have come with such surprise upon all, that only absolute faith in the prophet, or rather in the presence of Jehovah with

him, could have secured credence for them. And is it not always so, whenever any real need of ours is brought face to

face with a promise of God, - and are we not always tempted, in the weakn ess of our faith, either to minimize and

rationalize God's promises, or else not to realize nor lay hold on them? Thus every promise is a twofold test: of His

faithfulness - although only if we believe; and of our faith. And in that assembly there was at least one who did not

hesitate to speak out his disbelief, even though the announcement had been solemnly made in the name of Jehovah, by

one who had previously often earned a claim to credence, however incredible his predictions might have seemed. But

this is the very test of faith - that the past never seems to afford a quite sufficient basis for it, but that it must always

stretch beyond our former experience, just because it is always a present act, the outcome of a present life. And apart

from the sneer which it conveyed, there was certainly reason in the retort of the adjutant,238 on whose hand the king

leaned: (Comp. 2 Kings 5:18) "If Jehovah made windows in heaven, would this thing be?"239 But it needed not the

direct sending of corn through windows made in the heavens. To the lessons of God's faithfulness to His promise there

was now to be added, as counterpart, another of His faithfulness as regarded the threatened judgments upon unbelief.

The officer who had disbelieved the announcement should see but not share in the good of its fulfillment.

As we transport ourselves into the circumstances, it must have been impossible to imagine any fulfillment of the

prediction without the most direct Divine interposition. And yet it was only because they were ignorant of what would

evolve that any miracle, in the sense in which we use that expression, seemed necessary. As they were so soon to learn,

and as we understand it, all happened in the orderly and reasonable succession of events. But the miracle lies in the

Divinely arranged concurrence of natural events, with a definite view to a Divine and pre -arranged purpose. And so - if

we would only learn it - miracles are such, because we view God's doings from earth, and in the light of the present and

the seen; miracles are the sudden manifestation of the ever-present rule of God; and, if we had but eyes to see and ears

to hear, we are still and ever surrounded by miracles.

The means employed in the promised deliverance were as unexpected and strange as the deliverance itself. There were

four lepers  240 who, according to the law (Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:2), were kept outside the city, at the entrance to

the gate.

In the straits to which Samaria was reduced, they could no longer expect even the scantiest provision which charity

within the city might supply, or careful search without its walls might discover. In the alternative of certain starvation if

they remained where they were, or possible death if they fell into the hands of the Syrians, they naturally chose t he

latter. As the twilight deepened into gloom, they started to carry out their purpose. As we understand it, they made a

long circuit to approach the Syrian camp at its "uttermost part,"241 that is, the part furthest from Samaria.

This would naturally be their best policy, as they would neither be observed from the city, nor by those in the camp of

the enemy, who, as nearest to Samaria, might be expected to be most on the watch, while at the same time it might

enable the lepers to present themselves as if they were not connected with the beleaguered. And this also allows

sufficient time for the flight of the Syrians having taken place without being observed by the lepers, who probably had

made a wide detour around the hills. For while they crept about the camp there was a strange movement within it. It is

not necessary to suppose that the "noises of chariots," "of horses," and "of a great host," which the Syrians seemed to

hear in the falling darkness, depended on a supernaturally caused illusion of their senses (comp. 2 Kings 6:19, 20); nor

yet that the noise itself was supernaturally caused. Such noises are said to be occasionally heard in valleys shut in by

mountains, and to have been popularly regarded as portending war.  242

The Syrians, at any rate, thought they heard the approach of relieving armies. Tribes from the great Hittite nation in the

north, and bands, if not the armies of Egypt, had been hired against them by Joram, and were now simultaneously

advancing on them from the north and the south. This would seem to explain how Samaria had held out amid such

terrible straits. They had been looking for this succor all along. Terror peopled the night with the forms as well as the

sounds of the dreaded host. We imagine that the panic began at the extremity of the camp. Presently they were in full

flight, abandoning their horses, their asses, their tents, with all the provisions and treasures which they contained, and

hastening to put Jordan between them and their imaginary pursuers.

When the four lepers re ached the extremity of the Syrian camp, the fugitives were already far away. They listened, but

heard not a sound of living men. Cautiously they looked into one tent, and finding it deserted, sat down to the untasted

meal which lay spread, ate and drank, and then carried away, and hid what treasures they found. They entered the next