by Frank Luke
2 Kings 5:1-14
Sermon Introduction
Last time, we spoke about how one man was being prepped as Elisha’s successor but failed when Naaman came to visit. Today, we will talk about why Naaman came to visit Elisha. How did this great general of the Arameans come to the prophet Elisha for healing?
I want us to see two important items in this passage. First, Naaman comes as a gentile. Naaman is not from the seed of Abraham. Secondly, I believe Jesus had this passage in mind in Matthew 18:3 when He said, “unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.” We’ll see why in the sermon.
Scripture Introduction
First and Second Kings were originally one book. Most likely the split came when translating the Hebrew into Greek. Greek just takes up more room when writing. The same thing happened with Samuel and Chronicles, originally two books not four.
In Kings we get to see prophets interacting with the sovereigns of the two kingdoms. Of the various prophets, Elijah and Elisha are often the focus. Elijah was a character, he was once recognized by his description of “a hairy man wearing a leather belt.” Born into wealth, Elisha was his successor. Elisha traveled with Elijah for some time before the mantle was passed on to him. Elisha is the prophet we will see here.
Naaman, on the other hand, was a gentile. He was an Aramean, an enemy of the people. He was one of the favored generals of King Hadadezer of Aram-Damascus. According to Josephus, Naaman was the archer who mortally wounded King Ahab and became haughty afterwards, thus being stricken with leprosy.
2 Kings 5:1-14 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.” 8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘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 cure the leper.’ 12 “Are not Abanah and 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. 13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean ‘?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.
Point 1: Naaman Comes as a Gentile
1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”
Far from the first gentile to come to faith, Naaman follows the mixed multitudes of Exodus 12:38 who follow the Israelites out of captivity, Jethro of Exodus 18, Rahab from Joshua 2, Ruth from the book of Ruth, and Shamgar of Anath (Judges 3:31) who was a judge!
I also want to point out that the leprosy he has is unlikely to be the modern leprosy. The same Hebrew word is used for various kinds of skin diseases. What Naaman had was likely flaking skin, discolored hair, and even some meat showing through the skin. It was bad enough but not deadly. Having it disqualified the bearer from serving in worship of God.
Naaman was a mighty warrior, beautiful, and beloved by the people. God had granted him victory over Israel. This is important. God was not defeated by the gods of Aram. God gave the victory over Israel to the foreign kingdom. God rules over all of history, both the wins and the losses. In those days, it was thought that the armies of whichever god was stronger won the battle. The Israelite prophets knew better.
More important in this situation is that Naaman wants to be cleansed but knows that the gods of Aram will not be of any help. However, he has a slave, a little Israelite girl who serves his wife. Instead of sulking and saying, “If god loved me, He wouldn’t have made me a slave,” she says, “Ma’am, there is a prophet in Samaria who can cleanse your husband.” This is proper. Instead of speaking to Naaman directly, she speaks to the wife. One of the older, English names for God is “Providence.” Providence placed this unnamed girl exactly where she needed to be to tell the general that he could be cured. And she served. As it says in Psalm 139, “before you knit me in my mother’s womb, you knew me.” God numbered all the days of our life.
Naaman the gentile wants to be cured and goes to the king of Samaria with a letter from his king. Most likely this is King Jehoram, but he is not named in the Scripture. Jehoram of Israel was better than his father Ahab, but that’s a low bar to clear, in fact, the bar pretty well lies on the ground. He refused to worship Ba’al and removed some of the pillars to Ba’al, but he did not stop the Israelites from pursuing Ba’al. Because of Jehoram’s actions, he and Elisha had a cordial relationship. Jehoram would be the last of the powerful Omride dynasty to rule over Israel.
Naaman brought gifts. This is not bribery. In those days, you took gifts to those who helped you. What’s amazing is the dollar value of those gifts. Ten talents of silver is 750 pounds. 6,000 shekels of gold is 150 pounds. In today’s money, that was over 6.5 million dollars in precious metals plus ten high-quality garments. You didn’t just bring a suit off the rack as a gift for a prophet, you got him the one-of-a-kind, designer original goods!
Jehoram misunderstood the letter from the king of Aram. He took it as a sideways challenge. If the king could not provide for the healing of Naaman, Aram could use it as a pretext to invade. No king wants to be invaded. Jehoram didn’t know what to do.
Point 2: Naaman Leaves Like a Little Child
8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘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 cure the leper.’ 12 “Are not Abanah and 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. 13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean ‘?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.
Jehoram’s mistake above was thinking the king of Aram wanted the king to do the healing. Hadadezer didn’t care how Naaman got cleansed—he just wanted it to happen. Elisha hears the king has entered mourning for this and goes to him. Apparently a bit of time passed, but we don’t know how much.
Naaman goes to Elisha but does not enter the house. Elisha doesn’t go to see him but sends a messenger to give him the word. It was a simple act of faith, “dip in the Jordan 7 times and be cleansed.” Naaman goes away in anger because the Jordan was infamous for being a muddy river. Aren’t the rivers of Damascus better than the Jordan? Couldn’t the prophet just come out and wave his hand over me?
One of Naaman’s servants points out to him, quite respectfully, that if the prophet had asked Naaman to do something great, Naaman would have done it without hesitation. Why not do this little thing.
Naaman realizes the servant is correct, goes to wash in the Jordan (the Greek says he baptized himself in the Jordan), and his skin is made like that of a little child.
Little child. There’s a pun in the Hebrew here. “Little girl” in verse 2 is na’arah qtanah. Naaman’s skin is like a “na’ar qaton.” Pun. The two are linked. The little girl helps Naaman get skin like a little child.
There’s a picture here that connects us to the New Testament. All of the Old Testament proclaims Christ. All of it. Here, we see it in the faith of two of the actors.
The little girl, placed there by Providence, shows faith in God. “The Lord of Israel can heal my mistress’s husband!” Faith like a little child, Jesus says in Matthew 18:3. We can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless we become like “little children.” Matthew uses a form of the word in the Greek translation of the OT used to describe Naaman’s skin after he obeyed.
There’s also the faith of Naaman. Naaman shows faith, finally, but as Jesus tells us the laborers at the end of the day are paid the same as those who started in the morning. It’s the faith that counts. When Naaman is healed, he is given skin like a “little child.” He showed faith like the little girl had and was granted healing because of it.
I do wonder about another connection to Jesus. In Luke 7, Jesus is approached by some Jewish elders who ask that the servant of a foreign centurion be healed. The centurion is a God-fearer, he loves the nation and has helped build the synagogue but has not become a full convert. Jesus prepares to go, but the centurion says, “don’t bother going into my house, you have authority to heal him from a distance!”
Naaman did not enter the prophet’s house. The centurion asked Jesus not to enter his home. Jesus and Elisha both granted the healings. Being a God-fearer, the centurion was familiar with the Old Testament. He knew what God could do, and perhaps he had even had the story of Elisha and Naaman in mind when he sent the servant to tell Jesus to do it from a distance. And Jesus said the centurion had faith greater than any other in Israel.
Conclusion
Have you come to Jesus as a little child? Have you been to the waters for cleansing? Do you need healing? The prophet Isaiah said that by His stripes, we were healed. Jesus heals body and soul. Do you need a physical healing or delivered from something else? Come for healing.
The Jordan River became a spot of great many baptisms later. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan. In the waters of baptism, we are all equalized. Rich, poor, great, small, old, young, all emerge as children of God. If you have made faith in Christ your own, you need to follow Him in baptism.
We will be here for those who want to pray for any reason. Faith like a child does great things in your life.
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Please visit Frank Luke’s Blog where this sermon is also posted.
Beautiful truth.