Hitherto Elisha has been the minister of the grace of God in the midst of Israel; now he becomes a means of blessing to one outside the nation. Grace is extended to a Gentile.
The whole scene would seem to be a foreshadowing of the present dispensation, in which Israel is set aside and governmental power is given to the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles are prefigured by the fact the Lord had given deliverance to the Syrians—the open enemy of Israel, and that captives had been taken from Israel. The power had passed to the Gentile, and an Israelitess is in captivity. During this time the Lord shows grace to the Gentile.
In Naaman we see man at his best estate. Socially he was " a great man "; officially he was a successful man; personally he was a brave man. Such was Naaman before the world. Nevertheless, the one who is the favorite of the king, and the hero of the people, is pronounced by God to be a leper. In a twofold way leprosy is a fitting type of sin. The loathesomeness of the disease sets forth the defiling character of sin, constituting man a sinner in nature. The incurable character of the disease, sets forth the hopeless condition to which sin reduces a man. As fallen men we are not only sinful in nature, but also without strength to change our state. If we are to be blessed, we are shut up to the grace of God. Thus the word runs, " By grace are ye saved, through faith... not of works " (Eph. 2:8).
Thus his disease, coupled with his helpless condition, constituted Naaman a fitting object for God's sovereign grace and mercy. That which gave Naaman such a great place before the world had no value in. God's sight. The Lord, who, in His day (Luke 4:27), uses Naaman as an illustration of grace reaching a Gentile, does not say there were many great men, and honorable men, and men of valor. None of these qualities would have made men suited objects for grace: therefore He says, there were " many lepers."
Further, in this fine scene, we see not only the activity of grace to a sinner, but the way God takes to make known this grace. He takes a way that pours contempt on all our pride. He has " chosen the foolish things of the world, that He may put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world, that He may put to shame the strong things; and the ignoble things of the world, and the despised has God chosen, and things that are not that He may annul the things that are; so that no flesh should boast before God." In consistency with these ways of God we pass at once from " a great man " to " a little maid "—a stranger in a strange land, and in the lowly position of a slave to Naaman's wife. God is going to bless one who, in the sight of the world, is " a great man," and hence He will use in this work of grace " a little maid." However, if her position in this world was insignificant, if she was " little," her faith was great. For she can say, " Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." This surely is the language of faith. There is no suggestion that he might be able to ameliorate the trouble, and possibly effect a cure; but with the boldness and certainty of faith she says, " He would recover him of his leprosy." She speaks as one who knows the healing power of grace. Naaman, as it has been said, may feel the sore; the little maid knew the healing. Her confidence is the more remarkable since she could not, in her experience, have seen any case of the healing of the leper; for the Lord, Himself, says, that in the time of Elisha, there were many lepers but " none of them was cleansed " saving Naaman the Syrian.
The word of the little maid does its work. It awakens the desire for the blessing in the heart of the needy Naaman. However, the ways of grace cannot be understood by the natural man. Filled with his own thoughts, he pays but little heed to the word of the little maid. She with her knowledge of the grace and power of God speaks of the prophet in Samaria; he, following his natural thoughts, turns to the king of Syria, thinking that the coveted blessing can be secured through the great ones of the earth, aided by the payment of a great fee.
The king of Syria sets forth man in his self esteem. He is only too pleased that his servant Naaman should have the blessing, but he would fain be the channel by which he obtains the blessing. So he says, " Go to, go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." One king will write to another king. But God does not require, and will not brook the patronage of kings. Grace is available for the guilty, whether that guilty one be amongst the exalted in the land or among the lowly—" a great man " or " a little maid "—but the patronage of kings cannot secure it, and gold cannot buy it.
