2 Kings 5:10-14
Coming to God on His Terms: Naaman and God's Instruction - 2 Kings 5:10-14
2 Kings 5:10-14 (NIVUK)
10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’ 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, “Wash and be cleansed”!’ 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Commentary
Revd. David Hall: A messenger is sent out to the great general Naaman. We live in a world intoxicated by celebrity and by influences, but Elisha is unmoved by Naaman’s fame, his horses and his chariots. Naaman must wait at the door like, like anyone else. And that’s true of us, isn’t it? Whatever our worldly success and our affluence. We must come to God like anyone else. We must await his will, his timing and his message. And by using a messenger, Elisha is not negotiating. On God’s behalf, he is instructing. And not terribly surprisingly, Naaman doesn’t like that. None of us do. Verse 11: “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 his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I and not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage.” You can see a battle between God’s instruction and Naaman’s opinion. Is there a battle going on in your heart today between God’s instruction and your opinion? Well, listen to the servants of verse 13. And servants very rarely lie. Verse 13: “But his servants 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”?’ 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.” He wasn’t just free of leprosy. His skin was like a child. It suggests a new, fresh start, new beginnings. As if the life he’d lived before, he’d never lived. Complete cleansing, cleansing, all this and more when we come to God on his terms.