CHAPTER XXIV.

BREAD ENOUGH AND TO SPARE.

"So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within. And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed :) and let us send and see. They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: and that lord answered the man of God, and said, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. out unto him for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died."2 KINGS vii. 10-20.

Now, behold,
And he said,
And so it fell

THERE are times when that which otherwise might only seem strange, is felt to be exceedingly painful. The glaring incongruity, the manifest folly implied in the pursuit of certain objects becomes inexpressibly sad, when the dignity of an immortal soul or its eternal interests are at stake. Foppery and love of amusements in old age; the clutch of money by

a hand stiffening in death; the race of ambition which, whether won or lost, is sure to end in disaster-these, and many similar scenes, enacted every day, are sufficient to make serious men weep for their fellows. Passion is always unreasonable, but when it overshadows a life, its all-controlling power can only evoke wonderment, almost indignation. Yet it would not be difficult to find parallels in daily life to these lepers, who not only ate and drank to the full, but carried away "silver and gold and raiment," unconscious of the painful contrast between their condition and the objects which they so carefully secreted.

The night had far advanced before the lepers reached the gate of Samaria. Tardily repairing a grievous neglect, they now combined with their fear of consequences an amount of religious self-complacency, incredible, if it were not of such common occurrence. They chid themselves, yet almost in a tone of self-laudation and very gently, for not doing before what they now only did, partly because they had already got all they wanted, and partly from fear. But, truly, it cannot be too often repeated that "we do not well," if in this "day of good tidings" "we hold our peace." Every Christian has not only work to do, but a special work is assigned to him by the appointment of God, and another cannot do it for him. It is as if a commander ranged a line for battle. Each soldier holds his post and must do his work, and, in a certain sense, the failure of one is the breaking up of the whole line. Without presumption, we may say that God leaves His people in this world, not merely to fulfil in them His own purpose of sanctification and grace, but to employ them in His own service. If in ordinary life it is regarded as wrong, when put in a position of trust, to discharge its obligations" indirectly,” or by proxy, can such services to the cause of God be acceptable in His sight?

But here also it may be said, that the root of the evil lies in unbelief. Alas, many, if they avowed the truth, would confess that they never have had a "day of good tidings," not merely pleasant at the time, but which left no sorrow behind, and never caused a regret that they had been heard. There is not an unalloyed pleasure on earth apart from true religion. God has given us much that is good and pleasant; but the fairest flower withers, and the brightest sun sets. Besides, all is so tempered that we never can find below what always and fully satisfies the heart. But there are "good tidings;" so good, that they will make the oldest heart grow fresh and young; so good, that they will carry a gladness that shall outlast time itself; so good, that God Himself spake them, angels sang them, and men were content to die for them. They are the tidings of God's love to us in Christ Jesus our Saviour. When these come home to us, individually, as sent to us by God the Father, realised for us by God the Son, and applied to us by God the Spirit, we bless the Lord "Jesus Christ and God, even our Father, Which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace," and we pray that He may still "comfort our hearts, and establish us in every good word and work."

It was far on in the night, when the commander in charge of the principal entrance to the city heard voices without, demanding speech of him. He could scarcely have been prepared for the communication which the lepers now made. Late as it was, such tidings brooked no delay, and he hastily despatched some of the guard to carry them to the king's palace. The hurried steps of the soldiers through the silent streets of Samaria must have brought many a watcher to the lattice. "What is it?" And, perhaps, before the guard had returned from the palace to their post, it was known through

the greater part of the city that the Syrian camp was said to be deserted, and that tidings to this effect had been carried to the king.

While the period of brief rest was thus giving place to a new and even more intense excitement than had been witnessed during the previous day, a most humiliating scene was enacting in the palace. If ungodly men bear themselves ill in sorrow, they bear themselves still worse in joy, and, worst, when the issue is doubtful. In the multitude of devices and shifts, in the balancing of chances and possibilities, there is such utter absence of any firm purpose or lofty thought, as to make only this plain: that nothing is plain. They are confident where they should fear, and they see difficulties where none exist. Only in this they are consistent, to take a mean, low, contracted, selfish view of ali things. Joram had been roused from his sleep to hear the wondrous tidings. It was not long before his more intimate advisers had gathered in his chamber. One of the first suggestions which, in the circumstances, we might have expected, would have been of Elisha and his prediction. But not a word of this was whispered. So far as appears, no allusion was made to it by any, least of all by the king. He did not see Jehovah in it, nor even hoped to do so. His mind only reflected himself. It was the same man who had insisted that Jehovah had called the three kings together to kill them; who had rent his clothes, declaring that Benhadad had sent Naaman in order to pick a quarrel with him; who had rushed among the bewildered Syrians in the marketplace, proposing to smite them. "Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord."

It is always so. Outward circumstances will make no

difference, while the heart remains closed against the Voice of the Lord. Sorrow or joy, judgment or deliverance, find a Jehoram as he had been before. It is not in them to work a change; the soul must be affected by His grace, before men give heed to His dealings. Here is the outcome of all that King Jehoram had learned from the events of yesterday, or, indeed, from what he had seen and heard during all his previous life: "I will now show you what the Syrians have done unto us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city we shall catch them alive, and get into the city." And this is all that he remembers of God, of Elisha, of the promises, and of the gracious purpose of mercy! Such sordid, contracted, foolish calculations, out of which God is kept, even though He has spoken in His Word and Providence, form the sum total of what many have learned during a long life, and carry with them to their graves.

Had the opinion of the king prevailed, Samaria would have remained a doomed, famine-stricken city. Would no one, then, make trial, or suggest another alternative? Would all sit still and perish, while there was bread enough and to spare? The application of these questions to many in our days needs not further illustration. But there is another lesson, important for us all to learn. Many of our cares and difficulties are, like those of King Jehoram, imaginary; they spring from unbelief and distrust. We do not rise to the height of God's promises, and therefore we remain on the level of our own thoughts. One factor has been omitted from all such calculations—the promises of God. What of the morrow? But then, who knows whether to us there will be a morrow; or, if there is, where it may find the Syrians ? A mountain-road looks more steep before than after we have

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