Naaman – Faith That Doesn’t Make Sense.

Naaman shows us that faith can be very difficult. Stephen unwraps the story of Naaman who showed great faith in order to be healed from leprosy.

Faith is Difficult

It is probably not an overstatement to say that sometimes, faith is difficult.  In this episode of “Stepping Out”, we’re going to be looking at another Old Testament story, one that has the concept of faith from beginning to end.  It’s found in 2 Kings chapter 5 and is the story of a man called Naaman.

Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.  Now the Syrians had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.  She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.”  Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.”  Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”  He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.  He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”  When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”

It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”  So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.  Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.”  But Naaman was furious 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 wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’  Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?”  So he turned and went away in a rage.  Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”  So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.  When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.”  But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.  Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord.  In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.”  He said to him, “Go in peace.”  So he departed from him some distance. II Kings 5:1-19

A Faith Story

What a story!  We see the idea of faith introduced right at the start with the young girl from Israel.  Seeing her master’s condition, she relays the message that the prophet in Samaria, which was Elisha, not only could cure Naaman, but would cure him.  We know nothing of this girl’s history, except that she had been taken captive during one of the Syrian raids on Israel.  Apparently though, she knew the Lord was with the prophet Elisha and was doing wonders through him. 

Naaman, for his part, seemed to at least believe the girl enough to entertain the possibility, as we see in the following verse that he takes this news to the king, with a request that he be permitted to go and see this prophet.  We see again here an underlying principle that faith typically begins with a promise.  The servant girl says that Elisha would cure Naaman of his leprosy. 

The promise is confirmed later when Elisha instructs Naaman to go and wash seven times in the Jordan River, which upon doing so he would be healed.  This of course has been seen many times even in this series.  Jesus tells Peter to come out of the boat, a promise for safety in doing so, God promises Abraham incredible blessings, Jesus promised to heal the Centurian’s servant, He promised John that He was indeed the Messiah, and although he didn’t believe it, God promised Cain that if he repented, he would be accepted by God.

Faith and the Gospel

The gospel is no different, God promises everyone that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved, that is we will have our sins forgiven and be granted everlasting life.  Really, without a promise, or a declaration of expectation, faith serves no purpose. 

If I can say this reverently, if there were no promise of either reward or consequence, faith would not matter at all.  Because this is a concept we have looked at a lot in this series, I won’t be going into further detail, except again to point out that there is a promise here, and a measure of faith on the parts of Elisha and the girl that God would do this thing, and on Naaman’s part in following through with what they say to him.

Faith Doesn’t Always Make Sense

The next thing we see, is that faith doesn’t always make sense.  This is perhaps the most common takeaway from this passage.  Starting right from the beginning, we see an act that, humanly speaking, makes perfect sense.  The king of Syria says to his army commander to go, take a letter from the king and a handsome sum of money, and give it to the king of Israel, so that he may cause Naaman to be healed.  People often have a transactional attitude when it comes to giving and receiving. 

We want to earn the things we get and usually like to receive some compensation for the things we give, even if it is just recognition, or future consideration when we might have a need.  God doesn’t operate on that same system.  Salvation is not available for purchase, the Bible is clear there is nothing we can do to earn it, deserve it, or otherwise obtain it.  It is a free gift of God, made available through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Upon believing, we receive it. 

A Stumbling Block to Faith

It is interesting how this truth can become a stumbling block to faith for so many.  Yet countless people throughout time have turned down Christs offer, because either they can’t believe it is that easy to receive, or they cannot accept that a “bad person” can be saved also. 

Consider Naaman for a moment.  He was the commander of an enemy army.  One that had raided the people of Israel in the past, even taken their people, possibly children, captive and made them their servants.  Surely God would not give this man healing, at least not without first making him provide recompense for all the evil he had done to Israel, right? 

Wrong, we see that the king’s money was rejected, and that all God required was a very simple act of obedient faith, and Naaman was healed.  Reconciling this truth in our hearts is a major step in being able to not only trust Christ for our salvation but continuing to walk in obedient faith as we grow in our Christian lives.  This isn’t to say that God’s blessing after our salvation is not meritorious. 

God does reward faithfulness, just as, in love, He chastises or disciplines His wayward children. But this story can serve as a reminder that God’s blessing is not always in line with our expectations or ideas.  It is always in accordance with His will, His purpose, and His timing, and ultimately His love and care for us, and what is best for us.

Importance of Support

The other element of faith we see in this passage, and perhaps my favourite lesson from this story, is the importance of having the support of others, and being a support to others.  Look at how much help Naaman had during this process.  It began with the servant girl, presenting Naaman with the promise. 

Then we see his servants come to him after he had spoken with Elisha, urging him to follow the prophet’s instruction.  The plea of the servants is especially significant.  “If he asked you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?”  The appeal here is again to something that made sense to Naaman.  Understanding that for the time he lived, his condition was medically incurable. 

Naaman himself imagined that Elisha would come out and wave his hand, calling upon God for a miraculous wonder.  He seemed upset that Elisha didn’t even suggest washing in a nice river.  If Elisha told Naaman to climb the highest mountain in the land, he would have done so.  If he told him to march to outer reaches of civilization, he would have done so.  Naaman’s servants pointed that out to him, and plainly added, “if you would be willing to go to those extremes, why won’t you just wash in the Jordan.” 

A Unique Parallel

Again, we see a unique parallel to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We read about the wonders he performed, restoring the sight of the blind, causing the lame and paralysed to walk again, bringing the dead back to life.  After seeing all of that, I am sure people started to look forward to how he was going to ransom people from their sin, how he was going to bring freedom and restoration to the children of Israel; then he died on a cross. 

In human understanding we might say, “that’s not how I would have it.”  But God is very purposeful in how He does things, and that was truly the only way to save mankind from sin, by the death and resurrection of the perfect man, Jesus, on our behalf.  The servants of Naaman, though they may not have fully understand God, at least recognized that if Naaman believed God could heal him by some extravagant display, why wouldn’t he believe God could do it using a subtle, less glamorous method also.

Sometimes Faith is Hard

At the opening of this episode, I mentioned that sometimes, faith can be hard.  Our situations, especially the unfavourable ones, can sometimes interfere with our view of the Lord and His ways.  We can find ourselves unable to see past the issues we are struggling with. 

In those moments, it is important to be surrounded by people who are willing to come alongside us and help us to focus our attention on how big our God is, and His history of being there for us.  There seems to be a trend in the church at large, in this modern western culture, which says we don’t use a person’s faith to help them through their struggles. 

While I would agree we must be careful not to imply that their current trial is a result of a lack of faith, or that strengthening their faith will bring about immediate resolution, the reality is that the practise of avoiding the topic is not biblical.

Building Each Other Up

There are so many verses in the Scriptures that speak to the importance of building each other up the faith.  Hebrews 10 tells us to “stir one another up to love and good works.”  Proverbs 27:17 reminds us that “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”  Proverbs 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to “encourage one another and build one another up.” 

When you think about it, these instructions for us to help others in their faith make perfect sense, since it is the way God Himself communicates to us in our times of trouble.  Again, there are many verses where we can see God urging His people to faith, but one of my favourites is Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Forward in all Faith

God instituted the church with this in mind.  That the body of believers in Christ, will support, build up, and urge each other forward in all faith and trust in our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  In episode four of this series, we saw the importance of this play out practically. 

As Abraham had to face an incredibly difficult task in offering up his son Isaac, he found the strength to be faithful and obedient by considering God’s past provision and future promises.  Focusing on who God is and what He has done won’t necessarily cause our problems to go away, but they will help us to get through them knowing we go through them with the Lord.  Sometimes, we need to be reminded of that, and sometimes, we will be called to remind others of that, too.

Finally, A Call

Finally, we see a call at the end of this story for faith in God’s understanding of our nature.  Naaman was a high-ranking officer, but still a man who was under the authority of his king.  Through this event, we see Naaman’s amazing confession of faith in the one true God.  It really is a wonderful testimony.  But the king of Syria, whom he serves, follows other gods. 

Naaman knows that in the line of duty he will be required to go into the temples of these gods and bow down with the king.  Naaman is making a pledge here that his heart will not waver from following the God of Israel and asks Elisha for confirmation that God will see his heart, and understand the duty of Naaman, and therefore not hold this action against him.  Elisha gives him this assurance.

The Commission of Christ

We live in a fallen world, we are charged, by the commission of Christ, to not hide ourselves away but to go into the world and share the gospel so that others can know the Lord and be saved.  Based on that truth alone, it is possible that as believers we will find ourselves in situations that we don’t want to be in.  Perhaps the gray areas of holy living, or duties to family, employers or governments. 

If they can be avoided, great, they should be at all costs if they can have a negative impact on our testimony for Christ.  But what about when they can’t be avoided?  We can be confident that our God understands these situations, and that our conscience will bear witness to our faithfulness in those moments.  We should never be seeking out these dangerous places, but we can commit ourselves to being faithful to God through them when we find ourselves there, and we can do that knowing that God sees our hearts and knows where our faith truly rests.

Motivated by the Faith of Another

Naaman was motivated by the faith of another, encouraged to act on the promise of God, exercised faithfulness in following Elisha’s instruction, and then committed himself to a lifelong faithfulness to God.  Who knew that a Syrian army commander in the Old Testament could prove to be such a valuable example of faith for us today?  God knew. Let’s be encouraged in our faith and committed to helping others in theirs.

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