The Green Forest tribune., 1911-03-31

be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else."- Isa. 45:22.
 TIME-Most scholars place this event in the reign of Jehoram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, who reigned B. C. 9O4-S94. Others argue that it occurred in the reign of Jehoahaz, B. c. S64-S4S
 PLACE-Damascus, the capital of Sy- ria, the oldest city in the world. famed for Its swords, Damascus blades" and for its silks, "damask" Samaria the capital of Israel, about no miles dis tant.
 The miracles of Elisha were nearly all miracles of kindly helpfulness. What were some of these? Those inn mediately preceding and following our lesson: healing the unhealthful wa ters of spring; bringing water into dry valley for the aid of the three kings; paying a poor widows debts by increasing her oil supply; restoring to life the son of the Shunammite woman; making healthful some pot tage into which poisonous plant had been put; feeding hundred men with 20 barley cakes and a few ears of corn-this and the preceding being ia time of famine; healing Naaman; making lost ax head return to the surface 2 the water.
 Who was Naaman? He was com mander-in-chief under the king of Sy- ria, Benhadad H. Benhadad, who had been wont In his youth and middle age to lead his armies into the field in person, seems now in his old age to have found it necessary to entrust the command to a general. Naaman had gained renown by freeing his country from powerful foe, probably Assyria, for the black obelisk mentions wars of the Assyrians under Shalmanezer II. again Israel and Benhadad.
 Honored and powerful, what was the flaw in Naaman's fortune? He was leper. Leprosy Is of slow develop ment, and as Naaman retained his military command his malady cannot have reached very advanced stage. It is not likely, in any case, that the Syrians observed the same strict rules regarding it as the Jews. Leprosy, however, is a terrible disease, fitly uSSu luIOuSllOuI lllt DlDle dS InS By Ll- bol of sin and death. The disease is contagious. It is most loathsome It Is incurable, at least in the present state of our knowledge. Sin is cur able, but not by man.
 Naaman was great man, with a great need; and God prepared a great deliverance for him, as he has a great deliverance for all the great needs of his, children. But it was brought about by four very simple agencies. Only inferior artists make parade of complicated processes; the most skill tentious methods, and God Is the most skillful of all artists.
 Why did Elisha bid Naaman to wash seven times in the river Jordan? To test and strengthen his faith. The journey would give him time for medi. tation, for the nearest point of the Jordan was 25 miles in straight line, but much farther in distance to be travelled, from the winding of the Ia. vines down which 1t must be reached. Moreover, the simplicity of the act would turn Naaman's thoughts away from outward forms to the true God. He would be sure that the water itself did not accomplish the cure, else there would be no lepers in Israel And he would not, at the distance of 25 miles, be likely to ascribe the cure to the prophet.
 Why was Naaman angry at this message? How was he to tell that mock him by sending him on fools errand, so that he would come back as a laughing-stock both to the Israelites and to his own people? Naaman had expected the prophet himself to come forth respectfully and wave his hand over the place" and go through some mystic ceremony. The sting lay in the fact that the prophet himself took no part in the cure; that, instead of being proud to have so august a pa- tient, he had calmly handed him over to one of his assistant physicians-to the medical skill of the waters of Jor dan.
 Ao 1NddLliA " Cul dW dy III O Ad60 how was he put in a more sensible frame of mind? By one of his serv- ants; Naaman seems to have had great fortune in his servants. My fa- ther, said the servant with respectful affection, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done 1t? Yes! Of course he would, and the greater the better.
 What was the result of Naaman's obedience? The result that always comes when men obey Gods con- mands, he was instantly and com pletely cleansed from his leprosy.
 It is shame that this beautiful story must close with recital of Naa- mans perfidy. We may be sure that it would never have been inserted if the tale were not true one. Gehazi is the Old Testament Judas. GehaI misrepresented the true religion to Naaman and the Syrian nation.
 The story of Naaman has been said to be the best illustration in the Old Testament of salvation from sin. How is this? It indicates the hideousness of cip Sin is like IeproSy eatinr