2 Kings 5 (Part 1) Bible Study (Naaman Healed of Leprosy) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's come together now to second Kings chapter five. And as we turn there, realize with me that the archive of Elisha's miracles continues to unfold before us tonight, and they will extend in the next few chapters of our study of second Kings. However, the account that is presented this evening is the miracle that arguably Elisha is most known for, the incredible healing of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army. Now what's so fascinating about this is that we have a reason to believe that this is the most significant event associated with Elisha, at least one major reason. It is the event that is singularly mentioned in the New Testament.

Meaning, out of all the things that Elisha has done, this particular miracle is the only thing that is brought up in the New Testament. And that is quite striking when you consider all the references to Elijah in comparison. So with all that is brought up to us in the New Testament concerning Elijah, you have one place in all of the New Testament library where Elisha is cited. Does anybody know where Elisha is cited in the New Testament? If you do, you can say it.

If you don't know, then you have to turn to the gospel of Luke. And I know I told you to go to second Kings five, but I want you to see this briefly because this is where we're going to end our study. We're gonna come back to this statement because Jesus Christ himself references Elisha in this particular moment of his life and ministry. Look at Luke four twenty seven and twenty eight. Luke four twenty seven and twenty eight.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed. But only Naaman the Syrian, when they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. There it is. The one place where Elisha is mentioned in the New Testament. And as I said, we will come back to this at the end of our study because you know very well that there is so much to uncover in the actual account of Naaman's testimony, which we endeavor to do tonight.

And so turn back with me to second Kings five. We're going to read the first six verses and pause and meditate. Let's read it. Let's pray, and let's trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us as he always does. Second Kings chapter five beginning in verse one.

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor because by him, the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, would that my lord were with the prophet who was in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.

So Naaman went in and told his lord, thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, go now and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he went taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 of gold, and 10 changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel which read, when this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant that you may cure him of his leprosy. Lord, our sincere prayer tonight as a family is that your word would encourage our faith.

We pray that it would change us. So please, let there be nothing that would interfere with the transaction of truth that you desire to deposit in our hearts. Lord, may the delivery of this word be honorable, may it be empowered by the Holy Spirit, may it cause Christ to become more real to each of us, and may it encourage us in every way possible to live in the manner that you desire. We honor you with every ounce of our being, and we pray that even at this time you would be honored more. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen. The first impression that you and I get from our introduction to Naaman should be that he is quite an impressive individual. He is highly achieved. He is respected. You go again at verse one, and you realize that he was not just a commander of the army of the Syrian regime.

He was a great commander, Very successful. Not just successful, but very respected by many, including the king himself. However, again, in our introduction to this man, the Holy Spirit is very quick to help us remember the source of this man's stellar resume. Look back again at verse one. It says, Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master in high favor because by him, the Lord had given victory to Syria.

Now that kind of commentary may seem obvious to us. Yes. The Lord is the reason behind our success, our achievements. Absolutely. But what's striking is when you understand and you recall that Naaman is not an Israelite.

He's a gentile. And even that title there, right, you look here and you see he was a great man. You see that he was in high favor. But in the last part of verse one, he was a mighty man of valor. Now if you're familiar with the Old Testament, then you would remember that such, a title is ascribed to Israel, some of Israel's greatest judges, kings, and warriors.

And yet, it is granted here for the first time to an individual outsider, a gentile. And so that impresses us and it should teach us a few things. That simple phrase that by him the Lord had given victory to Syria on a broader level reminds us that the Lord is active. He's at work beyond the community of faith. In the same way that we're we're seeing here that God was an operation outside of the boundaries of Israel, so is he in our context as the church.

The Lord is sovereign over everything. He's maneuvering. He's planning. He's deciding. He's executing.

He is promoting. He is relegating. He is always on the move. And that's what we see here. Now this realization would have been especially shocking to the immediate audience of the book of second kings, the Jewish people, because it would force them to accept that God is active among those outside of covenant with him.

That God actually has interest and he is actually concerned with the Gentiles. So this is powerful and would again cause the people of Israel to reconsider the goodness of God, the extent of it. But when we look at it on a personal level, it shows us that whatever any of us accomplish before men is the result of what God authorized and enabled from heaven. Whether you're in relationship with him or not, the Lord ultimately is the one who grants every single person the energy, the intellect, and the years of life to do anything. And it is the duty of man to acknowledge that as soon as possible with a heart of worship.

Now interestingly, in the same breath where Naaman's honor is described, we are granted a devastating diagnosis. He was a leper. Leprosy in the bible, describes many kind of ailments, but it is generally recognized as a severe skin disease that will lead eventually to a deterioration and a disfigurement of the body. It was dreaded. It was horrifying.

