Calvary Road Baptist Church

“NAAMAN, THE LEPER”

Second Kings 5.1-14 

Let me take you on a journey into the past. Rollback the calendar of your mind to a time that is almost 2850 years ago. It was a time that preceded by nearly 850 years the birth of the pivotal figure in human history ... the Lord Jesus Christ. We journey to a faded little kingdom called Israel in what is now referred to as the Middle East. I say faded because of the glory she once knew. But those days had passed.

There had once upon a time been a mighty nation called Israel. She was ruled by a shepherd-king named David and his wise and fabulously wealthy son, Solomon. But her glory was short-lived. When Solomon died, his stupid son Rehoboam became king and precipitated a civil war that divided the nation that had been blessed by God.[1]

To the South was the nation of Judah, dominated by the tribe of Judah and ruled over by the royal family, which was of the tribe of Judah. This nation also had the priesthood of the tribe of Levi and the high priests descended from Aaron. It was also the nation that had the Temple in her capital city of Jerusalem.

To the North was the kingdom of Israel. Israel had strayed from God from the very beginning, and her succession of kings had usurped authority belonging to the Davidic dynasty. Her manner of worship, her places of worship, and those leading her people’s worship were an offense to the holy God Who had revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who had given the commandments to Moses, Who had led Joshua into the Promised Land, Who had commissioned Samuel to anoint the shepherd boy David to be king, and Who had given Solomon both wisdom and wealth beyond measure.

It was a sad little country, this Israel. Having strayed away from her God to chase the gods of the heathen nations surrounding her, she was awaiting her punishment from God that would have come already, but for one last call to repentance from a man of God named Elisha.

Elisha was God’s prophet to Israel. You might remember him as the successor to his master Elijah, who God took up in a whirlwind.[2] Before Elijah was caught up, you might remember that he asked Elisha what he might do for him before his departure. Elisha asked for and was granted a double portion of Elijah’s Spirit.[3]

As Elisha labored, preaching repentance toward God and calling the people back to the God of their fathers, this same God prospered the nation to the East of Israel ... Syria. Time and time and time again, Syria would attack Israel. Elisha would tell the people to repent, for the judgment was coming. But they would not listen. In one of the raids made against the wayward nation of Israel, a young maiden girl was kidnapped and carried away by Syrian soldiers. But for her, the events I am about to relate to you might never have happened. But for her bravery, the name of Naaman might never have been placed in the Bible.

Naaman, you see, was the commander of the Syrian host. He led the Syrian attacks against Israel, and it was ultimately he who was responsible for the young maiden being carried off into captivity. Let us learn of this Naaman, the Gentile warrior, and general. Please turn to Second Kings 5.1-14: 

1  Now 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.

2  And 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 Naaman’s wife.

3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

7  And 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 doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

8  And 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 hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

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

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, 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.

12 Are 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.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then 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.  

First, THE PROSPERITY NAAMAN ENJOYED 

The Word of God tells us that Naaman had it all. If ever there was a person who realized that he was only going around once in life, a man who felt compelled to grab all the gusto, it was Naaman. What do we know about Naaman? Several things, from Second Kings 5.1: 

“Now 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 ....” 

First, he was captain of the host of Syria. This likely meant that he was among the most powerful military commanders in the entire Middle East at that time, certainly without equal in his country. It meant that he had multiplied thousands of fighting men who would lay down their lives if he but spoke the word. It also meant that at his name, rulers feared.

Next, he was a great man with his king. Not only was Naaman a great military man, but his king knew it. Had he risen through the ranks and distinguished himself in battle and as a leader of men? We can be sure that Naaman was no unknown soldier in the ranks who risked his life without recognition. Oh no. Naaman was recognized by the king in the royal court in Damascus as one worthy of praise as a top-flight military man.

“He was the supreme commander of the army of Syria as indicated by the term ‘commander,’ used of the army’s highest-ranking officer (Gen. 21:22; 1 Sam. 12:9; 1 Chr. 27:34); 2) he was ‘a great man,’ a man of high social standing and prominence.”[4]

Third, he was also an honorable man. Apparently not a swaggering tin soldier, concerned only with his medals and his image as a macho man, Naaman is described using two Hebrew words depicting his face being upturned rather than cast down in shame. This does not suggest Naaman was a petty little bully of a man, but a true leader and held in high esteem. Concerned with others and capable, because of awareness for others, of showing good manners. Insolence and abruptness with others was, apparently, not a characteristic of this man. Thus, he was, by ordinary human appraisal, well thought of.

