Naaman, Commander of the Syrian Army
2 Kings 5
1Now Naaman, (The name means, “Pleasantness”) 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. (Notice that the LORD helped Syria through Naaman.) He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2And 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. 3Then 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.” (Prov 3:27 NIV) Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. 4And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”
5Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, (About 750 pounds or $15,000 at today’s prices) six thousand shekels of gold, (About 150 pounds or $2,400,000 at today’s prices) and ten changes of clothing. (A travelers check would have been nice) 6Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,
Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.
7And it happened, when the king of Israel read
the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and
make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy?
Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.” (Israel and Syria were getting along pretty well at the time)
8So it was, when Elisha the man of God
heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king,
saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there
is a prophet in Israel.” (Have you ever hoped
that God would do something spectacular like this for you or someone you cared
about?)
9Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot,
and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10And Elisha sent a
messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your
flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” (Notice that Elisha never even came out to meet Naaman) 11But
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.’ (So Naaman had expectations about how Elisha should handle
the situation. Don’t we do the same sometimes?) 12Are
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. (Incredible as it may seem, Naaman
traveled all the way to Elisha with silver and gold hoping to be cleansed of
his leprosy and now he is ready to go back without even trying what Elisha told
him. Makes me think of, (Prov 16:18 NIV) Pride goes before destruction, a
haughty spirit before a fall.) 13And his servants came near
and spoke to him, and said, “My father, (Could also be translated as
“Chief” but certainly used in the sense of respect accorded a 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’?” (Naaman may have been prideful and arrogant and overly
demanding in his expectations but he also showed the marks of a good leader,
the ability to listen and to take advice.) 14So he 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. (God doesn’t do things in half measure. I’m sure
Naaman would have been happy to simply have the leprosy gone.)
15And he returned to the man of God, he
and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there
is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a
gift from your servant.” (I wish with all my
heart that God would make Himself known like this on a much larger scale. Then
again I suppose that would not serve His purposes very well.) … (We are not
told here what kind of gift Naaman was offering, but I think it must have been
substantial!)
16But he said, “As the LORD lives,
before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it,
but he refused. (To God be the glory.)
17So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two
mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt
offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. (Strange
as it may seem to us, Naaman thought earth from Israel was necessary for him to
worship the God of Israel in his own country.) 18Yet in this
thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of
Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple
of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon
your servant in this thing.” Rimmon was a pagan god of
storms and war. The name means, “Thunderer.” Naaman was in a difficult place.
He now knew there was actually no god except the God of Israel. But when he
returned to Syria he would of necessity bow to a false god. Have you ever felt
something akin to this?
19Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” Interestingly, Elisha after hearing from Naaman the admission
that the only true god was the God of Israel, but that he would still bow down
to Rimmon, Elisha simply told him to, “Go in peace.”
There’s a lot in this story. However, I want to pick out just a few points to take with us today.