Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
Parallel Translations
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Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
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And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
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Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another: 'Why sit we here until we die?
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 2 Kings 7:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 13:45-46 “The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside of the camp.
- Numbers 5:2-4 “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
- Numbers 12:14 Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”
- 2 Kings 7:4 If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”
- 2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
- 2 Kings 8:4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
- Jeremiah 8:14 “Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves! Let’s enter into the fortified cities, and let’s be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 27:13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For it was commanded in the law that they…
For it was commanded in the law that they should dwell apart, and not among their brethren, Lev. 13:46.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ki 7:3 And there were four leprous men at…
2Ki 7:3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
Ver. 3. And there were four leprous men.] These were Gehazi and his three sons, say the Rabbis; but who told them so? God maketh use many times of mean and abject instruments to effect great matters.
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 At the entering in of the gate, to wit,…
At the entering in of the gate, to wit, of the city, out of which they were shut by virtue of God’s law, Lev 13:46; 14:3 either the the dwelling place of the lepers was near the gate, or they were come very near to the gate, for fear of the Syrians.
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 We are here told,
We are here told,
I. How the siege of Samaria was raised in the evening, at the edge of night (Kg2 7:6, Kg2 7:7), not by might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, striking terror upon the spirits of the besiegers. Here was not a sword drawn against them, not a drop of blood shed, it was not by thunder or hailstones that they were discomfited, nor were they slain, as Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem, by a destroying angel; but, 1. The Lord made them to hear a noise of chariots and horses. The Syrians that besieged Dothan had their sight imposed upon, Kg2 6:18. These had their hearing imposed upon. For God knows how to work upon every sense, pursuant to his own counsels as he makes the hearing ear and the seeing eye, so he makes the deaf and the blind, Exo 4:11. Whether the noise was really made in the air by the ministry of angels, or whether it was only a sound in their ears, is not certain; which soever it was, it was from God, who both brings the wind out of his treasures, and forms the spirit of man within him. The sight of horses and chariots had encouraged the prophet's servant, Kg2 6:17. The noise of horses and chariots terrified the hosts of Syria. For notices from the invisible world are either very comfortable or very dreadful, according as men are at peace with God or at war with him. 2. Hearing this noise, they concluded the king of Israel had certainly procured assistance from some foreign power: He has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians. There was, for aught we know but one king of Egypt, and what kings there were of the Hittites nobody can imagine; but, as they were imposed upon by that dreadful sound in their ears, so they imposed upon themselves by the interpretation they made of it. Had they supposed the king of Judah to have come with his forces, there would have been more of probability in their apprehensions than to dream of the kings of the Hittites and the Egyptians. If the fancies of any of them raised this spectre, yet their reasons might soon have laid it: how could the king of Israel, who was closely besieged, hold intelligence with those distant princes? What had he to hire them with? It was impossible but some notice would come, before, of the motions of so great a host; but there were they in great fear where no fear was. 3. Hereupon they all fled with incredible precipitation, as for their lives, left their camp as it was: even their horses, that might have hastened their flight, they could not stay to take with them, Kg2 7:7. None of them had so much sense as to send out scouts to discover the supposed enemy, much less courage enough to face the enemy, though fatigued with a long march. The wicked flee when none pursues. God can, when he pleases, dispirit the boldest and most brave, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. Those that will not fear God he can make to fear at the shaking of a leaf.
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II. How the Syrians' flight was discovered by four leprous men. Samaria was delivered, and did not know it. The watchmen on the walls were not aware of the retreat of the enemy, so silently did they steal away. But Providence employed four lepers to be the intelligencers, who had their lodging without the gate, being excluded from the city, as ceremonially unclean: the Jews say they were Gehazi and his three sons; perhaps Gehazi might be one of them, which might cause him to be taken notice of afterwards by the king, Kg2 8:4. See here, 1. How these lepers reasoned themselves into a resolution to make a visit in the night to the camp of the Syrians, Kg2 7:3, Kg2 7:4. They were ready to perish for hunger; none passed through the gate to relieve them. Should they go into the city, there was nothing to be had there, they mist die in the streets; should they sit still, they must pine to death in their cottage. They therefore determine to go over to the enemy, and throw themselves upon their mercy: if they killed them, better die by the sword than by famine, one death than a thousand; but perhaps they would save them alive, as objects of compassion. Common prudence will put us upon that method which may better our condition, but cannot make it worse. The prodigal son resolves to return to his father, whose displeasure he had reason to fear, rather than perish with hunger in the far country. These lepers conclude, "If they kill us, we shall but die;" and happy they who, in another sense, can thus speak of dying. "We shall but die, that is the worst of it, not die and be damned, not be hurt of the second death." According to this resolution, they went, in the beginning of the night, to the camp of the Syrians, and, to their great surprise, found it wholly deserted, not a man to be seen or heard in it, Kg2 7:5. Providence ordered it, that these lepers came as soon as ever the Syrians had fled, for they fled in the twilight, the evening twilight (Kg2 7:7), and in the twilight the lepers came (Kg2 7:5), and so no time was lost. 2. How they reasoned themselves into a resolution to bring tidings of this to the city. They feasted in the first tent they came to (Kg2 7:8) and then began to think of enriching themselves with the plunder; but they corrected themselves (Kg2 7:9): "We do not well to conceal these good tidings from the community we are members of, under colour of being avenged upon them for excluding us from their society; it was the law that did it, not they, and therefore let us bring them the news. Though it awake them from sleep, it will be life from the dead to them." Their own consciences told them that some mischief would befal them if they acted separately, and sought themselves only. Selfish narrow-spirited people cannot expect to prosper; the most comfortable advantage is that which our brethren share with us in. According to this resolution, they returned to the gate, and acquainted the sentinel with what they had discovered (Kg2 7:10), who straightway brought the intelligence to court (Kg2 7:11), and it was not the less acceptable for being first brought by lepers.
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 And there were four leprous men at the entering…
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate,.... Of the city of Samaria; lepers, according to the law, being obliged to be without the city and camp, Lev 13:46 these might have a dwelling assigned them near the gate; or they might get as near to it as they could, partly to obtain relief from the city, and partly for fear of the Syrians; these, the Jews say (x), were Gehazi and his three sons, see Kg2 5:27.
and they said one to another, why sit we here until we die? being ready to perish with hunger.
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(x) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. There were four leprous men] The Gemara…
Verse 3. There were four leprous men] The Gemara in Sota, R. Sol. Jarchi, and others, say that these four lepers were Gehazi and his three sons.
At the entering in of the gate] They were not permitted to mingle in civil society.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ki 7:3-5. There were four leprous men at the…
2Ki 7:3-5. There were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate — Namely, of the city, out of which they were shut by virtue of God’s law. They had either had their dwelling-place near the gate, or had come near it for fear of the Syrian army. They said one to another, Why sit we here till we die? — None passed through the gate to relieve them, and they were ready to perish with hunger. Should they go into the city, there was nothing to be had there, they must die in the streets; should they sit still, they must pine to death in their cottage: they therefore determine to go over to the enemy, and throw themselves upon their mercy; for death seemed unavoidable every other way. They rose up, therefore, in the twilight — In the evening twilight, as appears from 2Ki 7:9; 2Ki 7:12. To go to the camp of the Syrians — Which, to their great surprise and joy, they found wholly deserted, not a man being to be seen or heard in it.
