“Now Naaman
was commander of the army of the King of Aram. He was great in sight of his
master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to
Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.”
2
Kings 5:1
One
cannot ignore the laundry list of adoration and praises that are heaped upon
this man Naaman as you read through 2 Kings 5:1. However, all the accolades
seem of little consequence with the addition of four little words at the end of
the sentence… “But he had leprosy.”
Leprosy,
in Biblical times, was a contagious, wasting disease that carried an almost
inevitable death sentence. It seemed that this man, who was respected by so
many, would have his life cut short if something miraculous did not occur.
One
day, a young girl from Israel, who had been captured by Aram’s army, was
serving in Naaman’s house. While she was attending Naaman’s wife she said: “If only my master would see the prophet who
is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy!”
With
no cure for the deadly disease, Naaman was desperate! He approached the King of
Aram for permission to go find the man of God. Armed with a letter from the
king, ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing,
Naaman set out for Samaria to find Elisha the prophet.
Upon
arriving at Elisha’s house, the prophet sent a messenger out to speak to
Naaman. He instructed Naaman to go down and dip seven times in the Jordan River
and there his flesh would be restored and he would be cleansed. At first Naaman
was reluctant. If fact, he was down-right mad! He expected Elisha, himself, to
come out and do some mighty miracle before his eyes. He was so upset that he stormed
away in a rage.
However,
after some words of wisdom from his servants, Naaman obeyed the prophet of God
and did exactly what he was instructed. When he came up out of the Jordan River
the seventh time, he was made whole. Naaman
returned to Elisha and declared in 1 Kings 5:15:
“Now I know that there is no God in the
entire world except in Israel.”
Naaman
became a believer in Jehovah! At this point, Naaman understands very little
about the God of Israel as is evidenced by his initial response to his healing.
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