“Are you not well, my love?” asked her mother, who could not help noticing that Dora’s manner was different from usual.
“Quite well, mamma; only a little tired,” was the evasive reply.
“Tired of doing nothing,” said Lucius.
The conversation on the subject of Naaman was then resumed by Agnes.
“When Naaman was cleansed of his leprosy, mamma, how was it that Elisha did not tell him to go and show himself to the priest, and that we hear nothing about a sin-offering, nor of a bird being set free?” asked the elder twin.
“You must remember,” replied Mrs. Temple, “that Naaman was not an Israelite but a Syrian, a Gentile, and that he was therefore not bound to observe the ceremonial law of the Jews. I think that Naaman was a type of the Gentile church, to which belong all Christians who are not descended from Abraham and Isaac.”
“To which we then belong,” observed Lucius.
“Notice, my children,” continued the lady, “how we see, as if in a series of pictures, the history of a converted soul in the story of Naaman’s cure. First there is the man possessing all that earth can give him, but afflicted with a deadly disease.”
“Like the people who were bitten by the fiery serpents,” interrupted Lucius.
“Here in the leprous Naaman we behold a type or picture of a soul with unforgiven sin staining and corrupting it,” said his mother. “Next we find the leper at the door of the prophet. Can any one of you tell me of what Naaman now is a type?”