(Read 2 Kings 5)
THEN Naaman had got well over the Jordan, of which he thought so little, and had reached Samaria, notice how he was misdirected. In his pocket he carried his letter of commendation from the King of Syria to the King of Israel. He had been told to go to God’s prophet. He went to man’s king. How many do similarly today?
Jesus is the only Saviour. Why is it, then, that He is the last the needy sinner goes to? He tries every apparent source of relief from the burden of his sins first, and only when all is seen to be of no avail repairs to Jesus.
Of Naaman we read: “And he brought the letter to the King of Israel, saying, Now, when this letter is come unto thee, behold I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass, when the King of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. And 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” (vers. 6-8).
This message from the man of God is very instructive. He was God’s representative, and his action shows that God has a great interest in a needy, though misdirected man. Few believe the interest God has in men, and how He loves to meet anxious souls. “Let him come now to me,” was a divine message of mercy to Naaman then. God is unchanged in His goodness. Methinks I hear a voice from heaven today. Who speaks? Jesus, the Prophet in glory. Are these lines read by an anxious soul— “Let him come now to Me,” says the Saviour from on high. He once saw a very earnest, but utterly misdirected man on his way to Damascus to do the devil’s work. That man—Saul of Tarsus—He converted on the spot by the revelation of Himself to him, and then bid him go to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith which is in me” (Acts 26:1818To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)).
In order to get salvation, my reader, all you have to do is to exercise faith in that unseen Prophet. You may say, But Naaman went up to see the prophet. Yes, but he did not see him till he was cured. Have you noticed that? You very likely are waiting to see, or feel, and experience something. That will not do. “Let him come now to me,” was the prophet’s word then, and so now, and God took care that Naaman should hear the command. Someone evidently said to Naaman, “You have come to the wrong place—the wrong person; it was not the king you were to come to, but the prophet. You must go to him.”
Now an earnest seeker for blessing always gets it. “So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha” (vs. 9). I see him driving up with his great equipage, his money, his own thoughts, and his pride, and he had plenty of it. He had wrong thoughts of God altogether; you never saw such a conglomeration of wrong thoughts as he had, and there he stood with them all, and with his leprosy, and was full of expectation as to what was to happen.
Doubtless you too, dear reader, have your own thoughts as to how God will save you, but you are utterly wrong. Saul of Tarsus also in the day of his conversion had his thoughts— “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:99I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts 26:9)). His thoughts were all wrong. So were mine before I found Jesus. I thought I had a lot to do to get saved, and much to feel. Beware of thoughts. The Psalmist says, “I hate thoughts: but thy law do I love” (Psa. 119:113113SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. (Psalm 119:113)). The word “vain” you will find in your Bible. The translators thought to supply a missing idea. Hence, though not in the Hebrew, they inserted the word, but you will see it is in italics, and should not be there at all. David says, “What I think is not worth anything; what God says is what I care about.” Man’s thoughts are sure to be wrong; he cannot tell what will suit God.
Look again at Naaman; he comes up, and Elisha is quite conscious he is there, a needy leper. And God is quite conscious that you are a needy sinner. You were born in sin, and have lived in sin, and your sins have accumulated so that you have never counted them. God has. They have never pressed very hard on your conscience; but they pressed upon the heart of Christ when He died on the cross. They pressed tears from His eyes, and the agonizing cry from His lips, “My God, my God, why halt thou forsaken me?” I know my sins were laid upon Him, and He confessed them, and suffered and died for them, and praise be to His name, blotted them all out. Have your sins been covered? All this time have they never troubled you? It is far too serious to trifle with, this matter of sin.
Naaman stands at the door of the house, and has his idea of how his case should be dealt with. He expects the prophet to come out; but he does not get his expectation. Only a messenger comes. I am the messenger to you now. “And 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” (vs. 10). What a delightful gospel for Naaman! He did not believe it; no, and you have heard the gospel many a time, and have not believed it. He did not think it would meet his case. But how simple— “Go and wash in Jordan.” He had come over Jordan on his way to Samaria; his horses, weary and tired, were glad of the water; but he passed over it with contempt, little thinking that healing for him was in those waters. That is just the way in which many have looked at the cross of Jesus—with contempt.
Naaman had curled his lip as he first passed over the Jordan; and now the word was—Go back to the spot you have despised. Not at all, said he, what can that do for me? You also, my reader, very probably have heard the gospel a thousand times? Yes, and despised it. How true is Goth word: “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you” (Acts 13:4141Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (Acts 13:41)). That is what men are doing today; they hear the gospel of the atoning agonies of Jesus, and of the sorrows of Jesus on the cross. Alas! they despise it. They are told the only way of salvation is by the cross, they despise it, and then God says, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.” Forget not the solemn fact that despising and perishing are bound up together. Thank God you have yet another opportunity of embracing the gospel.
When Naaman heard the words “Go and wash in Jordan... and thou shalt be clean,” you would have thought the man would have jumped at the command. But no, it did not suit his pride; and the gospel does not suit the pride of man’s heart. Note the first effect on him: “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper” (vs. 11). I have seen many a sinner wroth when hearing God’s gospel. At first the man has been interested, and then he has got angry, as he has had his own history portrayed, and the impossibility of his meeting his own case pressed on him. At length positive rank enmity has come out, and he has said, “I don’t believe this, and I will never come back to this meeting.” Have you never said something like that, my unsaved friend? God may take you at your word, and may never give you another chance; you had better be saved now. I cannot save you, but I can tell you the way to obtain salvation.
