2 Kings 5 "The Conversion of the Gentiles" Kings has told us stories of the battles between Israel and Syria. The military-political strife between Ben-Hadad and the northern Kingdom of Israel dominated the era of the Omride dynasty. Kings has also told us micro-histories little stories of little people on whom God had mercy and preserved them in the midst of the apostasy of the nation. 2 Kings 5 tells a very different sort of story. It does not tell the story of God's mercy to one of the faithful sons of the prophets rather it tells the story of the curse of the best of the Israelites (Gehazi). It does not speak of God's protection of Israel, but of his blessing upon the very man who was tasked with destroying Israel! Brothers and sisters, we must beware lest we become too smug in our position. We are far too quick to identify the good guys and the bad guys in our day. Would you have given Naaman a chance? It would be as though Saddam Hussein's leading general came to town. He had previously been known for conducting raids and kidnapping your children. On the other hand, Gehazi is as good as you get! He is Elisha's right hand man (the servant of the greatest ecclesiastical figure of the day) And yet by the end of our story Naaman is the blessed and Gehazi is cursed. The kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom. Our text this evening is structured chiastically. We start with Naaman the leper and his servant girl (v1-4a). Then Naaman comes and offers a gift and Elisha accepts the challenge (v 5b-8). Then there is a contrast between the rivers of Syria and the river Jordan (9-14) At the center is Naaman's confession and Elisha's refusal of the gift (v15-16) Then there is a contrast between the temple of Rimmon and that of Yahweh (17-19a) Then Gehazi comes and accepts Naaman's gift (19b-24) The passage then concludes with a servant who becomes a leper (25-27) You know, I've wondered sometimes whether these chiasms are really there, or whether they are just a product of someone's imagination. But then I go to a NT text and I can't find any sort of thematic movement like this. I have become convinced that whether it was intentional or not, Hebrew history writing follows chiastic patterns. In text after text there are these thematic parallels. It is as though the author just naturally tends to tell stories in this pattern. Certainly the net effect of the structure is to highlight the very center of the story. And the center of our story tonight is Naaman's confession in verse 15 Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. 1. Of Lepers and Servant Girls (5:1-5a) Naaman had not always believed this. At the beginning of our story Naaman was hostile to the God of Israel. Naaman is described not only as the commander of the army of the king of Syria, but also as "a great man with his master and in high favor." He was a big shot. In the modern world we don't prize generals the same way they did. Naaman is the Brady Quinn of Syria. He is the golden boy, the pop star, the great man among men. Remember how the crowds cheered David? Well, that is how the Syrians cheered for Naaman! But notice that even in verse one our author is subverting the dominant version of the story. Naaman was a great general but not because of Naaman's great skill or might. Rather, it was because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. When you look at the high and mighty, remember that they got there because God put them there. Donald Trump and Bill Gates have all their money because God gave them success. The question is how will we respond to the success that God gives? Naaman does not appear to have responded well. He is puffed up with pride. This guy's ego is colossal. But pride goeth before a fall! He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Leprosy is the word used in scripture to refer to a number of skin diseases, so we don't know exactly what Naaman's disease was. But since it was a skin disease, it would have been viewed as a visible mark of divine displeasure. Indeed, leprosy was considered a living death as Jehoram's response suggests: "Am I God, to kill and to make alive" This Gentile general is under the curse of death. We saw last time that Elisha is not only proclaiming the death of Israel, he is also bring life from the dead promising a hope beyond the grave. But last time Elisha gave life to a faithful woman by healing her barrenness and giving her a son, and then raising her son from the dead. She feared God and honored his prophet, and so God blessed her. Naaman is a strange candidate for Elisha to resurrect from the dead! Israel must learn that God does not just raise up the faithful dead. He even gives life to the pagan, Gentile dead. And only after bringing them to life does he give them faith! Remember that. Because God does not wait for people to seek him. The word of God wakens the dead and gives them faith. 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. She had been kidnapped and was held in slavery in Syria. But she remained faithful to Yahweh and remembered his prophet, Elisha. She does not betray any bitterness in her comment, but evidences a genuine concern for the welfare of the family where God has placed her. Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy. Are you having some difficulty in your situation in life? Are you frustrated by the people around you? Do you tend to let your situation dictate your actions? When you get "bumped" by the people around you, what comes out of you? This little girl has been kidnapped and is a slave in Syria. She has no reason to believe that she will ever see her family again. You might think that her response would be to hate the man who did this to her. Naaman after all is the general who commands the army. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be here! When Jesus said, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," he could very well have added just like the little slave girl in Naaman's house. And for some reason Naaman believes her. He's probably desperate. As a leper he would be unable to lead the army he would be benched (and why was it that this little girl wants to help him? So that he can lead the armies against Israel?) Naaman's salvation begins with a little girl who loved her enemies. Remember this because as you live in the midst of the nations, their salvation begins with you. You don't need to be a brilliant evangelist, but you do need to be ready with an answer for the hope that is in you; you need to be ready to point them to Jesus, the one who can cure them and bring them peace. So Naaman goes to the king and tells him what this little girl had told his wife. And the king of Syria said, 'Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.' 2. Beware of Syrians Bearing Gifts (5:5b-8) So he comes to Samaria with ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. This is a kingly gift that he is offering. But the gift has a pricetag: When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy. After all, the servant girl only said that the prophet was in Samaria. She never gave his name! And if the prophet is in Samaria, then plainly the prophet must be a close associate of the king (since kings only allowed their closest friends and advisors to live in their capital cities). But Jehoram, the king, does not think of Elisha. We have no reason to believe that Elisha had ever healed anyone of leprosy before. Indeed, the king's response leads us to wonder why the little girl thought of sending Naaman to Elisha! Plainly she demonstrated great faith in spite of her circumstances. (Incidentally, this exiled little girl becomes a model for Israel when Israel is in exile! Will you have faith in your God, in spite of everything that you see around you?) But Jehoram responds in frustration and despair. He tears his clothes and says: 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. The slave girl who will never see her home again has faith in God. The king who has been delivered by God before simply whines and complains. 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. Elisha doesn't bother making the rebuke explicit. God has already proclaimed the death of the house of Omri. There is no point in making a big deal about it. 3. The Rivers of Syria vs. the River of God (5:9-14) So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. This is probably in Samaria (6:32 makes it clear that Elisha had a house in Samaria). Elisha doesn't even bother coming out to see him. This is an insult. When a great man comes to a lesser man's house, the lesser man should come to him. But Elisha sends a messenger. Elisha is claiming to be the greater of the two men. Naaman is going to have to humble himself if he wishes to be healed. Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean. Naaman's response reveals his heart: I thought that he would surely come out to me I'm the big man here! How dare he insult me by sending a messenger! And stand and call upon the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. How often are we like Naaman? We have a preconceived notion of how God should answer our prayers. And if God doesn't do things our way, we get all upset. Perhaps God's answer to your prayer is that you must humble yourself! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? If it is just a matter of washing in a river, why did I have to come here?! So he turned and went away in a rage. At this point the readers of Kings all smugly chuckle and point at Naaman and say "what a predictable Gentile"! But of course, Naaman is a reminder to Israel that God has mercy on whom he has mercy. And so God sends his servant to Naaman. And just as the word of a slave girl was what prompted him to come to Israel, so also it is the word of a servant that persuades him to humble himself and obey Elisha. 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?' The prophet has given you a way to be cleansed from your leprosy. Isn't this why you came? Why not take him at his word? All you have to do is wash and be clean. Brothers and sisters, today the Word of the Lord has come to you! Because the word of Elisha is the word that comes to us wash and be clean! When John the Baptist starts baptizing in the Jordan River, the people could not help but think back to Naaman the Gentile the Gentile whom God raised from his living death, and brought him into fellowship with himself. The ministry of Elijah and Elisha demonstrates that Israel's only hope lies beyond the grave. 