II Kings 5:1-4.
"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.
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.
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.
And [one] went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that [is] of the land of Israel."
Naaman's little maid shares several traits in common with the believer who is faithful to speak God's Word of deliverance in the land of the enemy in spite of adverse circumstances.
Naaman's little made was "little": she was small in stature and young, quite possibly still a child. She was the very opposite of Naaman in terms of worldly credentials. In her world, she was a nobody, she didn't count. Yet it was she who, by her words, set Naaman on the path to deliverance.
She was freeborn, but had been taken captive by the Syrians. She had every excuse to wallow in self pity,to blame God for her sorry state but she didn't. To her, God was still the source of deliverance.
She was not bitter against those who held her captive. All she had to do in order for Naaman to suffer was keep quiet. No one would have blamed her; he was an enemy of God's people! Yet she loved Naaman and his family enough to show them the way to deliverance. She was the living embodiment of "love your enemies".
There is no record that she was ever rewarded for what she did (though Naaman was certainly grateful when he returned home). Whether or not she was rewarded is not important. She did not do this for a reward from Naaman; she did it out of a genuine love and concern for Naaman, her enemy.
The Kings
II Kings 5:5-8.
"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.
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.
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.
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."
The kings in this record are all too much like some of the religious leaders of that day and ours.
The Syrian king started off in idolatry and ended in idolatry. He knew that his "church" and his gods couldn't help Naaman, and he was quite willing to send Naaman to someone else to get the job done. He was not reluctant to receive blessings from God. However, he had no intention of deserting the "faith of his fathers", not even for a God who truly delivered. And in spite of Naaman's healing, he expected Naaman to come back to church with him. Naaman was under no illusions that even his miraculous healing could pry his king away from his idols. He was truly committed to his "church".
The king of Israel was a different story entirely. He was Jehoram, the son of Ahab. His father was one of Israel's worst kings, and Jehoram was no better. Once, when he and Jehosophat, king of Judah, found themselves in a tight spot, and Elisha the prophet was called to help them, he told Jehoram exactly what he thought of him.
II Kings 3:14.
"And Elisha said, [As] the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee."
When Naaman came to him for help, Jehoram did not even consider the possibility that God might be able to help him, even though God had helped him miraculously in the past. And even though Elisha lived in the same city that he did, Jehoram did not think of calling Elisha. Instead, he panicked.
Unlike the king of Syria, who knew nothing about God,Jehoram was one of God's chosen people. He knew who God was, and knew his power. However, he chose to stick with the idols of his father. In the end, he lost his life at the hands of Jehu, one of his generals, whom God commissioned to wipe out the worship of Baal in Israel.
In the end, neither of these men was able to lead Naaman to where he could be delivered. When Jehoram panicked, Naaman's quest reached a dead end. Had Elisha, the man of God, not taken the initiative at this point and contacted Jehoram, Naaman would have returned home a leper.
Leprosy
Naaman's disease, leprosy, has its own lesson to teach.
Leprosy begins as a localized skin disease. Depending on the resistance offered by the body of its victim, it may remain localized, or it may spread. It causes nerve destruction in the infected areas, causing the victim to lose his sense of feeling in those areas. It is this loss of feeling which poses one of the greatest dangers to the leper. If he hurts himself in one of these areas, he may not recognize his injury, or the severity of it, until it is severely infected. Also, leprosy tends to destroy its victim's bone tissue in the extremeties. It is this bone destruction which sometimes causes the victim to lose fingers or toes.
Leprosy is a lot like sin in some ways. It's loathsome, incurable (without God's help), destructive, and eventually fatal. No matter how successful or prosperous a person is in other areas, if he's a leper, that factor will eventually come to dominate that person's life, negating all other successes.
Naaman
Just as the little maid reminds us of the believer speaking God's Word, Naaman reminds us of the sinner.
Naaman was a man who had a first-class ticket to life. He was the Norman Schwartzkoph of his day, a hero to his king as well as the nation. Naaman was the man who had everything. Including leprosy.
That spoiled everything. For the time being it wasn't that big a deal. His disease wasn't that serious yet. He could still function in society. In Syria, lepers weren't quarantined at the onset of their illness, as in Israel. Eventually, though, his disease would spread. He would become disfigured, to the point where he could no longer stand to have other people see him. Finally, he would die a horrible death. His sentence had already been passed. He had no hope -- until his little maid told his wife about a prophet who could heal him.
Like most sinners, Naaman wasn't interested in developing a relationship with God; Naaman was hungry only for the benefits God could give him. He didn't start looking for God because of a God-hunger in his life; he became interested in God only because God's promise met him at his point of need.
Like most people who try to find God, Naaman tried to find him by going through the "proper channels". Unfortunately, the "proper channels" didn't know how to find God, either! By his own efforts, and by the efforts of the "proper authorities", Naaman's search for deliverance failed. He reached out for God, but he couldn't find Him.
Ultimately it was not Naaman reaching out that brought him deliverance. It was the man of God, Elisha, who took the initiative to direct Naaman to where he could be healed. Even so today, it is not our reaching toward God that brings us deliverance. God took the initiative and reached out toward us through His son, Jesus Christ. Had he not done so, all of our reaching would have been in vain.
The centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant confessed to Jesus that he was unworthy for the Lord to come under his roof. Naaman had no such problem. Naaman was worthy. Naaman was the worthiest man he knew. Naaman was worthy enough for his king to take the time to write a personal letter to a neighboring king asking for his deliverance. Naaman was somebody!
