It is most remarkable, the persons who first experienced the goodness of God to the starving people of Samaria—four lepers! These poor creatures were sitting at the entering in of the gate in the last stage of exhaustion and misery. They felt (indeed, they said as much one to another) that if they pressed their way into the city, it was but to die of famine; if they remained where they were, death was certain; but one course seemed open to them, to cast themselves upon the mercy of the Syrians. “If they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die” (2 Ki. 7:3, 4). It was the counsel of despair. As regards those within, they were outcasts; and as regards those without, they were enemies. Yet these were the men to whom first of all Jehovah showed His salvation.
We are reminded of 1 Corinthians 1:26-30. In this gospel day, it is not the wise, the mighty, and the noble who are called, but God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the base and despised, yea, and the things which are not, in order that no flesh may glory in His presence. In His grace He loves to show mercy to the helpless and hopeless, to the lost and undone. By so doing He makes it abundantly plain that His salvation is altogether of grace alone. Behold the poor Samaritan lepers venturing forth in the twilight in the direction of the Syrian camp! Hope and fear alternated in their breasts when they reached the enemy’s tents; to their utter astonishment they found no man there. Their dread foes were gone! Who had scattered them! Men? No! It was God. The victory was absolutely His. He had caused the Syrians to hear a great noise, as of the rushing of chariots and horsemen. Both from the north and the south the noise came. Panic stricken, they concluded that the King of Israel had hired against them the Hittites and the Egyptians. Caught as they supposed, between two armies, they fled by the only road that seemed open to them—eastward across the Jordan. When the matter was investigated, the road to the river was found strewn with garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast from them in their flight. But Jordan rolled between Israel and their foes.
Jordan is to us a type of the death of Christ. By His death all our foes have been vanquished forever. Sin has been expiated, and the power of Satan and of death has been shattered. The death of Christ, like Jordan of old, stands between us and all that was against us. Our God loves to say to those who have no might, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Ex. 14:13).
It only remained for the poor lepers to enjoy the fruits of Jehovah’s great victory. Even so it is with us, both now and evermore. The lepers “went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.” Their deep need was thus fully met. First, they “did eat and drink.” Every poor sinner who comes to God comes famished, like the prodigal of Luke 15, for a Christless world is a hungry place for all who have to do with it. But the call of grace runs thus: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). The fatted calf is not too good, in God’s account, wherewith to feast the sinner who believes.
The lepers found raiment also. Likely enough they were in rags. Our very righteousnesses are likened in Scripture to “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6); what then are our sins? But with joy we hear the Father’s voice, saying, “Bring forth the best robe and put it on him” (Lk. 15:22). The best robe is Christ. In Him the believer stands, justified for ever. The apostle, who knew by experience the difference between the righteousness that is wrought by human effort, and that which is of God by faith, spurned the one because of the surpassing excellence of the other (Phil. 3:9).
But the lepers also gathered gold and silver. Not only was their present urgent need met, but their future was thus made sure. Never again would they be paupers, dependent upon the charity of their fellows. If the raiment speaks to us of “the gift of righteousness,” the gold and silver suggests “the abundance of grace” that accompanies it for us (Rom. 5:17). God enriches for eternity those whom He receives. It is not the manner of men to enrich either transgressors whom they may pardon, or beggars whom they may relieve, but such is the amazing grace of God. With all the blessing of Christ He endows His own forever. No wonder the apostle exclaimed, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
Being now filled and satisfied, the four men began to think of others. They said one to another, “We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace.” Accordingly they arose and reported the matter to the porter of the city, and presently the news reached the king himself. Those whom God has blessed have a deep responsibility resting upon them. Do we realize that the world is perishing for lack of the knowledge that we possess? The four lepers felt they dare not settle down to the enjoyment of their abundance and leave others to their fate.
How do we feel about this? Sometimes it happens that the saints who are the best fed are poorest workers. They would prefer endless Bible readings to a vigorous gospel campaign. Is this right? Peter and John were so profoundly convinced of the importance of the facts of the gospel that when they were told to proclaim them no more, they replied, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). As well bid the sun to cease its shining and the river its flowing as tell such men to be quiet. In 2 Corinthians 4:13, Paul and Timothy give as their reason for preaching: “We believe, and therefore speak.” Paul was possessed of a special divine commission, as we know, but he does not mention it in the passage quoted. Every Christian should be able to say the same words. Brethren, do we really believe? Are the mighty facts of Christianity just articles of a creed with us, or have they indeed taken possession of our souls? Do we believe that “Christ died for the ungodly?” Do we believe that “God raised Him from the dead?” Do we believe that “through this Man is now proclaimed the forgiveness of sins?” If so, let us not “hold our peace.” This day is a day of good tidings.
The king was skeptical when the news was brought to him; he suspected a stratagem on the part of the enemy in order to gain possession of the city. Though Elisha had distinctly stated in his hearing that “tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria,” he yet hesitated to believe it when it came about. It seemed really too good to be true. This character of unbelief, however regrettable, is pardonable, elsewhere would any of us stand! In how many things do we hesitate to accredit the Word of our God! How frequently we fail to plant the foot of faith firmly upon that which He has spoken! Much of Scripture is treated by us as almost too good to be true. This is exactly where the two disciples stood who poured out their tale of disappointment on the way to Emmaus (Lk. 24). They did not openly reject the story of the women that the Lord was alive, but their faith faltered in the acceptance of it.
Far different was the unbelief of the nobleman upon whose hand the king leaned when Elisha uttered his prophecy of grace. Though it was prefaced by “thus saith Jehovah,” the man said to the prophet, “Behold, if Jehovah would make windows in Heaven, might this thing be?” This was positive contempt. He absolutely flouted the Word of Jehovah. The doom of the scorner is certain in all ages. Accordingly, Elisha pronounced sentence upon him thus: “Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” Alas! so it happened. Within twenty-four hours, as the prophet foretold, plenty prevailed in Samaria once more, “according to the word of Jehovah” (2 Ki. 7:16). But the solemn part of his prophecy was also as punctually fulfilled. So great was the rush for the food that it was necessary to appoint someone to supervise the administration of it. This office was allotted to the scornful lord, who was simply trampled to death by the hungry people.
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). His judgments are as sure as His favors. No word of His can ever fall. The scornful lord found Elisha’s words literally true: “Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” Very similarly did the Lord Jesus warn the unbelieving men of His own time: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out” (Lk. 13:28). Awful thought! They see others blessed, and themselves outside of it for eternity.
It is the fashion in our day to speak with contempt of the judgement of God. The; judgement throne and the lake of fire have been practically eliminated from the textbooks of Christendom. But let all sceptics beware, whether religious or irreligious. God’s Word stands true, in spite of all their unbelief.