It was hideous. And when you look at the exposure of this disease in our bibles, at least the first time it is mentioned, you get an idea of why people were absolutely frightened by leprosy. Let me ask you this question, and it's actually a question for you to answer. Does anybody know the first person in the Bible who was infected with leprosy? Very good.

That was quick. Now some might say it was Moses early in his ministry when the Lord called him because God told him to put his hand in his cloak as a sign of his calling. And what happened when he removed that hand? It was leprous. And the Lord said, okay, put it back now, and it was made clean again.

But I'm talking about a person who really suffered leprosy, and it wasn't Moses. It was Moses's sister, Miriam. And you know how that leprosy came about? From gossip. Isn't that interesting?

If you don't believe me, turn to numbers with me in chapter 12. Look at verse 10. Numbers chapter 12 verse 10. This is after Miriam and Aaron spoke ill of their brother, challenged his authority, criticized his marriage, and the Lord heard it. The Lord heard it.

He he hears our gossip. He hears what we say about others. And look what happens. He didn't just hear it, he did something about it. Numbers 12 verse 10.

When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, oh my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb. So the first mention of somebody who was infected with leprosy also provides a vivid picture of its horrific symptoms.

It makes a person who is living look like they are a rotting corpse. And so you you get a little idea of why it was something that people feared so much, but it wasn't the only reason. Because, yes, it had horrible pain and it was a a a despicable sight. It also carried societal implications. In the context of Israel, if you suffered leprosy, you were cut off from your family, you were cut off from participating in the feast in the New Testament, you couldn't be a part of any synagogue gathering, and you could not even enjoy something as casual as walking through the marketplace on an afternoon.

You were pushed away. You were set aside. You were not only cut off, you were also marked. You were avoided, and in some cases, you were even despised. And so you can only imagine what it would be like for somebody who is outside of the parameters of Israel's law.

What would it be like to be a Naaman, a gentile suffering leprosy? How would you be treated? How would you be seen? And to have leprosy for any person was a curse. Now what's interesting is when you read this chapter, you get the impression that, yeah, he we obviously know he had leprosy, but he was interacting with people as though he didn't.

Right? He talks to the king. He's in his own home. He'll engage with other individuals in this chapter. So how is it that you have a man who is suffering leprosy but is able to live as though he didn't?

And I think there's a clue at verse 11. We didn't read it, but look at it with me very quickly. This is when he eventually meets with Elisha. And notice what it says in verse 11 of second Kings five. But Naaman was angry and went away saying, behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.

So you see, for Naaman to expect that Elisha was to come out of his home and do some kind of mystical thing to cure him of his leprosy, it says here that he expected his hand to be waved over the place. Could mean that there was a place in his body that had leprosy. So it was in the early phases of its contamination. Regardless, it was destined to ravage the man and to cause him to be destitute. And so this is, again, in the early stages, and he had little hope at this moment.

It's gonna change in a second here, but let's pause and remember this. Naaman is a clear illustration that your status, my salary, does not exempt you from the effects of the fall in this world. It doesn't matter how many riches you have. It doesn't matter if you are universally respected. That does never shield you from the consequences of Adam's transgression.

And Naaman's situation is a sobering lesson about that. And what we should take from that is not that we're all gonna be visited by advanced cancer, God forbid, or deal with the consequences of natural disasters. But here here's what it does mean for every single one of us. We all have one thing in common, and that is no matter what our biographies look like, we all have spiritually leprosy. Sin.

And leprosy is a clear parallel to a spiritual condition that at our core outside of Christ, we are rotten. We are outcast. We're hideous. And only the God who healed Naaman from this physical leprosy can heal us from something far worse than that dreaded disease, and that is our corrupt nature, our dead hearts, our vile attempt at righteousness. That leprosy that we all suffer with is the root cause for all or many at least of the devastations that we are experiencing in this world.

So Naaman here is a wonderful example of that. You can't escape things just because you are someone. But notice what happens in verse two. Now the Syrians go on one of the raids, had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. This verse doesn't focus on a particular war, but it does describe a practice of these smaller raids that Syria made against the people of Israel.

And during one of these invasions, what do we learn? We learn that they abducted a precious little girl from the land of Israel. And this is devastating for many reasons. She was tore away from her family. It's very possible that her parents were even killed, and that's why they took her.

We didn't know all the details, but we can hardly imagine the horrors of it. A loved one taken by those who hate you and hate your God. Imagining that her mother was alive. Can you imagine the sleepless nights? The nightmares.

