Gird up —
Tie up thy long garments about thy loins for expedition.
If thou meet
… —
Make no delay nor stop by the way
neither by words nor actions.
Verse 30
[30] And
the mother of the child said
As the LORD liveth
and as thy soul liveth
I
will not leave thee. And he arose
and followed her.
Will not leave thee —
Until thou goest home with me. For she had no great confidence in Gehazi
nor
was her faith so strong as to think that the prophet could work so great a
miracle at this distance.
Verse 31
[31] And
Gehazi passed on before them
and laid the staff upon the face of the child;
but there was neither voice
nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him
and told him
saying
The child is not awaked.
Neither voice —
Neither speech
nor sense
nor any sign of life
in the child. This
disappointment might proceed from hence
that Elisha having changed his mind
and yielded to her importunity to go with her
did alter his course
and not
join his fervent prayers with Gehazi's action.
Not awaked —
Not revived.
Verse 33
[33] He
went in therefore
and shut the door upon them twain
and prayed unto the LORD.
Shut the door —
Upon himself and the dead child
that he might pray to God without distraction
and might more freely use those means which he thought fit.
Verse 34
[34] And
he went up
and lay upon the child
and put his mouth upon his mouth
and his
eyes upon his eyes
and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon
the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
And put —
One part upon another successively; for the disproportion of the bodies would
not permit it to be done together.
Grew warm —
Not by any external heat
which could not be transmitted to the child's body by
such slight touches of the prophet's body; but from a principle of life
which
was already infused into the child
and by degrees enlivened all the parts of
his body.
Verse 35
[35] Then
he returned
and walked in the house to and fro; and went up
and stretched
himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times
and the child opened his
eyes.
He walked — He
changeth his postures for his own necessary refreshment
and walked to and fro
exercising his mind in prayer to God.
And went —
Repeating his former actions
to teach us not to be discouraged in our prayers
if we be not speedily answered.
Opened his eyes — So
the work begun in the former verse is here perfected. Although miracles were
for the most part done in an instant
yet sometimes they were done by degrees.
Verse 36
[36] And
he called Gehazi
and said
Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when
she was come in unto him
he said
Take up thy son.
Unto him — To
the door.
Verse 40
[40] So
they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass
as they were eating of
the pottage
that they cried out
and said
O thou man of God
there is death
in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
Death —
That is
some deadly thing.
Verse 41
[41] But
he said
Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said
Pour out
for the people
that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
Into the pot —
Together with the pottage which they had taken out of it.
Verse 42
[42] And
there came a man from Baalshalisha
and brought the man of God bread of the
firstfruits
twenty loaves of barley
and full ears of corn in the husk
thereof. And he said
Give unto the people
that they may eat.
First fruits —
Which were the priests due
Numbers 18:12
but these
and probably the rest
of the priests dues
were usually brought by the pious Israelites
according to
their ability and opportunity
to the Lord's prophets
because they were not permitted
to carry them to Jerusalem.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Kings》
04 Chapter 4
Verses 1-44
Verses 1-8
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the
prophets.
The widow’s pot of oil
If we are to believe the voice of tradition as expressed by
Josephus
the subject of this touching story was one who had seen far better
days
being the widow of Obadiah
the Lord High Chamberlain of Ahab. While her
husband lived she breathed the atmosphere of a court
and was nourished in the
lap of luxury. But when he died she seems to have been reduced to the utmost
poverty. That world which had smiled upon her in the days of her prosperity
now
with characteristic fickleness
turned its back upon her. Her friends
forsook her
and refused to help her. She was plunged into debt
contracted in
order to obtain the barest necessaries of life. Having nothing of any value in
the house
the hard-hearted creditor
in lieu of payment
threatened to take
and sell her two only sons as slaves; which
by virtue of one Jewish law and
the extension of another
he had the power to do. It is true that the period
during which slaves could be held in Israel was mercifully limited by the year
of jubilee
and that year
which would break every fetter
might be near at
hand; but nevertheless
in her position
the enforcement of the law even for
the Shortest period could not but be felt as a grievous calamity. On account of
these trying circumstances
her case was one that peculiarly warranted the
interposition of Heaven. But she had another claim still
beside that of her
wretchedness
upon the sympathy and help of Elisha. Her husband feared the Lord
while he lived. He was the son of a prophet
and cherished the deepest regard
for the person and the work of those who filled that sacred office. Elisha’s
first question to her evinced a wonderful knowledge of the human heart
and of
the best mode of dealing with poverty and suffering. Instead of volunteering to
give her aid at once
as most persons would have done
carried away by an
overpowering impulse of compassion at the recital of the tale of sorrow; like a
wise and judicious friend
he inquires how far she herself has the power to
avert the threatened calamity--“What hast thou in the house?” His assistance
must be based upon her own assistance. He will help her to help herself. And
this is the only true way to benefit the poor. By reckless and indiscriminate
almsgiving
we run the risk of pauperising the objects of our charity. Our
assistance should therefore be of such a nature as to call forth the resources
which they themselves possess
and to make the most of them. However small
these resources may be
they should be used as a fulcrum
by means of which our
help may raise them to a better condition. The first question which we too
should ask the widow or the destitute is--“What hast thou in the house?” No
help from without can benefit
unless there be a willingness of self-help
within. The widow of Obadiah had nothing in the house save a pot of oil. Was
this oil grown by Obadiah during his lifetime--the last of the produce of his
olive-yard? In all likelihood it was all that remained of the once extensive
property of Ahab’s steward. Out of this last pot of Oil--the sign of her
uttermost poverty--Elisha furnished the source of her comfort and happiness. In
the fables of all nations we are told that a magician
by a mere wave of his
wand
or by pronouncing a certain charm
produces at once wealth and luxuries
that had no existence before. Aladdin rubs a ring
and immediately a genius
appears
and at his command provides a rich feast for him out of nothing. He
rubs an old lamp
and at once a gorgeous palace rises up before him in
substantial reality
created out of the formless ether around. By putting on
Fortunetus’s wishing-cap the lucky possessors of it can get anything they want
and create things unknown before. But there is nothing like this in the
miracles of the Bible. The Gospel miracle which most nearly resembles the
multiplication of the widow’s oil by Elisha
is the miracle of the loaves and
fishes. In both cases the properties of the articles remained the same
and
their substance only was extended. In both cases the point of departure and the
completed result of the miracle were articles in familiar use among the people.
Elisha simply multiplied the common olive oil of the widow into the common
olive oil of the country
neither better nor worse. Jesus simply multiplied the
common barley loaves and fishes of the fisher-lad into the common barley loaves
and fishes which formed the ordinary fare of the disciples. In both cases the
miracle was based upon the ultimate result of man’s labour. The oil in the
widow’s pot was the juice expressed
out of berries gathered
from trees
planted
grafted
and tended by man’s toil and skill. The bread in the
fisherman’s possession was baked by man’s hands
out of barley sown
reaped
gathered
threshed
and ground in the mill by man’s skill and labour; the
fishes were equally the produce of human industry and special knowledge. These
examples show to us that even in miracles man must be a fellowworker with God
in subduing the earth
and in removing the limitations and disabilities of the
curse. In these actions men prepared themselves by the miracle wrought within
them--the triumph over natural unbelief and the objections of reason--to
believe in and to benefit by the miracle about to be wrought without. The widow
of Obadiah might well be astonished at the command of Elisha. If she had stopped to reason
about the procedure required of her
she might well hesitate to undertake it.
Taking a common-sense view of the matter
of what use would it be to borrow as
many vessels as possible from her neighbours? What answer could she give them
if they asked her what she meant to do with these vessels? Would they not laugh
at her if she told the prophet’s message
and ridicule the utter folly of the
whole story? And yet
in spite of all these apparent absurdities and
impossibilities--in spite of all the objections of reason and common sense
the
widow hastened to obey the prophet’s command. She stumbled not because of
unbelief. Her faith triumphed over all difficulties. It is a significant
circumstance that the prophet should have commanded the widow to shut the door
upon herself and her sons
when she poured out the oil into the vessels. There
is a reason for
and a meaning in
every detail of the Bible miracles; and
doubtless the design of this apparently trivial injunction was to secure to the
widow the privacy and calmness of mind necessary for the performance of the
miracle
and for
its producing the full and proper impression upon her own soul. If she had left
the door open
the neighbours doubtless
moved by curiosity to see what she would do with the
vessels she had borrowed
would flock around her
and sadly discompose her mind
by their laughter
their sneers
and their unsuitable remarks. Reverence
stillness
and solitude are needed for the miracle. But
besides being
necessary in order to prepare the widow of Obadiah for receiving the benefits
of the miracle
the solitude and secrecy which Elisha enjoined were significant
of the mysterious character of the miracle itself. It was withdrawn from sight.
It was silent and unimaginable. The process by which the oil wag multiplied we
labour in vain to conceive. We cannot explain the phenomenon by the observation
of any known laws; and yet in truth the miracle is not more strange
save in
the rapidity with which it is effected
than that which is every day going
forward in nature in those regions where the olive tree grows. You sow the seed
of an olive tree; that seed contains a very small quantity of oil. It grows and becomes a tree and
produces an immense quantity of fruit; so that from the little drop of oil in
the small vessel of the seed
you have thousands of vessels in the shape of the
berries
each filled with oil. He who makes the olive seed in the course of a
few years
or the olive tree every season
to prepare and extract oil from the
scanty soil on the arid rocks
and the dry burning air in which the tree
delights to grow
concentrated
in the miracle in the widow’s chamber
the
slower processes of nature spread over months and years
into the act of a
single moment. Of course the natural process does not explain the miracle
but
it is a help to our faith. The one sheds light upon the other. The miracle
teaches us that the natural process is not the result of an impersonal law or
of a dead course of things
but the working of our Father in heaven; while the
natural process in its turn shows to us that God in the miracle is working in
the line of the ordinary events and dispensations of His providence. The
miracle blends with common life. How strikingly does this wonderful incident show
to us that we must be fellow-workers with God throughout
from first to last
in our own deliverance and blessing. How wonderfully it illustrates the whole
Divine economy of grace
under which we are enjoined to work out our own
salvation with fear and trembling
seeing that it is God that worketh in us
both to will and to do of His good pleasure! We are all in the condition of the
poor widow; we are destitute of everything
and are ready to perish. But God is
far more tender and considerate to us than Elisha was to the widow. If we have
but the feeling of want
but the desire for God’s help
that very want or
desire will be to us what the pot of oil was to the widow--the source of an
abundant supply of all that we need. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
A prophet’s widow and a prophet s kindness
I. A prophet’s
widow in distress. To-day some of the most enlightened
thoughtful
and really
useful ministers are amongst the poorest.
1. That poverty is not necessarily a disgrace. It is sometimes the
result of inflexible honesty and moral nobility.
2. That the best lives here are subject to trials.
3. That avarice feeds cruelty.
II. A prophet at
work to relieve a brother’s widow. In her distress instinct tells her where to
go
and she goes to Elisha
a man not only who knew her husband
but of kindred
experiences and sympathies. See how Elisha helps this widow.
1. Promptly. He did not want arguments or testimonials. He helped
her.
2. Effectively. (Homilist.)
The humble not forgotten
One thing which is prominent in the Word of God is vividly
illustrated in this incident. God remembers His poor people. The Bible is the
poor man’s book. The wealth
honour
pride
power
and glory of this world are
of small account in the sight of Heaven. The widow with her two mites
the jailer
at Philippi
Lydia the purple-seller
Elisha the ploughman
Amos the herdsman
Peter and John the fishermen
were individuals of no social importance. The
secular historian would have deemed them unworthy of notice. But they were
chosen to play wonderful parts on the field of moral action. In the age when
this poor Shunammite widow was living in obscurity
stupendous struggles were
going on among the carnal empires
of which Herodotus
Xenophon
and Thucydides
give most elaborate records. But of these the Bible takes no notice. In the New
Testament Philippi comes before us in connection with a humble man and an
insignificant woman; while the terrific battle which there turned the world’s
history is ignored; nor are King Philip
the great founder
and Alexander the
Great--brought up at Philippi--so much as alluded to. If we would be great in
the sight of the Lord
we must be found in line with His purposes. It might
have been imagined that Elijah and Elisha would concern themselves only with
the important affairs of great people. But
as a matter of fact
while they had
much to do with kings and nobles and generals and statesmen
yet they had still
more to do with peasants
labourers
poor students
and lone widows. They
belonged to the people. The Gospel is not for any one section of humanity; but
its blessings come flint to the needy
the sad
the afflicted
and the guilty.
(Christian Commonwealth.)
Elisha multiplies the widow’s oil
I. The person for
whom this miracle was wrought. “A certain woman.”
1. She was the subject of accumulated sorrow.
2. She was a woman of devout spirit. It is difficult to over-estimate
the value of having a pious partner
a godly child
or a faithful companion;
but how important it is that we ourselves axe holy
We may gather from this
incident the following thoughts concerning this woman.
II. The manner in
which this miracle was performed. God was this widow’s Helper. This is in
harmony with His nature. He is loving
tender
faithful
and full of
compassion. “A Father of the fatherless” (Psalms 68:5).
1. God took advantage of her extremity. Often “man’s extremity is
God’s opportunity.” God interposed just when this woman’s sorrow was the
heaviest
and when her outlook was the darkest. How often He deals with His
children in like manner now.
2. Her faith was tested by the means employed. This woman’s
deliverance was effected in a short time and in a strange way.
III. The attributes
of the Divine character which this miracle exhibits. This miracle exhibits--
1. The Divine law of righteousness. “Go
sell the oil
and pay thy
debt.” The Divine law is
“Owe no man anything but love.” We are to be just in
our material
social
and commercial relationships.
2. The rich resources of Divine wisdom. The promises which God has
made concerning the deliverance of His children in seasons of trial are
abundant
simple
precious: “Call upon Me” (Psalms 50:15). “When thou” (Isaiah 43:2). In behalf of His children
God has brought water from a rock
made a path through the sea
etc.
3. The greatness of Divine mercy. “Live thou and thy children of the
rest.” Enough to satisfy the creditor
and some to spare. How great is God’s
mercy. It is higher than the heavens. Conclusion. Let us be faithful
submissive
and heroic when duty leads us into trial Many a cloudy morning has
turned into a fine day. We all have trials; but what are our heaviest trials
compared to those this woman endured? We may have the same Friend and Helper.
If we trust in Him
our sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John Wileman.)
Christ anticipated
The way in which Elisha addresses himself to the circumstances of
the case is very significant of the method of Jesus Christ. Elisha asked the
woman
“What shall I do for thee?” Jesus often asked the same question of those
who came to Him for healing or relief--“What wilt thou that I shall do unto
thee?” Thus the petitioner is made a party to the case in no merely nominal sense
but in the
sense of acquiring distinct responsibility of suggestion or advice. No doubt the prophet
knew what the widow wanted
yet a good purpose was to be gained in causing her
to state her case in her own words. This is how God Himself proceeds in the
matter of our own prayers. Our heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need
of before we ask Him; yet it has pleased Him to make it part of our education to
allow us to state our own necessities and argue our own pleas
leaving Him to
be sole judge when the case is
laid before Him. Elisha asked another question which Jesus Christ also put on some occasions.
