20140610 Tuesday, June 10 2014
2 Kings 05: The Healing Of Naaman

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper"

Naaman was a Syrian military commander (see also 1 Kings 20: Benhadad of Syria) who was suffering from one of the most terrible and feared diseases of all of human history - leprosy. A captive Israelite girl, who became a slave to Naaman's wife, told her mistress that there was a prophet in Israel who could cure Naaman. The matter came to the attention of the king of Syria who sent a letter, along with a great amount of silver and gold, to the king of Israel for a cure for Naaman.

"5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

5:2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 5:3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

5:4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5:5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment." (2 Kings 5:1-5 KJV)

The Syrian king's letter was delivered to the king of Israel, who became very much dismayed at the official request because the king himself had no God-given power to heal. The prophet Elisha, who, by means of the Holy Spirit, did have the power to heal those who had faith, heard of it and went to the king to offer assistance (see 2 Kings 4: The Beginning Of Elisha's Miracles). Elisha sent a message to Naaman to "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

"5:6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

5:8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean." (2 Kings 5:6-10 KJV)

Rather than receiving Elisha's message with thanks, Naaman instead flew off into an vain nationalistic rage. Why, he asked, should he go to the waters of the Jordan, when the rivers of his hometown Damascus were far greater in size and beauty? The answer: because what Elisha told him to do was a matter of faith and obedience to God, not of water. It wasn't about the Jordan being "better," it was about faith and obedience being necessary.

"5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." (2 Kings 5:11-12 KJV)

Naaman's servants did not have their master's arrogance, and fortunately for Naaman, he listened to their plea to simply and humbly do what the man of God told him to do to be healed. The healing was not about a matter of "our rivers are better than your river," it was about faith and obedience to the God who has the power to heal. Naaman finally realized what he must do if he was to be healed.

"5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:13-14 KJV)

The incident also recorded a lesson about honesty. Naaman offered to pay for his healing, but Elisha refused. "But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him." It was a costly mistake for Gehazi, as declared by Elisha: "The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow."

"5:15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

5:16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. 5:18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace.

So he departed from him a little way. 5:20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

5:21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?

5:22 And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

5:23 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 5:24 And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 5:25 But he went in, and stood before his master.

And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi?

And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

5:26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow." (2 Kings 5:15-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: What did the Messiah command regarding lepers?
See Heal The Sick, Cleanse The Lepers