Imagine a father who was called to protect your baby, and outside of your control, one of your precious babies was taken from your hand. So it's it's important to feel this sometimes and not just read it as a distant story. Feel it. Feel it and look at it and realize that this girl, though she had suffered in many ways, will play a crucial role. She will be an important link to the redemption of Naaman, to Naaman's encounter with the Lord.

And we're gonna realize in verse three that this girl came from a household of faith. What can we take from verse two? Very simple. Providence sometimes is very painful. That when the Lord leads you with his invisible hand, when he wants to bring you into a situation or before a certain person, sometimes suffering is the necessary means to accomplish it.

We're gonna touch on that this Sunday as we look at Jesus on the cross when he's ready to be buried. But I want you to remember this because that might sound frightening. You're telling me that when God guides my life, that it's very likely that there will be chapters in my life that are dark and unpleasant. That may sound scary, but in reality, it isn't. It should embolden you more than anything else, because what it teaches you is that there is not one drop of pain in your life that is pointless.

Not one. It's all guided by God's pen of providence. He's writing that story of yours, and there's not one line, there's not one paragraph that he dismisses or that he let somebody else author. And that is certainly true for this young girl. You know, by simply affirming this can bring great comfort, but acknowledging the theology of providence is not enough to experience the fullness of the glory of it.

Does that make sense? For you to make a mental ascent as a Christian and say, I believe that God leads my life whether I recognize it in the moment or not, it's not enough. You're saying, what do you mean? I'm saying when you look at this young girl, she demonstrates a faith in this god, a real trust in this god to such a degree that, listen, it shaped her composure and it strengthened her witness. As she was brought to a place that if it was up to her, she would not have chosen in a million years.

So don't check off a box in your thinking of, I no. No. Let it let it change you. Let it shape you. Let it form you.

Let it filter how you interpret and engage and experience everything in life. So you have this girl, right? She's taken from her family, taken from our home, taken from her friends. Her future is stripped from her. Her safety is always a a guess every single day.

She doesn't know, but here she is in the palace of a pagan commander. And what happens? She hears the whispers of the servants in the hallway that Naaman, the very man who was in charge of her abduction, is suffering from leprosy. She's in charge of serving Naaman's wife, and notice what happens here in verse three. She said to her mistress, would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.

You can do a whole sermon on that verse alone. You know, when we often think about faithful saints in the scriptures, particularly in the old testament, who had a righteous influence in secular spaces, what names come to mind? Exiles who were taken out of their land into these prominent places. We have bible studies on these individuals. Can you name a few of them?

Joseph. Yes. Anybody else? Daniel. Yes.

Anybody else? Esther. Absolutely. This young girl here who has no name is given little credit, but I would put her in that category of faithful exiles who made a remarkable impact in secular places. And maybe the reason why she isn't given much recognition is because we don't know her name, and she never is promoted to a powerful position, like Esther, for example.

But I think that's what makes her story so beautiful, because it goes to show that even though you never arrive somewhere, you you you're never recognized for something, you can still be an instrument in God's hand to make an impact on someone else's soul. This little servant girl, she just flashes on the scene and then she disappears as quickly as she shows up. And there are a couple of things that I wanna notice and and mention in your hearing before we move on. The first thing I wanna bring up is as as as important as it is to see her faith. She was a slave, but she was free from bitterness.

She was a slave, but she was free from bitterness. Again, you gotta just think about her circumstances. Snatched out of innocence, snatched out of safety, snatched out of familiarity, and yet she finds herself in this place. And what does she do? She exemplifies that she's not bitter against God nor is she harboring anything against her very captor.

How do we know that? Because when she learns of the condition of her master, she wants him to be healed, and she communicates a trust in her God. How many of us would easily, in her position, would interpret Naaman's malady as God's retribution for what he did to you? I mean, that's what you get. You take me from my family.

You take me from my home. You take me you killed my parents. Hypothetically. Oh, you have leprosy. Good.

And she could have so easily kept her mouth shut. And day after they watched this man rot in his room, She doesn't do that. She wants him to be made well. Can I tell you something? Please never forget this.

The Lord will never be able to use us maximally if we harbor hate in our hearts. Please remember that, that you should never expect the Lord to use us to touch others if we justify unforgiveness toward those who might have even hurt you. If you have disdain and you have you loathe those who believe differently or act differently or even have done something to you that was drastic and life altering, you limit yourself as a candidate for God to do miracles in people's lives. And one of the ways in which you can know that you are free from unforgiveness, that you are liberated from bitterness, is that when there is an opportunity that arises for something good to be done to your enemies, you take it. You take it.

