2 Kings 5:1-12

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.”

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.  5 “By all
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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  of silver, six thousand shekels  of gold and ten
[b] [c]

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.”

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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!”

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent
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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.”

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to
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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.

Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do
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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.
One of the most depressing situations one can face- is sickness.
When one is sick, the experience is horrible. The mental anguish, the torture,
the suffering, the pain, are unbearable.

 We can say clearly say that people in pain want help.

 Whether that pain is from emotional or physical it doesn’t matter, we all

want the pain to disappear.

 Most of us may believe that sickness only affects the body, but sickness
affects also the mind, and the emotion, and the soul. Thus, we can say
that when one is totally free from all ills, then one becomes happy.

 Iba-iba ang epekto pero pare-parehas na nangangailangan ng lunas.

o We can say that people who are sick, whether physically,

mentally, emotionally or spiritually are in desperate need.

o Sabi nga, we appreciate health when one becomes sick.

o “health is wealth”

Jesus encountered people in pain who are in desperate need such as the
man the leprosy and the sick servant of a Centurion in Matthew 8:1-13. These
people were desperate. So was an Old Testament character by the name of
Naaman.

Our passage would tell us that He was in desperate need of healing.

And we can say that: the healing changed his life forever.

1. he was healed in a rather unusual way

2. the way he was healed---HOW he was healed changed his life forever

who is this man? And what does he need?

I. The physical condition (vv.1-3)
Naaman was the "Chief of Staff" of his day. The military leader of one of the
region's most powerful nations
Aram referred to as Syria & Mesopotamia. Aram also known as Aramea, was a historical region
including several Aramean kingdoms covering much of the present-day Syria, Southeastern Turkey
and parts of Lebanon and Iraq.

The Bible says, "Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a
great man in his master's sight and highly regarded because through him, the
Lord had given victory to Aram.

The man was a brave warrior, He was a valiant soldier (NIV) . . ." (2 Kings 5:1).

Did you hear those descriptive words? Don't we all want people to use them of
us? Commander. Great. Highly regarded. Victorious. Valiant. Here was a man
that had power, position, and prestige. He was successful. He was a winner.
He was wealthy. He was a hero. He was respected. He was admired. He was
envied.

"But" - may conjunction. That small word changes everything.

He has leprosy". . . but he had a skin disease" (2 Kings 5:1).

accomplishments; he could enjoy his power and position and prestige; he

could admire his home and his wealth; but they all seemed to vanish as he
stared into the mirror each day. Each time he looked at himself there
was something looking back that defined his life. He was a leper, and
nothing could change that fact.

Leprosy in the Bible refers to skin disease. The kind, gravity or seriousness-
we can only speculate from the narrative provided.

 Pwedeng simple white patches to actual leprosy (Hansen’s disease) or

to skin cancer.---but one thing is certain---the skin disease of Naaman
was so severe that it affected him and others- kailangan niyang ibaba
ang kanyang sarili at

1. humingi ng pahintulot sa hari ng Aram- ano ang tugon ng hari? V.

5 
“By all means, go,”
 2. tulong sa isang Hudyo, foreigner, nobody--- Elisha

3. at ibaba ang kanyang sarili, to humiliate himself: by obeying (vs

commander viv-a-vis the prophet-7x, Jordan River

A certain presented a different perspective on Naaman’s sickness:

The fact is Naaman was a leper. Leprosy was the AIDS of Naaman's day.
Lepers were isolated and humiliated. They were outcasts - the original
untouchables. They were forced to wear torn clothing and shout, "Unclean,
unclean!" anytime they encountered an uninfected person. Leprosy was the
most feared disease of the day. It was extremely contagious and, in many
cases, incurable. In its worst forms, leprosy led to death. Granted, Naaman's
leprosy was probably in its infant stage or a mild form. He had concealed it,
but now his clothing would not cover it up. While people treated him
respectfully, now nobody would touch him. The lack of touch hurt Naaman
deeply.

If there is one area that Naaman greatly suffered, then it’s on the area of his
emotion.

And how many, may be not with the same sickness as that of Naaman, but
were also suffering emotionally- and in need of the Lord? They desperately
need the touch of the Lord!

- Touch brings comfort. Touch conveys acceptance. Touch promotes

health. Touch brings wholeness.

It cannot be denied that the human language of touch conveys love and
acceptance:

When you are lost and somebody held your hand?

Someone rubbing your back when it is sore?

Someone tapping you on the shoulder when you are down and sad?
Naaman? He long for that, he desires for that, he hungers for that

One thing we can learn from this passage: that healings even in the OT :

1. Healing requires obedience

We find healing when we obey, no more no less.

The prescriptive cure

Notice the contrasts in Naaman's journey. Naaman, the commander-in-chief,
finds direction through a captive servant - his wife's slave. Naaman, the
conqueror, finds help in a conquered nation - Israel. Naaman, the highly
regarded man, learns of his treatment from a lowly prophet - Elisha. Naaman,
the wealthy and valiant soldier, is cured in a dirty river - the Jordan.

What can we learn from this downward descent?

Naaman's wife's servant had been taken hostage from an Aramian raid into
Israel. Now she served in Naaman's home tending to his wife's every need.
She was not intimidated by Naaman's power, position, or prestige. She saw
his pain. Called it by name. Knew of a pain reliever. And told Naaman where
he could find help.

2. Healing is total (the body after the heart)

Healing of the heart happens prior to the healing of the body (inside before the
outside)

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come
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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

The way Naaman was healed, “How he was healed” is more important
than the physical healing itself-because in the process of doing-there
was another aspect of being that was healed.
 Naaman was sick of arrogance and pride maybe lone before he became
sick of leprosy.- parallel with Mk 2- healing of the paralytic?

Superiority? Conceit. Haughtiness (kahambugan)

Israel was a conquered nation. To Naaman it was a second rate, third world
country. What did it have to offer? Militarily it did not present much of a threat,
but spiritually it provided refuge.

-God uses the “humble things”—the foolish things of this world

-do not be too wise in your own eyes---you may think you are absolutely
correct but you may be surprised that you are absolutely wrong.

-often, the process is more important than the destination; and the
process is more valuable than the reward

Humbling?

In case you have forgotten your geography, the Jordan River, which means
"the descender," flows through a rift valley. Its headwaters lie more than a
thousand feet above sea level at the Sea of Galilee and its mouth nearly
thirteen hundred feet below sea level at the Dead Sea. So to go to the Jordan
River was to go down, way down.

"That's crazy," thought Naaman, "seven ducks in a dirty pond. Why, we have
rivers in Aram that are better than the Jordan." Naaman doubted that God's
prescription for healing could really do anything. Naaman did not realize that
the power was not in the water, but was manifested in the water by doing what
God says.

Healing always comes from doing what God says.

The prostrating compliance (vv. 13-15)

Why must Naaman, and you and I for that matter, descend downward in order
to receive healing? Why must we have a compliant attitude toward God's
instructions? Peter answers that question: "And all of you clothe yourselves
with humility toward one another, because 'God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of
God, so that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:5-6). We have to scrape
bottom before we can start up. We have to look at death before we can see
life. We have to taste pain before we can experience joy. We have to humble
ourselves to lowly places and lowly people before we can feel the hand of
God lifting us up.

As long as God's arm is he chooses to touch us most when we walk humbly

before him.

Naaman was that low. He finally humbled himself in complete obedience to

the loving instructions of God's messenger. And in doing so he was touched
by God and healed in a way that did not fix his expectations. "So Naaman
went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the
command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the
skin of a small boy, and he was clean" (2 Kings 5:14). If his leprosy defined
his earlier life; it was God's healing touch that redefined his later life. Having
experienced the grace of God he was changed, not only physically, but
spiritually and vocationally. Naaman stood before Elisha and said, "I know
there's no God in the whole world except in Israel. Therefore, please accept a
gift from your servant" (2 Kings 5:15). Naaman went from a sick man to a
healed man, an ungodly man to a godly man, a lost man to a saved man, a
great man to a gracious man, and from a commander of men to a servant.
Here was a man that had felt the touch of God and was changed. Now and
forever.

3. Healing comes from the Lord

- what God is doing none can deny. Walang makapagtatanggi na ang
Diyos ang nagpapagaling.

- If God moves, none can take credit

We all need a prescription for our lives that will lead to a healing touch. (v. 10)

Elisha's prescription for healing was bizarre. "Go wash seven times in the
Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean" (2 Kings 5:10V).
Come on now, get real. Let me retrace Commander in Chief Naaman's
downward descent. He receives instructions from a slave girl to go to
conquered, forsaken Israel, to a lowly prophet that lives in the armpit of the
second rate, third world country, who gives him instructions to go the dirty,
dingy Jordan River and bathe not once or twice but seven times.

Q. Do you need the touch of the Lord?

In this time of pandemic, some of us may be sick physically-

Some of us may be sick emotionally- always worried, afraid what tomorrow

may bring

And some of us may be spiritually dry, because of the lack of face-to-face

worship, and we have forgotten the Lord, spiritual fire had died down, spirit
has been dampen and we no longer feels the presence of God, we no longer
feels his touch-----this is the time that we go to God.