CHAPTER 5

(894 B.C.)

THE HEALING OF NAAMAN THE LEPER

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. (Leprosy in the Old Testament was a type of the spiritual condition of unregenerate man. There was no earthly cure for leprosy, just as there is no earthly cure for sin. All of these great things said about Naaman did not save or heal him; he was still a leper. And so are the untold millions in the world who think their state, status, and position mean something with God. They dont!)

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 Naamans wife. (This little maid would figure prominently in history. The Holy Spirit does not even give her name; however, her testimony will affect nations.

It would have been very easy for her to have been bitter, morose, and angry toward God, for Him allowing her to be taken captive away from her land and family, and made a slave in Syria. But she exhibited none of these evil traits. She retained her testimony. The things she did not understand, she left in the Hands of God. What an example!)

³And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the Prophet who is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy (in effect, she said, I know somebody, who knows somebody, who knows what to do for you!).

⁴And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel (should have been translated, Naaman went in, and told his lord, Ben-hadad, the king of Syria).

⁵And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he (Naaman) departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment (approximately $3 million, in 2004 currency; man has ever been trying to purchase something from God, when, in reality, the Lord has nothing for sale; it is all a free gift [Jn. 3:16]).

⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto you, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may 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 does send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me. (Unfortunately, much of the modern Church is trying to evangelize the world by political means, which are worse than useless. They are attempting to establish some type of pseudo-Christian kingdom age philosophy. There is nothing in the Word of God that even remotely hints at such. Evangelism is carried on by the preaching of the Gospel, and by no other means [Mk. 16:15; I Cor. 1:17-18, 23; 2:2].)

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 have you rent your clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a Prophet in Israel (evidently, it became obvious that the king of Israel was upset at such a request, so the news comes to Elisha; the Prophet says, in effect, Send him to me!).

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

¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean (Naaman expects to be waited on, courted, and to receive every possible attention; but Elisha just sends a messenger out to him, and tells him what to do).

¹¹But Naaman was wroth (very angry), 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. (Naaman was a powerful man and warranted, he thought, much more than this curt dismissal; entire nations trembled at his presence; after all, he was the mightiest military chieftain on the face of the Earth.

All of this is pride, which is the crowning sin of the human race. Its the reason that most never receive from God. Every individual must come to the Lord the same way, the great, the rich, the poor, the small they are all the same to the Lord poor, wretched lepers.)

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. (Actually, the two rivers, Abana and Pharpar, were some of the clearest streams in the world, so why this muddy Jordan?

In fact, the Jordan, at least at this time, was a Type of Calvary. Yes, it is muddy; yes, there are other rivers much more beautiful; however, there are no healing qualities in the other rivers, as beautiful as they may be, where there is total healing and cleansing in this Jordan, i.e., Calvary.)

¹³And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and said, My father, if the Prophet had bid you do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much rather then, when he said to you, Wash, and be clean? (Men are ever asking, What can I do to earn Salvation? Most of the world is trying to earn its salvation by good works; but, in reality, all one has to do, as it regards Calvary, is to wash, and be clean.)

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. (Why seven? There was nothing magical about the number, only that it denoted Gods total and complete Redemption in other words, a finished work. Salvation makes a man whole. How many millions have dipped into the waters of Calvary, and have seen all of their sins washed away? Man is spiritually dirty. This dirt cannot be cleansed by the soap of this world, but only by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.)

ELISHA REFUSES NAAMANS GIFTS

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 you, take a blessing of your servant (he wanted to give Elisha an Offering).

¹⁶But he (Elisha) said, As the LORD lives, before Whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. (There is some evidence that Elisha did receive offerings at other times. So, why not this time?

This entire episode was a picture portrayed by God of His Grace. One cannot purchase Grace. Money or good works are not the coin of this realm. If Elisha had taken money, it would instantly have nullified the work of Grace. It would have made a mockery of the Blood of Jesus Christ.)

¹⁷And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray you, be given to your servant two mules burden of earth? for your servant will henceforth offer neither Burnt Offering nor Sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD (Naaman now knew that the Lord of Israel was truly God, and not the heathen idols he had been worshipping in Syria; he desired to offer Burnt Offerings to the Lord of Israel, and felt that the soil of Syria was improper; inasmuch as Israel was Gods land, Naaman was far more theologically sound, at least at that time, than we might at first realize).

¹⁸In this thing the LORD pardon your servant, that when my master (the king of Syria) goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon (to the god Hadad): when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.

¹⁹And he (Elisha) said unto him (Naaman), Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way (Elisha approved of his request).

THE SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF GEHAZI

²⁰But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. (This proclaims the efforts of Gehazi to change the great Plan of Salvation from the Grace of God to salvation by works. It was met, as we shall see, with severe and stern judgment.)

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 has 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 you, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments (his story was altogether most plausible, and his demand prudently moderate, at least as far as Naaman was concerned).

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 bore 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, Where did you come from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went no whither (he lied!).

²⁶And he said unto him, Went not my heart with you, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? (The same question could be asked presently! The world is dying without God, and so many modern Preachers are proclaiming a message of money. To be sure, their sin is no different than that of Gehazi.)

²⁷The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto you, and unto your seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. (Gehazis sin and his incurring of Naamans leprosy is a type of man voiding the Grace of God by works salvation. Gehazis acceptance of money was, in effect, saying that Salvation could be purchased. He had made the Grace of God of none effect [Gal. 5:4].)