People always wanna know, how do I know if I've forgiven? Here's one of the most powerful litmus test, that when an opportunity comes to your front step for you to do something righteous for those who have hurt you and you take it, that's a great sign that your heart is healed. And if you think that that's just with this case, no, no, no, it's with one of the most notable cases with Joseph. You remember Joseph? K.

Let me read to you these verses from Psalm one zero five verse 17. This is about the Lord and what he did to deliver the nation of Israel. And at this point in redemptive history, look what the Lord says through the psalmist writing in Psalm one zero five verse 17. He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. Pause.

This confirms what I just said earlier, that providence oftentimes is painful. What is Psalm one zero five verse 17 says? That he sent a man ahead of them. God sent a man ahead of that small people group Jacob and his family who later become a mighty nation. God sent someone ahead of them.

And how did he send them? Red carpet? No. Joseph who was sold as a slave. That's how God sent Joseph to deliver his people.

I'm gonna make you into a slave. Look at verse 18. His feet were hurt with feathers. His neck was put in a collar of iron. Until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

The king sent and released him. The ruler of the people set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions. And verse 22 is what I want to highlight. To bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.

Do you realize that when Joseph was promoted to be second in command, he was not just given charge of the survival plan for Egypt and the world, really, He was given authority to do whatever he wanted to do with his power. Whoever he wanted to arrest, whoever he wanted to put into prison, he could do it. The snap of the finger. Now up to that point, was Joseph treated well by a lot of people? No.

He wasn't. I'm sure if he let his heart go in the direction of the flesh, he would've had a hit list of people to throw into prison. And when it came to his brothers who made a surprise visit, he recognized them. They didn't recognize him. What does he do?

He takes care of them. You say, boy, he does arrest them. He does put them into prison for a few days. He does do that. But he didn't do it out of vindictiveness.

He didn't do it out of a malicious place. He did it to test them and to find a way to get Jacob to send Benjamin and ultimately bring Jacob into that place. And so what do you have? You have a man who even, yes, who did treat him in a certain way. But if you really think about it, he took care of them.

He always sent them back with food. He protected them in many ways. And when it came at the right time, he unveiled himself and he embraced them. And it was so hard to believe that even when Jacob died, the brothers were terrified. He's gonna change his mind.

He just did this because he wanted to really please his father. And Joseph broke down when he realized how their brothers were thinking. He reassured them, I I I'm here to take care of you. One of the ways in which you know that you have been free from unforgiveness is that when the opportunity of good arises toward your enemy, you take it. And sometimes that good just looks like you praying for somebody who really did hurt you, but you found out something devastating happened to them.

And God is very creative in giving us opportunities to do something to show that we've truly forgiven. We have a second thought to consider. The knowledge that this little girl had, We don't know her age. Right? We're just told that she was a little girl from the land of Israel, but what she conveyed showed something remarkable about her understanding and awareness of God.

What does she say? She says here, oh, and and she says it with this earnestness. Would that my lord with were with the prophet who was in Samaria. Now if she's a little girl and she knew this, meaning she knew who Elisha the prophet was, she knew of his whereabouts, then that tells me she was instructed about these things. That tells me that she was not like those band of boys in the city of Bethel.

You remember that when Elisha early and his ministry crossed and and walked through Bethel or by Bethel and this band of boys came and harassed him and told him go up you bald head. She wasn't she wasn't like those boys. She was part of the remnant of Israel who believed in the true and living God. And her parents instilled in her this kind of faith. They taught her well.

And when I when I look at this, I I thought to myself, what an encouragement for parents to know that this girl, the way she was raised in her home, would touch the leader of a nation. Don't doubt for a moment that the seed that you plant in that child's heart has the ability not just to remain, but to shine. And not just shine in dark and difficult places. Listen. What you put at an elementary phase can nurture and grow to be something that you never even expected as a guardian, as a mother, as a father, as an older sibling.

You know how I know that this young girl's faith is beyond what even she was taught? We studied many of Elisha's miracles, did we not? Was there ever a time where Elisha was recorded of healing a leper before this? How did she know that Elisha would heal this man of his leprosy then? She's never witnessed God using a man to heal somebody of this disease, but she believed it.

Don't you think that's amazing? It's because she knew the character of God. She knew what God could do. She heard what the things Elisha did in the name of this God, and that translated when she saw an obstacle, when she saw a problem, she truly trusted that God can do something about it. Do not underestimate your investment in that younger person's life, in that child of yours.

This little girl shows us a remarkable thing, to never hesitate to disciple them while they're young, to trust that they can take it even from a young age and touch those who are much more advanced in life. So she said this. Right? Would that my lord, were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy? Now what do we find?

Verse four. So Naaman went in and told his lord thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, go now. I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he went, taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 changes of clothing.

