But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”
So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”
He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ”
Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21, 24 Declaring thereby, what honor and affection he bare to…
Declaring thereby, what honor and affection he bare to the Prophet his master.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–24 2Ki 5:20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the…
2Ki 5:20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, [as] the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.
Ver. 20. But Gehazi … said, Behold, my master, &c.] Ubi observa λογισμον hominis avarissimi. Covetousness is a complexive evil, the root of all evil, saith St Paul. David maketh it a violation of all the commandments. {Psa 119:36} See how fast this covetous captive in the text breaketh them: (1.) He accuseth his holy master of prodigality, "Behold, my master hath spared"; (2.) He speaks contemptuously of so noble a convert, calling him "Naaman this Syrian," this ethnic, this enemy; (3.) He sweareth a great oath, and therewith bindeth his wicked purpose; (4.) He telleth various loud lies - [1.] to Naaman, [2.] to Elisha; (5.) He playeth the thief, hiding the money, and interverting it to his own use. Take heed, therefore, and beware of covetousness:
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“H φιλοχρημοσυνη μητηρ κακοτητος απασης.”
There is a mint of mischief in a worldly heart.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–24 Naaman this Syrian; a stranger, and one of that…
Naaman this Syrian; a stranger, and one of that nation who are the implacable enemies of God’s people; whom therefore my master should not have had so much regard to as to the Lord’s prophets, who before deserved and more needed the money which he offered than Naaman himself did.
As the Lord liveth; he swears, that he might have some pretence for the action to which he had bound himself by his oath, not considering that to swear to do any wicked action is so far from excusing it, that it makes it much worse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v20 Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many…
Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many servants, and we read how wise and good they were, Kg2 5:13. Elisha, a holy prophet, a man of God, has but one servant, and he proves a base, lying, naughty fellow. Those that heard of Elisha at a distance honoured him, and got good by what they heard; but he that stood continually before him, to hear his wisdom, had no good impressions made upon him either by his doctrine or miracles. One would have expected that Elisha's servant should be a saint (even Ahab's servant, Obadiah, was), but even Christ himself had a Judas among his followers. The means of grace cannot give grace. The best men, the best ministers have often had those about them that have been their grief and shame. The nearer the church the further from God. Many come from the east and west to sit down with Abraham when the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. Here is,
I. Gehazi's sin. It was a complicated sin. 1. The love of money, that root of all evil, was at the bottom of it. His master contemned Naaman's treasures, but he coveted them, Kg2 5:20. His heart (says bishop Hall) was packed up in Naaman's chests, and he must run after him to fetch it. Multitudes, by coveting worldly wealth, have erred from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 2. He blamed his master for refusing Naaman's present, condemned him as foolish in not taking gold when he might have it, envied and grudged his kindness and generosity to this stranger, though it was for the good of his soul. In short, he thought himself wiser than his master. 3. When Naaman, like a person of accomplished manners, alighted from his chariot to meet him (Kg2 5:21), he told him a deliberate lie, that his master sent him to him, and so he received that courtesy to himself that Naaman intended to his master. 4. He abused his master, and basely misrepresented him to Naaman as one that had soon repented of his generosity, that was fickle, and did not know his own mind, that would say and unsay, swear and unswear, that would not do an honourable thing but he must presently undo it again. his story of the two sons of the prophets was as silly as it was false; if he would have begged a token for two young scholars, surely less than a talent of silver might serve them. 5. There was danger of his alienating Naaman from that holy religion which he had espoused, and lessening his good opinion of it. he would be ready to say, as Paul's enemies suggested concerning him (Co2 12:16, Co2 12:17), that, though Elisha himself did not burden him, yet being crafty he caught him with guile, sending those that made a gain of him. We hope that he understood afterwards that Elisha's hand was not in it, and that Gehazi was forced to restore what he had unjustly got, else it might have driven him to his idols again. 6. His seeking to conceal what he had unjustly got added much to his sin. (1.) He hid it, as Achan did his gain, by sacrilege, in the tower, a secret place, a strong place, till he should have an opportunity of laying it out, Kg2 5:24. Now he thought himself sure of it, and applauded his own management of a fraud by which he had imposed, not only upon the prudence of Naaman, but upon Elisha's spirit of discerning, as Ananias and Sapphira upon the apostles. (2.) He denied it: He went in, and stood before his master, ready to receive his orders. None looked more observant of his master, though really none more injurious to him; he thought, as Ephraim, I have become rich, but they shall find no iniquity in me, Hos 12:8. His master asked him where he had been, "Nowhere, sir" (said he), "out of the house." Note, One lie commonly begets another: the way of that sin is down-hill; therefore dare to be true.
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II. The punishment of this sin. Elisha immediately called him to an account for it; and observe,
1. How he was convicted. he thought to impose upon the prophet, but was soon given to understand that the Spirit of prophecy could not be deceived, and that it was in vain to lie to the Holy Ghost. Elisha could tell him, (1.) What he had done, though he had denied it. "Thou sayest thou wentest nowhere, but went not my heart with thee?" Kg2 5:26. Had Gehazi yet to learn that prophets had spiritual eyes? or could he think to hide any thing from a seer, from him with whom the secret of the Lord was? Note, It is folly to presume upon sin in hopes of secresy. When thou goest aside into any by-path does not thy own conscience go with thee? Does not the eye of God go with thee? He that covers his sin shall not prosper, particularly a lying tongue is but for a moment, Pro 12:19. Truth will transpire, and often comes to light strangely, to the confusion of those that make lies their refuge. (2.) What he designed, though he kept that in his own breast. He could tell him the very thoughts and intents of his heart, that he was projecting, now that he had got these two talents, to purchase ground and cattle, to leave Elisha's service, and to set up for himself. Note, All the foolish hopes and contrivances of carnal worldlings are open before God. And he tells him also the evil of it: "Is it a time to receive money? Is this an opportunity of enriching thyself? Couldst thou find no better way of getting money than by belying thy master and laying a stumbling-block before a young convert?" Note, Those that are for getting wealth at any time, and by any ways and means whatsoever, right or wrong, lay themselves open to a great deal of temptation. Those that will be rich (per fas, per nefas; rem, rem, quocunque modo rem - by fair means, by foul means; careless of principle, intent only on money) drown themselves in destruction and perdition, Ti1 6:9. War, and fire, and plague, and shipwreck, are not, as many make them, things to get money by. It is not a time to increase our wealth when we cannot do it but in such ways as are dishonourable to God and religion or injurious to our brethren or the public.
2. How he was punished for it: The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to thee, Kg2 5:27. If he will have his money, he shall take his disease with it, Transit cum onere - It passes with this incumbrance. He was contriving to entail lands upon his posterity; but, instead of them, he entails a loathsome disease on the heirs of his body, from generation to generation. The sentence was immediately executed on himself; no sooner said than done: He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Thus he is stigmatized and made infamous, and carries the mark of his shame wherever he goes: thus he loads himself and family with a curse, which shall not only for the present proclaim his villany, but for ever perpetuate the remembrance of it. Note, The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of those that seek death, Pro 21:6. Those who get wealth by fraud and injustice cannot expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. What was Gehazi profited, though he gained his two talents, when thereby he lost his health, his honour, his peace, his service, and, if repentance prevented not, his soul for ever? See Job 20:12, etc.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–24 But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of…
But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God said,.... Within himself, observing what had passed:
behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: he speaks contemptibly of Naaman, as an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and reproaches his master for letting him go free, without paying for his cure; when he thought he should have taken what he brought and offered, and given it to needy Israelites, and especially to the sons of the prophets, that wanted it; and perhaps it mostly disturbed him, that he had no share of it himself:
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but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him; the word for "somewhat", wanting a letter usually in it, is what is sometimes used for a blot; and Jarchi observes, that Gehazi taking something from Naaman, was a blot unto him, and indeed such an one that he could not wipe off.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 Gehazi - One would expect Elisha's servant should have…
Gehazi - One would expect Elisha's servant should have been a saint: but we find him far otherwise. The best men, the best ministers, have often had those about them, that were their grief and shame. This Syrian - A stranger, and one of that nation who are the implacable enemies of God's people. As the Lord - He swears, that he might have some pretense for the action to which he had bound himself by his oath; not considering, that to swear to do any wicked action, is so far from excusing it, that it makes it much worse.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20–24 Verse 20. My master hath spared - this Syrian]…
Verse 20. My master hath spared - this Syrian] He has neither taken any thing from him for himself, nor permitted him to give any thing to me.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 24 2Ki 5:20. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha — One…
2Ki 5:20. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha — One would have expected that Elisha’s servant should have been a saint; but we find him far otherwise. The best men, the best ministers, have often had those about them that were their grief and shame. My master hath spared this Syrian — A stranger, and one of that nation who are the implacable enemies of God’s people. As the Lord liveth — He swears, that he might have some pretence for the action to which he had bound himself by his oath; not considering, that to swear to do any wicked action, is so far from excusing it, that it makes it much worse.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20–24 This Syrian - The words are emphatic. Gehazi persuades…
This Syrian - The words are emphatic. Gehazi persuades himself that it is right to spoil a Syrian - that is, a Gentile, and an enemy of Israel.
As the Lord liveth - These words are here a profane oath. Gehazi, anxious to make himself believe that he is acting in a proper, and, even, in a religions spirit, does not scruple to introduce one of the most solemn of religious phrases.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 24 Liveth. How unnecessary was this oath! But the Simoniac…
Liveth. How unnecessary was this oath! But the Simoniac has no regard for any thing but money. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 GEHAZI, BY A LIE, OBTAINS A PRESENT, BUT IS…
GEHAZI, BY A LIE, OBTAINS A PRESENT, BUT IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (Kg2 5:20-27)
I will run after him, and take somewhat of him--The respectful courtesy to Elisha, shown in the person of his servant, and the open-handed liberality of his gifts, attest the fulness of Naaman's gratitude; while the lie--the artful management is dismissing the bearers of the treasure, and the deceitful appearance before his master, as if he had not left the house--give a most unfavorable impression of Gehazi's character.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 24 GEHAZI’S CURSE, 2Ki_5:20-27.
