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Lately I have been in Luke and have focused my posts on that. But in Austin's daily Bible time we are in 2 Kings and that's where today's post is going to come from. I hope you see Jesus in today's passage as much as I did. It may be a little long but bear with me. It's a beautiful passage and one that has much more to it than what I've written. So I encourage you to study it and dig deep. There is so much goodness here.  

2 Kings 5:1-14

Naaman Healed of Leprosy 

Part 1

  Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.^{[a] 2} 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. ³ She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” ⁵ And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels^[b] of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “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.”
⁸ 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.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹² Are not Abana^[c] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants came near and said to him, “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’?” ¹⁴ 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.

It verse 1 it introduces us to a man named Naaman. Naaman is from Syria which is an enemy of Israel and he has leprosy (or a skin disease as other translations call it). For sake of our passage I looked up the definition of leprosy from the World Health Organization. It says, "Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus. The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes. Leprosy is curable and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability." That definition helps us to make some comparisons.

Do you know who I think Naaman represents in this passage...... Us. He is a foreigner to God, he has a disease that is terrible but can in fact be cured, and this disease he has affects his eyes. Our disease is sin and it effects our spiritual eyes. It blinds us to the truth of scripture and the revelation of God. James 4:4 says that to "be a friend of the world" makes us "an enemy of God."  Prior to accepting God's gift of salvation, we, like Naaman were enemies to God. But, the greatest news is that our disease is also curable.

In verse 2 we are told that an Israelite girl is taken captive and becomes the servant of Naaman's wife. Now, if someone took you against your will and made you a slave would you give them the key to curing their disease? I know I wouldn't, but not this girl. She tells Naaman to go and see a prophet (Elisha) in Israel and that he could heal him. In Luke 6 verse 27, Jesus tells us to "love your enemies." This girl was definitely living that command out before Jesus even spoke it. Jesus was the ultimate example when he went on that cross and died a terrible death for the very people that nailed him to it and spat in his face. Talk about loving your enemies!!

As you read in the scripture, Naaman makes his way to the door step of Elisha (the prophet of Israel) and Elisha sends out a messenger to give him the key to healing him of leprosy. I found this very interesting and strikingly familiar. When we put our faith in Christ, it's not because we see him with our physical eyes. It's because we have faith in what is unseen and God chooses to use messengers to spread the Good News of the gospel just as Elisha used a messenger.  

So what does Elisha tell Naaman to do to cure his skin disease? He pretty much tells him to go take a bath in the Jordan seven times. Seems simple enough to me. So simple in fact, it makes Naaman very angry. Naaman expected a big show and for Elisha to show him personal  attention. Naaman was seen as a "a great man" and in "high favor" in Syria so I am sure he was used to being catered to. Don't we do the same though? We expect God to just reach down from Heaven and for some great show to happen and a grand emotional experience. Do you know your emotions can be very deceptive and that they come and go like a roller coaster ride (especially for us women)? Following Jesus isn't always an emotional high and scripture tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the "heart is deceitful above all." We can't just let our hearts and emotions be our guide. They need to line up with scripture. 

The simplicity of what would cure Naaman reminds me so much of the gospel. The gospel is so simple. But we try our best to complicate it. We were born sinners and someone had to pay for our wrong doing. Would you want a murderer to walk out of court a free man? I doubt it. I think we all would say that he needed to go to jail and pay for what he did. How could God be a perfect, Holy God if he just let us sin and no one had to pay the price? God takes every sin very seriously and so should we.

So who paid the debt for our sin? Who took on our punishment? That person was God in the flesh....Jesus. He had to live a perfect, sinless life in order to be the perfect sacrifice. He died a sinners death on that cross so that our debt was paid and we could have a relationship with the creator of the universe. All we have to do is to confess our sins before God and accept the gift of salvation. It is so simple we can hardly grasp it. Our salvation is ours free and clear and there is nothing we need to do to earn it.  

Naaman's servant then came to him and in verse 13 says, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it?" In other words, why not at least try it? What if it worked? So Naaman did as Elisha told him and he was healed..... transformed.... made new. If you read on in verse 15, Naaman makes a profession of faith. Not only is he changed on the outside but he has also had his heart radically transformed. Naaman tries to give Elisha gifts but Elisha will not accept them. Our gift of salvation from God does not require payment from us. There are very few things in life that are free. But eternity in Heaven is. You have an opportunity to be healed of your disease. You can be made new and transformed by the power of the cross. All you have to do is cry out to God in repentance of your sin and simply ask him to save you. Will you not do it? Where will your eternity be spent? We are not promised tomorrow. Don't waste another minute not knowing.