(REFLECTIONS ON 2 Kings 5:1-27)

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 great victory to Aram. The was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.

Naaman, a great man, with power and authority within the kingdom of Aram, but even in his greatness, he was a man in need. For all he had, he also suffered from leprosy. In contrast, we see how far the mercy of the Lord reaches. The Lord’s mercy came through a little girl that was taken captive from the land of Israel and served as Naaman’s wife’s servant.

It was this little girl that suggested that there was a prophet in Samaria that could cure Naaman of his leprosy. The king of Aram then sent Naaman to the king of Israel seeking a cure. Interestingly, the king of Aram didn’t send him to the prophet that the little girl suggested, but from power and authority to the power and authority of Israel.

However, based on the king of Israel’s response (tore his clothes) we realize that leprosy wasn’t something that power and authority could cure. Elisha eventually heard of what happened, and came not just to show that there is a prophet in Israel, but to show the power of the Lord.

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.”

However, this made Naaman furious saying,

“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.’

He turned and went away in rage until one of his servants convinced him to do as Elisha had said through his messenger.

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’?”

Naaman did what Elisha said and came back clean, with his flesh restored as that of a little child. He then declared that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Although the healing of his leprosy was miraculous, what was greater than that, was that he came to believe in the God of Israel witnessing and testifying of His greatness.

Naaman seemed to have everything, but his greatest need could not be met even with his position in the kingdom of Aram. However, rather than being a curse, his greatest physical need was what led the little servant girl to suggest that he go to Samaria, which ultimately led to his greatest spiritual discovery, the Lord.

Many people come to the Lord because of a great need, yet they may also walk away furious and in rage because God neither works according to their expectations nor asks them to do some great thing. Like Naaman, they stumble over the simplicity of obedience.

What do we expect from the Lord? Do we expect Him to do things based on our expectations, or are we willing to just do what He says?

In the end, is there anything greater than to know Him, and His Son, Jesus Christ, which according to the Gospel of John is eternal life? (John 17:3) Let us humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord so that we can have a heart to be willing to just do what He says, rather than demanding our expectations to be met, ultimately going away furious and in rage.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 2 Kings 5