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 The position of the lepers is in accordance with…
The position of the lepers is in accordance with the Law of Moses (marginal references); and shows that the Law was still observed to some extent in the kingdom of Israel.
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 Lepers. They were excluded from society, though the laws…
Lepers. They were excluded from society, though the laws of religion were ill observed in Israel. The Rabbins say, these four were Giezi and his three sons. (Calmet) --- But this is without foundation, (Haydock) as Giezi was not yet a leper, chap. viii. 5. --- Salien places that judgment two years later. (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 there were four leprous men--The account of the sudden…
there were four leprous men--The account of the sudden raising of the siege and the unexpected supply given to the famishing inhabitants of Samaria, is introduced by a narrative of the visit and discovery, by these poor creatures, of the extraordinary flight of the Syrians.
leprous men at the entering in of the gate--living, perhaps, in some lazar house there (Lev 13:4-6; Num 5:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3–11. Four lepers discover that the Syrian camp is…
3–11. Four lepers discover that the Syrian camp is deserted, and bring word unto the city (Not in Chronicles)
3. at the entering in of the gate] Lepers were not allowed to come into the city even in the time of war. On this regulation concerning them see Lev_13:46; Num_5:2-3.
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until we die] As long as there had been enough, these lepers had their supply from friends in the city, but that had now come to an end. In such a dreadful famine the needs of the outcast lepers could be little regarded.
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 (3) And there were four leprous men.—Literally, And four…
(3) And there were four leprous men.—Literally, And four men were lepers.
At the entering in of the gate.—And so outside of the city. (Comp. Lev_13:46; Num_5:2-3.) Rashi says they were Gehazi and his sons (!)
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Why sit we?—Or, Why are we abiding? Nobody brought them food any longer, owing to the pressure of the famine.
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 Vers. 3-16. The mode in which Elisha"s prophecy of…
Vers. 3-16. The mode in which Elisha"s prophecy of relief and deliverance was fulfilled is now set forth. Four lepers, excluded from the city, and on the point of perishing of hunger, felt that they could be no worse off, and might better their condition, if they deserted to the Syrians. They therefore drew off from the city at nightfall, and made for the Syrian comp. On arriving, they found it deserted. The entire host, seized with a sudden panic, had fled, about the time that they began their journey. The lepers" first thought was to enrich themselves by plunder, but after a while it occurred to them that, unless they hastened to carry the good news to Samaria, inquiry would be made, their proceedings would be found out, and they would be severely punished. So they returned to the capital, and reported what they had discovered. Jehoram, on receiving the news, feared that the Syrians had prepared a trap for him, and declined to move. He consented, however, to send out scouts to reconnoiter. The scouts found evident proof that the entire army had actually fled and was gone, whereupon there was a general raid upon the camp and its stores, which were so abundant that Elisha"s prophecy was fulfilled ere the day ended.
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate; or, at the entrance to the gate-house. Lepers were forbidden by the Law to reside within cities (Lev_13:46; Num_5:3) They were thrust out when the disease developed itself, and forced to dwell without the walls. No doubt their friends within the city ordinarily supplied them with food; and hence they congregated about the city gates. And they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? In the extreme scarcity, it is probable that no food was brought to them, the inmates of the city having barely enough wherewith to sustain themselves. (2Ki_6:25) Thus they were on the point of perishing.
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Vers. 3-15. The plenitude of God"s power to deliver from the extremist dangers.
It is impossible to conceive a peril greater than that of Samaria at this time. The Syrians were masters of all the open country. They had for months surrounded the town and strictly blockaded it. The store of provisions within the walls was almost wholly exhausted, and there was no possibility of obtaining a supply from without. Jehoram had no ally who could be expected to come to his aid. Human wisdom, as personified in the "lord on whose hand the king leaned," might well view the end as certain, not seeing from what quarter deliverance could possibly come. But man"s extremity is God"s opportunity. With God nothing is impossible. Nothing is even hard. He has a thousand resources. He can send forth his angel into a camp at nightfall, and in the morning they shall be "all dead men". (2Ki_19:35) He can make brothers-in-arms to fall out, and turn their swords one against another. (2Ch_20:23) He can send a soundless panic upon the largest and best-appointed host, and cause them to flee away and disappear, "like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor." He can make two men, like Jonathan and his armor-bearer, (1Sa_14:6-16) victorious over a multitude. "A thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one," if God so wills it. Panic he can cause in a hundred ways. "It is only necessary that in the darkness a wind should blow, or that water should splash in free course, or that an echo should resound from the mountains, or that the wind should rustle the dry leaves, to terrify the godless, so that they flee as if pursued by a sword, and fall though no one pursues them". (Lev_26:36) In the present case, the Syrians heard a sound, how caused we know not, and instantly imagined that a danger threatened them, which could only be escaped by immediate flight. Israel had hired against them, they thought, two armies, one of Egyptians and the other of Hittites; the armies had arrived, and would fall upon them at dawn of day. So they hastily fled in the darkness, casting away arms and vessels and garments as they went (ver. 15), and leaving behind them their camp standing, with all its stores intact, its flour and barley, its gold and silver, its rich raiment, its war-horses and beasts of burden. The Samaritans were called upon to do nothing they had but to "stand still, and see the salvation of God". (Exo_15:13) In one day, without any exertion of their own, their deliverance was complete. And so it is with God always.
I GOD HAS POWER TO DELIVER FROM ALL EARTHLY PERILS. In an hour, in a moment, if he pleases, God has power to deliver:
1. From disease. He can cleanse the leper; give sight to the blind; heal malignant ulcers; infuse strength and vigor into the palsied; make plague, or fever, or any other mortal sickness to pass away.
2. From poverty. He can cause the poorest man to find a treasure, or put it into the heart of a rich man to leave him one, or so bless his little store that it becomes abundance, (2Ki_4:1-7) or give him favor in the sight of a monarch, (Est_7:6) or put the wealth of thousands at his disposal. (Act_4:34-37)
3. From oppression. He can destroy or cast down the oppressor, cut him off suddenly, release his victims, break the chains from off their neck, "lift them up out of the mire, and set them with the princes of his people.
4. From shame. He can raise from the dungeon to the palace (Dan_6:23-28) can make men ready to worship one whom a moment before they denounced as a murderer; (Act_28:3-6) can "set on thrones" those who have been treated as "the offscouring of all things". (1Co_4:14)
II GOD HAS ALSO POWER TO DELIVER FROM SPIRITUAL PERILS.
1. He can preserve from the power of Satan, "deliver from the evil one," quench all his fiery darts, abate his pride, rescue men from his dominion when they seem on the point of submitting to it.
2. He can deliver from the guilt of sin; can accept atonement; can put away men"s sins from them, so that, "though they were as scarlet, they shall become white as snow; though they were red like crimson, they shall be as. (Isa_1:18)
3. And he can deliver from the power of sin. He can "strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees", (Isa_35:3) can take away the evil out of men"s hearts, and put his Holy Spirit within them; can enable them to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; can make of them "new creatures" God, and God alone, can do this; and to him we must look for this deliverance; to him we must pray for this deliverance; to him, when we have obtained it, we must be eternally grateful for this deliverance. "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift!
