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There is no doubt that Jesus is the
Great Physician, and He has the ability to heal all that come to Him by faith.
But contrary to popular faith healers, exploitations of the broken and the vulnerable, physical healing is not always God’s will for everyone though the individual has a faith
that could move mountains (cf. Paul’s thorn in the flesh, 2 Cor 12:7, 8). I
think of Joni Eareckson Tada whom God is using mightily through her paraplegia,
but every day is a constant struggle for her. Whenever I develop a medical condition, I
often think of her; my suffering seems to pale in light of the long-term suffering
of this blessed saint. Also, never in the NT do we ever read of partial
healing; when Jesus healed He healed wholly without exception (cf. Mt 11:5). The
same could be said of Jesus’ disciples (cf. Acts 3:6-8).
There is a story in the OT of a non-believer who sought to be healed of his dreaded disease by approaching a prophet of Yahweh. Ironically, he received physical healing before he became a believer in Yahweh! We will follow the narrative verse by verse in 2 Kings 1-16. Position the cursor over the verse to read it.
There is a story in the OT of a non-believer who sought to be healed of his dreaded disease by approaching a prophet of Yahweh. Ironically, he received physical healing before he became a believer in Yahweh! We will follow the narrative verse by verse in 2 Kings 1-16. Position the cursor over the verse to read it.
2 Kgs 5:1
Naaman (his name means “pleasant”), commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, Ben-hadad I (ca. 890 – 841 B.C) because by his general the LORD had given Syria a great victory over the wicked king of Israel, Ahab (ca. 874-853). Josephus, a first-century historian, credits Naaman for letting loose the arrow that killed Ahab (1 Kgs 22:34-35), but this is conjecture with no factual basis. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he had a serious medical condition; he was a leper. As great a man as Naaman was, nobody would have traded places with him because of his affliction. The Hebrew expression is abrupt, “also a mighty man of valor, a leper.” According to Hebrew scholars, the word for leprosy throughout this chapter is a generic term, sāra῾at, covering a range of skin diseases, but Naaman's condition was serious and had him torn out of the frame, and Ben-hadad was greatly concerned.
2 Kgs 5:2
Since Israel and Syria had a tenuous peace agreement, Syria would still make quick strikes inside Israeli borders. The Hebrew word for “raids” is from a root word meaning “to cut or penetrate.” Its Greek translation is monozōnos, meaning "one-belted," and is used to describe the light armor a soldier might wear on a brief raiding expedition. During one of Naaman’s quick penetration raids into Israel, he captured a young Israelite girl who became a servant to Naaman’s wife. Unbeknownst to all but God, she would become the seed of a miracle in the life of Naaman.
2 Kgs 5:3
Over time this Israeli girl had compassion on her master’s leprosy and told his wife that there was a prophet in Samaria who “would heal him of his leprosy.” God used the compassion of this young girl to plant the seed that would germinate in the heart of Naaman and change his life forever. The interjection “If only” (H305) is found only here in Psa 119:5, “Oh.” It indicates tender compassion even though she was a captive of the Syrians. This also reveals how widespread Elisha’s reputation was. It is interesting she did not hide her faith from her Syrian captors which would ultimately lead to international significance for the glory of God.
2 Kgs 5:4
Naaman approaches his master, Ben-Hadad
I, and recounts the story of a prophet living in Samaria who could heal him of
his disease. How important was Naaman to Ben-hadad I? Read the following verse.
2 Kgs 5:5
Ben-hadad I sent a letter to the king
of Israel, Jehoram (or Joram), stating his intentions. Jehoram was the second
wicked son to Ahab (2 Kgs 3:1, king of Israel ca. 852 - 841 B.C.). Ben-hadad’s
investment in this venture was ten talents of silver (750 lbs) and six thousand
shekels of gold (150 lbs) and ten changes of clothing! The clause “Go now”
shows the urgency and concern Naaman’s master had for him. This caravan train
will be a large entourage of horses and chariots with a full security detail.
Naaman is virtually a national treasure to the king of Syria. And Ben-hadad I wanted
nothing more than for his general to be healed.
2 Kgs 5:6, 7
Once the king of Israel received the
official letter from Ben-hadad I, he immediately began to stress over it. He
was thinking that the king of Syria expected Jehoram to heal his general! “Now
be advised … heal him of his leprosy.” It sounded like the prelude to another
war! For he had mistakenly assumed that the king of Syria was commanding Jehoram
to do the impossible! Jehoram’s response reveals his spiritual condition and strained
relationship with Elisha (2 Kgs 3:13-14). Even though the Syrians were raiding
along the borders of Israel, the letter reveals political pleasantries in
international protocols. Ben-hadad had assumed that Jehoram was in good stead
with his religious leaders!
2 Kgs 5:8
Apparently, when the king of Israel
tore his clothes, everyone knew about it in Samaria – “when
Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes.” Elisha took the initiative by sending a messenger to
Jehoram, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and
he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha was letting Jehoram
off the hook politically but giving him a spiritual rebuke at the same time.
God was not being graceful to the king of Israel for there was a greater
purpose for His glory.
2 Kgs 5:9
2 Kgs 5:9
Imagine this large entourage showing
up at Elisha’s house. Outside his door was the most powerful military man in
Syria who crushed Israel under Ahab being unattended by any of Jehoram’s army. Does
that sound surprising?
2 Kgs 5:10
Notice that Elisha doesn’t even go out
to greet Naaman even though he told Jehoram to send him to him. Instead, he sends
a messenger (Gehazi?) to tell him what Naaman must do to be healed! Why would
he do that? Because Elisha knew Naaman's pride was between him and his healing. He knew Naaman came to pay for his healing, but God’s grace was
not for sale!
Elisha wanted to emphasize the fact
that Yahweh was in charge of the miracle, and it would be done His way and not the
way Naaman thought it should be done. And Elisha was right about that due to
Naaman's response to dunking in the Jordan seven times to have his flesh restored
and clean. Naaman was full of his own self-importance arrogantly thinking he
could buy freedom from his leprosy from Elisha’s God but according to how he
thought it should be done – by leaving his pride intact, after all, he was a
powerful and important man in Syria.
People always have a tendency to ask
things from God on their own terms. Someone said Naaman came to Elisha as a
general who was a leper, and Elisha saw a leper who happened to be a general. Oh,
Naaman will get angry with Elisha, but that desperation will not go away; all
he has to do is look down at his rotting skin as he heads back to Syria. The
solution was simple and straight to the point, like salvation. This was too
simple for Naaman to fathom. Verse 11 reveals Naaman’s reaction to these instructions.
2 Kgs 5:11
Naaman had envisioned what was going
to happen! He was a military strategist and had it all worked out. Elisha will
come out and say a few religious words, wave his hands all over the place and
he would be healed. He would reward Elisha and move on. God wanted other
results from Naaman: personal recognition and acknowledgment that Yahweh was the
One and only true God.
2 Kgs 5:12
Recalling the muddy waters of the
Jordan when they crossed over into Israel, Naaman turned sarcastic by comparing the rivers of Damascus as being far
better than all the waters of Israel! The Abanah River is the Nahr Barada, flowing through the city of Damascus, and the Pharpar is the Nahrel-Awaj,
which runs parallel to it a few miles to the south. These rivers made the ancient city of Damascus legendary as a beautiful oasis. The Arabs
called it “the Garden of the World.” Healing wasn’t to be found for Naaman in
the Garden of the World, however, but in the muddy waters of the Jordan, much to his
disdain – “So he turned and went away in a rage.” The rage was not so noble for
a general of his reputation, but it indicated how fierce and dangerous Naaman
could be when his anger was aroused.
2 Kgs 5:13
As a great leader, Naaman had the ability to sift through his emotions and return to reason and have the wherewithal to listen to the advice of his servants. A great leader cannot afford to surround himself with yes-men; they are a proven liability. Desperation, however, has a way of making you come to your senses. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov 16:18). Here was the bottom line as he headed back to Syria; if he didn’t listen to Elisha, he would go back a leper to face eventual death, not from battle but from an awful debilitating disease. He was a conqueror who was being conquered, and there was nothing he could do about it. His pride was the only thing that stood in the way of his healing! What his servants were telling him, because they cared about him, finally made sense. “The man of God told you what to do, just do it. What do you have to lose?”
As a great leader, Naaman had the ability to sift through his emotions and return to reason and have the wherewithal to listen to the advice of his servants. A great leader cannot afford to surround himself with yes-men; they are a proven liability. Desperation, however, has a way of making you come to your senses. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov 16:18). Here was the bottom line as he headed back to Syria; if he didn’t listen to Elisha, he would go back a leper to face eventual death, not from battle but from an awful debilitating disease. He was a conqueror who was being conquered, and there was nothing he could do about it. His pride was the only thing that stood in the way of his healing! What his servants were telling him, because they cared about him, finally made sense. “The man of God told you what to do, just do it. What do you have to lose?”
2 Kgs 5:14
So he got off his chariot of pride and
went down and dipped (literally plunged) seven times in the muddy Jordan River
and got some new skin, “according to the saying of the man of God; and his
flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Incidentally,
the Jordan is approximately 40 miles from Samaria.
2 Kgs 5:15
Naaman in his gratitude returned to
the man of God back in Samaria, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he
said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except
in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” “Gift” (Heb, bĕrākâ), is translated in other places as “blessing.” What a spiritual
shift in the life of Naaman!
2 Kgs 5:16
Elisha adamantly declared to Naaman, “As
the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” Naaman urges
Elisha to take the blessing anyway, but Elisha flatly refused. Too bad Elisha’s
servant Gehazi didn’t learn this lesson that God’s grace is
not for sale (2 Kgs 5:20, 27). Did God have to heal Naaman? No. But we see the
wisdom of God in all of this in saving an influential person from destruction
who would share his newfound faith as a military commander in Syria. It all
started with a raid into Israel and the capture of a young Israeli girl who
shared her faith with her captors which got the ball rolling.
The greatest healing in the world is
salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! When we
receive Christ by faith as our personal Lord and Savior, we all get new spiritual skin for
we are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus was crystal clear about who
He was, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me” (Jn 14:6).
To be or not to be healed? That is the
question best left up to God. It doesn’t hurt to ask! Biblically speaking, it
is not God’s will that all should be healed physically who ask, but I can say emphatically,
based on the authority of God’s Word, that it is God’s will that all should be
healed spiritually (Jn 3:16; 2 Pet
3:9). In this matter every believer should be encouraging the healing of the
lost to take the plunge by faith by planting the seed like that young Israeli
girl in expressing her faith in a wise kind of way. Truly, there is “healing in
His wings” (Mal 4:2), no question about it, and if someone should get healed
physically before or after salvation, praise the LORD for He is the One and
only true God! <><
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