A PROPHET OF GRACE A PROPHET OF GRACE AN EXPOSITORY'& DEVOTIONAL STUDY OF THE LIFE OF ELISHA BY THE REV. ALEXANDER STEWART EDINBURGH W. F. HENDERSON 19 GEORGE IV BRIDGE Prl,.ted t"n Great JJritain by T1<rnhull & Spears, Edinburgh TO THE CONGREGATION OF ST COLUMBA AND FOUNTAINBRIDGE FREE OHURCH, EDINBURGH THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE THE following pages deal with a portion of the Old Testament Scriptures which can scarcely be supposed to offer any special attraction to the modern mind, and which therefore, as a matter of fact, is to a great extent neglected alike by preachers and by. writers on Bible themes. It is indeed not too much to say. that in many quarters to-day the claim that the recorded events of the life of Elisha should be regarded as serious history would be dismissed with a derisive smile as the survival of a discredited doctrine of Scripture. This attitude is of course due to the miraculous element which occupies so large a place in the narrative. In an age when a daring challenge is being offered to the miracles of Jesus Christ Himself, it is hardly to be expected that the marvels associated with a shadowy figure which looms out from the mists of a much more distant past should be accepted as literal historical happenings. In those far­ off days, we are told, men's minds were more credulous than they are in this scientific age ; they were accordingly disposed to invest with supernatural significance every phenomenon of the natural world which they were unable to understand ; and in this way a fertile soil was provided for the propagation of myth and legend. While recognis­ ing quite clearly the prevalence of this view, I have ventured in the present volume to treat the story of Elisha. as a narrative of fact which on various grounds can lay claim to the dignity of History. There are many of course who maintain with Matthew Arnold that " miracles do not happen." The laws of nature, they remind us, are uniform in their operation, and any disturbance of this uniformity, such as a miracle is supposed to involve, is simply incredible. With the 7 8 A PROPHET OF GRACE supporters of this view I do not argue here and now : a Preface, indeed, is scarcely the place for argument of any kind ; and to attempt a general defence of miracle within such limits, even if one were competent for the task, would be plainly ridiculous. But a single obser­ vation on this form of objection may be permitted in passing. Assuming on the one hand the uniformity of Nature, and on the other the existence of a living and personal God who created the heavens and the earth, is it conceivable that this God should be so fettered by the laws of His own universe as that it is impossible for Him to interpose in the affairs of the world by ways and means that transcend the ordinary processes of Nature 1 Are we to believe that His resources are so imprisoned within those ancient decrees and ordinances of His will whereby He " preserves the stars from wrong," as that He cannot, for reasons which approve themselves to His wisdom, interfere in the natural order of the world for the furtherance of His moral and spiritual purposes 1 Surely in this matter, as in many others of a similar kind, it is ,the unbelieving view that should be described as incredible. There are others, however, who do not absolutely deny the possibility of miracle, but who nevertheless have difficulty in accepting the particular miracles ascribed to Elisha. A miracle, they rightly hold, should be ethically justifiable on such grounds as the urgency of the circumstances which call for its performance and the importance of the end which it is designed to serve. But examined .by this test the miracles of Elisha fail to commend themselves to their judgment. Some of them, such as the causing of an axe-head to swim, seem too trivia.I to warrant the exercise of super­ natural powers. The very profusion of these mira.oulous achievements also, and the almost incidental nature of their appea.ra.nce in the narrative, seem out of keeping with that severe economy in the use of supernatural resources which is characteristic of the Divine procedure. Regarded as a whole, therefore, the miracles of Elisha, PREFACE 9 it is alleged, do not appear to be sufficiently self-attested by the qualities of moral dignity and loftiness of purpose. To this objection I have endeavoured to give an answer in the Introduction which follows. For one tking, the ministry of Elisha constituted an epoch in the spiritual development of the chosen people, and it is at such fresh starting-points of history that the miracles of the Bible usually appear. For another thing, it was a ministry of prophetic action rather than of pro­ phetic speech ; for both