Vers. 3-8. The force of will.
there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate," etc. Here we have
I MEN INVOLVED IN THE MOST WRETCHED CONDITION. "There were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate." Of all the diseases which afflict mankind none is more painful, loathsome, and disastrous than leprosy. It was the scourge of the Hebrew race. Moses minutely describes the appearance of this malady, and gives clear and forcible rules to govern the medical treatment of it. Fat and blood and other particles of diet, which excite or aggravate constitutional tendencies to diseases of the skin, were strictly forbidden to the Jews. There are many points of analogy between leprosy and sin.
II Men in the most wretched condition FORMING A RESOLUTION. "They said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die." Emaciated and wretched as might have been their bodily condition, their moral nature had sufficient stamina left to make a resolution. Mind is often more active in physical disease than in physical health. Pain whips all the faculties into action, marshals all the forces of the soul. Truly wonderful is the power of the human will. Let no man justify mental indolence and moral inertia by pleading his bodily troubles. But how often this is done! How often do you hear men say, "We can do nothing because of the circumstances in which we are placed"! The "cannot" of such is their "will not," and the "will not" is their own choice.
III MEN ACTING OUT THE RESOLUTION formed in the most wretched condition. These four poor starving leprous men not only formed a resolution, but they worked it out. "And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians." In giving practical effect to their resolution, two results followed.
1. Difficulties vanished. Their great dread was of the Syrians, but as they approached the Syrian camp, "Behold, there was no man there." Wherefore had they fled? Here is the answer: "For the Lord hath made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another, Lo, the King of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they rose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life." By what force were these Syrians scared away? Not the force of the rough elements of nature, or the force of armies, but the force of terrible ideas ideas that made them hear the noise of the rattling chariots and the tramping steeds of war, that had no existence. But these ideas, albeit, were ideas from God. "The Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise." God often frightens wicked men by ideas. "God can," says Matthew Henry, "when he pleases, dispirit the boldest and most brave, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. Those that will not fear God, he can make to fear at the shaking of a leaf." Before a strong resolution, apprehended difficulties frequently vanish into air. Where there"s a will there"s a way, even though it be over rugged mountains and surging floods. A man"s "I will" has a power in it mighty as the forces of nature, ay, mightier, for it can subordinate them. "If thou hast faith as a grain of mustard seed, thou shalt say to this mountain, Be thou removed," etc.
2. The object was realized. What these poor starving leprous men deeply needed and sought was provisions to appease the cravings of hunger and to reinvigorate their waning life. And they got them. "And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it," etc. Thus they gained even more than they sought; they not only gained food, but wealth.
CONCLUSION. Learn here the wonderful moral force of the human mind. It possesses a power to make resolutions under the most trying external conditions, and the power to work them out successfully. The fiat "I"ll try" has wrought wonders in human history, is working wonders now, and so it ever can. Well does Dr. Tulloch say, "Everything yields before the strong and earnest will. It grows by exercise. It excites confidence in others, while it takes to itself the lead. Difficulties before which mere cleverness fails, and which leave the irresolute prostrate and helpless, vanish before it. They not only do not impede its progress, but it often makes of them step-ping-stones to a higher and more enduring triumph. D.T.
Vers. 3-11. The four lepers.
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.
Speculation might have exhausted itself in vain in conjecturing how Elisha"s prediction was to be accomplished. Nevertheless, the wonder was performed by a series of events as simple as it was unlooked for.
I A POLICY OF DESPAIR.
1. The lepers at the gate. We are first introduced to four lepers at the entering in of the gate. They were outside, and had hitherto subsisted by food handed out or thrown to them from within. But now the famine in the city made such assistance impossible, and the four men were dying of hunger. Poor, pitiable objects, the last persons to whom any one would have thought of looking for a glimpse of hope on the situation within the walls. Yet these despised lepers were to be, in a sense, the saviors of the city. We cannot but reflect on the humble and seemingly unlikely instruments God often chooses to accomplish his ends. He puts the "treasure in earthen vessels". (2Co_4:7) As if to abase human pride, he purposely selects instrumentalities which the wisdom of man would scorn.
2. Dire alternatives. Brought face to face with death, the poor lepers are forced to the earnest consideration of their position. What could they do? If they stay where they are they must die, and if they enter the city they must die. There remains the alternative, only to be contemplated as a last resource, of going over to the camp of the enemy. This has been put off as long as possible; but it appears now to be the only course which affords them any chance of life. Suppose the Syrians kill them, they are no worse off than before; if the Syrians take pity on them and save them alive, they shall live. The chance of life may be faint, but it is the only one left, and better than none. When men are in earnest, a very slight probability suffices them to act upon. They discover the truth of Butler"s axiom that "probability is the guide of life." Did these men not act rationally in allowing even a slight probability to turn the balance of their action? How should it be otherwise when we deal with spiritual things? A man is in doubt as to the existence of God, as to the reality of a future life, etc. It may seem to him that the evidence for these truths amounts to no more than probability. He perhaps makes this an excuse for dismissing the consideration of them from his mind. But ought he not to give weight to this probability in action? In another way the doubter may take a leaf from the lepers" book. If he remains where he is, he perishes, for atheism can hold out to him no other hope. But if, on the ground even of a slight balance of probability, he acts on the lines of Christ"s religion, he can be no worse than he is, while, if that religion is true (we speak only from his standpoint), he obtains eternal advantage. Or is the doubter one who does not question the truth of the gospel, but only questions his own right to appropriate its provisions? Let such a one imitate Esther, who, with the words on her lips, "If I perish, I perish", (Est_4:16) went in to Ahasuerus. Let him cast himself on Christ, and leave himself there. He will find, like Esther, that he does not perish.
3. The Divine will and the human will. In these consultations among themselves, the lepers were moved only by the consideration of their own misery. They neither knew of Elisha"s prediction, nor had any thought of aiding to fulfill it. Yet all the while they were working out God"s secret counsel. They were, while seeking their own ends, the unconscious instruments of a higher will than their own. Thus are we all. Man"s passions, ambitions, wants, follies, sins even, are subordinated in providence to the fulfilling of all-wise, comprehensive purposes, of which the immediate actors have no glimpse. "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever; the thoughts of his heart to all generations". (Psa_33:11)
II THE DESERTED comp.
1. An astonishing discovery. At nightfall, in pursuance of their purpose, the lepers betook themselves to the camp of the Syrians. It was the evening of the day on which Elisha had made his promise. Of the hope then held out they were ignorant, but they were to be the first to make the discovery that deliverance had been wrought. It would be with fear and trembling that they approached the well-appointed tents, and the very silence that everywhere prevailed would strike them at first with new awe. But now an astonishing state of things revealed itself. The camp was there that camp so lately astir with military life but not a soul was to be seen in it. Absolute stillness reigned throughout the tents; or, if sounds were heard, they were only those of the horses and asses which were left without masters. Thus near may our salvation be to us, and we know it not.
2. The flight of the Syrians. The explanation of the state of things which the lepers discovered is given in vers. 6, 7. The Syrians themselves may in later years have told the story, or it may have been got from Elisha, whose prophetic gift gave him the knowledge of what had taken place. The Syrians, it appears, had heard strange noises sounds as of chariots and horses and of a great host; and, smitten with sudden panic, believing that the Hittites or Egyptians had brought help to the Israelites, they at once abandoned everything and fled. The panic was of supernatural intensity, as the sounds were of supernatural origin. The mind of man, no less than external natural conditions, is in the hand of God. He can smite with "madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart"; (Deu_28:28) can make men the sport of their own imaginations and delusions. Such penalties are threatened against the wicked.