GEHAZI’S CURSE, 2Ki_5:20-27.
20. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God — This individual has been introduced to us before, in the previous chapter, and once, at least, not to advantage, when he attempted to thrust away the weeping Shunammite from the feet of Elisha. 2Ki_4:27. The stately and solemn style in which he is here mentioned — the servant of Elisha the man of God — is in fearful contrast with the covetousness and falsehoods which are immediately to be told. Gehazi has well been called the Judas Iscariot of the Old Testament.
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This Syrian — These words breathe a spirit of contempt; as if a Syrian, a Gentile, ought to have been taxed.
As the Lord liveth — By this solemn oath he makes his course a matter of conscience and religion. For a perverse heart, stubbornly bent on sinning, may even presume to swear its darling sin into a virtue.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–24 20–27. Gehazi’s lies and their punishment (Not in Chronicles)
20–27. Gehazi’s lies and their punishment (Not in Chronicles)
20. hath spared Naaman this Syrian] R.V. this Naaman the Syrian. The pronoun qualifies the whole expression. Gehazi had been in attendance on Elisha, and heard the whole conversation. There seems to have been no need for an interpreter. The dialects of the whole country were no doubt much akin, and the people could readily understand each other.
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as the Lord liveth] How little the words meant for Gehazi we can see, when they come to his lips amid his thoughts of the deceit he is meditating. They had a different force when Elisha used them, in verse 16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–24 (20) Said—i.e., thought.
(20) Said—i.e., thought.
This Syrian.—He justifies his purpose on the principle of “spoiling the Egyptians.”
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But, as the Lord liveth, I will run.—Rather, by the life of Jehovah, but I will run. (Comp. Note on 2Ki_4:30.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20–24 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of…
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, 2Ki_4:12-36 for the position held towards Elisha by Gehazi) Behold, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian. Gehazi either honestly thinks, or at least persuades himself, that a Syrian ought to be, not spared, but spoiled, as being a foreigner and an enemy. In not receiving at his hands that which he brought (see ver. 5). Gehazi may not have known how much it was, but he had seen the laden animals, and rightly concluded that the value was great. But, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. "As the Lord liveth" seems a strange phrase in the mouth of one who is bent on lying and on stealing. But experience teaches us that religious formulae do drop from the lips of persons engaged in equally indefensible proceedings. This is partly because formulae by frequent use become mere forms, to which the utterer attaches no meaning; partly because men blind themselves to the wrongfulness of their actions, and find some excuse or other for any course of conduct by which they hope to profit.
Vers. 20-27.
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The lessons taught by the sin and punishment of Gehazi.
Gehazi"s is a sad case, but a not unusual one; the case of a person brought into close contact with a high form of moral excellence and spirituality, who, instead of profiting by the example, willfully casts it aside, and adopts a low standard of life and conduct a standard which always tends to become lower. The first lesson to be learnt from his case is this
I IF CONTACT WITH EXCELLENCE FAIL TO RAISE US, IT WILL SINK US, IN THE MORAL SCALE. The two disciples closest to our Lord seem to have been St. John and Judas Iscariot. The one leant upon Jesus" breast; the other dipped with him habitually (toptonta met ejmou ejn tw trubliw) in the dish. (Mar_14:20) The one was exalted to a spirituality rarely attained by man; the other sank to such a condition that his Lord said of him, he "is a devil". (Joh_6:70) Both elevation and degradation are equally natural. The one comes from the imitation of the high example before us; the other from resisting the impulse to such imitation. If we resist impulses to good, we do ourselves irreparable harm; we blunt our consciences, harden our hearts, render ourselves less sensitive to good influences forever after. And the longer the contact with goodness continues, the higher the exaltation, or the lower the deterioration, of our nature. Gehazi had been for years Elisha"s servant. He had been on the closest terms of intimacy with him. He had witnessed his patience, his self-denial, his gentleness, his kindness, his zeal for Jehovah. But the only effect had been to harden him in evil. He had grown proud and contemptuous, as shown by his calling Naaman "this Syrian" (ver. 20), a swearer (ver. 20), covetous, untruthful, careless of his master"s honor, secretive (ver. 24), shameless. He had no sense of God"s watchful eye and continual presence, no respect or love for his master, no care for what Naaman and the other Syrians would think of him. He thus did as much as in him lay to ruin his master"s projects, and to lower him in the esteem of those whose good opinion he knew his master valued, Another lesson to be drawn from the narrative is the following:
II ONE SIN LEADS ON TO ANOTHER BY A SEQUENCE WHICH IS ALMOST INEVITABLE. Gehazi begins with covetousness. He cannot see the great wealth of Naaman, the wedges of silver and gold, and the large bales of rich stuffs, without a keen desire to obtain possession of a portion. He hopes that his master will spoil the Syrian, and not spare him; in that case he may contrive to get a share in the advantage. His master"s refusal, no doubt, seems to him mere folly, quixotism almost madness. He sets his clever wits to work, and soon frames a scheme by which his master"s intentions shall be frustrated. The scheme, as any scheme must under such circumstances, involves him in lying; nay, in a whole heap of lies. He tells a circumstantial tale in which there is not a single word of truth. The tale runs glibly off his tongue, and easily deceives the foreigner, who is not of a suspicious temper. Gehazi is completely successful, obtains even more than he had ventured to ask; hides it away without any difficulty, and thinks that all is over. But all is not over. "Whence comest thou, Gehazi?" sounds in his ears; and he must either confess all or, directly and unmistakably, lie to his master. Of course, the lie is resolved upon; his previous conduct has so demoralized him, that we cannot even imagine him to have hesitated. The direct falsehood to his master, which he would fain have avoided, has to be uttered: "Thy servant went no whither." Facilis descensus Averni. The only security against a moral decline as grievous as Gehazi"s is not to enter upon it, not to take the first step. Principiis obsta. Check evil tendencies at once, and the fatal sequence need never be entered upon. Gehazi"s punishment has also its lesson. He had gained his coveted wealth; the prophet could not take it from him. He was a rich man, and might carry out all his far-reaching schemes of proprietorship, and lordship over others. But what will it all profit him, if he is to be, to the end of his days, a leper? The apples of Sodom, so "fair to view," are felt and known to be worthless, when they "turn to ashes on the lips." So was it with him; and so is it, commonly, with those who pursue a course similar to his. The prosperity acquired by fraud has within it a taint of rottenness. There is "a little rift within the lute a drawback of some kind or other, which deprives the prosperity of all its value, and makes the wealthy prosperous man a miserable wretch. If he escape external calamity, he will, at any rate, not escape the worm of remorse, which will cat into his heart, and poison his cup of pleasure.
Vers. 20-27.
Elisha and Gehazi.
We shall, perhaps, derive most profit from the study of these two characters if we look at them together, as they are here set before us, in sharp and striking contrast.
I CONTRAST THE COVETOUSNESS OF THE ONE WITH THE UNSELFISHNESS OF THE OTHER.
1. Look, first of all, at Elishas unselfishness. It is a sublime picture. We hardly know which to admire mostElijah as he stands forth alone in rugged grandeur to confront the prophets of Baal; or Elisha, as in quiet simplicity and sincere forgetfulness of self he stands there before Naaman, and gently puts away from him the general"s tempting gift. Of the two, I think Elisha"s was the harder and therefore more heroic deed. Look at the temptations which he must have felt. The fame of him had spread into Syria, so much so that this haughty general, the foremost man in all Syria except its king, comes to him to be healed of his leprosy. The King of Syria himself sends a letter with his general. And now, when, at Elisha"s bidding, Naaman has washed in Jordan, and become cured, was it not a strong temptation to the prophet to take glory and honor and reward for himself? Naaman wanted to give him rich remuneration. He presses it upon him. "Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant." Listen to the answer: "As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none." Again Naaman urges him to take the gift, and once more and finally the prophet refuses. And why? Did he think there was any harm in taking a gift? Not at all. At other times he was quite content to be dependent on the bounty of others. St. Paul tells us that" even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel" Elisha had no objection to the gift as such, and even if he did not want it for himself, he could have made good use of it. Why, then, did he refuse it?
(1) In the first place, he thought of the honor of his God. Elisha knew well that it was not by his word or by his power that Naaman had been healed, but by the power of the living God. He wanted Naaman to think, not of the prophet, but of the prophet"s God. So St. Peter acted when he and St. John had healed the lame man at the Beautiful gate of the temple. He said to the people, "Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?" and then proceeded to point out to the people the benefit of faith in Christ. So it will be with every true servant of Christ. He will seek to point men to his Master, and not to himself.
(2) Again, he thought of the honor of his religion. He doubtless felt that if he had taken Naaman"s gift, Naaman might afterwards have said, "Well, these prophets of Israel, who call themselves followers of the true God, are no better than our own heathen priests. They follow their calling just for the money that it brings," Elisha knew that that was not true. He knew that he might lawfully take the gift, and yet be influenced by far higher motives, in the service of God. But he felt that, though all things are lawful, all things are not expedient. Oh that all God"s people were equally solicitous about the honor of Christ"s cause and kingdom! How careful we should be lest by our worldliness, our inconsistencies, our thoughtlessness, we bring reproach upon the religion we profess!
(3) Further, Elisha thought of the honor of his country. Israel had, at that time, been defeated by Syria. Elisha felt that it would be a humiliating thing for him a Hebrew to take a gift from one of the conquering nation, and especially from him who had perhaps been the leading general in the war against the Jewish people. Evidently that was what he meant when he said to Gehazi afterwards, "Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?" The time of his country"s disgrace and defeat was not a time for him to indulge in luxury and display. There is room for more Christian patriotism in the present day a patriotism that shall rest the honor of its country on the industry, morality, and uprightness of its people, and that shall see in every departure from these virtues a cause of humiliation and shame.