Elijah and Elisha conveyed the message of God to men not so much by their words as by their deeds. That being so, w~ are justified in expecting that their public actions shall be charged in an unusual degree with religious significance, and that indeed they shall be a kind of concrete and sensuous medium of conveying spiritual truth. And this in point of fact is exactly what we do find. Elisha's miracles had a symbolical character. Like the miracles of Christ, they were parables in action ; and accordingly, when examined from this point of view, they will be found to have a purpose which is serious enough and lofty enough to constitute their ethical justification. Through the local and material vesture in which the prophet clothed his message, we can discern rich and spacious meanings, " And in those weaker glories spy Some shadows of Eternity." We have high authority for the view that, regarded as a whole, " History is Philosophy teaching by examples." And if Philosophy is warranted in using the concrete illustrations which can be gathered on the field of life for the purpose of illuminating its systems and expound­ ing its principles, why should not Religion use the same effective method of unfolding its loftier and more mysteri­ ous truths 1 In the history of Elisha, therefore, we see Religion teaching by examples. The prophet's miracles were pictorial unveilings of Divine truth which were specially adapted to the circumstances of the Church of God 10 A PROPHET OF GRACE during that period of its religious pupilage. Once this fa.et is realised, the record becomes luminous with spiritual significance. If a personal testimony may be pardoned, the present writer at least has risen from the study of these Old Testament stories with a deeper conviction than ever, not only of their literary beauty and ethical value, but also of their fidelity to historical truth-a conviction which for the most part is based on their own internal qualities, and especially on their entire congruity with the great religious purposes which he believes they were intended to fulfil. It may be stated here that, for reasons which I have endeavoured to set forth in the Introduction, the esti­ mate of Elisha's personality and work which is given in this book is somewhat higher than that which generally finds acceptance among modern writers on the subject. This may look like presumption, but at least it repre­ sents an honest personal judgment. I need only add that the following chapters originally took the form of Addresses which were delivered in the course of the ordinary ministrations of the pulpit. In their present more extended form they are given to the public in the hope that through the blessing of God they may bring a word of strengthening to the heart of some fellow-struggler in the way, and may serve at the same time to awaken fresh interest in the life and work of an honoured " man of God " who was pre­ eminently a Prophet of Grace. A. S. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 13 I. THE CALL TO OFFICE 33 II. THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE wORK 45 III. THE QUEST OF THE STRONG MEN 58 IV. THE HEALING OF THE wATERS . 72 V. THE JUDGMENT OF BETHEL 86 VI. ELISHA AND THE KINGS 98 VII. THE Wmow's CRUSE 111 VIII. THE RAISING OF THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON . 122 IX. THE Po1soNED PoTTAGE • 132 X. THE MAN FROM BAAL-SHALISHA 143 XI. NAAMAN AND THE JEWISH MAID 155 XII. N AAMAN AND ELISHA 165 XIII. ELISHA AND GEHAZI 175 XIV. THE IRON THAT SWAM 185 11 12 A PROPHET OF GRACE PA.GE xv. ELISHA IN DOTHAN . 195 XVI. THE ScoFFER's DooM 205 XVII. THE LAME TAKE THE PREY 214 XVIII. THE RESTOREU INHERITANCE 224 XIX. CARRYING ON ELIJAH's WoRK 235 XX. Tmll ARROW oF THE LoRn's DELIVERANCE 247 XXI. THE FINAL VICTORY 260 A PROPHET OF GRACE INTRODUCTION ELIJAH AND ELISHA "And after the fire a still small voice."-1 KINGS xix. 12. THE times of Elisha were somewhat less cloudy and perilous than those in which his great predecessor Elijah ran his fiery course. The Tishbite carried out his mission ' for the most pa.rt in the reign of Ahab ; and the reign of Ahab embraces one of the darkest periods in the history of Israel. The man who married Jezebel, and yielded _himself to be the instrument of her imperious will, sounded an even lower depth of infamy than Jeroboam the son of Nebat, whose name bears so indelible a stain of dis­ honour in the sacred record.1 Jeroboam established in the land "the corruption of worship," but Ahab--to borrow a just and memorable antithesis-exceeded this impiety by introducing " the worship of corruption." The radical mistake of Ahab's life was his marriage with a heathen princess, the daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians.