_Then spake Elisha unto the woman._ THE POTENT INFLUENCE OF A GOOD MAN I. His counsel is valuable, and gratefully acted upon. Here we see how the kindness shown by the Shunammite receives still further reward. There is nothing so fruitful in blessing as kindness. In the great dilemmas of life we s... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the King talked with Gehazi._ THE SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OF JEHOVAH ILLUSTRATED We approach, in this chapter, the end of Elisha’s wondrous but most useful career. His days are now perceptibly numbered, and one more recorded event, and he passes from the scene of this world. The text presupposes th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Elisha came to Damascus._ STRIKING CHARACTERS We have here-- I. A dying king. 1. This dying king was very anxious. “Shall I recover of this disease?” This was the question he wanted Elisha to answer. Not, you may be sure, in the negative. Knowing some of the wonders that Elisha had performed, h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou mayest certainly recover._ IGNORANCE OF THE FUTURE The subject which I propose to discuss is the moral effect of ignorance of the future. I. The avidity with which men seek to know the future. People are almost always ready to believe that something unusually good is to befall them; that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?_ SELF-DECEPTION No doubt the Syrian was perfectly sincere in this question. He had seen the tears which roiled down the aged prophet’s wrinkled face as he thought of the woes which, by the strong right hand of the rough soldier, would come... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jehoram--began to reign._ LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JEHORAM This is a short fragment of a king’s history, the history of Jehoram. Brief as it is, it contains many practical truths. I. That piety is not necessarily hereditary. Parents, as a rule, transmit their physical and intellectual qualities t... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the twelfth year of Joram._ KINGHOOD: THE CONVENTIONAL AND THE TRUE Looking at King Ahaziah, as here sketched, two points strike our attention. I. A king by physical heredity. This man came from the lineage of kings. 1. This arrangement is not Divine. All that can be said is that God permitt... [ Continue Reading ]