Here's the thing. The knowledge that this little girl had, unfortunately, would not be processed appropriately nor would it be found possessed by those who should have owned it already. And here's example number one. When Naaman heard this, went to the king, got permission, the king was more than willing. I mean, this is one of his top guys.

He doesn't want him to see him become a leper. If you're saying that there's somebody in Israel that can make you well, let's get this going. And what does he do? He sends Naaman. He gives him the green light, but he also provides something.

A massive gift. What kind of gift? 10 talents of silver, 6,000 sheke I mean, this this is coming on a train, and 10 changes of clothing. What what do you think this is? A gesture of respect?

Less likely. More than anything, I believe that this is Naaman understanding that he's going into enemy territory, and he has to try to find a way to persuade whoever it is for him to be healed. You're talking about a foreign foe, somebody who has caused harm and harassment, and now they're coming to your front step asking for some help. He he's gotta he's gotta get them with something. So he comes with all these resources, all these rewards, all these treasures.

But here's the thing, did a little girl who's very knowledgeable mention anything about payment to the prophet? No. So where did they get this idea from? I think it's pagan. And here's what you and I can take from this.

Do not be surprised if unbelievers cannot immediately grasp the simplicity and the accessibility of our faith. Don't be shocked by that. Don't be surprised by that. Naaman has a wonderful picture here. And there are millions of people who believe as I am speaking to you tonight, that they have to come up with some elaborate complex protocol to have an audience with God or that they have to pay something for some kind of favor from God.

Many people think this way. And I can't help but think of the words of the apostle Paul when he stood before those Athenians, those philosophers, those supposed scholars and debaters. And he said this marvelous thing in acts seventeen twenty seven. And speaking about God, he says, yet he is actually not far from each one of us. He said that in the context of God placing us in different parts of the world and determining the boundaries of our dwelling place, and he says, look.

No matter where you're at, god has made himself so accessible, and he preached that to these learned men, and it's something that you and I are supposed to embrace for ourselves. Naaman could understand it. So he comes with all of this and he hopes that it will weaken any resistance on Israel's part. But there's another mistake that he makes. When the king sends a letter, he sends it to the king of Israel.

And what does he say in the letter? Says here in verse six, when this letter reaches, you know that I have sent to you Naaman, my servant, that you make cure him of his leprosy. Wrong guy. You're saying, no. He's speaking generally.

That's not how the king of Israel interpreted it. Because when he reads the letter Well, let's just read it for ourselves. Look at verse seven. And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, am I God? To kill and to make alive that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?

Only consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me. Practical lesson, we are prone of misinterpreting the words of people sometimes. Right? So may we all have the wisdom and the maturity not to take things to heart, especially if it's not so clear. Let's come back to the main lesson.

So you have this man here who is obviously overwhelmed by this request, and he rightly affirms the sovereignty of God. Look what he says. Am I a God to kill and to make alive? So acknowledges that God has power over life. The final say over life.

He acknowledges it, but he doesn't apply it to the situation because he panics. And we have every right to hold this man accountable. Do you know why? Because the context suggests that this is king Jehoram. Who's king Jehoram?

He was one of the three kings that wandered into the wilderness as they came as a coalition to fight against the Moabites. They got lost. Their water resources were running low, so they come to Elisha. Elisha was the conduit by which God performed a miracle and saved them. The king of Israel back then is the same king of Israel here.

If there was anybody who should have known better, it was him. Evidently, what he experienced a couple chapters ago did not make a lasting impression on him. So when there was another dilemma, what he should have done was, I know just the guy that can help us because he's helped us before. But instead, he doesn't. He gets overwhelmed.

He freaks out, and he thinks that he's about to enter into a war. And what's so amazing here is that this this king who we are tempted to lay off the hook for his unbelief, when you compare his awareness to the little girls in verse two and verse three, he has no excuse. And how many comparisons have we made of this throughout our study of the old testament? That when it comes to the lowly, the impoverished, the unfortunate, the destitute, they often carry a knowledge of what matters way more than those who have a lot in this life. So you have this little girl who knows God and what he can do, and yet you have this king who doesn't know God and what he can do.

And before we move on, I wanna point out that this text here in verse seven is the basis for us understanding the culture of Jesus' day. That this understanding that only God can restore the leper, there's no other cure, there's no other hope for a leper, that belief was carried into Jesus' time, where all the Jews understood that if you suffer from this disease, you are at the mercy of God. No doctor can help you, no remedy can aid you, nothing. It has to be something from heaven. And if that is true, then understand the implications of Jesus' ministry when he arrives on the scene.