Take a good look at Naaman, and see his folly. This man is absolutely wroth when he hears how his case can be met, and his malady cured. Yes, he “was wroth... so be turned and went away in a rage” (vs. 12). That shows what was in his heart. Listen to his imaginations: “Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand on the place and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage” (vers. 11,12). Naaman was upset because he received so little attention. He expected Elisha to come out to him. Instead of that he got only a message. He felt that he was ignored. What a picture of ourselves!
We all like to be appealed to; that is why men like the law. The law is all about you, and what you should do, and should not do. Hence people like the law, because, although it may condemn them, it recognizes them. It tells you what you ought to be, and you try to be it. If you succeed fairly well you are pleased with yourself, and if you do not succeed the devil says, “God is merciful, and at least you have done your best.” This suits your pride, and you will naturally prefer this line of things to God’s gospel. Now the gospel ignores man, with all his righteousness, and makes nothing of him and his alms giving’s, prayers, doings, and self-reformation. The gospel is all about Christ, what He is, and what He has done, though it is for us. There is nothing about us in the gospel, though, thank God, it is all for us. The gospel says exactly what Elisha said here—Naaman, you go and get out of your own sight and everyone else’s; go and bury yourself, and you will be clean. This he could not stand at all, and very likely you say, But I could not stand that. No, for we all like to be something, and do something.
Naaman was but the picture of your heart and mine. He had his cure all planned out in his own mind; and you have planned out your cure, but it has never come off, and you are unsaved yet. Your thoughts have been wrong. If you are wise you will drop your own thoughts and listen to the Word of God. Naaman heard the very sweetest truth of the gospel in the words Elisha sent to him: “Go, and wash in Jordan.” Very frequently Jordan is used in Scripture as a figure of death. “How wilt thou do in the swelling, of Jordan?” (Jer. 12:55If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)). When you come to die how will it be with you? How will it stand with your soul? Are you already new-born, washed, cleansed, converted, and brought to God? No; then are you a total stranger to divine grace. You say, “I have been doing my best.” Yes, doing your best to damn yourself.
You should thank God that you are not yet dead; but let me tell you of Another, who has died, and died for you. Jesus died in the room and stead of the poor, guilty sinner, and in His death I see not only that He died for my sins, and washed them all away from before God’s eye, but I see also that He died for me. I thus see myself set aside; I see that what I deserved—death and judgment—have fallen upon Him, and I, as a guilty, responsible child of Adam, have ceased to exist before God through the death of His blessed Son. But in that He now lives, a man before God, He is my life, and the joy of my heart. Do you understand these words— “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:10, 1110For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:10‑11))? They have given me divine liberty.
When Naaman turned his back on Elisha, and went away in a rage, he drove, I doubt not, at full gallop, as he thought, homewards, but really towards the spot of salvation. He did not think it, but every mile of the thirty ‘twixt Samaria and the Jordan that his horses covered, brought him nearer to the spot where salvation was. Let us follow him, and in what occurs I see not only
NAAMAN’S SECOND VISIT TO JORDAN,
but a lovely illustration of the beautiful scripture, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”
Jordan’s blue waters would seem to be in view, and probably the thirty-mile drive had cooled Naaman down and given him time for reflection, when “his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” (vs. 13). If the prophet had said, “Pay over everything you have in your chariots,” he would have done it gladly to get healed. If he had said, “You must crawl back to Damascus on your knees, and your leprosy will be absolutely healed,” I believe he would have tried to do the task, for the idea is in men’s minds that they must do something to propitiate God. How few understand the golden words: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:4-84Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4:4‑8)). Friend, do you want to be saved? Listen then to Paul, or heed Elisha’s words, “Wash, and be clean.” Turn to Jesus, rest your guilty soul on His finished work. Jesus has gone into heaven; He is out of sight, but His message comes by the Holy Ghost to you. Heed it!
Somehow the calm, kind exhortation of the leper’s servants prevailed, and we read, “Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and HE WAS CLEAN” (vs. 14). Now here we have very simply illustrated the obedience of faith; the man humbles himself, and steps down from his chariot. When a man is in downright earnest—seeking God’s salvation—he does not care who sees his anxiety. So was it with Naaman. Every one of his troop was looking on, but down he went, and buried himself in Jordan, out of his own sight and that of everyone else. Seven times he dipped, and the seventh time he came up cured. He bowed to God, he believed His word, and “HE WAS CLEAN.” How simple is God’s way of blessing, and how lovely the effects to the soul that obeys His word. “His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” This, in figure, is new birth and redemption. Look at his face now, how happy it is. The person that has the joy of the Lord will show it in his life and in his face.
“Go, wash,” is the sinner’s word; that command Naaman had obeyed, and was immediately blessed. Later he got another command, “Go in peace,” which I will touch on in connection with his third visit to Jordan. He has paid his second visit to Jordan, which is the most important—the visit of faith. He will have a third presently, for he has to go back home, and live the truth he has tasted, and must therefore cross it again, and I will guarantee the third time he saw it he said: “God be thanked for that river. I thought very little about it when I crossed it first, but now I shall never forget it.” And if you get converted to God, you will never forget the cross. God loves to keep that cross of Jesus, which secured our eternal blessing, ever before our eyes.
W. T. P. W.
(To be continued.)
IT is only as the soul is in communion with God that it gets a taste of the glory, and it becomes brighter and brighter as the night grows darker down here. If the Lord’s people make up their minds to have the same sort of life here that He had, they will be content to be like persons on a journey, who will find excuses to leave a case here and there by the way in order not to be hindered in passing quickly on; and to be like Jonathan, who only stopped to dip his spear in the honey to get refreshed for the work he had to do. It is only by keeping the eye fixed there where Christ is, that we get a taste of glory.
G. V. W.