Elisha said
“Tell me
what hast thou in the house?” Jesus Christ asked the
disciples what bread they had before He proceeded to satisfy the hunger of the
multitude. It is God’s plan to start with what we have. So we have certain
preliminary duties to attend to; as
for example
finding out the whole of our
resources
placing these at the disposal of the Master
beginning with a little
as if it were a great amount
and gradually proceeding until we ourselves are
surprised by the largeness and completeness of the miracle. Now Elisha proceeds
to his work:--“Go
borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours
even empty
vessels.” This would have committed him to some degree of miraculous
interposition
but this was not all he said; he added to his instructions
“Borrow not a few” (verse 3). In Psalms 81:10
we read
“Open thy mouth
wide
and I will fill it.” It is God’s joy
if we may so put it
to give large
answers to the requests of men. Said Christ
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in
My name: ask
and ye shall receive
that your joy may be full.” Not a partial
joy
and not the beginning of a joy
but a complete
overflowing
redundant
joy. It was the vessels that were exhausted
not the hand of God that was
emptied. A notable lesson this
that it is never God who fails but always man
who comes to the end of his capacity. (J. Parker
D. D.)
The widow’s pot of oil and the empty vessels
There are three or four significant utterances here which I wish
to speak of.
1. The woman’s great need. Every sinner is in debt. We have broken
the law of God and our debt is greater than we can ever pay. There is no one to
pay the debt for us among our fellow-men. We must have a redeemer
and Jesus
Christ is the only name given under heaven or among men who has the spiritual
wealth and the infinite love to redeem us
and He comes and asks us
as Elisha
asked this poor widow
“What shall I do for thee?” What are you going to say to
Jesus who is asking you that question? Will you say to Him
“Oh
I think you can
do nothing for me now. I will go on awhile in my sins; I will think about it
awhile longer; I will wear the handcuffs of evil habit and drag the
ball-and-chain of sinful appetites a while longer; perhaps some time I will let
you do something for me?” Can you imagine the poor widow answering Elisha like
that? Can you dream of her saying to Elisha
“Oh
I think I will not have you
do anything now; I will let the boys be slaves awhile; I will go on in my
misery and my poverty. Perhaps after they have slaved it for a time
and I have
starved awhile
I will let you do something for me?” Would you not say that
that was infinite folly? And it is the part of wisdom for you to say
when
Jesus asks what He can do for you
“Lord Jesus
redeem me from my sins. Save my
soul. Do whatever you can do to lift me out of my sinful condition into
goodness and peace.”
2. Elisha says to this widow
“Tell me
what hast thou in the house?”
That is in harmony with the way God always brings blessings to His children. So
God deals with us. He will not waste anything that we already have. He will
take into account whatever there is of good in us. While we have absolutely
nothing in us which
taken by itself
can save us
yet every fraction of good
teaching that we have received from our parents
every point of good discipline
that has come to us in the stress of life
everything that is good in us
if it
be so small as only to be compared to a widow’s pot of oil
or a little lad’s
lunch of five loaves and two fishes
God will not throw away
or fail to take
into account
but He will make all these a blessing to our souls if we give our
hearts to Him.
3. Another very important message is to be found in the empty
vessels. Many fail of salvation because they have no empty vessels. Their vessels
are all full of their own self-righteousness
something that is utterly useless
to redeem from the bondage of sin
but that shuts out the grace of God from the
heart. When the publican and the Pharisee went up into the temple to pray
the
Pharisee had no empty vessels with him. We must all come with the same humility
of heart
with the same vessels emptied of all self
and throw ourselves on the
mercy of God. There is no caste or aristocracy or social rank in sin; every sinner in the
world
rich or poor
high or low
must come with supreme self-surrender at the
foot of the Cross if he would find salvation. When the Duke of Kent
the father
of Queen Victoria
was told by his physician that he could not live long
he
was anxious about his soul. His physician
who was an old friend
endeavoured
to soothe his mind by referring to his high respectability and his
distinguished situation
but the Duke stopped him short by saying
“No;
remember if I am to be saved
it is not as a prince
but as a sinner.” (L. A.
Banks
D. D.)
Verse 3
Empty vessels: borrow not a few.
The filling of empty vessels
The best of men may die in poverty. Here is the widow of a prophet
left in destitution. We must not hastily censure those who leave their families
unprovided for. Circumstances may render it impossible to do more than supply
the pressing wants of the hour. This sorrowing widow went to God in her
trouble
but through the mediation of the prophet. So we should go to Christ.
It is well to tell friends
but never fail to tell Rim who is the best friend.
God was pleased to ordain by His servant a way of escape for the poor woman. It
is the rule of God’s providence that His children should cry to Him in the day
of trouble
and that He
should be gracious to them and deliver them. Yet the Lord allowed His handmaid
to be very sorely pressed. The Lord does not promise to rescue us in our time
or to save us from waiting; wherefore I say to you whose turn seems to come
last
be strong to wait. Waiting in faith is a high form of worship
which in
some respects excels the adoration of the shining ones above. But the way in
which this woman was delivered was one which proved and exercised her faith.
I. In reference to
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. All the miracle required was empty vessels.
Full vessels were of no use. Righteous self is a greater hindrance than sinful
self. All our Saviour wants of us is our need of being saved
and our
acceptance of His salvation. The oil flowed as long as any empty vessel could
be brought. How many empty souls are there here? Christ will continue to save
sinners just as long as there are needy sinners to save.
II. In reference to
answers to prayer. My conviction is that we do not pray enough; that is
do not
ask enough of God. “Borrow empty vessels”--note the next word
“borrow not a
few.” It was needful to urge her to large things. You and I have more to do
with the measurement of our mercies than we think. Some have never brought
their sins and prevalent temptations to God. Why carry your sin
your need
your care? These cares are all different sets of empty vessels for the grace of
God to fill. We ought to treat others as if they were empty vessels for us to
use
so as to glorify God in their salvation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
God wants our emptiness
Do you see that beautiful tree in the orchard loaded with fruit?
It is a pear tree. From top to bottom it is covered with fruit. Some boughs are
ready to break with the luscious burden. As I listen to the creaking boughs
I
can hear the tree speak. It says. “Baskets
baskets
baskets
bring baskets.”
Now
then
who has a basket? “I have got one
” says yonder friend
“but it is
of no use
for there is nothing in it.” Bring it here
man; that is the very kind of basket
the tree wants. A person over there says
“Oh
I have a basket
a splendid
basket. It is just the thing. It is full from top to bottom.” You may keep your
basket to yourself. It is of no use to my loaded tree . . . What is wanted by
the Lord Jesus is an empty soul to receive out of the fulness God has treasured
up in Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 6
And it came to pass when the vessels were full.
God’s way of giving
This incident is rich in suggestiveness. It may be employed to
illustrate the rapid changes of human fortune; the crushing weight of
cumulative trials; or the practical sympathy of a true prophet who is never so
faithful in his calling as when he visits the fatherless and widows in their
affliction
and exerts his influence in their behalf. There are
however
considerations suggested by the particular method adopted in this case which
throw light upon God’s way of giving
and indicate
not obscurely
the terms
upon which we
who have no miraculous interpositions to expect
may become
recipients of His continual bounty.
I. In the
communication of his grace the most high makes the confession of our
helplessness the condition of his help. The sense of need must be awakened
before He will bestow the required aid. “Tell me what hast thou in the house?”
was a question
intended to fathom the depth of the woman’s poverty. Until this insufficiency
of all human resource has been felt and acknowledged
the Divine assistance
will not be sought and cannot be given. The Saviour in His miracles of mercy
made it apparent that He did not interpose until all human help had failed.
When He was about to feed the multitudes He asked the disciples
“How many
loaves have ye?” and measured the limits of ordinary means before drawing on
the infinite capabilities of Omnipotence. The trembling sufferer who sought to
touch His robe had tried all other measures before resorting to Him. The
disappointed fishermen were obliged to admit that they had taken nothing ere
they could be gladdened by a great success. So is it still. The choice gifts of
God are withholden from the self-complacent and lavished on the needy--“He hath
filled the hungry with good things
but the rich He hath sent empty away.”
II. He enriches us
by the multiplication and increase of previous gifts. It would be equally easy
for Him to work without means
but He chooses rather to work by them. “What
hast thou in the house?” is something more than a gauge of poverty; it is a
wholesome reminder that in the poorest lot there is some remnant of former
possessions
some basis for present hope. The multitudes whom our Lord
miraculously fed might have been relieved by the creation of an altogether new
and strange provision; but He used such common food as was available
and then
multiplied the stock till every need was met. The persuasion of our
helplessness does not warrant our neglect of such opportunities and the use of
such talent as we have. Too often we covet fresh interpositions of Divine power
when we have at our command previous gifts whose energy is unexhausted
and
former experiences which may fitly stimulate activity and encourage hope. Moses
held in his own hand the simple instrument whereby with God’s blessing he would
compel attention to his words (Exodus 4:2); and if not in our hands
we
may have in our house that which
like the widow’s oil
shall be multiplied by
the bounty of Him.
III. He measures his
bestowments by our capacity to receive. While there is an empty vessel to hold
it
His grace continues to flow. He entrusts talents “to every man according to
his several ability.” A preoccupied heart has no room for the Saviour. He is
“gladly received” when He is eagerly waited for (Luke 8:40). In the dispensation of
spiritual gifts the same rule obtains--“He giveth more grace
” and again more
according to the ardour of our wishes and the measure of our preparedness to
receive His favours. Still as of old--“He satisfies the longing soul
and fills
the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalms 107:9)
drawing out our desires
and at the same time enlarging our capacity.
IV. He delights to
exceed the requirements of present need. Not content to give enough to satisfy
the clamorous creditor
He supplied a store for the maintenance of the widow
and her sons for some time to come. The fragments left after each feast in the
wilderness far exceeded the original provision. This generosity is a
conspicuous feature in all the communications of grace. David was overwhelmed
at the bounty of which he was the recipient
yet what he held in possession was
small compared with future blessings secured to him by promise (2 Samuel 7:19). Jacob
in like
manner
after giving up all hope that he should ever see Joseph again
was
constrained to acknowledge that God had far exceeded his most sanguine
expectation. “I had not thought to see thy face; and lo
God hath showed me
also thy seed” (Genesis 48:11). (Robert Lewis.)
When the oil flows
Now
if I may venture to be fanciful for once
let me tell you of
three vessels that we have to bring if we would have the oil of the Divine
Spirit poured into us.
I. The vessel of
desire. God can give us a great many things that we do not wish
but He cannot
give us His best gift
and that is Himself
unless we desire it. He never
forces His company on anybody
and if we do not wish for Him He cannot give us
Himself
His Spirit
or the gifts of His Spirit. For instance
He cannot make a
man wise if he does not wish to be instructed. He cannot make a man holy if he
has no aspiration after holiness. Measure the reality and intensity of desire
and you measure capacity. As the atmosphere rushes into every vacuum
or as the
sea runs up into
and fills
every sinuosity of the coast
so wherever a heart
opens
and the unbroken coast-line is indented
as it were
by desire
in
rushes the tide of the Divine gifts. You have God in the measure in which you
desire Him.
II. Another vessel
that we have to bring is the vessel of out expectancy. Desire is one thing;
confident anticipation that the desire will be fulfilled is quite another. And
the two do not certainly go together anywhere except in this one region
and
there they do go
linked arm-in-arm. For whatsoever
in the highest of all
regions
we wish we have the right without presumption to believe that we shall
receive. Expectation
like desire
opens the heart. There are some expectations
even in lower regions
that fulfil themselves. Doctors will tell you that a
very large part of the curative power of their medicine depends upon the
patient’s anticipation of recovery. If a man expects to die when he takes to
Iris bed
the chances are that he will die; and if a man expects to get better
death will have a fight before it conquers him. All these illustrations fall
far beneath the Christian aspect of the thought that what we expect from God we
get. That is only another way of putting
“According to thy faith be it unto
thee.” It is exactly what Jesus Christ said when He promised: “Whatsoever
things ye ask when ye stand praying
believe that ye receive them
and ye shall
have them.”
III. Lastly
one
more vessel that we have to bring is obedience. “If any man will do His will
he shall know of the doctrine.” Desire
Anticipation
and Obedience. These
three must never be separated if we are to receive the gift of Himself
which
God delights and waits to give. All spiritual possessions and powers grow by
use
even as exercised muscles are strengthened
and unused ones tend to be
atrophied. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
The oil and the vessels
So long as there were vessels to be filled the miraculous flow of
the oil continued
and it only ceased when there were no more jars to contain
it.
I. This is true in
reference to our providential circumstances. So long as we have needs we shall
have supplies
and we shall find our necessities exhausted far sooner than the
Divine bounty.
II. The same
principle holds good with regard to the bestowal of saving grace. In a
congregation the Gospel is as the pot of oil
and those who receive from it are needy
souls
desirous of the grace of God. Of these we have always too few in our
assemblies.
III. The like is
true with regard to other spiritual blessings. All fulness dwells in our Lord
Jesus
and
as He needs not grace for Himself
it is stored up in Him
that He
may give it out to believers. The saints with one voice confess “Of His fulness
have all we received.”
IV. The same truth
will be proved in reference to the purposes of grace in the world. The fulness
of Divine grace will be equal to every demand upon it till the end of time. Men
will never be saved apart from the atonement of our Lord Jesus
but never will
that ransom price be found insufficient to redeem the souls that trust in the
Redeemer. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Spirit of God supplying the need of the Church
The multiplication of the oil ran parallel with the demand of each
successive vessel. As the sons brought them they became full. Whatever their
size or shape
they were carried back
and set down
filled to the brim. When
all were quite full
she bitterly lamented that there was not a vessel more. It
is so that the Spirit of God has been supplying the need of the Church from
that moment in the upper room
when the risen Lord began to pour Him forth.
Vessel after vessel has been brought; men like Ambrose
Chrysostom
Augustine
Luther
John Knox have been filled
and still the stream of oil and grace of
spiritual plenitude and anointing is being poured forth. (E. B. Meyer.)
Verses 8-17
And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem.
Hospitality
In these verses there are two very interesting subjects
and of a
practical character.
I. Hospitality
rightfully employed. The object of the hospitality was Elisha the prophet
and
the author of it is called here a “great woman.” Observe
1. The hospitality was very hearty. “She constrained him to eat
bread.”
2. The hospitality was shown to a poor but a godly man. Genuine
hospitality looks out for the poor and deserving
and constrains them to enter
and be fed.
3. The hospitality involved considerable trouble and expense.
II. Hospitality
nobly rewarded. Elisha
instead of being insensible to the great generosity of
his hostess
glowed with gratitude that prompted a strong desire to make some
return. His offer
1. Implies his consciousness of great power with man. Elisha’s offer
2. Implies his consciousness of his power with God. (Homilist.)
A great woman.
A great woman
The monotony of a woman’s life is
perhaps
its greatest trial.
