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“Lessons From Naaman (#6)”
Categories: Baptism, Bible, Expository Study, SalvationLearning Lessons From Naaman The Leper (#6)
Jarrod Jacobs
The account of the leper Naaman is found in II Kings 5:1-14. We have learned that a young Israelite slave girl was the key to Naaman’s cleansing. We learned that it was neither his money nor his going to the king for help that cleansed Naaman; it was Elisha giving him the divine prescription (v. 10). Naaman’s response was one of anger, of assumption, and substitution of God’s will for his. However, none of these things healed him. Only when Naaman had a change of heart and obeyed was he cleansed.
We read of Naaman’s change in II Kings 5:13-14. Naaman’s servants told him “if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith unto thee, Wash, and be clean” (v. 13). At this, Naaman submitted to God’s command and “dipped himself seven times in Jordan ... and he was clean” (v. 14). Based on the Scriptures, we know it took complete submission (dip seven times in Jordan, v. 10) for Naaman to be clean. As Paul said in Romans 15:4, let us learn a lesson from Naaman and offer nothing but our complete submission to the God of Heaven! It is not a matter of doing what we want to do, but let us “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28).
It was after his healing that Naaman understood, “There is no God in all the earth, but in Israel” (II Kings 5:15). What started with a slave-girl concerned for her master’s health (v. 3), ended with a man recognizing the one true God (v. 15)!
