ALL ABOUT NAAMAN

INTRODUCTION-- Jesus shed approving light on Naaman, when he used his example to exhort the Nazarenes to accept the truth about him. Luke 4:14-30

1. The attitude of the Nazarenes was much like that of their ancestors in the time of Elisha the prophet.
   
   1. It was a time of great idolatry, and great cynicism about God.
      
   2. We have come full circle to a time identical to that time.
      
2. The mention of Naaman's response to Elisha's authority as a prophet was infuriating to the Nazarenes. They thought they were better than Gentiles.
   
   1. Paul had to issue a similar warning to prevent cynicism among the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia. Acts 13:40-45
      
   2. We have people today who try to be selective as to who may hear the gospel and be saved. (Pride and Prejudice?)
      
3. But, we can learn many other lessons from the story of Naaman the Syrian.

    

LESSON-- 2 Kings 5:1-27

Naaman knew that his disease of leprosy was seriously hampering his hopes, and was life-threatening, so he earnestly desired a cure. Vs. 1-4

1. Leprosy has a kinship to sin, which is soul-threatening. Romans 6:23, 7:12-13 (Sinners should have the same attitude toward sin Naaman showed.)
   
2. A captive Israelite slave girl in Naaman's house was generous enough to offer hope of a cure. (Hope was all he had, and it was based on a promise.)
   
   1. The Syrians had been cruel to Israelites, killing and enslaving them.
      
   2. Yet, the girl showed kindness to her master, in the pattern of the teaching of the New Testament about servants. Ephesians 6:5-8
      
   3. Her kindness may not have procured her release from slavery. ???
      
3. In his despair, Naaman was willing to heed of the word of a lowly slave.
   

Naaman and his King were proud men, and thought in proud ways. Vs. 5-8

1. Since Naaman was an "important" man, the King of Syria sent a letter to the King of Israel.
   
2. The importance the cure had for Naaman is shown in the rich gifts he carried to pay the healer.
   
3. The King of Israel, dismayed by the presumption that he could cure leprosy, was relieved that he could pass the matter to Elisha.
   
4. Pride in anyone is a prelude to disaster. Isaiah 13:11 "And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."
   

The proud captain was shocked when Elisha did not even come out to face him, but only sent the Word of salvation. Vs 9-12 (See James 1:21.)

1. Naaman came to Elisha with pre-conditions that favored his ego.
   
2. He anger at the discourteous treatment, and the bemeaning instruction caused him to turn away.
   
   1. James says, "The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God." John 1:20
      
   2. Naaman was forgetting the motivation for his journey--a cure!
      

He is humbled at last by intervening and sympathetic servants. Vs. 13-14

1. In spite of his objections to Jordan as the medium of his cure, he submits.
   
2. His obedient seven-fold immersion in Jordan compares to our baptism.
   
3. His cure is not gradual or partial. Was itembarassing to a robust soldier?
   
4. It is important to notice that his cure did not come before he obeyed.
   

Naaman found that his salvation was not costly, but free. Vs. 15-16

1. "For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
   
2. The Evangelist must not treat his service to sinners as merchandise.
   
   1. Paul said that some think of godliness as a way of gain. 1 Timothy 6:5
      
   2. Some preachers "make merchandise" of their hearers. 2 Peter 2:3
      
   3. It is true that those who "proclaim the Gospel should live of the Gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:14), but they are not to be greedy.
      
   4. The servant of Elisha was greedy, and suffered for it. Vs. 20-27
      

An interesting lesson is seen in Naaman's request for "earth" to use in the worship of God. Vs. 17-19

1. Naaman asks for earth (from the "holy land?") on which, presumably, to erect his altar for worship to God.
   
2. His promise to worship God, apart from the Law of Moses, was permitted, because Gentiles always had a system of sacrifice that preceded Moses' Law.
   
3. His promise to worship only Jehovah was complicated by protocol.
   
   1. His King worshipped an idol, and expected Naaman to accompany him into the Temple of Rimmon. The "demands of protocol" needed help.
      
      1. Naaman asked to be pardoned for entering the house of an idol, and bowing before it.
         
      2. He wanted to be judged by God on his true intention, not on ap pearance.
         
   2. Some today, by reading between the lines, suggest that religious people who are not necessarily the true "people of God" should be fellow shipped, even though they are worshipping God in strange ways.
      
      1. This assumption may have been valid then, but it ignores the fact that in the time of Naaman, Jews followed one system, and Gentiles could be accepted by God under the Patriarchal system.
         
      2. This assumption is not valid today, because both the Patriarchal and Mosaical systems are obsolete, and there is only "one new man in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:11-20).

          

APPLICATION-- Naaman fits the pattern of salvation well--- from sinner to seeker, from proud to humble, from anger and impenitence to penitence and obedience, turning from idols to the living God.

APPEAL-- Be like Naaman, and turn from damning sin to saving righteousness.