That when he went around, not like Elisha. Elisha is going to be used to heal this leper, but he sends him away for God to heal him as an act of faith. What does Jesus do? He lays his hands on the untouchable. So you gotta imagine how the Jews would interpret that.

And that's why I made such a ruckus in that culture because this Jesus, only God can heal a leper. And yet this Jesus lays his hand on these contagious, walking dead men and women? Am I God to kill and to make alive that this man sends word to me? He he just rips his clothes. It's like a very disturbing thing to him.

Leaders would do this when there was something blasphemous or horrendous. What happens? Verse eight. But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king saying, why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.

Verse eight says something about the character of God. How? Because you have a man named Naaman who is doing his best from an honest heart to get in touch with this God, the true God. He fumbles in the beginning before he even makes way to Israel. Right?

He thinks that this God is maybe like all these other gods that needs great sacrifice, great donations, whatever the case may be. And then he goes to the king. He he he has very limited information, I guess. And then now you have this king who stumbles himself by not being able to direct Naaman to the right source, and this could have easily failed. But what does God do?

God meets Naaman on his journey. God sees Naaman's heart. And he's willing to meet him halfway. How does he do that? Somehow, word gets to Elisha, and Elisha sets up an appointment with Naaman.

And I'd like to think that that's how God is today with those who are searching for the truth and maybe don't know what to work with, where to begin. They just have limited understanding. And as they make those steps, and though they may trip, and though they may be misguided for a season, God meets that person. He guides that person until that person realizes the truth for what it is and then makes a decision if that's something that they wanna give themselves to. And notice even Elisha's response to the king is a rebuke to the king, because the king should have known.

Right? Look what he says again. Why have you torn your clothes? It was a gentle rebuke. You didn't need to do that.

And notice what else he says. Bring him to me so that he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. In other words, hey, if remember, king Jerome was a pagan. He was an idolater. He acknowledged Yahweh in some ways, but he he loved false gods.

So here's what Elisha is essentially saying. Where are your other prophets? Why are you in such panic? Can't you have any of your supposed mediators come to your help? Evidently not.

So bring them to me, because I represent the true God. So the appointment is set. Look at verse nine. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. That was no quiet visitation.

That was a scene. That was a procession. There was noise. People looked out the window. People opened the front door.

People were wondering, what's this all about? And so Nabon comes to Elisha's humble home, and you would expect that Elisha would open the door with a smile and with a little excitement. I'm going to meet one of the top generals of the Syrian army. Instead, look what he does in verse 10. And Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.

Talk about anticlimactic. So a servant is sent out. How do you think Naaman took this? You might think, Elisha, this is a little bit rude. This is a little unnecessary.

This man already made such a great way to come to you. He didn't ask for you to come to him. He he came many miles, and who knows the journey, what it entailed, but here he is. He came to your front step, and you you didn't step out to acknowledge him? Is Elisha being inconsiderate?

No. Actually, I believe he's being very kind because Elisha, as a man of God, perceives something. He perceives that Naaman needs correction with something else apart from his leprosy. Saying, what is that? His pride.

Naaman did humble himself to some extent, but not enough. And Elisha is going to help him be healed in that area. By refusing to meet this man face to face, the man of God is teaching this mighty man of valor something about the character and the nature of God, that he's not interested in how much you can give him, nor is he impressed by your entourage, nor is he moved by your accolades. Do you know what the Lord is after, Naaman? Humble yourself.

Come in humility. Come in lowliness. Come in brokenness. Don't come expecting and and demanding and thinking that it has to be a certain way. And my mind went to that famous verse in Micah six eight where the prophet there says, he has told you, oh, man, what is good.

What does he tell man? What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and here's the last part, and to walk humbly with your God. And one of the ways in which you humble yourself before God and walk humbly with your God is that when his word is made known to you, you align yourself to it no matter how much it challenges your preconceived notions or your desires. That that's what humbleness looks like.

Here's what God's word asks of me, and no matter how much it might challenge my flesh, my understandings, I am willing to comply with it because that's what God is after. And that's what Naaman is going to have to learn, which is something he refuses to do at first. God's word is made known to him and he resists it with anger. It actually irks him. By the way, I have to pause here and and say I admire Elisha so much because he is yet another, at this moment, model for ministers.

So if anybody here aspires to be in ministry in any capacity, especially as a leader, know this. What I love about Elisha is that his message was not changed, nor was he swayed by this pomp political figure. He wasn't influenced by a potential monetary reward. He gave Naaman what Naaman needed. So imagine being a minister, maybe even in this context, and a famous person walks in.

You know what the temptation might be of some people who are called to preach the truth, to alter it, to try to win that person in a clever but fleshy way? Elisha was not such a man. It didn't matter who stood before him. It didn't matter who visited him. He gave it the way God told him to give it.

