The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1959-06-13
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
BY Rev. Geo. A. Harper,
Sill Avenue g.,
Greenwood, Miss.
ELISHA AND NAAMAN
. K;v,oe IL "a rIEh
2 Kings 5:1.5a, 7.15b

MEMOIR SELECTION The
earth is full of the goodness of
the Lord.-Psalm $3.50. The
previous verse states that the
Word of the Lord is right and
all His works are done in truth.
The word goodness" in the
text means mercy. The Lord
has given fertile soil to pro-
duce grass, grain, and fruits,
and gives fruitful seasons with
abundance for mans Subsis
tence and when we consider
that the Lord sends the sun
shine and the rain and gives
man a full lifetime in which
to live for Gods glory, we
cannot help but admit that the
world is full of the goodness
of God.
NAAMAN'S LEPROSY:
'Now Naaman, captain Of
the host of the king of Syria,
was a great man with his mas
ter, and honorable, because
by him the Lord had given de-
liverance unto Syria: he was
also a mighty man in valour,
but he was a leper" = The ac-
count given in this lesson is
from a Pro-Syrian point Of
view. 1t shows the Syrians as
being in the favor of the God
of Israel who was taking a per-
sonal interest in the welfare of
that people. The main pur-
pose of the story seems to be
that of showing the greatness
of the power of the God of IS
rael, his concern for a people
who were not ISraeliteS, and to
show how great was the power
of Elisha, the prophet, in work
ing miracles in the name of the
God of Israel. "And the Sy-
rians bad gone out by COM
panies, and had brought away
captive out of the land of IS
rael a little maid; and she wait
ed on Naaman's wife"
The situation of the little
maiden who was captured by
raiders from Syria seems to
have been on this order. 1t
might have been that as cap
tain of the Syrian army, Naa-
man had been instrumental in
these raiding parties being
sent across the Israelite Dor
der. And she said unto her
mistress, would God my lord
were with the prophet that is
in Samaria! for he would re-
cover him of his loprosy"
She was concerned about the
health condition of her master
and did not hesitate to recon-
mend to him a source of help
in Israel, even though the
countries of Israel and Syria
were living under strained in
ternational relation. "And
one went in, and told his lord,
saying, Thus and thus said the
maid that is of the land of IS
raeF' The conversation
about Naaman's condition took
place between the Israelite
girl and Naaman's wife, but a
servant heard what was said
and relayed the information to
the captain, and action was
taken to follow through with
the information which had
been given. "And the king of
Syria said, Go to, go, and l
will send a letter unto the
king of Israeli
1t was proper for the king
to take the procedure he did,
for a person of Naaman's sta
tus should have been sent Of
fIclally into another country.
This was the purpose of send
ing an official letter of recon-
mendation or introduction a.
long with the captain. 1t would
show also that Naaman's mis-
sion to Israel was a peaceful
one.
NAAMAN is SENT TO THE
KING OF ISRAEL:
"And it came to pass, when
the king of Israel had read
the letter, that he rent his
clothes. and said, Am | God,
to kill and to make alive, that
this man doth send unto me
to recover a man Of his lep-
rosy2 Wherefore consider, |
pray you. and see how he seek
eth quarrel against me"
Baseo upon past experiences
the attitude Of The king Of Is
rael was one of suspicion and
distrust 5enoram took Ben
hadad's letter to DE A subtle
way - picking & quarrel will