“And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she 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 5:2-3).
In the next few meditations, I would like to consider some young people in the Bible who are good examples for us. Here we find a young girl, perhaps a teenager, who had been taken captive from the land of Israel in war, and was now a servant (really a slave!) to the wife of Naaman, who was the captain of the Syrian army. How would you like to be taken away from your home like that, compelled to live in someone’s home as a slave, to learn a new language, and not to see your family again?
This girl found out that Naaman had leprosy, and she might easily have said, “It serves him right for what he did to me! Let him suffer with it!” But she felt sorry for Naaman, and she knew that the prophet Elisha lived in Samaria. Although she had never seen him cure anyone of leprosy, yet she had faith in God, and told Naaman’s wife that if he were to visit the prophet in Israel, he could be cured. Leprosy is a dreadful disease, and in those days there was no cure for it. It eventually killed the people who had it. It is used in the Bible as a picture of sin.
As a result, the king of Syria eventually wrote to the king of Israel, and sent Naaman there to be cured. But someone had not listened carefully, for the little maid had not said to go to the king of Israel, but to the prophet. Eventually Naaman ended up at the right place, and after following Elisha’s instructions, Naaman was cured of his leprosy. I am leaving out many of the details of what happened, but you may read them in 2nd Kings 5.
Not only was Naaman healed of his leprosy, but I believe he also came to know the true God. He no longer wanted to worship idols, but the true God. All this because a young girl spoke up, and wanted to help the man who had taken her captive. This is a real lesson for us, for we are to love our enemies, and do good to them, even though they may have treated us badly.