The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-10-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR 0cTO5ER 20.
suh5ect elisha and Naaman, III Kings
". 1-14--Golden Text, der. xviii, "a
Memory Verses, O--Co1nrnerli airy Oh
the Days Lesson.

-A---&N%1-ucAA
Aaemory Verses, s-10--C Commentary oh
the Days Lesson.
T. Naaman's sad condition ". III II
'Naaman." Naaman means beautiful Of
pleasant to look upon" Captain. etc3
He was commander-in-chief Of the Syrian
army He had great'ability, power and in5
ffnence He had done much or his kinga
and.in some famous exploit had won 4
memorable victory for the Syrians. Ael
cording to traditionShe was the man WING
drew the bow at venture and killed
Ahab, King of Israel q Kings PISA. Th4
Lord had given" The scriptural explanal
ton Of Naaman's greatness is that thd
Lord had given him the victory and made
him great. But" This was the flaw id
the crystal Of his prosperity, the fly in tho
ointment of his triumph, the shadow that
clouded his glory, the hateful presence thai
( followed him everywhere, the bitter drea
in his cup of JOY. A leper.o Leprosy waa
supposed to be inflicted for the punishl
rnent of some particular SIM and to bel
more than other diseases, mark Of Coda
displeasure.
III. The captive's story Tvs. 2-4) 2. tBy
companies" In plundering parties Wild
made forays upon the neighboring Israeli
ties. IA little maid" "A young girl She
was regarded by her captors as q chatteI
and valued for her service like beasts RI
one doubts the speady progress Of the
world in virtue and humanity it is only
necessary to spend an hour with history
sacred or profane. The horrors of antidud
war were indescribable, and immeasure-
ably worse than the worse brutality of
modern times. 3. "She said, Like Jos4
eph IN Egypt and Daniel in Babylon thia
captive girl becomes the instrument Of
making Jehovah known among the heath4
en-. Notice, l. Her forgiving spirit and
generosity toward those who had wroDged
her. 2. Her fidelity. 8. Her sympathy, the
most ChIistlike Of virtues. 4. Her simple
lation would be, ooh, that!'' .sRecoyeR
him." Literally, gather" him from hid
leprosy. An illusion to the Israelitisk
custom of shutting lepers out of the camp
and then gathering them in after the lep{
rosy was healed. This child must havd
been familiar with the miracles of heal
ing wrought by the prophet Elisha.
8. "Go to, 60. That is, set out at onceJ
let no time be lost 8 letter" Benhat
dad very naturally supposes that the seIa
vices of such man would be at the CONF
mand Of the king. Took with him." etc4
He took present to Jehoram We CAM
not estimate the value accurately. The
money was probably, weighed, and "talI
standards Of weight. A silver talent wad
worth 1884, in all $40, 440. A gold shekel
was worth 1918, In all $5s,500 According
to this Naaman took with him SIT $40, a
princely present. "Raiment." Costly
robes.
s. Recover him. Doubtless Benha-
dad had magicians drawing rich salaried
at his court, and in their supernatural
power he had a good deal Of superstitioua
falth. But they were not able to heal
Naaman. His rival king, Jehoram, was
lucky enough to have q magician able
to perform this cure, and as Benhadadd
prophets did as he ordered them it waa
supposable that Elisha would obey Jel
horam's orders. 1t was courtesy to Jeho-
raInSnot to mention ElishaSs name; but
poorAJehoram had himself so little praci
teal faith in Elisha that when he read
the letter he did not even think of him.
z. Rent his clothes.' A sign here oi
terror and alarm. Rending the garments
was sometimes an expression of grief.
Am God.o As much as to say, Who
but God can cure the leprosy? Who but
the one who is able to kill and make
alive? "A quarrel" Jehoram lived IN
perpetual terror Of his powerful and EN-
croachlng. neighbor. He feared this was a
pretexf for again invading his country
g. Elisha heard No doubt the com-
lng. Of the Syrian general with his retinuej
and the fact that the king had rent hia
clothes, caused a sensation in Samaria,
and the news came speedily to Elisha
who appears to have had his home in thd
capital city. Wherefore etc. Have YOU
forgotten that there is God in Israel,
and that His prophet is near at hand?
He shall know" It would be great
INJURY to true religion to have Naaman
return with false impressions of the true
God; then, too, probably Jehoram needed
to be reminded of his obligations to God
he came with great pomp, with horses
and "chariots" (R. " and with money
to richly reward his bcnefactor
~. Eilshass message and Naaman's
rage Tvs. 1922. TO. Sent messenger.'w
Not that he was wanting in politeness,
q influenced by priestly pride, or feared
the leprosy, or avoided intercourse with q
ieper in obedience to the law; but Naa-
man was to understand that he was healed
by the grace and power of God at the
prayer Of the prophet Wash in Jordan
This would humble him and test his obc-
dance. 1t was so simple aud easy that
there was no excuse for refusal "Seven
times.', The sacred number which rep
fesents tae union Of the finite and infinite
hnd any transaction or covenant in which
both God and man are engaged"
H.. WAS wrothv The plan was too
simple. So the very simplicity of the Cos
pei is stumbling block to the proud
design to mock him by sending him on a
FOOLS errand, so that he would come back
as laughing stock both to the Israelite5
and his own people? Some think Elisha
was disrespectful, but he knew what was
best for Naaman. 4 thought" Perl
Bonal pride and heather magic formed
this faneiful picture. No wonder it proved
delusive dream.
II. "Abana and Pharpar." The modern
Barada and Awaj. ALBANIA signifies COOP
in Arabic and clean" in Hebrew. Called
by. the Greeks, The golden fiowing.J
BETTER" Certainly from his point Of
view the waters Of his own country weird
better than the Jordan, for the Syrian
waters were salubrious and invigoratine,
and the Jordan was deep, sluggish. dis
colored stream. But Naaman Judged acs
cording to appearances and not according
to faith. May / not wash in them and
be clean" No, for God has directed Thea
to Jordan, and by its waters or none shalt
thou be cleansed
" Naanlan accepts Gods way Tvs. I3.
l4) 10. Servants" Naaman had adj
mlrable servants. They were wise ana
generous. My father" There Is I'd
other instance were servants thus adj
dress their master 1t indicates the afi
fectionate relation between Naaman and
those about him. H. Then went ia
down." etc, He submitted and obeyed
the words Of the prophet. His cure waa
perfect.