(a) Relate the story of the healing of Naaman.
(a) The healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19)
Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Syria (Aram). He was a great and honourable man, a mighty warrior through whom the Lord had given victory to Syria, but he was a leper. During one of the Syrian raids on Israel, a little Israelite girl had been taken captive and she served Naaman's wife. This girl told her mistress that if only Naaman were with the prophet in Samaria, the prophet would heal him of his leprosy.
When the report reached Naaman, he informed the king of Syria, who sent him with a letter to the king of Israel, together with much silver, gold and ten changes of clothing. On reading the letter which demanded that Naaman be cured, the king of Israel tore his clothes in dismay, thinking the Syrian king was seeking a quarrel, for he had no power to cure leprosy.
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent word asking that Naaman be sent to him, so that he might know there was a prophet in Israel. Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at Elisha's door. Elisha did not come out but sent a messenger to tell him to go and wash seven times in the River Jordan and his flesh would be restored.
Naaman was angry and went away, saying he had expected the prophet to come out, call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure him. He complained that Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, were better than all the waters of Israel. But his servants reasoned with him, saying that if the prophet had asked him to do some great thing he would have done it, so how much more when he was simply told to wash and be clean. Naaman then went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan as the man of God had said, and his flesh was restored like that of a little child, and he was clean.
He returned to Elisha with all his company and confessed that there was no God in all the earth except in Israel. He offered Elisha a gift, but the prophet refused. Naaman then asked for two mule-loads of earth so that he might worship the Lord alone in Syria, and Elisha bade him go in peace.
(b) How the name of God was glorified through his misfortune
- Naaman's public confession of the one true God: His leprosy brought him to Israel, and after his cleansing he openly declared, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel." His misfortune became the occasion of a pagan general acknowledging the God of Israel before all his servants.
- The prophetic authority of God in Israel was vindicated: Elisha healed him precisely so that Naaman would "know that there is a prophet in Israel," showing that the God of Israel, and not the idols of Syria, holds the power over sickness and life.
- The instrument of the humble was honoured: A little captive maidservant, weak and lowly, became the means through which God's saving power was made known, magnifying the fact that God works even through the humble to spread His fame.
- Naaman resolved to worship the Lord alone: He asked for earth from Israel so that he would offer sacrifice to no other god but the Lord, carrying the worship of the true God back into a heathen land.
