2 Kings 5:1-191Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6And 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. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10And 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. 11But 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. 12Are 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. 13And 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? 14Then 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. 15And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 16But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. 18In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. 19And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. (2 Kings 5:1‑19)
A young girl was taken by soldiers from her home in Israel to a land north, and given to the wife of the captain of the army to be her maid.
Perhaps this was in a palace, for that land is said to have had fine buildings, and this captain, Naaman, was brave and much honored by the king. But those honors could not last long, for this great man was a leper, and the dreadful sores of that disease would spread surely and decay his skin and flesh till the poor leper died. No one could help him.
In that land the people worshiped idols, but the captive maid did not forget the Lord, and she was very sorry for the trouble of the captain. One day she said to her mistress that she wished the master could go to the prophet in Israel to be cured of his sickness. Her words were believed, so she must have before shown in her ways that she was true and honest.
The king was spoken to and he gave the captain a letter to the king of Israel, asking that he should be cured.
So Naaman went with his chariot and horses, and servants to Israel, carrying very valuable presents of silver, gold and clothing.
When the king of Israel read the letter, he was greatly troubled; he had never known a leper to be cured, and he thought the other king had asked this to start a quarrel. He was so disturbed, he tore his robe, which was done in those days to show great distress. Elisha, the prophet of God, heard of the letter and sent for the captain to come to him.
The great man with his servants came to the prophet’s house. Elisha did not go out to talk to him, but sent one to tell him to go to the Jordan River and wash seven times, and he should be well.
You might think Naaman would go at once, but he was a proud man, as well as great, and he did not think the River Jordan as good as the rivers of his country, and to go there to wash was too humble for him, so he turned away in anger. But his servants spoke wisely for him to do as Elisha said.
Then the great captain went to the Jordan, and dipped in, its water seven times. When he had done this, he saw his skin was free of the dreadful sores, clear and smooth. He was cured; and returned to speak to Elisha, and told him now he believed only in the true God, and would no more offer sacrifices or gifts to idols; his servants must also have believed God’s power.
When the great man reached his home, how happy his wife and the young maid must have been to see he was indeed cured of the dreadful disease.
The name of that maid is not told, nor any more about her. But her kind, gentle example may help girls now, who know the power and love of the Lord Jesus, to tell of Him to someone in their homes or at school. And to have the Lord forgive our sins, is an even greater wonder than for a leper to be cured, for that was for life on earth; but the sinner is saved for eternity.
ML 06/11/1939