#495 I Refuse

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.

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

16 But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

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.

18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.

19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?

22 And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

23 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.

24 And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.

25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. 2 Kings 5 KJV

Naaman had the things that men would trade their souls for, but also he had that which he would gladly give all to be rid of. A great coincidence that his wife has a girl as a maid, who is a captive of Israel. Now this defies some earthly reason, for if I have bested you then what can you teach me? This is a slave girl, and is she just talking, why would she tell me of a prophet in the land that could not protect her? She must sound sincere enough though, and he has not found a healer in his own land, there is not a prophet among his people that can address this, nothing there that can make him clean. 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

She may have very little in this world compared to her earthly master, but she knows who he must go to to be cleansed. This is taken up to the king of Syria, who loves and appreciates a man who has served him well. He has probably heard of both Elijah and Elisha, so this sounds reasonable to him, and he sends Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel. The king of Israel is rather dramatic, for he knows that he cannot take and give life back, but that he has to rent his clothes would make me wonder. Death and life are only in the power of the king to do justice, it is for that which is either capital in nature or deserves some measure of pardon. This is a sincere request from the Syrian king, not an agitation to war, but Israel also assumed God had called them out to be destroyed before. Elisha is more stable of heart and tells the king to send the sick to the physician, so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel. I think the Syrian king sent him most obviously to the king out of respect, and to insure that the convoy would not be confused as invaders, that this was a peaceful mission. Did the king of Israel not think such compassion possible amongst the gentiles or did he not know that much himself? Was he afraid to go to Elisha?

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1 :27

And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." Matthew 17:17

Now Naaman is obviously a leper, but for those that do not know this from the law, he is also unclean. For further on this refer back to #255 Leviticus 13 and understand that Elisha will first obey this law, though he has asked for Naaman to come to his house. He sends out his servant to tell him to go and dunk himself 7 times, the number of completion, the day of rest. He does not regard Naaman's person or position nor does he disrespect him, but has sent word by his servant what he must do to be healed. When I wanted so much to be an atheist I sounded off just like Naaman, that God's servant telling me is not good enough, that He needs to come Himself, that I need a sign. I deserve the presence of the Lord, but I did not know what I was asking. Naaman has already worked it out in his mind, how this shall take place, should take place, but God has worked this out before Naaman was even born. Imagine, that the God of the Universe, Who created all things, Who is Holy, has already thought this out and knows more than Naaman. Elisha, by not coming out is also not taking credit or honor upon himself or confusing the sick about his even more desperate state. His pride will now set itself up against being healed. The thing he came all this way for and brought a large sum of money and fine gifts in hopes to trade for, is now offered for nothing except this, to bathe in water that can't cure leprosy. Repent and be saved. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can't do it, it's just not the way he pictured it; it's not what he has convinced himself of. Besides there are two rivers in my own country that are crystal clear, beautiful waters that I have often enjoyed, and yet you are still unclean my friend. 

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. Acts 16:14

44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. John 6: 44 & 45

Like the quote of the pastor in the last entry, I think Elisha is where he should be, behind the scenes, praying. For this is only part of the message, this confronts the pride of man, his humanism, however many idols there may be, they are what we make of them. However strong and rich Naaman may be, it has not helped him to be clean. Whoever it is you think you are and however the more skeptical you may pride yourself on being, you cannot save yourself and your will is a slave and set against what will save you. So who can be saved? With man it is IMPOSSIBLE, but with God all things are possible. Here we are again, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, but what if I am deaf? Then God is your only hope. He has given Naaman wise servants and has made him receptive to listen to those who work for him. Elisha prays and they speak to Naaman again, to his heart, if he would have said climb that mountain and wrestle the bear that lives in the cave, then steal the egg of the eagle that lives in the nest above the bear, you would have done it. If he said give me half of all you own and sacrifice a hundred oxen, we would be helping you prepare the oxen now. He said dunk thyself in the Jordan 7 times. Lord I believe, help me with my unbelief. Help my master and my friend to see. He's got that baby skin now.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17: 17- 19

Naaman is so excited and grateful, he returns to thank the prophet and has come to understand that this is from God and that there is no other than the God of Israel. He offers Elisha a material blessing, but Elisha, who has received from others, will not take from this man. He does not allow for him to pay for his healing, and there is no real earthly reason for this since he could put the gift to good use, but it must be from God. Your money, gifts, power and position have not brought you here. There is no special respect of your person, and I don't even care that you are a close friend to your king. I know one thing for certain, this is it, to God be the glory. Your money is no good here.

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1: 17-21

Naaman is a new convert and like babes his understanding is small, but he wants to serve the God Who healed him. Just like he wanted to be clean in his own way, he is coming up with ways to worship God. His servant will not accept his money, but he would like to take home some of the soil of this place, for truly it must be blessed. We all start out with so many false notions of God, even Elijah, the teacher of Elisha did despair, thought God would do one thing but went another way. Naaman is awake now unto a Spirit that he did not before know. It immediately occurs to him to apologize for a part of his position, which requires that he goes to the temple of an idol, and Elisha does not excuse it but he does not condemn him either. He bids him to go in peace, with no further instruction. The seed was sewn, the soil looks prepared, but we will not be able to go with him, so we must trust God to provide the growth.

As Naaman makes his way home, quite clearly we see the tare of another seed, sprouting and growing in the heart of Gehazi. It is not a wonder that if God would have chosen to use the staff to raise the boy in the last chapter, that He would not give such an honor to so hardened a heart. It is sad that the means of grace are always so close to him, for he is ever in ear shot of Elisha. But if the child would have risen when he touched the staff to his face, his foolish mind would have gloried in it, and he would have used it to ill means. This is disgusting on so many levels, for this man who has had so little instruction in comparison, whose heart now beats for the God of Israel, will now have the oath of Elisha, the testimony of a free gift, diluted by a greedy wolf. He is not the shepherd who would climb in by some other way, he does not enter in by the gate, but waits to intercept the sheep somewhere where he thinks it goes unnoticed. He claims to be or know the shepherd, to be here on his errand, but he is only here to steal the identity of good, to kill the words of the shepherd and to destroy the message that brings life. Naaman gives to him with a glad heart, even more than what he ask, and Gehazi hides it when he returns home. "Where have you been? Why did you lie to the Holy Spirit Ananias?" He does not repent and keeps the lie, for only a fraction of the things that Naaman would give to be clean, Gehazi will embrace uncleanness and be the leper of ill gotten gains. 

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36