Reading:
2 Kings 5.
While, strictly
speaking, this incident has its place within the realm of
the salvation of the sinner, it has general principles of
a wider scope and fuller application, and therefore
becomes a matter for the serious consideration of the
Lord's own people.
Let us remind
ourselves, at this point, of the position typically
represented by Elisha. It is not a study of the life of
Elisha, nor of a book of the Bible with which we are
occupied, but a seeking to know the Lord in the power of
His resurrection. The power and fullness of resurrection
life is what gives meaning to the life and ministry of
Elisha.
The
Natural Man
Naaman is a
representation of the natural man, as he is outwardly,
and as he is inwardly.
Naaman is said to have
been a great man before his master, a man held in honor,
a man of reputation, of position, of ability; a man of
success in his own realm. And yet, with all that can be
said for him as to his greatness, his reputation,
position, ability, success, death is working in him.
There is one thing set over against all the rest, which
casts a shadow over it, and brings it all into a realm of
death. Death is active, death is working, death is the
master of the situation, and, therefore, all else is
under the reign of vanity; that is, everything is subject
to a lease, and can at best only go on for a while. It
will all pass, unless something happens. That is the man
presented, the man by nature.
Then he is brought into
the realm of things Divine. Initiative in the matter is
taken apart from himself, outside of himself. He is not
the first one to move. The little serving maid of his
wife is the instrument by which the link is made between
him and the source of life. Sometimes quite small things
become the means in the hands of God of bringing about
such a link. Insignificant things, humanly speaking, are
often used; and it is a thing to note in this story how
the Lord's means and methods are of a different character
altogether from those which Naaman would have considered
suitable to his case. Grace very often moves for our good
through means which we would hardly take account of,
things which do not bear any mark of reputation whatever.
Through this simple,
and, so to speak, insignificant (it proved to be a very
significant) instrumentality, Naaman is brought within
the compass of the ministry of life. It looked like a
chance thing. The thing seems to be so unarranged, so
like a chance expression. This little serving maid said
to her mistress: "Would God my lord were with the
prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of
his leprosy." It is little more than a sympathetic
ejaculation - "I do wish that you could get into
touch with such-and-such a means that the Lord
uses!" And within a hint, a mere suggestion, there
is the working of a Divine energy with tremendous issues
involved.
Men organize great
movements, and bring a good deal of pressure upon people
as to why they should attend such-and-such a thing. The
Lord very often effects His great ends in much more
simple ways, which look to be merely accidental,
incidental, at times. There is a wonderful simplicity and
quietness about the ways in which the Lord gets His main
ends. They just come about. A suggestion, a hint, an
indication, an intimation, but lying in the direction of
that there may be the ultimate things in the will of God.
This thing was never
planned, never worked out beforehand, never elaborately
arranged. In a very simple way, it just came about. It is
something to take account of, lest the very simplicity of
the ways of the Lord should catch us in an unwatchful
state, and because we expected some voice from heaven, or
some far more imposing method of God to get us into His
full purpose, we miss those simple movements of life
which were pointing in that direction. What a great deal
hangs upon this very simple heart-expression of this
maid!
Out of that Naaman
eventually comes into direct touch with the instrument,
the vessel of life - life in its fullness, life which was
to triumph over death at work in him. But then his real
difficulties commence. It is not until he comes into
touch with life itself that the real state of the man is
made plain. He knows he is a leper; that is, he knows
that despite everything he possesses there is a serious
lack, and that unless that lack is made good, life for
him is after all a disappointing thing, and could never
satisfy him; everything has a shadow over it because of
that one lack. In reality, however, the true character of
the man's whole condition is not disclosed until he comes
directly into touch with the means of his deliverance,
when another kind of history commences, which really
illustrates for us the nature of the natural man, even at
his best.