3. Dividing the spoil. The first impulse of the lepers, when they discovered that the camp was literally empty, was to supply their own wants. We can fancy them rubbing their eyes, and wondering if what they beheld was not all a dream. There around them, as if in some region of enchantment, were food and drink in abundance, with gold, silver, raiment, and valuables of every kind. They were stunned with their good fortune, and wandered about from tent to tent, eating and drinking, and carrying oat the good things they saw, to hide them. We can compare with the surprise of these lepers the joy of the soul on its first discovery of "the unsearchable riches of Christ". (Eph_3:8) How infinite, grand, and varied the provision found in him, the riches of salvation, the supply for spiritual wants, the treasures for the enrichment and beautification of the soul! and how wondrously and unexpectedly these burst upon the view when God "reveals his Son" in us. (Gal_1:16) At first the absorbing concern is for one"s self the engrossing thought is to appropriate what is necessary for our own life. But this stage, as in the case of the lepers, soon passes by, and gives place to another less selfish.
III THE BRINGERS OF GOOD TIDINGS.
1. Self-rebuke. Four leprous men alone in that great camp, and a city near at hand perishing of hunger: it was a strange situation. The lepers themselves began to feel they were not acting rightly in delaying to carry the news of this astonishing plenty to their famine-stricken brethren. "We do not well," they said: "this is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace." Does not every mind feel that their words were just? Would it not have been selfishness unspeakable had they continued to think only of themselves, and delayed to carry the good tidings to their friends in the city? Acting thus selfishly, might they not justly fear that some "mischief" would come upon them? And did they not at length do right in saying, "Now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king"s household"? The application is obvious to our own duty as those who possess the saving knowledge of the true God, and of Jesus Christ his Son. "We do not well," if we withhold it from those who are perishing for lack of this knowledge. (Hos_4:6) How many are in this condition! The whole heathen world, and ignorant multitudes are around us. "It is a day of good tidings:" shall we not make these good tidings known? "Freely ye have received, freely give". (Mat_10:8) "Shall we whose souls are lighted," etc.?
2. Bearing good news. The lepers delayed no more, but hastened to the gate of the city, and told their wonderful story to the porter, who told it to others, who carried it to the king"s house. Thus, from one to another, the news spread. It was not reckoned any drawback to it that they were lepers who brought it. 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 And there were four leprous men at the entering…
2Ki_7:3-8
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate.
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The men at the gate
The city of Samaria was in sad plight. Ben-hadad, the King of Syria, had gathered all his armies together with the determination to conquer Israel and make it a subject province. He brought all his force against Samaria and besieged the capital city. He cut off all their communication with the surrounding country and was slowly starving them to death. Now, while this was going on in the city of Samaria, four lepers, who lived in little shanties outside the gate, and were not allowed to come inside, talked the situation over with one another. They were starving to death and there was not much choice for them. It was certain death if they stayed where they were, and it was probable death if they went anywhere else. So they said to one another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. So in the early twilight they rose up and staggered along till they came to the camp of the Syrians. They saw no one as they drew near, no sentinels on guard, and no one about the doors of the tents. It seemed strange to them, and at first they thought everybody was asleep in the tents. Now the secret of this strange occurrence was that through the prayer of Elisha God had interposed to save Israel, and He had caused the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses until they were sure that a great army was coming to the relief of Israel, and the officers of Ben.hadad, King of Syria, deceived and confused by what they thought they heard, said one to another, Lo, the King of Israel hath hired against us the-kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. And they were so sure of it and so demoralised with fear that they arose and fled in the darkness and left their tents just as they were. These old stories are gold mines of spiritual truth where we shall not fail to find wealth if we search with humble and earnest hearts. Let us look at some of these nuggets of spiritual truth suggested to us in this theme.
I. The man who feels his sin the keenest is the most likely to find salvation. Of all the people of Israel these four leprous men were in the most pitiable condition. Ordinarily, when there was plenty, food was let down over the wall to them; but when food became scarce, it was easy to forget the lepers on the outside. They decided to take their chances because they felt so keenly the extremity of their condition. This illustrates what Jesus meant when He said to certain people in His day that the publicans and the harlots would go into the kingdom of heaven before themselves.
II. Inaction is often as bad as positive wrong-doing. See in this case. These four lepers used good logic. They said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? They did not need to take poison in order to commit suicide; they did not need to do any violence on themselves in order to bring about death. They were far gone on the way of starvation. They could just stagger about a little. Let them only sit still a day or two more and there would not be any help for them, they would surely die. Their only hope was in immediate action, and if they were to act there was only one way open that had any promise of relief. So they decided to act in the one way open to them that had a chance of relief. I pray God that some of you who are without God and without hope in Christ may learn this great lesson. When you are wrong, when you are failing to do your duty, to sit still is to die. You do not have to do anything more in order to make sure that in the great judgment day you will be shut out of heaven and condemned. No, you have just to sit still to be lost. You do not need to get worse; you do not need that the stream of your evil thoughts or your wicked conduct shall grow wider and deeper and more soiled, as it undoubtedly will if you live longer unrepentant; you need only to sit still just as you are to have the gate of heaven closed before your sorrow-stricken eyes and to hear the awful words of doom from the tender lips of Jesus, Depart from me, I never knew you. All you have to do is just to sit still, and in the very nature of things death must happen. But if you want to be saved, then you must awake, and arise, and act.
III. Salvation can only come through definite decision. These men considered what was open to them and decided that there was just one way that had a ray of hope. It was by no means bright; but, if followed, there was a possibility that it might mean food and life. They made up their minds to take the one chance, and they followed that chance to safety. How much better is the outlook for you when I invite you to forsake your sins and come to the feast of Divine love. You do not have to come following such a forlorn hope as did these poor men.
IV. The spiritual feast is already spread. The lepers found food in abundance in the Syrian tents. The Gospel feast is ready. The invitation is, Come, for all things are now ready. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
Deliverance from death
I. The lepers sought deliverance from death. Why sit we here until we die? (2Ki_7:3-4).
1. They sought deliverance under very solemn feelings. They were perishing of hunger, and so were their friends whom they might never see again. Unless the Syrian granted immediate relief, they would die. The hour was dark and solemn. Solemn too are the feelings of a sinner when fleeing from the city of destruction he cries, Life, life, eternal life! He looks at the law, and feels, I have broken that; he looks towards heaven, and feels, I have forfeited that; he looks towards hell, and feels, I have deserved that.
2. They sought deliverance in the face of discouragements. They were the subjects of a disease the most repulsive. They had no promise of help. They knew that the Syrian was the avowed foe of Israel. What could have been more discouraging? Had they been sound in health, had they been going to a friend, or had they but one promise of relief, it would have been different. But notwithstanding all, they sought deliverance. Sinner, are your discouragements greater in relation to spiritual life than were those of the lepers in relation to temporal? What are your discouragements? Bring them forward. I am defiled by sin; but Jesus can cleanse you. I am condemned by law; but Jesus can justify you. I am outside the fold; but Jesus is the good Shepherd, and He is come to restore you.
II. The lepers found deliverance from death. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver and gold, etc. (2Ki_7:8).
