King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 17 notes
1Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
By him the Lord had given great deliverance unto Syria — but Syria were not the people of God, so what was God doing in their affairs?
So God is not just the God of Israel, but also the God of all flesh.
2And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
Though a Syrian and a Gentile, estranged from Israel,
because he had enough faith to believe, he qualified enough to be healed.
6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
How did Elisha know? I guess because 1. the letter concerned him, and 2. he was politically connected, and 3. he was a prophet.
GOD had probably spoken to him about it.
The Lord seems to love such challenges,
actions that seek to test if he indeed is God and if he is able to do all things... both great and small.
9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
I can imagine him dressed in his full regalia and pride as a commander, covering his leprosy with pride and colour, yet expecting to be healed, with the adamant and terrifying face of an army general.
Yet that was not going to impress the prophet nor God. He got humbled — he was asked to strip himself of his armour and go down into the water beneath ground level.
This was technically worse than prostrating. He went down and then came up cleaned and whole.
10And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
I can imagine Naaman, dressed to impress with his army and in his full military ⚔ might and regalia.
This was not what was needed, because all of his power and position and posturing did not and could not heal him.
Elisha was not impressed at all, neither was God, for after all Naaman had nothing that Elisha needed, but Elisha had all that Naaman needed.
The one to be humble and submit was Naaman, not Elisha and God.
And Elisha did well to drum home that point — as to who was superior and in the upper tier. The real G.
And many times we don't know how to take our stand and demonstrate that we are the real deal 🤝, but rather let others who are not run roughshod over us.
We think it humble to keep such a wrong posture and be subdued.
Elisha sent a servant, pure Gold 🥇 of a posture ⌚ for him, wow.
That was how low on the scale of importance Naaman was to Elisha.
11But Naaman was wroth, 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 strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
Sometimes we need people who want our own good more than we do ourselves, and would bring perspective to us despite our pride.
14Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
We are not told the character or posture with which he dipped, but we can guess he was pretty reluctant and like grumbly and offended.
But he yet obeyed, and that is the most important thing. Obedience.
At which point did his flesh become clean?
15And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
16But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
Before whom I stand. This expression again.
This throws light into the kind of relationship Elisha had with God. He stands in God's presence, same relationship Gabriel spoke of.
Now Elisha was ready to meet him face to face, now that he had passed the test of humility and gotten healed.
I guess this is the way God treats us sometimes, after we pass the needed tests of life he had given us.
17And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
How was he going to use that as sacrifice?
Naaman couldn't believe that he had gotten such a life-changing and a life-transforming miracle for free.
In fact, even Gehazi, Elisha's servant, couldn't believe it either.
18In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.
19And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
20But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.
21So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?
22And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
Such a painful act by Gehazi, in destroying the pure generosity of the Lord. The healing was free, meaning forever Naaman would be indebted to the Lord.
The Lord's desire was to make the healing completely free, but now Gehazi had stained the whole thing with this gift, and it could not be undone. Even Naaman was more than glad to give.
23And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.
24And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.
25But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.
26And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?
27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
Sad
Did he not plead? Did he not beg? I'm sure he did, but to no avail, and being now a leper, he had to quickly leave the city to the outskirts.