Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-03-15
GEHAZI IS PUNISHED.
LESSON Xl, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH rs.

Text of tho Lesson, II Kings Y, 1921.
Commit Verses, f5-t7 - Golden Text,
Mum. xxAii e3-Commentary by Rev.
ID. NJ. stenrns.
( Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
mission Of II S. Hoffman, publisher, Philade
phia.I
/ Is. Behold. now know that there is no
God in all the earth but in Israel"
| Thus spake Naaman as, having returned
with all his company from Jordan, he
stood before the man Of God and prayed
him to accept blessing in the form of
money and raiment,
/ IS. "But he said, As the Lord iiveth, be-
fore whom | stand, [ will receive none
And he urged him to take it; but he re-
fused"
/ Thus spake and acted the man Of God.
! He was not rich in this worlds goods, and
/ yet he turns away from riches when vol
UNFAIRLY offered TO him, and apparently
/ from grateful heart How different from
most people, How different from the
church of today which in the most ungod-
ly ways seeks to raise money for what is
called the Lords work!
H. ''Thy servant will henceforth offer
neither burnt Offering nor sacrifice unto
other gods, but unto the Lord"
Naaman seems truly to lave turned
from idols to serve the living and true
! God q Thess. i, 81, and he desires to take
home with him some Of the earth of the
Lords land tlIos tx, -, that when he offers
sacrifice to the Lord he may do it literally
upon holy ground, though in a far country.
He did not understand the worship Of Je-
hovah; he did not know that God would
hear him from any soil q Kings viii, IS,
49), but he seems sincere, and if any one
sincerely desires Co know God He will en-
Tighten him. "rheu shall we know if we
follow on to know the Lord" dos. vi, 81.
IS. "When | bow down myself in the
house of Rimm0n, the Lord pardon thy
servant in this thing"
- And he said unto him, Go in peace
This is the decision Of the man Of God in
the matter, and this is his blessing See
in ChrOn. xxx, 1920 how the Lord par
doned His own people and allowed them
to eat the passover otherwise than as it
was written. And observe that the atti-
tude Of the heart toward God is more in
his sight than the outward form.
20. But Gehazi the servant Of Elisha,
the man Of God, said as the Lord
liveth / will run after him and take some
what Of him.
Here is an idotater indeed-an idolater
in Israel, an idolater in the house Of holy
man of God, for covetousness is idoiatry
. (Col. iii, 81. He forgot that the law taught
TO hate c0vet0UsHess, and that Achan was
stoned and burned because of his cove
tousness lEx. xviii, p; Josh. vii, 2l).
q. $50 Gehazi followed after Naaman."
When Elisha said go i'm peace " Naaman
departed; but it seems that he went but a
little way ere this covetous Gehazi overlook
him. Living with one like Elisha how was
it that he had not more Of Elisha's spiritp
And when Naaman saw him running
after him he lighted down from the char.
lot 10 meet him, and said, Is all wells"
Or, as in the margin, as there peaceS"
There was little peace in that covetous
soul There is no peace, saith the Lord,
unto the wicked (isa. Xviii, 60 wi, 81.
The way Of peace they know not" lisa.
lviii, S.
-. And he said, All is well My mas
ter hath sent me-
%. And Naaman said, BE content, take
two talents"
His little scheme was working well.
Lying seemed TO be a paying business. He
had only venturcd to ask for one talent Of
silver, and now two talents are pressed
upon him, which, with some urging U, he
consents TO receive. Some three thousand
dollars for one lie; many man has lied
for even ten or five dollars or less, and
boys and girls have been known to lie for
a very small amount.
"a. And when he came to the tower
Margin, secret place. he took them from.
their hand, and bestowed them in the
house; and he let the men go, and they de
parted"
He had no desire 70 make great display
Of his riches, at least not for the present.
He had that which he coveted, it was safely
in his possession and securely deposited,
and no one about the premises was any the
wiser, as he thought; and like the rich
fool Of Luke xii, 10, he perhaps said to
himself, What a good time can now havel
25. "He went in and stood before his
master"
As if nothing had transpired worth men
toning, as if he were a very devoted and
faithful servant, as if he would say, my
dear master, thou man Of God, what is thy
pieasure" We read in Ezek xxxiii, 81 Of
some who sit before theservant Of God as
the people Of God, aud they hear His words
but they Will not do them; for with their
mouth they show much love, but their
utarJ GOcLh aller JhelT CONetOuSneSS.'
And Elisha said unto him, Whence
CONTEST thou, Gehazi2 And he said, Thy
servant went no whittier"
Lie upon lie. This is at least the third in
this transaction. How hard the heart
growsi 1t is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked der. xvii, o. What
a gulf has opened between him and his
masterl Let some boy tell how he felt,
when, having spent the afternoon in some
forbidden place or way, he was asked at the
tea table where he had been. Let some
Christians say how they feel about prayer
when they have been doing what they know
God does not approve.
g. Went not mine heart with thee,
when tbc man turned again from his char.
lot again TO meet thee2"
All, Gehazi he's got you now. Covet-
BUSINESS is n bad thing, and lying won't
help it any. BE sure your sins will find
you out" "a lying tongue is but for a
moment" (Num. xxi, %; PrcT. xii, 19).