Tag Archives: Naaman

God’s People, part 75: Gehazi

Read 2 Kings 5:15-27

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

3393-largePart 75: Gehazi. The story of Naaman is one of the greatest examples in the Old Testament of the gracefulness of God. There was a man who was technically not one of God’s people, meaning that he was not under the Jewish covenant with the one, true God, yet he sought out the help of God through the prophet Elisha. In doing so, in humbling himself, God cleansed Naaman of his lebrosy.

Such an experience would, obviously, be life changing. 2 Kings tells us that Naaman went with all of his accompanying party back to Elisha and declared, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” He also proclaimed, ” Then Naaman said,  “From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD.” (vv. 15b, 17a).

This is the power of God through those who effectively witness to God’s love and merciful grace. Because of Elisha’s faithfulness in caring for an enemy, that enemy became a brother in the LORD. Naaman made one other request of Elisha. While he would only ever worship the LORD God of Israel, he still needed to show loyalty to his king. He asked if God would pardon him for bowing before the King. Though this is technically a sign of worship, as much as it is a sign of loyalty and respect, Naaman’s heart was set on worshiping the LORD and not his king. God knows the hearts of people. Elisha’s response was conciliatory. He said to Naaman, “Go in peace.”

How awesome the grace of God is! God knew Naaman’s heart and was not going to force Naaman to disrespect his king over a technicality. The overjoyed Syrian commander wanted to give Elisha a gift; however, Elisha refused to accept one. His work was not for payment, but in service of the living God. Unfortunately, that sort of humility and selflessness fell on deaf ears and a hardened heart with Elisha’s servant, Gehazi.

Gehazi was angry over his master not accepting the gifts. He vowed to chase after Naaman and get something from him. Upon reaching Naaman, he made up a lie about prophets arriving as guests and that Elisha was in need of 75 pounds of silver to entertain and care for them. Naaman, of course, was overjoyed to help and gave Gehazi twice the amount he asked for.

Once he returned home, Gehazi hid the money in his house. Yet, God knew what he had done and, as it turns out, so did Elisha who had a vision of him committing the crime. Unlike Naaman, who had humbled himself, Gehazi was proud and full of greed. He was not acting like the servant of God that he was called to be. As a result, Gehazi ended up contracting leprosy. His skin became crusty white, as snow.

Stories of God’s wrath always make us uncomfortable, probably because we all know that we all fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23); yet, it is important to realize that whether Gehazi had gotten leprosy or not, his actions poisoned his soul and led him far from where God was calling him to be. The challenge for us is to not dismiss accounts of the wrath of God because they makes us uncomfortable, but to let them cause us to reflect on our own lives, on where we are and where we ought to be. Are we, God’s servants, living up to the purpose God has for us, or are we selling out to our base nature and giving in to other spirits, voices and temptations? Let us strive to be like Naaman and avoid, like the plague (pun intended), the way of Gehazi.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“God’s judgment is not like man’s judgment. It is not a suspension of His Love but an extension of His Love. His justice is always righteous, so His judgment is always Love.” – Criss Jami

PRAYER
Lord, help me from following my base nature and turn my heart back to you. You have created me, apart from sin. Remove my sins and renew me, once more, as your servant. Amen.

God’s People, part 74: Naaman

Read 2 Kings 5:1-19

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” (Luke 4:27 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

muddy-riverPart 74: Naaman. Having just read the Scripture above, you might be wondering why I am devoting a devotion on Naaman and, for that matter, why I included one on the widow of Zarephath. After all, it was the Hebrews that were God’s people, right? On the one hand, yes. Covenantally, God had a special relationship with the people of the tribes of Israel; however, every human being on earth was created by God. Thus, properly speaking, all people are God’s people. This truth is seen both in the Old and New Testaments, where God interacts, redeems, and saves people of other “Gentile” nations.

Naaman was the commander of the Aramaean army, under King Ben-Hadad II (aka King Hadadezer). Damascus Aram was the offical name of the kingdom, and was located in the area of what is now known as Damascus, Syria. Thus, Naaman was Aramaean or Syrian and not an Israelite at all; however, he ends up with an infectious skin disease. In that time period, such a disease was considered to be a sign that one was cursed by the gods, and so it was a shame upon Naaman and his family.

What is remarkable in this story is that Naaman, an Aramaean, turns to the Israelite prophet Elisha for help. A careful reading of the story shows just how remarkable this is. Naaman had invaded the Kingdom of Israel and took captives from it, including an Israelite girl as a maid for his wife. Naaman, the great Aramaean was, thus, an enemy of the Israelites.

What’s remarkable is that the maid that Naaman took as a captive is the one who suggested to his wife that he should go see the prophet Elisha. Talk about loving your enemy! What’s even more remarkable is that Naaman actually took her advice and sought out the prophet of his enemy. What a witness this unnamed Israelite maid was that day, speaking up out of concern for the one who enslaved her.

Of course, went to see Elisha in order that he might be healed, and he was willing to pay whatever it cost to be cured of the dreaded disease that was afflicting him. Elisha was more than willing to help him out; however, Naaman was disappointed when all that Elisha asked him to do was to bathe seven times in the Jordan river. “How could that possibly heal me”, he wondered? He was so disappointed and unimpressed, angry even, with Elisha and his request that he began to storm back to his kingdom dejected and still afflicted with leprosy.

Thankfully, Naaman had some wise officers surrounding him, and one of them reasoned with him. “If Elisha had asked you to do something difficult, you would have done it to be cured, wouldn’t you have? If so, then you should definitely obey him when he simply says, ‘Go was and be clean.’” Naaman, to his credit, listened to that officer. He went back to the Jordan River and washed in it seven times and was completely healed from the leprosy.

The story of Naaman’s healing should all cause us to pause and reflect. How many times have we sought God’s hope, healing and wholeness? How many of us have wished that God would just wave an arm over us and magically heal us of whatever is affecting us? How many of us become disappointed when God didn’t come through in the way we had hoped for? The question that follows these is this, has that caused you to lose faith and hope in God? Has it caused you to grow angry and to storm back to the barren land of hopelessness?

The challenge today is for us to reevaluate our faith. God IS WITH US, whether we open our eyes to see that. Healing is being offered to us, even if it does not come in the form we are looking for? Will we storm off, as Naaman originally did? Or will we, as Naaman eventually did, humble ourselves before God and have faith that God IS restoring us back to hope, healing and wholeness? Trust in God, place your faith in the Creator of all things and trust that whatever happens God is with you. Don’t come to God with expecations, but open to God’s presence and to all possibilities.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Simple is often more…miraculous!

PRAYER
Lord, help me to find you in simplicity and to not overlook you because I am expecting something ore complicated. Amen.