Fourth, he was also a victorious man. Regardless of the traits and characteristics a man may have, and how nice a person he may be when attending a social function, it is the bottom line that really matters in the end. Does he get it done? That is the real question. In Naaman’s chosen field of endeavor, as a military field commander, he was a winner. But how does he get it done? What is the Scriptural verdict concerning this man’s military accomplishments? The verse presently before us reads, 

“By him the LORD had given deliverance to Syria.” 

The author of this portion of God’s inspired Word ascribes to the LORD Naaman’s success on the field of battle. Did Naaman perceive his blessings from God? We do not know, and many who are blessed by God do not know.

Fifth, and to top it all off, Naaman was a mighty man of valor. One can be a great military commander and yet not be a mighty man of valor. The Duke of Wellington soundly defeated Napoleon, yet there is no indication Wellington was a mighty man of valor. Who comes to mind as a mighty man of valor? David comes to my mind. Alexander the Great comes to my mind. Perhaps there is also Samson and Gideon, though Samson possessed a supernatural endowment of physical strength and the Angel of the LORD’s address to Gideon as “thou mighty man of valour” may have been ironical, in lieu of the fact that He spoke those words to Gideon while he was hiding from the Midianites for fear.[5] In the Bible, I think of David as the preeminent mighty man of valor, so much so that he gathered such men around him.[6] And perhaps Joshua and Caleb. So, for the writer of Second Kings to so describe a Gentile general using such terms is remarkable. Think about it. How could it get any better than that? This man seemed to have had everything the world had to offer. 

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PROBLEM NAAMAN ENDURED? 

I ask this because Naaman suffered from leprosy. The writer of Second Kings put it this way: 

“but he was a leper.” 

Do you have any idea what it was like in those days to be a leper? Of course, leprosy in the Bible is not what leprosy is nowadays understood to be, Hansen’s disease.[7] From various passages in the Word of God, this is what we understand about the leprosy that afflicted Naaman.

First, leprosy was debilitating. That is, leprosy was disabling. Leprosy was a horribly crippling affliction. Leprosy attacked the skin, various other tissues of the body, and the nervous system. It was characterized by nodules being formed on the body, ulcers on the skin, white and scaly scabs, deformities, and wasting away of different body parts. Leprosy was a disease that resulted in the putrefaction of human flesh while the sufferer was still alive. And it was debilitating as a result of its effect on the nervous system, as well as rendering the fingers, toes, and limbs useless, on the way to those affected regions rotting off of the body.

Additionally, leprosy was contagious. In this respect, modern leprosy is quite different from the leprosy referred to in the Bible. Whereas the contagious type of modern leprosy can be transmitted only by long and close contact with a person who has the disease, the ancient leprosy of the Bible was highly contagious. It was so contagious that when a Jewish man or woman contracted it, the Law of Moses called for the priests to inspect the person and the house they lived in.[8] And if, after repeated inspections of the person and the house, it was determined that the leprosy was not a passing thing, the house was to be destroyed, as a last resort, and the person was not allowed to continue living among the uncontaminated.

For the rest of their lives, they were condemned to live in leper colonies, away from family and friends, under penalty of death. And if they were approached by uncontaminated people, they had to cry out in a loud voice, “Unclean! Unclean!”[9] But not living under the Law of Moses and being a man of great power, Naaman was not isolated from others by his leprosy. In his culture, leprosy was not a type of sin, as it was pictured under the Mosaic Law. This, no doubt, resulted in many others in Syria contracting that horrible disease.

Not only was leprosy debilitating to the one who was infected with it. Not only was it contagious to others who were around the leper. But we also understand that leprosy is shown to be a type of sin in the Bible. In the Bible, it is interesting that only leprosy is a disease that one is not healed of but cleansed from.[10] It is also interesting that of all of the infectious diseases one might contract, leprosy is the single disease that resulted in mandatory quarantine, mandatory isolation from the general population. You see, sin must also be cleansed, not from one’s body but from one’s soul. And as the physically clean are to distance themselves from the leper, so too, the child of God, who is spiritually clean in God’s sight, is to be separate from the defilement of sin.

