Summary The gospel is so simple; the gospel is so free; the gospel is so powerful and God used a little girl to convert a great enemy army leader and he s still using people like her to do the same today. Getting to Know Each Other 1. Is there someone in your life with whom the relationship was originally rocky but who is now a good friend? Tell the group about the before and after and what changed. The point of this question is to get at one of the realities of God s heart for people shown forth in the story of Naaman. Naaman was not of the Old Testament people of God, but God s heart, as demonstrated in the passage, was to show forth his presence by way of Elisha, God s prophet and mouthpiece, and a supernatural healing. The result was a change in the formerly rocky relationship between Naaman and the one, true God and his people as evidenced by Naaman s response in verse 15, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel Getting into the Bible 2 Kings 5:1-19 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy. 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy. 7 And 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 sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me. 8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean. 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana 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. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 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. 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant. 16 But he said, As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, 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. 19 He said to him, Go in peace. 2. What do you know about leprosy in the Bible? Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases. For the people of Israel, leprosy was closely associated with cleanness or uncleanness, which was quite important because cleanness meant inclusion in the camp and exposure to the presence of God, whereas uncleanness meant the opposite. Leviticus 13-14 lays out God s commands regarding leprosy and cleanness/uncleanness. For Naaman, the leprosy was likely embarrassing, annoying, and a sign of weakness. The Bible describes him as a great man and a mighty man of valor, and yet he was a leper. 3. Naaman s servant girl was a prisoner of war. How do you think she was able to demonstrate such compassion for her captor? This is a subjective question as it s not clear from the text. Some thoughts: She possesses a childlike faith. She remembers that God created every person in his image, therefore every person matters. She has experienced God s compassion and therefore can more easily show it to her captor/enemy. 4. The king of Syria sends a lot of gold and silver with Naaman to procure healing. Elisha, however, will not accept any gift from Naaman. Why is this important as we think about the way that people who are not following God come to follow God? At the right moment, have your group turn to 1 Peter 1:13-21. Read the passage aloud and focus on verse 18-19. The main point here is that the most valuable treasures of the world cannot buy salvation. It s the wrong currency. It s like trying to use American dollars in Japan. It doesn t work because American dollars aren t Japanese yen. Silver and gold are perishable metals that God himself created. They can purchase a lot of things here on Earth, but they can t purchase eternal salvation before God because they are not eternal currency. We need the eternal, perfect, lasting Lamb of God to purchase salvation for us. Only his given body and shed blood is eternal currency.
We see a foreshadowing of this reality in the story of Naaman. Naaman brought a lot of the wrong currency when what he really needed was the eternal, perfect, lasting word of God to affect change in his life and complete an eternal transaction. 5. Naaman is angry when he hears God s word from Elisha. Why? It is our natural proclivity (i.e. in our natural fallen state before we are born again) to do things our own way and become angry when God or anyone else tells us differently. This is at the core of the sinful and fallen heart. The lie that Satan told our first parents is, God is holding out on you. He doesn t have your best in mind. Why would you be dependent upon him? Life will be better for you if you are master of your own ship. Forget God. If he really loved you, he wouldn t hold out on you. Be your own god. Do what you want to do and life will go better and be fuller (my interpretation based on Genesis 3:1-5). The ESV Reformation Study Bible says this about Genesis 3:2-5 Satan tempts Eve by emphasizing God s prohibition, not his provision; reducing God s command to a question; casting doubt upon God s sincerity and defaming his motives; and denying the truthfulness of his threat. The woman gradually yields to Satan s denials and half-truths by disparaging her privileges in adding to the prohibition ( neither shall you touch it, v.3), and minimizing the threat (v.6). 1 And about Genesis 2:6 Sin is essentially failure to trust in God. It is an act or state of unbelief, and an assertion of autonomy. Sin manifests itself in both doing what God has forbidden ( sin of commission ) and failing to do what he has commanded ( sin of omission ). True religion consists of communion with God based on trust. And genuine trust bears fruit in obedience (John 14:15). 2 So, Naaman is angry because, if there is a God, he wants this God to heal him on his timetable and in his way. At this point he does not trust in God and is in a state of unbelief. He is autonomous and thinks God s ways are foolish and below him (e.g. Why would I was in a dirty river when better rivers are at my disposal in Damascus?). 6. Even though Naaman is angry about Elisha s command, he relents and washes in the Jordan River. Why do you think he does so? 1 Taken from footnote to Genesis 3:2-5 in The Reformation Study Bible. Sproul, R.C. The Reformation Study Bible, Reformation Trust Publishing: Sanford, 18. 2 Taken from footnote to Genesis 3:6 in The Reformation Study Bible. Sproul, R.C. The Reformation Study Bible, Reformation Trust Publishing: Sanford, 18.
From the text, Naaman s servants persuade him to relent and hear Elisha s command as a great word. Maybe Naaman changes his mind because people he trusts encourage him. It appears that Naaman s friends may persuade him by getting him to see that dipping himself in a river seven times is not hard. That is, it seems they re basically saying to him, Naaman, you re being proud and arrogant. How many times have you dipped yourself in a river? What do you have to lose? Elisha s words are not hard to execute but easy. Just do it. The principle Paul illuminates at Athens in Acts 17:24-28 may be in play here: 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for In him we live and move and have our being ; as even some of your own poets have said, For we are indeed his offspring. Paul is speaking to non-christian people about the one, true God and he notes that God determined the times and places that all people would live so that they might find him. Then, he explains further that God is indeed not far off, but is closer than you think. I see a parallel here with Naaman s conversion story. He is not of the people of God, but God created him to live at a certain time in a certain place; and, even though he was not of the people of God, God was not far off from him. For him, experiencing God for the first time was as easy as dipping himself in a river seven times. God was not far off! On the flip side, this easy step of obedience meant the hard step of humbling himself and the relinquishment of control of his life. 7. Naaman came for healing but left a follower of God. What does this tell us about God s desires? God loves to heal temporally AND God is interested in more than just temporal healing. Naaman s healing leads to his heart change and worship of the one, true God. In other words, God not only healed Naaman of his disease in this life only but he also healed Naaman of his sin disease for this life and the life to come. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus ministry. Jesus ministry consisted of preaching, teaching, and healing. These three hung together and were not mutually exclusive. Jesus performed many miraculous healings, which led to opportunities to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God (and heal souls not just bodies), which led to opportunities to teach disciples who
would then go and heal bodies and preach the gospel message for the healing of souls, and so on so forth. This is certainly a simplification of the gospel narratives, but the point is that God in the story of Naaman s healing and conversion and God in the person of Jesus want the same thing: worshippers. God does not heal for healing s sake but to turn people wholly, both temporally and eternally, back to himself. Application 8. With whom do you find it hard to show compassion like Naaman s servant girl? 9. In what ways do you need to humble yourself like Naaman to God s word? 10. Name and pray for one person who, like Naaman, is not yet of the people of God. Pray that God would move in his/her life and save him/her! 11. What are some obstacles that make you most reluctant to tell someone about Jesus?