2 Kings 5 part 3
This chapter contains one of the most popular stories in the O.T and even Jesus specifically mentions the event that occurs in this chapter.
Luke 4:27 "And
many lepers were in
So, as you can see our
story is about Naaman and how he was cleansed from his leprosy. Lets begin
with,
2 Kings 5:1 Now
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of
This is first time we see this Naaman mentioned. He is a Gentile
commander of a Gentile army. We learn that he was considered by his King to be
a very honorable man. It is interesting that this writer attributes these Gentiles’
victories to God. Some might wonder why God would help a nation win its battles
when they were not His chosen people. Well, what you will discover as you read
the O.T. is that God would use Gentile nations to punish the children of
Romans 13:1 Let
every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
This tells us that God is
in control and He can use the righteous and the unrighteous to bring about His
providential care. We also learn that Naaman is a leper. Even though he was a
great commander and did many things to further his nation he was still a
diseased man. In a similar way, every person on the face of the earth no matter
how good and honorable they may be are stained with sin until they obey the
Gospel.
Now the Syrians had been
attacking the Northern tribe of
2 Kings 5:3 Then
she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet
who is in
Now, I find this interesting. Here you have a young girl who has been taken from her family and is being forced to serve as a slave. Yet, we do not see her complaining about her situation. Instead, she has compassion for Naaman and his wife. So, she tells Naaman wife of a way that Naaman could be free from this awful disease of leprosy. When I think about this young girl it reminds me of how every Christian should be today. We should have this same type of compassion for all those who are still in their sins. Just as this young girl, we should be willing to share the good news of Jesus with them so that they can know how they can be cured of their sins.
I want you to put yourself in the shoes of Naaman. If you had a disease that was eating away at your flesh, wouldn’t you try just about anything to find a cure? Of course you would. So, when Naaman found out that Elisha could cure him, he immediately went to his king and told him what this young girl had said.
Sometimes I wish that our sin could be seen like leprosy. If we could physically see how ugly our sin is we would have a stronger desire to find a cure for our sin and if we are already a Christian, we would work harder at keeping sin out of our life.
2 Kings 5:5 Then
the king of
The king had great
respect for Naaman especially for all the great victories he accomplished for their
nation. So, he was willing to do whatever he could to help Naaman out. So, he
writes a letter to send to the king of
2 Kings 5:7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read
the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill
and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy?
Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me."
This king knew that he
didn’t have the ability to heal Naaman because he was not a God. Since there
was no way for him to heal this disease, he assumes this is just an excuse for
the King of Syria to battle against him. So, he tears his clothes thinking that
this is a no win situation.
2 Kings 5:8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard
that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying,
"Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall
know that there is a prophet in
Now we are not informed how Elisha finds out about this
situation, but when he does, he sends word to the king to have Naaman come to him
so that it will be know that there is a prophet of God in
2 Kings 5:9 Then
Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's
house. 10 And Elisha sent a
messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the
Again, I ask you to put yourself in the shoes of Naaman.
Here you are, a very important man who has the backing of entire nation. Now
you arrive at Elisha house and you expect that someone as important as you
would receive a special welcome. But, that didn’t happen. Elisha didn’t even
come out of his house. Instead, he sent his servant with a message for him to
go dip 7 times in the dirty
In his mind he thought that Elisha would come out to meet him, call upon God, wave his hands and heal his leprosy. Since Elisha didn’t meet his expectations it made him mad and wasn’t about to go dip 7 times in the Jordan river especially since he could go do the same thing in rivers in Damascus that were much cleaner than the Jordan. So, he went away in rage.
Naaman represents a lot people in the world today because
there are many who have the same reaction to Gods’ truth as Naaman did. You
see, Elisha gave requirements that were necessary for Naaman to be healed. He
had to go dip 7 times, not 6, and it had to be in the
Joshua and the walls of
Joshua 6:2 And the
LORD said to Joshua: "See! I have given
Joshua and his men didn’t
do anything to deserve or earn this gift from God, but it was His to give and He
gave to them. However, they had to accept this gift and God tells them how.
3
"You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go
all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 "And seven priests shall
bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you
shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the
trumpets. 5 "It shall
come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when
you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great
shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go
up every man straight before him."
So they had to march
around the walls and blow the trumpet on the 7th day and even after
the wall fall down, they had to go in and defeat the people of
Ephesians 2:4 But
God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved
us, 5 even when we were dead
in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved),
Like Naaman none of us
deserve God grace. If we got what we deserved Naaman would never have been
offered the freedom from his leprosy and we would never have been offered the
freedom from our sins. But, glory be to God that he loves us so much that He
has offered you and I the wonderful gift of grace so that we can be healed from
sins that stain our souls. Just like our O.T. examples, God doesn’t give His
gift of grace without us accepting it by obeying all His commands. This is why
you will never find a verse that says we are saved by God grace or faith alone.
In fact, when you look at Eph. 2:8, it says by grace you have been saved
through faith. The faith that is being spoken of here is not merely believing.
All you have to do is look at James 2 and you will that we are not saved by
faith alone because we must also have works. These works are not works of
merit, but works of obedience.
Now, I want you to look
at verse 5 again and notice it says that we were dead in our trespasses, which
means we were spiritual dead in our sins, but we were made alive together with
Christ. So, it was only at the point of being made alive together with Christ
that our sins were taken away. So, when does this happen? At what point in the
plan of salvation does this occur?
