Namaan
July 8, 2001
Dear Friends,
In all of the stories of people converting from false religion to the God of Israel, none is more strange than the account of Namaan the Syrian in 2 Kings 5. You would have to look very hard to find a more unlikely candidate for conversion than Namaan.
Namaan was not only a Gentile enemy of Israel, but the commander of the Arameans. Although King Ahab had made a peace accord with Aram (1 Kings 20:34), Namaan was still leading attacks against Israel which is how he came to have an Israelitish slave girl. Not only was he an enemy of Israel, but he was a leper. Under the Mosaic Law, even if he was an Israelite (which he wasn’t), he would have been unclean and cast outside the camp.
Namaan, from what little is told about him, wasn’t even a nice guy. First, he attempts to buy a miracle with money and political influence. Second, when he finally gets to the house of Elisha, Elisha tells him through a messenger to wash in the Jordan seven times and he will be cured. This seems to be a simple and reasonable request for one whose flesh is literally falling off of his body. Yet, Namaan the leprous enemy of Israel storms off in a fury. Namaan wanted the quick fix of Elisha waving a hand over him. Only after the prodding of his servants does Namaan follow the man of God’s request and washes seven times in the Jordan.
Upon being healed, Namaan comes to a dramatic and life changing conclusion. He tells Elisha “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.”
The oddities and their associated lessons are as follows:
1. Namaan was certainly not a likely candidate for conversion. King Joram was convinced it was all a plot to start a war. Yet, God through His prophet Elisha gives a man rebirth not only from a rotting body but rebirth into the faith of Abraham. Can we pick and chose to whom we will preach?,
2. Namaan obeys God’s word initially, not through faith, but through blind hope of an cure to his uncleanness. Despite his poor attitude, God brings about a cure and as a result, faith. Sometimes we have to start with the carnal things to get to the spiritual things. The key is just to start.
3. Namaan came with an idea of exactly how this was supposed to transpire. He was wrong and it almost cost him his life – both carnal and eternal! When we come to God, we must clear our minds of preconceived ideas and see what He would have us do via His word.
Namaan stands as a warning to all those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. Certainly no one in Israel, leper or otherwise, would have seen Namaan as more worthy of God’s grace than themselves. Yet, Jesus tells us “There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” (Luke 4:27)
Have a great week!
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