UNDERSTANDING GOD’S POWER
Opening Prayer
Lord, submission to You is a wise idea.
Read 2 KINGS 5:1–14
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]
2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 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.
Footnotes:
a 2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
b 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
c 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things” (1 Cor. 1:27,28).
The theme of God’s power for life carries on in this section, but today’s reading highlights the obstacles in the way of understanding that power. Strikingly, the faithful remnant continues to be faithful despite their seeming abandonment. A young girl, who was snatched from her Israelite home and has therefore every reason to be bitter toward the God who did not keep her safe, tells her new Aramean mistress about the power of God to heal (Lissa M. Wray Beal, 1 & 2 Kings, 332). Our personal tragedy may be God’s opportunity for spreading the Gospel.
By contrast, Israel’s king, like much of the country, cannot look beyond his difficult circumstances as a conquered country, even if he testifies to God’s power in a backhanded way (7). The Aramean king likewise labors under a misunderstanding, assuming that the god of a conquered nation can be bought by expensive gifts and controlled and commanded at will (5,6). Sometimes we may seek God out, thinking that he is like a magic genie at our beck and call. Finally, we discover the obstacle in Naaman’s way: his overweening pride and sense of self-importance. It is, after all, rather awkward that such a highly esteemed soldier would need the services of the god representing a backwater nation under Aram’s thumb. Outsiders may judge our God by the company he keeps, so that if Christians are lacking in qualities that society values (e.g., education, higher social background or caste, influence, or wealth), it may lead others to devalue God himself. Naaman clearly considers himself superior, as evidenced by his impressive retinue (9) and also his ideas of how to be healed in such a way as to maintain his dignity (11,12). Yet in the end he listens to reason and obeys the senseless command—and in this act of submission he personally experiences the power of the God of Israel (14).
Apply
Lord, may we humbly submit ourselves to You and trust Your power to hold our circumstances in Your hand.
Closing prayer
Lord, we understand from this account that if we would just do things Your way we would get Your caliber of results.
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