(4) Finally, Elisha thought also of the good of Naaman. He wanted not only to benefit his body, but his soul also. Therefore he avoided everything that might put a stumbling-block in his way. And we see how well he succeeded. Naaman, from what he had seen of Elisha, the prophet of the true God, and from what he had seen of God"s power, resolved that he would never sacrifice to any other god but to the God of Israel. If we would benefit others, our own hearts must be right with God. There must be no doubt about our sincerity, no uncertainty about our motives. We see in all this how little Elisha thought of self. He had a great opportunity, and he used it well. He had a strong temptation presented to him, and he resisted it. It is a splendid instance of unselfishness, a splendid illustration of the power of Divine grace.
2. How different from all this; the covetousness, the selfishness, of Gehazi! The honor of his God, the honor of his religion, the honor of his country, the good of Naaman none of these things ever cost him a thought. In his mind self is the one all-absorbing, overmastering consideration. Even his master"s honor is of little value in his eyes. Elisha had refused to take Naaman"s gift, yet Gehazi runs after him, and says that his master has sent him to ask for money and clothes, just as if he was so fickle as not to know his own mind, and so mean as now to send and beg that which but a little time before he had sturdily declined. Gehazi"s greed for money had blunted all the finer feelings of his nature. No wonder that our Savior said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness." No wonder that Paul said, "The love of money is a root of all evil." All kinds of sins result from the love of money. We have an illustration of it in Gehazi"s case. We have illustrations of it every day. How often men grow rich, but do not grow better! Sometimes increasing wealth has the strange effect of decreasing liberality. Sometimes increasing wealth brings with it increase of pride. Sometimes increasing wealth has made men more worldly. Instead of seeking to serve Christ more with their increased opportunities and increased influence, they serve him less. Thank God if with increasing wealth he has given you increasing grace. Thank God if he has enabled you to give the more, the more you got. Thank God if with increasing wealth you have kept a cool head, a warm heart, a steady hand, a clear conscience, and the friends of your youth. To those who are beginning life we would earnestly say, Beware of covetousness. Don"t imagine that to be rich is the be-all and end-all of life. There are some things which money cannot buy. There are some things which money cannot do. Money can"t keep death away from the door. Money cannot purchase the pardon of sin, or obtain for a single soul admission into heaven. "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" But we are not therefore to despise money. Get all the money you can, provided you get it honestly, provided you do not sacrifice your soul"s interests because of it, and provided that, when you have it, you spend it well. Make a good use of your money in your lifetime. "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon which the unrighteous worship, that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
II CONTRAST THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE ONE WITH THE STRAIGHTFORWARD HONESTY OF THE OTHER. There was nothing two-faced about Elisha. He did not say one thing with his lips, and think the very opposite in his heart. When Jehoram, King of Israel, after his idolatry and his sins, got into difficulties at the time that he and the other two kings went forth against the King of Moab, he then sent for Elisha. But Elisha does not meet him in any fawning, flattering spirit. He at once rebukes him for his sins. He says, "What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother." In the same way he treats Naaman as one whose pride needs to be humbled. Though he might have offended Naaman by refusing to take his gift, he plainly tells him, "As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none." What a contrast to this blunt, straightforward honesty is the two-faced deceitfulness of Gehazi! Observe how one sin brings another with it. He first of all coveted the money and the raiment, when he heard Elisha refuse Naaman"s present. Then covetousness leads to deception and lying. He ran after Naaman"s chariot, and invented a false story that some young men had come to Elisha, and that he wanted money and clothing for them. His guilt was doubly great, because he was Elisha"s trusted servant or steward, and because he probably had other servants under him. And then he lies, not only to Naaman, but to his master, when he says," Thy servant went no whither." Oh, the baseness, the wickedness, of deceit! And yet how much of it is practiced in the world! How much of it in the social relationships of life! What sham friendships! What hollow civilities! Whitened sepulchers and social shams! How much of it in the commercial world! What barefaced adulteration! What cheating of customers! What false statements known to be false about the value of goods! Sometimes there arerevelations great failures, gross frauds. But what an immense amount of deceit goes on that is never heard of! Many deceive or act dishonestly just up to the limit of detection, just as if God"s eye was not on them all the time. To say, "Every one does it," as an excuse for deceit or dishonesty in a business, is no reason why a Christian man should do it, why any man should do it. God"s eye sees. His command is clear, "Thou shalt not steal." Thou shalt not put forth thine hand to take what is not thine own. The man who robs his customers, the man who plunders or purloins from his employers, even though he may be respectable in the eyes of the world, is as much a thief in the sight of God, and perhaps far more guilty, than the poor boy who steals a loaf in his hunger and want. Deceit and dishonesty never can bring a blessing. "Be sure your sin will find you out." We have many instances in history of the fearful consequences of even a single act of deceit. The one great stain upon the memory of Lord Clive, the hero of Plassey, and one of the greatest men who ever administered British rule in India, is his single act of deception practiced on an Indian prince. The words which Lord Macaulay has written on this subject are so important and so true, that they are well worth repeating: "Clive"s breach of faith," he says, "was not merely a crime, but a blunder. We don"t know whether it be possible to mention a state which has on the whole been a gainer by a breach of public faith. The entire history of British India is an illustration of this great truth that it is not prudent to oppose perfidy to perfidy that the most-efficient weapon with which men can encounter falsehood is truth. During a long series of years, the English rulers of India, surrounded by allies and enemies whom no engagement could bind, have generally acted with sincerity and uprightness, and the event has proved that sincerity and uprightness are wisdom. English valor and English intelligence have done less to extend and preserve our Oriental empire than English veracity. All that we could have gained by imitating the doublings, the evasions, the fictions, the perjuries, which have been employed against us, is as nothing compared with what we have gained by being the one power in India on whose word reliance can be placed." Covetousness and deceit are injurious to personal happiness, to the order and peace of society, and to the welfare and prosperity of the nation. It is the gospel of Christ that alone has proved itself capable of grappling with these evils, and banishing these vices from the human heart. It teaches us not to think of self merely, but of others also. It teaches us to "put away lying, and to speak every man truth with his neighbor." To spread the gospel of Christ is the best way to promote social and commercial morality, to promote confidence between man and man, and to hasten the coming of that time when there shall be peace on earth and good will to men. Let the love of Jesus fill your heart, and flow out into your life, and then you will not intentionally do a wrong to any one, in thought, in word, or in deed. C.H.I.
Vers. 20-27.
The story of Naaman: 3. Gehazi"s falsehood.
In Elisha"s company we might have expected only honor, integrity, truthfulness. But the society of the good will not of itself make another good. Hypocrisy can cover a foul interior. A fair outward seeming can cloak a heart ruled by very evil principles. In the first apostolic band there was a Judas. In Elisha"s service there was a Gehazi. The sin of both was covetousness. The offspring of covetousness in Gehazi"s ease was hypocrisy and falsehood.
I COVETOUSNESS PROMPTING FALSEHOOD.
1. His reproach of his master. When Naaman was gone, Gehazi indulged in reflections on his master"s conduct. It did not at all commend itself to him. "Behold, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought," etc. Such generosity seemed absurd. It was a chance missed which might never come again. Fantastic scruples were all very well, but when they led to the loss of a fortune, they were greatly to be reprobated. What scruple need there have been in any case about spoiling a foreigner? Covetousness generally sees only the money consideration. When great gain is at stake, the man is held to be a fool who allows religious or sentimental considerations, or even ordinary moral scruples, to stand in the way.
2. His covetous determination. If his master has acted foolishly, he will not imitate his example. It is not yet too late, with a little art, to repair the damage. He will hurry after the Syrian, and obtain something from him. "As the Lord liveth mark the profane mixing up of religion and impiety will run after him, and take somewhat of him." Morality goes downbefore the greed of gain.
3. His unblushing falsehood.
(1) Naaman beheld Gehazi running after him, and was delighted to think that he might, after all, have the opportunity of serving Elisha. He alights from his chariot a different man now than when his stately equipage "stood" at Elisha"s door and asks eagerly, "Is all well?
(2) Gehazi, in reply, tells him an unblushingly invented falsehood. There had come two young men of the sons of the prophets from Mount Ephraim, and Elisha had sent to entreat for them a talent of silver and two changes of raiment. The finish of this style of falsehood, and Gehazi"s subsequent hypocrisy, speak to considerable practice in the art of deceit. Such ready audacity, so great perfection in the arts of lying and concealment, are not attained at the first attempt. No man becomes a rogue quite suddenly. Elisha was probably no more deceived in the character of Gehazi than Jesus was in the character of Judas, who was secretly "a thief," and "had the bag, and bare what was put therein". (Joh_12:6)
II GRATITUDE DICTATING LIBERALITY. The willing response made by Naaman to what he took to be Elisha"s request is the bright side of this otherwise discreditable incident.
1. He doubled what was asked. "Be content, take two talents." He was glad to get an opening for forcing some acknowledgment of his gratitude on Elisha.
2. He sent two of his servants back with the sacks of silver and the raiment. What he did, he did handsomely. He gave every token he could of his desire to oblige Elisha.
3. Gehazi relieved the servants when they came near the house, and had the treasure smuggled into the house, and safely hid. This was the part of the business in which there lay some risk of detection; but it was securely managed, and Gehazi no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the valuables carefully stowed away. His treasure was as safely concealed as Achan"s wedge of gold, and two hundred shekels of silver, and goodly Babylonish garment. (Jos_7:21) But it was to prove as great a curse.Meanwhile, light in conscience, glad in heart, and pleased at having been permitted to bestow even this small gift (comparatively) on Elisha, Naaman sped on his way home. He probably never knew how he had been deceived.
