Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Kings Chapter 5
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 5:1-19a
5:1Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Jehovah had given victory unto Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 5:2And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 5:3And she said unto her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy. 5:4And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maiden that is of the land of Israel.5:5And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.
And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 5:6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 5:7And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
5:8And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 5:9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 5:10And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 5:11But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 5:12Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 5:13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, 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? 5:14Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
5:15And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. 5:16But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 5:17And Naaman said, If not, yet, I pray thee, let there be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto Jehovah. 5:18In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant in this thing. 5:19And he said unto him, Go in peace.
August 19, 1917: II Kings 5:1-14
5:1Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Jehovah had given victory unto Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. -- Naaman, representing the personal will, rules in the intellectual realm. The will is mighty, but it must be cleansed from impurity.
5:2And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman's wife. -- The “Syrians” symbolize the consciousness of power established through the will. The “maiden” symbolizes spiritual perception, which is a higher state of development than will power.
5:3And she said unto her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy. 5:4And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maiden that is of the land of Israel. -- Here is shown the tendency of Truth to begin the cleansing of the consciousness.
5:5And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. -- The personality of man centers about many things. The money and raiment symbolize belief in materiality as having power.
5:6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 5:7And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. -- These verses picture the consciousness embodied with power, but not conscious of its spiritual application. It is appalled at the opportunity to prove the Truth.
5:8And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. -- “Elisha” represents the spiritual consciousness ready to prove its allegiance to Divine Mind.
5:9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. -- The “horses and chariots” represent the natural forces of the organism which must be transmuted into spiritual energy.
5:10And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. -- The Spiritual man commands that the personal will be cleansed of all false beliefs. “Jordan” represents the River of Life, ever flowing in the organism.
5:11But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. -- The intellectual man is “wroth” with the simplicity of the demands of Truth.
5:12Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. -- The unillumined consciousness makes comparisons in outer forms, seeing the letter only.
5:13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, 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? -- The “servants” typify the thought workers that have discerned the same law working in the great and the small.
5:14Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. -- The will is humbled, pride is overcome, and the limitations of the personal man offset. Cleansing of the whole man follows in natural sequence.
February 2, 1919: II Kings 5:1-14
What in individual consciousness do the “Syrians” and the “Israelites” typify? The “Syrians” typify the activities of the intellect. The “Israelites” represent thoughts of the Real, religious tendencies, etc., which come from the heart (subconscious) through man's inherent spirituality. Fostered in body-consciousness, these spiritual thoughts keep man in close touch with his Source of unlimited life and power.
What in consciousness does “Naaman” the Syrian represent? “Naaman” the Syrian represents personal will.
What does the “leprosy” of Naaman (the will) represent? The “leprosy” of Naaman represents the impoverished condition of the will which is attached to flesh sensations and bound by belief that life is material.
What does the “little maiden” from Israel represent? The “little maiden” from Israel represents spiritual perception, which must be recognized by the will.
What does “Elisha” represent? “Elisha” represents man's spiritual I Am. What in body-consciousness does the “Jordan” represent? In body-consciousness the “Jordan” represents the life current.
Why was Naaman (will) commanded to wash in the Jordan (life stream)? As man's spiritual perception (maiden) reveals to him the realities of life, he is convinced of the need of cleansing the personal will. Spiritual I Am (Elisha) commands the denial of material beliefs and limitations. When the will is under the direction of Spirit, the mind and body express their natural purity and perfection.
February 19, 1922: II Kings 5:1-4,9-14
What does Naaman, captain of the Syrian army represent? Naaman represents the executive power of the will, ruling in the consciousness of materiality.
What state of mind may produce leprosy? A state which the thought of the reality of matter and of the sense life, occupies the whole consciousness and devitalizes the body.
What does the “little maiden” represent? She represents intuition, and may be captured by the material mind and made to serve material ends.
When one has lost consciousness of the flow of vitality within, how can he again make contact with it? The vitalizing, cleansing life is in the keeping of God. Man's spiritual ego, Elisha, lives very close to this flow of life, and by calling upon him, the will within unifies with the will without, and the cleansing, purifying life of the Spirit comes forth to the very extremities.
What is the meaning of Naaman’s being angry, when told to bathe in the Jordan? The simplicity of the process does not appeal to the mortal ego, which makes a great display when doing anything of importance, and this healing which Naaman expected was a very great thing in his eyes.
Does the healing of so-called incurable diseases, like leprosy, require any heroic or unusual display of spiritual power? No. It is perfectly natural to be healthy. When one realizes that there is a well of living water within, “springing up into eternal life,” he simply needs to bathe in it to be made whole.
What does the river Jordan represent? The river Jordan represents the river that “went out of Eden to water the garden,” mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis. The garden symbolizes the body.
Why did Naaman have to bathe seven times? Seven is the number of completeness in the natural world, or in the body consciousness. The command to Naaman means that one must continue to bathe in this inner life stream, until the body is wholly purified and completely healed.
August 13, 1939: II Kings 5:1-10
What does the metaphysician see in the statement that Naaman “was a great man with his master”? Naaman represents the executive activity of the personal will; the king of Syria the directive power of the intellectual realm of mind. The will is vitally necessary to the directive power of the intellect.
What does the little Israelitish maiden represent? She represents the intuition of the soul functioning as spiritual discernment.
What is symbolized by the present that the king of Syria sent to the king of Israel? This present is a symbol of the tribute paid by the intellect to the spiritual nature.
Is any further reference to the relation between the intellect and the spiritual nature found in this lesson? The relation between the two is referred to by implication in the phrase “the prophet that is in Samaria.” Samaria (watch mountain) represents the intellect; the prophet Elisha (God is a savior) the I AM. When the I AM enters into the intellectual powers and abides there, the latter are impregnated with a higher degree of potency than they could otherwise display.
What is apparent in the statement of the king of Syria that he was sending Naaman to the king of Israel to be healed of leprosy, and the latter's despair over what he considered an impossible requirement? The king of Syria identified Elisha with Samaria and took for granted that the king of Israel would know at once how the healing was to be accomplished. But the king of Israel identified himself with Samaria and did not think of Elisha as a way out of the difficulty. The personal will of the intellect, which the kingdom of Israel here represents, is closed to spiritual consciousness.
What does Elisha's reminder to the king of Israel that “there is a prophet in Israel” prove? It proves that the I AM is equal to all demands that may be made upon it, even though man may have been long unconscious of this power residing within himself.
Can man heal all his ills unconditionally through the right use of the I AM? When he is receptive and obedient, man can be relieved of all his ills through the right use of the I AM. Disobedience makes him unreceptive to healing.
How was Naaman's healing accomplished? Through the power of the word obeyed in unquestioning humility “Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan {the life current} seven times ... and thou shalt be clean.”
August 13, 1939: II Kings 5:14
Why is the number seven indicated as necessary to the healing? The number seven symbolizes the seven avenues of expression of the formed man, all of which must be cleansed before he is permanently healed.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 5:19b-27
So he departed from him a little way. 5:20But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 5:21So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 5:22And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. 5:23And Naaman said, Be pleased to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 5:24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed.
5:25But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 5:26And he said unto him, Went not my heart with thee, when the man turned from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and maid-servants? 5:27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-07-2014