Embodying it all in one
comprehensive statement, his difficulties are the
acceptance of the full implications of the Cross. He can
accept the fact that he is seriously in need. He can
accept the fact that his need might very well be met in a
certain direction, and is prepared to go so far in that
direction to have his need met. But then he comes up
against the full implications of what that direction
means, and he finds himself at that point unable to
accept all the implications. Being the natural man, he
requires some recognition of his own qualities. He needs
to have himself taken into account in his own person. He
is a man with a reputation, held in honor, and therefore
he ought to be dealt with by quite reputable means,
something quite in keeping with his standing. Thus when
it is proposed that he should adopt means, and go by a
way which to him, from his standpoint, was quite
disreputable, he finds himself confronted with what Paul
calls "the offence of the cross." "Are not
Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than
all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be
clean?" Something with a reputation, something more
suitable to such a one as I am! And that is the root of
his trouble.
That can be applied in
many ways, and various people come up against the same
deadlock along different lines. For some it is
intellectual; they must have an intellectual salvation,
and if they cannot bring everything into the realm of
their intellect then the thing is not worth considering,
it is beneath them. Others must have it in other vessels,
and by other means which are suitable to them in nature.
But, be it what it may, God has His own position as
represented by the Cross, and God never deviates one
hair's-breadth from that. God's ground is utter
self-emptying. That is the Cross! When we come to Jordan,
that means that we have come to the place where all
consideration for reputation, position, honor, or any
such thing in the realm of the natural man has been fully
set aside, and we can never come to Jordan until that is
so. Naaman may have his battle, just as multitudes of
others have had their battles, on exactly the same
ground, until they could get through to the place where
no consideration whatever for themselves, as being
anything of any value at all, has a place. If the waters
of Jordan remain symbolic of Divine judgment of man, then
that puts man down into a very low place, that reduces
man to something without a reputation, without honor.
There can be no getting through to the Lord's fullness of
life, only insofar as man by nature has been emptied out
to where he no longer regards himself as being of any
account before God.
These are simple
truths, but they apply to believers as much as to
unbelievers. The full implications of the Cross have not
been kept clearly before the Lord's people through the
ages. Unfortunately a great deal of Gospel preaching has
laid all the stress upon the satisfaction of man, the
good and the blessing of man, with the result that
afterward, sometimes years afterward, the Lord has to
bring home the fact of the Cross as ruling out man by
nature. The consequence has been that we have had to have
conventions and special meetings to get Christians
consecrated; and consecration is really a matter of full
surrender. But what an obvious fault that is, when all
that should have been done right at the beginning without
any reservation at all. And had the Cross in its full
implications been presented right from the beginning,
then the believer would be living on the level of the
convention life from the first. We have all suffered from
the fault. Most of us, or many of us, have spent years in
floundering along in a large measure of weakness and
ineffectiveness, because we had never from the beginning
seen the full implications of the Cross as to ourselves.
We saw that Calvary was salvation for the sinner, but we
had never seen clearly that Calvary was the setting aside
of man utterly in himself; and it was not until we came
to see that, that we came through into the fullness of
life. We had brought over a very great deal of our
natural life on to new creation ground, and, having tried
to use it, we found that it was a constant burden and
handicap, whereas the meaning of the Cross is that all
things are of God. That is a comprehensive and conclusive
"all." All things are out from God.
For Naaman the full
implications of the Cross were presented, and not one bit
of consideration was given to his flesh. No provision was
made whatever for his flesh. He came with his pomp and
retinue to the tent of Elisha, and sent to announce his
arrival, but the prophet did not so much as rise from his
stool to look out and see what a wonderful man this was.
He simply went on with whatever he was doing, and said:
"Go and wash in Jordan seven times..." The man
of reputation felt the sting of the ignoring of HIMSELF,
and he was going away in a great rage, saying:
"Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me,
and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and
wave his hand over the place, and recover the
leper." Elisha's attitude was: "Not in the
least! that is the measure in which I respect the
flesh!" That is the measure in which God takes
account of man by nature!
It is a painful lesson
for a great many servants of the Lord to learn. Not in
the least does the Lord take account of what a man is in
himself; not even as to what a saved man is in himself.
That man does not come under the eye of God. The prophet
would not even look out to see Naaman. That is God's
attitude. The eye of God does not take into view what man
is by nature; He simply ignores him and sets him aside.
Calvary represents that.
It is the way of life,
the way of fullness. It seems to be very much the
opposite when you are going through those stages, when
those principles are being applied. There seems to be no
life at all in that direction, and little hope. It is
quite true! The natural man may as well take it for
granted that there is nothing for him in that direction,
as the natural man. Our flesh will get nothing out of
salvation when God has His way. Our natural life is not
going to get any gratification. Taking up the Cross and
denying ourselves is something of a very radical
character when wrought out in spiritual terms. It is self
DENIAL!
That is the meaning of
Calvary, and such a presentation discovered Naaman's real
heart state, and illustrates for us what death is. Death
working is, after all, only the working of the natural
life. To men it may appear a great thing. There may be
that about it which man would call honorable. It may have
a good deal of success in this world. There may be
features of great ability. There may be a good reputation
amongst men. But before God there is something else which
renders all that as nothing, not to be taken into
account; it is the reign of spiritual death. Naaman was
put to a very thorough test as to whether he really meant
business in this matter of resurrection life, life
triumphant over death. He was fully extended as to
whether to him this was a matter of life and death.
"Go and wash in Jordan seven times." The
meaning of "seven" is spiritual completeness.
Naaman was being drawn out to a point of spiritual
completeness.
The story has nothing
to say about Naaman stopping short after the second, the
third, or the fourth time, and this shows that now he was
really going right through with this whole thing, having
once definitely faced the issue. His servants had
reasoned with him, and he had listened to reason. Then
confronted with the issue, he said in effect: "Well,
if this is the way, then I am going this way without any
reservation. My alternative is to go back to my country
as I came, in this living death. Am I prepared for that?
or am I really prepared to go all the way with this
matter without a reservation?" He decided, because
of the seriousness of the issue, that he would go all the
way. And so, although on any other ground of a less
complete consecration he might have stopped after the
second dip in Jordan, and said: "Well, there you
are! Nothing has happened! Just as I expected!" we
find instead that Naaman persevered. And now the third
time, nothing! The fourth time, nothing! The fifth time,
nothing! The sixth time, nothing! But he went through to
the seventh time. His faith was tried on this matter
right up to the end.
We know what that means
in our own experience. God has placed before us an issue.
That issue is no less a thing than life triumphant over
death. That not only applies to the unsaved, that applies
to saints. The full expression of that life was seen by
the Apostle Paul to be bound up with a certain point of
advancement, when he said: "Not that I have already
obtained, or am already made perfect... but one thing I
do, forgetting the things which are behind... I press on
toward the goal unto the prize of the upward calling of
God in Christ Jesus." "If by any means I
may attain unto the resurrection [Greek -
out-resurrection] from the dead," a resurrection
which is a reward, and not a resurrection which is a
general thing; some expression of the power of His
resurrection which is not general but specific. So that
you see the matter of life triumphant over death in its
full meaning is something which concerns saints after
Paul's type, and goes a long way on into the Christian
life and experience. But beyond the initial expression of
His resurrection in our salvation, and the ultimate full
expression in the out-resurrection from the dead, there
are continuous crises, progressive developments of that
life, and each fresh stage issuing in further fullness is
marked by some crisis of this very character, namely, as
to how much more of self we are prepared to leave behind.
