2 Kings 5
McGeeCHAPTER 5THEME: Naaman the Syrian
2 Kings 5:1
THE HEALING OF NAAMANChapter 5 is one of the most interesting chapters in the life of Elisha the prophet. It reveals that he was probably as rugged as Elijah and that he had a good sense of humor. I believe the Lord has a sense of humor and likes to use men who have a sense of humor. You cannot help but smile when you read this episode although it deals with a man in a very desperate situation. This first verse gives us a thumbnail sketch of Naaman. He was captain of the host of Syria. Although he was a pagan, he was both a great man and an honorable man. By him the Lord had given Syria deliverancethis is a remarkable thing. I am sure that you will agree that he was a man the Lord had used. You will find that the Lord uses men in this world who are not Christian.
That may seem strange to you, but you don’t have to read very far in the Word of God to find that He used men like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and Alexander the Great. Here we are told He used Naaman. We are also told that Naaman was a mighty man of valor. All of these things mentioned count in the high court of heaven. God does not despise these things. This heathen man was used of God: “By him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria.” Even though we find all of these fine things are said of him, we have this to add, “…but he was a leper.” There are many folks in the world today about whom nice things can be said although they are not Christians.
You can say that they are fine men and women and have done fine things. But you have to conclude it all by saying that they are sinners"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom_3:23). No matter how nice people might be, they are all sinners in God’s sight. Lepers were not excluded from society in pagan nations. It is interesting that God gave Israel a law about segregating lepers because it kept the disease from spreading. Today lepers are put in a colony and kept separate from society. God put these instructions in His Book centuries before any pagan nation realized they were necessary. This is something for you to think about, friend. It is not until you come into what we would call a “civilized day” that men decided to separate lepers from the rest of society. Leprosy in Scripture is a type of sin. One reason is that it was incurable by human means. Only God can cure sin and save a sinner. Naaman had many fine points, but he was a sinner. He tried to cover up his leprosy, but he could not cure it. Many people today whitewash sin. What they need is to be washed white, and only Christ can do that.
2 Kings 5:2
This is one of those unknown, unnamed characters in the Bible. She was a young maid, a little Hebrew girl, and a great person. To me she is as great as Queen Esther, Ruth the Moabite girl, Bathsheba, Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel. This little maid “waited on Naaman’s wife.”
2 Kings 5:3
This little Hebrew maid was in no position to give orders, but one day she uttered a sigh and said, “Oh, that my master would go down and see the prophet in Samaria. He would recover him of his leprosy"Elisha, you see, had quite a reputation. Well, someoneprobably his wifeheard what she said, and it reached the ears of the king of Syria.
2 Kings 5:4
The king of Syria was delighted to hear that something could be done for this very valuable man, and he immediately sent him to the king of Israel with a letter of introduction and a very handsome reward.
2 Kings 5:5
This letter from the king of Syria requesting that the captain of his army be healed of leprosy greatly disturbed the king of Israel. He exclaimed, “I am not God. I cannot heal him!” The message had been sent to the wrong person. The king of Israel read the message, but it should have gone to Elisha. I always feel like anyone who claims to have a gift of healing is almost being blasphemous, friend. The king of Israel said, “I don’t claim to be able to heal anyone.” Elisha did not claim to be a healer either, but he was in contact with the Great Physician. The king of Israel, however, came to the conclusion that the king of Syria was trying to start a quarrel with himwhy else would he send the captain of his army with this impossible request?
2 Kings 5:8
Elisha said, “Send Naaman down to me.”
2 Kings 5:9
Naaman was from a great kingdom in the north. In fact, his nation was at that time bearing down upon the nation Israel. Syria had already gained victories over Israel, and Naaman expected the red carpet to be rolled out for him. And what happened? Elisha told him to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times! Of course this hurt the pride of Naaman. Elisha actually received this man rudely. In fact, Elisha did not receive him at allhe did not even go to the door to receive him. You would think the prophet would bow and scrape to this great captain of the hosts of Syria. Instead, Elisha sent his servant to tell Naaman to go and wash seven times in the Jordan River. Do you think Naaman is going to accept this advice?
2 Kings 5:11
Naaman was upset because he was a very proud man. He had never received treatment like this before. The Lord is not only going to heal his leprosy, He is also going to heal him of pride. When God saves you, He generally takes out of your life that thing which offends. Pride just happens to be one of the things God hates. We hear a great deal about the fact that “God is love,” but God also hates. You cannot love without hating. You cannot love the good without hating the evil. If you love your children, you would hate a mad dog that would come into the yard to bite your little ones. You would want to kill that mad dog. It is true that God loves man, and in unmistakable language God declares that He hates the pride in man’s heart.