III JUSTICE DECREEING PENALTY. Gehazi"s act, however, skillfully concealed as it was from human view, was not to remain unpunished. God knew it. Gehazi had forgotten this. God is the one factor, which the wicked leave out of their calculations, and he is the most important of all. David was careful to conceal his crime with Bathsheba; but it is written, "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord". (2Sa_11:27)
1. Gehazi"s hypocrisy. He went calmly in, and stood before his master, as if nothing had happened. There is, as above stated, a perfection in this villainy which shows that it was not a first offence. But there comes a point when men"s sins find them out. They gain courage by repeated attempts, and by-and-by take a step too far. What they think is their master-stroke proves their ruin.
2. Elishas challenge. What had happened had not been "hid" from Elisha. The Lord had showed it to him. His heart had gone with Gehazi, and he had seen Naaman turning from his chariot to meet him. He now challenged him with his conduct. He:
(1) Exposed his falsehood. Gehazi answered boldly to the question, "Whence comest thou?" "Thy servant went no whither." Then Elisha told him what he knew. We can imagine the servant"s conscience-stricken look and speechless confusion at this discovery. Let sinners consider how they will face the disclosures of the judgment-day, and what they will answer (Ecc_12:14; Rom_2:16; Col_3:25) We have a parallel instance of exposure, with an even severer punishment, in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. (Act_5:1-11)
(2) Unveiled his inmost motives. "Is it a time in connection with a work of God so great receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards," etc. These were the things Gehazi intended to purchase with his money. His mind was running out in grand plans of what he would do with his treasures. A miracle such as had been wrought should have filled him with very different thoughts. Elisha lays bare the covetous root of his disposition. God reads to the bottom of our hearts. (Rev_2:23) Gold is valued by covetous men for what it will bring. It is a further development of avarice when it comes to be loved for its own sake.
3. The judgment of leprosy. By a just retribution, the leprosy of Naaman, which had been taken from him from miracle, is now by miracle rut on Gehazi and his seed forever (cf. Exo_20:5) There is a symmetry a relation of fitness often observable in God"s retributions (Jud_1:7; Est_7:9, Est_7:10; Mat_7:2 Mat_26:52, etc.)
Little would Gehazi"s wealth delight him with this loathsome and accursed disease upon him. Men make a wretched bargain who for wealth"s sake barter away peace with God, purity of conscience, inward integrity, and their soul"s honor, They may obtain gain, but they are smitten with a leprosy of spirit which is their ruin. Covetousness in the heart is already a leprosy. The outward leprosy, in Gehazi"s case, was but the external sign of what internally already existed. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha.
2Ki_5:20-27
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha.
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Gehazi
The name Gehazi means valley of vision, and is appropriate enough if we think of what Gehazi saw as to the nature of wickedness when the prophet opened his eyes.
1. Gehazi was the servant of Elisha, the man of God. Surely then he would be a good man? Can a good man have a bad servant? Can the man of prayer, whose life is a continual breathing unto God of supreme desires after holiness, have a man in his company, looking on and watching him, and studying his character, who denies his very altar, and blasphemes against his God? Is it possible to live in a Christian house and yet not to be a Christian? Cause and effect would seem to be upset by such contradictions. There is a metaphysical question here, as well as a question of fact. A good tree must bring forth good fruit; good men must have good children; good masters must have good servants; association in life must go for something. So we would say--emphatically, because we think reasonably. But facts are against such a fancy. What is possible in this human life? It is possible that a man may spend his days in building a church, and yet denying God. Does not the very touch of the stones help him to pray? No. He touches them roughly, he lays them mechanically, and he desecrates each of them with an oath. Is it possible that a man can be a builder of churches, and yet a destroyer of Christian doctrine and teaching generally? Gehazi did not understand the spirit of his master. He did not know what his master was doing. How is it that men can be so far seperated from one another? How is it that a man cannot be understood in his own house, but be thought fanciful, fanatical, eccentric, phenomenally peculiar? Gehazi had a method in his reasoning. Said he in effect: To spare a stranger, a man who may never be seen again; to spare a beneficiary, a man who has taken away benefits in the right hand and in the left; to spare a wealthy visitor, a man who could have given much without feeling he had given anything; to spare a willing giver, a man who actually offered to give something, and who was surprised, if not offended, because his gift was declined! there is no reason in my masters policy. It never occurred to Gehazi that a man could have bread to eat that the world knew not of. It never occurs to some men that others can live by faith, and work miracles of faith by the grace of God.
2. Gehazi prostituted an inventive and energetic mind. He had his plan (v. 22). The case was admirably stated. We have no hesitation in saying that the men of the world in most cases overmatch the men of the Church in matters of strong thinking regarding practical subjects and practical ministries and uses. We who are in the Church are afraid: we want to be let alone; not for the world would we be suspected of even dreaming of anything unusual; we would have our very dreams patterns of neatness, things that might be published in the shop windows, and looked upon without affronting the faintest sensibility on the part of the beholders. But the Gehazis, if they were converted, they would be men of energy, dash, courage, fire; we should hear of them and of their work.
3. But Gehazi was successful. Now all is well: lust is satisfied, wealth is laid up; now the fitness of things has been consulted, and harmony has been established between debtor and creditor, and Justice nods because Justice has been appeased. Were the test to end with the twenty-fourth verse we should describe Gehazi as a man who had set an example to all coming after him who wished to turn life into a success. Who had been wronged? Naaman pursues his journey all the happier for thinking he has done something in return for the great benefit which has been conferred upon him. He is certainly more pleased than otherwise. The man of God has at last been turned, he thinks, into directions indicated by common sense. All that has happened is in the way of business; nothing that is not customary has been done. Gehazi is satisfied, and Elisha knows nothing about it. The servant should have something even if the master would take nothing. It is the trick of our own day! The servant is always at the door with his rheumatic hand ready to take anything that may be put into it. We leave nothing with the master; it would be an insult to him. So far the case looks natural, simple, and complete; and we have said Elisha knows nothing about it. Look at Elisha: fixing his eyes calmly upon Gehazi, Went not mine heart with thee? Oh that heart! The good man knows when wickedness has been done: the Christ knows when He enters into the congregation whether there is a man in it with a withered hand; He says, There is a cripple somewhere in this audience. He feels it. Went not mine heart with thee? Was I not present at the interview? Did I not hear every syllable that was said on the one side and on the other?
4. Then the infliction of the judgment: The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever (v. 27). Thou hast touched the silver, thou didst not know that it was contagious and held the leprosy; thou didst bring in the two changes of garments, not knowing that the germs of the disease were folded up with the cloth: put on the coat--it will scorch thee! He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. A splendid conception is this silent departure. Not a word said, not a protest uttered; the judgment was felt to be just. Men should consider the price they really pay for their success. Do not imagine that men can do whatever they please, and nothing come of it. Every action we perform takes out of us part of ourselves. Some actions take our whole soul with them, and leave us poor indeed. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Defilement of Gods work by covetous men
It is at once most surprising and most saddening to know that some of the best works that have been done on earth for God, and some of Gods most eminent workers, have been defamed and lowered, if their influence has not been actually counteracted and nullified, by inferior workers and by unworthy men. This defiling of Gods work has generally come from one source, and is the result of one vile lust or passion, covetousness--the desire for the means of gaining power or wealth, or place, or self-indulgence; the desire for dominion or money as the means of self-exaltation and aggrandisement. As illustrating this I need only mention the repulsive histories of Balaam, of Achan, of Davids impious numbering of Israel, the story of Gehazi now before us, and the dark atrocity of the life and death of Judas Iscariot.
1. The action and duplicity of Gehazi are of singular unworthiness. Like so many other histories they show that intercourse with good men and association with God-like work may become only the occasion of worse vileness in a man. The followers of Luther were seldom worthy of him. The followers of Calvin have not been true to their master. The adherents of the hallowed Wesleys did not take their sacred work only. The converts of Paul almost broke his heart. And the followers and servants of Jesus--where is there one of us who is worthy of his Master? Too often has it been found that one of the most repressive influences about the work of great men and good servants of Jesus Christ is in the fact that some of their nearest followers have had unworthy souls; and could turn their Masters greatness into the service of their own inferior aims and into the means of advance in this world. Do not many of us come to Christ with selfish feelings and serve our God for hire? Being with the good and great will not necessarily make us similar; otherwise Gehazi would have been a better man.
2. Gehazis covetousness was of a gross, material kind--the love of money; and the miserable influence of it upon him is seen in this: that it produced inability to appreciate Elishas spiritual motives. All that Gehazi let himself see was, that with the departing Naaman so much money went away too. More especially, however, notice that, as with Gehazi, so, generally, the covetous and unprincipled man lowers himself to a level on which he is unable, in daily life and business, to appreciate other motives than those of getting gain; or to measure anything in lifes movements and enterprises by any other gauge than that of the money that can be gained or must be lost. Because of this abasing and prostituting of nature, Paul earnestly declares covetousness to be practically idolatry, and has its legitimate consequences on mans inner life, in antipathy to Jesus, and self-mutilation, with much sorrow. Gehazi could not feel the power of Elishas spiritual motives in sparing Naaman and letting him go free of payment. He rather thought--why should my master not have taken the money? What good was it to let the talents of silver and gold and the beautiful Syrian robes go? The fair damask raiment of Damascus--why should it be lost? Naaman could afford it; and it would be far less than the equivalent of what he had received from Elisha. Look which way he would, the money that had been lost, the gain that had not been made, was ever alluring his debased soul Elishas noble determination that the mercy of his God should, in Naamans case, be had literally for the asking: his resolve that the goodness of God should be then, as we say now, of grace, and not of buying or deserving, either before or after it had been obtained,--this to such a soul as Gehazis was useless, fanciful, intangible.
3. In several other ways Gehazis covetousness involved him in sin, and further defiled the good work that had been wrought by Elisha. To notice these is to see a testimony to a law of God that the young cannot heed too much--the law that forbids the possibility of solitary sins, isolated transgressions. There are no lonely, single sins. Sin needs sin to help it along, to buttress it, to back it, and give it success. One deception leads to another, and needs it. One lie begets another, and requires it to succeed. And it may be well for us all to remember that all the good and gains of this grand world are not worth one little lie.