Finally, as leprosy produced a horrific stench due to the rottenness and putrefaction of the leper’s flesh, so does sin contaminate the human soul and produce a wretched stench in the nostrils of a holy God. And as most people cannot even look upon the flesh of a leper without revulsion, our holy God cannot look upon the sin of a person’s soul.[11] Can you begin to imagine the problems that Naaman had to endure because of his leprosy? As horrible as were the problems he faced with his leprosy, no less a problem are sinful people faced with in the sight of a holy God. But while Naaman’s affliction was open and visible. While it was too obvious either to ignore or to deny, the leprosy of lost people’s souls, sin, not being physically apparent, and therefore ignored, is often denied or overlooked with tragic consequences. 

WE HAVE SEEN THE PROSPERITY THAT NAAMAN ENJOYED. AND WE HAVE SEEN THE HORRIBLE PROBLEM NAAMAN ENDURED. NOW WE WILL EXAMINE THE PROPHET HE ENTREATED. 

Let’s trace the process whereby Naaman was brought to the prophet Elisha. You remember the young Jewish maiden. Isn’t it a marvelous thing that she did? She didn’t hold a grudge against Naaman, despite the horrible things his soldiers might have done to her, even though she would never see her homeland again, even though she would never see her mother or father, brothers or sisters, again, even though she would never experience anything resembling love of family and love of country again. She simply saw a man in need and knew who could meet his need, and she spoke the words which inevitably resulted in his cleansing.

Aren’t you glad she did not remain silent? Aren’t you glad she did not keep her valuable information to herself? Aren’t you glad she did not think to herself, “That’s his problem, not mine. It’s none of my business.” The Jewish maiden spoke, and thereby God moved using her testimony. Not being aware of the prophet in Israel, Syria’s king sent a letter to Israel’s king in Samaria. And he, knowing no power that was able to cleanse Naaman’s leprosy, became understandably distraught. The last thing he wanted to do was provoke another attack by the Syrians. What was he to do? There was nothing Israel’s king could do. Eventually, Elisha heard of the situation and that Israel’s king had rent his clothes, sending word to the king, and telling him, 

“Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 

So, word was sent by Israel’s king to Syria’s king, and Naaman, the leprous Syrian general, and man of valor and prominence, came. It might also be that Naaman carried his king’s letter to Israel’s king, so that he was already in Israel.

Next, let us trace the pride that had to be overcome to get Naaman into the Jordan River. The prophet Elisha’s prescription for Naaman was simple. Without bothering to see the great Syrian general face to face, without honoring him in any way in front of his entourage, the prophet sent word that he was to wash in the Jordan River seven times for the leprosy afflicting him to be cleansed away.

Predictably, at hearing this, Naaman was furious. Almost certainly agitated already for being denied a face-to-face encounter with the prophet, he balked at Elisha’s directive. Dip into the muddy Jordan River? Never! Perhaps Naaman expected the man of God to come out and speak to him, to conduct himself as others behave in the mighty general’s presence, and perhaps to simply speak and tell the leprosy to go away as he moved his hands up and down over the ulcers.

Never had Naaman imagined that the prophet would not only not grant him an audience, not bow before him and show him the respectful gestures he had grown used to, but also simply instruct him to bathe in a muddy river seven times. Weren’t there much better and cleaner rivers to bathe in his home country? If it was simply bathing in a river that would do the trick, why did he have to journey all that way? Why did he have to invest all the time it took to travel from Syria to Israel? At the thought, perhaps, of wasting so much of his valuable time or of performing such a silly ritual as bathing in a muddy river, the already chagrined for not being granted an audience with Elisha Naaman was outraged and went away.

But, as his servants reasoned with him, he understood. He saw that if he were asked to do some great thing, he would have done it. He would have strived to do the seemingly impossible to be rid of his leprosy. So, why not do the simple to be rid of his leprosy? I instead think he realized that his pride, in this instance as in every other example in which there is a resistance to the humble submission that God requires, would do him no good. Pride and stubbornness are never helpful. Why be proud when pride can only harm? Why be stiff-necked when humility brings such great reward? So, Naaman yielded. Is this not a picture of every sinner’s submission to the Gospel? Men are willing to do hard things to get to heaven, so why not something so simple as faith in Jesus Christ?