However, Naaman has to prove that all these human efforts to secure the blessing leave him in a worse plight. So he comes to the king of Israel with his gifts and the letter from the king of Syria. The king of Israel realizes that this is a case for God alone, but he is ignorant of the man of God through whom the grace of God is being ministered. Without faith in God, and ignorant of the man of God, he can only conclude that the king of Syria is seeking an occasion for a quarrel by demanding that which is beyond the power of man to grant. Naaman discovers the hopelessness of turning to a man of the world, but, even so, it does not occur to Naaman to go to the prophet. It would seem then that all is over, and Naaman must return to Syria uncleansed and unblessed.
At this juncture, however, Elisha acts, and it becomes plain that if Elisha had not spoken, Naaman would never have come to the prophet, even though at the outset he had heard of the prophet. Nor is it otherwise with the sinner and Christ. We may indeed hear of Christ, but it is written, " No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him " (John 6:14): and again, " No man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of my Father " (John 6:65).
As a result of Elisha's intervention, Naaman, earnestly desiring the blessing, comes to the prophet. At last he has come to the right man; but he has come in the wrong way. He is not yet in the right condition to receive the blessing. He comes with his horses and chariots and stands at the door of the house of Elisha. Horses and chariots speak of the pomp and pride of man. Naaman has found that the might of kings can effect nothing, that money and gifts are of no avail; he must now learn that his own greatness and importance will not secure him the slightest notice on the part of God, with whom there is no respect of persons. Hence while he hears the message that, if received and obeyed, will bring salvation to him, yet no account is made of the greatness of Naaman. Elisha does not look at him as a great man, or honorable, or valiant; he simply sees in him a leper that needs cleansing. Elisha makes nothing of all the pomp and grandeur of Naaman; nor does he seek to exalt himself by this important visitor. He simply sends a message. This, indeed, is still the preacher's work, to deliver a message.
Nature, however, rebels against such treatment. The pride of man would like to have some consideration. But if Naaman is to receive the blessing it can be only on the ground of grace, and grace recognizes no merit in the recipient of grace, otherwise it would not be grace. Hence it is that sovereign grace is so offensive to the natural man. " Naaman was wroth," and the real hindrance to his receiving blessing is discovered to be that he had thoughts of his own. " I thought " is the trouble. He thought he would only have to sit in his chariot and that Elisha would come and stand before Naaman, and add dignity to the scene by calling upon the name of the Lord his God, with a few passes of his hand up and down, and lo, he would be healed.
Further, Naaman objects to washing in Jordan. If it is a question of washing in a river, surely the larger rivers of his own country—Abana and Pharpar—are better than all the waters of Israel. Thus it is with many a sinner to-day, who admits the need of a moral change in the life, but not of a new birth. Men will submit to reformation effected by human means, but are not prepared to be set aside in the death of Christ. Naaman had expected some dramatic scene—to have some fuss made over him—and lo, this prince among men, is put off with a curt message. He is told, as any poor man might be, to go and bathe seven times in the public stream of Jordan. The whole thing appeared too commonplace for the high and mighty Naaman. The message ignored all his greatness; placed him on a level with the most insignificant person in the land, and told him to take a course that was open to any peasant. Elisha could not have treated the lowest in the land with less consideration. Such treatment, and such a message, were intolerable to the great man. " So he turned and went away in a rage."
Well, if he must go away, it is better to go in a rage, for at least it shows he was deeply stirred. Better thus than those who politely refuse God's grace with a " Pray Thee have me excused." For such there is no hope; God excuses them, and it is all over with the man that God excuses. For the man that goes away in a rage there is hope that he will return in more chastened mood, for at least he is in earnest.
Naaman had expected some great display, and nature craves for the dramatic, the sensational and the emotional; but Naaman must learn, as every sinner, that the mighty power of the gospel is not in " the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice " of the word of God speaking to the conscience.
