“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take, but he refused. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto Jehovah. In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way” (2 Kings 5:15-1915And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 16But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. 18In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. 19And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. (2 Kings 5:15‑19)).
It is not to be supposed that the man of God was ignorant of, or indifferent to, the struggle that had been going on in, the heart of Naaman between faith and unbelief. It was in reality a conflict between God and Satan for the possession of a soul. The Spirit of God had brought it to a happy termination. Human instrumentality, insignificant and unpretentious in this case, had been largely made use of, but the chief actors had not, up to this point, discovered themselves. We cannot but admire the wisdom and propriety with which Elisha carried himself all the way through, standing aside while the conflict was in progress as a servant that “knoweth not what his lord doeth.” He has but to deliver Jehovah's message without addition or diminution, as becomes one entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation. But the mind of man reveals its disappointment and dissatisfaction with the gospel of the grace of God, and manifests, as in Naaman's case, its open rebellion against the means prescribed by God to induce the sinner to give up his own thoughts and the reasoning of unbelief. The ambassador has faithfully to deliver the message committed to him, and to leave the result with God. It is not his to try and make it palatable, by giving up what arouses opposition. He knows that at all times God is well pleased when His beloved Son is well spoken of, and the gospel faithfully preached. “For we are a sweet odor of Christ to God in the saved and in those that perish; to the one an odor from death unto death, but to the other an odor from life unto life; and who is sufficient for these things? For we do not, as the many, make a trade of the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, before God, we speak in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15-1715For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:15‑17)).
A spirit of earnest sincerity, witness of a love that seeks in order to save and bless, underlies the gospel, which in itself rarely fails to attract. “Let him come now to me,” awakened hope in the heart of Naaman, but the more peremptory command, “Go and wash,” destroyed those hopes which had been wrongly placed. “Behold, I thought,” revealed the pride of a corrupt heart, which (in the matter of salvation) would dictate terms to God, but the light of God had nevertheless truly dawned upon him, and so eventually we hear his confession of it in the words, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.” What an amazing discovery! And in what a way of grace to make it! The only God in all the earth had been found of a poor Gentile leper; found, too, in Israel's land, while certainly Israel's king acknowledged Him not. But Esaias is very bold, and says, “I have been found by those not seeking me; I have become manifest to those not inquiring after me. But unto Israel he says, All the day long have I stretched out my hands to a people disobeying and opposing” (Romans 10:20, 2120But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. (Romans 10:20‑21)).
Well might the great apostle of the Gentiles, with a heart full of love for his brethren after the flesh, seek to use such a marvelous fact for the blessing of some of them. “For I speak to you, the nations, inasmuch as I am apostle of nations, I glorify my ministry; if by any means I shall provoke to jealousy them which are my flesh, and shall save some from among them” (Romans 11:13, 1413For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. (Romans 11:13‑14)). And will not God use it effectually in a day which is yet future, in answer to the prayer of an afflicted and repentant remnant (Isaiah 64:1212Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? (Isaiah 64:12), and 65:1)? Then will assurance and certainty, as the result of God's work in the soul, take the place of “vain thoughts,” fruits of a darkened understanding which had repelled grace and insulted Jehovah and His servant. “Better things... and things which accompany salvation,” we may say, were now to appear in the case before us, and these were wonderfully similar in character to those fruits which rejoiced the heart of the apostle Paul as he marked their development in his beloved Thessalonians. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you at our prayers, remembering unceasingly your work of faith, and labor of love, and enduring constancy of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father” (1 Thessalonians 1:2, 32We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; (1 Thessalonians 1:2‑3)). The Thessalonian converts had believed the gospel which Paul preached, responding heartily and in all simplicity to the grace presented. They had borne fruit in like character to that divine grace which had visited them. And, in its measure, it was so with Naaman. One hardly knows which to admire most-the generous devotion of the cleansed leper pressing his gifts upon Elisha, or the faithfulness in which the latter refused all that was offered, declining to enrich himself by compromising the testimony of that free yet sovereign grace of which he had been the channel.
