(Read 2 Kings 5)
NAAMAN was a leper. He was afflicted with one of the most loathsome diseases that could be the lot of fallen man to have. It was loathsome, and as far as man was concerned, incurable. Most miserable, indeed, was the condition of the poor leper.
When we consider the greatness of Naaman, and the exalted position he occupied in relation to his king and country, we cannot but suppose that he had tried every resource, short of the God of Israel, in the fond hope of getting cured of the disease with which he was afflicted. “He was a great man with his master (the king), and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria; he was also a mighty man in valor; but he was a leper” (2 Kings 5:11Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. (2 Kings 5:1)). Occupying such a position, a favorite with the king, and the idol of his country, every human resource was at his disposal. And without doubt they were all tried. But with what result? Naaman was a leper stills no change was brought about, no cure effected.
His case was that of misery, helplessness, and hopelessness, as far as man was concerned.
But God, the God of Israel, had purposes of grace towards poor leprous Naaman. In all his attempts at cleansing he had left God out; but God had not left him out.
Naaman’s case is but a typical case, and his disease typical of a far more dreadful disease, a disease that afflicts the whole human family―the disease of sin. Sin has poisoned the very springs of man’s moral being, and all that flows from it partakes of the same nature. “Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21, 2221For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: (Mark 7:21‑22)). This corrupt fountain can only send forth corrupted and corrupting streams.
As Naaman too was helpless in effecting a cure for himself, or being acted on by his fellows so as to be cured from leprosy, so it is with man, though he, like Naaman, try every resource under heaven. It is not within man’s power to heal and save himself. Thousands are trying to do so. Prayers are said, penances are performed, resolutions are made, ordinances are submitted to; yea, every conceivable human resource is looked to, but to no purpose; they remain sinners still, as Naaman remained a leper.
God often uses insignificant instruments to lead to a knowledge of His way of saving. In Naaman’s case it was a little Israelitish maid, who had been carried away captive, and who waited on Naaman’s wife. She it was who communicated to Naaman’s wife the glad tidings of how a poor Gentile leper could be cleansed. “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.”
The news soon reaches Naaman and the king, and all are interested in the cleansing of the mighty Naaman. A letter is written by the King of Syria to the King of Israel; ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment, were placed in the chariot, and Naaman and his company depart for the land of Israel. But the maid had said nothing about the King of Israel, nor the silver and gold, and changes of raiment. She had spoken of the prophet that was in Samaria, not the king, and that he would recover him of his leprosy. It was to be an act of pure grace on the part of Jehovah, through his prophet Elisha. Not of works, lest Naaman should boast.
What an important lesson for man to learn; how few learn it, and then, how slowly is it learnt! Bales of good works would not remove one atom of sin, or propitiate the majesty of Heaven with regard to the least of man’s iniquities. “Not of works, lest any man should boast. Not by work, of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Eph. 2:99Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:9); Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)).
Finally, Naaman reaches the house of the prophet of Jehovah. How simply runs the message as it came from the lips of God’s servant from within, who remains inside, unmoved by the pomp and show without! “Go, wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, am thou shalt be clean.” How simple, how concise, how plain! There was no mistaking it. For a moment Naaman’s proud heart rebelled against it. Was he not a great person? and had he not come a great way? and was he not able to reward the prophet? Ah! Naaman, it is with God you have to do. He turns away in a rage, and, in the light of the beautiful rivers of his own country, treats Jehovah’s river with contempt. “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean?”
Poor Naaman! how like the sinner of our day he is, when told that “when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly,” and that he has only to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6); Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)).
Man’s heart, like Naaman’s, rebels, and says, “Am I ungodly and without strength? and is no credit to be given to my works of self-culture, my acts of benevolence, my attempts to do right? Am I to be classed with the vilest, and be saved by what you call grace, through faith in what another has done for me?”
That is exactly how the matter stands between him and God, and the sooner he yields to the force of truth, and as a sinner confessed avails himself of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the ungodly, trusting Him for salvation, the sooner will he be cleansed and saved for eternity.
Naaman’s pride gives way before the entreaty of his servants, who said to him, “My father, if the prophet had bid me do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean?”
Mark well what follows; he believes and obeys the word of God, and gets the blessing. “Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” It was the obedience of faith. He heard, he believed, he obeyed, and was healed. How beautiful are the words, “And his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
Jordan prefigured death―the death of Christ, ―where judgment was executed upon sin in the person of our Substitute, and where the purification of our sins was accomplished. The moment the sinner ceases from himself, and his supposed good works, and trusts in Christ alone, he is pardoned, cleansed, justified, and accepted with God. He can appropriate such a scripture as the following to himself: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered: blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:4-84Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4:4‑8)). Of believers, the Holy Ghost is constantly witnessing, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)); “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)); “Unto him that loveth us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5,65And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5‑6)).
Naaman returns to the prophet’s house full of gratitude and praise, and there confesses the name of the God of Israel: “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”
The prophet refuses a gift, and Naaman returns to Syria a cleansed man, with a deep sense of Jehovah’s grace in his heart, and as a monument of divine mercy.
Thus it ever is; the knowledge of God’s love and grace, and the possession of His great salvation, changes the whole condition of things within. The heart believes, the lips confess, and the soul o’erflows with praise.
Beloved reader, is it so with you? Have you felt your need? have you judged yourself a sinner? and have you heard, believed, and obeyed the gospel? And now, with an overflowing heart, are you confessing Christ as your Saviour and Lord, and praising the God of all grace who has saved you?
E. A.
GOD’S way of salvation is simple in the extreme. The lost sinner looks in simple faith to the living Saviour. He trusts to Him only. He relies on His work only. God justifies that man.
W. T. P. W.