Such a round of daily trivialities occupy her attention that
even though heart
and conscience may be right
the body and nerves not unfrequently suffer. The
“strain” and “over-pressure” from which her husband often suffers are not
supposed in any way to affect her: his life is in the rush
but hers in the
calm; he is mixing with men
and taking part in all the movements of the day
while she is in the nursery and the home-place
with her easy duties and
sheltered position. Yet while we have the story of the lady of Shunem before
us
we cannot but see how possible it is for the life of a woman to be great even
in the midst of very contracted interests. This woman lived at home with her
husband
and Was occupied with household cares; but she never lost her own
individuality
never allowed her little duties to make her little also; she
stands before us as a great woman
indeed--greater in character than any
circumstances or position could possibly have made her.
1. As we read the narrative several points reveal her true greatness
and stand out as examples to us all; and the first is her kindness. She cared
for others. In our modern speech this expression means a great deal. “Do you
care for him?” is a question full of significance; for when a woman loves she
does care very much indeed. And this woman had a kind heart
whose sympathies
centred at home
but reached out to all who needed her care; and this heart
which royally ruled her whole being
had servants in eyes that were quick to
see and hands that were swift to bless.
2. The lady of Shunem exhibited
also
that quality of greatness
which is submission. Much nonsense is talked about the equality of the sexes;
but no one can read this history without suspecting that
in this case--a rare
one
no doubt--the woman was more than the equal of the man. Had she been
conscious of the fact it would have gone far to change it; but she was not.
3. The loyalty of the Shunammite was another proof of her greatness.
That she had everything she wanted
and nothing to wish for
we cannot imagine.
Serenely contented as she might have been
she would have been less
or more
than a woman if greater possessions and a higher position would not in
themselves have been acceptable. But she counted nothing a rise in life that
took her away from her own people.
4. The marvellous self-control of the Shunammite was another element
in her greatness. How quiet she was during all the tests that came to her!
5. The self-control of the Shunammite was no more marked than the
great force of character which in this case
as in every other
accompanied it.
The strong individuality of this truly great woman shone out in all the
circumstances of her life. She ‘had that subtle power
with which only a few
people are trusted
but which
in man or woman
is invariably felt by others.
Her mastery of self gave her in great part the mastery over her fellows; but
her natural abilities were great
and no littlenesses spoiled them. She seems
always to have had her own way; but that was because her way was the best.
6. It was godliness
most of all
that made the woman of Shunem
great. It is true that we are not told that she feared God; but we can see that
written between the lines of everything that is said respecting her. It was
because Elisha was “a holy man of God” that the hospitality of her home was
offered to him. It was the sustaining power of religion that made her strong to
declare
“It is well.” (Marianne Farningham.)
A great woman
The hotel of our time had no counterpart in any entertainment of
olden time. The vast majority of travellers must be entertained at private
abode. She was great in her hospitalities. Uncivilised and barbarous nations
have this virtue. Jupiter had the surname of the Hospitable
and he was said
especially to avenge the wrongs of strangers. Homer extolled it in his verse.
The Arabs are punctilious on this subject) and amongst some of their tribes it
is not until the ninth day of tarrying that the occupant has a right to ask his
guest
“Who
and whence art thou?” If this virtue is so honored among
barbarians
how ought it to be honoured among those of us who believe in the
Bible
which commands us to use hospitality one toward another without
grudging? Most beautiful is this grace of hospitality when shown in the house
of God. A good man travelling in the far West
in the wilderness
was overtaken
by night and storm
and he put in at a cabin. He saw firearms along the beams
of the cabin
and he felt alarmed. He did not know but that he had fallen into
a den of thieves. He sat there greatly perturbed. After awhile the man of the
house came home with a gun on his shoulder
and set it down in a corner. The
stranger was still more alarmed. After awhile the man of the house whispered
with his wife
and the stranger thought his destruction was being planned. Then
the man of the house came forward and said to the stranger: “Stranger
we are a
rough and rude people out here
and we work hard for a living. We make our
living by hunting
and when we come to the nightfall we are tired and we are
apt to go to bed early
and before retiring we are always in the habit of
reading a chapter from the Word of God and making a prayer. If you don’t like
such things
if you will just step outside the door until we get through
I’ll
be greatly obliged to you.” Of course the stranger tarried in the room
and the
old hunter took hold of the horns of the altar and brought down the blessing of
God upon his household and upon the stranger within their gates. Rude but
glorious Christian hospitality!
II. This woman was
great in her kindness toward God’s messenger. Elisha may have been a stranger
in that household
but as she found out he had come on a Divine mission
he was
cordially welcomed.
III. This woman was
great in her behaviour under trouble. Her only son had died on her lap. A very
bright light went out in that household. The sacred writer puts it very tersely
when he says
“He sat on her knee until noon
and then he died.” Yet the writer
goes on to say that she exclaimed
“It is well!” Great in prosperity
this
woman was great in trouble. Where are the feet that have not been blistered on
the hot sands of this great Sahara? Where are the shoulders that have not bent
under the burden of grief? Where is the ship sailing over glassy sea that has
not after awhile been caught in a cyclone? Where is the garden of earthly
comfort
but trouble hath hitched up its fiery and panting team and gone
through it with burning ploughshare of disaster? Under the pelting of ages of
suffering the great heart of the world has burst with woe.
IV. This woman was
great in her application to domestic duties. Every picture is a home picture
whether she is entertaining an Elisha
or whether she is giving careful
attention to her sick boy
or whether she is appealing for the restoration of
her property. Every picture in her case is a home picture. Those are not
disciples of this Shunammite woman who
going out to attend to outside
charities
neglect the duty of home--the duty of wife
of mother
of daughter.
No faithfulness in public benefaction can ever atone for domestic negligence.
There has been many a mother who
by indefatigable toll
has reared a large
family of children
equipping them for the duties of life with good manners and
large intelligence and Christian principle
starting them out
who has done
more for the world than many a woman whose name has sounded through all the lands
and through the centuries. I remember
when Kossuth was in this country
there
were some ladies who got honourable reputations by presenting him very
gracefully with bouquets of flowers on public occasions; but what was all that
compared with the work of the plain Hungarian mother who gave to truth
and
civilisation
and the cause of universal liberty
a Kossuth? Yes; this woman of
my text was great in her domesticity. When this prophet wanted to reward her
for her hospitality by asking some preferment from the king
what did she say?
She declined it. She said
“I dwell among my own people”--as much as to say
“I
am satisfied with my lot; all I want is my family and my friends around me--I
dwell among my own people.” Oh
what a rebuke to the strife for precedence in
all ages!
V. This woman was
great in her piety. She had faith in God
and she was not ashamed to talk about
it before idolators. Ah! woman will never appreciate what she owes to
Christianity until she knows and sees the degradation of her sex under Paganism
and Mohammedanism. Her very birth considered a misfortune. Sold like cattle on
the shambles. Slave of all work
and
at last
her body fuel for the funeral
pyre of her husband. Above the shriek of the fire worshippers in India
and above the rumbling of
the Juggernauts
I hear the million-voiced groan of wronged
insulted
broken-hearted
down-trodden woman. Her tears have fallen in the Nile and
Tigris
the La Plata
and on the steppes of Tartary. She has been dishonoured
in Turkish garden and Persian palace and Spanish Alhambra. Her little ones have
been sacrificed in the Indus and the Ganges. There is not a groan
or a
dungeon
or an island
or a mountain
or a river
or a lake
or a sea
but
could tell a story of the outrages heaped upon her. But thanks to God this
glorious Christianity comes forth
and all the chains of this vassalage are
snapped
and she rises from ignominy to exalted sphere and becomes the
affectionate daughter
the gentle wife
the honoured mother
the useful Christian.
Oh
if Christianity has done so much for woman
surely woman will become its
most ardent advocate and its sublimest exemplification! (T. De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
Verse 10
Let us make a little chamber
I pray thee
on the wall.
The little chamber on the wall
I. How did this
little chamber come to be? It originated in the quick and clear perception of
this woman of Shunem. “I perceive
” she said to her husband
“that this is an
holy man of God
which passeth by us continually.” I don’t know that any very
unusual faculty of perception was necessary for this. A much inferior person
might have made the same observation as she made
but few would have made it in
the same sense
and with the same fulness of meaning. What is said in one of
the psalms
of the gods of the heathen
is true of too many human creatures. “They have
eyes
but they see not.” They see the mere forms of things but not the
inhering
underlying substance. They see the outward movements of things
but
not the inward significance. And suppose different people looking out of the
window; will they all see alike? We know they will not. Why
there are some
people who could see the same persons pass for year after year and never make
an inference. “They have their own reasons
no doubt
for passing and
repassing--what is that to me?” There are other people who could not see them
pass many days without having certain conjectures about them
and beginning to
take an interest in them; we mean not the barren interest of a mere curiosity
which is common enough
but the deeper concern of the heart. “That little boy
is in a situation
for he passes the window daily at the same time. This woman
who is going by is paler day by day
and wears sorrow on her face. Perhaps she
has some great home care. Or she is brighter and happier
things are better
with her.” The “perceiving
” the observing eye
is the gate of knowledge
the
quickener of sympathy
the informer to benevolence. It brings before the
benevolent heart the material on which it can act. It is at least the hewer of
wood and the drawer of water to nobler faculties than itself.
II. Immediate
action is taken. This action gives expression to the good impulse which
attended so very closely on the quick perception. “Let us make a little
chamber.” There is a pleasure in seeing
simply as seeing. It is good to know men and
things somewhat correctly; but the higher pleasure is later born
and is always
associated with doing and with duty. And these two pleasures God hath joined
together
although men are always rending them asunder. And so men
looking at
the same things
take different courses. From the same point apparently they
diverge--one along the pathway of duty and activity and helpfulness; and
another by a shorter circuit
back again idly to the post of observation.
“Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do
do it.” Make your little chamber
whatever it be
for helpfulness to others
as long as help can be given in that
way.
III. Do not think of
these duties of helpfulness as involving great exertion
or very considerable
expenditure of time or money. It is not so. It is even in some cases very much
the reverse
as in this case of the good Shunammite. Her gift
after all
is
very simple
and to herself and her husband very inexpensive. And yet I think I
see something on the walls--one
two
three inscriptions at any rate are
there--only a single word in each. Now we don’t need this famous room for rest
or for writing
but we do need it very much for some higher purpose. Let us
stay in it for a very little time until we can read together these
inscriptions.
1. Considerateness is the first. There was evidently a thoughtful and respectful
considerateness in the way this gift was offered to Elisha. Another word surely
we can see in this little room
if we look--the word
2. Simplicity. Nothing
in its way
could be simpler than this room
and its furniture. “A bed
and a table
and a stool
and a candlestick.” Of
course this chamber was only for a passing traveller and not for a permanent
resident. But how easy it is to make a grand display for a passing traveller!
Monarchs have been known before now to impoverish some noble families by
accepting from them a munificence of hospitality beyond their means. And should
we be wrong in supposing that the simplicity of this one chamber is
after all
but the expression of a simplicity that reigned through the whole house of this
good woman in Shunem? “How many things
” said Socrates
“there are which I do
not need!” “How many things” there are
which
although we do need them a
little
we can yet do very well without! Here is a bed
and that meets the need
of almost one-third of our whole time here on earth. Here is a table
and that
meets the need--for intellectual persons
for commercial men
and for some
workmen--of another third of our time. If I am neither sleeping
working
nor
eating
and yet am detained in-doors
I cannot stand all day; well
here is a
stool to sit on and think
or think of nothing. Year in and out
there are
twelve hours of dark to pass through
--well
here is a candlestick
or lamp
with oil in it--light it
and let it burn. And so we are at the end of the
inventory! Beautiful simplicity! There is just one word more I want you to
decipher
and that is the word
3. Contentment. The whole history of this chamber shows that an
unusual contentment reigned in this home. If the inmates had been dissatisfied or
ambitious
here is a fine opportunity to advance themselves. The very ladder of
elevation comes within their reach. A word from the prophet would set them almost anywhere.
(A. Raleigh
D. D.)
Verse 13
I dwell among mine own people.
Influence
We contend
that there is not a man
who does not dwell among a host of persons who are
under his influence
who listen to his voice
and echo his thoughts. None are
so mean and powerless as not to shape and bend in some way the mind of an
acquaintance. None stand perfectly alone. The distant planets which are jostled
in their orbits by the power of another sphere
are but the type of the moral
universe
in which one star not only differeth from another star in glory
but
kindles a thousand sympathies
and lights a thousand reflective fires.
I. It is the
eminent prerogative of the mother to be the educator of the family; a truth
which is alike in the expression “our mother tongue” and “our mother country.”
The arrangements of modern society and commerce separate the father from his
family during a great part of the clay; he dwells among other people
and
exercises over them another sort of influence. It is the mother who is the
keeper at home
and with boundless
indefatigable tenderness moulds the first lispings
and extracts the first thoughts of her young children. They imitate her manners
and pronunciation; and she is the interpreter of their self-invented or
half-formed words with the world.
II. It may remind
mothers of their responsibilities to state
that when a boy escapes from the
nursery and enters upon his school career
he becomes in turn an educator
and
dwells among his own people. Not to speak of that technical arrangement in some
schools
which sets boys to teach boys
there is a constant play of mutual
influence
wherever youths congregate. An eminent teacher
whose mantle seems
to have fallen upon many of his successors
used to exclaim:--“If my sixth form
desert me
all our success is at
an end!” Boys at school are rarely unemphatic and harmless; they do then
as
they will do hereafter
the work of God or of Satan.
III. The Hebrew
Rabbins used to maintain that they learned much at school
but more from their
contemporaries in active life. The most valuable part of our knowledge is
self-acquired or obtained by the collision and play of our minds among those of
our equals. Our educating power
then
expands with our years
and we teach
more truly and successfully
if we are Christians indeed
the older we grow. (T.
Jackson
M. A.)
The sphere in which we move
You cannot grow grapes on the north-east wall of a poor cottage
nor English pine-apples in the bare exercise-yard of a workhouse. And you
cannot grow noble in the society of those who never feel a noble sentiment or
give birth to a fine thought; whose talk is of sport
or intrigue
or cattle
or money; whose one ambition is fine company
and whose god is gold. The soul
of the large nature must have its suitable sphere
or like the lark that lives
only with sparrows it becomes dumb.
On a contented mind
1. The temper of this worthy Shunammite stands in opposition to that
restless and discontented spirit which so often sets men at variance with their
condition in the world
makes them look with contempt on that state of life and
sphere of action which Providence has allotted them; and encouraging every real
or supposed discouragement to prey upon their minds
makes them pine for some
change of fortune. It is proper
however
to observe
that this moderation of
spirit is not inconsistent with our having a sense of what is uneasy or
distressing in our lot
and endeavouring
by fair means
to render our
condition more agreeable. Entire apathy
or passive indifference to all the
circumstances of our external state
is required by no precept of religion.
What a virtuous degree of contentment requires and supposes
is that
with a
mind free from rejoining anxiety
we make the best of our condition
whatever
it is; enjoying such good things as God is pleased to bestow upon us
with a
thankful and cheerful heart; without envy at those who appear more prosperous
than us; without any attempt to alter our condition by unfair means; and
without any murmuring against the Providence of Heaven.