Why? Because Elisha loved God and he loved Naaman too much to compromise in any way. He wanted to and he needed to. It was his duty to give this man exactly what God wanted to give him. And it should be no different for you and I.

No matter who cross your paths, they are all equal. They are all in need of the same gospel. And so Elisha doesn't budge. I love that. And nor does he re re respond and react when Naaman becomes angry at this initial message.

Right? It's not like Elisha was at the window and he said, okay, I want you to go and tell him that he has to go to the Jordan and dip himself seven times. And then when he tells him he sees Naaman's face get red and he's ready to pack and go back to Syria, you don't see Elisha kicking the door open and say, oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Misinterpretation.

My messenger sometimes, he doesn't get it. So let me just he doesn't do any of that. Like, this is what God said. I'm saying it in boldness, yes, but in love. Accept it.

Take it or leave it. And so what's Naaman gonna do? Verse 11. But Naaman was angry. Why?

Why? Why are you angry? You would think you would be thrilled because you now have been given a divine prescription for your leprosy. Do you know why he was angry? Because at this moment here, what troubled him even more than his burning leprosy was that his pride was hurt.

Look what it says here. But Naaman was angry and went away saying, behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord, his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. I thought I had a certain notion, concept of how this was gonna go down, that this was gonna be a process that was honorable to me, that would be even showy, it would be public, it would be and it didn't happen the way I thought. And so he became angry. He believed he deserved some dramatic manifestation.

And if not that, then at least to be sent to a more dignified body of water. That's what he says in verse 12. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Here's here's Naaman who compares the rivers and the waters of Damascus to that of Israel, And he goes, what we have back home was way better than this. But you know what came to mind?

A verse from Ezekiel. And you don't have to turn there, but I wanna just mention it to you. In Ezekiel 20 verse six, when the Lord speaks about the land of Israel, he says that it is most glorious of all lands. Many people do not see what God sees as beautiful being beautiful. Many people do not interpret what is good, what God deems to be good.

The natural man cannot accept the things of the spirit. So God says, this is a glorious and Naaman says, I think there's something better, and he would not accept these instructions. And Naaman's reactions to Elisha's instructions is no different than the attitude many have when they learn what God requires of them to be saved. Isn't that true? What does the prophet tell them?

Go to the Jordan, dip yourself seven times and you'll be healed. What does the bible say? Go to the cross, repent and believe, and you shall be saved. And how do some people react? The cross.

A crucified savior. Put my trust in that. There's gotta be something that demands more of me. There's gotta be something more logical. There's gotta be something more attractive.

There's gotta be something more respectable. Then believing this message as the basis of my righteousness. And Galatians says that the gospel. Is offensive in that regard. Paul says in Galatians five, if I preach circumcision, then why am I being persecuted and the offense of the gospel is gone?

The stumbling block of the gospel is gone. What does he mean by that? That when you preach the sufficiency of the cross, people will see it as foolish, Especially those who who want to attain their own righteousness. Especially those who are religious. They they think it can't be that.

That can't be what God is asking of me. That's the offense of it among other things. And I'm reminded of the Paul's words when he was describing the unfortunate belief of his Jewish brethren when they denied Christ. Listen to the these words in Romans ten three. It's so powerful.

He says, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. That's what it boils down to. Why did the majority of Jews not receive God's righteousness that that provided righteousness? Because they could not accept the notion that God provided an alien righteousness, meaning outside of themselves being imputed onto them as the basis of their salvation. They couldn't.

That's what Paul is saying. They could not surrender to that. They could not give themselves over to that. They they could not find it within themselves to rest in belief and belief alone. That's what he says in verse four.

And that's modeled here by Naaman. God's word goes out and he goes, dip myself in in the Jordan seven times. Seriously. Seriously. And so what happens?

He's filled with wrath, but his servants in verse 13 came near and said to him, my father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you. Will you not do it? Has he actually said to you wash and be clean? Another translation says, if he spoke to you a great word, would you not have done it? If he told you to jump through all these hoops or to pay a great price, would you not be more compelled to that?

But he he just simply told you to do this. And what's so amazing is this story began with a little servant girl that that really put all of this into motion, and the story is now coming to a near end. And who who's coming to the rescue once more? His servants. And so this man was ready to go back to Syria, but there is people in his life who loved them enough to correct them when he needed correction.

And they did respectfully notice they said, my father. My father, Please do something. Please prayfully ask the Lord and be vigilant for people in your life who love you enough to redirect you when you're headed in the wrong direction, And seek to be the person who loves people enough, who will do the same for others. These servants, again, nameless, but played a huge pivotal role in this man's story, And he takes it to heart. Notice what happens in verse 14 in our last verse of the study.