1. They found a more abundant deliverance than they expected. What did they seek? Deliverance from famine. What did they find? Deliverance from famine, nakedness, and poverty. And such a deliverance! How great the surprise of the lepers to find the treasures of an army in their custody! How changed their condition now! Famine was now fled; poverty fled; fear fled; obscurity fled. So with the sinner when he comes for salvation to Jesus; he always finds more than he expected;--more mercy, more peace, more blessedness, and more glory. Bartimeus comes for bodily eyesight; he obtains that, and spiritual sight too. A paralytic is let down through a roof with the hope of receiving power to walk the ways of earth; and not only is that granted, but power also to walk the ways of heaven.
2. These men found a deliverance more divine than they expected (verse 6). Whether this noise was in the air or in the imagination I know not. Evidently it was God that wrought this wonderful deliverance. Little did the lepers expect a deliverance so divine. So when a sinner is delivered from spiritual death he sees more of God in salvation than even he expected. If a man denies the divinity of the Christian redemption he only proves that he is a stranger to it.
3. These men found deliverance more easily than they expected. They counted on commending themselves to the favour of the Syrian by earnest appeals. They thought that, do what they might, possibly they could not awaken his compassion; they might, after all, be put to death. How great their mistake! Nothing was more necessary but to arise, go forth, and partake of the abundance which kind Providence had provided. When a man trusts in Jesus, he feels astonished that he should ever have made a difficulty of believing. How strange, he feels, that I could so long have closed my eyes to the truth. By grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.
III. The lepers announced deliverance from death. They went and announced the good tidings to the kings household, and through that household to the city.
1. They announced deliverance under a sense of duty (2Ki_7:9). They felt that silence would brand them with the charge of heartlessness and expose them to the lightnings of justice. If these men felt it their duty to announce deliverance to a perishing city, how much more should Christians feel this to be their duty as it respects a perishing world?
2. They announced deliverance without delay. Feeling, as they did, that solemnly on them was flung the duty of saving Samaria, and that to delay, even till the sun again reddened the forehead of the eastern sky, was to sacrifice life, they lost no time in heralding the good tidings. Oh, ye that are at ease in Zion, is it enough that you have been blest with the Bread of Life? Does not Heaven solemnly call on you to announce without delay the good tidings to others? If you tarry till the morning, some mischief will come upon you. (F. Fox Thomas.)
The dying lepers
I. What was the state of the lepers, and what were their reflections? They were in a state of disease and want, perishing with hunger, and afflicted with a loathsome and grievous sickness. And what is our state by nature? The striking language of the prophet Isaiah well describes it: The whole head is sick. Such are we naturally--we are spiritual lepers; and we have every reason to cry oat, when we view ourselves in the glass of Gods Holy Word, and see what we really are, Unclean, unclean. But these lepers were not merely afflicted with this sore disease, and had no whole part in their body, but they were also perishing with hunger--disease and famine were their portion. Sad state, you may exclaim. But our spiritual state by nature is in no wise better. The wholesome food of Gods Word, which is the support and nourishment of the soul, lies untasted by our lips; it is food for which we have no relish or appetite; and yet, if we eat it not, we must languish and die. But herein lies a difference between us and the lepers. They longed for food, but could not get it: we can get it freely, without money and without price, but we do not long for it. Let us turn next to the reflection of these men--Why sit we hero until we die? Oh, would that sinners perishing by spiritual famine would reason thus I--calmly consider their case, and see that if they remain unmoved--seek not for succour and support from Him who is able to save them from death--that death beyond a doubt will overtake them.
II. The effort of these lepers and their success. Now, therefore, come, said they, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians; if they save us alive, we shall live: and if they kill us, we shall but die. They resolved no longer to sit in misery and apathy beneath the comfortless and inhospitable walls of their beleaguered and impoverished city, but to go directly to the enemys camp, and seek from their countrys foes that which their own people could not give. And here, in a measure, is portrayed the course of the awakened sinner. He sees that if he remains as he is, death is certain, that his dwelling is the city of want and destruction. But oh, how different is, the prospect and hope set before him! He is not fleeing to the camp of an enemy, but to the shelter of an Almighty Friend. He need not flee in doubt of welcome, or in fear of death; and though unbelief and sin may cause him to tremble lest he should be rejected, yet if his faith be true, there is no real ground of danger, and he may adopt the language of the prodigal, I will arise and go to my Father; and he will find that welcome which a Heavenly Father rejoices to bestow. These lepers had no reason to regret the step they took; they exchanged poverty and famine for wealth and abundance surpassing their utmost conception or desire. Just so it is with sinners who flee from the city of destruction, and go forth unto Jesus without the camp, bearing His reproach. When once they have made the effort, and advanced to the foot of the cross, and cast the burden of their sins on Him who bare them in His own body on the tree, how great the change! how wonderful the deliverance! They were sitting like these lepers in darkness and the shadow of death; but, as our blessed Lord Himself declares, they have passed from death unto life (Joh_5:24).
III. The conduct of the lepers and its happy results. Having feasted in abundance, and satisfied themselves with spoil, then they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace; if we tarry till the morning light some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the kings household. So they went and announced the happy and unexpected news which at first appeared too good to be true. And are not far happier results brought about by the knowledge of the Gospel, and from other and higher motives? Selfishness appears to have chiefly dictated the lepers in their discovery. It does not seem that sympathy for their suffering brethren, anxiety to carry relief to those perishing by hunger within the city, urged them so speedily to the work of mercy as the thought that if they tarried till the morning light some mischief would come upon them. But with the Christian it is altogether different. When he has had the burden of his sins removed, he is anxious to lead others to that Saviour he has found from the purest motives,--a zeal for the glory of God, a desire for the happiness of souls. (C. A. Maginn, M. A.)
The leprous men as the gate
1. Fulfilment of the Divine Word in opposition to human appearances.
2. Illustration of strange instrumentalities which God uses to accomplish His purposes. Here lepers. In Elijahs case, ravens. No restraint to save by many or few.
3. Gods mercies must not be retained in a miserly or selfish spirit.
4. Unbelief will be confounded, while faith will be honoured. The case of these leprous men is, however, analogous to that of certain sinners. They are--
I. In a position of peril. What was likely to prove a fatal disease: Until we die.
1. Suffering from famine. Illustrate by Prodigal Son: I perish with hunger. Soul needs feeding as well as the body: My soul shall be satisfied, says the Psalmist.,
2. Isolated from the city and its supplies. Sin has separated from God the souls true satisfaction.
3. Pursuing a policy of inaction which rendered them more hopeless: Law of degeneration that is unerring; Evil men shall wax worse and worse. Nothing so inimical to spiritual interests as inertia. Illustrate by death of Professor Nettleship on Alps--powerless to move.
II. A glimmer of hope. (verse 4). Two ways were closed. One seems open--if it fail there is nothing to lose. The men were brought to this by reflection. Look where you are. Certain ways of deliverance are hedged in.
1. Self cannot save self.
2. By bitter experience many of you have proved the world is vain. Pleasure, riches, passion, have increased famine.
3. Christ may save. He professes to do so. At least He makes great claims. Will you try Him? Our duty is to examine probabilities. In discoveries men have followed this course. So in religion, Then shall we know if we follow on to know. Look at the circumstantial evidence, it may furnish a clue. You may be like a drowning man with the last chance of life. Hope multiplies the chance.
III. The unexpected satisfaction (verses 5, 6, 7), Probable becomes possible, possible becomes actual. Now none but Christ can satisfy.
1. Gods way of deliverance is miraculous. If He should make windows in heaven.
2. To the venturing soul there are constant surprises of blessing. Faith is a venture, but is honoured. The curtain rises on new scenes; we pass from famine to banquet.