4. Now we come, as men say they have so often in daily life and business, to face this misery--the success of the lie. The falsehood has thriven; to deceive has been found to be the short road to wealth; to insult God, to defame His work, to misrepresent Elisha and plunder Naaman, these things have paid, as men say. (G. B. Ryley.)
A voice of warning
I. Let us note the danger of unimproved and abused spiritual privileges. Gehazis religious advantages, in all probability, began at a date anterior to the time and mission of Elisha. One tradition speaks of him as the boy who sped at the bidding of the Tishbite to the top of Carmel, to watch the rising of the expected cloud over the Mediterranean, precursive of the longed-for rain. This, at all events, we know, that seven years previous to Naamans pilgrimage, he was the witness of Elishas greatest miracle, when he brought back the Shunammites son to life. Doubtless, during these intermediate years, he had seen many other signs and wonders authenticating his masters Divine call He had mingled with the youths--his own contemporaries and fellow-students--in the college of the prophets: and, above all, in common with them, and more than them, he had been the privileged eye-witness of the pure, exalted character and consistent walk of his honoured superior. Alas! that no fall is so low and so fearful as the fall of a man once enlightened, and who has tasted of the heavenly gift. No recoil to sin is so terrible as the recoil on the part of one who has tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. The religious training and pious fellowship which softens and ameliorates the docile, teachable heart; if abused and rejected, will only serve to stir up the natural, innate tendencies of evil. Let us write Beware on our seasons of loftiest privilege, and on our moments of highest inspiration. Beware of a spirit of indifference to Divine things, harbouring aught that would blunt the fine edge of conscience, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God; allowing religion to become a weariness; outwardly professing godliness, while inwardly in league with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
II. A second lesson we may learn from the story of Gehazi, is the certainty of sins detection. It was a boldly conceived and a boldly executed scheme of the audacious criminal. Such were the air-castles which Gehazi, in common with thousands of accomplished graduates in crime, have reared for themselves. But he forgot, or tried at least to bury from remembrance, the truth which he had embodied in his own thoughtless imprecation, that Jehovah liveth. It is true that sentence against an evil work is not always (indeed, is seldom) executed speedily. God many times seems to keep silence--to be like the Baal of Carmel, asleep. The daring and presumptuous venture their own sceptic conclusions on this forbearance of the Most High, in thinking Him altogether such an one as themselves--The Lord doth not see, neither doth the God of Jacob regard (Psa_94:7). If, however, there be in the present state, exceptions to this great retributive law in Gods moral economy, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And as the detection will be sure, so also will the punishment be commensurate with the crime. In the case of Gehazi, most meet and befitting was the nature of the retribution. He would rob the restored Commander of his festal garment; a white garment, too, he shall have in return, but very different truly from the one he has avariciously appropriated:--a garment of terrible import, which in a terrible sense shall wax not old, for it shall go down a frightful heirloom to his childrens children. It is a robe of leprosy, white as snow. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap!
III. A third lesson we may draw from the narrative is, the tendency of one sin to generate another. When the moral sense becomes weakened, and moral restraints are withdrawn, the horde of demons gather strength;--the avalanche of depravity acquires bulk as well as velocity, in its downward course of havoc and ruin. These wild beasts--the wolves of the soul--may hunt at first singly, but afterwards they go in packs, and the number increaseth the voraciousness thereof. When the citadel of the heart is carried by assault, one bastion after another is dismantled, and its treasure abandoned to the enemy. The Reaper angels, in the final harvest of wrath, are pictured as gathering, not single stalks, or even sheaves, but bundles to be burnt. Mark the sad experience of Gehazi:--
1. Note his covetousness. Avarice was the besetting sin of his nature--the prolific parent of all the others.
2. But the motive-power of covetousness roused into action other depraved, and, till now, slumbering forces. We have to note next, his untruthfulness. Isaac Watts child-hymn, in simplest child-language, expresses in brief the sad experience of this covetous attendant--
For he who does one fault at first,
And lies to hide it, makes it two.
3. Scarcely distinguishable from Gehazis sin of falsehood--akin to it, and a part of it--(a sister-spirit of evil)--let us note his hypocrisy. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Gehazi
I. That the highest religious advantages, unless duly improved, will fail to produce any saving results.
II. That where unholy dispositions are cherished in the heart, they will break forth, when a favourable opportunity presents itself, in corresponding action.
III. That while we proceed in a course of iniquity, it is in vain for us to expect either concealment or impunity.
1. All your sin is known to God. Man cannot read the heart of his fellow-man without a special revelation from heaven; but though man can only judge from outward appearances, and is consequently incapable of forming a right estimate, all things are known to God. I, the Lord, search the heart and try the reins of the children of men.
2. All sin thus beheld is abhorred by God. The Lord is a God of infinite purity and righteousness. There is no object we can contemplate or conceive, that is half so offensive to the most delicate eye as sin is to God.
3. God, in His infinite wisdom, has a thousand means which we cannot conceive, of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness. Gehazi thought that his secret wickedness would never be discovered; but the whole scene passed, as it were, in panoramic view before his master. The Lord can suggest a single thought to the mind of a person acquainted with us, that may lead to a train of reflections, observations, and inquiries which will discover our secret iniquities. (T. Jackson.)
Gehazi
Let us derive a few general and useful reflections from the whole narrative.
I. Persons may be very wicked under religious advantages. The means of grace and the grace of the means are very distinguishable from each other, and are frequently found separate.
II. Here is a warning against the love of money. Take heed, and beware of covetousness.
III. See the encroachments and progress of sin; and learn how dangerous it is to give way to any evil propensity.
IV. How absurd it is to sin with an expectation of secrecy! There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves.
V. Abhor and forsake lying. It is in common peculiarly easy to detect falsehood. Hence it is said that every liar should have a good memory. And what an odious character is a liar! How shunned and detested when discovered! To every mortal upon earth, the appellation of a liar is the most detestable. A liar is the emblem of the devil, who was a liar from the beginning, and abode not in the truth. (W. Jay.)
Gehazi
In dwelling on our subject we have suggested:--
I. Gehazis inestimable privileges. He held no ordinary position. He was servant to the greatest of prophets, and lived in an atmosphere of the most exalted purity and the highest piety. He had an example to contemplate which few others have been favoured with. Hence he could not excuse himself by the plea of ignorance. He had the means of knowing what was right. He was in constant contact with Gods Divine word, and knew well the Divine law. He saw and probably enjoyed the ministrations of his master. Yet notwithstanding all this he sinned in a notable and presumptuous manner.
II. Gehazis complicated sin. How one crime is tied to another! They follow like children of a family. They are like the birds that collect after carrion. We seldom see one prominent sin hovering in the moral atmosphere unaccompanied by others. Bad men consort together. Bad spirits seek congenial company.
III. Gehazis exemplary punishment. We may imagine the radiant glee of Elishas servant as he returned home well satisfied with his days work on his own behalf. He was proud at the success of his well-contrived and ably executed stratagem. With these self-complaisant thoughts he went in and stood before his master, and glibly covered his sin with the lie. As if he could deceive God! He went out! In one moment he was transformed, both body and soul. We sometimes come upon these sudden revulsions of feeling, when in a single instant the whole current of a mans life is changed at once and for ever. The lessons which this subject has for ourselves are manifest:--
1. We see the danger of a covetous spirit. It is the mainspring of half the sins of the present day, as it has been the exciting cause of half the wars and crimes of the world.
2. We see in Gehazi the type of all sin. All sin is like his in its method. It never remains stationary. It grows and stretches from one thing to another. All sin is like Gehazis in its selfishness. Surely he might have respected his masters honour and position in the sight of the foreign prince. Sin is selfishness. It is placing personal interests and ease and aggrandisement before the interest of others. And the simile is continued in the last point. All sin is alike in the certainty of its punishment. The wicked may persuade themselves that their wickedness is unobserved, but it will soon be manifest that every thought is known and that the day of reckoning must arrive. (Homilist.)
One mans blessing another mans curse
Judging only as we are able to do of one another now, Gehazis plan had succeeded, and he had done well for himself. But he had left out of his scheme the remembrance that God had something to do with it.
I. Lying and false ways of earthly prosperity always leave out God. Liars and deceivers ignore Gods interest in their life, Gods knowledge of their plans and schemes and the execution of them. And in their apparently untroubled doing without God these men and their actions become most hurtful stumbling-blocks to many tender souls, such as that most pure and deep thinker Asaph--or the man who wrote psalms for his use, who mourned over the wicked that they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Such sin is either a practical ignoring of God altogether, atheism in daily action and business (which is much more pernicious than atheism of intellect), or it is a defaming and insulting of Gods omniscience.
II. One sin, one lie, makes others easier and worse. The lie came from him easily and readily: for he had prepared himself beforehand, and the lie he had told to Naaman trained him to insult, by deceiving, his master. The way to perdition is downhill, on a slippery way, with a descent that is ever quickening.
III. Gehazis exposure and shame come now before us. How soon the scheme came to an end, and such an end! How soon the bubble burst! Gehazi had deceived Naaman and had gotten his money, but he had misled himself much more.
IV. Elishas patriotism cried out against Gehazis sin.
V. Gehazi pierced through with many sorrows. He had sought his good here; but with Naamans money he got his leprosy, too. The blessing of the Syrian became the curse of the servant of the man of God. (G. B. Ryley.)
The covetousness of Gehazi
I. We have here covetousness seeking to make gain of a connection with goodness. Gehazi was the servant of Elisha. It was surely no small privilege to be an attendant upon the prophet of God,--to be brought into such close connection with a man so good and holy. One might have supposed that he could scarcely help feeling the influence of Elisha. Now, covetousness of any kind is bad enough; but covetousness hanging on the skirts of goodness,--covetousness taking advantage of some outward connection with religion, and even with unselfishness,--this is surely one of the lowest forms of vice. Oh, it is a fearful thing when a man comes to value his religious reputation chiefly as a portion of his stock-in-trade.
II. We have here covetousness leading on to falsehood and theft.
III. We have here covetousness hindering the progress of the divine kingdom. Like a true prophet as he was, Elisha was seeking to advance the kingdom of God. He cared far more for the extension of Jehovahs name and the promotion of Jehovahs glory than for his own advantage. If he magnified his prophetic office and stood on his honour, it was that, through him, Jehovah might be honoured. This was no doubt the secret of his treatment of Naaman. (T. J. Finlayson.)
Deception detected and punished
I. The deception practised. Naaman was proceeding on his way, thoughtful, grateful, prayerful, hopeful, joyful. He is overtaken by Gehazi, who, unknown to his master, asks a gift of him. After all Gehazis profession and all his religious opportunities, who would have expected such action? Influences of pious homes, etc., are sometimes all lost. The secret of Gehazis action was covetousness. This is a rock on which many split. Gehazi thinks of all Naaman is taking back, and of his willingness to make the prophet a present. He regrets the loss of an opportunity of gain. He longs for the silver, etc. He resolves to seek for it. It is dangerous to parley with temptation. Unobserved, as he supposes, by the prophet, he pursues after Naaman. Unheard, as he supposes, by the prophet, he tells his story.
II. The deception succeeding; that is, for the time, and so far as regards the obtaining of that for which he asked, and more than he asked for. Naaman pauses, descends from his chariot, kindly inquires after the prophets welfare, listens to Gehazis application, grants all he sought and more. Note the confidence, the artlessness, the unsuspiciousness of a young convert to the faith of the God of Israel. He cannot suppose a prophets servant could be guilty of a falsehood. Men expect much of those who profess godliness; guilty indeed are they who, by disappointing such expectations, cast a stumbling-block in the way of young believers (Mat_18:6). Gehazi obtains his desire; but how does he feel as he returns to his master?
III. The deception detected. Verse 24, When he came to the tower. In the Revised Version that reads--When he came to the hill; probably the hill brow from which he could see his masters house, and where his master, therefore, might possibly see him, he then hid his ill-got treasure. He did not think of that eye that over sees (Psa_139:1-12; Jer_23:24). Could he think to hide from the prophet, of the Lord that which he had done? He did so think; but it was not hidden (verses 25, 26). He thought he had managed all very cleverly! . . . Deception led to falsehood; it often does. Yet only ultimately to increase the shame of detection. Be sure thy sin will find thee out.
IV. The deception punished. Shortlived is the prosperity of the wicked. If Gehazi will have Naamans treasure, he shall have Naamans leprosy. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Avarice a fatal vice
Andrew Fuller one day went into a bullion merchants, and was shown a mass of gold. Taking it into his hand, he very suggestively remarked, How much better it is to hold it in your hand than to have it in your heart. Goods m the hand will not hurt you, but the goods in the heart will destroy you. Not long ago, a burglar, as you will remember, escaping from a policeman, leaped into the Regents Canal, and was drowned--drowned by the weight of the silver which he had plundered. How many there are who have made a god of their wealth, and in hasting after riches have been drowned by the weight of their worldly substance! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
When disguises are removed
A large lake in a noblemans park was a little time ago drained off for repairing purposes. During the day it had shone under the sunlight like a sheet of gold, and at night a silver sheen from the moon turned it into poetic beauty. It looked an emblem of purity and peace. But when the water was drawn away what an awful contrast! Down in the oozy slime at the bottom of the lake were thousands of crawling and wriggling abominations of reptile and parasitic order. The waters, so fair in outward seeming, were a very haunt of evil squirming horrors. What a terrible revealing will the withdrawing of life make to many a Christless soul. When all disguises, veils, and falsities are taken away, and the horrors of cherished sin are all laid bare. (H. O. Mackey.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v20 2Ki_5:21. He lighted down from the chariot—Not merely dismounted,…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
2Ki_5:21. He lighted down from the chariot—Not merely dismounted, but quickly did so sprang out of the chariot, נָפל, to cast oneself, to throw oneself, to rush. It indicates Naaman’s anxiety.
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2Ki_5:24. Came to the tower—הֲעֹפֶל—the hill, i.e., a hill well understood in the locality of Elisha’s house.
2Ki_5:26. Went not mine heart—In contrast with Gehazi’s words, “Thy servant went no whither.” “My heart”—לִּבִּי—i.e., in spirit, discerning the entire transaction. Is it a time to receive money, &c.—i.e., in any other case rather than this thou mightest have gratified thine avarice, but now, with so many hypocritical prophets abroad, this is no time for bringing the true prophetic office into disrepute by an act which seems to imply that the servant of the High God is only intent on selfish aggrandisement in his sacred and supernatural work.—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_5:20-27
THE CURSE OF AVARICE
I. That a spirit of avarice loses no opportunity to gratify its greed. Gehazi was the Judas Iscariot of the Old Testament. Covetousness was his besetment. He was doubtless in many ways valuable to Elisha, and perhaps was at first a sincere enquirer after truth. But the spirit of avarice gained the mastery over what was good in him, and ultimately wrought his ruin. The wealth of Naaman was too great a temptation to him, and he could not forego the prospect of benefiting by the lavish generosity of the grateful Syrian. “As the Lord liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him” (2Ki_5:20). Gehazi acts under the guise of religion while disregarding its teaching of disinterestedness, which it was particularly needful to make evident in those days of worldliness and time-serving among the national priesthood—the sycophantic Baalites. He showed contempt for the judgment of his master in the matter of receiving gifts, end cared not how far he disparaged the prophet in the eyes of his new convert. He mainly misrepresented Elisha by making him ask for what Naaman had just heard him most positively refuse. Avarice knows no scruples; is reckless of results; it sees only what is to be gained, and cannot relinquish the slightest hope of securing it.
II. That a spirit of avarice hesitates not to employ falsehood in attaining its purpose. Covetousness and lyiug go together; they are twin-vices. The burning desire for gain suggested to Gehazi the fabrication of a plausible story which would easily deceive the unsuspecting and generous Naaman (2Ki_5:21-23). “What a round tale hath the craft of Gehazi devised of the number, the place, the quality, the age, of his master’s guests, that he might set a fair colour upon that pretended request, so proportioning the value of his demand as might both enrich himself, and yet well stand with the moderation of his master! Love of money can never keep good quarter with honesty, with innocence. Covetousness never lodged in the heart alone; if it find not, it will breed wickedness. What a mint of fraud there is in a worldly breast! How readily can it coin subtle falsehood for an advantage!” To find out the covetous, go round with a subscription book. It is perfectly appalling what lies you will hear told to evade giving.
III. That a spirit of avarice finds its pleasure in secretly storing its gains (2Ki_5:24). Gehazi carefully stowed away the goods with which the liberality of Naaman had supplied him, and began already to indulge in dreams of increased possessions and of the pleasures his wealth might purchase. The miser wastes his best powers in the fond idolatry of his money, and gloats in secret over the piles of treasure which he counts with trembling joy. Avarice, says Channing, is a passion full of paradox, a madness full of method; for although the miser is the most mercenary of all beings, yet he serves the worst master more faithfully than some Christians do the best, and will take nothing for it. He falls down and worships the God of this world, but will have neither its pomps, vanities, nor its pleasures for his trouble He begins to accumulate treasure as a means to happiness, and by a common but morbid association he continues to accumulate it as an end. He lives poor to die rich, and is the mere jailer of his house and the turnkey of his wealth. Impoverished by his gold, he slaves harder to imprison it in his chest, than his brother slave to liberate it from the mine. The avarice of the miser may be termed the grand sepulchre of all his other passions, as they successively decay. But, unlike other tombs, it is enlarged by repletion and strengthened by age.
IV. That a spirit of avarice is unexpectedly exposed and faithfully warned (2Ki_5:25-26). Little did Gehazi think that the whole transaction which had been carried out with such consummate craft and privacy was already known to his Master. He seeks still further to hide his duplicity by further lying. “He who tells a lie,” says Pope, “is not sensible how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain one.” The wickedness of his servant was discovered by the prophetic insight of Elisha, and, to the utter confusion of the culprit, he is addressed in words of severe and faithful remonstrance—“Is it a time to receive money, &c?” Miserable Gehazi! how didst thou stand pale and trembling before the dreadful tribunal of thy severe master, looking for the woful sentence of some grievous judgment for so heinous an offence!” It is well when the money-loving worldling has a faithful monitor at hand to warn him of his danger and reprove him for his sin: it is better still when warning and reproof lead to reformation.
V. That a spirit of avarice is cursed with a terrible doom (2Ki_5:27). Swift upon the heels of the transgression came the punishment, and that a punishment most loathsome and abhorrent: it was like a living death!—“He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.” O heavy talents of Gehazi! O the horror of this one unchangeable suit which shall never be but loathsomely white, noisomely unclean! How much better had been a light purse and a homely coat with a sound body, a clear soul! Too late doth that wretched man now find that he hath loaded himself with a curse, that he hath clad himself with shame. His sin shall be read ever in his face, in his seed. All passengers, all posterities, shall now say—Behold the characters of Gehazi’s covetousness, fraud, sacrilege!—Bp. Hall. Perhaps the punishment cured the sin, and led to repentance. Gehazi the leper had more hope of salvation than Gehazi the miser. Gain got by a lie will burn your fingers, burn in your purses, rot your estates, and root out your posterity.
LESSONS:—
1. The love of money is the root of all evil.
2. The avaricious spirit is ever ready to take advantage of the generous.
3. Covet earnestly the best gifts.
DEFILEMENT OF GOD’S WORK BY COVETOUS MEN (2Ki_5:20-24)
It is saddening to know that some of the best works, nd some of God’s most eminent workers, have been defamed and lowered, if their influence has not been actually counteracted and nullified, by inferior workers and by unworthy men. This defiling of God’s work has generally come from one source, and is the result of one vile lust or passion—covetousness. As illustrating this, read the repulsive histories of Balaam, of Achan, of David’s impious numbering of Israel, the story of Gehazi now before us, and the dark atrocity of the life and death of Judas Iscariot.
I. The action and duplicity of Gehazi are of singular unworthiness. Like so many other histories, they show that intercourse with good men and association with God-like work may become only the occasion of more vileness in a man. To the influence of his noble-minded master, to the refining and elevating power of such a character as Elisha, to the special needs of his fatherland and day, Gehazi seems to have been insensible, or, if not insensible, yet, which is worse, inclined to undervalue them, and to use the privileges and opportunities of his position for the gain of money. Nor is Gehazi lonely in this. On every side evidence of the like iniquity accumulates when we look into Scripture or other history. Few followers of great men have any of their real greatness, though they may share their honour. Few imitators of great teachers catch sight of anything but their own false exaggeration of their master’s position, and the opportunities thereby given of personal advance. The followers of Luther were seldom worthy of him. The followers of Calvin have not been true to their master. The adherents of the hallowed Wesleys did not take their sacred work only. The converts of Paul almost broke his heart. And the followers and servants of Jesus—where is there one of us who is worthy of his master? Do not many of us come to Christ with selfish feelings and serve our God for hire? We may find it helpful against this danger ever to remember that God’s gift of salvation was both undeserved and unsolicited. Being with the good and great will not necessarily make us similar; otherwise Gehazi would have been a better man, and it would not have been Christ’s sorrowful experience that “he who had eaten bread with Him lifted up his heel against Him.”
II. Gehazi’s covetousness was of a gross material kind—the love of money; and the miserable influence of it upon him is seen in this—that it produced inability to appreciate Elisha’s spiritual motives. Ali that Gehazi let himself see was that with the departing Naaman so much money went away too. As with Gehazi, so generally the covetous and unprincipled man lowers himself to a level on which he is unable, in daily life and business, to appreciate other motives than those of getting gain, or measure anything in life’s movements and enterprises by any other gauge than that of the money that can be gained or must be lost. Gehazi could not feel the power of Elisha’s spiritual motives in sparing Naaman and letting him go free of payment. Elisha’s noble determination that the mercy of his God should, in Naaman’s case, be had literally for the asking; his resolve that the goodness of God should be then, as we say now, of grace, and not of buying or selling—this, to such a soul as Gehazi’s, was useless, fanciful, intangible. He was, evidently, a practical vigorous man, who had not much room for fancies, whether religious or any other. Covetous men in the world, and Gehazis in the Church, are too many and too influential. Too many of us have this coarse grain in us, and when there is ever any beauty or tenderness of feeling in us, we get into the habit of hiding it from what we think would be the rude looks and unappreciating touch of others.
III. In several other ways Gehazi’s covetousness involved him in sin, and further defiled the good work that had been wrought by Elisha. These are no lonely, single sins. Sin needs sin to help it along, to buttress it, to back it, and give it success. One deception leads to another, and needs it, and each becomes a pledge of worse. Gehazi had to lie to Naaman; and it speaks of the power of greed and covetousness, to see this man telling the lie so plainly and confidently, misrepresenting his master, and dishonoring God’s work as done by his master. All the food and fame of this grand world are not worth one little lie. Let us he careful not to want anything beyond the reach of honesty, nor to go where we need lies and double-dealing for advancement. To be simple-minded, with Christ, is better than all the successes of duplicity. Gezahi’s lie deceived a trusting man, and made the liar take still greater and more ungenerous advantage of Naaman’s goodness, in doubling the amount of silver. The covetous liar has no room for generosity.
IV. The success of the lie. The falsehood has thriven; to deceive has been found to be the short road to wealth; to insult God, to defame his work, to misrepresent Elisha, and to plunder Naaman. These things have “paid,” as men say. It is this kind of thing that is enough to shake a feeble faith, to see the wicked in great power. Gehazi had gotten his wealth, but what could he do with it? He hid it, hoarded it up for a few hours, and then the judgment came. He got his money like Achan, he hid it like Achan, and God troubled him as he troubled Achan. This is the life of those who are greedy of gain. It is like sowing the barren sea. We can only hoard earth’s gain, or hide it away, or spend it on the world that passes away, for a few hours, and then God must come, and judgment must begin.—C. W. P.
ONE MAN’S BLESSING ANOTHER MAN’S CURSE (2Ki_5:25-27)
Gehazi has to face that from which a liar never escaped, and a false tongue never was delivered—even detection, exposure, shame, and everlasting contempt. The whole transaction had been decided on so quickly, and carried out so easily, that the probabilities were all in his favour, and warranted his hope that having gained his wealth by a bold stroke he would be able to keep it by effrontery. I. Lying and false ways of earthly prosperity always leave out God. Liars and deceivers ignore God’s interest in their life, God’s knowledge of their plans and schemes, and the execution of them. And in their apparently untroubled doing without God these men and their actions become most hurtful stumbling-blocks to many tender souls. Oh, guard in your daily actions against this perilous thought, this most hurtful habit of ignoring God, and his knowledge of your ways! Let us take the word of God as a “wholesome” blame to ourselves, and as a wise correction of many shameful things in our daily life. Let us really and solemnly believe in God’s omnisicence, not as a theological article only, but as a matter for daily life and care; and let us try to cultivate the ever-present sense that God knows all our ways, and understands our hearts with their pitiful vileness. Yea, let not this beget terror and horror, like that of the prisoner in his cell, who, having been condemned to have some one day and night watching him through a hole in the prison door, became haunted and horrified by the eye that was ever looking at him; but, rather, let us gladly believe that “the Lord has searched us, and known us;” that He “understands our thoughts afar off;” and let us bare and open ourselves to the Infinite Searcher of hearts. II. They who will not do this, will have to prove the experience of Gehazi, that one sin, one lie, makes others easier and worse. Gehazi presumed that Elisha was ignorant of his doings, and when he went in and was asked, “Whence comest thou?” he had his answer ready, “Thy servant went nowhither.” The lie came from him easily and readily, for he had prepared himself beforehand; and the lie he had told to Naaman trained him to insult, by deceiving, his master. The way to perdition is downhill, on a slippery way, with a descent that is ever quickening. The first step down gives us impetus, and every after step is easier to the soul that is going down away from the light. One act of lying or deceiving needs another, and begets its own kind until the liar deceives himself, imagining himself to be secure, when he is on, the edge of perdition, and thinking his schemes are all doing well, when “He that sitteth in the heavens laughs at them, and the Lord has them in derision.” In thus leading to a vile, false security of self-deception, lying becomes its own enemy and judgment. Though others may be hoodwinked, and conscience may be blindfolded, so that right and wrong are not clearly discernible, yet deception must end somewhere. Somewhere, and with some one, a lie must be of no use, be wasted breath and ruinous sin. It is of no use with God; it stops at the throne of God; there it must stand revealed; and we have yet to see whether the boldness of earth’s deceptions will be continued there. Who shall be bold in the day of God? Certainly not the false man. III. Gehazi’s exposure and shame come now before us. How soon the scheme came to an end, and such an end! How soon the bubble burst! Gehazi had deceived Naaman and had gotten his money, but he had misled himself much more. For Elisha’s spirit had been with him, and it is notable that Elisha says, that from the moment in which Gehazi began to deceive Naaman, he knew the whole. It is not a light thing to God when we allow ourselves to glide into an iniquity, but it must be and is before God a much viler thing when, in addition to wronging our own souls, we hurt and sin against others. Sin has been vile enough when, in cases that have come before our law courts, men have lied, and forged, and perjured themselves; the outrage on truth has been bad, but when widows and orphans and others have been ruined by trusting their money to such men, has there not risen a cry to God, a cry clamorous as that of Abel’s unexpiated blood? Samuel Rutherford spoke tenderly yet terribly when he said, “I find it would be no art, as I see now, to make hypocrisy a goodly web, and to go through the market as a saint among men, and yet steal quietly to hell without observation, so easy it is to deceive men. Men see but as men, but to be approved of God (may I add in business?) is no ordinary mercy.” Gehazi got Naaman’s money; would that we all in our trading and toil had the spirit that would lay all gains before God, saying, Lord, whose money have I? IV. Elisha’s patriotism cried out against Gehazi’s sin. “Is it a time to receive money and garments and oliveyards, and vineyards and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?” This protest is based not only on Elisha’s desire that Naaman’s cure should be from beginning to end the evident work of the free grace and mercy of the God of Israel, but rises also from the condition of Israel as a nation at that time. It was a time of strife and care, of war and rumour of war, in which everyone ought to have been ready for the call of self-sacrifice, and for the encouragement of self-denying motives for the sake of the time and the fatherland. During all the period of war and siege and famine of which you may read in the next chapter, Elisha was the leader of the patriotic and no-surrender party in Samaria. He it was who encouraged the people to resist even to the uttermost; and even when the city was so reduced that women ate their own children, and the king sent a man to strike off Elisha’s head as the leader of the resisting party, Elisha still kept the gates of the city shut against a surrender. Knowing the vigorous patriotism of this man of God, his readiness for self-devotion, we may well and easily understand Elisha’s detestation of Gehazi’s conduct when all that he seemed to wish for was the increase of his money and the accumulation of hoarded wealth. It was not a time to receive money, and pander by false ways to the lust for gain, though there are men who, in any crisis of a nation or society or religion, will put the claims of self-interest in the foreground, and judge only under the impulse of insatiable appetite for wealth. The patriot as well as the prophet speaks to us here, and his word declares that a man is required by the condition of his country and the state of the times in which he lives to forbid himself any gain, to deny himself any advance, that may involve him in meanness and sinfulness. With broader meaning also, out of which all other special applications come, we must learn from this that the Christian man is required to govern all his life by such a feeling as this of Elisha, that time on earth is to be passed in the actual subordination of earthly gains of money, or rich dress, or property, or social status. The present time is a time for honest toil and labour in the fear of God and the love of Jesus; but not for aiming at the miscalled “goods” of this world. V. Now, coming to the last of this history, we see Gehazi pierced through with many sorrows. He had sought his good here, but with Naaman’s money he got his leprosy too. The blessing of the Syrian became the curse of the servant of the man of God. Let us get this matter close to ourselves. The day of God, we may fear, will show many who have blighted themselves, marked themselves with a curse by their part in connection with God’s word; many who have helped to do good, but therein doomed themselves by the spirit that they have allowed to grow on the work. It is not a light thing to assume leadership in the Lord, or eldership in His work, for if we are hurtful in these things, who shall heal the hurt?
“For what shall heal, when holy service banes?
Or who may guide
O’er desert plains
Thy lov’d, yet sinful people wandering wide,
If Aaron’s hand, unshrinking, mould
An idol form of earthly gold?”
What shall save when being an instrument of good is made its own curse by any soul? This doom of Gehazi is prophetic of all uncleansed sin and its miserable end. Any unrepented wrong against man or God must come back to the wrongdoer. Sin that we will not let Christ wash away must “find us out,” for it is our sin, our own ghastly belonging for ever and ever. We are its author, owner, and home for ever. We raise a demon that we cannot lay but by taking it home to ourselves. Unpardoned—that is, unrepented—sin is as the unclean spirit of which the Lord spake: it has no end till it returns whence it set out. We began with honour and degradation in Naaman; and it all ends in this dishonour and degradation in Gehazi. “He went out a leper”—the curse of God had fallen on him by the word of the gentle master whose work he had defiled. Elisha’s kindliness gave place to the word of vengeance. Oh, remember that there is such a thing as “the wrath of the Lamb,” and that when the gentleness of God, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, gives way to judgment, there shall be found no place for the liar, the covetous, or any impenitent. In the free grace and love by which Naaman was washed and purified we have our hope; and in the outraged love by which Gehazi was blighted we have our warning. Take both the hope and the warning.—C. W. P.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki_5:20-24. A sordid spirit. I. Remains unchanged, though in daily intercourse with the most unselfish nobleness. II. Cannot appreciate the motive that relinquishes a single opportunity of getting gain. III. Deludes itself in assuming a religious guise for its basest acts (2Ki_5:20). IV. Displays unseemly haste in getting possession of coveted treasure (2Ki_5:21). V. Is facile in manufacturing falsehood (2Ki_5:22). VI. Does not scruple to take every advantage of the generosity of others (2Ki_5:23). VII. Is careful to conceal the extent of its hoardings (2Ki_5:24).
2Ki_5:20. How mighty are the evil inborn lusts of the human heart! Even in the case of those who have for years enjoyed the society of the noblest and most pious men, who have heard and read the Word of God daily, and who have had the example of holy conduct daily before their eyes, lusts arise, take possession of them, and carry them captive (Jas_1:13-15).
2Ki_5:23. He who himself thinketh no evil, and is sincere, does not suspect cunning and deceit in others. Good-hearted, noble men, to whom it is moro lessed to give than to receive, are easily deceived, and they follow the inclination of their hearts instead of examining carefully to whom they are giving their benefactions.
2Ki_5:24. That which we must conceal brings no blessing.
2Ki_5:25-27. The audacity of a liar. I. Stands unabashed in the holiest presence. II. Under the necessity of adding lie to lie. III. Unexpectedly exposed. IV. Does not escape signal punishment.
2Ki_5:25 compared with 2Ki_5:27. “But he went in and stood before his master. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.” A never-to-be forgotten interview. I. He went in guilty, yet little dreaming of detection; he came out baffled, exposed, humbled. II. He went in hardened, impenitent, and prepared with excuses; he came out smitten with a punishment as little expected as it was terrible. III. A single interview may wither the happiness of a lifetime; judgment, though unanticipated, is swift and sure. IV. The way in which we shall come out of the last judgment will depend upon the character with which we go in.
2Ki_5:26. It is folly to presume upon sin in hopes of secrecy. When thou goest aside into any bye-path, does not thy own conscience go with thee? Does not the eye of God go with thee?
—Giving is kind, and taking is courteous, and both may at times and in some cases be done without sin. There is much use of godly discretion, doubtless, in directing us when to open, when to shut our hands.—Trapp.
2Ki_5:27. It is a woful exchange that Gehazi hath made with Naaman; Naaman came a leper, returned a disciple. Gehazi came a disciple, returned a leper. Naaman left behind both his disease and his money; Gehazi takes up both his money and his disease. Now shall Gehazi neverlook upon himself but he shall think of Naaman, whose skin is transferred upon him with those talents, and shall wear out the rest of his days in shame, in pain, and sorrow. His tears may wash off the guilt of his sin, but shall not, like another Jordan, wash off his leprosy; that shall ever remain as a hereditary monument of Divine severity. Happy was it for him if, while his skin was snow white with leprosy, his humbled soul was washed white as snow with the water of true repentance.—Bp. Hall.
—The leprosy of riches. Gold is tainted. Strength required to use it aright. A curse cleaves to it when it is ill-gotten or ill-used. This curse crops out most frequently in the children. A father absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, and mother absorbed in fashion, will bring up corrupt and neglected children. Parents who love gold, fashion, and display, train their children to hold these the chief things in life.
—As Naaman was a living monument of the saving might and grace of Jehovah, so Gehazi was a monument of the retributive justice of the Holy One in Israel; a living warning and threat for the entire people. By his conversion Naaman was taken up into God’s community of redemption in Israel; by his unfaithfulness and denial of this God, Gehazi brings down upon himself the punishment which excludes him from the society of the prophet-disciples and of the entire covenant people. As Naaman’s cure and conversion was a physical prophecy that God will have pity upon the heathen also, and will receive him into His covenant of grace, so Gehazi’s leprosy prophesied the rejection of the people of Israel who should abandon the covenant of grace and persevere in apostasy (Mat_8:11-12; Mat_21:43).—Lange.
—Let not the punishment of Gehazi be thought too severe. Important principles were involved in his conduct, for it was a time when the representatives of the sacred office needed to observe the greatest caution against the spirit of worldliness. Gehazi’s acts on this occasion were a complication of wickedness. He showed contempt for the judgment of his master in the matter of receiving gifts; he meanly misrepresented the prophet by making him ask for what Naaman had just heard him most positively refuse; he invented a false story to blind the eyes of Naaman; and, finally, told a miserable lie in the hope of escaping detection from Elisha. Add to all this the foul spirit of covetousness that actuated him through all this evil course, and his curse will not appear too great. The extending of his curse to his children after him is but another exhibition of the terrible consequences of human sinfulness. Gehazi’s posterity, innocent of their father’s sins, but, like many others, they were compelled to bear the consequences of ancestral crimes. That thousands of innocents are subjected to suffering because of the sins of others is a fact which none can deny. Why this is permitted under the government of an all-wise God is a question which He has not seen fit fully to answer.—Whedon.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v20 Gehazi’s Covetousness
Gehazi’s Covetousness
v. 19. b. So he departed from him a little way. Naaman started out on his return journey to Damascus.
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v. 20. But Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, said, thinking in his own heart, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought, the rich presents having aroused the covetousness of Gehazi; but, as the Lord liveth, a blasphemous oath in this connection, I will run after him and take somewhat of him, in order to become possessed of at least some of that wealth.
v. 21. So Gehazi followed after Naaman, running quickly to overtake him. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, a mark of respect; for he honored the master in the servant, and said, Is all well? The evident excitement of Gehazi made it appear as though something had happened.
v. 22. And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets, this statement, of course, being a deliberate falsehood; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver (almost $2,000)and two changes of garments.
v. 23. And Naaman said, Be content, let yourself be persuaded, be pleased to accept, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, probably basket-like sacks, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, a pretty heavy burden; and they bare them before him.
v. 24. And when he came to the tower, the hill before the city, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house, keeping them in a safe place. And he let the men go, and they departed.
v. 25. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, again lying, Thy servant went nowhither, literally neither hither nor thither," protesting that he did not so much as leave the premises.
v. 26. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, his body, indeed, not being present, but his spirit, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants? For all of these might be purchased with the money obtained by Gehazi, after the manner of the false prophets, with whom the true servants of the Lord would surely never be identified, neither at that time nor ever.
v. 27. The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever. That was God’s punishment for his deceit and his avarice. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Men among the servants of the Lord who have denied faith and a good conscience and have placed their affection upon the things of this world will receive their punishment by the hand of God, if not now, then surely hereafter.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 23 He had traveled
He had traveled
"Naaman had traveled"
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Gehazi
See how you translated this man's name in 2 Kings 4:12. (See: How to Translate Names)
Look
This word is used here to draw someone's attention to what is said next. AT: "Listen"
has spared this Naaman the Aramean
"has let Naaman the Aramean leave too easily"
by not receiving
"by not accepting"
from his hands
Here Naaman is referred to by his hands to emphasize the act of giving. AT: "from him" (See: Synecdoche)
As Yahweh lives
"As surely as Yahweh lives." Here Gehazi compares the certainty that Yahweh is alive to the certainty of what he has decided to do. This is a way of making a solemn promise. AT: "As Yahweh lives, I promise" (See: Simile)
of the sons of the prophets
This does not mean that they were the sons of prophets, but rather, that they were a group of prophets. See how you translated this phrase in 2 Kings 2:3. AT: "from among the prophets there" (See: Idiom)
Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes
Gehazi is asking Naaman to give these things to him so that he can take them and give them to the prophets. AT: "Please give me a talent of sliver and two changes of clothes to give to them" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
See
This word is used here to draw someone's attention to what is said next. AT: "Listen"
a talent of silver
This can be written in modern measurements. AT: "33 kilograms of silver" (See: Biblical Weight)
translationWords
lord
Aram
chariot
Ephraim
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv22, 24 5:22-23 Naaman believed Gehazi’s fabricated story to be genuine…
5:22-23 Naaman believed Gehazi’s fabricated story to be genuine and was happy to repay Elisha.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.