CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE STAFF AND TEE SACRIFICE. 



1 ' And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the 

 face of the child ; but there was neither voice nor hearing. . . . 

 And Elisha went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth 

 upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon 

 his hands ; and he stretched himself upon the child ; and the flesh 

 of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the 

 house to and fro ; and went up, and stretched himself upon him : 

 and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes." 

 2 KINGS iv. 31, 34, 35. 



story of the Shunammite and her son is one of 

 -I the most charming idyls in the Bible. It abounds 

 in the most beautiful touches of nature ; and though the 

 mould in which it is cast is peculiarly Eastern, its simple 

 pathos appeals to the universal human heart. It is 

 full of suggestive meanings, and contains lessons upon 

 which a whole volume might be written. But passing 

 from the simple, obvious instruction which the narra- 

 tive bears upon the surface of it, I wish to use the 

 significant incidents connected with the child's restora- 

 tion as an acted parable. It is in this way that 

 the miracles of the Old and New Testaments have a 



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