IV. Songs of deliverance (verse 9).
1. Gratitude prompted.
2. Despised instrumentality used to testify.
3. Testimony begets faith and action.
It led the host to verification of the facts announced. Do we well to hold our peace? No. Ill praise my Maker while Ive breath. (J. E. Wakerley.)
Who found it out
The story of four leprous men inserted in the Book of the Kings of Israel: is it not singular? No; it is not singular for the Bible. Ii you were to take out of the Scriptures all the stories that have to do with poor, afflicted men and women, what a very small book the Bible would become, especially if together with the stories you removed all the psalms of the sorrowful, all the promises for the distressed, and all the passages which belong to the children of grief! This Book, indeed, for the most part is made up of the annals of the poor and despised.
I. A great work of god, which was entirely unknown.
1. The siege was raised from around Samaria. Armed men had stood in their places and kept the way, so that none could go in or out; but they are all gone, not one of them is left. Yet in the city of Samaria they thought themselves cooped up, and set their warders on the wall because of fear in the night. They were as free as the harts of the wilderness had they known it: but their ignorance held them in durance vile.
2. The Lord had also defeated all their enemies. They had run for their lives; they had fled because of a noise in their ears as of horses and of chariots. He that could first get across the Jordan, and interpose that stream between him and his supposed pursuers was the happiest man. Without aid from Hittite or Ethiopian, the God of Israel had driven the whole host of Syria like chaff before the wind.
3. God has provided plenty for them. The wretched Samaritans drew the hungerbelt more closely about them, and each man hoped that he might sleep for many an hour, and for-act his bitter pangs; yet within a stones throw there was more fine flour and barley than they could possibly consume. Was not that a strange thing? A city besieged, and not besieged; girt with enemies, as they thought, and yet not an enemy left; starving, and yet near to a feast! See, what unbelief ,can do. They had been promised plenty right speedily, by Gods own prophet; but they did not believe the promise, nor look out for its fulfilment. Had they been upon the watch, they might have seen the unusual movement in the Syrian camp, and noticed the absolute stillness which succeeded it. I know a sad parallel to this. The Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world, and has put away the sin of His people; and yet many of them are complaining that their sin can never be put away. The Lord Jesus Christ has routed all the enemies of His people, and yet they are afraid of innumerable evils. It is said that drowning men catch at straws: would you not have thought that famishing men might have caught at the word of Elisha? I grant you the promise did seem too great to be true: that lord who scoffed at it was not the only one who judged it to be impossible of fulfilment; and yet when men are brought so very low, they are apt to catch at any hope. How hardened was the unbelief which refused Jehovahs word!
II. When you have realised the picture of the city abiding in sorrow though its deliverance had already come, I want to remark upon a very singular band of discoverers. A choice quaternion at last found out what the Lord had done, proved it for themselves, and made it known to their fellow-townsmen. Is it not remarkable that these discoverers were lepers? Ah, grace! it is thy wont to dwell in most unlikely places! You would have supposed that surely the king would have gone forth to see, or that yonder great lord who had ridiculed the prophet might have relented, and gone forth to observe. But no; there are last that shall be first, and the Lord in His providence and grace pitched upon lepers to be the discoverers of His marvellous miracle. Even thus the keenest observers of grace are those who have the deepest sense of sin. These men could not hope for a welcome from the Syrians, poor objects that they were, they would be hated as Israelites, and abhorred as lepers; yet they went, and in that camp they found all that they wanted, and much more than they expected. Am I not speaking to some who are saying, For me to go to Christ would be all in vain: I can suppose His blessing my brother, or my friend, but He never will receive one so altogether unworthy as I am? I speak to those of you who feel that you have no right to mercy: you are the very men who may come boldly for it; since it is not of right, but altogether of favour. You that have no claim to the mercy of God, you are the very people to come to Him through Jesus Christ; for where there is the least of anything that is good and meritorious, there there is the most room for generous gifts and gracious pardons.
1. These discoverers of the Lords work were a people who dared not have joined themselves to Gods people. They were not allowed inside the city walls: their wretched hospital was without the gate. How often does it happen that those who are rejected of men are accepted of God!
2. To describe these discoverers yet more fully, they were men who at last were driven to give themselves up. They said, We will fall unto the Syrians; and if they kill us we shall but die. Blessed m that man who has given himself up, not to the Syrians, but to the Lord!
3. These discoverers I would liken to Columbus, four times repeated; for they found out a new world for Samaria. These four lepers went to the Syrian camp, and saw for themselves: lepers as they were, they came, they saw, they conquered. I think I can see them in the dim twilight, stealing along until they come to the first tent, expecting to be challenged by a picket, and wondering that they are not. They heard no sound of human voice. The horses and mules were heard to stamp, and draw their chains up and down, but their riders were gone, and no noise of human foot was heard. There are no men about, cried one of them, nor signs of men! Let us go into this tent. They stepped in. A supper was ready. He who had spread that table will never taste it again. The hungry men needed no persuasion, but immediately began to carve for themselves. They took possession of the spoils of war left on the field. After they had feasted they said, To whom does this gold and silver belong? The prey belongs to us, for our enemies have left the treasure behind them. They took as many of the valuables as they could carry, then went into another tent: still no living soul was seen. Where lately a host had rioted, not a soldier remained. There was no sound of revelry that night, nor tramp of guard, nor talk around the watch-fire. The lepers tasted more of the forsaken dainties, drained other goblets, and took more gold and silver. There is more than we shall know what to do with, they said; so they dug a hole, and banked their gains after the Oriental fashion. Who can conceive the delirious joy of those four lepers in the midst of such abundance? Do you see what these men did? First, they went and saw for themselves, and then they took possession for themselves. The whole four of them did not own a penny before, and now they are rich beyond a misers dream. They have enjoyed the feast, and they are filled to the full. They are fully qualified to go and tell the starving city of their discovery, because they are clear that they have made no mistake. They have satisfied their own hunger, gratified their own desire, and tasted and handled for themselves, and so they can speak as men who know and are sure. He knows the grace of God best who, in all his leprosy and defilement, in all his hunger, and faintness, and weariness, has come to Christ, and fed on the bread of heaven, and drank the water of life, and taken the blessings of the covenants, and made himself rich with hidden treasure. Such a man will speak convincingly, because he will bear a personal witness. The leper, fed and enriched, stands outside the city gate, and calls to the porter, and wakes him up at the dead of night, for he has news worth telling. The experienced believer speaks with the accent of conviction, and therein imitates his Master, who spake with authority. Why, says the porter, I used to speak to you over the city wall; are you the leper to whom I said that there was no more food for you? I have thrown you nothing for a week, and thought you were dead--are you the man? He answers, I am: I do want your wretched rations now; I am filled, and where I have fed there is enough for you all. Come out, and feast yourselves. I should not know you! says the porter. All four join in saying, No, you would not know us; we are new men since we have been to the camp. Believe the story, and tell it to all in the city, for it is true. There is enough and to spare, if they will but come out and have it.
III. How they came to make this discovery. These four lepers, how did they come to find out the flight of Syria? First, I suppose, they made the discovery rather than anybody else because the famine was sorest with them. Let but some men feel the burden of sin, and they will never rest till they come to Jesus. John Bunyan says that he once thought hardly of Christ, but at last he came to such a pitch of misery that he felt he must come to Jesus anyhow; and he says that he verily believed that, if the Lord Jesus had stood before him with a drawn sword in His hand, he would have rushed upon the point of His sword rather than stay away from Him. These lepers were driven to go to make the discovery because they felt that they could not be any worse than they were. They said, If we sit here we shall die; and if the Syrians kill us, we shall but die. That feeling has often driven souls to Christ.
1. These people saw that there was no reason why they should not go, for they said one to the other--Why sit we here until we die? They could not find a justification for inaction. They could not say, We sit here because the king commands us to stop where we are. He promises that He will receive you, and therefore He cries, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?
2. These lepers went to the camp of the Syrians because they were shut up to that one course--If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Only one road was open. I am always glad when I am in that condition. If many courses are open to me I may make a mistake; but when I see only one road I know which way to go. It is a blessed thing to be shut up to faith in Christ--to be compelled to look to grace alone.
IV. May not some sad hearts imitate these lepers, and make the same discovery? I am afraid to believe in Christ, says one, for my sins, my many sins, prevent me. Look at the lepers, and see how much better the Lord was to them than their fears. It is twilight, and they steal into the camp trembling. One cries, Softly there, Simeon! Your heavy tread will bring the guard upon us. Eleazar gently whispers to the other, Make no noise. If they sleep, let us not arouse them. They might tread as heavily as they pleased, and talk as loudly as they wished, for there was no man there. Do you know it? If you believe in the Lord Jesus, your sins, which are many, are all forgiven--there is no sin left to accuse you. You are afraid they will ruin you? They have ceased to be: the depths have covered them; there is not one of them left. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Your sins were numbered on the scape-goats head of old. Jesus bore your sins in His own body on the tree. If you come to Christ, confessing and believing, no sin shall destroy you, for it is blotted out. Perhaps these men feared when they were going into the tent--A Syrian will meet us at the tent door, and cry, Back, what business have you here? Lepers, begone! Back to your dens and die! They entered into tent after tent: nobody forbade them: they had the entry of every pavilion. They were also possessors of all they saw. When I came to Christ, I could not believe that I might take the promises; but I did, and nobody said me nay. Perhaps the leper felt some little question when he saw a golden cup, or a silver flagon, or a wellfashioned cruet. What have lepers to do with golden cups? But he overcame his scruples. No law could hinder his sharing the leavings of a runaway enemy. Nobody was there to stop him, and the valuables were set before him, and therefore he took what was provided for him. The lepers grew more and more bold, till they carried off as much of the booty as they were able to hide away. I take up my parable, and without scruple invite you to deal thus with salvation. When I came to Jesus, I hardly dared to appropriate a promise; it looked like stealing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Never say die
Why sit we here until we die? That is a plain question that these poor wretched people put to themselves, and after failing to find an answer, to confirm them in their sitting still, they rose up and went forward, and in doing So there came upon them abundant relief and blessing. I trust the vision I have had concerning some of you, whom I have invited to come to this gospel service, has come to pass. My brother, my sister, I invited you to Gods house, and you have come. You have not been in place of worship for a long time, and I am glad to see you here. You have come in here in a sort of despairing mood. You cant say you have come here expecting to be blessed. You have said, something like the leprous men, Well, well, my life has got more and more weary since I kept, away from the churches and the preachers. Certainly since I became an outcast. (and you cast yourself out) I have become darker and darker and more and more wretched. And when you got my invitation you said, Well, I will go once more to the church, for it cant be worse for me. The grand thing is to get done with our sitting still. That is the killing thing--doing nothing. Young and old, rich and poor, let the days and months and years come and go, and sit still doing nothing for their, souls. The grey hairs, are gathering fast on some of you, and you are not a bit further forward; but a little older, and a little heavier, and a little more damned than you were some time ago. Why sit we here until we die? Why, there is power enough in that thought to begin a great revival of church-going and a great revival of salvation all over London, throughout its whole circumference. Why sit we here until we die? And no one of the four could get any better answer than that they had sat still long enough. Now the Gospel, the glad tidings coming out of this is, that when the soul begins to awaken out of its benumbed, dumb state of dark despair, and deplores its starving condition; when it says, It is time I made a shift, for life is slipping away, and my leprosy is not diminishing, my death is getting more deadly every year I live, the true state and condition is realised, and the soul being convinced that there is no hope in sitting still, is determined to arise, to flee for refuge to the only hope in the Gospel. The lepers said, We will go into the camp of the Syrians. They expected death, but when they came to the camp a wonderful thing had happened. I think I see these four wretched lepers approaching; I see them arrive at the edge of the camp, expecting the challenge of the Syrian guard. But, lo! no guard was there. Everything was most unnaturally quiet, and in they slipped, and as they moved in farther and farther and saw no one, their courage grew, and they realised that they were in a deserted camp, surrounded with food and plenty, the spoils of the departed host. Now, dont you see in this the Gospel story? The sinner, when convinced of his lost, ruined, guilty state, has with this conviction a wrong idea and impression of God and salvation. He has the notion--the mistaken notion--that God is full of anger and wrath, and that in coming to Him he will be destroyed. Just like the lepers, they thought the Syrians would kill them. But, us it turned out to the lepers, instead of finding enemies and death, they found food, and all they needed; so, instead of the sinner being smitten with Gods justice, Gods mercy is revealed to him; and instead of death, he receives the gift of eternal life. Thats the English of it; the Gospel of it. These poor starving leprous men came to the Syrian camp, upon the provision of a hundred thousand men, shall I say? Ear more than that. So come to Christ, and there is more in Him, far more than you and I and a million of us could possibly need. My grace is sufficient for you. Dear me! Surely the great ocean is big enough for a sprat like you, isnt it? And that My grace is sufficient for thee individually. Try--ay, trust! And I am not minimising your sin or mine. But I am magnifying the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto man. (J. MNeill.)
The sinners only alternative
I. Some have an alternative presented to your consciences. Time was when you were careless about eternal things. That time has passed. You can look back but a few weeks and remember when the Sabbath was to you a day of revelry, when the house of God was utterly neglected, when the Bible was a book which you would not have read if you had not been flogged to it, and when prayer was a duty which you utterly despised. But now your conscience has been somewhat awakened. Though not thoroughly, still partially, roused up, you begin to perceive that the Scripture is true, that we have gone astray like lost sheep, that our iniquities do prevail against us, and that our righteousnesses are filthy rags. Well, now, you perceive that you are in just this particular state, that you have a choice of two things before you; you can sit still, but then you must perish; you can go to Christ, and your fears tell you that you, will perish then. This, however, at any rate, your conscience may say to you, You can but die, whereas if you go not to Christ you must die. Even should you believe in Him, you think you might, after all, perish; but if you do not believe in Him, then there is no hope. Should you repair now to Him in prayer your fears tell you that He may repel you, that He may say: Get you gone! You that once cursed Me, what right have you to expect My favour? You who have scorned My grace a hundred times, and defied My law, what do you here on your knees seeking My mercy? Begone, thou ungrateful wretch, and perish in thy sins. But still there is this presented to your mind, that if you perish there you do but perish, for it is quite certain that you must perish where you are. You believe--you must believe even if you reject the Word of God, you must believe that God is just. If there be a God, He must punish men for sin. How can there exist a moral government if sin shall go unpunished, if virtue and vice shall bring the same end to men? On the other hand, look at the other side of the alternative. There is, at least, some hope; even your poor, trembling heart admits that there is some hope--that if you seek mercy you may obtain it. I know that there is not only hope, but certainty. Jesus casts out none that come to Him, and He is willing to receive the vilest of the vile. But I put the question now as your unbelief puts it; it is not even to you an absolute certainty that Christ will reject you--is it? It is not quite certain that if you pray to Him He will refuse to hear your prayer. At least, it does not admit of positive proof that if you were to trust the blood of Christ you would perish. Look at the question for a moment in another light. It is certain that if you perish as you now are, you will perish without pity and without mercy. The law under which you are convicted knows nothing about forgiveness. Condemned already because you are under the law, the law provides no sacrifice for sin. But now, do you not feel that even if you could perish after coming to God through Christ, yet you would not perish without having some ray of pity? Would there not be at least this consolation for you--I did what God counselled me; I did come to Him and ask for mercy; I did plead the precious blood of Christ, and yet He rejected me; and do you not think that this would be a balm to you? Yet further, you ought to remember that all those who have continued in a state of nature have, without exception, perished.
II. The cogitation of these men ended in action. I wish the like were true of all of you. How many resolves have been strangled in this house of prayer! How many good thoughts have been murdered in those pews! Look, see, can you not find their blood upon your own skirts? Many a time that tear which betokens the first rising emotion has been wiped away, and the emotion with it. May it not be so to-night, but oh! may God grant that, like the lepers, we may put into action that which we shall think over, and accomplish that which, by the help of God the Holy Spirit, we shall be enabled to resolve upon.
1. Undoubtedly the action of the lepers was bold. Cowardice would have sat still. Cowardice would have said, Well, it is true we shall perish if we sit here, but still we will not go just yet; we are very hungry, but we may bear it another hour, and thus only an extreme pinch would have driven them out. Now, it seems a very bold thing to you, my unknown but trembling hearer, to think of going to Christ by faith. Why, say you, I have not the impudence to do it: look at what I have been.
2. But while these lepers did a bold thing, I pass on to notice that they did it unanimously. It is not said that three of them went, but that the other said, No, I will not go yet. It does not say that two said, When we have a more convenient season we will go. It was a mercy for them that they were all hungry, for if they had not been they would not have gone. It was, probably, a great mercy for them that they were all lepers, or else they would not have been decided, and would never have dared to go. What a mercy it is for you, sinner, to know that you are a sinner! No, no; we sow much, but we reap little, compared with what our hearts desire. Where stands there the man or the woman here who intends to sit down and die? Well, if you do choose it, choose it deliberately.
3. Bear with me while I remind you again that the action of the lepers was also instantaneous. They said, We will go, and at once they went. Many say, I go, sir, but they go not. We can all of us remember times before our conversion to God when we have been impressed under solemn sermons, and some of you can recollect how you have made haste home, and have gone upstairs, and have shut the door and prayed; but idle conversation dissipated the serious impression. And how many more there are who, while their hearts have been searched under the Word have said, Please God to spare me another day, Ill think over those things. But where are you now?
4. How well they were all of them rewarded for what they did. Not one of them perished. They were all saved; not one came back empty-handed; they were all enriched. Nor shall one of you--my life for yours--not one of you seeking mercy through Christ shall be refused it. You shall all be blessed, all adopted, all saved, who are by the Spirit of God led to put your trust in Christ at this welcome moment.
III. These lepers no sooner found what was good for themselves than they straightway went off to tell it to others. And if you have found Christ, after you are sure you have received Him, and have rejoiced in Him for a little season, and fed upon Him, and enriched yourselves by Him as your hidden treasure, it behoves yon to go and tell to others of His grace, and your joy. This Gospel is not to be stifled. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
To sit still is to die
Their case seemed hopeless. Yet they rightly judged that to remain inactive--to sit still--was the unwisest thing they could do--left them not one chance of life. The same principle will hold good in every mans history. There are critical periods in his life when his whole future hangs on his personal decision as to his course. Various courses suggest themselves, and he is often in doubt and perplexity which to adopt. But decide he must, and decide he does, for weal or woe, in time and in eternity. To sit still and do nothing in these critical periods is suicidal.
1. It is so in the ordinary business affairs of this life. Thousands are ruined by inactivity--by, lack of incisive, heroic resolution and effort in the crisis of their affairs. They sit still till the opportunity to retrieve themselves is lost; till the tide of irresistible fate sets in against them.
2. It is so in the formation of character. There are critical periods when to sit still and let things take their course, is to forfeit all self-control, to put yourself, soul and body, at the mercy of evil associates, demoralising principles, and ruinous habits--in a word, to make shipwreck of character.
3. It is so with the awakened sinner. It is the most critical period of his life. Decide now he must the most momentous question that ever trembled on human lips, What must I do to be saved? He cannot evade it. He cannot postpone it, without infinite peril.
4. It is so with every sinner living under the Gospel. To sit still is certain death. To do nothing, absolutely nothing, in the way of inquiring after truth, repenting of sin, seeking Christ, obeying the Gospel, is to make our damnation sure! It is a great mistake which many fall into, that positive hostility and active resistance to the Gospel are necessary to ensure condemnation. The negative position and conduct is amply sufficient. Not to believe--not to accept Christ in the relations offered: not to possess the character and bear the fruit of the Christian life--is to render ones salvation impossible. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? (J. M. Sherwood.)
Sitting still to die
Last night when I was thinking upon this subject, I had a half-waking dream, and I thought I stood along the Hudson River Railway track, and I saw a man sitting on that track. I went up to him, and said: My friend, dont you know you are in peril? The Chicago express will be along in a few moments. I found he was deaf, and did not hear. I tried to pull him away from that peril, and he resisted me and said: What do you mean by bothering me. I am doing nothing. Am I disturbing you? I am doing nothing at all. I am just sitting here. At that moment I heard in the distance the thunder of the express train. A moment afterwards I saw the head light of the locomotive flash around the corner. I held fast to the rocks that I might not be caught in the rush of the train. Like the horizontal thunder-bolt it hurled past. When the flagman came, five minutes after, with his lantern, there was not so much as a vestige left to show that a man had perished there. What had the victim been doing there? Nothing at all. He was only sitting still--sitting still to die. So I find men in my audience. I tell them the peril of living without God. They say, I am not doing anything. I dont lie. I dont swear. I dont steal. I dont break the Sabbath. I am sitting here in my indifference, and what you say has no effect upon my soul at all. I am just sitting here. Meanwhile, the long train of eternal disaster is nearing the crossing, and the bridges groan, and the cinders fly, and the driving wheels speed on, and there is a blinding rush, and, in the twinkling of an eye they perish from the way, when Gods wrath is kindled but a little. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This word is used here to mark a break…
Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the writer starts to tell a new part of the story.
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Why should we sit here until we die?
Although there were four men, probably only one of them asks this question. The question is rhetorical and emphasizes that they should not do this. It can be translated as a statement. AT: "Certainly we should not sit here until we die" (See: Rhetorical Question)
If they keep us alive, we will live, and if they kill us, we will only die
The four men with leprosy are saying that the Arameans might feed them so that they can live, or they might kill them, which would be no worse since they would die anyway.
translationWords
leper
die
famine
Aram
life
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 7:3 These four men were outcasts because of their…
7:3 These four men were outcasts because of their condition and remained outside the city gates (Lev 13:45-46; see Luke 17:11-13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.