Lord’s Day, Vol. 7 No. 28

Wash and Be Clean

It was the prophet Elisha who said to the Syrian general Naaman, plagued with incurable leprosy, “Go wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt me clean.” (2 Kings 5:10).

It is interesting to observe Naaman’s unbelief and prideful response in 2 Kings 5:11-12, “11But 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.”

How did Naaman come to seek Elisha’s help? It was a little Hebrew maid from Israel, carried captive to wait upon Naaman’s wife when the Syrians invaded Israel who told her mistress of God’s prophet in Israel who can heal her husband. Her testimony was that the living and true God is Israel’s God. Seek Him and Naaman shall find salvation.

Naaman’s servant calmed their master to hearken to the instruction of Elisha, “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?” Naaman understood he had nothing to lose but to swallow his pride and humble himself to obey the instruction of God’s prophet. He was miraculously cured!

2 Kings 5:14 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.

Imagine the joy and delight of this man. He was sad and suffering as a result of his sickness. Now he was delivered from this fatal illness.

Observe the words of Naaman after he was cured in 2 Kings 5:15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

The nation of Israel was created by God as a witness to the nations of the world of the living and true God. It was a wonderful testimony of God’s grace upon Naaman. He became a believer of the God of Israel. Naaman declared, “… for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto others gods, but unto the LORD.” (2 Kings 5:17). All glory be to the God of Israel. Naaman was a gentile. God deemed it fit to save this man in a time when His own people were not wholly following Him, as a witness that God is still in Israel.

It was in the fullness of time that God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to walk upon the earth in the land of Israel. Jesus Christ is the exact manifestation of the God of Israel. It was by the same power of Christ that Naaman was healed.

Jesus went to a leper colony and healed ten lepers. Only one returned to give glory to God. This man was not a Jew but a Samaritan.

This was the account recorded in Luke 17:12-18 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

What happened to the other 9 lepers? Were they not all healed? Why did they not return to give thanks to the Lord Jesus and give glory to His Name? We observe the sad spiritual state of Israel at the time when our Lord Jesus walked upon the earth.

Contrast the response of Naaman and the Samaritan with the other nine Jewish lepers. It revealed the decadent spiritual state of the nation of Israel. God’s witness was not thwarted because the nine lepers did not return to give thanks to God.

JC Ryle observed well, “It is difficult to conceive any condition more thoroughly miserable than that of men afflicted with leprosy. They were cast out of society. They were cut off from all communion with their fellows. The men described in the passage before us appear to have been truly sensible of their wretchedness. They “stood afar off”. “They lifted their voices and said Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.… We are told that when the lepers cried to the Lord, He only replied, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” He did not touch them and command their disease. He prescribed no washing, no use of outward material means. Yet healing power accompanied the words which He spoke. Relief met the afflicted company as soon as they obeyed His command. “It came to pass that as they went they were healed.”

Jesus Christ, indeed, is the living and true God. All who come to Him will find in Him a very present help. Even as the psalmist extols, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1).

RC Ryle made this astute observation concerning the nine lepers, “The lesson before us is humbling, heart-searching, and deeply instructive. The best of us are far too like the nine lepers. We are more ready to pray than to praise, and more disposed to ask God for what we have not, than to thank Him for what we have. Murmurings, and complaining, and discontent about every side of us. Few indeed are to be found who are not continually hiding their mercies under a bushel, and setting their wants and trials on a hill. These things ought not to be. But all who know the church and the world must confess that they are true. The wide-spread thanklessness of Christians is the disgrace of our day. It is a plain proof of our little humility. Let us pray daily for a thankful spirit. It is the spirit that God loves and delights to honour.”

How to cultivate a thankful spirit? Ryle concluded, “Above all, let us pray for a deeper sense of our own sinfulness, guilt and undeserving. This, after all, is the true secret of a thankful spirit. It is the man who daily feels his debt of grace, and daily remembers that in reality he deserves nothing but hell, this is the man who will be daily blessing and praising God. Thankfulness is a flower which will never bloom well excepting upon a root of deep humility.”

God’s witness today is through His church. Through the preaching of the gospel, God, by His mercy, save precious souls. It behoves God’s people who have been blessed of God not forget His benefits. May the Lord bless us with a thankful spirit to give Him all honour and glory! Amen.

Yours loving,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee