2 Kings 5
We wish to share some observations, thoughts and challenges from the Biblical account regarding Naaman. If you are unfamiliar with that account, or just haven’t looked at it for a long time, please take a few moments to read 2 Kings chapter 5 before reading the rest of this page.
The chapter opens with some basic information about a man named Naaman: “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.” I once read a sermon entitled “A Great Man, but…” In this opening verse we are told that Naaman is great, honorable, and a mighty man of valor, BUT he is a leper. He had admirable qualities, but he had a “flaw”. Note - The physical disease of Leprosy is often used to parallel spiritual uncleanness, or sin.
Some of you may respond to the above with an attitude something like this: With all those good qualities, why can’t you look past this “flaw” and ignore it. That’s actually a good question, but a poor attitude. If someone does more good things than he does bad things, does that make the doing of the bad things okay? If your foot is swollen to twice its normal size, is it okay to ignore it because, after all, the rest of your body is healthy?
In the first five verses of the second chapter of the Revelation, we read God’s assessment of the church at Ephesus: “‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” There is much to commend, and Jesus does so, but…. “nevertheless”, there is a flaw. Is the flaw to be overlooked? NO. God expects repentance, and if repentance does not come, God will bring about consequences. Similarly, to the church at Pergamos, the Lord says: “And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam,…” Does God point this out without any expectation of response? No. Once again, he says “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly”. To the church at Thyatira He says: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.” The comment at the end of each letter to each of the churches is “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Are you listening?
Is it possible that there are “great” men and women doing “great” things, but God sees their sin – and He wants, more than their “great deeds”, for them to be clean and pure. Coming to the place of realizing such a thing in your own life is the very stuff that makes a revival – our responding to the “but….” and the “nevertheless...”. And it is our failure to respond to those very same “but…” and “nevertheless…” that keeps revival from occurring. We may even pray that God will send revival, but we won’t respond to the “but…” and the “nevertheless…” that He has already shown to us.
Well, hopefully, you get the idea and we will move on to some other observations and thoughts from this account of Naaman. We go next to verses 2-3 where we read “And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” Here, we find a demonstration of Godliness (Christ-likeness) in a young girl. Think about this. She has been taken captive by an enemy, removed from her home and her homeland and been made to be a maid – a servant girl. With all of that experience, one might expect her to be bitter and angry and filled with hatred for her captors. We might even deem her “justified” in having the attitude whereby she thanks God that Naaman has leprosy – after all, he is just getting what he deserves! But such is not the case! Consider these facts:
She is genuinely concerned for her “master”.
She knows where he can get the help he needs.
She does not withhold that information, but out of love and concern, makes it known that healing is possible and is available.
Can we pause and make a few applications?
Are we genuinely concerned about others? Do we love in that way? Did you know that Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;…” (Matt 5:43-45a)
Do you know where to find the only “cure” for sin and for the help that so many need? “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)
“Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” (Luke 6:47-48)
The young girl did not withhold the truth she had, for she knew it was his only hope. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” (1 Peter 3:15)
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
There is so much more that could (and perhaps should) be said in regards to this last application, but we shall move on, for there are more things to see in this account. We read in verse 5 that Naaman “departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.” Now, we can quite safely say that some of these items were to take care of necessities along the journey. However, we will suggest that these amounts are far more than were required for that purpose alone and so we conjecture that there was an intent to pay for, or to reward, a successful healing. Here’s the truth for us – there is no way to pay, with anything or any amount that we can possibly offer, for the very thing that we need most. The Bible repeatedly speaks of the “gift” of eternal life, the “gift” of salvation – never of “works”. God “gives” the living water (John 4), God “gives” (and liberally, at that) wisdom to those who ask of Him, and on we could go. In Acts 8:18-20 we read part an account regarding a man named Simon: “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” This same truth, we believe, is demonstrated by Elisha, after Naaman does get healed. “…now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” But he [Elisha] said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he [Naaman] urged him to take it, but he [Elisha] refused.” “Faith-healers” take note! Matthew10:8 records Jesus’ words “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Now comes perhaps the most famous part of this account of Naaman – in 2 Kings 5:9-14. But, before we even get to the core of the lesson, take note of verse 9-10a “Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,…” Naaman is a pretty important guy (in Syria, anyway) and he doesn’t even get to meet Elisha. Elisha sends a messenger to him. Did you know that God did, and still does, send His message through a messenger? God’s Word, the Bible, is God’s messenger. God uses people as messengers to bring His message to other people. God sent prophets to His own people of Israel. (See Hebrews 1:1-2).
The message that Elisha sends to Naaman is this: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”
And now for the response of Naaman in verses 11-12: “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.” This is rich material for spiritual application. First, notice the attitude – fury and rage. Naaman doesn’t like what he was told. Now for the reason for the fury and rage – Naaman’s pride was wounded. Naaman had it all figured out, just how this healing ought to take place, But he was wrong! Do you see the application? A leper is in no position to dictate terms to God. How many, many people want healing, cleansing, salvation, or whatever, from God. But they have it all figured out how God is going to (or at least how He should) do it. And when God says how HE wants to do it, ah, the response of anger, fury and rage against God – the only hope for what is needed. How sad! Unbelievers don’t like God’s way of salvation or God’s way of living. They reject the Gospel because it is not packaged the way they want it. (You know, Christians are sometimes guilty of the same thing. In fact, believers and unbelievers alike are known to not like God’s way of forgiveness and restoration via repentance – that’s God’s way). God had given us His Word; He has sent His prophets; He sent His Son, Jesus Christ; indeed He has told us and shown us HIS way for us to take – and it is not one of many ways, it is His way, or no way! Now you can get angry at that, just like Naaman did at first, and go away unhealed, uncleansed, to live with the disease and die from the disease, or you can humble yourself, like Naaman eventually did, and be healed the only way that you can be healed – by God, His way. In verse 12, Naaman asks the great question – what’s wrong with the rivers in Syria (or, what’s wrong with some “other” method or place of healing?) How can God be so narrow-minded as to ONLY allow the waters of the Jordan to bring about my healing? The truth is – it’s God prerogative! If HE is the One Who heals, He gets to choose how and where! It’s as simple as that.
Verse 13 sheds some additional light on the story. “And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Note that Naaman’s servants serve as counselors here, encouraging Naaman, using wisdom to persuade him to do the right thing. That may be our role at times in life. But the bigger observation based on the counsel of the servants is this: Had Naaman been instructed to build a tower, or an altar, or anything considered a “great thing” (as the servant counseled), Naaman would have done it. He would have worked for his healing! How many people are ready, willing and eager to work to receive from God what they want – and God essentially says “you can’t get it that way”.
In verse 14, then, we read that the encouraging counsel of the servants was followed and Naaman indeed “went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Now don’t miss this truth which reinforces what we have already said – when God says “seven”, six won’t do. Naaman could have gone through all the motions and after six attempts said “this is ridiculous”. But incomplete obedience is disobedience. Six is man’s number, seven is God’s. If we don’t follow through and do it ALL God’s way, it will not work! It is God’s way or no way. We have a difficult time learning that lesson, don’t we.
I am reminded of that scene in the upper room which we read in John 13 “Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;…”
Back to 2 Kings 5, once Naaman obeys, we read in verse 13 that “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him;”. When Naaman first came to Elisha, Elisha sent a messenger with the message. Once Naaman humbled himself, obeyed and was cleansed, he could then stand before the man of God! Once we are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God and thereby cleansed from our sin, we are able to stand before a holy God. “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
If you want one more lesson from this chapter 5 of 2 Kings, it is in the remaining verses. We believe you will see some lessons plainly, if you have taken in all that we have said thus far, and so please take the time to read and meditate on that portion for yourself. Just being in the company of, and in the service of, the man of God (Elisha) did not make Gehazi into the man of God that HE (Gehazi) should have been. And so the path he chose led to the consequences that he received judgment from God in the form of Naaman’s leprosy coming upon his own body.
I wonder if Ananias and Sapphira (see Acts 5:1-11) ever read this latter portion of 2 Kings 5. But now that you have read this entire chapter, what difference will it make in your life?