So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean. I wonder what that looked like. I wonder if Naaman was just quiet the whole time. I wonder if part of his hesitation was that he had to remove his clothing and expose his skin condition. And he gets into that water.

He dips himself once, does it again. One more time. Until he does it the amount of times that I should have told him to do it. And until he does it the amount of times Elisha told him to do it. Why seven?

I mean, the simple answer is that seven is a consistent number in the bible that depicts divine perfection, but I think it's deeper than that. And, again, it's only when you're familiar with a a book called Leviticus, where there is an entire chapter that describes the cleaning rituals and the process of renewing somebody who suffered from leprosy but was deemed clean. So let's turn there as our final text in Leviticus 14 and notice something that correlates with what we see here in second Kings chapter five. You're gonna notice that there are many rituals that deal with the leper that are tied to the number seven. Leviticus 14 beginning in verse six.

Let's just look at a few examples in this chapter. Leviticus fourteen six. He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop and dip them in the live bird and the blood of the bird that was killed over fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. And he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go go into the open field.

Verse eight of Leviticus 14. And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into a camp, into the camp but live outside his tent seven days. Leviticus fourteen fifteen. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.

So we see it over and over again, seven times, seven times, seven day. What's the point? What's the connection? Elisha's instructions for Naaman were based and rooted in God's word. And so he obeyed God's word.

And what's the result? And his flesh was restored. It could've just said his flesh was restored, but it says his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child. Have you ever seen the skin of a of a baby? Elisha walked out of that water brand new.

Similarly, when you're cleansed of spiritual leprosy, as you respond to God's word and you humble yourself to receive something outside of yourself to renew you, what happens? You're a new creation. You're what John three says, born again. You're tangibly transformed. And so we even see a gospel picture here.

And speaking of gospel, let's come back to how we started. Jesus uses out of all the miracles this one to communicate something so vital for the Jews of his own day. At the beginnings of his ministry, he taught in his synagogue in his hometown Nazareth. The people heard him gladly but very quickly became sour and began to criticize his origins and doubt the claims that he made himself about himself being messiah. And so Jesus gives these different illustrations and references and one of them being what you heard in Luke.

What did he say early on? He told them. He told this people that there are many lepers in the days of Elisha in Israel, but there was only one who was healed and the one who was healed was Naaman the Syrian. That was in Luke four twenty seven and twenty eight. But why did they respond?

Why did they elicit such wrath? Here's how you understand it. There were many people who were suffering, but God chose to grant mercy to an outsider. And it wasn't just that. It was the fact that this outsider heard God's word and received it that led to his healing.

And here now you have Jesus confronted by the unbelief of his own people and they refused to humble themselves by receiving his word and applying it. And so what is the Lord alluding to? What is he trying to communicate by mentioning Naaman? If you will continue and persist in your unbelief towards what I have to say, like God under the old covenant, Messiah will consider the gentile, and he will be willing to save and rescue and redeem them. He's the same god.

And that caused them to explode. Why? Because they put so much confidence in their nationalistic identity, in their heritage of descendants of Abraham. And here's the Lord Jesus saying, you missed the story that even when Israel had a monarchy, God was still willing to reach out to a Gentile due to your unbelief. And I'm here to tell you that I'm willing to do the same.

And we we read there in verse 28 that what? They became angry. Like who became angry when they heard God's word initially? Naiman. But what's the difference?

Naiman's unbelief was short lived. The Jews of Jesus' day carried their anger until they killed him. The gospel message in Naaman's story is this. He doesn't consider your ethnicity. He doesn't consider what you possess.

He doesn't consider who you are or who knows you or your achievements. The one thing he looks for is humility. The one thing that attracts and magnetize God to sinners is when they realize that they need his saving. I wonder if anybody at this Bible study tonight has not yet made that decision. I pray today that you'd be moved by this story and apply it to your own life.

God is waiting to restore you and heal you, and you come empty handed, and he'll do it. He's faithful to do it. Let's pray. Thank you for the story, Lord. Thank you for your word.

Thank you that in one story, you can teach us something about the cross. You can teach us about your guidance. You can teach us about practical wisdom. Your word is infinite in his provision. We pray, Lord, that these things would make an impact in our lives.

We would not be like King Joram where we are moved by something at one point, and then that evaporates at another crucial time in our lives. May these things be deeply, deeply embedded so that they will show up when we need it the most. Lord, as we sing and worship to you, we pray that you'd be glorified in our response to your glorious truth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Praise team, can you help us end this night with a song on our lips and joy in our hearts?