151 - Naaman and the Servant Girl
- Gwen Diaz
- May 31, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 13
May 31 - Nº 151 2 Kings 5:1-15
Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. He was extremely brave and respected by his king, and he led the army to many great victories. During one of his raids into Israel, he captured a young girl and brought her back to Syria to be his wife’s servant.
One day Naaman discovered that he had leprosy—a very contagious and incurable skin disease. This was a devastating discovery. No longer would he be able to serve the king or lead the army or even live with his own family. He would have to suffer in isolation for the rest of his life.
But the young slave girl he had acquired in Israel knew where he could find help. So she approached her mistress--the woman who now owned her--and said, “I wish my master would go and see the prophet of God who is in Samaria. He could cure him from his leprosy.”
Naaman’s wife immediately told Naaman what the young girl had said. No doubt Naaman had heard stories about God doing miraculous things for the Israelites, so he approached Benhadad, the king of Syria, with a request. He asked if he could go to Israel to look for Elisha, the prophet who lived in Samaria.
The king of Syria admired Naaman so much that, without hesitation, he sat down and wrote a letter, introducing his commander to Joram, the king of Israel. He asked Joran to please arrange for Naaman’s healing.
Naaman immediately gathered gold and silver and clothing to take as gifts to incentivize Israel’s king to follow through. Then he headed to Israel.
When King Joram, the king of Israel, received the letter from Benhadad, the king of Syria, he tore his clothes in distress. “Does he think I am God?” he asked sarcastically. “Can I kill someone then bring them back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of leprosy? That’s impossible! He is just trying to find a reason to start a war with us!”
Elisha heard that the king was very upset, so he sent this message: “Why are you ripping your clothes? Send the man to me so he will know that there really is a prophet of God in Israel.”
So Naaman got in his chariot and rode to the prophet’s house. He and his servants stopped outside Elisha's door. But instead of opening the door and welcoming the commander into his home, Elisha sent his servant Gehazi outside with this message: “Go down to the Jordan River and wash seven times. Then your leprosy will be cured.”
Naaman was not happy. He was upset that Elisha had not come out personally to cure him. “Besides, there are much nicer rivers in Syria,” he complained. “If washing would cure me, I could have washed in one of them!” He turned and left in a rage.
Naaman’s servants rushed after him and insisted, “If the prophet had told you to do something hard, you would have done it. But he asked you to do something easy. Why don’t you at least give it a try?”
Naaman finally agreed and went down to the Jordan River. He dipped in it seven times. As he came out of the water for the seventh time, he noticed that his skin was completely healed! It had become like the skin of a young boy!
Naaman, along with all his attendants, returned to the man of God. He stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except the One in Israel!”
A very influential, very sick man was cured because a little servant girl was willing to forgive him for the terrible “wrongs” he had committed against her and her family!
How do you treat the people who hurt you? Are you willing to share God’s love with them?
God wants us to share His love with even the most unloveable people in our lives.
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