2 Kings 5: Naaman was the Aramean (Syrian) general—highly acclaimed, honorable and brave, valiant and highly respected—a man quite proud of his rank and accomplishments.
God had allowed Naaman victories against His people, the Israelites, and he had taken captive a little Jewish girl, who served Naaman’s wife. But then Naaman was stricken with leprosy—a grab bag of horrors. No one tolerated a leper. In fact, the noun speaks strongly of the disease—outcast, untouchable, undesirable, exile, reject, nonperson, unperson, perish.
Naaman went from THE general of authority under the King of Aram, to an absolute nobody. Seeing him so ill, the little slave girl spoke to her mistress and told her about God’s prophet Elisha, who lived in Samaria. This little girl claimed the prophet could heal Naaman.
Strange words from a child.
What’s a general to do?Before exploring the answer it’s important to understand what happened prior to Naaman’s illness.
Elijah was a prophet of God, described as an overly hairy man who wore only a leather girdle around his loins. (Precursor to John the Baptist.) Elijah was odd looking, oddly clothed, and he behaved oddly, too—as odd in those times as it would be in ours. It’s always amazing, the everyday misfit, out-of-sorts type of people God chooses!
Well, Elijah was one of God’s most powerful followers. Him and his student Elisha. So powerful that when Elijah and Elisha needed to cross the river Jordan one day, Elijah took his cloak and slapped the surface of the river and the Jordan parted so they could walk across on dry ground.
Bizarre, right?
Only God…Well, the men never made it to their destination that day, because on the way God sent from heaven fiery horses pulling a chariot, and in a whirlwind ‘scooped’ Elijah from earth. He rode in that chariot all the way to heaven, and all of this witnessed by Elisha. The really cool thing was earlier that day Elisha, knowing something was up, had asked for double Elijah’s power. This request was granted by God, because Elisha witnessed Elijah’s exit from earth. So prophet status and anointing, plus Godly power, now rested on Elisha.
OK. So now we have a bit of understanding about Elisha, along with some history about the Jordan river.
Back to scripture…
What did the general do? He went to his King and explained what the little girl told him. In response, the Aramean King told Naaman to visit the King of Israel. He sent Naaman to Israel with 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, ten sets of royal clothing, and a letter.
The letter introduced the general and asked the Israeli King to heal Naaman of leprosy. Ummmmm…major disconnect! Remember, God had given Naaman authority and battle victories over this evil Israeli King—the man was so horrible his own God renounced him. The man couldn’t successfully rule his own nation, much less perform miracles. However, he knew about Elisha.
When Elisha heard about Naaman and his visit to the King, he sent a message to have Naaman come to him. So Naaman with all his men, in all their finery, horses and chariots, silver, gold, and clothing headed to Samaria and waited outside Elisha’s house. But Elisha refused to come out, sending a messenger instead. The servant told Naaman to go wash himself 7 times in the river Jordan and his skin would be restored as smooth as a young child’s skin, and the leprosy would be healed.
Proud general that he was, Naaman was angered by Elisha’s apparent contempt for who he once was, his disease, and his borrowed wealth. Naaman expected the prophet to come outdoors, call upon the name of the Lord God, wave his hand around, and then heal him on the spot! Not thinking clearly, Naaman then went on to complain that the rivers of his country were better than all the rivers of Israel. He moaned and groaned about the additional travel time, and left in a rage.
Along the exit route, a few of Naaman’s servants got up the nerve to speak some wisdom to him. They asked Naaman if Elisha had told him to go and perform some great and amazing general-thing, instead of dipping 7 times in an Israeli river, would he have done it? They had to explain the situation, and then convince their mighty general that it would behoove him to do as he was told!
Proud man! If you want to be healed, listen to your servants—particularly the little girl-child!
So Naaman acquiesced, made the trek, and dunked 7 times in the river Jordan.
2 Kings 5:14:
“So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.”
God upheld His promise—even to this reluctant and pride-filled general. What an amazing Old Testament story of God’s grace and goodness toward someone outside His beloved people.
Jesus described God’s love for ALL nations when He said, “Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, save Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27).
As Dr. Henry M. Morris, of ICR states, “what a striking picture of salvation, since every natural man, no matter how powerful, is afflicted with the lethal disease of sin. Before this proud official could be cured of his leprosy, he had to humble himself… Though he resented being so humiliated, his condition was hopeless otherwise, so he finally did all these things, and God marvelously healed him!”
In James 4:10 he says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”
But Jesus says it best in Matthew 18:3-4, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Thank You, Lord!