Like many of us, Naaman thought he could dictate the terms of his relationship with God. Like us, he was wrong.
When God didn't behave the way Naaman thought he should, Naaman acted: he rejected the Word of God toward him, took his marbles and headed home. Surely that would teach God not to trifle with someone as important as Naaman! Of course, God wasn't the one with leprosy...
Naaman's main problem was that, like us, he wanted to deserve his deliverance (by reason of his position), or earn it (by means of mighty works), or pay for it. As with us, God chose not to work that way. God gave Naaman his healing by grace -- and Naaman almost turned it down because the price was too low!
Fortunately, someone talked some sense into his head, and he humbled himself and obeyed God. His leprosy was "washed away" when he was "baptized" in accordance with God's instructions to him. When he obeyed, he was delivered.
His deliverance completely changed Naaman's attitude toward God. He became meek toward God. He was filled with a desire to give back. He acknowledged God as the only true God, worthy of his worship and obedience. He was filled with a desire to please God.
Two other points need to be made in connection with Naaman's healing. First, Jesus pointed out that even though there were plenty of lepers in Israel at this time, Naaman the Syrian was the only one who was cleansed.
Luke 4:24-27.
"And he said, 'Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.'"
In other words, the healing that Naaman received was not being given to Israelites at this time. Naaman was not getting merely "the crumbs that fall from the master's table"; he was getting the loaf that was supposed to be reserved for the children!
Second, it is very interesting that Naaman was neither required nor invited by God to become a proselyte, to be circumsized and thus become part of God's covenant with Israel. This was not a prerequisite for his healing, nor was it a result of it. Naaman came and left a Gentile; but with a difference. Naaman came to Israel an arrogant, willful, arrogant idolater. He left an humble, obedient worshipper of the one true God. His situation when he left was much like that of Cornelius the centurion before he was born again: a Gentile who feared God.
From the vantage point of those of us who are part of the Church of Grace, these two points seem to foreshadow, ever so dimly, the Great Mystery, God's acceptance of Gentiles as well as Jews into His household by grace.
Elisha
If Naaman reminds us of the sinner, Elisha reminds us of Jesus Christ. He was the man by means of whom God brought deliverance to Naaman.
With Naaman, Elisha took the initiative and reached out to him with deliverance, when Naaman's own efforts had failed. Elisha did not turn Naaman away in spite of the fact that he was a Gentile, and had no right to receive the promises of God. Elisha made no distinction between Jew or Gentile in this instance.
On the other hand, Elisha completely ignored Naaman's worldly status, giving him none of the honors that he thought were his due. In this instance, Elisha was no respecter of persons. He spoke God's word to him, and brought him deliverance.
It was customary in those days for men to bring a gift when they visited a prophet. Elisha broke custom in this instance by refusing to accept a gift from Naaman. This seems to emphasize that God's deliverance of Naaman was completely by grace, just as our deliverance is.
One of the most striking characteristics of this encounter is the fact that, when Naaman declared his allegiance to the one true God, Elisha did not try to make him a proselyte, a Jew by religion. The Law was very specific about how one did this -- circumcision was mandatory. Yet Naaman left Elisha with his foreskin intact. He left, not as a Gentile turned Jew, but as a Gentile worshipper of the one true God. For those of us who were born Gentiles, this example seems to foreshadow God's granting the gift of the new birth to Gentiles as well as Jews through Christ Jesus.
Gehazi
Gehazi is the final character we need to consider. If you read II Kings 5 quickly, you get the impression that he was nothing more than a house-servant. But Gehazi was much more than this: he was, at the very least, a prophet-in-training.
When Elijah the prophet was alive, Elisha used to "pour water on his hands" (II Kings 3:11), that is, he was Elijah's personal servant. When Elijah was taken away, Elisha was the man designated by God to take his place.
In this record, Gehazi functioned as Elisha's "prophet". God spoke to Elisha, and Elisha spoke to Gehazi, and Gehazi carried out God's instruction. In this entire record, Elisha had no personal contact with Naaman. Everything he said or did was done through Gehazi.
Today, God speaks to Christ and Christ speaks to us. He is our head, and we function as his body, his arms and legs, carrying out the instructions given to us by God through Christ.
As long as he followed Elisha's instructions, Gehazi was "walking by the spirit". The minute he struck out on his own, walking by his senses in disobedience to God's Word, disaster overtook him.
Gehazi allowed himself to become greedy for gain, to covet after the goods he had seen Naaman offer. Before he decided to go for the silver, every word he had spoken to Naaman had been God's Word, straight from his master's lips. When he asked Naaman for the gold, he pretended that the words were his master's. In effect, he invented his own "revelation" in order to benefit his own wallet.
He didn't break Naaman by his disobedience. Naaman had come prepared to pay many times more. But what he did in effect was charge Naaman for what God had specifically given him for free. He put a price tag (and a cheap one at that!) on Naaman's deliverance.
Elisha was not God, nor was he omniscient; yet he knew, by the spirit of God, exactly what Gehazi was doing, even as he did it. When Gehazi returned, Elisha confronted him with his disobedience. Afterwards, Elisha had the unfortunate responsibility of pronouncing God's sentence on Gehazi for his disobedience.
Gehazi stands as a warning to those of us who speak God's Word not to twist it to serve our own ends.