“Are not the Abanah and the 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 5:12 (NKJV)
This entire Chapter of 2 Kings reads somewhat like a Shakespearean tragedy, although the elements are in jumbled order; it is a story of greatness, sickness, pride, wisdom, and in the end, faith. All of these are present and in some cases in more than one individual; for the purpose of this column I will focus of Naaman and his healing.
Naaman is a great general for the King of Syria and was honored by him for his great accomplishments in battle, Naaman was also a leper. At some point an Israeli slave girl spoke to Naaman’s wife of a prophet in Samaria (Elisha) who could heal Naaman’s leprosy. The king of Syria wrote a letter to the king of Israel on Naaman’s behalf and sent him there to be healed, along with a very large sum of silver and gold as a gift to the prophet. At today’s value about one million dollars!
Naaman has received the invitation from Elisha and stands at the prophet’s door awaiting his presence. Much to Naaman’s dismay Elisha does not appear, he sends a messenger with instructions to wash seven times in the Jordan river and be healed. That’s it, no grand entrance or recognition of Naaman’s importance, no great oration or waving of the hands, not even some powerful prayer calling on God to work miracles. Naaman is furious as evidenced by verse 12 above but his servants convince him to follow Elisha’s instructions and the leprosy is healed.
Before we become too harsh toward Naaman for his attitude maybe we should take a look at our own? When Jesus says that He is the only way to God don’t many of us try to get around Him through works, or by following a false god such as Allah, or Budah? Instead of following His teachings and examples, aren’t we sure that there must be other teachers who will do just as well? We may fly into a rage if we wish, but like Naaman, if we want our healing we must follow His prescription, no matter how oversimplified it may seem. Naaman was humbled before he was healed; so too must we humble ourselves to receive our salvation.