We wish to share some observations, thoughts and challenges from the Biblical account regarding Naaman. If you are unfamiliar with that account, or just haven’t looked at it for a long time, please take a few moments to read 2 Kings chapter 5 before reading the rest of this page.
The chapter opens with some basic information about a man named Naaman: “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.” I once read a sermon entitled “A Great Man, but…” In this opening verse we are told that Naaman is great, honorable, and a mighty man of valor, BUT he is a leper. He had admirable qualities, but he had a “flaw”. Note - The physical disease of Leprosy is often used to parallel spiritual uncleanness, or sin.
Some of you may respond to the above with an attitude something like this: With all those good qualities, why can’t you look past this “flaw” and ignore it. That’s actually a good question, but a poor attitude. If someone does more good things than he does bad things, does that make the doing of the bad things okay? If your foot is swollen to twice its normal size, is it okay to ignore it because, after all, the rest of your body is healthy?
In the first five verses of the second chapter of the Revelation, we read God’s assessment of the church at Ephesus: “‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” There is much to commend, and Jesus does so, but…. “nevertheless”, there is a flaw. Is the flaw to be overlooked? NO. God expects repentance, and if repentance does not come, God will bring about consequences. Similarly, to the church at Pergamos, the Lord says: “And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam,…” Does God point this out without any expectation of response? No. Once again, he says “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly”. To the church at Thyatira He says: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.” The comment at the end of each letter to each of the churches is “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Are you listening?
Is it possible that there are “great” men and women doing “great” things, but God sees their sin – and He wants, more than their “great deeds”, for them to be clean and pure. Coming to the place of realizing such a thing in your own life is the very stuff that makes a revival – our responding to the “but….” and the “nevertheless...”. And it is our failure to respond to those very same “but…” and “nevertheless…” that keeps revival from occurring. We may even pray that God will send revival, but we won’t respond to the “but…” and the “nevertheless…” that He has already shown to us.
Well, hopefully, you get the idea and we will move on to some other observations and thoughts from this account of Naaman. We go next to verses 2-3 where we read “And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” Here, we find a demonstration of Godliness (Christ-likeness) in a young girl. Think about this. She has been taken captive by an enemy, removed from her home and her homeland and been made to be a maid – a servant girl. With all of that experience, one might expect her to be bitter and angry and filled with hatred for her captors. We might even deem her “justified” in having the attitude whereby she thanks God that Naaman has leprosy – after all, he is just getting what he deserves! But such is not the case! Consider these facts:
She is genuinely concerned for her “master”.
She knows where he can get the help he needs.
She does not withhold that information, but out of love and concern, makes it known that healing is possible and is available.
Can we pause and make a few applications?
Are we genuinely concerned about others? Do we love in that way? Did you know that Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;…” (Matt 5:43-45a)
Do you know where to find the only “cure” for sin and for the help that so many need? “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)
“Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” (Luke 6:47-48)
The young girl did not withhold the truth she had, for she knew it was his only hope. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” (1 Peter 3:15)
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
There is so much more that could (and perhaps should) be said in regards to this last application, but we shall move on, for there are more things to see in this account. We read in verse 5 that Naaman “departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.” Now, we can quite safely say that some of these items were to take care of necessities along the journey. However, we will suggest that these amounts are far more than were required for that purpose alone and so we conjecture that there was an intent to pay for, or to reward, a successful healing. Here’s the truth for us – there is no way to pay, with anything or any amount that we can possibly offer, for the very thing that we need most. The Bible repeatedly speaks of the “gift” of eternal life, the “gift” of salvation – never of “works”. God “gives” the living water (John 4), God “gives” (and liberally, at that) wisdom to those who ask of Him, and on we could go. In Acts 8:18-20 we read part an account regarding a man named Simon: “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” This same truth, we believe, is demonstrated by Elisha, after Naaman does get healed. “…now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” But he [Elisha] said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he [Naaman] urged him to take it, but he [Elisha] refused.” “Faith-healers” take note! Matthew10:8 records Jesus’ words “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Now comes perhaps the most famous part of this account of Naaman – in 2 Kings 5:9-14. But, before we even get to the core of the lesson, take note of verse 9-10a “Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,…” Naaman is a pretty important guy (in Syria, anyway) and he doesn’t even get to meet Elisha. Elisha sends a messenger to him. Did you know that God did, and still does, send His message through a messenger? God’s Word, the Bible, is God’s messenger. God uses people as messengers to bring His message to other people. God sent prophets to His own people of Israel. (See Hebrews 1:1-2).