The tribute of the Gentiles has been rendered to God's earthly people in the past and will yet again be rendered to Israel in the future (compare 2 Chronicles 9:23, 2423And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. 24And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. (2 Chronicles 9:23‑24), with Psalm 72). Their gifts shall come with acceptance to the earthly dwelling-place and altar of Jehovah. But at this time Israel was unbelieving and contemptuous of the grace represented by the ministry of Elisha, so that no glory could in truth accrue to Israel, or indeed to any but to Jehovah Himself. It would be better and more excellent for the Syrian to return to his own land, and build an altar to Jehovah there, as in coming millennial days when God shall have accomplished all that He has ever promised for Israel, it shall be said, “In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah.” “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. When Jehovah shall bless saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands; and Israel mine inheritance” (Isaiah 19: 19, 23, 25). Truly God has given in His word many a pledge and guarantee of blessing which awaits not only Israel, but the world, when there shall be the universal acknowledgment of Jehovah and subjection to His order then established in power on the earth.
How perfect is divine workmanship! He who had but a little before spoken disparagingly of “the waters of Israel,” now begs for two mules' burden of earth! Had it been suggested to him earlier as an essential condition to his cleansing, he might have regarded it as an unnecessary incumbrance; but in his altered state of mind the very soil of the land of Israel was sacred to him, where he had come to know God as Jehovah Rophi— “that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:2626And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. (Exodus 15:26)). When God is known thus as a Savior God, to build an altar to Him (in a manner of speaking) is the suited thing to do. Now that Christ has come, God can only he truly owned and worshipped as a “just God and a Savior” when He is known as One who, in the death of His Son, has laid a righteous and adequate basis for the everlasting deliverance and blessing of man. So also did Jacob, at an earlier day, when bidden by God to “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee.” “So Jacob came to Luz...that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Bethel, because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother” (Genesis 35:1, 6, 71And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. (Genesis 35:1)
6So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him. 7And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. (Genesis 35:6‑7)).
Grace manifested in Christ removes man's disabilities, sets before him an object to be worshipped, and supplies both motives and methods such as God can acknowledge and accept. To have learned only that “there is no God in all the earth but in Israel” could but bring sorrow to Naaman; for he dwelt, not there, but in Syria. But this was not all that he had learned. He had learned the true character of God Himself, who had established him in the position of a worshipper, cleansed, accepted, and welcome to draw near, even as the heirs of promise. Naaman was to go back to his own land with all the riches he had brought. They had been refused, but he had been cleansed and accepted. The same God who had delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt and set Himself before them as the one object of worship, had been revealed to Naaman with the same result. To Israel, He had given the ten words, which proclaimed His holy jealousy against all false gods, and then He adds, “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee” (Exodus 20).
“And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods but unto Jehovah. In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant in this thing” (vers. 17, 18). The revelation of God as He has declared Himself, the association of His name with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that which gives the character of truth to worship; while the passing away of all forms and ceremonies now rendered obsolete by the death of Christ requires that worship rendered to a God as now revealed in Christianity should be spiritual. “Jesus saith to her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what; we worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for also the Father seeketh such as his worshippers. God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-2421Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21‑24)).
The question then arises, Who are they who are thus eligible to draw near and worship? Those who have bowed to the truth and believed the gospel. So did Naaman. The revelation of the Father which the Son alone was competent to make was not indeed anticipated, nor was it a question of place, or Jerusalem would have been insisted upon. But the same Spirit of God who now witnesses to the efficacy of the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:1515Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, (Hebrews 10:15)) instructed in that day the cleansed Gentile leper in his acknowledgment of benefits conferred. We may well marvel at this propriety of action and correctness of expression on Naaman's part did we not know that the Teacher was divine and His way is perfect. Elisha could but stand aside, and refrain from hindering where he had no authority to sanction. For such a work was quite outside the revealed ways of God with Israel, and apart from all that had hitherto been made known, whether of leprosy and its cleansing, or of worship and its essential requisites. Yet surely Elisha was here a type of God's righteous Servant, who, when here on earth, in the same place and in similar circumstances acknowledged the faith which God had wrought in the heart of a stranger and accepted the worship (as unconventional as that of Naaman) which was rendered to Him by the cleansed Samaritan of Luke 17:11-1911And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. (Luke 17:11‑19).
[G. S. B.]
(To be continued)