The Little Maid By Rev. F. A. J. Harding*
rattle of bridles and a tossing of manes, the splendid company comes to a halt. Naaman dismounts and waits while one of his men knocks at the door. They wait in silence. Visions of miracles fill Naaman’s mind; the sudden appearance of the holy man, magic passes in the air, incantations and then the disappear ance of the sordid symptom. Contrary to his expectations, the prophet sends out his servant, probably Gehazi: “ Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean,” is the com mand. This somewhat brusque treatment angers Naaman. Elisha himself does not put in an appearance; there is no show of a cure or the exercise of magic, and above all Jordan, of all rivers, is desig nated as the river in which to bathe. Anger masters him; he flounces away from the door of Elisha “ in a rage.” One of his servants, however, is a wiser man than his master. “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” A good many agencies were at work to aid Naaman. At last he allows him self to be persuaded, plunges seven times into the despised Jordan, and, lo: “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” So Naaman departs, cleansed of his leprosy, and with a confirmed belief in the Lord God of Israel—even to the extent of removing a load of the God of Israel’s territory to render his wor ship more real. It should be explained in passing, that the ancient tradition associated certain gods with particular countries; hence if Naaman removed a load of Israelitish earth, he acquired a part of the God of Israel’s domain and therefore the God of Israel would abide with him. We can read into this incident a sign of Naaman’s sincerity. So ends a lovely story with a really happy ending. What is there in this beautiful cameo of ancient history for us? May I suggest three things: The little maid’s faithfulness. God’s readiness to bless. The deliverance of Naaman. The Little Maid’s Faithfulness Who was the little maid? No one can tell. Her beginnings were obscure; we do not even know her name. She was a prisoner. One can well imagine some rough soldier hauling her up onto his saddle-bow and carrying her off and Naaman’s eye lighting upon her in the camp and his bringing her home as a present for his wife, as one would a monkey from India or a parrot from tropical Africa. She was a captive, set to perform the humblest duties of the household. Socially she and Naaman were poles apart and yet in the providence of God, their destinies were to be intermingled. Doubtless she often thought of the trag edy that had come upon her master, and Page Eleven
sacrifice. The little maid from Israel loved him too; we see that from her immediate reaction: “ Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.”
“ The maid that is of the land of Israel”— (2 Ki. 4:5)• T HE story behind these words is one of beauty and charm. One feels in reading it, however, that something is left to the imagination. One should, therefore, think about it imaginatively. Suppose that it is the close of a hot summer’s day in a great eastern city; in an upper chamber of one of its richer houses, a woman is lying on a couch, seemingly asleep. Behind her stands a young girl holding a plume of ostrich feathers which she moves from side to side occasionally, in an endeavor to keep the hot air moving a little. On the south side of the chamber, wide openings in the wall give access to the open air and allow a view of the city and the country beyond. The evening twilight is calm and beautiful. Within the chamber is silence and sorrow. The young girl’s face is sad and thoughtful as she gazes on the distant landscape through the casements. A slight movement from the divan brings the maiden’s dutiful eyes back to her mistress. The lady is not asleep, but from beneath her closed eyelids tears are beginning to well-up and to trickle down her cheeks. Casting away her fan, the girl throws herself upon her knees beside her mistress and with a sudden movement of tenderness and compassion, she clasps the reclining woman’s hands in hers: "Please don’t cry, madam,” she mur murs through the dusk. “ But, child, what are we to do?” is the anguished question. We are in the midst of tragedy. The woman’s husband, Naaman, second only to the king himself, commander-in-chief of the army, is a leper. The dread news, only recently learned, has struck sorrow to the hearts of everyone from the King of Syria himself, down to the little maid of the land of Israel. Modem science, sanitation and the general advance of civilization have robbed leprosy of much of its terrors, but in these ancient days, it meant a living death. The victim was shut off from life, cast out, unclean. As we think of Naaman’s likely fate, we can enter a little into the experience of his wife as she visualizes the empty, lonely years ahead when she will be neither wife nor widow. So many people seem to have been concerned about Naaman. The king loved him and showed him honor, for once every year it was Naaman’s proud duty and privilege to conduct his sover eign upon his arm into the House of Rimmon and there offer oblation and *St. Albans, England. J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 3
Naaman and Elisha This is what she was turning over in her mind as she was looking thought fully out of the windows in evening dusk. With a start the reclining woman sits up. Was it possible, then, that there was a cure? One excited question follows another. At last the truth about Elisha is told—Elisha, the great prophet of Sychar, seer and man of God. If evil news travels quickly, so sometimes, does good. As the two women are talking, the major-domo or some other superior servant who waits outside, overhears the conversation. Away he goes and tells the king: “ Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel . . ” It is worth noting, in passing, he states “ the maid” This seems to indicate that the presence of the girl in Naaman’s household was well-known. The king is overjoyed. What would he not do to help his friend and general, Naaman? Naaman is sum moned, the position is explained to him, and he is bidden to set out for Samaria with a letter of introduction and pres ents for the king of Israel. We may imagine Naaman’s arrival in Israel. Not for many a long year had such a richly-caparisoned outfit been seen in those parts. Israel’s ruler cannot quite make out the meaning of the presence of this distinguished stranger and tries to see in the letter some political trap or diplomatic subterfuge. Eventually Naaman reaches the house of Elisha. With a clatter of armor, a
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