What Healed Naaman?

Keith McNeely

“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 a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.” (2 Kings 5:1). This verse details who Naaman was, by review he was a military man of position, honourable “but he was a leper”. Though Naaman had many accomplishments and accolades yet he had a sentence of death.

What healed Naaman? He is sent to the king of Israel carrying a message from his king requesting that the king of Israel “recover him of his leprosy.” The king of Israel had strong reaction, in essence admitting his inability to heal Naaman who finally makes his way to Elisha. Elisha sends out his messenger telling Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan “seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” What healed him, was it simply the water of the Jordan? No, if it were just the water then any and all could have followed his example and all could have been cleansed. Was it simply because he dipped seven times? No, if so others could have imitated these actions as well. Ultimately God healed Naaman, but why? Because he did exactly what God’s prophet Elisha said for him to do, in the way he said do it, at the location where he said do it. The obvious point for us today is that if we desire forgiveness from our sins we can indeed trust that we can have them forgiven if and when we come to God as he dictates. “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” (Romans 6:17).

What mistakes did Naaman make? Great men often make mistakes, men such as David, Moses, or Peter just to name a few. Naaman brought money, it was refused; he went to the wrong place (to the king of Israel) even though the little maid told him to go to the prophet. We cannot go to the wrong place and expect the right answer. When it comes to matters of salvation we must go to Jesus the Savior for our answer (John 6:66-69). Naaman had a closed mind, he thought he knew it all, we all can be guilty of intellectual prejudice at times. Naaman in his anger did not agree with Elisha’s approach expecting the prophet to come out and conduct some sort of ceremony which included waving his hand over the place (2 Kings 5:11). The terms and conditions of salvation offered by Jesus and His New Testament writers are often deemed unacceptable by folks today, yet they still are backed with biblical authority. But Jesus said “Enter ye in at the strait gate” (Matthew 7:13).

You and I should learn from Naaman. To overcome our emotional response based upon anger and come to God on His terms. Leprosy similar to sin often would have a very small beginning and would grow quickly and uncontrollably (Leviticus 13:2-8). Lepers in the Bible often would carry a social stigma often being physically separated from their community, likewise our sins if known often cause us disgrace and shame. The great news is that Naaman was cured, not by himself, not by the king, but rather by coming to God (Elisha served faithfully as God’s prophet), we just like Naaman must come to God if we are to be cleansed of our sins. Will you turn from your high minded way and come to God on His terms? If so you can be redeemed from your sins.