The message that Elisha sends to Naaman is this: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”
And now for the response of Naaman in verses 11-12: “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.” This is rich material for spiritual application. First, notice the attitude – fury and rage. Naaman doesn’t like what he was told. Now for the reason for the fury and rage – Naaman’s pride was wounded. Naaman had it all figured out, just how this healing ought to take place, But he was wrong! Do you see the application? A leper is in no position to dictate terms to God. How many, many people want healing, cleansing, salvation, or whatever, from God. But they have it all figured out how God is going to (or at least how He should) do it. And when God says how HE wants to do it, ah, the response of anger, fury and rage against God – the only hope for what is needed. How sad! Unbelievers don’t like God’s way of salvation or God’s way of living. They reject the Gospel because it is not packaged the way they want it. (You know, Christians are sometimes guilty of the same thing. In fact, believers and unbelievers alike are known to not like God’s way of forgiveness and restoration via repentance – that’s God’s way). God had given us His Word; He has sent His prophets; He sent His Son, Jesus Christ; indeed He has told us and shown us HIS way for us to take – and it is not one of many ways, it is His way, or no way! Now you can get angry at that, just like Naaman did at first, and go away unhealed, uncleansed, to live with the disease and die from the disease, or you can humble yourself, like Naaman eventually did, and be healed the only way that you can be healed – by God, His way. In verse 12, Naaman asks the great question – what’s wrong with the rivers in Syria (or, what’s wrong with some “other” method or place of healing?) How can God be so narrow-minded as to ONLY allow the waters of the Jordan to bring about my healing? The truth is – it’s God prerogative! If HE is the One Who heals, He gets to choose how and where! It’s as simple as that.
Verse 13 sheds some additional light on the story. “And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Note that Naaman’s servants serve as counselors here, encouraging Naaman, using wisdom to persuade him to do the right thing. That may be our role at times in life. But the bigger observation based on the counsel of the servants is this: Had Naaman been instructed to build a tower, or an altar, or anything considered a “great thing” (as the servant counseled), Naaman would have done it. He would have worked for his healing! How many people are ready, willing and eager to work to receive from God what they want – and God essentially says “you can’t get it that way”.
In verse 14, then, we read that the encouraging counsel of the servants was followed and Naaman indeed “went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Now don’t miss this truth which reinforces what we have already said – when God says “seven”, six won’t do. Naaman could have gone through all the motions and after six attempts said “this is ridiculous”. But incomplete obedience is disobedience. Six is man’s number, seven is God’s. If we don’t follow through and do it ALL God’s way, it will not work! It is God’s way or no way. We have a difficult time learning that lesson, don’t we.
I am reminded of that scene in the upper room which we read in John 13 “Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;…”
Back to 2 Kings 5, once Naaman obeys, we read in verse 13 that “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him;”. When Naaman first came to Elisha, Elisha sent a messenger with the message. Once Naaman humbled himself, obeyed and was cleansed, he could then stand before the man of God! Once we are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God and thereby cleansed from our sin, we are able to stand before a holy God. “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
If you want one more lesson from this chapter 5 of 2 Kings, it is in the remaining verses. We believe you will see some lessons plainly, if you have taken in all that we have said thus far, and so please take the time to read and meditate on that portion for yourself. Just being in the company of, and in the service of, the man of God (Elisha) did not make Gehazi into the man of God that HE (Gehazi) should have been. And so the path he chose led to the consequences that he received judgment from God in the form of Naaman’s leprosy coming upon his own body.
I wonder if Ananias and Sapphira (see Acts 5:1-11) ever read this latter portion of 2 Kings 5. But now that you have read this entire chapter, what difference will it make in your life?