2. But if this acquiescence in our condition is to be considered as belonging
to that contentment which religion requires
what becomes
it will be said
of
that laudable ambition
which has prompted many boldly to aspire with honour
and success far beyond their original state of life?--I readily admit
that on
some among the sons of men
such high talents are bestowed
as mark them out by
the hand of God for superior elevation; by rising to which
many
both in
ancient and modern times
have had the opportunity of distinguishing themselves as
benefactors to their country and to mankind. But these are only a few scattered
stars
that shine in a wide hemisphere; such rare examples afford no model for
general conduct.
I. Discontent
carries in its nature much guilt and sin. A contented temper
we are apt to
say
is a great happiness to those who have it; and a discontented one
we call
an unlucky turn of mind; as if we were speaking of a good or bad constitution
of body
of something that depended not at all on ourselves
but was merely the
gift of Nature. Ought this to be the sentiment
either of a reasonable man
or
a Christian; of one who knows himself to be endowed with powers for governing
his own spirit
or who believes in God and in a world to come? Besides impiety
discontent carries along with it
as its inseparable concomitants
several
other sinful passions. It implies pride; or an unreasonable estimation of our
own merit
in comparison with others. It implies covetousness
or an inordinate
desire for the advantages of external fortune
as the only real goods. It implies
and always engenders
envy
or ill-nature and hatred towards all whom we see
rising above us in the world.
II. As this
disposition infers much sin
so it argues great folly
and involves men in many
miseries. If there be any first principle of wisdom
it is undoubtedly this:
the distresses that are removable
endeavour to remove: those which cannot be
removed
bear with as little disquiet as you can: in every situation of life
there are comforts; find them out
and enjoy them. But this maxim
in all its parts
is disregarded by the man of discontent. He is employed in aggravating his own
evils; while he neglects all his own comforts. Let it be further considered
in
order to show the folly of a discontented temper
that the more it is indulged
it disqualifies you the more from being free from the grounds of your
discontent. First
you have reason to apprehend
that it will turn the
displeasure of God against you
and make Him your enemy. Next
by your spleen
and discontent
you are certain of bringing yourself into variance with the
world as well as with God. Such a temper is likely to create enemies; it can
procure you no friends. Such being the mischiefs
such the guilt and the folly
of indulging a discontented spirit
I shall now suggest some considerations
which may assist us in checking it
and in reconciling our minds to the state
in which it has pleased Providence to place us. Let us
for this purpose
attend to three great objects: to God
to ourselves
and to the world around
us.
1. Let us speak of God
of His perfections
and government of the
world; from which
to every person of reflection who believes in God at all
there cannot but arise some cure to the discontents and griefs of the heart.
For
had it been left to ourselves what to devise or wish
in order to secure
peace to us in every state
what could we have invented so effectual as the
assurance of being under the government of an Almighty Ruler
whose conduct to
His creatures can have no other object but their good and welfare. Above all
and
independent of all
He can have no temptation to injustice or partiality.
Neither jealousy nor envy can dwell with the Supreme Being. He is a rival to
none
He is an enemy to none
except to such as
by rebellion against His laws
seek enmity
with Him. He is equally above envying the greatest
or despising the meanest of
His subjects.
2. In order to correct discontent
let us attend to ourselves and our
own state. Let us consider two things there: how little we deserve
and how
much we enjoy.
3. Consider the state of the world around you. (H. Blair
D.
D.)
And when the child was grown.
The empty home
The Bible is the most perfectly natural and human book in the
world. It deals not with philosophies and theories
but with real human life.
The story of the Shunammite and her child is one of the most touching episodes
in Scripture
and also one of the most beautiful and finished narratives in the
whole range of literature.
1. We are introduced to “a
great woman
” a lady of great wealth and influence. She dwelt in Shunem
in the
plain of Jezreel
the richest and most fertile tract of land in Palestine. She
was a woman of keen spiritual perception; and as Elisha passed to and fro on
his Master’s business
she recognised him to be a man of true piety. “I
perceive
” she said
“that this is an holy man of God
which passeth by us
continually.” There is an Eastern proverb
“A myrtle in the desert will be a myrtle
still.” So Elisha was consistent in whatever circumstances he might find
himself.
2. She was also a woman of
large-hearted generosity.
3. But this great woman was
hiding in her heart a great disappointment: she had no child to cherish as her
very own.
4. But this great woman was
to pass through a great sorrow.
5. But this great woman
overcame by means of great trust in God. (F. S. Webster
M. A.)
Concerning accidents
The remark was recently made by an earnest and thoughtful
believer: “There is no catastrophe that can possibly come to a living
Christian.” The tidings had just reached him of a serious accident--as we are
accustomed to say--that had befallen a dear relative
known not less for piety
than for marked amiability of disposition. This was the sad occasion that
suggested the above remark. The words were spoken tenderly
evincing no lack of
heartfelt sympathy
showing no indisposition to administer comfort in the most
substantial manner. While we stood silently contemplating the situation
this
Christian friend added: “There is no catastrophe but the loss of faith.” Very
true. To abandon one’s reliance upon the Heavenly Father’s care is incalculable
loss. The whole universe
without faith inspiring the soul
would
indeed
become a dreary chaos
a world distorted
meaningless. Laying aside all
discussion of extraordinary events which befall those who are in rebellion
against God--how far these events are under the supervision of that Almighty
power which is so despised
consider that no catastrophe can possibly come to
the living Christian. He is not exposed to accident in any true sense. The
severest revulsions may come; the sudden visitation of physical illness may
change every earthly plan; even the throne upon which reason sits may be
demolished; but not one nor all of these combined can touch that sacred
relationship over which infinite love and power exercise perpetual
guardianship. A living Christian has a living union with the Divine nature
enjoys a residence in the realm of faith
is upheld every moment by an arm that
wearies not beneath the burden of universe. The child of our King--a victim of
chance? Never! Sooner the covenants of God will be broken than this could be.
Let every loyal heart rejoice in the absolute perpetuity of relationship with
his Father
and in the consequent pledge on His part of unremitting care.
A day in a mother’s life
There are times when everything goes on smoothly
and one day is
like another. Again
there are times when changes come
and whole years of joy
or sorrow may be concentrated into a single day. So it was with the household
at Shunem. It was a hallowed day when Elisha first entered the house (2 Kings 4:8). It was a joyous day
when a man-child was born (2 Kings 4:17). But most memorable of
all was that day when the only son was lost and found; was dead
and received
back to life again (verse 18-37).
I. Morning joys. It is the
harvest time. “Man goeth forth unto his work
and to his labour until the
evening” (Psalms 104:22-23).
1. We see mother and child at
home. She is called “a great woman” (2 Kings 4:8). This implies not
greatness in wealth
but in character (Proverbs 12:26; Proverbs 31:10-31). Doubtless she would
show her “greatness
” not only in her management of household affairs
but in
her care of her child.
2. The next scene is in the
harvest field. Here
too
all is joy. The father is glad at sight of his boy.
His coming is not the result of command
but of his own choice. There is such
love between him and his father as makes their meeting and intercourse a joy to
both. They are happy together.
II. Darkness
at noon. How
soon may the brightest sky be clouded. How quickly may the happiest home be
darkened by sorrow and the shadow of death. “We know not what a day may bring
forth.”
1. It is a cry raised in the
midst of innocent labour. The work going on is good and not evil. It is in
accordance with God’s ordinance. It is wholesome and pure. Old and young may
join in it freely. Such
at least
it was in the olden time
when the
simplicity and purity of pastoral life were still known in the land (Ruth 2:4). And yet here death
comes. There is no place safe. There is no people or work with immunity from
trouble.
2. The cry brought woe to the
father’s heart. His son’s voice was sweet to his ear.
3. Picture the sad
home-coming. “Carry him.” The lad obeys. What a change. He came out full of
life and frolic; he is borne back helpless as a clod. Alas
how dreadful the
awakening! (2 Kings 4:20). Mark her gentleness.
“On her knees”--where often she had dandled him with delight.
III. Light at evening time. All
is not lost
since God liveth. This woman
like her countrywoman of Gospel
times
was great in faith. Therefore
instead of giving way to despair
she
strengthens her heart in God.
1. Mark the preparation. What
promptitude and decision!
2. The long ride to Carmel.
3. The passionate appeal to
the prophet (verses 27-30). Nothing will satisfy her but Elisha.
4. The return and restoration
(verses 32-37).
Hope has sprung up again in her breast. Nothing is too hard for
the Lord. Trials will come. In the darkest hour God can help. Here the child
cries to his father
the father sends to the mother
the mother appeals to the
prophet
and the prophet casts himself on God. So let us cast ourselves on
Christ
our God and Saviour (Isaiah 66:13; John 11:25). (William Forsyth
A.
M.)
Verse
20
He sat on her knees till noon
and then died.
Death in early life
I. Let us inquire what
proportion of mankind die before they arrive to years of maturity.
II. What purposes God may
design to answer by the early death of children. Though there is no reason to
doubt whether God has some wise and good purpose to promote by cutting short
the lives of so many of mankind; yet it is not to be supposed that we can
discover all the reasons which influence the kind Parent of the universe in
bereaving fathers and mothers of their young and lovely children. But some of
His purposes in such dispensations of Providence are plain and obvious.
1. He may intend
by taking
away so many at an early age
to make this appear as a dying world. Though He
has told us in His Word that it is appointed unto all men once to die
and that
dust they are and
unto dust they must return
yet these declarations generally fail of making
mankind realise their frail and mortal state. The eye affects the heart
and
the bare sight of death makes a deeper impression on the minds of the living
than any human or even Divine declarations concerning it. The frequency of
death seems necessary to keep up a lively sense of it in the minds of dying
creatures. A very dying time we know is always very alarming to the living. And
by so many deaths of the young
God makes it appear to all
that they live in a
dying world and are dying creatures. The frequent instances of mortality
not
only from year to year
but from month to month
and from week to week
make it
appear that death is continually carrying mankind to their long home
and
causing mourners to go about the streets. If it be necessary
then
that the
world should appear as a dying world
what wiser course could God take to
produce this solemn and instructive appearance
than to cut off such a large
proportion of mankind in their earliest days?
2. God may design
by the
great mortality of children
to teach mankind His sovereign right to take away
any temporal favours He has bestowed upon them. They are very apt to consider
their children as their own property
and their own most precious property.
They value them more than all their other earthly enjoyments
and claim a
higher right to them. They possess many things which they do not consider as
their own. They dwell in houses
and cultivate lands which are not their own.
They borrow many comforts and conveniences from one another; but their children
they hold by a stronger claim
and practically deny human or Divine right to
take them away. But they ought to consider
that God has given them these
desirable objects and precious blessings
and therefore that He has an original
and sovereign right to do what He will with His own. This is a matter of so
much importance
that God may
with propriety
take the most effectual method
to display His sovereignty. And we can hardly conceive of any more effectual
way to make mankind see
and feel
and acknowledge His sovereignty
than His
stripping them of those blessings which they are most apt to claim
most apt to
prize
and most reluctant to part with. By going into their families
and
tearing from them the objects which lie nearest to their hearts
He gives them
the most sensible and affecting evidence
that He has a right to dispose of
them and of all they have. The loss of children was the heaviest of Job’s
afflictions
and most effectually bowed his heart in cordial submission to
Divine sovereignty. “The Lord gave
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be
the name of the Lord.
3. God may design
by the
death of some little children
to take them away from the evil to come
and
give them cause to adore His sovereign goodness in early and safely conducting
them to His heavenly kingdom. We are told that God sometimes takes away the
godly from the evil to come; and why may He not do the same by some who die in
infancy and childhood?
4. God may design
by the
death of little children
to moderate the affections of their parents towards
them. They are extremely prone to love their children too much. Jacob was too
fond of Joseph and Benjamin. David was too fond of Absalom. Aaron and Eli were
too fond of their sons. And parents in general are too fond of their children.
And sometimes they are partial in their affections
and dote upon some son or
daughter
who has the more promising appearance or talents. Now
God knows the
feelings of parents better than they do themselves
and there is reason to think
that He often takes away some of their darlings
to teach them to moderate
their affections towards them that survive.
5. God may intend
by the
death of children
to prevent parents from being too much engaged to provide
for them in this life. Their great fondness for them often creates a worldly
spirit
and an anxiety to lay up for them rich and large possessions. They are
ready to think that they cannot do too much for them. They give themselves no
rest
but employ their time and exhaust their strength and expose their own
lives
for the sake of putting their children into the most easy and
flourishing situations.
6. God may bereave parents of
some of their children
on purpose to teach them to do their duty to the rest.
So long as parents have high expectations of their children’s living
they are
apt to neglect to prepare them for dying; but when God takes away one or more
of their children
by an early death
then they can hardly fail to realise that
they are all mortal
and may be called out of time into eternity before they
are prepared for the solemn and interesting event; which makes them feel
that
it is of more importance to prepare their children for dying than for living.
7. God may bereave pious
parents of their young and tender offspring
in order to try and purify their
hearts. This seems to have been the primary purpose of God
in taking away for
a time the child of the Shunammites. Every circumstance was directly suited to
try the hearts of those professed friends of God. They were not fond of the
world. They were amiable and exemplary persons
and much engaged in religion
and warmly attached to its friends. But it is probable that they idolised their
only child. Accordingly
God meant to take away their idol
try their
sincerity
and recall their supreme affections to Himself.
8. Another reason why God
sometimes bereaves parents of their little children
is because He intends to
make their bereavement the means of their own conversion. Such sensible and
severe strokes of Providence have led thoughtless
careless
and prayerless
parents to attend to the things of their everlasting peace.
III. Improvement.
1. If so great a proportion
of mankind die in childhood and youth
as has been stated
then all adult
persons have great reason of gratitude for the preservation of life.
2. If God so often takes away
infants and little children by death
then those parents have peculiar reason
for gratitude to God
who have never suffered a single breach in their young
and rising families.
3. If God so often and so
early takes away children from their parents
then it is of very serious
importance that parents should be truly religions.
4. If God may answer many
wise and benevolent purposes by the death of little children
then those who
are lamenting the sudden and surprising death of their lovely and only child
ought to be cordially submissive to the bereaving and afflictive hand of God.
5. This subject calls upon
all to inquire whether the bereavements and afflictions they have experienced
have been instructive and beneficial to them. (N. Emmons
D. D.)
Influence of a child’s death upon his mother
Princess Alice had just returned from her Italian trip
into which
she had thrown herself with true enjoyment
and was still resting after the
fatigue of the long journey. The two little princes had been playing by her
sofa; Prince Ernest ran into the next room followed by the Princess
and in her
brief absence Prince Fritz fell out of the window upon the stone pavement
below. One moment in the most vivid radiant life and health
the next he lay
senseless and crushed. He died a few hours later in his mother’s arms. In her
agony she sounded
as it were for the first time
the depths of scepticism. She
searched in vain through the various systems of philosophy
but found no
foothold. She did not speak of the transformation that was going on within; but
slowly
silently
and surely faith returned to her
never again ¢o falter. “The
whole edifice of philosophical conclusions which I had built up for myself
I
find to have no foundation whatever--nothing of it is left--it has crumbled
away like dust. What should we be
what would become of us if we had no
faith--if we did not believe that there is a God who rules the world and each
single one of us?” (Miss Gladstone in “Contemporary Review.”)
The Shunammite’s son
I. The dead child. Beautiful:
innocent
and pure.
