Though the king of Israel felt that the king of Aram was seeking a quarrel with him, Elisha did not think so. So when he heard of the king of Israel’s tirade, 2 Kings 5:8 said that he sent word to the king asking why was he in such a fit? Persuading him, he asked that Naaman be allowed to come to him. Then he would know that there’s a prophet in Israel. Indirectly, he would also know that Israel serves the real God.
When
Naaman arrived with his entourage and stood at the doorway of the house of
Elisha, instead of going out to greet him Elisha merely sent a message to
him through a messenger. He was told to go and wash in the Jordan River seven
times, and that his flesh would be restored and be made clean. Naaman did not
expect such a reception. For he was after all a highly regarded and militarily
skillful commander. Besides, he also came with a personal letter from the king
of Aram. He felt that the reception Elisha gave him was inappropriate for
a person of his caliber. It dealt a heavy blow to his pride. That was hard for
Naaman to swallow.
Naaman
anticipated Elisha to come to meet and stand before him, calling on the name of
the Lord his God, and waving his hand over the place and cure him, the
leper. But the prophet did none of these and only told him through a messenger
to wash seven times in the River Jordan. Feeling insulted, Naaman spoke
his mind aloud, sneering at the suggestion of Elisha. “Are not Abana and
Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I
not wash in them and be clean?” So he left in a rage.
Second
Kings 5:1 tells us that his servants tactfully intervened and used common sense
to reason with him. They told him that Elisha's instruction was not something
difficult. If he had asked him to do a harder thing, he would most likely obey.
Now what he asked Naaman to do was to simply go and wash in the Jordan. That
made sense to him, so he went and did what he was told by the man of God.
Miraculously his flesh was made clean, and his skin was instantly restored to that
of a little child.
There are many lessons we can glean
from this passage. Here are three: Firstly, God is ever willing to
meet people’s needs, all He needs is an instrument that will point others to
Him. We can be like the captive slave girl or the servants who reasoned with
Naaman. Are we willing to be His instrument? Secondly, pride like that of
Naaman can prevent a person from receiving the blessing God has installed for
us. Just imagine if Naaman’s hurt pride had prevented him to yield to the reasoning
of the servants, he would go away poorer. Thirdly, from Naaman’s miraculous
healing we learn that our God will never do an incomplete job. He was not only
healed but his skin was made as good as new. In the same way, our salvation is
complete. He has made us His new creation. Our old has passed away, and all
things have become new. What a glorious God!
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