Colossians 2:11 In Him
you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism,
in which you also were raised with Him through faith in
the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
Do you see what Paul has
just taught us? He tells us clearly that when a person is baptized, they are being
buried with Christ and by their faith in the working of God they can know that
when they are raised up out of the watery grave of baptisms that they are being
made alive with Christ and their sins have been forgiven just Eph. 2:5 just
told us. Now we know that the Bible also teaches us that we must believe that
Jesus is the son of God (John 3:16), repent (Luke 13:3) and confess Jesus as
our Lord (
Paul also makes this same
statement in,
Romans 6:3 Or do
you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? 4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. 5
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly
we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with Him,
A person would have to
try really hard not to see the clarity of these passages. Again, baptism is the
point that we are buried and united with Christ. At the point of baptism we put
off our old sinful self and we die to our sins and we are raised no longer
being a slave to sin. Baptism is not an option just like Naaman dipping in the
1 Peter 3:21 There is
also an antitype which now saves us – baptism
At the birth of the
church once again Peter says,
Acts 2:38 Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;
That’s why Annais tells
Paul,
Acts 22:16 'And
now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.'
Now the only reason I am
stressing baptism in this lesson is because many in religious world will tell
you that baptism is not necessary and that your sins are forgiven before you
are baptized ,but that is not what the word of God says as have shown you verse
after verse. You see, many today have the same attitude that Naaman had when
Elisha servant said he had to go dip 7 times in the Jordan river. He became
furious because he wanted things done his way and he even wanted to substitute
the Jordan river with the rivers of
This is exactly what many
denominations have done with the plan of salvation. They have substituted
baptism with grace or faith alone. Others have added the sinner’s prayer, which
does not exist in the Bible. Now, when you point out God’s truth about baptism
as I have just done, people will get angry and will not listen and they will
run of in a rage because they don’t want to listen to what the Word of God
says. This is sad, because many of these people are good and honorable just
like Naaman, but until they are willing to obey all of God’s commands, which
includes being baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins, they are
going to remain lost because they are still stained with sin.
One of Naaman’s problems
was that he thought that Elisha should could out to him and wave his over him.
We can tell ourselves all day long that we think that God will accept this or
that based on the way feel, but I got news for you, God is not concerned about
what we think or how we feel because He is the one in control and we must
submit ourselves to His will and His way or we will not enter the kingdom of
heaven.
Matthew 7:21 "
Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
2 Kings 5:13 And his
servants came near and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the
prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it?
How much more then, when he says to you, '
Naaman was luck because
he had a servant that was able to make him see the light. Naaman realized that
if Elisha had told him to accomplish something great that he would not have
questioned it, He would have done it. This makes him realize how foolish he was
being and so he submitted to the command of God. He went to the
Now there was nothing
magical about the
This same principle is
true today because God had designated water baptism as the point that we
receive the forgiveness of our sins. Again, there is nothing magical about the
water, its just the place that God cleanses us of our sins. I hope that if you
are here today and you have never been baptized for the remission of your sins
that you will allow me to be like the servant of Naaman and you will allow me
to reason with you. I have already shown that God’s Word says that baptism is
necessary for your salvation and it is the point that you sins are forgiven.
So, what are waiting for? If God’s Word said that you had to fast for 10 days
and then walk 10 miles to be saved wouldn’t you do it? Well, why don’t you submit
to God’s Word and allow yourself to be healed from your sins by being baptized
into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. It’s not difficult, but it
absolutely necessary for your salvation.
2 Kings 5:15 And he
returned to the man of God, 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." 16 But he
said, "As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive
nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 So Naaman said, "Then, if
not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant
will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to
the LORD. 18 "Yet in
this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the
temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in
the temple of Rimmon -- when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD
please pardon your servant in this thing."
19 Then he said to him, "Go in peace." So he
departed from him a short distance.
Naaman knows that the
only reason he has been healed from his leprosy is because He followed the
instructions of Elisha and because His God is the only God. So, he makes a
commitment that he will only serve God almighty. He even thinks that the dirt
there is special so he has 2 mules to carry back as much dirt as he can. Now he
tries to offer Elisha a gift for what has been done, but Elisha would not take
it because the gift that Naaman received came from God. This shows us that
God’s gift cannot be purchased.
That is why we cannot
earn our merit our salvation today. We can only accept it by obeying all of God
commands. Now let’s finish up this chapter.
2 Kings 5:20 But
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Look, my master has
spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought;
but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from
him." 21 So Gehazi
pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from
the chariot to meet him, and said, "Is all well?" 22 And he said, "All is well.
My master has sent me, saying, 'Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of
the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a
talent of silver and two changes of garments.' " 23 So Naaman said, "Please,
take two talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in
two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his
servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. 24 When he came to the citadel, he
took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house;
then he let the men go, and they departed.
25 Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to
him, "Where did you go, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your
servant did not go anywhere." 26
Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with you when the man
turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money
and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and
female servants? 27
"Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants
forever." And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as
snow.
This is great example of
how one lie will lead to another. First, Gehazi lies to Naaman and then he lies
to Elisha. Gehazi’s greed and his lies end up making him receive the leprosy of
Naaman. This story should serve as a strong warning to all those who try to
make a profit off those who are willing to help in God cause. Those supposed
preachers on TV who deceive the people and tell them that if they will send in
1000 dollars that God will give them back 10 fold or more and all they do is
line their pockets with this money they will receive something much worse than
that what Gehazi received because they will receive their eternal judgment when
Jesus comes again.