1. His death was sudden.
Although sufficiently grown to have passed the usual dangers of the infant age
he is not old enough to go out to the field to the reapers.
2. In the death of this child
there is one of the hardest providences to understand.
II. The believing mother. In
reality she is the central figure in this story.
1. She manifested her faith
by her determination. She tells no one of her plans
but prepares to go to find
the prophet
and bring him to the chamber where the child has been placed.
2. She showed her faith again
in not making known her errand until she met the prophet himself. She must pour
her complaint into the ears of God’s representative.
3. Her faith came out still
stronger in her refusing to leave the prophet unless he would return with her.
Gehazi had been sent with the prophet’s staff
but this
to her mind
was not
sufficient. Her intuition seemed to tell her that it would not restore the
child
and Elisha must return with her.
III. The restored son.
1. He stretched himself upon
the child. He “put his mouth upon his mouth
and his eyes upon his eyes
and
his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child; and the
flesh of the child waxed warm.”
2. This effort was a
manifestation of the earnestness of the prophet. Elijah did the same. In both
cases there was such an earnest longing for the accomplishment of the purpose
that they would willingly give their own lives to restore the dead. (G. S.
Butters.)
Verse 26
Is it well with
thee?
Ministerial inquiry into
the welfare of a people
I. When may it be said to be really well with any persons? Many would
think it to be well with us when we have food and raiment
when our flocks and
herds increase. But
if this is to be well
and we are no better than “this
world’s goods” can make us
we are well only for time
and as it respects our
frail and perishable bodies. In this sense
it was well with Dives. For it to
be really well with us
we must come to things which concern the soul
and
which have a reference to that eternal state whither we are going. Mark
then
what follows: It is well with us if our souls have been awakened--if we have
found forgiveness--if the Lord Jesus Christ be precious to us--and if we be now
walking in newness and righteousness of life.
II. Whether it be thus well with you? You may
as we have seen
be
well as it respects this world and your abiding in it. But
is it well with
your souls? Would it be well with you
do you think
if God were now to require
your souls of you? Inquire
I pray you. Felt you ever your need of mercy? Has a
sensibility of your guiltiness ever constrained you to cry for mercy? Have you
like her who had lost one of her ten pieces of silver
sought for it “til you
have found it”? Is your heart “sprinkled from an evil conscience”? What do you
love most? Christ or the world?--Christ or sinful pleasure?--Christ or the
increase of your temporal wealth and honour?--Christ or yourself? What is your
chief joy? The Christian “rejoices in Christ Jesus.” Is He the object of your
rejoicing? In what way are you living? The way in which we live will most
clearly evidence whether we have been awakened
forgiven
and “I accepted in
the Beloved
” or not; and
consequently
whether it be well with us or not. (W.
Mudge
B. A.)
It is well
Death is not a
calamity to the Christian. “It is well.”
I. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of life. Paul would say
“To
live is Christ
” and yet he testified
“To depart and be with Christ is far
better.”
II. In view of the home prepared for the saved.
III. “it is well” with the child of God even in this life.
IV. Appeal to the living. Is it well with your soul? (Homiletic
Review.)
A searching inquiry
In the late
South African War
Major Child
when setting out one morning on reconnaissance
duty
had a presentiment he might not return alive
and so said to a brother
officer that if he fell that day he wanted written on his memorial stone just
these words: “Is it well with the child? It is well.” It fell out as he
anticipated
but death had no terrors for him
and now he lies on the veldt
with this question and answer above his grave. Suppose this question put to us:
“Is it well with thee?” Can we answer
“It is well”? (J. D. Jones
M.
A.)
She answered
It is well.--
Submission under trial
I. The trial which the woman endured. “Man is born to trouble
as the
sparks fly upwards.” “The ills to which flesh is heir” are diffused with
wonderful impartiality. The palace is as much accustomed to the visits of
sorrow as is the cottage. The robe of honour cannot ward off the touch of pain
any more than the garment of beggary. The glittering diadem often encircles an
aching brow
and the silken robe often covers a bleeding heart.
1. In her trial there was the disappointment of a strong desire. She
seems to have had only one strong desire ungratified. No child had ever called
her mother; she had no son to perpetuate her husband’s name in Israel. The
desire to be a mother was peculiarly strong in the heart of a Hebrew wife
from
the national relationship to the promise
that of the seed of a woman would
come the Destroyer of the serpent and the Deliverer of Jacob. This desire in
the heart of the Shunammite had almost died away
when the prophet assures her
she shall yet “embrace a son.” As the desire had been strong
so would the joy
be great when the desire was realised. Who can blame her if her heart swelled
with a joyful pride and a proud joy
as she clasped her baby to her breast
and
pictured for him a future of happiness and honour?
2. An additional element in this woman’s trial was the blasting of a
bright hope. What sweet and sacred hopes cluster round every cradle! We all
know the power of hope
and to how large a degree hope constitutes the beauty
and blessedness of human life.
3. As another element of this woman’s trial--her tenderest affections
have been torn. Her child has been taken from her. The grief of “one that
mourneth for a first-born” has passed into a proverb. She had lost her
first-born--nay
she had lost her only child.
II. Her conduct under the trial. Notice
first:
1. She is filled with the most pungent sorrow. When trial is sent
it
is designed we should feel it. There may be sorrow
there must be sorrow
under
the afflictions and bereavements of life; only it should not be despondent
sorrow
nor rebellious sorrow
nor murmuring sorrow
but sorrow submissive and
sanctifying
like that of this woman.
2. She acquiesces in the will of God. She says
“It is well.” This is
one of the highest achievements of Christian faith.
3. In her trial this woman cleaves to God. She does not sit down and
brood over her bereavement
and nurse her grief
and indulge in “the luxury of
sorrow.” She goes at once to consult the oracle of God.
III. The grounds which may produce and sustain such a course of conduct
as this woman pursued. There are three grounds which may contribute to this
desirable result. A consideration--
1. Of what we are who endure the trial;
2. of what He is who sends the trial; and
3. of the purpose the trial is designed to serve. (G. D.
Macgregor.)
Reasons for trials
I. Affliction comes to call our sin to our remembrance
and to humble
us for it beneath the cross of Jesus.
II. Another end for which God sends His heavy hand upon His children
is to loose them from the world--to make them cease from the idolatry of the
creature.
III. Again
another object of the trials which God sends His children
is to make himself more dear to them. Dear indeed He is to all who have learned
to view Him as a God of love--as the God who hath “so loved the world as to send His
only-begotten Son” to die for it--dear is He to all of us whose souls. He has
sprinkled with the blood of Christ
“in whom” He has “revealed His Son
and
whom He has made heirs
through Christ
of life eternal.”
IV. A further end God has in view in laying crosses on His people is
that He may conform them to their Saviour
by admitting them into the
fellowship of His sufferings.” “If we suffer
” says the apostle
“we shall also
reign with Him.” Justly then might we feel uneasy to be the prosperous
followers of a suffering Lord--light-hearted servants of a sorrowing and
weeping Master.
V. But
when God makes His children acquainted with affliction
He
has a purpose in His view
beyond any of the objects we have yet enumerated. He
intends by it His own glory. Eminently is that glory promoted and set forth by
the patience of His people in the hour of trial
and by their cheerful
acquiescence in His will. The world is then compelled to see that there is
truth
that there is power
in His Gospel. “It is well
” very well
with every
child of God
however great be “the fight of affliction” he is called on to
sustain. For look at the issue of these things! These afflictions are not
everlasting. God “will not always chide
neither keepeth He His anger for
ever.” As soon as the ends of His chastening providence are answered
the
dispensation will be changed. “It is well
” then
with believers even in their
most afflicted moments. The Shunammite spoke truth when she uttered that saying
in the midst of her affliction. Christian brethren
are any of us her
fellow-sufferers? (A. Roberts
M. A.)
The uses of affliction
An artist asked
a friend to come to his studio to see a painting just completed. He came at the
time appointed
but was shown into a dark room
and there left alone. He waited
for fifteen minutes
when his friend came in
greeted him cordially
and then
took him to the studio. Before he left
the artist said laughingly: “I suppose
you thought it queer to he left in that dark room so long?” “Yes
I did.”
“Well
” said the artist
“I knew that if you came into my studio with the glare
of the street in your eyes you could not appreciate the fine colouring of the
picture. So I left you in the dark room till the glare had worn out of your
eyes.” So God puts His children into the dark room of affliction
so that they
may be able to see the beauty of heavenly things otherwise hidden from their
eyes. (Christian Commonwealth.)
Verse 29
Gird up thy loins
and take my staff in thine hand.
The power and weakness of faith contrasted in Elisha
There are no less than five instances wherein the prophet
exemplifies the man of faith and the man of love witnessing to the faith of God
by his grateful deeds.
I. The power of
Elisha’s faith
and the success which attended it.
II. This weakness
and this failure is to be seen at the very dawn of the trial now coming upon
the prophet. “The Lord hath hid it from me
and hath not told me” (2 Kings
4:27)
is the
querulous expostulation of the now mortified prophet
even before the nature of
the vexation had been ascertained. He is evidently greatly put out
not so much
by the outward event itself
but at the circumstance of his friend being
afflicted without his knowledge. How difficult it is to be honoured and lifted
up
and yet to remain contented and humble! How many a follower of a great man
upon earth is spoiled instead of improved by even just and moderate rewards of
honour and confidence
and his previously gratified Lord has to take him down
again! So it was with Elisha. He has a lesson to learn of dependent
humility--and the Lord is going
to teach it him. He follows up the hasty expression of his petulance and
mortification by as hasty a proceeding
which
viewed in the most favourable
light
is redolent of presumption and self-confidence: “Then he said to Gehazi
“Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand;” etc. Here is no prayer no
earnest seeking
no humble inquiry of the Lord
What must I do? but
in the spirit
of one aiming to work “lying wonders” rather than healing benefits
he puts his
own staff into the hands of his servant
anticipating that a miracle might be
wrought and a child restored to life by the simple touch of the holy staff
without his own presence or effort. Let us now examine ourselves on this event
in Elisha’s history.
1. On the power of
faith and its success
as exemplified by the prophet.
What
is the working of faith in us? Have we faith?
2. Mark the
weakness of faith and its consequent failure in Elisha. This weakness
we have
seen
consisted in a self-confidence approaching presumption. (G. L. Glyn.)
Verse 31
And
Gehazi passed on before them
and laid the staff upon the face of the child.
Personal power
Here
is a remarkable thing in Bible history--nothing less than that a miracle should
miscarry. Here is an attempt to work a miracle
which ends in failure. This is
strange and most painful. Who knows what may fail next? Are there any purposed
miracles suddenly broken in failure? Does the staff ever come back without
having done its work? We are bound to ask these sharp and serious questions. Do
not let us hasten perfunctorily oyez the melancholy fact of our failure; let us
face it and wisely consider it
and find out whether the blame be in Elisha
or
Gehazi
or the staff
or whether God Himself may be working out some mystery of
wisdom in occasionally rebuking us in the use of means and instrument. Elisha
was not a man likely to make vain experiments. We had
therefore
better know
with all frankness and simplicity
exactly what the case is
for in
faithfulness may be the beginning of success. Gehazi came back and said
in
effect
“Here is the staff
but it has done no good. There is neither sight
nor hearing
nor sound of returning voice; the child is not awaked.”
1. Who was this Gehazi? An undeveloped hypocrite. There were three or
four different men in that Gehazi figure. There are three or four different men
in you and in me. Which man is it to whom I speak; who is it that announces the
hymn
that offers the prayer
that reads the Scriptures
that proclaims the
Word? “Things are not what they seem.” Gehazi was at this moment an undeveloped
knave
and what can he do with Elisha’s staff
or with God’s sunlight? The bad
man spoils whatever he touches. In the fall of man
everything with which man
has to do must also fall. Virtue perished out of Elisha’s staff; it became in
the grip of Gehazi but a common stick. There is law in that deterioration;
there is a whole philosophy in that mysterious depletion of virtue
and we
ought to understand somewhat of its operation. Sin impoverishes everything. The
universe is but a gigantic shell gleaming with painted fire to the bad man. To
him there are no flowers in the garden; there may be some diversity of colour
but flowers as tabernacles in which God reveals Himself
creations of the
supreme power
there are none
there can be none. A man cannot go down in his highest
religious nature without going down all round. Whatever his pretence of
interest may be in things beautiful and musical
and pure and noble
it is only
a skilful hypocrisy. When the fool says in his heart
“There is no God
” he
also says in his heart
“There is no beauty
there is no virtue
there is no
purity
there is no soul.” God is the inclusive term
and denial in relation to
that term is negation in reference to everything that belongs to it--all music
and beauty
all virtue and tenderness
all chivalry and self-sacrifice. You
cannot be theologically wrong
and yet morally and socially right. We know what
it is to have done the evil deed
and then to have seen all the sunshine run
away from the universe like a thing affrighted. Thus we may be coming nearer to
the reason why the staff failed. The staff is good
the hand that wielded it
was bad; there was no true sympathy or connection between the hand and the
staff. The staff was only in the hand
it was not in the heart. There was a
merely physical grasp
there was no moral hold of the symbol of prophetic
presence and power. Gehazi had already stolen from Naaman
and already there
had gone out from the court of heaven the decree which blanched him into a leper as
white as snow. Now
let us come home. We have an inspired Book as our staff
our symbol
but are we inspired readers? An inspired Book should have an
inspired perusal: like should come to like. By inspiration
by the human side
I mean a meek
reverent
contrite and willing heart
a disposition
unprejudiced
a holy
sacred burning desire to know God’s will and to do it
all. How stands the case now? You read the Bible and get nothing out of it. No
because you read it without corresponding inspiration on your part. No bad man
can preach well. He may preach eloquently
learnedly
effectively. He may go
very near to being a good preacher in the right sense of that term
but the bad
man cannot preach well in God’s sense and definition of the term. What can the
bad man preach? Can he preach salvation by the blood of Christ
he who knows
not what it is to shed one drop of blood for any human creature? Can he speak
nobly who never felt nobly? (J. Parker
D. D.)
The personal
element
Personality
is the one thing of real value. The other day I stood looking at ten or fifteen
pounds of clay. It was valued at one thousand dollars. But this clay bore upon
it the impress of personality. It had been touched by man’s intelligence and
innermost spirit. It had been designed
and moulded into beauteous form; painted
by artistic skill; glazed and baked and perfected by man’s inventive genius
and when it came from his hand
bearing the impress of his art
the beauty of
thought
the very life of his personality
it had risen in value from zero to a
thousand dollars--from worthless clay to a vase of surpassing value and
loveliness. Whenever we purchase an article of any kind
in any store
we buy
manhood
and not materials; personality
and not things. What we buy would be
worthless without the impress of the human soul. Material things take their
value from man. They rise in value as he rises in intelligence and moral power.
The only thing of real value in the world is the human soul. (Homiletic Review.)
The child is not awaked.
Are you awake?
