Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever been a “peacemaker” helping to resolve a volatile situation before it exploded into violence? Perhaps you’ve been a ‘peacemaker’ stepping into a battle that has been raging as you tried to bring a negotiated peace? Elisha, the prophet of God we’ve been traveling with lately, was a ‘peacemaker’.
Join me again in Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom Israel, about 840bc as the king of Israel has received a strange letter from the king of Aram (Syria) delivered by Naaman the commander of the army of Aram. The letter has nothing to do with military activities, but rather is a request that the king of Israel heal Naaman from his leprosy! (2 Kings 5:4-7)
Of course the king of Israel has no such ability and assumes the king of Aram is taunting him into a fight. But when the leaders of two nations fight, that means their armies fight and lots of people get killed! This story is found in 2 Kings 5 and verse 8 tells us that Elisha, the prophet of God, heard about this volatile situation so he sent this message to Israel’s distraught king: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet of God in Israel!”
Remember that this king and the several before him, going back almost 100 years, have all been wicked men promoting idol worship and immorality in Israel and doing all they can to turn the people of Israel away from Almighty, Holy God. So Naaman with his entourage left the palace of the Israelite king and went to find the house of Elisha the prophet.
Perhaps you’ve noticed famous and powerful people who travel in entourages expect to be treated differently than normal folks. So it was with Naaman. But Elisha, a prophet of God, was not about to be intimidated, and perhaps part of the reason Naaman had leprosy was because he was a prideful man.
We can imagine Naaman’s shock when a man came out of Elisha’s house saying he was the prophet’s servant and he had a message for Naaman the government official from Aram! The message was: “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan river and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” (2 Kings 5:10)
Pride and arrogance have a tendency to distort reality don’t they, especially the real truth of ourselves. Naaman was stunned and offended. He said to himself and perhaps some of those with him: “I thought this prophet would surely come out to me and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy! Are there not rivers in Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” (2 Kings 5:11,12) And commander Naaman turned and started his journey back to Damascus in a rage of anger!
Now I must ask all of us … do we see ourselves in this picture? How often have we reacted in anger when our expectations weren’t met? How often have cooler heads prevailed and friends needed to walk us back off the ledge of doing or saying something in our anger that we’d regret? Evidently one or two of Naaman’s courageous, trusted servants approached him in his anger, as they started back to Damascus, and asked a courageous question: “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you have done it?” Oh my that pierces our hearts doesn’t it? How often has pride blinded you and me to hope and possibilities?
So evidently Naaman came to his senses and turned his entourage east toward the Jordan river. I wonder if he was mumbling to himself in his prideful frustration as he took off his uniform, exposing his leprosy, and walked down into the Jordan river waters? Then up and down, once, twice, five times, seven times. I wonder what Naaman’s attitude was? Then Naaman slowly came walking up the bank of the river looking carefully at his legs and arms.
The record says this: “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy, as the man of God had said!” Now proud Naaman, cleansed of his leprosy, had a decision to make. Continue on toward Damascus or go back and thank Elisha? Let me ask you, no matter where you live in the world, have you noticed expressions of genuine “thank you” either spoken or especially written, are increasingly rare? When is the last time you received a note of thanks from someone you helped?
Naaman turned his chariot back toward Samaria and perhaps said, ‘we’re going back to thank that man of God.’ I wonder if his entourage was shocked? My guess is Naaman didn’t often thank anyone for anything! Apparently this Jordan river bath cleansed more than Naaman’s skin, is it possible he’s also had a change of heart and attitudes? The record says: “Naaman stood before Elisha and said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel! So please accept a gift…”
Oh my what a statement! While the kings of Israel were promoting the idol worship of surrounding nations including Aram, this commander experienced an encounter with the one, true, living God of Israel and made a bold, courageous declaration! But as amazing as Naaman’s declaration was, even more amazing was Elisha’s response! “The prophet answered, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, I will not accept anything.’ And even though Naaman urged Elisha, he refused.”
Do you see what’s happening here my friends? Elisha is making sure HE receives none of the credit for this miracle. A Syrian military commander has just declared the God of Israel to be the ONLY true God, and Elisha was determined to not in any way confuse or disrupt this powerful, profound spiritual experience Naaman was having as his mind and heart opened to God’s truth.
Watch that my friends. Are we sure we are always pointing people to Jesus and never to ourselves?
If Naaman’s entourage was not already stunned enough, now they were shocked as Naaman asked one more thing. He asked permission from Elisha that he would take as much Israel dirt as two mules could carry, and bring it back to Damascus, promising to build a proper altar there, where he would worship only the God of Israel!
Now think for a moment about how that must have impacted his Syrian attendants? One of the highest ranking officials in Aram (Syria) was going to build an altar in Damascus, the capital of Syria, for worshipping the God of Israel!! And Elisha’s answer to recently cleansed and changed Naaman was: “go in peace”. Can we imagine the scene as Elisha and his servant Gehazi stand waving to Naaman, fully cleansed of his leprosy and totally changed in his heart, as he and his entourage, including two mules loaded down with dirt, head back to Damascus?
May I ask my friends, have you seen yourself in the Naaman story today? Is there some cleansing God wants to do in your life today? You don’t have to go to the Jordan river, God is ready right now to hear your prayer of repentance and do His cleansing work in your life.
What Naaman didn’t know, and we will see tomorrow, is that Elisha’s servant Gehazi was struggling with an attitude in his heart which would nearly destroy his life. For today, join me in this great song of worship to our great, life changing God, the same God Naaman was going to worship!
Today’s Scripture: 2 Kings 5:4-19.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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