Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Reflections on 2 Kings 5

    2 Kings 05 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. The LORD had helped him and his troops defeat their enemies, so the king of Syria respected Naaman very much. Naaman was a brave soldier, but he had leprosy.
  2. One day while the Syrian troops were raiding Israel, they captured a girl, and she became a servant of Naaman's wife.
  3. Some time later the girl said, "If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy."
  4. When Naaman told the king what the girl had said,
  5. the king replied, "Go ahead! I will give you a letter to take to the king of Israel." Naaman left and took along seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, one hundred fifty pounds of gold, and ten new outfits.
  6. He also carried the letter to the king of Israel. It said, "I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Would you cure him of his leprosy?"
  7. When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in fear and shouted, "That Syrian king believes I can cure this man of leprosy! Does he think I'm God with power over life and death? He must be trying to pick a fight with me."
  8. As soon as Elisha the prophet heard what had happened, he sent the Israelite king this message: "Why are you so afraid? Send the man to me, so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel."
  9. Naaman left with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
  10. Elisha sent someone outside to say to him, "Go wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then you'll be completely cured."
  11. But Naaman stormed off, grumbling, "Why couldn't he come out and talk to me? I thought for sure he would stand in front of me and pray to the LORD his God, then wave his hand over my skin and cure me.
  12. What about the Abana River or the Pharpar River? Those rivers in Damascus are just as good as any river in Israel. I could have washed in them and been cured."
  13. His servants went over to him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. So why don't you do what he said? Go wash and be cured."
  14. Naaman walked down to the Jordan; he waded out into the water and stooped down in it seven times, just as Elisha had told him. Right away, he was cured, and his skin became as smooth as a child's.
  15. Naaman and his officials went back to Elisha. Naaman stood in front of him and announced, "Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the whole world. Sir, would you please accept a gift from me?"
  16. "I am a servant of the living LORD," Elisha answered, "and I swear that I will not take anything from you." Naaman kept begging, but Elisha kept refusing.
  17. Finally Naaman said, "If you won't accept a gift, then please let me take home as much soil as two mules can pull in a wagon. Sir, from now on I will offer sacrifices only to the LORD.
  18. But I pray that the LORD will forgive me when I go into the temple of the god Rimmon and bow down there with the king of Syria."
  19. "Go on home, and don't worry about that," Elisha replied. Then Naaman left. After Naaman had gone only a short distance,
  20. Gehazi said to himself, "Elisha let that Syrian off too easy. He should have taken Naaman's gift. I swear by the living LORD that I will talk to Naaman myself and get something from him."
  21. So he hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he got out of his chariot to meet him. Naaman asked, "Is everything all right?"
  22. "Yes," Gehazi answered. "But my master has sent me to tell you about two young prophets from the hills of Ephraim. They came asking for help, and now Elisha wants to know if you would give them about seventy-five pounds of silver and some new clothes?"
  23. "Sure," Naaman replied. "But why don't you take twice that amount of silver?" He convinced Gehazi to take it all, then put the silver in two bags. He handed the bags and the clothes to his two servants, and they carried them for Gehazi.
  24. When they reached the hill where Gehazi lived, he took the bags from the servants and placed them in his house, then sent the men away. After they had gone,
  25. Gehazi went in and stood in front of Elisha, who asked, "Gehazi, where have you been?" "Nowhere, sir," Gehazi answered.
  26. Elisha asked, "Don't you know that my spirit was there when Naaman got out of his chariot to talk with you? Gehazi, you have no right to accept money or clothes, olive orchards or vineyards, sheep or cattle, or servants.
  27. Because of what you've done, Naaman's leprosy will now be on you and your descendants forever!" Suddenly, Gehazi's skin became white with leprosy, and he left.


Chapter 5 provides another account of God's miracles through His prophet Elisha. On this occasion God did for a Syrian (Aramean) what He did not do for any Israelites due to their unbelief. (Luke 4:27)

Naaman was commander of the Aramean army and highly respected because "through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram." (5:1) This is an interesting comment which is thought, by some, to be a reference to Naaman being commander of the Aramean army that defeated Israel and killed king Ahab at God's direction. The Jewish Targum - explanations of the Hebrew scriptures - in it comment on 2 Chronicles 18:33 states that it was Naaman's arrow that randomly struck Ahab at the Lord's direction. Assuming this to be the case, it was providential that Naaman now came to know the God who directed his arrow.

But this successful and respected commander had a skin disease. Some Bible translations call it leprosy, though the term was used for a number of skin diseases not necesssarily leprousy as we know it today. Whether or not it was leprosy as we know it, his disease was a threat to his life. Another piece of God's providential puzzle in this account was an Israelite girl who had been taken captive by the Arameans in raids into Israel. This girl had become a servant for Naaman's wife. With concern for her master's welfare, the girl said to her mistress, "If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease." (5:3) This, of course, was a reference to Elisha. Though the king of Israel paid no heed to this prophet of the Lord, this young girl did. Despite her unfortunate circumstances, having been kidnapped and taken into slavery, she still believed in the God of Israel and had confidence in Him to heal her master. God's providence often uses unsuspecting candidates to serve His purpose.

Naaman was evidently willing to try anything and so he sought permission from his king to go to Israel for healing. The king wrote him a letter of recommendation to the king of Israel and sent him on his way. Naaman took the king's letter and an abundance of gifts with him and set out for Israel. When Naaman presented his king's letter to Joram, king of Israel, rather than smoothing the way for Naaman, it posed a threat. Here was the commander of the Aramean army expecting the king of Israel to heal him of his skin disease! Joram said, "Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with me." (5:7)

Elisha came to the king's rescue, though. When he heard of the king's distress over this situation, he sent a message to the king to "Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel." (5:8) Joram disliked Elisha as his predecessors had disliked Elijah because they often prophecied events against them. Never mind that the prophecies always came true. Joram never considered that Elisha might be the answer to this request by Naaman. Naaman would see God's power on his behalf and go away a believer while the king of Israel witnessed God's power on many occasions and still did not believe.

Before Naaman could be healed he had to set aside his pride and humble himself to do what God asked of him. God must have credit for his healing and therefore it must be according to God's instructions. The first offense to Naaman's pride was the fact that Elisha did not even come out to greet him when he arrived at the prophet's house. Instead, Elisha sent a messenger with instructions for Naaman's healing. The instructions were the second offense to his pride. He was to wash himself in the Jordan seven times. He had rivers in Aram superior to this muddy Jordan, why could he not wash in one of them? Naaman was furious. But his servants appealed to his better judgment saying to him, "if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, 'Wash and be clean'?" (5:13) So Naaman humbled himself and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times. Following the seventh time he emerged not only healed, but his skin was restored to that of a child.

In gratitude, Naaman went back to Elisha and told him, "I know there's no God in the whole world except in Israel." (5:15) Furthermore, he vowed to "no longer offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but Yahweh." (5:17) Though he offered gifts to Elisha, the prophet refused them. This miracle of God was to be distinct from anything experienced in the pagan religions, and the prophet would not profit by his service to God as did the prophets of Rimmon and other gods.

God had intended Israel to be a blessing to the whole world by pointing all nations to the Lord. This is what happened in the account of Naaman's healing but not as God had intended. Rather than being used as an intentional participant in God's purposes, Israel was an unintentional participant through those who would otherwise be considered insignificant, such as the servant girl.

No comments:

Post a Comment