Naaman and Elisha by Brother Curtis Hansen

        Good morning. Today I would like you to turn to the book of 2 Kings. We are going to be reading from chapter 5 and starting with verse 1 and down to verse 14.

        5 Now 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.

            2 And 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.

            3 And 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.

            4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

            5 And 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.

            6 And 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.

            7 And 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.

            8 And 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.

            9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

           10 And 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.

           11 But 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.

           12 Are 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.

           13 And 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?

           14 Then 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.

            These should be familiar scriptures to many of you this morning. You could see a parallel between this story and the story of Job. Although Naaman was a Syrian general, captain of the host, a great man, honorable, and a mighty man of valor, he had leprosy. There were qualities in Naaman which the Lord had found favor in. The Lord had raised Syria up against Israel.

        Let's think about this again briefly and review all the great attributes which Naaman shown and yet physically he was a leper. People will always try and present their best self in public. They strive to make a memorable first impression to one another, yet, there is always a but. Each one of us all have a but, no matter how hard we try to hide it. 

        We can all relate to struggles and victories in life, but do we know what's truly behind a person's mask worn in public? Every one of us has a character flaw or deficiency which shows our "but". It's not enough to maintain a visage of greatness, you need references to support your character. We can publicly display all the good attributes and character traits, and yet the second something doesn't go our way or happen like we planned it to do, we fall apart. You're not blessed if you know a lot of scripture and can quote it to others. The blessing is in obeying what the scripture instructs and not merely paying lip service to it.

        Naaman had humility but also faith in this story, The word of God will always expose you. The question is what will you do when it does? Naaman had taken his resources to Israel for payment in verse 5 of our scripture reading.

        The Syrian king's letter was a little misguided in verse 6. It had pretty much terrified the king of Israel because how could you cure leprosy in those days? The king of Israel thought this was a trap set by Syria. He was so distraught he had not even thought of Elisha. Elisha was who Naaman was seeking to begin with. So distraught was the king of Israel, he rent his clothes and mourned. 

        The king's response was "What about me?" It was all about himself. Elisha had heard of what the king had done and asked that Naaman come and see him. Just because you are too carnal to understand something spiritual doesn't mean God isn't ready to work. Jehoram was besieged during his reign. He was the son of King Ahab and Jezebel. When God sends an opportunity and you aren't healed, you will take that as an attack. Your reaction will show your "but". There was a level of disrespect that Naaman felt toward Elisha on their first meeting, much like how we show the same when God doesn't immediately answer our prayers or cries for help. You can take what God is offering and do whatever you want with it.

        Elisha had seen faith in Naaman which led to Naaman's healing. God won't always give you a detailed blueprint or instructions to follow. God just gives you a direction and it's up to you to follow. The responsibility falls on us if we follow his direction or not. 

        Two of the most disappointing words to say is "I thought". Those words are usually a stem from arrogance and pride. What triggered Naaman at first was the perceived disrespect of Elisha, while to Elisha it was Naaman's faith. Naaman went away at first upset and like him we will go and show our "but" out of frustration and anger. If you can't overcome your pride, the blessing you are seeking will not come. 

        The servant in verse 13 was speaking a little logic to Naaman. Naaman left his pride, became humble, and obeyed the instruction of Elisha. God made each and every one of us with our individual strengths and weaknesses which we must overcome in order to strive being more Christ like. When you move in life, you may discover your is really you yourself and not what environment you are in.

        The words "I thought" are a trigger because at first reaction, dipping in the river Jordan was beneath Naaman. He would accept the word from a servant girl at the start of this chapter, who knew not only Elisha but the power of him by faith. She also knew the king and his character. Is your measure of faith enough to overcome your flesh? I hope so. Lower you pride. You is what is standing between you and your healing. Do you want to go through your life always right or delivered? Isn't it worth the try? Naaman had to expose himself outside of his titles and attributes to be made whole in obedience. You have to let your ego go in order for your blessing. 

        Naaman's faith was spoken about by Jesus in his ministry. In Luke chapter 4 verse 27, Jesus was in the synagogue speaking.

        27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them were cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

        Think about the corruption of your flesh and how you carry it every day. You don't notice it on you and yet if you just had the faith, humility, and obedience to follow God's commandments which he gave us thousands of years ago, you can be made whole.