2 Kings 5 makes it clear that the Gentiles share the same hope. Jesus said in Luke 24:46 Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. Where is it written that repentance and forgiveness should be preached to all nations? How about 2 Kings 5? 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. Notice the image of regeneration/new birth here. Naaman's baptism washes away his old man, and a new man emerges from the water. 4. Naaman's Confession and Offer of Gifts (5:15-16) Truly the Naaman of the second half of our passage is a new man. Gone is the proud and arrogant "mighty man"-- and in his place is a humble worshiper of Yahweh. No longer does he wish to purchase his healing. Now he wishes to honor the God who healed him and the prophet who spoke the word of the LORD. So he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. Notice that Elisha still does not come out to Naaman. Naaman humbly acknowledges that truly Elisha is the greater man, and so he comes in to Elisha, and publicly before the Syrian company, he confesses his faith in the God of Israel. Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant. But Elisha desires no present. He has not done this for money. And he wants everyone to know that it was not the gold and silver of Syria that bought Naaman's cure. After all, Israel's days are numbered. Israel's hope is not in multiplying possessions, but in the God who raises the dead. 'As Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.' And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 3'. The Temple of Yahweh vs. the Temple of Rimmon (5:17-19a) But no longer is Naaman claiming the superiority of things Syrian. He had claimed that the rivers of Damascus were better than the rivers of Israel. But now he acknowledges that Israel is superior all because Israel has the one true God. Then Naaman said, 'If not, please let there be given to your servant two mules' load of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but Yahweh. Naaman understands that God has blessed Israel, and so he wants to be part of Israel. He wants to live in Israel. But the only way he can do that is by taking some of the earth of Israel and using it as a place to build an altar in Syria. Elisha could have responded by saying "Agh! No! You can only worship in Jerusalem!" But of course, as we have seen, Elisha and Elijah offer sacrifices themselves outside of Jerusalem. Life is not as it should be in Israel. Elisha will rejoice that this Gentile will worship and serve the LORD. But it gets worse. Because Naaman adds, In this matter may Yahweh 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, Yahweh pardon your servant in this matter. Naaman is still the servant of a pagan king. His job as commander of the army will include participating in the worship of Rimmon. And he asks Yahweh to pardon him for this. He recognizes that it is wrong that it is an act that needs to be pardoned! But Elisha does not condemn him. You do not say "Shalom" in answer to a person unless you are blessing him. Elisha says that God will pardon this Gentile. 2'. Beware of Israelites Accepting Gifts (5:19b-24) But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, 'See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought.' Gehazi calls this "sparing" Naaman. By not accepting a gift, Elisha has demonstrated that the grace of God is a free gift. But Gehazi thinks that if the Syrians are going to receive mercy from God, they had better pay for it! 'As Yahweh lives, I will run after him and get something from him.' Notice that Gehazi cloaks his greed with piety. He not only covets, he also takes the name of Yahweh in vain. And then in verse 22 he bears false witness! My master has sent me to say, 'There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two festal garments.' And Naaman said, 'Be pleased to accept two talents.' Naaman was delighted to be able to honor Yahweh and Yahweh's prophet. We have every reason to believe that he rejoiced to give this gift. But Gehazi shows us how deceitfulness and greed lurks even in the very heart of the people of God. This man who had served Elisha and seen the power of God demonstrated plainly through him nonetheless is so obsessed with his own greed that he bears false witness against Elisha and steals from Naaman, the Gentile convert. 1'. Of Servants and Lepers (5:25-27) He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, 'Where have you been, Gehazi?' And he said, 'Your servant went nowhere.' But he said to him, 'Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?' Are you more concerned with your own estate? Or with the coming of the kingdom of God? You have missed the point, Gehazi. Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever. So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. The great Syrian general the persecutor of Israel is cleansed and raised from his living death, while the servant of the man of God is cursed for his greed.