2 Kings Chapter 5:1-19
“God Gives Grace to the Humble”
V.1 Now Naaman, commander
of the army of the king of
Intro: He was a man’s MAN!
Consider the description:
#1 He was a great man: Naaman
means pleasantness
A) He was from
B) In fact when the Mohammed first saw
1) Explaining
that a man could only enter paradise once in his life – He was going to wait
until heaven
2) He should have entered
C) The name
What an interesting Picture
this presents: This great man from this great place – Busy working
A) We are told in the text that he was the commander
and chief of the Syrian army
B) He has risen to that position: Hebrew tradition
says that he was the man that shot the random arrow that killed King Ahab {Only tradition
C) But one way or another he
has come thru the ranks – climbed the ladder
1) He is the picture of the self made man
D) Hard working/ disciplined individual
1) When people saw Naaman – “There goes a great man!”
E) A dad might have told his son – That is the kind of
man you want to be!
1) Mother her daughter- Marry someone like him
What a title: A great Man –
but it doesn’t stop there
#2 An Honorable man!
A) Webster’s: A man Characterized by integrity
B) Of Great renown: Deserving of or winning respect: Having a good name
C) attesting to creditable conduct: consistent with an
untarnished reputation guided by a high sense of honor
and duty
D) Often times Kings had to worry about their generals
leading a possible insurrection – over throw
1) With
Naaman King Benhadad had no such worry – He was an honorable man!
E) Loyal to the core!
#1 He was a great man: #2 An
Honorable man!
#3 A mighty man of Valor!
A) He was a man who possessed great bravery and
fortitude
B) He was daring and fearless – the kind of man that
other men would readily follow into to battle.
C) So here is this great man living in this great
place
1) Man of Power / Position
/ Popular
D) He has it all going for him – except for that last
phrase – He was a leper!
E) Somewhere along the line he contracted this
incurable disease-
1) That eats away your flesh
and destroys your immune system & paralyzes your nervous system
A disease that would
ultimately take his life!
A) No matter how impressive his awards / his medals
for bravery/ his uniforms and armor
B) Underneath it all he is
a leper
1) He can cover that up from everyone else’s eyes but
he goes to bed w/ it & he wakes up w/ it everyday!
C) The sentence of death is upon his life!
There are millions of
Naaman’s today: 1,000’s in our own community.
A) Self made men & women- who don’t just get by they
climb to the top
B) Hard working / self assured / self sacrificing/
self confident/ disciplined / task oriented people
1) Who are ready to pay the price?
C) They stay up late burning the midnight oil – they
get up early – to get a head start on the competition
1) They rise to the top.
D) Problem: They are lepers!
What do I mean?
They are still sinners – Incurable disease
Leprosy is that illness that
the Bible likens to sin
A) Starts small but it
spreads – throughout the whole body.
B) Contagious –
passed on to others
1) Inherited from Adam
C) Incurable: Lepers
were not healed they were cleansed.
1) Sin incurable disease:
No pill or doctors prescription - CLEANSED
D) Terminal: Sin is
terminal – Soul that sins will surely die!
Now no doubt Naaman tried
everything to find a cure – Exhausted every possibility
A) Best doctors in
B) Sooner or later every Naaman comes face to face
with fact of their own MORTALITY.
C) Interesting when people come to that conclusion:
Start to think – might die.
D) I have seen it a couple of times on a plane – heavy
turbulence – Once had to turn around
1) Something is wrong – are we going to make it
Suddenly here are people who
haven’t prayed in 30 yrs – Praying – Never acknowledge God –
A) Now He is their best friend – God help them land
this plane
B) When it finally does land – everyone claps –
someone says – Thank God we made it
C) Times like that make for a level playing field
1) The guy in the economy section who paid $350 for
his seat – same boat as the guy in 1st class $3,000
D) Fact – All sinners –
all are going to die –
1) All are going to stand before God
There
was an epitaph written on a tombstone once that said:
Remember, friend, as you pass by, as you
are now, so once was I.
As I am now, soon you will be, Prepare for death, and follow me.
Someone had written underneath it:
To follow you I'm not content, Until I
know which way you went.
Naaman – although a great and
honorable man – He had a great need – Terminal disease {No cure
A) Interesting that phrase: by
him the LORD had given victory to
B) It seems that God had sovereignly singled this guy
out – to bless him
C) Perhaps it was for this very reason – work a
Miracle in his life.
RD V.2-4
So here was a little girl
that was taken away from
A) NOTE: She could have been bitter for having been
taken from her home and parents.
B) But instead of becoming BITTER
she became a BLESSING.
C) She was in that place because she was
going to be the INSTRUMENT that the Lord would use to tell Naaman that there
was hope
D) She said: I wish you were with Elisha the prophet,
for you would be cured.
V5 Then the king of
Now it is interesting to see
his approach here because he does it like he does everything else:
A) Grand fashion – pomp / 2 million in gold another 2
million in silver – huge entourage
B) He is going to buy himself a miracle – Buy himself
a Cure.
C) That is what the self made man does – I will fix
this. Use all my power – all my wealth
V. 6 Then he
brought the letter to the king of
D) Normal attitude of a
pagan King – think a king controls his priest & prophets
1) Just say the word – they have to do it
7 And it happened, when the
king of
Jehoram king of
8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God
heard that the king of
Elisha says send him down here – what are you so upset about? He has a completely
different perspective!
