2 Kings 5:27

Cleave unto thee. The day that brought so great a blessing to Naaman the Syrian brought a terrible curse to the Hebrew servant of the prophet of God. Naaman went on his way in peace, his heart rejoicing in his new hope in God. Gehazi carried the results of his sin to his grave. He remained a leper to the day of his death, cursed by Heaven, despised by his fellow men, an object lesson for all time to come of the folly of greed and the emptiness of a life that seeks first the treasures of this world rather than the treasures of the kingdom of God. During his years of fellowship with Elisha, Gehazi had had the opportunity of learning lessons of the joy and satisfaction of a life of unselfish devotion and love. But he had failed to learn his lesson. The gifts of Heaven were spurned while he reached out for earthly treasure, which, like cancer, eats away the souls of men. Instead of developing a spirit of self-denial while engaged in the service of God, he had allowed himself to become selfish and interested in material gain. His interest was in shekels of silver rather than in the souls of men, in garments of linen rather than in garments of righteousness.

For ever. It must not be thought that because of the sin of Gehazi, God was pronouncing a curse upon his posterity that would endure for all time. The Lord is kind and merciful and never brings unjust or unnecessary affliction upon anyone. Gehazi, because of his greed, had brought a dreadful judgment upon himself. Because of that judgment his children would be forced to suffer. Disease and its effects are often passed on to an innocent posterity. But to say that because Gehazi became a leper, his descendants throughout all the ages to come would likewise be lepers, is to say something that is not true.

The Hebrew expression here used, le‘olam, does not necessarily mean without cessation, or to all eternity. The word ‘olam, when applied to God, means without end; when applied to man’s life, it extends only to the end of human existence. In Ex. 21:6 a servant was to serve his master “for ever.” Of the strangers that sojourned in their land the Israelites were to make “bondmen for ever” (Lev. 25:46). Shortly before the death of David, Bath-sheba bowed herself before the king with the words, “Let my lord king David live for ever” (1 Kings 1:31). So also Nehemiah said to King Artaxerxes, “Let the king live for ever” (Neh. 2:3). The smoke of the earth in the day of the Lord’s vengeance is described as going “up for ever” (Isa. 34:10). When Jonah pictured his descent into the belly of the whale, he said that the bars of the earth were about him “for ever” (Jonah 2:6). The expression le‘olam simply means “age lasting,” and the length of time involved must be deduced from the particular idea with which the expression is associated (see on Ex. 12:14; 21:6).

White as snow. This expression is used elsewhere in connection with sudden attacks of leprosy (see Ex. 4:6; Num. 12:10).

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