Popular and powerful was Naaman, the captain of the army of the king of Syria, but with all his power and fame he was miserable, because he was a leper.
This truly describes man’s condition before God. No matter how great his position in this world, he is a sinner. This ruins everything for him. One may be kind and generous -but a sinner; rich - but a sinner; high in rank - but a sinner; powerful and famous in this world - but a sinner! This is God’s written declaration of everyone: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:1010As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)).
Naaman’s leprosy, besides being a most loathsome disease, was incurable by any known human means. This is a faithful description of everybody before the eye of God. Not one is exempt; all alike are utterly lost to Him by nature, and every effort, however good in itself, can never make the sinner better in His sight.
Naaman found all his efforts useless; he was helpless, hopeless and ruined. He had no thought or knowledge of God. Knowing only the idols of Syria, he could be sure that there was no hope for him.
But Naaman’s wife had a little captive maid who waited on her, and in the simplicity of faith the little maid said to her mistress, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:33And 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. (2 Kings 5:3)).
This message of hope came to the ears of the king of Syria who valued Naaman very highly, and he said, “Go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.” So Naaman went to Israel with his servants and “a king’s ransom” in gold and silver to pay for his healing. He went to the wrong person! The little maid’s message had been, “Go to the prophet in Samaria; he will cleanse you.”
Naaman made a great mistake when he went to the king of Israel. The king of Israel had no more power to heal than the king of Syria had. This too is like many at the present time. Instead of going straight to the Lord Jesus and casting themselves upon His mercy and owning Him as their Saviour, they go to some human leader and trust him to cleanse them from their sins (their moral leprosy) and give them healing. Only God can forgive sins. He declares in His holy and unchangeable Word: “Through this man [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
When Elisha, the man of God, had heard, he sent for the poor leper, saying, “Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:88And 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. (2 Kings 5:8)). Naaman came, but this time he came in the wrong way! He came with horses, chariots and silver and gold. He came not in God’s way, but in all his own power, glory, wealth and rank.
Oh, no! the salvation of God is not to be bought! You may give a great deal to good causes or devote your life to helping others, but all this cannot save your soul. “Come . . . without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:11Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)). “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). A gift cannot be bought with money, or obtained by work, else it would not be a gift.
Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman, saying, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean” (2 Kings 5:1010And 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. (2 Kings 5:10)). Naaman, the mighty Syrian captain, had to take the prophet’s word and act upon it in simple faith, in spite of his thoughts, or remain a leper forever. He looked for something great to be done to him, some great thing to be told to do, but no! How disappointing, how humbling to his pride and greatness! He must receive in faith the words of Elisha and wash in Jordan’s stream to be made clean, even though the rivers of Damascus seemed better to him than all the waters of Israel.
Many people at the present time are just like Naaman! They want to do something for their salvation, or they expect some mysterious influence to come over them, or they want to have good feelings first, and how disappointing it is to be told from the Word of God that all human expectations and thoughts and “doings” are in vain. Feelings, good or bad, prayers, mysterious influences, can never save the soul or give peace to the conscience. It is not what man thinks or expects or does, but what God says that must be received by faith.
At last Naaman “went . . . down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan . . . and he was clean.” Forget all your religious efforts to improve your sinful condition. Believe the good news that God tells you of Jesus - that He went into death for you and was made sin on the cross, He who knew no sin, in order that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.
Now Naaman, cleansed from his leprosy, goes to the man of God with thanksgiving in his heart and publicly confesses the true God. “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel”! he exclaims in exultation.