9 Then Naaman went with his horses and
chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. [Hut]
And Elisha sent a messenger to him,
saying, "Go and wash in the
So Naaman goes down to
Elisha’s hut – Servant comes out – Does the prophet live here? Yes
A) Tell him Naaman the General of the Army of
B) Elisha doesn’t come out
– tells his messenger – tell him to go down to the
1) Jump in 7 times & he will be made clean.
Well Naaman is furious –
filled w/ Wrath
He is ticked by this
11 But Naaman became furious, and
went away and said, "Indeed, I said to myself, '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 heal the leprosy.' 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the
rivers of
A) Naaman goes off – I thought surely he would have
come out to me –
B) You bring two million bucks and that is what
happens – the Prophet comes out
1) He waves
his hand, does some sign – seen it on TBN
2) Says some magic words or
something.
C) Instead he sends his little mucky muck servant to tell me to go bath in the dirty
1) There are many rivers in
You know why Naaman
flies off the handle?
A) He wanted to be treated like a great man who
happens to have leprosy
B) Instead – Elisha treats him like a leper who happens to be a great man.
C) Naaman is more concerned
about his dignity
Elisha is more concerned
about his disease.
D) So Naaman is willing to sacrifice the hope of being
cleansed – the hope of life – to save his dignity
1) His own pride –
That is what Naaman’s
do!
A) They want to approach spiritual matters – the same
way he does everything else.
B) He has gotten ahead because of his hard work
1) His discipline – his ingenuity
C) A Naaman’s approach to God is the same way
1) Religion becomes just
another mt to climb
D) Attitude: Give me something to do. Give me some Mt
to climb
1) Give me some penance to do.
E) Don’t tell me to do something as simple as going and jumping
in a river seven times
1) Naaman doesn’t like that because it puts him on the
same plain as everyone else –
F) He wants to be treated
differently
1)V.11
I said to myself - That was
his first mistake
G) That’s
always the mistake of any leper... Any
Sinner: “I thought it should be this way or that way.
Naaman’s today: Don’t tell me
it is as simple as believing in Jesus. Not that easy!
A) Too many the gospel of Jesus Christ – wash and be
cleansed is INSUTLING.
Religion says – DO / Jesus says DONE
B) The name
1) The number 7 is the number
of perfection and completion.
C) How are we to be cleansed from our spiritual
leprosy?
1) We are to immerse ourselves
in the judgment that Jesus took for us on the cross of
D) We are to realize that Jesus took the penalty for
OUR sin
A Sinless Jesus became sin- filled so
that sin filled people could become sin free!!!
A) There are a lot of people who think that this is
just too simple.
B) That is why Jesus said in order to enter the
C) Willing to believe – simply act on the word of God
Here is the thing we need to
see – Elisha didn’t need to come out – power wasn’t in the messenger
A) The power was in the message: Responding to God’s
word.
B) There was nothing magical about the
1) There was nothing
important about dipping 7 times
C) All that mattered was that Naaman responded to the word of God
Same is true for every
situation.
A) Marriage –
B) Friendships
1) Children obey Parents
C) Fruit bearing: Abide
let my words abide in you
1) Recurring theme – It really is that easy
D) Takes God’s word at face value and do it – watch
what happens
Quit making excuses – quit
rationalizing that your situation is different – It is not!
A) God’s word is enduring – Faithful and when it is
followed it works
B) What has God been saying to you in his word?
That you have been reluctant to follow
C) Quit making excuses
– follow
A WISE SERVANT v.13
And his servants came near and spoke to
him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something
great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, '
A) What do you have to lose? Answer a little dignity
A little pride! Reap - Huge
dividends
14 So he went down and dipped seven times
in the
Can you imagine the first
time he dips – he comes up looking at his servants – look – I am going to kill
you if this doesn’t work –
A) They wave to him to keep going – 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
B) I wonder about the emotion of that 7th
time – he comes up clean – skin is like a baby’s
1) Pink and soft
C) Most soldiers don’t want that kind of skin
1) Naaman was elated! He was born again – he was a
changed man!
15 And he returned to the man of God, he
and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, "Indeed,
now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in
So Naaman returns to
Elisha – he & his company!
A) This time he goes right inside the hut – last time
he waited for Elisha to come out
B) This time he runs in and stands before Elisha and
Calls himself Elisha’s servant – Changed man
C) He declares – Now I
know ……In V.11 – He said I thought!
– Now He says – Now I know ……..
RD V.16-19
Suddenly Naaman has a
whole new set of values
A) He wants to take some dirt with him back to
B) Imagine what his wife and friends must have thought
showed up with this dirt
C) He is a man whose Value
system has changed
1) Encounter with the one
true God – now he wants to honor him
D) Plant this dirt in his back yard – Jewish star
E) He knows that he has to honor his commitment to the
king – Yet he wants grace
1) I might be bowing – but I am not worshipping
Elisha tells him to go in
Peace – That is what Naaman’s need
A) See it is hard for a Naaman- A self made man or
woman – because hard work is a good thing
B) Discipline is a good thing – Self Sacrifice is an
admirable trait
1) Being committed and dependable are good things
C) But without forgiveness / w/out Jesus it doesn’t
amount to anything – NO PEACE
1) NO CHRIST – NO PEACE
2) KNOW CHRIST – KNOW
PEACE
Wrap up: Believer here
today
A) Reminder – the power is in living in simple
obedience to the Word
B) Just do it – go for it –
1) No excuses -
C) We were all lepers – Cleansed by the blood
1) Blood bought person sitting next to you.
But maybe you are here today
& you are a Naaman
A) Need to be cleansed
B) Come to the Cross –
C) President / Congressman / Junkie – equal plain