It may be that at a given point our own personal will is
set against the Lord's will, or that a form of sin is
present that we are not prepared to give up. On the other
hand it may not be in the realm of definite and positive
selfishness, but there are points of a fine character to
which we come in the matter of our preparedness to let go
something, some position, some relationship, and move on
with the Lord into a new realm which is costly, and which
means the setting aside in a new way of our own
sensibilities, and our own feelings, and our own ideas,
in order to attain unto that fuller power of His
resurrection. We shall be challenged by these things
continually as we go on, and for us the power of His
resurrection is bound up with the extending of our faith
to some further point than ever before. That is the
statement of facts. We shall know that that is true, if
we are going on with the Lord, and perhaps the value of
what is before us now will be found in our being able to
say, when we come to such issues, and such crises:
"This is just that: the question for the moment is
whether I am prepared to take this further step, which,
involving me perhaps in further difficulties, means that
my own personal considerations have to be set aside in a
new way." Thus it is a step of faith more than ever
before. But it is the way of life, the way of increase.
Naaman went the whole way with God, and God went the
whole way with him, even unto the seventh degree.
After the seventh time
Naaman came again whole, not only of his leprosy, but
with his flesh as the flesh of a little child. It is not
only that the positive action of death has been removed,
but he has come into a new realm altogether. The flesh of
a little child speaks of entire newness, a new life, a
new realm. For him, speaking typically, it was like
beginning life all over again as a babe; everything was
before him. A whole new world was stretched in front of
him.
That is the spiritual
effect of every fresh breaking through into resurrection
life. Every time we are touched with some fresh
experience of His life we are conscious that it is a new
world. There are new possibilities. The limitations of
the past have become as nothing in the fresh
possibilities which have come to us on the ground of this
measure of risen life. It is always like that. There we
reach the point of newness of life in possession. What
remains is simply the expression of that newness of life
in certain directions.
A New
Attitude Toward the Instrument Used for His
Spiritual Good
Naaman was very angry
with Elisha beforehand. He would go away in a rage. But
now he came to Elisha. There is no question of reputation
now, of personal importance now. He made his way
instantly and directly to the tent of Elisha. He sought
fellowship with the instrument of blessing. He was no
longer ashamed of that.
You can make the broad
application of the principle of fellowship being
established in life, because life shared is the basis of
fellowship, and when once we really share some life we
have the foundations of fellowship, and all dividing
elements are put away.
Naaman
Worshiped Jehovah
He worshiped Jehovah
and said: "Behold, now I know that there is no God
in all the earth, but in Israel." It is a test as
well as a fact stated, that genuine knowledge of the Lord
in resurrection life shows itself in an adoration of the
Lord, worship of the Lord, devotion to the Lord Himself.
If it is but the acceptance of a teaching it does not
carry us that far. If it is the association with a
movement we fall short of that. But if it is a personal
knowledge of the Lord in the power of resurrection, the
mark of our lives is a deep, reverent devotion to the
Lord Himself. That is really the Testimony. It is not
what we have to talk about. It is not our teaching, not
our system of things, and not our movement. It is not
even our fellowship as representing something technical
on the earth. It is our Lord! Let us never be found
talking about the teaching which we have accepted, or
which is represented by certain people in certain places.
Let us see to it that for us it is a matter of the Lord,
and if the teaching does not bring us to the Lord then
there is something wrong, perhaps not with the teaching,
but with our apprehension of it. Worship must become the
dominating feature of those who know Him in the power of
His resurrection.
His
Resources at the Lord's Disposal
The third thing
noticeable is that Naaman wanted to place his resources
at the service of the Lord in offering a gift. That has
always been a feature of real life. It was so at
Pentecost. When the Lord does something within and brings
into a new fullness of Himself, we want all the fullness
that we have to be at the Lord's disposal. At any rate
that was the inclination of the heart of Naaman.
At this point we are
brought to another consideration. There was this
proffered gift, but it was refused by Elisha simply
because a peril was recognized. Elisha had had no
difficulty in accepting material kindness at the hands of
the Shunammite, but he absolutely refused to accept
anything at the hands of Naaman. These two people stood
in altogether different positions spiritually. The peril
which Elisha clearly discerned in this particular
direction was lest Naaman should go away feeling that,
after all, he had some hand in this matter, and that he
had paid for it. The Lord never wants any gifts, any
resources placed at His disposal which carry with them
the slightest suggestion that they are acts of patronage.