Pro_6:16-19 lists seven things that God hates. First on His list are these: “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.” Do you see what is number one on God’s hate parade? It is a proud look. God says He hates that. He hates that as much as He hates murder. Jas_4:6 says, “But he giveth more grace.
Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” Pride is the undoing of man. It is a great sin. In Pro_16:18 we read, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Pro_11:2 says, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.” Finally, Pro_29:23 says, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Why does God hate pride? The definition of pride is “excessive self-esteem.” It is inordinate self-esteem. It is more than reasonable delight in one’s position and achievement. Paul put it like this, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom_12:3).
Pride is placing an excessive price on self. It is demanding more than you are worth. Have you ever heard it said, “I wish I could buy that man for what he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth”? Pride is the difference between what you are and what you think you are. It was the pride of Satan that brought him down. That was his sin.
Pride was also the sin of Edom. Of Edom God said, “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD” (Oba_1:4). Man’s pride runs counter to God’s plan; and, whenever they meet, there is friction. There is no compromise. It is always a head-on collision. You see, God’s plan of salvation is the supreme answer to man’s pride. God lays man low. God takes nothing from man. Paul could say of himself when he met Jesus Christ, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Php_3:7). Paul gave up religion. Paul gave up everything he had been; he rated it as dunghe said, “I just flushed it down.” Christ and pride do not go together. You cannot be proud and at the same time trust Christ as your Savior. If you trust Him, my friend, you will lay all of your pride in the dust. The story of Naaman is the finest example that we have of a man being shorn of his pride. He was a great man, to be sure. God listed all the things that marked him out as a man of character and ability. But he was a leper. He was a sinner. God not only healed him of leprosy, He healed him of his pride.
Believe me, Elisha insulted him. Naaman thought Elisha would come out to him, stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. You know, that is religion. It is as if Naaman were saying, “Oh, if only I could have gotten into a healing line, and had him put his hand on me, and call upon God and pray. If only he had poured a little oil on me. That would be great.” That is religion, friend.
When God heals a person, it is by faith. He lays your pride in the ground. You do not go to a man for healing; you go to God, the Great Physician.
2 Kings 5:12
This is one place where I agree with Naaman. I saw those beautiful rivers in Lebanon. I went up to the city of Byblos from Beirut, and I stopped at a place called, “Calling Cards of the Great Men of the Earth,” because it is a place where many notable men have left inscriptions on the side of a cliff. I walked along a river there about half a mile and looked at the beautiful clear water rippling over the rocks. The Jordan is a muddy little stream, friend. It is not nearly as pretty as some of the streams in Lebanon. I rather agree with Naaman. He said, “Why in the world should I go and dip in the Jordan? Why not dip in a stream with clean water?” This has an application for us. A lot of folks hate to come to the Cross of Christ. It is a place of ignominy. It is a place of shame. People don’t want to come to the cross. Instead they want to do something great. That is what Naaman wanted to do. Oh, the pride of Naaman! He said the rivers of Damascus were better, and they were. He was disgusted with the impudence and impertinence of the prophet to tell him to wash in the Jordan. But, my friend, you will have to come to the Cross of Christ. You do not come to Jesus and stand before Him as a proud man. You cannot say that you have something you are resting on when you come to Him. You come, “just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me,” and shed for every person. All you have to do is accept His work on the cross.
2 Kings 5:13
As Naaman was riding away in a rage, his servants attempted to reason with him, “If the prophet had asked you to do something great, you would have done it.” How many people today would like to do some great thing for salvation? You don’t have to do anything; He has already done it for us. All we have to do is receive it. We come as beggars. Naaman would have to come that way also.
2 Kings 5:14
Naaman went down to the Jordan and dipped in the water seven times according to Elisha’s instructions. I would give almost anything in the world if I could have been there and watched him. I think every time he went down into the water he would come up and look at himself. He probably said, “This is absurd. I am not getting cleanI am not getting rid of my leprosy!” Then he went down into the water again. But he did dip himself in the Jordan seven times, and he was healed.
2 Kings 5:15
GEHAZI’S SIN AND THE PENALTYNow, deeply grateful for his healing, Naaman is pressing Elisha to accept these rich gifts he has brought as a token of his appreciation. But Elisha will not accept payment for what God has done. Now Elisha had a servant named Gehazi. He hated to see that handsome reward slip by, so he took out after Naaman.
2 Kings 5:21
Why did Gehazi take the offering from Naaman? Greed!
2 Kings 5:24
Gehazi allowed the servants to carry the gifts as far as the tower; then he took them himself and sent the servants back to Naaman so that Elisha would not see them. With the gifts safely stowed away, Gehazi rushes back to his job, acting as if nothing had happened.
2 Kings 5:26
The great sin of Naaman was pride. The great sin of Gehazi was greed. My beloved, greed is leprosy of the soul.