Happily for Naaman there were those around him who could plead with him and convince him of his folly. The little maid had borne her witness, the prophet had delivered his message—so simple and definite; now " his servants come near " and plead with him about the message. There are those to-day who do the work of the little maid—they invite to the preaching. There are those who deliver the message—the proclamation of the gospel. There are those who plead with the anxious soul individually, so that difficulties and hindrances to receiving the gospel may be removed. Thus with affectionate interest the servants plead with their master. " My father," they say, 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?" How well these servants knew their master; he was a great man, and all his life had been doing great things. He had acquired a great position in the kingdoms of men by doing great things; but if, as we should say, he is to enter the kingdom of heaven, he must be converted and become as a little child. And thus it came to pass: the pleadings of the servants prevail, for we read, " Then went he down." His pride, his greatness, his valor, all that he was as a natural man is given up as a means of obtaining the blessing. Kings and their great gifts are left behind: Abana and Pharpar are forgotten, and, in the obedience of faith, he went down and dipped seven times in Jordan " according to the saying of the man of God." Such an act in the eyes of the world would seem the height of folly, even as the preaching of the Cross is foolishness to the wise men of this world. Jordan signifies death, and is used, in this scene, as a type of the death of Christ meeting the holiness of God. If the sinner is to be cleansed from his guilt it can only be on the ground of the death of Christ. In type Naaman owns this perfectly, without reserve, by dipping seven times in Jordan. He owns there is no cleansing except through the waters of death under which he is brought by the obedience of faith.
Thus it is with the sinner to-day. The blessing can only come to us in grace through the death and resurrection of Christ, and we pass under the efficacy of that death through faith in Christ. The Israelite, like Naaman, was originally " a Syrian ready to perish " (Deut. 26:5), and for him Jordan meant the close of one phase of life (wilderness life), and the introduction to another sphere of life. The Jordan was the boundary of Syrian territory. Death ends the link with the Syrian. By dipping in Jordan Naaman in type ends the old life, and begins an entirely new life; his flesh becomes as the flesh of a little child. His former state as a leper, in which corruption and death were operating, was wholly unsuited to God; debarring him from God's presence. This was met by the waters of death. An evil nature cannot be forgiven, it must be ended by death. So with the believer, the old nature is condemned and done with in the death of Christ. The soul that, in the obedience of faith, submits to God's way of deliverance enters upon a new life.
The prophet emphasizes the importance of this lesson by prescribing it seven times, setting forth how thoroughly we need to learn the lesson of our death with Christ, so bringing to an end the state in which we lived to ourselves in order that, in newness of life we may live to God.
The result for Naaman was that his flesh came again like unto the flesh of " a little child." What a marvelous change! The man who at the beginning of the story is described as " a great man," in the end becomes like " a little child." Moreover, a new spirit possessed him. The pride of a great man has given place to the lowliness of a little child; for, we read, " He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and stood before him." He is no longer a great man sitting in his chariot, but a humble man standing before the prophet.
This, however, is not all. He has believed in his heart; now he confesses with his mouth, " There is no God in all the earth, but in Israel." Not only is he cleansed, but he is brought to know God." " I know " he can say. The gospel that meets our need, reveals God to our souls.
Then he would fain express his gratitude to the one through whom he has been so richly blessed. Elisha refuses the gift lest in any way he might appear to falsify the grace of God in the eyes of this Gentile, who had received the blessing without money and without price. Naaman, the possessor of great wealth, had doubtless acquired the habit of thinking that anything could be purchased with the power of money. He has to learn, even as the sinner to-day, that there are blessings beyond all other blessings, and joys beyond all earthly joys, and the life that is eternal, that all the riches of this world cannot purchase; though alas! they may block the way that leads to life and blessing.
Furthermore, the heart of Naaman goes out in worship to the Lord. He says, " Thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord."
Lastly the change in his life is shown by his exercised and tender conscience. He at once felt that the worship of the Lord was wholly inconsistent with bowing down before an idol in the house of Rimmon. Yet his official position would possibly require that he should enter the idol's house. In answer to this difficulty Elisha's word is " Go in peace." This by no means implied that Elisha sanctioned Naaman's bowing down to the idol in the house of Rimmon. He saw that Naaman was exercised before the Lord, and without anticipating the difficulty, he knows he can safely leave Naaman with the Lord. We may be sure that Naaman never entered the house of Rimmon.