Many
of you are
or have been
quite as “dead
” in the truest sense of that word
as
was the boy who lay still and white in the prophet’s chamber at Shunem
and
need to be “awaked” quite as much as he did. No doubt even in the youngest of
you there are evil germs which may unfold themselves by and by
until you too
die
or fall asleep
to God and goodness. No doubt even you often do wrong
and
know that it is wrong while you do it. But
for all that
I do not call you
“dead” if God is near and present to you
if you think of Him as your Father
if you are sorry when you do wrong
if you are quickly and easily moved to
love
admire
and imitate whatsoever is right and brave and noble. But there
are some of you who have lived long enough
and have long enough been “knocked
about” in the little world of school
to have grown somewhat dull and “dead.”
God is not so real
or He is not so much
to you as He was. You are not so
ashamed of doing wrong as you were; it may be even that there are some things
which you know your masters or parents would think wrong that you take a
foolish pride in hiding from them. Perhaps you are getting greedy
selfish
hard to please; or
like Gehazi
covetous of the good things which others have
but you have not. Yes: I have often seen a most gruesome sight. I have seen a
dead boy inside a living boy
and a dead girl inside a living girl! That is to
say
I have seen girls and boys who had lost their sensibility to spiritual
things
their love of goodness
truth
kindness
and gentleness
and were
nevertheless quite content with themselves so long as they could get nice food
to eat
nice clothes to wear
and plenty of pocketmoney and amusement. Is it
too much to say that such boys and girls are dead? And
then
some of you
if
you are not dead
are at least “fast asleep.” Your spiritual faculties and
affections rust unused
or they are seldom used. You are dreaming
and pursuing
dreams. For what we often call “the real world
” the world outside us
is not
truly the real one; but the world within it and behind it
and beyond it.
Thousands of men pass into this outward world
and pass out of it every day;
and they can only take with them what they have stored up within themselves. So
that it is this inner world which is the real world to us
the world in which alone
true and enduring treasures are to be found. And if any of you think the
outside world--in which you only stay for a few years at most--to be the real
one
and are living only or mainly for that
while the inward and spiritual
world
in which you are to abide for ever
is unreal and unattractive to
you;--what can we say of you except that you are fast asleep
and do not see
things as they are
and mistake dreams for realities
and realities for dreams?
You have eyes
but they are not open. There are faculties in you capable of
apprehending the true realities
but as yet they are not in exercise. Like the
Shunammite’s son
who was both asleep and dead
you need to be awaked; you need
to be quickened unto life. I should like to creep into your very hearts
and
whisper
“Are you awake?” and to go on asking it till you were roused from your
dreams
and saw things as they really are; for it is my duty to you
as it is
that of your other teachers
to rouse and wake you
if we anyhow can. But
at
the very outset
you may turn upon me
and say--“How are we to know whether we
are what you call awake? What is it to be awake
and alive
toward God? What do
you want us to be and to do?” And I reply: Well
for one thing
I do not want
to see you trying to become sanctimonious little saints. I should hate to see
you behaving and to hear you talking as some of the “good children” behave and
talk of whom you read in certain tracts and books. What I want is that you
should set yourselves to become good
useful
and happy men and women
by
placing the best and highest aims before you
by acting on right motives
because you know that God loves you
and is bent on making you good. How are
you to know whether you are alive and awake
or asleep and dead? In a hundred
different ways--such ways as these. If you are at school
and set yourself to
learn your lessons well and to get on fast--you may have very different motives
for doing your duty in school. You may care only to beat your class-fellows
to
stand above them
to get on in your little world and be looked up to; and if
that be your aim or motive
it is a selfish one
and you are asleep and dead to
the true motives and aims by which you ought to be inspired. But if you are
eager to learn because you wish to do your duty
and to fit yourselves for
larger duties by and by
because you want to become wiser
better
more useful
or because you want to please your parents and show that you are not unmindful
of how much they have done for you
or because you want to please God and to
prove that you thankfully remember how much He has done for you and given you
then
you are alive and awake: for
now
your motives reach up out of and beyond this
present world
which will soon pass away
and you are trying to prepare
yourselves for any life
or any world
to which it may please God to call you.
And
lastly
some of you are growing up into men and women
and have to go out
into the world to earn your daily bread. Are you diligent
thoughtful
eager to
advance? Why
so far
well. But you may be diligent
observant
quick to seize
every advantage and opportunity
mainly because you hate work and hope to get
free from it the more quickly; or because you want to lay by money
to get
rich
to make a fortune; or because you are bent on distinction
reputation
applause. And
in that case
you are dead and asleep; you are not alive and
awake to the best things
the most satisfying
the most enduring. For this
life
for which alone you are living
will soon be over
and the riches which
have wings soon use them and fly away. If you should die to-night
our Father
would not have sorrowfully to say of you
“The child is not awake
” and feel
that He must put you into hard and painful conditions which will rouse and
sting you to a sense of all that you have lost and thrown away. And if you
should live to be never so old
still all your life will be a useful and happy
preparation for the better life to come. (S. Cox
D. D.)
On being awake
A
member of Whitefield’s Sunday Afternoon Men’s Meeting stopped Mr. Horne a
little while ago and said
“I have a crow to pluck with you.” “Oh
only one?”
said Mr. Home. “What is that? You have taken away my Sunday afternoon’s nap!”
“How is that?” asked the well-known preacher. “Well
I used to sleep all Sunday
afternoon
and now I come to Whitefield’s.” “And how do you like it?” “Oh
I find it far more
interesting to be awake!” The story is worth repeating
because there are tens
of thousands of people who seriously assume that it is more interesting to be
asleep. God has made us for wakefulness
and in all the departments of our life
the wakeful man receives the surprises of the Almighty. How much the wakeful
man can see in the country lane! There are uncounted numbers of village people
who are still asleep
and whose senses have never begun to discern the
transient glories of their own surroundings. I have just been staying with a
man who makes it part of his ministry of life to open the senses of young villagers whose lives are
cast in these entrancing spots. He tells me that they are entering into the
unknown world with all the fascination exercised by a fairy tale. Birds and
flowers have become the fairies in their once commonplace world
and now that
they am awake they find it surpassingly interesting. (Hartley Aspen.)
Verses 33-36
He went therefore
and
shut the door upon them twain.
The staff and the
sacrifice
The story of the
Shunammite and her son is one of the most charming idyls in the Bible. It
abounds in the most beautiful touches of nature; and though the mould in which
it is cast is peculiarly Eastern
its simple pathos appeals to the universal
human heart. But passing from the simple
obvious instruction which the narrative
bears upon the surface of it
I wish to use the significant incidents connected with the
child’s restoration as an acted parable. Looking at the incidents of the
miracle of Shunem in this light
they seem to me to afford admirable
illustrations of the two prevailing methods of doing good
both on a large
scale
as affecting the highest interests of the whole human race; and on a
small scale
as affecting the spiritual and temporal interests of individuals.
The one method of doing good
which may be called the impersonal
is
illustrated by Gehazi putting the staff of the prophet upon the face of the
dead child; the other
or personal method
is illustrated by the prophet
stretching himself upon the dead body
and by his own exertions and sacrifices
restoring the life that had fled.
I. The impersonal
method. His action was impersonal; it was wrought by another
by a mere
servant; it did not proceed from a true knowledge of the case
and it did not
contain the requisite amount of faith. For these reasons it did not succeed.
Death would not release his prey at the bidding of such a feeble and inadequate
instrumentality. Elisha himself did not manifest any surprise when Gehazi
returned from his fruitless errand
and told him
saying
“The child is not awaked.”
Having adopted the measure as a human precaution
and not at the instigation of
God’s Spirit
he could not count upon success; and therefore there was no
revulsion of feeling
no shock to his faith. He knew by the result that he had
committed an error in judgment. It will be lawful
in the first place
to apply
this incident to the mode of salvation that existed in the time of Elisha--the
method of imparting life to the dead body of humanity by the dispensations
previous to the gospel. These modes were all impersonal. God Himself did not
come into closest contact with men
did not identify Himself with their
interests
did not assume their nature or tabernacle with them. As Elisha sent
his servant to restore the dead child
so He sent His prophets and priests and
godly men
and spoke to mankind at sundry times and in divers manners. He sent
His servants with His commission
and gave them His staff
the red of His
power. He entered into covenant with Israel
and gave them laws and
institutions for their guidance and blessing. But the result of all His
impersonal dealings with the human race before the appearance of the Saviour
was like the result of Gehazi’s laying the prophet’s staff upon the face of the
dead child. Some good indeed was done. The decay of religion was prevented; the
process of spiritual decomposition was arrested; the possibilities of restoration were conserved;
and the body of humanity was kept at least from sinking into a deeper spiritual
death
and yielding to the dissolving forces which were assailing it in the
world. But no spiritual life was enkindled; the sleep of death was not broken;
mankind
dead in trespasses and sins
heard no voice
and felt no touch potent
enough to break the spell that bound it down in spiritual torpor and coldness.
Scripture itself tells us of the insufficiency of all the means and appliances
that were used under the old dispensations to quicken mankind into newness of
life. It tells us that “the law made nothing perfect”; that it could not effect
the restoration which it proclaimed “in that it was weak through the flesh”;
that it had only “a shadow of good things to come.” The law may induce a man
actually to refuse the offers and allurements of evil
but it cannot grapple
with the sin of the heart
and order aright the government of that invisible
kingdom within where Satan wages his most successful war. Its terrors and its
blessings have no effect in that inner world where we have to do
not with the
realities
but with the ideal forms of sin--where there are none of the
restraints and mitigations that hinder the full power of evil in the world
without; where ambition is uniformly successful
and pleasure leaves no stains
or stings behind; arid vice
instead of being clothed in rags and fed on the
beggar’s dole
is clothed in purple and fares sumptuously every day. “If
” says
the apostle
“there had been a law given which could have given life
verily
righteousness should have been by the law.” But such is the inherent corruption
of human nature
that no law
however holy or however sanctioned
could reach
and cure the disease. The laying of it as a standard of righteousness before a
soul dead in trespasses and sins
is as useless as was the laying of the
prophet’s staff on the dead child’s face. It only shows the deadness of the
soul all the more. And if this be the case with the great impersonal method for
the salvation of the whole race and of the whole of human nature from all the
evil effects of sin
we find that it is very strikingly the case with every individual
attempt to overcome the individual evils of sin in particular persons. Much of
the exercise of benevolence in these days is impersonal. Many try to do good by
means of others. They send their servant
as the prophet sent Gehazi
to heal
some clamant evil by the aid of their staff; by the help of something that is
useful to them
but not indispensable; something that belongs to them
but is
not a part of themselves; something that they can spare without inconvenience.
The staff that they use represents their money
their help
whatever shape it
assumes; and their Gehazi is the missionary or minister
the society or
collector
whom they use in distributing their help. Thus they themselves never
come into contact with the evil they seek to redress. We need not wonder that
so many of our efforts to remove the evil of the world should be so
unsuccessful. Its dead
cold form remains pulseless and motionless under the
pitying heavens. There is no answering thrill of life
no voice to break the
awful stillness.
II. But there is a
more excellent way--the personal method of doing good
as illustrated by Elisha
stretching himself upon the dead body of the child. And how significant is all
this of the Divine method of restoring the dead body of humanity through the
life and death of Christ. Does not the stretching of the prophet upon the dead
child--each member of his own body being applied to the corresponding member of
the lifeless corpse
and by this sympathetic contact imparting his own vitality
to it
and ultimately raising it to life--figure forth in the most beautiful
and suggestive manner the incarnation of Cod
by which He brought His
infinitude within the limitations of human nature and human existence
touching
it at every sympathetic point
and so raised it from a death in sin to newness
of life in Himself? What does each joyful Christmas morning proclaim? Is it not
the wonderful fact that the Eternal God incarnated Himself in the body of a
little child; was born in Bethlehem
lay as a helpless babe on a mother’s
breast
grew in wisdom as in stature
and lived in humble dependence upon and
submission to earthly parents in a human home in Nazareth? Does it not tell us
that God in Christ was united to us by blood-relationship; knew all “the things
of a man”; filled all the moulds of our conduct
and passed along all the lines
of our experience? Does it not powerfully proclaim to us the one only method of
salvation
to which all other methods
by their weakness and failure
pointed
and for which all other methods prepared the way--the personal method of God
assuming the very nature that had sinned and suffered
and in that nature
bringing back life and holiness and happiness and all that man had lost? And
consider the awful cost of this personal method of salvation. The connection
between them was only an outward one. But Jesus became bone of our bone
and
flesh of our flesh. In the first creation God stood aloof at an immeasurable
altitude above the creation when He summoned it into existence. But in the new
creation He identified Himself with the work of His hands. He came into contact
with sin and impurity that others might be cleansed and healed. The same
remarks that are applicable to the great salvation of Jesus Christ
are
applicable to every individual effort we make in the track and in the power of
that salvation to redress the evil of the world. Among the many great lessons
which the incarnation of the Son of God is designed to teach us
this lesson is
assuredly not the least important--that if it was necessary for Christ to take
human nature upon Himself in order to redeem it
so it is necessary for us to
become incarnate as it were in the nature we wish to benefit. The servant
in
this respect
cannot he greater than his Lord. We must
like Elisha
take the
evil that we would remove to our own room; we must lay it upon our own bed; we
must bear it upon our own heart; we must identify ourselves with it as far as
we possibly can. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Salvation by personal
contact
The steamer Ganges
bound for Colombo
Ceylon
had a unique experience in the Red Sea. The captain
observed a vessel which was flying signals of distress
when about two hundred
and thirty miles from Perim
the nearest harbour. The skipper of the Ganges
undertook the task of towing the helpless steamer Fernfield into port.
Before he reached the port
however
the connecting hawser snapped. Determined
to get her into
the port of repair
the captain ran his vessel alongside of the Fernfield--a
most difficult operation on the high sea--and lashed her to his steamer
and so
escorted her into Perim
the novel sight of the two vessels coming in abreast
excited no little attention there. The salvage was very great
as the disabled
vessel had a rich cargo of tea
cocoa
cocoanut-oil
and cinnamon. In winning
souls personal contact is always the surest method. A long-range hawser is
always likely to break. If we lash ourselves with cords of friendship and
sympathy to the man or woman we want to save
we can always bring them into
port. There is no salvage ever awarded in the admiralty courts of earth equal
to the treasures which God grants to the saviour of an immortal soul. (L. A.
Banks
D. D.)
The Church and her
quickening ministry
The living Church has not
yet stretched herself
Elisha like
upon the dead body whose quickening she
prays for. She must grope her way into the alleys and byways of the city
and
up the broken staircase
and into the bare room
and beside the loathsome
sufferers. She must go down into the pit with the miner; into the tent with the
soldier; into the forecastle with the sailor; into the shop with the merchant;
into the factory with the operator; into the field with the peasant
and into
the workshop with the mechanic. Like the atmosphere
she must press with equal
force on all the surfaces of society; like the sea
flow into every nook of the shoreline
of humanity; and like the sun
shine on things foul and low as well as fair and
high
if she is ever to accomplish that for which she has been commissioned by
her glorified Head.
And prayed unto the Lord.--
The relation of prayer to
secondary causes
Shunem
a small village in
the town of Issachar
lying between Samaria and Carmel
at the base of Mount
Tabor
was the scene of this miracle. The resurrection of this woman’s son may
be looked upon in two aspects
as illustrating the reward of kindness
and the
power of prayer. But the point which the incident before us presses on our
attention is
The relation of prayer to secondary causes or to means.
