I have come to realize the great importance of the people that have been forever immortalized in the Bible. When you consider the innumerable people that have lived throughout the history of the world, and then compare that number to the relative miniscule amount of characters whose stories are told in Scripture, there must be much to glean from the testimonies of their lives. One such character worthy of our attention is a man named Naaman. His story is primarily told in 2 Kings 5. 1
The Passage
“Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,
Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.
2 Kings 5:1-15, NKJV 2
And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.” So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ “Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
Naaman’s Character
We can discern much about Naaman from the text. For example, this chapter tells us that Naaman:
- was the Captain in charge of the entire Syrian army (vs 1)
- the Lord used him to give Syrian military success (vs 1)
- was a ‘mighty man of valor‘ (vs 1)
- was a leper (vs 1)
- had at least one Israelite as a slave/servant (vs 2)
- is forced to seek help from the very people he attacks and raids (vs 2-5+)
- was valued and appreciated by his king (vs 5)
- had his own ideas of how the prophet would heal him (vs 11)
- became furious when his expectations were not met (vs 11-12)
- was ready to abandon all hope in God’s prophet (vs 12)
- reluctantly obeyed and was healed (vs 14)
- came to know that the God of Israel is the One True God (vs 15)
Naaman’s Journey
Naaman seemingly had it all. He was somebody important. He was the commander of a mighty army. He had wealth, status, fame, position, a wife, and servants. He was a mighty man of valor…but a leper. In Scripture, leprosy is often associated with sin. Additionally, leprosy, like the sin it symbolized, makes us unclean in the eyes of God and man. By way of a parallel for you and I, it would like describing someone as being a ‘good person, kind, generous, wealthy, smart, has many degrees, successful in business, comes from a great family…but a sinner. It does not matter what worldly things we accomplish or possess, if we have not once and for all dealt with our curse of sin.
Next, Naaman hears about a person that can heal him. So what does he do? He uses every thing in his worldly arsenal to ensure he gets what he wants. He tries to use the influence of his king in writing a letter. He tries to bribe and purchase the healing with all the wealth at his disposal. He came in all of his splendor, pomp, and pride and stood at the door of the prophet. Likewise, he came with all his own expectations and formulas on how he thought it best for this man and his God to heal him…but he was still a leper.
Finally, as he stood at the door awaiting for the prophet to graciously receive him…the famous Commander of the Syrian Army…he was vexed by the response he received. What he received was:
- a greeting from the servant of the prophet, not the prophet himself
- the prophet would not even bother coming to the door to meet him
- simple instructions to do and wash 7 times in the River Jordan
- and the assurance that would heal him
By contrast, what he wanted was:
- to be recognized and honored for his position and not seen as a common person in need…as a leper
- a show put on by the prophet with some great incantations and signs
- for his salvation and healing to be some great thing…not a simple act that he didn’t understand
Our Take-Aways from Naaman
While there are many lessons from this story dealing with the actions of the kings, the roles played by the servants, and the far-reaching testimonies to the providence of God, the narrow scope here is simply the life lessons we can take away from Naaman and his story. I see four primary lessons for us today:
- Naaman was good and honorable man in the eyes of his king. He was widely regarded as a mighty man of valor. Nevertheless, all of that was meaningless to set him free from the curse of leprosy. The same can be said of all humans in regard to sin. It does not matter how much we have, what we have accomplished, or who we know…if we are still under the curse of sin. Just as Naaman only had one hope for a cure, the One True Living God, so you and I only have one hope of salvation and having our sin debt cancelled and paid in full. Our hope is in Jesus alone.
- Naaman came to the prophet of God in all his earthly glory. He was likely dressed in his formal military attire; he was loaded down with great wealth as a gift, and came with a note from the king. It backfired. When he arrived at the home of Elisha and was not received as he felt a royal dignitary should be, he became furious. By contrast, when we recognize that we are sinners in the hands of a righteously angered God, we should be crawling to Him in humility. We should not be approaching Him as Naaman did the prophet, as if we are doing Him a favor. We should keep in mind the words from Isaiah,
“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” 3 - Naaman came to God for help, but he came with expectations. Not only did he want God to heal him, but he expected a certain level of showmanship and effort in the process. We too are most likely guilty of this very thing. When we boldly come before His Throne of Grace to seek His face, do we also try and tell God how and in what manner to answer our prayers? And if He doesn’t do it our way…do we get angry or frustrated? turn bitter? blame God?
- Most likely due to his pride, Naaman thought that there had to be some great sign from God in order to heal him. He thought it silly and insulting to do something as just go and dip himself in the Jordan River seven times. Many of us today have this mentality. I know I did not grow up in church, so I thought ‘God’ (the deity I had fashioned mentally in my own image) wanted me to work and sacrifice and do ‘good things’ and then maybe He would accept me.
Along these line, the Paul wrote “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” 4
In the OT, this is how the Lord dealt with the prophet Elijah (Elisha’s mentor), “Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 5
Can you see any of Naaman’s character traits in yourself?
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