2 Kings
5:1-14
Naaman,
a general for the king of Aram, was a great man and highly regarded by his
master, because through him the Lord
had given victory to Aram. This man was a mighty warrior, but he had a skin
disease.[a] 2 Now Aramean raiding parties had gone out
and captured a young girl from the land of Israel. She served Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her
mistress, “I wish that my master could come before the prophet who lives in
Samaria. He would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman
went and told his master what the young girl from the land of Israel had said.
5 Then Aram’s king
said, “Go ahead. I will send a letter to Israel’s king.”
So
Naaman left. He took along ten kikkars of silver, six thousand shekels of gold,
and ten changes of clothing. 6 He brought the letter to
Israel’s king. It read, “Along with this letter I’m sending you my servant
Naaman so you can cure him of his skin disease.”
7 When the king of
Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes. He said, “What? Am I God to hand
out death and life? But this king writes me, asking me to cure someone of his
skin disease! You must realize that he wants to start a fight with me.”
8 When Elisha the man
of God heard that Israel’s king had ripped his clothes, he sent word to the
king: “Why did you rip your clothes? Let the man come to me. Then he’ll know
that there’s a prophet in Israel.”
9 Naaman arrived with
his horses and chariots. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha
sent out a messenger who said, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River.
Then your skin will be restored and become clean.”
11 But Naaman went away
in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on
the name of the Lord his God, wave
his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease. 12 Aren’t
the rivers in Damascus, the Abana[b] and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t
I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in
anger.
13 Naaman’s servants
came up to him and spoke to him: “Our father, if the prophet had told you to do
something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash
and become clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and bathed in the
Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like
that of a young boy, and he became clean.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There’s a line from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit that always makes me chuckle.
The story’s hero, Bilbo Baggins, has gone on a long quest with a company of
dwarves, hoping to recover their long-lost treasure from a greedy dragon named
Smaug. Classic stuff. It’s Bilbo who
discovers the dragon’s weak spot: an open patch in Smaug’s armored belly. This
key information helps lead to the dragon’s death at the hands of a hero named
Bard. Later on, when there is a quarrel
over who gets the treasure and credit for killing the dragon the narrator says,
“Bilbo did not, of course, expect that
anyone would remember that it was he who discovered all by himself the dragon’s
weak spot; and that is just as well, for no one ever did.”
This makes me think of the young Israelite slave
girl who has been captured in one of Naaman’s many raids. Sadly, human history is filled with
individuals like her: dragged away from her home and family, forced into labor
(and other things), thought of as inconsequential to “important” people. We don’t even know her name. But she is the one who gets the story going.
Naaman has a problem and that problem is some sort
of skin disease.
Skin diseases were a big deal in ancient times.
They were important enough to get a person kicked out of town and kept separate
from everyone else. Even the most
powerful general’s prestige and position could be imperiled because of any
number of skin conditions that were decided to be “problematic.”
These diseases violated ancient “purity codes”
that were meant to keep society tied together and “acceptable.” If you are
tempted to look down on our ancient ancestors for having purity codes, just try
to double-dip your tortilla chip in the communal salsa at a Mexican Restaurant
and you quickly discover that we have purity codes today.
This skin disease is about to cause an
international incident. The King of
Israel is afraid that if he can’t help Naaman there will be an incident that
could lead to an insult that could lead to a war. The stakes are high here.
Naaman certainly seems used to being a “mover and
shaker.” Can you sense his puffed up
pride? His sense of importance? It seems that he was expecting quite a show
from Elisha and was at first disappointed not to get it.
But the prophet Elisha has confidence in God and
God’s ability to change lives. It’s
interesting that many of the miracles in the Bible are less-than-spectacular. For every time fire comes down from heaven
(see 1 Kings 18:20-35) there are plenty of miracles that have a distinct lack
of jets of flame and clouds of smoke.
That’s the case here. Naaman is
healed by bathing in water.
Far from starting a war, this incident brings
people together. There is peace, not
war. Where’s God at work here? First of all, God’s name and the reputation
of God’s prophet is enhanced and proclaimed through this miracle. Second, there is peace and not war. God’s way is proclaimed to the nations and it
makes a difference in the lives of the people involved.
Let’s remember that God is in the “healing
business.” Let’s remember that even enemy generals can receive a new life. And let’s remember the young, unnamed girl
who started this whole process: God
cares about her too and all of the young, unnamed girls in our world who are
faced with similar circumstances.