Finally, let us trace the faith he had in God as he went back to his homeland. From this point forward, Naaman’s offerings would be not to the false gods of the Syrians but the God of Israel. His approach to spirituality and matters of the hereafter promised him no benefit. But the God of Israel, using the words of a Jewish maiden and the simple directions of a prophet of God, cleansed away his leprosy. Not to the gods which the men of Israel now worshipped, not to the gods of stone and brass and wood that they now bowed down to, but to the living God would Naaman’s future worship be directed. To the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who had sent the prophet Elisha to call His people to repentance. The Jewish people did not listen to Elisha, but a Gentile leper did. So, to this God, Who had mercifully cleansed him of his leprosy, would he henceforth show worship and adoration. We see this from the load of soil he carried by two mules back to Syria, Second Kings 5.17: 

“And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.” 

“In the ancient Near East it was thought that a god could be worshiped only on the soil of the nation to which he was bound. Therefore, Naaman wanted a load of Israelite soil on which to make burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord when he returned to Damascus. This request confirmed how Naaman had changed - whereas he had previously disparaged Israel’s river, now he wanted to take a pile of Israel’s soil to Damascus.”[12] 

By the most unlikely events you can imagine, Naaman’s wife was brought into contact with a young Jewish maiden who told of a prophet in Israel who would recover her husband of his leprosy. Why do you suppose God brought such a thing to pass? And why, do you imagine, do you think He recorded such a thing in His Word?

I think I know why. You see, as I mentioned before, leprosy is a type of sin in the Bible. It is a physical condition which most closely approximates, in a material way, the state of a lost man’s soul, the condition of your soul if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ.

In this single incident of a leper’s cleansing before the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a wonderful picture of the salvation of a sinful soul employing faith that obeys, faith that complies, faith that follows directions.

As Naaman enjoyed prosperity in his life and career, so have you and I have enjoyed a certain degree of accomplishment in our lives. To one degree or another, we have sought after the goods and honors of this world and have had at least a degree of success.

But I dare say that none of us here has achieved the success in this world that Naaman achieved in his world. But with all of his prosperity, Naaman had to endure a severe problem. His leprosy, which could be seen and felt, would plague him for the rest of his natural life.

Sinful people are so much like Naaman. Though the leprosy of the soul, called sin, cannot be seen with the naked eye as leprosy can be seen, its effects can be seen. Its misery can be felt. And its consequences will be suffered for all eternity.

Though the putrefaction of the sinful soul creates the stench of death only in the nostrils of God, it is as real a blight on the soul as is leprosy a blight on the body. And what happened to Naaman needs to happen to you. Someone who could not tell you what to do [the young maiden girl] needs to recommend you to one who can tell you what to do [Elisha].

What did Elisha tell Naaman to do? He told him he needed to be washed for the defilement of leprosy to go away.

And, my friend, if you are here still lost in your sins, there are words you need to hear. You need to hear the truth. And the truth is, your righteousnesses are as filthy rags to God.[13] Your sin is so abhorrent to Him that He will not. Indeed He cannot, because of His holy nature, allow you into His heaven until something is done about your sin.

What needs to be done? You need to be washed. As Naaman was washed in the cleansing waters of the Jordan River, you need to be washed in the cleansing blood of Christ.

The Bible teaches that the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses away all sin, First John 1.7.

When one first hears of this, his reaction is the same as Naaman’s. Pride. But then you think about it. Had God told you to do some hard thing, you would do it to go to heaven. Amen?

So, why not then do some easy thing? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

__________

[1] 1 Kings 11.43-12.24

[2] 2 Kings 2.11

[3] 2 Kings 2.9

[4] See footnote for 2 Kings 5.1 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 523.

[5] Judges 6.11-12

[6] 2 Samuel 10.7; 16.6; 17.8; 20.7; 23.8-9, 16-17, 22; 1 Kings 1.8

[7] https://www.cdc.gov/leprosy/index.html

[8] Leviticus 13-14

[9] Leviticus 13.45

[10] Matthew 8.3; Mark 1.42; Luke 5.12-13

[11] Job 15.15; 25.5

[12] See footnote for 2 Kings 5.17 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 524.

[13] Isaiah 64.6

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church