In 2 Kings 5, we read the story of a man named Naaman, who was one of the most powerful men of his day: the leader of the Syrian army. He had everything he could want: power, money, fame, influence. But he was a leper, and try as he might, none of his vast resources could help him with that problem.
But Naaman heard from one of his servants about a prophet in Israel named Elisha, who was renowned for performing miracles throughout the region. And Naaman resolved to go and be healed. So he approached the problem as any military man might. He gathers his army, he collects orders from his king, and he goes straight to the palace of Israel’s king. Because surely if there were a man that powerful in the land, that’s where he would be! What king wouldn’t want a prophet of that ability close at hand to help in all the vital judgments and actions of his kingdom.
But when Naaman arrives and makes his request, the king of Israel (most likely Jehoram, the son of Ahab) is outraged at the request.
“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” (2 Kings 5:7).
As it happens, Jehoram had so alienated himself from the God of Israel that calling on one of his prophets for aid never even entered his mind! He certainly wasn’t going to call for Elisha – a man who just recently had told him “Were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.” (2 Kings 3:14)
Elisha found out about the request and directed that Naaman be sent to him for healing. But when Naaman arrived, he was greeted by a servant, who told him to go wash seven times in the Jordan River in order to be healed.
“But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana 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.” – 2 Kings 5:11-12
Naaman had four issues that had to change for him to receive this blessing from God
- His pride had been injured. He wanted to be treated as a powerful man should be treated. Elisha seemed to be treating him as a secondary priority, and he was a man used to receiving much more deferential treatment. He certainly wasn’t used to someone who was so unimpressed with his power that he couldn’t even be bothered to come out and speak to him personally!
- His dignity had been challenged. He had expected some great spectacle or ceremony that was more worthy of his station and ability, and instead he had been given a task that in his view was beneath him.
- He didn’t understand how God’s power works. He was surrounded by an idolatrous culture that emphasized dramatic rituals and ceremonies designed to create a sense of awe and wonder, intended to attract the attention of the god that was being petitioned. The idea that unceremoniously dipping himself in a river would bring healing was completely foreign to his experience. And after all, the Jordan water was inferior! How much more effective would cleaner, purer water have been?
- He had lost his perspective. Naaman had come to be healed by the one person in the world who seemed able to accomplish it, and Naaman was acting as if he had standing, as if he were owed something because of who he was. He was used to being the one in power, but in this case, he was the one who was powerless, petitioning favor from someone who was in a position to do what he could not do for himself.
There was no glory to be found in dipping in the Jordan. No claim of having “earned” his healing, or won favor with God because of some great accomplishment. No one would ever say “Naaman accomplished something amazing!”
But Naaman’s servants reminded him of an important point:
“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’?” (2 Ki 5:11–14)
And when Naaman humbled himself and accepted Elisha’s terms, he was not only healed, but “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child.” (2 Kings 5:14)
Naaman wasn’t just cured. He was converted. The experience changed him and his attitude, and when he returned to Elisha and renounced his past idolatrous worship, declaring “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”
Naaman had been dealing with false idols all his life. Confronted finally with the Lord of Hosts, the creator of the world, he humbled himself and his life and perspective was changed forever.
And the true power in this story is that Naaman – a Gentile with no knowledge of God – shows a repentance and humility that was almost unheard of among God’s own people.
“Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?” – (Jeremiah 2:5)
When we spend our lives seeking answers from people who can’t help us, our lives become futile, and we become spiritually useless before God. And too often, God’s people seek to improve their lives not by drawing closer to God, not by rededicating themselves to living as sacrifices for the Lord in every aspect of their lives, but by seeking out worldly accomplishment, worldly fulfillment, focusing their time and energy pursuing a life that people outside of the kingdom of God value – a life that has no value whatsoever in the eyes of God.
When we approach God:
- Is our pride injured? God calls us to come to Him broken, knowing that only through Christ can we be made whole. Is that attitude conducive to making demands or setting limits on what we will do in order to please Him?
- Is our dignity challenged? Is the structure of God’s kingdom unsuited for my desire for personal glory or importance? Are we more focused on being the person in the spotlight than we are being the one who does the “small” things to serve our spiritual family?
- Do we understand how God’s power works? Are we open to allow God to change us through His Spirit, not in some miraculous way that’s outside of our control, but by aligning our own will with God’s, by growing in our knowledge of what it truly means to follow Jesus in all aspects of our lives, and allowing that knowledge to shape everything we do, and everything we are?
- Do we have the proper perspective toward God? If God is my creator, and God has offered this gift of grace to me, am I more concerned with defending my own righteousness, my own ideas on how God ought to “run things” in this world than I am with simply listening and obeying whatever He calls me to do through the teachings of Jesus and the apostles?
Which character are we in this story: Are we Naaman, who humbled himself and obeyed God’s command, even when he didn’t fully understand why? Or are we Jehoram, who had set himself opposed to God, refusing to humble himself because he was content pursuing the worthlessness and emptiness of this world?
God’s invitation is there for us, but it calls us to leave behind our pride, our self will, and our preconceptions of what we think God ought to accomplish through us. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Je 29:13)
