Naaman

II Kings chapter 5

There is an interesting story in the book of II Kings chapter 5 telling the story of a man named Naaman. Naaman was a commander in the army of the king of Aram. It is worth the read of the entire chapter to get the lessons that can be gained in the passage.

A lesson to be learned for me was how the hubris of Naaman, was extinguished. Naaman expected, that because he was the leader of a powerful army, he would be dealt with accordingly. After being instructed to visit the king of Israel (who by the way was completely freaked out by this), he was finally directed to the prophet Elisha.

He expected that the prophet Elisha would come to greet him, then simply extend his healing arm to cure Naaman’s leprosy. When he was told to simply bathe himself seven times in the Jordan River, Naaman was insulted. “Why, there are better rivers in Damascus!” he reasoned. Bathing in the dirty Jordan was beneath him!

Lucky for Naaman, he seemed to be open to the wisdom of others, for he finally bathed in the Jordan, and he was healed. Later, he understood that Elisha represented the true God, and he submitted to such authority. Naaman even begged to pay for the cure, but Elisha indicated that there was no need for that. Naaman then asked for forgiveness for his future act of worshipping the gods in the temple of Rimmon. Elisha seemed to understand and sent Naaman on his way.

Later, when Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, tried to profit off the healing, Elisha turned the tables on Gehazi, and Gehazi was struck with leprosy.

There are a lot of takeaways from this story. One, of course, is the hubris of Naaman, which was later redeemed. In this short chapter we see themes of faith, lack of faith, conversion, forgiveness, greed punished, humility, and entitlement. I also saw how Naaman’s servants seemed to really care for him, an unexpected takeaway for me, but a welcome one.

So, my friends, enjoy this story. A lot to be learned in a small space!

Blessings!