2 Kings 5:1

2 Kings 5:1

(with 2 Kings 5:13)

Consider:

I. What a fund of wisdom is contained in that remark of the servants of Naaman, "If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it"! How true is this with reference to a variety of acts, duties, and remedies proposed for us. It is seen in our behaviour in illness, in social domestic intercourse, and in reference to Christ's holy ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The very easiness and simplicity of these rites should recommend them to our acceptance. Let all who think otherwise turn to the words of the text.

II. Once more look at the greatest lesson of all that this history teaches. Leprosy represents sin, and the leper is the sinner; and so we are all represented by Naaman. Naaman was cured by washing, as he was bidden, in Jordan a type of the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin. As nothing would avail Naaman till he came and stood like a suppliant at the door of Elisha, so nothing shall avail us till, like humble suitors, we sit at the feet of Jesus Christ; and there is salvation in no other.

R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons,3rd series, p. 186.

References: 2 Kings 5:1. C. J. Vaughan, Temple Sermons,p. 379; E. Monro, Practical Sermons,vol. iii., p. 195; G. B. Ryley, ChristianWorld Pulpit.vol. v., p. 280; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation,1st series, p. 350. 2 Kings 5:1. T. T. Munger, Lamps and Paths,p. 173. 2 Kings 5:1. A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet,p. 137.