CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
2 Kings 2:20. A new cruse—“A symbol of the renewing power of the Word of God” (Keil).
2 Kings 2:21. Death or barren land; death or abortion.
HOMILETICS OF 2 Kings 2:19-22
THE HEALED WATERS A SYMBOL OF THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL
It is a proof of the confidence Elisha has already won that the dignitaries of the city came to consult him about a matter of great public concern; they believed he could cure the malefic waters. How potent is the influence of a good man! It is in times of distress and difficulty that his neighbours discover his real value. The transactions related in this paragraph may be used to symbolize the power of the Gospel to heal the poisoned waters of humanity. Observe—
I. Humanity enjoys many privileges. “The situation is pleasant.” All travellers agree in representing the site of Jericho as exceedingly beautiful; its external surroundings were all that could be desired. So man’s position in the world has its peculiar advantages. Scenes of beauty and of grandeur meet his gaze in every direction. He is rich with the wealthy accumulations of the historic past. He is surrounded by living examples of noble enterprise and chivalry. He is on the current of an ever-advancing civilization. Opportunities of usefulness open invitingly at every step, and there is everything to call out and sustain his best energies. Life on earth is a grand opportunity which, wisely used, will be fruitful in everlasting good.
II. Humanity is infected with a dangerous and fatal malady. “The water is naught, and the ground barren.” In the fairest prospect there is some deformity; in the clearest and brightest crystal we may detect a flaw. So the beauties of Jericho were shadowed by the sufferings and disappointment of its inhabitants. The water was bad, and the land unfruitful. So is it with man. The springs of his being are poisoned with sin. Every part of his nature is tainted: “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” The fatal malady infects every stream, disorders every project, blackens every prospect, chills every aspiration, withers every hope. The soil of the heart is barren, and every attempt to bring forth the fruit of righteousness is abortive.
III. The Gospel provides the power to heal humanity of its malady.
1. It is a Divine provision. “Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters.” The healing power was not in Elisha, or in the cruse or the salt; but in God. So the new cruse of the Gospel, and the salt of Christian doctrine, would be ineffectual to heal humanity of its evils without the permeating presence and active power of God. We should be careful, like Elisha, to give to God all the glory of His own work. Man cannot cure himself, any more than the broken pitcher can repair itself.
2. It is efficacious “So the waters were healed.” The prophet cast the salt into the spring of the waters. The fountain being healed, all its streams participated in the cure. So the Gospel begins its restorative work in the heart, the fountain head of human life. True reformation should ever begin at the source of evil; it will then be thorough and permanent. “If God cast into the fountain of our hearts but one cruseful of the salt of His spirit, we are whole; no thought can pass between the receipt and the remedy.” If we have not streams of Divine blessing in abundance, we may have enough to refresh, to heal, and fertilize.
If not full showers of rain, yet, Lord,
A little pearly dew afford;
A little, if it come from thee,
Will be of great avail to me.
LESSONS:—
1. The gospel has a remedy for every evil.
2. The remedy must be prayerfully sought.
3. Must be believingly applied.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Kings 2:19-22. As we see in the translation of Elijah a type of Christ’s ascension into heaven, so may we also see in the subsequent career of Elisha a type of the holy apostolic church, clothed with the spirit of the Master, and working even greater miracles than he.
2 Kings 2:19. The material facts thus combined and contrasted are very suggestive to the mind of spiritual conditions. The situation in which we stand is pleasant. While so many fair regions of the earth lie in spiritual darkness, the full and blessed light of God’s truth shines upon our habitations. We have the written word of truth—we have the uttered word of truth—one of the first sounds that entered our infant ears was that name which is above every name; and not a day passes in which, under some form or other, we may not see or hear the words of salvation. What situation could be more pleasant, more favourable to our spiritual progress? Surely our city stands upon the delectable mountain whence on any clear day we may have fair prospects of the goodly land that lies beyond the swelling Jordan. Yet, pleasant as all things seem, it is not well with us. “The ground is barren.”—Kitto.
—A crook in every lot.
1. True of the most pleasantly situated city.
2. Of the most highly favoured nation.
3. In the history of every individual life.
2 Kings 2:20. The injurious property and effect was not taken from the water by the salt poured in; for even if the salt actually possessed this power, a whole spring could not be corrected by a single dish of salt, even for one day, much less for a longer time or for ever. The pouring in of the salt was a symbolic act with which Elisha accompanied the word of the Lord, by which alone the spring was healed. Salt, on account of its power of preserving from putrescence and decay, is the symbol of incorruptibility and of life removing death. The new dish was also a symbol of purity and inviolateness.—Keil.
2 Kings 2:21. In a place where the spiritual fountains are poisoned, and the people receive to drink, from all the pulpits and school-teachers’ desks, not the water which streams forth unto eternal life, but the death-draught of that modern babble of deceit and falsehood, there is a more deadly curse upon the land than that which once lay upon the district of Jericho. May the Lord of Elisha raise up those who shall carry the healing salt also into these fountains.—Krummacher.
—Moral reformation.
1. Begins in the soul—“He went forth unto the spring of the waters.”
2. Is accomplished by human agency—“And cast the salt in there.”
3. Is a divine work—“Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters.”
4. Is thorough and permanent—“There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.”