He leaves no room for any reactions of the flesh, of
nature, the gratifying of anything in that realm. So
Elisha, recognizing that there might creep in, even at
this point, some little bit of that natural life which
loves to have satisfaction in itself because of what it
does, closed the door to that, and refused to admit any
possibility of it. He sent Naaman away with the blessing,
but with no personal gratification.
At that point the
tragedy of Gehazi comes in. Gehazi saw what was done, and
when Naaman had well begun his return journey, Gehazi
went after him, made up a long story as from Elisha, his
master, asked for the gift, and got it. We do not know
what mischief that may have done with Naaman, but we do
know that it brought Gehazi under a terrible judgment;
"The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto
thee, and unto thy seed for ever."
What is the explanation
of this? The Lord Jesus Himself seems to give us an
insight into it in the Gospel by Luke, chapter 4:27-29:
And there were many
lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the
prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only
Naaman the Syrian. And they were all filled with wrath in
the synagogue, as they heard these things; And they rose
up, and cast him forth out of the city...
Gehazi had been in
close touch with Elisha, had seen his works and heard his
words, and all that Elisha represented was available to
Gehazi; but Gehazi, with all his knowledge of it and
association with it, remained upon a merely official
ground, and never came on to a vital ground. Now we can
see what the Lord is saying to the Jews. Without saying
so in as many words, He has transferred the situation of
Gehazi to the Jews of His own day: "You have heard:
you have been in close association with the vessel of
Life: you have seen the works: you know all about it from
the standpoint of close proximity to it, BUT you
remain merely upon official ground as ostensibly
representing God, and have never come through on to
living ground. Your judgment is leprosy, death!"
That is what happened to Israel.
Gehazi stood on
official ground. You see him acting in an official way
when the Shunammite's son died, and she laid him on the
bed of Elisha, and went to seek him. The prophet said to
Gehazi, "...take my staff in thine hand, and go thy
way... and lay my staff upon the face of the child."
And we can see Gehazi taking the staff in his very
official, pompous way, and going as the representative of
the great prophet and putting the staff on the lad
expecting to see some result, but nothing happened.
Perhaps he tried moving the staff this way and that, to
try to get some sort of response. But death never yields
to what is merely official, death only yields to life.
When the one who is in person the embodiment of life
triumphant over death stretches himself upon that body,
then death is swallowed up in life; but nothing official
can do that.
The Jewish leaders were
utterly impotent, although they were supposed to be the
representatives of God. They were in close association
with the life, yet they were dead. And because they did
not come through to the position represented by Christ,
but were self-seeking, like Gehazi (and their very
self-seeking made them prejudiced) they came under
judgment and perished. Their generations have been under
that judgment ever since, and are there today. Leprosy
and death clings to them for the age.
This is the warning
side of things. It is possible to come into a very close
proximity to the Testimony, to be in touch with things -
to hear, to see, to know, to have an association which is
formal - and yet never to stand livingly on that
resurrection ground. It is a terrible tragedy to be in a
position like that; and yet there are many, who can talk
the dialect, use the phraseology, reproduce the terms,
but who have not life. We may be in the privileges of
association, and yet not in the life of union.
That word of warning
cannot be left out as we come to the end of this story,
but having struck the note of warning which we are
obliged to admit into our consideration, let us close on
the higher ground of noticing again to what the Lord
calls us, and that is to an ever-growing knowledge of
Himself in the power of His resurrection: and that
increase of Divine life is by the way of a yielding up of
our own interests, our own considerations. There is no
life except by death. There is no gain except by loss.
May the Lord speak
that message into our hearts according as it is necessary
in our case.