I. That prayer
does not
supersede the necessity of means. We do not say that God never answers prayer
without the employment of means. He has done so
as in the case of Elijah
when
he prayed for rain. A diseased man may pray earnestly for health
yet he has no
right to expect an answer to his prayer if he neglects the Divine conditions on
which health is given. A poor man may pray earnestly for an amelioration of his
secular distress
and for an increase of his comforts
yet his prayers will be
fruitless if he neglect the ordinary means by which temporary advantages are
obtained; the ignorant man may pray earnestly for knowledge
yet his prayers
will go for nothing unless he attends to the settled terms on which
intelligence is conferred. The sin-convicted man may pray earnestly to be saved
from his sins and their attendant perils
but he will find hell even in praying
unless he employs the right means to deliver himself from “the law of sin and
death.” The Church may pray earnestly for the extension of truth
for the
conversion of the world
yet
all will be waste breath unless it employs the
divinely established means for the purpose. The God of order carries on His
government both in the material and moral department of His universe by certain
laws
conditions
or means; and these
as a rule
He will not interfere with
even in answers to the prayer of His own loyal and loving children. This fact
serves at least two purposes.
1. It serves to reveal the wisdom of the Divine benevolence. We can
conceive of benevolence communicating mercies in abundance
but doing so in
such a way as would neutralise their value to the recipient
and prove an
inconvenience to others. The kindness of earthly parents often proves
through
the want of wisdom in this direction
an incalculable evil to the children in
years to come. Thus it is not with Divine benevolence; that is ever exercised
with Infinite discretion. The fact serves--
2. To explain the inefficaciousness of modern prayer. Prayer is not a
positive
but a moral institution;--its foundation is not on written rules
but
deep down in the constitution of the imperishable soul. We remark from this
marvellous incident--
II. That prayer may
sometimes suggest the most effective means. It is by no means improbable that
the method Elisha now adopted in bringing his own living body in contact with
the dead child had a natural adaptation to the end intended. There is nothing
absurd in the idea of his imparting life and health by contact. Perhaps the
life of the child was not so far gone
as not to be resuscitated by the vital
magnetism of the prophet’s frame. Be this
however
as it may
the placing of
his body in contact with that of the child
it is not unnatural to suppose was
suggested to his mind by his prayer. It was after his prayer that he did it. If
prayer is answered in this way
it follows--
1. That the sceptical assertion that answers to prayer imply an
alteration in the Divine plan is without foundation. We grant that the universe
is governed by
secondary conditions
but we deny that prayer necessarily implies an
interference with these conditions;--it rather implies a right attention to
them. Its design
and tendency
are to induce and enable the soul to act
rightly in relation to God’s ordinances
both in the material and mental
departments of nature. If prayer is answered in this way
it follows--
2. That we should always engage in prayer with a determination to
carry into practical effect whatever impression we receive in our devotions.
For in this way the real answer to our prayer may come. To allow the practical
impression to pass away is to neutralise our prayer. We remark from this
marvellous incident--
III. That prayer
always gives efficacy to the means. The means which the prophet employed
succeeded. The child was raised to life and presented to his mother. Whether
there was a natural adaptation in the means he employed or not
the result must
be ascribed to the interposition of Divine power. It was obtained by the
prophet’s prayer. (Homilist.)
Verse 34
And the child sneezed seven times.
The seven sneezes
The child was dead. Although he had been the special gift of
Divine promise and was therefore doubly prized by his parents
yet the little
lad was not secure from the common hazards of life. The first clear evidence
that the child was restored to life was his sneezing. Doubtless
it greatly
rejoiced the prophet’s heart. We too
who are seeking the good of others will
greatly exult if we are favoured to see gracious tokens in those for whose good
we labour. At all gospel meetings earnest people should be on the look-out for persons
convinced of sin
aroused in conscience
or in any other manner made to feel
the power of the life-giving Spirit. It will be well if these persons watch
with instructed eyes
so that they do not look for what they will never see
nor overlook that which should give them full content. Of natural life we may
discern the tokens more readily than those of spiritual life; we need practice
and experience in reference to this more mysterious matter
or we may cause great
pain to ourselves and to those whom we would befriend. Possibly we may gather
instruction from the signs of life which contented the prophet:--the child
sneezed seven times.
1. This evidence of life was very simple. Nothing is freer from art
than a sneeze. It is so far from being artificial that it is involuntary. As a
rule we sneeze
not because we will
but because we must. No instruction
education
talent
or acquirement is necessary to a sneeze
nor even to a series of
seven sneezes; it is the act of a child
or of an illiterate peasant
quite as
much as of a philosopher or a divine. We ought not to expect too much in
enquirers; we ought not to be satisfied without signs of life; but he faintest
sign of life ought to encourage us and lead us to encourage them.
2. This evidence of life was in itself unpleasant. To the child it
was no pleasure to sneeze. We should most of us prefer to be excused from
sneezing seven times. Many of the surest marks of the new life are by no means
pleasurable. The regenerate are not at once happy; on the other hand
they are
often in great bitterness for their sins
and in Bore anguish because they have
pierced their Saviour. The Divine life is not born into the world without
pangs. When a man has been nearly drowned
and animation is restored by
rubbing
the first movements of the blood within the veins causes tingling and
other sensations which are exquisitely painful. Sin causes numbness of soul
and this is attended by an absence of sensation; this is changed when life
comes with its look of faith
for the first result is that men look on Him whom
they have pierced
and mourn for Him.
3. A sneeze
again
is not very musical to those who hear it
and so
the first signs of grace are not in themselves pleasing to those who are
watching for souls.
4. “The child sneezed seven times
” the evidences of life were very
monotonous. Again and again
there came a sneeze and nothing else. No song
no note of music
not even one
soft word
but sneeze
sneeze
sneeze
seven times. Yet the noises wearied not
the prophet
who was too glad to hear the sounds of life to be very particular
about their musical character. The child lived
and that was enough for him.
Much of the talk of enquirers is very wearisome; they tell the same melancholy
tale over and over again. Let us not be disappointed because at the first we
get so little which is interesting from young converts. We are not examining
them for the ministry
we are only looking for evidences of spiritual life; to
apply to them the tests which would be proper enough for a doctor of divinity
would be both cruel and ridiculous.
5. Yet the sound which entered the prophet’s ear was a sure token of
life
and we must not be content with any doubtful or merely hopeful signs. We
want evidences of life
and these we must have. The child might have been
washed and dressed in his best clothes
but this would not have fulfilled the
prophet’s desire; the lad might have been decked with a chaplet of flowers
and
his young cheeks might have been rouged into the imitation of a ruddy blush
but the holy
man would have remained unsatisfied: he must have a sign of life. However
simple
it must assuredly be a life-token
or it would be in vain. Nothing
could trove been more conclusive than a sneeze. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
.
And Elisha came again to Gilgal
and there was a dearth in the
land.
Ministries to man
good and bad
Elisha had returned to Gilgal
the seat of a school of the
prophets; he had come thither once more on his early circuit
and during the
famine which prevailed in the land. As the students sat before their master
he
discerned in their emaciated forms the terrible effects upon them of the
famine.
I. Here is the
ministry of severe trial. “There was a dearth in the land.” A destitution of
those provisions essential to the appeasement of hunger and the sustentation of
life is undoubtedly one of the greatest trials. Such destitution is of two
kinds
the avoidable and the unavoidable. The former is common.. The latter
kind of destitution
viz.
the inevitable
is that recorded in these verses; it
arose out of the sterile condition into which nature was thrown.
II. Here is the
ministry of gross ignorance. “The sons of the prophets
” says Matthew Henry
“it
would seem were better skilled in divinity than philosophy
and read their
Bibles more than their herbals.” What they put into the pot tended to produce
death rather than to strengthen life. Every day men are afflicted through the
gross ignorance of themselves and others. The cook
the doctor
the brewer
the
distiller
how much death do they bring into the “pot” of human life! Through
ignorance
too
men are everywhere putting “death in the pot” in a spiritual
sense. Man’s ignorance of God and His claims on the soul
its nature
laws
and
necessary conditions of true spiritual progress
is the minister of death.
III. Here is the
ministry of human kindness. “And there came a man from Baal-shalisha
and
brought the man of God bread of the first fruits
twenty loaves of barley
and
full ears of corn in the husk thereof.” Whoever this man was he was an
heaven-inspired philanthropist. Mercy
the highest attribute of heaven
was in
him
and he left his home and came forth to minister to the needs of his
suffering race.
IV. Here is the
ministry of supernatural power. Supernatural power through Elisha comes to the
relief of these sufferers. The supernatural was manifested in two ways.
1. In
counteracting the death tendency of what was in the pot. A supernatural power
is required to counteract the pernicious in life. If the Almighty allowed evil
to take its course free and full
death would run riot and reduce the whole
race to extinction. The supernatural was manifested.
2. In increasing
the supplies of life. Elisha commanded his servant to distribute amongst his
starving pupils the provisions which the man that came from Baal-shalisha had
brought. As the pot of oil increased in the pouring
so the provisions
increased in the eating. It has been said of old of God that He will abundantly
bless the “provisions of His people
and satisfy the poor with bread.” It is
true that the tendency of moral goodness
truth
and justice
skill
prudence
and diligence
has a tendency to increase everywhere the provisions of human
life
and it is doing so every day. (Homilist.)
The famine in Gilgal
There was a dearth at Gilgal. Palestine is about the most
plentiful region in the world
although it now labours under the curse of the
Turkish law and the malediction of God. There was death
there was famine at
Gilgal. In the time of plenty
do you know that right on your heels there is
coming a dearth
a famine Never a child of God ever passed from the earth
without a dearth
without famine. You pencil the Sahara off--so many degrees
longitude and so many latitude; and you say
“north and south” of that burning
desert you have plenty
but in those regions you have drought. So
certainly
in every human life there is a Sahara to be traversed
during which your soul
Will cry for bread. Caravans laden with provisions have plunged into the
Sahara
and the camels have dropped and fallen
and the whole party has been
lost in the desert. I never saw a life without a Sahara. Man
the caravans have
come into your life. You have plenty of money
you have abounding health. The
messenger that would come to you and say
“Sahara ahead!” you would greet with
an incredulous “Get away
” but death is before you. Men have tried to deck the
death-bed with rose-leaves
but they have never managed it; and you have to
tramp through the dark desert of the Sahara of death. Have you got a Joseph to
give you bread? What is to be your hope on the death-bed
when the hands are
fallen nervelessly over the coverlet? When Dr. Raleigh lay dying of a disease
that prevented him from taking food
he said
“Never mind; Jesus is bringing to
me the Bread of Life
” and he passed away. (J. Robertson.)
Hard times
It is not likely the sons of the prophets fared sumptuously at any
time. The provision for the maintenance of religion under the law had been
diverted to the support of those who professed and taught the principles of
idolatry; and little wonder it was that
when a season of famine occurred
they
were reduced to great straits.
1. There is one
lesson to be learned from this in common with many other passages of Scripture:
God’s people are not exempted from the ordinary afflictive visitations of
Providence. The sons of the prophets must feel the effects of the dearth as
well as the grossest idolater in all the land: there is no promise of any such
exemption held out to them. If we attend to the words of our blessed Lord we
shall find that He never seeks to allure His followers by promising them days
of ease
or seasons of the enjoyment of any temporal comfort. Rather are they
warned that they are to expect nothing in this life but a narrow way and a
strait gate
much opposition
plenty of obloquy; and well for them if they meet
not even with harder fare
--well for them if they escape persecution whilst
they live
and are suffered to end their days by aught but a death of violence
like the Master they serve. But they are promised what will sustain them under
all these inflictions
and make them more than conquerors
even the heirs of a
glorious immortality.
2. And there are
not a few records of very remarkable instances in which providential supplies
have been brought to the people of God in distress. Take another instance
somewhat similar
recorded by Samuel Clarke
and quoted by Flavel in the fourth
volume of his works
at the 396th page. I do not profess to give the exact
words of either author
but the substance of the incident is briefly this: Mr.
John Fox
in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII
went to London
where
he quickly spent the slender means with which his friends had supplied him or
he had acquired by his own exertions
and began to be in great want. He was a
faithful servant of God
but he was ready to perish for hunger
as many of the
faithful have been. In this condition he sat one day in St. Paul’s Church
every one seeming to shun such a spectacle of horror. But when he little
expected but that his time had come
a person unknown to him thrust an untold
supply of money into his hands
and bade him be of good cheer
for that he
would ere long be placed in a position in which he might honourably earn his
bread. Not long afterwards he was sent for by a person of rank and title
and
entrusted with the charge of a nobleman’s children.
3. But a common
calamity ought always to foster a common sentiment of benevolence. This was the
case with Elisha. His means were very slender
but he would treat the sons of
the prophets with the best he had to give; and his example is well worthy
imitation. We need not at present advert to those ghastly records which tell us
that human nature loses all its better instincts in circumstances of extreme
distress
and which mention instances of mothers forgetting their little ones
so far as to snatch from them the morsel so much required--thus suffering the maternal
affection
one of the strongest
deepest
and purest of our nature
to be lost
in a selfishness not only shocking but unavailing. There is not much to be
learned from such extreme cases. It cannot be denied
it seems
that our better
instincts may be suppressed
but as they will be sure to vindicate themselves
as long as they remain
it ought to be our utmost endeavour to foster and preserve
them by keeping them in constant exercise. (J. Murray.)
Verse 40-41
There is death in the pot.
Poisons
Nature grows poison as
well as food. The sons of the prophets little knew the hurtful quality of the
food that was being poured into the pot. In all things nature has its poisonous
side as well as its sustaining and comforting aspect. The bane and antidote are
both before us in nature. Death lies very near to life in the great open
fields. Even our most natural passions lie but a single step from their
destructive application. Can it be possible that a son of the prophets went out
to gather food for a natural appetite
and came back with poison? This is what is
being done every day. We may turn honest commerce into a means of felony. We
may go into the market-place to buy food
and yet by some action we may
perpetrate in connection with the purchase we may take all virtue out of the
food and make it contribute to our worst qualifies. Blessed are they who eat
honest bread: everywhere the great law of trespass is written in nature. By
putting poisons upon the earth so plentifully
what does the Lord say in effect
but
Take care
be wise
examine your standing-ground
and do nothing
foolishly? Thus nature is turned into a great training-school
within whose
walls men are trained to sagacity and discrimination
so that they may know the
right hand from the left
and the good from the bad
and thus may turn natural
processes and customary daily duties into means of culture. (J. Parker
D.
D.)
Poison in the cauldron
There are now in the world a great
many cauldrons of death. The coloquintida of mighty temptations fills them.
Some taste and quit
and are saved; others taste and eat on
and die. Is not
that minister of Christ doing the right thing when he points out these
cauldrons of iniquity and cries the alarm
saying
“Beware! There is death in
the pot”? Iniquity is a coarse
jagged thing
that needs to be roughly handled.
I want to go back of all public iniquity and find out its hiding-place. I want
to know what are the sources of its power.
