03.35. The Little Israelitish Maiden

The Little Israelitish Maiden

We may easily suppose, that for the recovery of so important a man as Naaman, no efforts were left untried. The king, who had found him the most powerful supporter of his throne, would certainly command his most skilful physicians to attend him, and they no doubt would zealously use every means in their power for his relief. But no means proved successful for the relief of Naaman. The mysterious and inveterate disease of leprosy appears never to have yielded to medical treatment. Accordingly the Scriptures represent it as a plague, which, having been inflicted by the immediate hand of God, could only be removed by his immediate interposition. Diseases of the kind are not uncommon; and they serve to check the pride of man, not only by rebuking for sin, but also by circumscribing human science and wisdom within the limits of a becoming humility. For they serve to keep alive our consciousness of entire dependence on the Almighty, and to guard us against the erroneous idea, that the preservation of our lives is in our own hands. What a signal discomfiture has the science of this world lately sustained, in its conflicts with that devastating pestilence, which, issuing from the east, overspread a great portion of the world; and which still continues its ravages! As Christians we cannot but acknowledge this as a timely and salutary rebuke to the growing pride of human intellect; for, in truth, its boastings had attained a height that knew no bounds. Science, which, in its inflated pride, had usurped the throne of the Godhead, has been obliged to confess, by the mouth of its most distinguished representatives, that it is unable to detect and eradicate this disease; and human art, which had arrogantly professed to do all things, and assumed the lofty air of a worker of miracles, has here sustained a signal defeat.

We have now to consider how the afflictive visitation upon Naaman was likewise sent in goodness and mercy. God was gracious to this heathen captain. But was it because Naaman first loved God? Certainly not. It was because God would herein display his goodness and mercy. Naaman had evidently lived after the flesh, and had sought his own glory in valour and war. But God delighteth not in the strength of the battle, neither taketh pleasure in the prowess of sinful and mortal man. The only account therefore that we can give of his favour to Naaman is, that "He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy." But how shall such mercy be brought near to him? What way of approach is there to the man who has not the faintest conception of the living God, is ignorant of His word, and spell-bound in the mazes of his erroneous and superstitious faith? Fear not, for with God all things are possible. Who would have expected that the leprosy should have been appointed as the first link in that chain of events by which such a display of Divine mercy was to be effected? The second link is one which we should be still less likely to have thought of. During the continuance of the war between Benhadad and the king of Israel, the Syrians had invaded the Israelitish borders in marauding companies, and had carried away (probably from some village) a little captive maiden, who appears to have been thus utterly separated from her parents; and, having been made a slave, was providentially brought into Naaman’s family, and waited on Naaman’s wife.

Here a mysterious hardship seemed to have been permitted by the "Keeper of Israel;" but we are sure to err, when we form a judgment on the ways of God, without waiting to see the end of his providence. This event, which appeared to originate in the mere will of man, and to be the result of discord and confusion, was the commencement of a plan, which, through the wise dispensation of God, was to command the admiration of future ages. For it turned out to be only an additional illustration of the fact, that precisely when God’s care of his people is thought to have come to an end, it unexpectedly receives a new and glorious confirmation. For yet a little while, and you will perceive how admirably this mysterious dispensation will unfold itself in the recovery of Naaman, and, for aught we know to the contrary, in the salvation of his soul and of the souls of many. Certainly such mercies of God are never displayed entirely in vain. Yes, the development of this mysterious event will be such, as to give sufficient cause to the little maid, whose fate now appears so deplorable, to cast herself adoringly before the Eternal, and to kiss the hand that withheld its succour in the hour of her captivity; to call forth from the afflicted Naaman the grateful acknowledgment, that, in this child, a kind angel had been sent to Damascus for his relief; and to extort from the whole city the confession, that "The Lord he is God, and none else." So that we likewise must be filled with admiration, and be constrained to confess, with lively and renewed conviction, that we have abundant reason calmly to repose in the government of the Most High, whose counsels, though mysterious in working, are glorious in their final accomplishment.

Blessed is he whose God is the Lord, and who possesses the assurance that the events of his life are ordered by unerring wisdom and goodness. Such a person may assuredly reckon that when things seem most dark and inexplicable, the Lord of all will sooner or later certainly appear for him. For the words of the psalmist are everlastingly true, that "Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies," Psalms 25:8-10.