While grace thus manifested its presence and character by positive fruits in a way acceptable to God and cheering to the heart of His servant, the evidence of an exercised conscience bore convincing testimony to the reality of the change which Naaman had experienced. The circumstances before us are not the portrayal of the case of one breaking with old associations, or departing from evil habits, but of one returning a changed man to his responsible position in the service of the king of Syria. Worship of Jehovah and obedience to Him would not be easy in the midst of idolatrous surroundings, and already, before his return to Syria, Naaman contemplated in a very different way to formerly the circumstances and requirements of his honorable position. To be closely associated with his royal master on all state occasions, and to take part in the worship of Rimmon, had hitherto been congenial to his feelings, and indeed flattering to him as a distinguished courtier. But the very thing which formerly ministered to his pride is now distasteful, and becomes an act of sin calling for judgment if not pardoned. “And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way” (ver. 19).
What had changed? Only the heart of Naaman. What made the difference? The light had broken in upon his soul. A new moral standard was set up within him. “The entrance of thy word giveth light,” and all outward action must conform to the purity of that which had established its own authority within him. It was not a law from without requiring obedience under promise of blessing, or putting a restraint upon him with pain and penalties in case of disobedience. Nor was it only the divine authority of that word to which he had reluctantly submitted, but the revelation had been one of grace. Jehovah, the only God in all the earth, had interested Himself on his behalf—himself a miserable, unclean Gentile leper; and when the great ones of Israel would have sent him away, Jehovah had sent His servant with the message, “Let him come now to me.” Obedience of faith receives the blessing, and grace impresses its own character upon the receiver. “For the grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared, teaching us that, having denied impiety and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and justly, and piously, in the present course of things, awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people zealous for good works” (Titus 2:1414Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:14)).
In Naaman's case there was but a limited display of grace and personal to himself, having reference solely to his own bodily condition. It was not calculated to lift him out of himself, and did not set before him a “blessed hope.” But the grace which came by Jesus Christ, and is now in presentation by the gospel, has appeared in all its fullness, bringing salvation for all men and opening up a prospect of glory and blessing, of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the center and effulgence. It is impossible that such grace should visit the soul and leave it unchanged. Once received, it teaches, and so it was with Naaman. Divine wisdom characterized Elisha's reply. He neither sanctioned a relapse into idolatrous practices nor imposed the law of Moses upon a Gentile. “Go in peace” left him free to follow the leading of that light and grace which had entered his soul. This display of grace was perfect according to God's own character and way. But now we are given to see the counter working of the adversary of God and man.
“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought, but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not my heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow” (2 Kings 5:20-2720But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 23And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 25But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. (2 Kings 5:20‑27)).
A solemn picture indeed! needing but little in the way of explanation. We have seen that the same malignant power of Satan was actively working in many ways to prevent the reception of the blessing. Defeated in that, he uses the most suited instrument to his hand to give God the lie, and to rob Him of His glory. That instrument was found in the service of the man of God-one who dwelt in his house and had doubtless seen many other displays of grace, but who was himself absolutely indifferent to Jehovah's glory and unaffected in heart by all that he had been privileged to witness. He only saw in this recent example an opportunity of enriching himself at the expense of the testimony. See how contemptuously he speaks of the one whom God had blessed! and how profanely he makes use of Jehovah's name to sanction the infamy which he proposed! “Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.” As we have before seen, grace received imparts its own character to the receiver; and not only so, but having its source and spring in God's love as now manifested in Christ, it takes its course of blessing through the saints making them channels of blessing to others, and returns to God in worship. This is true now of saints individually (see John 7:37-3937In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37‑39)), as it will also be manifested corporately in the church's relations to the millennial earth, as we see in Revelation 22:1-31And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:1‑3).
The reverse of this is to be seen in the ease of such as have become familiar with truth as to its outward expression and the present ways of God in grace, while themselves strangers in heart to the power and reality of either. Just as Naaman had exhibited the fruits of grace received in tenderness of conscience and devotedness of heart, so did the unrenewed heart of Gehazi display itself in all the horrible repulsiveness of nature. Satan works most readily and effectively upon the religiously instructed mind. It is those who have learned about God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, and who have thus some knowledge of the truth, that are more efficient servants of the devil than are those who have not such knowledge. The sin of Gehazi has been the sin of Christendom. In the early days of the church's history, the new testimony to the name of Jesus was maintained with such power and earnestness, and so abundantly blessed by the Holy Ghost in this same city of Samaria, that there was great joy in that city. Grace was there again asserting itself, and also maintaining its own proper character. But just as the covetousness of Gehazi betrayed him into the hands of Satan for the corrupting of the testimony, so in that early day the same evil principle manifested itself in New Testament times in one who had the reputation of being called “the great power of God,” who also “believed” and was baptized, and was admitted into the Christian profession. Such was Simon Magus (Acts 8), a professed believer, but who was proved to have “neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”
These tactics of the devil are more effective than open opposition; interfering with the action of grace, and corrupting the motives and testimony of such as proclaim it. But there was in the early history of the church the spiritual power and energy of the apostles, which exposed and judged these evil ways, and for the moment restrained its fuller development as manifested in later days. From 1 Tim. 6:1010For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10) we learn that “the love of money” is one of the roots of all kind of evil (not “the” root, but “a” root, R.V.), and the natural man is ever ready to turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and to use the Christian profession as a means of exalting and enriching himself, holding godliness to be a means of gain; and the lordship of Christ is practically, if not formally, denied. With Gehazi it was not alone the cupidity disclosed, nor the falsehood and deception practiced that exposed the offender to the withering rebuke of the prophet and the swift and solemn judgment of God, but the occasion-” Is it a time to receive,” etc. God had drawn near to His revolted people in grace, which could neither be monopolized by Israel, nor patronized or purchased by the Gentile. Elisha as a spiritual man entered fully into the mind of God, and refused the gifts Naaman would have pressed upon him. Yet his servant had thought it a time to enrich himself by grasping at that which his master had refused.
The moral application to the present day is obvious. It is not here unbelieving Israel—forbidding that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, but the corrupt professor, the wicked servant, doing his utmost, and using his knowledge and position as a servant in the house, to counteract the work of God in the soul, and mar the testimony of grace so as to belie its true character. No sin is more heinous and deadly than sin against the grace of God, as seen in those who deny the Lord that bought them, and who bring upon themselves swift destruction. There were many lepers in Israel when Naaman was cleansed. One more was added to the many. “And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”
[G. S. B.]
(To be continued)