I. Unhappy
and undisciplined homes are the source of much iniquity. A good home is
deathless in its influences. Parents may be gone. The old homestead may be sold
and have passed out of the possession of the family. Yet that place will never
lose its charm over your soul. That first earthly home will thrill through your
everlasting career. Rascally and vagabond people for the most part come forth
from unhappy homes. Parents harsh and cruel on the one hand
or on the other
lenient to perfect looseness
are raising up a generation of vipers. A home in
which scolding and fault-finding predominate is blood relation to the gallows
and penitentiary. Petulance is a reptile that may crawl up into the family nest
and crush it. There are parents who disgust their children even with religion.
They scold their little ones for not loving God. They go about even their
religious duties in an exasperating way. Their house is full of the war-whoop
of contention
and from such scenes husbands and children dash out into places
of dissipation to find their lost peace
or the peace they never had. I verily
believe that three-fourths of the wickedness of the great city runs out rank
and putrid from undisciplined homes. Sometimes I know there is an exception.
II. The
second cauldron of iniquity to which I point you is an indolent life. You will
get out of this world just so much as
under God
you earn by your own hand and
brain. Horatius was told he might have so much land as he could plough around
in one day with a yoke of oxen
and I have noticed that men get nothing in this
world
that is worth possessing
of a financial
moral
or spiritual nature
save they get it by their own hard work. It is lust so much as
from the
morning to the evening of your life
you can plough around by your own
continuous and hard-sweating industries. “Go to the ant
thou sluggard
consider her ways
and be wise.”
III. Another
cauldron of iniquity is the dram-shop. Surely there is death in the pot.
Anacharsis said that the vine had three grapes: pleasure
drunkenness
misery.
Then I remember what Gladstone
the Prime Minister of England
said to a
committee of men engaged in that traffic when they came to him to deplore that they were not treated
with more consideration: “Gentlemen
don’t be uneasy about the revenue. Give me
thirty million sober people
and I will pay all the revenue
and have a large
surplus.” But the ruin to property is a very small part of the evil. It takes
everything that is sacred in the family
everything that is holy in religion
everything that is infinite in the soul
and tramples it into the mire. (T.
De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
The deadly pottage
The acts of Elisha are
like rays of divine glory shining through his poverty and humiliation. “Elisha
came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land.” This is a picture of
our world. Dearth is on every side. Of every stream that runs through it it may
indeed be said
“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” But in
the midst of this dearth Elisha has a table spread for all his children. So the
Lord Jesus has a table for His children in this land of dearth. And mark
this
table is especially prepared not for Elisha but “for the sons of the prophets.”
The Lord takes care of His children. In the desert they shall never want. But
in this land of dearth there is always danger near. The poison is always liable
to find its way into the feast of the Lord. And so it was here. “And one went
out into the field to gather herbs.” But here lies the danger: we are poor
weak
blind creatures
and the “wild vine” mingles with the “true” everywhere
around us. Worst of all
we “know it not.” And the danger is worse from the
fact of it being “a vine.” If it were a thorn
a thistle
or some growth
bearing the danger on its very front
we should avoid it. There would be no
temptation to stoop down and gather it. But it is not from the thorn or the
thistle that the danger arises. And is it not so still? Our danger lies not in
the open blasphemer
the avowed atheist; not in the open vice
or profligacy
or crime; not in the sin that lifts itself up with unblushing front in our way.
These are the thorn and the thistle that carry their own character on the
surface. No; our danger lies in that which is so like the vine and yet not it.
It lies in that which looks so good
so Christian
so generous
so liberal
so
praiseworthy--Rationalism under a great display of the love of Christ
yet
denying the innate depravity of the heart. It lies in the theatre
the ball
the concert
under the specious gilding of “charity.” It lies in the world’s
follies and amusements
while yet maintaining family prayer
regular attendance
at church and its ordinances. In these and a thousand other ways we see the
“wild vine.” We think it is “the true vine
” and so
like the man here
we
gather plenty of it. We carry the poison home with us. We shred it into the
pottage. We carry the spirit of the “wild vine” into our hearts
our thoughts
our spirit
our whole life. And what was it we needed? To see the true
character of this “vine” that it was “wild”; to see the true nature of these
gourds that they were deadly. Yes
we wanted more spiritual sight
more prayer
more communion with God
more distrustfulness of self
more watchfulness
more
of the Spirit of God. For lack of these we were unable to distinguish between
the “true vine”
and the “wild
” between Christ and mere religion
between Christ and popular
Christianity
between Christ and mere benevolence and charity
between Christ
and the world. “There is death in the pot!”--everywhere God’s truth blended
with “wild gourds.” In ten thousand different forms it is presented to us--in
the Church and in the world
in doctrines
in preaching
in services
in
private life and public life
at home and abroad. “So they poured out for the
men to eat.” How many in this day do the same thing! They literally pour out
this mixture of truth and error
light and darkness
--Christ and the world
self and Jesus
for men to drink! In the day in which we are living
this
blending of opposites and “pouring them out for men to drink” is most
conspicuous. And it will become more and more so. Strict and clearly drawn
lines are not palatable to man’s fallen nature. The death in the pot was only
discovered in the eating. And then it is said
“they could not eat thereof.” It
is so still. It is in the eating that the proof lies. It is when the soul tries
to enjoy Christ and the world it finds out the death--that is
if there be any
conscience left
if it has
ever known
the joy of God’s presence. Then it “feels how impossible is this
blending. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” It is then that the soul of the true
child of God feels the force of this “cannot.” We say it again: if the man has ever tasted
the joy of God’s presence
of abiding communion with Him
and if there is any
conscience left in harmony with this
then it will be felt most keenly that
“there is death in the pot”; then it will be felt that he cannot live nor grow in grace on
this mingling of “wild gourds” with the pottage of the Lord. A spiritually
sensitive soul will feel that
to enjoy the feast of the Lord
it must draw
sharp lines between truth and error
light and darkness
Christ and the world.
“There is death in the pot” will be felt
and there will be found no real food
but in the “true vine
” Christ alone. We notice here that the Divine mode of
healing is not by taking out the evil
but by putting in something to
counteract it. When Elisha found the spring of Jericho bad he did not strive to
draw out the evil
but put in the salt to counteract it. When Moses found the
waters of Marah bitter he put in the tree to sweeten them. Throughout the Bible
this is God’s way. Man’s is exactly the opposite. He begins by cutting off what
he conceives to be the fruitless branches. He begins by reformation
forgetting
that it is not reformation man needs
but revolution. Thus man cuts off the
branches and leaves the tree unchanged. God lays the “axe at the root of the
tree.” The Holy Spirit is given to the sinner. It is a new and Divine power
working from within. It is the meal cast into the pot
the tree cast into the
bitter waters. Thus God’s “new creation” begins. Hence the spiritual
conflict--a redeemed soul in an unredeemed body--the new nature inside the old.
Hence the struggle
the agony
the cry
“O wretched man that I am!” This goes
on to the end
for the old
nature is never made new. It is the old Adam to the last. When the Lord comes
again we shall then have the redeemed body. This body will match the redeemed
soul
and the conflict will end. Not till then. There will then be a redeemed
soul in a redeemed body
and its result everlasting joy and blessedness. What is
this “meal”? It is
spiritually
Christ. It is the Holy Spirit bringing Christ
into the soul
into the house
into the duty
into all things. Christ is the
one great antidote to all error. Christ is the life of all things. “He that
eateth Me
he shall live by Me.” The soul will find food in everything where He
is
but it will starve without. (F. Whitfield
M. A.)
The poisonous pottage
healed
Notice here--
I. A
supernatural interposition to counteract a natural mistake. When the Son of God
was invited to the marriage feast in Cana
He found there had been a mistake on
the part of the provider as to the quantity of wine required
and He rectified
the mistake by making more. Here the mistake was not in the quantity; there was
enough--there was too much there was death in the pot. But the mistake was in
the quality of the food
and was such a mistake as could be rectified by
supernatural intervention only.
II. A
supernatural intervention watch did not take place until the very moment when
it was needed. “And as they were eating
” etc. (2 Kings
4:40).
Man’s extremity is often reached before God interposes. The wine was quite
exhausted at Cana before the Saviour made more. Abraham’s knife was lifted to
slay his son
when the angel of Jehovah called to him (Genesis
22:11).
Israel came to the very
border of the Red Sea before the waters were divided. So here the hungry men tasted
the pottage before the miracle was wrought.
III. A
supernatural intervention in which human effort was required to be put forth.
When Jesus was about to raise Lazarus
He said
“Take ye away the stone.” So in the
miracle at Cana
“Fill the water-pots with water.” Elisha could have rendered
the pottage harmless by the power of God without the meal
and the Saviour
could have filled empty water-pots with wine quite as easily as those filled with water. But
human effort must do what it can. Lessons:
1. Mistakes
made through man’s ignorance can be made right by Divine power and wisdom.
2. Sincerity
of purpose and good intentions are no guarantees of the harmlessness of
actions.
3. We
ought to seek to know for what work we are qualified. The man who volunteered
to gather herbs for the pottage might have been well fitted for other work; but
his undertaking that for which ignorance of the nature of herbs disqualified
him had well-nigh been the death of all the sons of the prophets. (Outlines
of Sermons.)
Inexorableness of law
God’s laws will not be
suspended to accommodate our disobediences
or indolences
or ignorances
or
mistakes. If you sweeten your coffee with arsenic
it will kill you as surely
that you did it by mistake as if you did it of wilful purpose. Nature’s
commandment is
“Thou shalt not
make mistakes
thou shalt not be ignorant
thou shalt not be
deceived
thou shalt not transgress any natural law.”
Verses 42-44
And there came a man from Baal-shalisha.
The farmer’s gift
I. A lesson on
providence. This dearth came in consequence of sin. The proud and wicked people
would never yield
except they were obliged by God’s strong hand. And when He
punishes
He makes men know how powerful He is. Some men nowadays would not be
touched in any other way. When God takes to preaching
His voice is heard outside the
churches and chapels. You cannot have retributive providences
and only the
wicked suffer; the godly have their share of want. Elisha was in need. But the
godly have some one to look up to. The God of to-day is the God of the Old
Testament:--the manna God
--the barrel of meal God
--the God who has said
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble
and I will deliver thee.”
II. There is here a
beautiful example of benevolence. We don’t know the farmer’s name who relieved
the prophet. He was one of a noble band of nameless ones. We know where he came
from
--the village has got into the Bible
through the man’s goodness. It is
possible to make our birthplace famous by living for Jesus. We sometimes say
he gives twice who gives quickly. The farmer gave as soon as he could. Don’t
wait till you have churned
and give God the buttermilk. For many wait to be
rich before they will be generous
only to find that their heart is too sour to
give anything. First fruits 1 Give God the best part of your life
that which
has the sunshine. If you will care for God with your May and June
He will care
for you in November.
1. He came himself. He did not send it. If you want a thing well
done
do it yourself. Especially is this true of acts of benevolence. Be your
own almoner. “Pure religion
and undefiled
before God the Father
is to visit
the fatherless and widow.”
2. This farmer increased God’s capital. The rule is
that God works
by means. He does not usually act without the assistance of His creatures. Many
of His plans are unfinished because the men are on strike! Let it be said
with
all reverence
this miracle could not have been performed if the man had not
come from Baal-shalisha with the corn and cakes. The prophet might have been
fed
but not in this way.
III. The good farmer
accomplished a great deal more than he intended. He meant feeding the prophet
and he fed a hundred others! And is not this the ease nowadays? When Robert
Raikes began his Sunday School he only thought of the poor ignorant children of
Gloucester; he little thought that he would be imitated
and that there would
be thousands of Sunday Schools. When Charles Wesley asked Bohler if he must
tell of his joy in Christ
the answer was
“If you had a thousand tongues
tell
it with them all.” He little thought that the idea would be set to rhyme
but
Wesley wrote--
O for a thousand tongues
to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise!
and that has been sung by millions of happy Christians in all
parts of the world. The fact is
God can make a much better use of our talents
than any one else can. You cannot get so much interest for your money anywhere
else. Lord Byron was a much greater poet than Isaac Watts
but they will be
singing Watts’ hymns when Byron’s name is forgotten. Elisha would not have had
the chance of feeding his students if the farmer had not brought the corn. And
the good man was equal to his opportunities. In spite of the sneer of his
wretched servitor
who was then in training for leprosy
he would have the
cakes divided. “Give unto the people that they may eat.” How like God! He does
not sell
but gives
and so it is with the bread of life. It is given to whoever
will come. Are you hungry? Does your soul need satisfying? His mercy can do it.
(T. Champness.)
Love to our neighbour
It is love to our neighbour which has purged the slum
and built
the orphanage
and gathered the children into schools. It has had compassion on
the poor; it has given bread to the hungry and covered the naked with a
garment; it has given the Bible to the nations; it has launched the lifeboat to
the perishing; it has taken the prodigal by the right hand
and opened the door
of repentance to the harlot and the thief. It was love to our neighbour
burning like a fire of God in the hearts of a Carey
a Livingstone
a Romilly
a Howard
a Clarkson
which sent missionaries to the heathen; modified the
ferocity of penal laws; purified the prisons; set free the slaves. It was love
to our neighbour which
enriching even an age of torpor and of mammon worship
sent Wesley to fan a flame amid the dying embers of religion; and Gordon to
toil among his ragged boys; and Coleridge Patteson to die at Nukapu by the
poisoned arrows of savages; and Father Damien to waste away at loathly Molokai
a leper among the lepers. It is a dim reflection of the love of Him who lived
and died to redeem a guilty world. It differentiates the worldly life with its
low aims from the noble and the Christian life
which is ready to do good to
men that despitefully use it and persecute it. Every true life is nearest the
life of Christ in love to its neighbour; and this love is the essence and
epitome of all pure religion; it is the end of the commandment and the
fulfilling of the law. (F. W. Farrar
D. D.)
Give unto the people that
they may eat.--
Punctual love
We wonder at the smooth working of the machinery for feeding a
great city; and how
day by day
the provisions come at the right time
and are
parted out among hundreds of thousands of homes. But we seldom think of the
punctual love
the perfect knowledge
the profound wisdom which cares for us
all
and is always in time with its gifts. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Beneficence
The great ocean is in a constant state of evaporation. It gives
back what it receives
and sends up its waters in mists to gather into clouds;
and so there is rain for the earth
and greenness and beauty everywhere. But
there are many men who do not believe in evaporation. They get all they can
and keep all they get
and so are not fertilisers
but only stagnant
miasmatic
pools.
The people’s needs provided
Oh
we are so glad when one seeks and finds the Bread of Life;
when there is an Elisha to bring meal
sound and healthy
and life-giving
and
when the meal is put into the pot
we are so glad when the hungry eat and go
satisfied; there is joy in seeing the hungry feed. Away on the Marylebone Road
in London
there is a place where the hungry get free food
and those who
supply it get their return for the money they give for the food in seeing the
hungry eat. There was a wealthy young fellow who devoted a large sum to feeding
the hungry
and he was always there. When he was asked why he was always among
the poor
he replied
“It does me good to see them eat.” Ay
and gospel
preachers
when the Lord sometimes does not as much as give us a bite for
ourselves
when we see the crowd hungry for Jesus
when we see one step forth
into the hall where the feast is spread
we rejoice as much as the soul that is
saved
(J. Robertson.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》