Radical Transformation

INTRO

The stories in 2 Kings depict a cycle of someone new coming in, thinking that things would get better, and how God intervened all the time. We’ll see that again today in 2 Kings 5 through the intervention of a little girl.

TEACHING

2 Kings 5:1: Naaman was the commander and frontrunner for the king of Aram. Naaman always paved the way for the king. Naaman was the man in charge and was not someone you would want to cross. But Naaman developed a big problem in the form of a skin disease. Most think the disease was leprosy, but it isn’t specifically named in the passage. We do know it was degenerative and would eventually lead to Naaman’s death. In Israel, lepers had to be separated from the rest of society, but Naaman was able to continue in his duties to this point. Eventually, Naaman’s disease would isolate him and destroy him. In this way, Naaman’s skin disease was like sin.

2 Kings 5:2–3: This little Israeli girl in verse 2 would have been Naaman’s enemy. Naaman had raided her home and taken her into captivity. She was Naaman’s opposite in almost every way. Naaman was a powerful man; she was a servant girl. Naaman was in charge of lots of people; she served Naaman’s wife. But this girl’s encouragement to Naaman’s wife for Naaman to go visit the prophet in Samaria is evidence of her radical faith. The servant girl wanted Naaman, the man who should have been her enemy, to be healed.

2 Kings 5:4–10: Naaman began to move from needing the Lord to seeking the Lord.¹Naaman sought the king’s permission to visit Samaria. The king agreed to send Naaman with a letter, along with gold, silver, and changes of clothing. All the gifts were probably an attempt to buy a favor from the king of Israel to have Naaman healed.

When Joram, the king of Israel, received the king of Aram’s letter, he must have thought it was a political trick. He tore his clothes and wondered why he had been given the task of healing Naaman of his skin disease. Elisha heard about the king’s predicament and sent word to have Naaman sent to him. Elisha demonstrated radical confidence in God by saying that when Naaman came to him, Naaman would know there was a prophet in Israel. Elisha walked out his calling like he actually had the answer. He walked like he had a double anointing. He demonstrated confidence in God’s power to save. As Naaman sought the Lord, Elisha knew he had the answer. Naaman brought all of his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house to show the

wealth and power he was bringing to the table as he sought healing. But Elisha didn’t even go to the door to answer Naaman. Instead, Elisha sent a servant. Elisha might have acted this way because the Law prohibited Israelites from being near an unclean person (Numbers 5:1–4). Elisha may also have been sending a message to Naaman to humble himself. Elisha’s message was just one sentence: wash in the Jordan seven times. This probably meant Naaman was to walk into the river, get himself all wet, get out of the river, then do it all again seven times. How humiliating for Naaman!

2 Kings 5:11–12: After Naaman started seeking the Lord, he began to resist the Lord.²Elisha’s instructions were easy, but they would make Naaman look foolish. Naaman needed to be humbled (1 Peter 5:5). No horses, messengers, or chariots would be needed. Those things would not cleanse him, nor would they make him righteous before God. We have not been saved based on what we have done or what we have brought to the table. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” All Naaman needed to do was to humble himself and listen to Elisha. Amazingly, no one in Scripture had been healed of leprosy to this point. Naaman had the nerve to hear Elisha’s instructions on how he could be healed—how he could be the first person to be healed from leprosy—and he got mad because he didn’t like Elisha’s answer. Naaman had his own game plan. If he continued to resist the Lord, Naaman would discover that his spiritual standing before God would mirror his leprosy. Naaman’s physical condition would continue to degrade to the point that his disease would kill him—much like his spirit would degrade because of sin, and he would die spiritually separated from God.

2 Kings 5:13–14: Naaman began to trust the Lord. Most of the time when a king or a commander began to resist the Lord, they continued to resist the Lord. But Naaman’s story was different, and it began to change because of one of his servants. The servant pointed out that Naaman would have done what the prophet said if the prophet had told him to do something that he wanted to do. The servant convinced Naaman to be humble and do the small thing the prophet told him to do. After Naaman washed himself seven times in the Jordan, his skin was healed. He was clean. His radical, childlike faith saved him (Matthew 18:3). If Naaman had stayed thick-headed and prideful, he wouldn’t have been healed. But because he exercised childlike faith and listened to his servant, he was saved.

Jesus referred to 2 Kings in Luke 4:23–29. Jesus’ hearers were enraged because a Gentile had come to know the Lord. But it was a little Israelite girl who helped Naaman come to know the Lord.

2 Kings 5:15–19a: Naaman wanted to offer a gift to the Lord, but Elisha resisted because Naaman’s healing was not for sale. Elisha was a man of God who functioned solely out of obedience. Naaman then asked for soil from Israel so he could put it under his knees when he was forced to bow down in the temple of a false God. Naaman wanted his foundation to be on the Lord. Even though he was in the world, he knew his foundation was Yahweh. Naaman, a Gentile, came to know the Lord because an Israelite helped him.

2 Kings 519b–24: Gehazi, Elisha’s attendant, wanted to use his position to gain something from the Lord. He came up with a story about someone coming to visit Elisha and made a request for money and clothing. Naaman, eager to help, gave Gehazi twice as much money as he asked for along with the clothes and two servants to carry everything. When they arrived, Gehazi hid everything and sent the servants back.

2 Kings 5:25–27: Gehazi was more about himself than advancing the kingdom of God. He used his work as a way to further his own agenda, then he lied to Elisha about it. As a result, Gehazi was cursed with the very skin disease Naaman had just been healed of.

CLOSING

The simple faith of an Israeli girl, who took a chance to tell her master about the Lord, resulted in the salvation of a Gentile. To whom is the Lord sending you?