7. Power to Heal

Hymns: 58 The Great Physician, 134 Why Do I Sing About Jesus?, 323 Trust and Obey

Life of Elisha

(Serving Our Faithful God)

– Power to Heal

2 Kings 5:1-15

 

¹ Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. ² And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy. ⁴ And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. ⁵ And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. ⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. ⁷ And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. ⁸ And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. ¹¹ But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? ¹⁴ 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 unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

 

OUTLINE

• Power of God Conveyed (v1-4)
• Powerless Man Confounded (v5-7)
• Power of God Communicated (v8-15)

 

INTRODUCTION

The life of man is in the hands of God. He alone determines his destiny. Man can, however, choose to walk with God and received His blessings. Fallen man is alienated from His Creator, he fumbles through life fearfully awaiting God’s ultimate judgement. But God did not leave man without hope of receiving God’s help. He chose the nation of Israel to be His witness. We know from Israel’s history that she was not faithful to her God in certain periods of her history. But God is faithful to His people. He sent prophets to convinced them to come back to God.

In the fullness of time, God sent His Son to conveyed Himself exactly to His people, the nation of Israel, and from them to the nations of the world. That in Jesus Christ is fullness of God’s blessing.

 When Jesus was upon earth, He healed the sick, restored the maimed, brought sight back to the blind, brought hearing back to the deaf, the leper was healed, the dead brought to life. There was no need for a hospital in Israel with Jesus walking her streets. Jesus was able to heal because He is the Creator. Power lies with him. The purpose of healing was to point the people to faith in the living and true God of Israel and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

In the time when the nation of Israel herself was delving with idolatry, her faith weak, God sent prophets like Elijah and Elisha to bringing the people back to God. God conveyed His presence through His prophets, they were as light shining in the midst of gross darkness.

And because of the sin of His people, God brought judgement upon them through surrounding nations. God raised this man Naaman, a general Syria, to be His instrument of chastisement upon His people. In the process, God would show forth His glory to humble and reveal Himself to this man by healing his leprosy.

 This is the story…

• Power of God Conveyed (v1-4)
• Powerless Man Confounded (v5-7)
• Power of God Communicated (v8-15)

 

(1) Power of God Conveyed (v1-4)

¹ Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. ² And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.

Naaman, as general of the Syrian army, was given the permission by God to spoil His people as a judgement for their sins. And Israel was defeated in her battles with the Syrian army and the people of Israel was brought captive into Syria was slaves.

Although the nation of Israel was under God’s judgement for her departure from God, there was a remnant of men and women who kept their faith, and has not bowed their knee to Baal.

 There was a little Israelite girl who became a servant to Naaman’s wife in Naaman’s household. Our text tells us that though Naaman was a valiant man in battle, he was plagued with leprosy. Leprosy is the world’s oldest skin disease. It is a contagious disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discoloration and lumps on the skin and, in severe cases, disfigurement and deformities.

This little girl was a God-fearer. She loved her God and understood the power of God to help those in need. And God has raised for Himself a prophet in Israel, Elisha, whom she knew, to be a man of God. She conveyed this truth, in kindness, to her master in hope that Naaman might be helped.

She was confident in the power of her God to show forth His glory in helping Naaman. Not an easy suggestion to give because her people are now Syrian captives and it may be misconstrued by Naaman that she was trying to insult her master to mock him in his helpless condition.

Wherever God may send us, we can be a witness for Him, in whatever environment and circumstance that God places us in. This girl witnessed to her master that there is a true God in Israel and recommended him to seek an audience with His prophet.

We can convey to the people around us in need who are outside His kingdom that there is help with God. God will show Himself faithful as we witness for Him according to His Word.

We are reminded of the man who came to Jesus for healing plagued with the disease of leprosy. How Jesus healed him.

Matthew 8:2-3 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

This little girl though young has faith in God. And she conveyed that faith to her master with the hope of helping him.

We share with our loved ones and friends that we have the best Friend in Jesus for He can save us from the greatest disease of sin. When Jesus has cleansed them from their sin, He gives them power over sin and death and eternal life. What a great privilege to be an ambassador for Christ.

 

(2) Powerless Man Confounded (v4-7)

⁴ And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. ⁵ And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. ⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. ⁷ And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

When the king of Syria heard that there is such a man in Israel who can help his trusted general, he immediately did all he can to help him. However, he thought that the king of Israel would be the man to help his general. He was mistaken. The king himself has been a wayward king leading the people not to love their God but to serve idols. Such a carnal man, was powerless. When Naaman came with all the gifts from the Syrian king seeking to be healed, he was confounded. Though flattered, he could realise that he could not help the man.

We recall that when Naaman came to Israel in previous occasions, it was to war. Now the situation is different, he came to seek help from Israel’s prophet. It is tantamount to saying that Syrian gods is inferior to Israel’s God. It was a humbling task. And yet, the king of Israel was powerless to do anything to help this man – “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.” Are you making fun of me? Asking such an impossible task. Although he was the king, he was vested with all authority, he can hire the finest physician in the land, yet he knew that this disease defies his best physicians.

 

(3) Power of God Communicated (v8-15)

⁸ And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. ¹¹ But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

Elisha saw the awkward situation of the king. Why should the king be so troubled that he has to rent his clothes? Why didn’t he simply sent Naaman to Elisha? Of course, the king of Israel is in rebellion against his God. He was at odds with God’s prophet. Recall, Israel’s kings have been indulging in idolatry for many generations and they were time and again rebuked by God’s prophets.

 Naaman now has the permission of the king of Israel to seek help from Israel’s prophet. When Naaman came, Elisha did not even come out of his house to greet him. He felt offended. But Elisha provided him what he could do to be healed – ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

 Naaman became very angry and even insulted that he would have to go to the dirty little Jordan to be cleansed of his disease – ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

Surely, the rivers of Damascus are superior to the Jordan. He felt insulted. He would not obey the prophet’s instruction.

¹³ And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? ¹⁴ 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 unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 

Naaman had to humble himself before God, hearkened to God’s prophet to receive healing. He did so and was gloriously healed. God’s power to heal was communicated in truth by the reality of the healing that took place when Naaman obeyed Elisha’s instruction.

Rogers observed well, “You see, sometimes when God is asking you to do something very small it may not make sense to you. And you say, ha ha, I don’t need to do that. Why, why, that’s not important. You let God determine what’s important. Here’s old Naaman and said, why, there are better rivers over there in Syria if I want to wash in a river. But God knows what He’s doing.”[1]

The instruction from God’s Word is His wisdom for every aspect of life. We can depend upon His Word to help us as we do so with prayer. He never fails His people.

 

CONCLUSION

Power of God Conveyed (v1-4), Powerless Man Confounded (v5-7), Power of God Communicated (v8-15). May God help us to look to God in Christ and be saved! Amen.

 

[1] The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection – The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection