Naaman was a Roman citizen and a commander in the kings army. He was a valiant soldier and a great man. But with a problem, he had contracted leprosy, which in that day was incurable and contagious. This meant physically nobody could get near him, shake his hand, pat him on the back, or shoulder. He would have to sleep and eat outside the camp, apart from his men, have his own bowl utensils etc.
Being a high ranking officer He would have been a wealthy man and we can presume he had consulted all the local physicians and Gooroos of Aram where he lived and worked. Also, I believe he must have been absolutely desperate to have taken and acted on the advice of a young Jewish servant girl who was his wife’s maid.
Isn't it interesting how God puts us in the right place at the right time. God permitted this young Jewish girl (whose name isn't even recorded in scripture) to be kidnapped or removed from her family for just this purpose, so that He could use her and give her the opportunity and privilege to be His instrument to bring about a great miracle for this man who was willing to go to such lengths and do anything to be made clean. I wonder, if we truly realised how unclean and “desperately wicked” our hearts are, what we would be prepared to do to be made clean, isn't God good to keep such things from us? So that we might recognise our own sinfulness and come to Him on our own volition.
I have to think here, how this child must have felt having to be a slave in a Roman home, away from her friends and family. Perhaps, being kidnapped, never to see her parents and siblings again. From the story we can gather, Her faith held her up; she still remembered the “Holy Man” (The Prophet Elisha who lived in the area) and also she still heard and obeyed God's voice telling her to speak to her mistress.
I wonder if she like Esther “Was born for such a time as this.”
I believe we are all born for a special purpose, we should ask God to show us what it is and be alert, prepared and ready to answer the call.
For each of us there is a “Time such as this” Yours or my obedience to God can change history.
Now to get on with what God is telling us here; When the king of Aram (Naaman's boss) was told of the Prophet Elisha, he encouraged Naaman to go to him, giving Naaman silver, gold and 10 sets of clothes and a letter stating his business. When the king of Israel read the letter, He immediately thought that the king of Aram was picking a fight with him. Perhaps sending men out to spy out the land. He did not understand that God was at work here; (When we are suddenly confronted with the unusual we often get suspicious, maybe we should take a few minutes to check with the Lord to see if He is doing something special for us or someone else. “Take every thought captive” (think about it). When the prophet heard and sent for Naaman, things started to become clear.
We all know the story of Naaman's pride, how he was insulted because Elisha didn't come out to meet him, but sent his servant Gehazi with a message for Naaman to go and bathe in the Jordan river seven times. Not being prepared to accept the word of the Prophet, regarding the river saying, “What's wrong with our rivers, aren't they good enough.” There's a point here, for us to consider, sometimes when we ask God to help us out and He shows us the way, we often try to short-circuit or improve on His answer, or put our own spin on it, thinking He doesn't quite understand, or “That’s a good Idea, but, I’ll just do the same thing my way,” That's pride! We need to beware of it.
Eventually after his soldiers had spoken to Naaman, the healing did happen. Not only was he healed of leprosy, but God had healed his heart too and Naaman said, “From now on I will serve only the God of Israel” No sooner had he said this when he realised He now had another problem. Often when God shows us how to deal with problems, Satan very quickly presents us with a reason why God’s solution wont work, Naaman knew he could no longer keep bending his knee to other gods, but because his boss the king needed help when attending the Roman temple to pray and bend his knee to Rimmon (the Roman god) Naaman being his right-hand man had to be there with him and would be expected to do likewise, so, he asked Elisha's advice, on this matter, but... the Prophet knew his limitations and wasn’t going to play God, so he said “Go in peace” He was a Prophet, not a judge, and without God's say so He wasn't prepared to be one (wise man).
He knew that if God did the healing, He'd tend the details. We have to let God be God, and remember “We are the clay and He is the Potter.”
With gratitude for his healing, Naaman pressed Elisha to accept the gifts from his King but Elisha refused. It's important for us to remember we are servants of the most High God, blessed to be vessels of His, for Him to use, not the other way around.
We cannot use God, or take Him for granted. The gifts we have belong primarily to God, the Holy Spirit and are to be used to glorify Jesus and nobody else. When we use the gifts we must not expect or accept payment for them. Think about Paul when a Magician wanted to buy his gift off him, he was given a short, sharp shift. Why? Because God says (Freely you have received, freely give).
Now to complete our story... - Gehazi Elisha's servant was upset about his boss not accepting the silver, gold, clothes etc, from Naaman, and could not control his greed (sin had taken hold) and Scripture says “he ran” to succumb to the temptation. That was his 1st sin, when we decide on one indiscretion we make a runway for many others to follow. Sin 2, next he lied to Naaman saying there were two men that really needed some money and clothes. Not true. Gehazi’s number 3 sin, was to make sure he wouldn't be found out so he hid his loot before going back to Elisha (we always try to cover up when we know we've done wrong). When Elisha asked him where he had been, he lied again, (4th one) he should have known better, after all he worked for a Prophet. This was his opportunity to come clean but like Judas when Jesus met him in the garden and said “Do you betray the Son of man with a kiss” he too let his final opportunity pass. Then came Gehazi's time of consequence.
Elisha said “Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and your descendants forever.” that's not just a one off, Sin always has a consequence and that consequence can often effect not only ourselves but our families. Think of drunkenness, gluttony, pornography, bad language, etc. Most times inherited.
In lying to Elisha, Gehazi was lying to God, this is a very serious matter, we can't say things like;--- “He will understand,” NO, He's God, He doesn't understand or accept being lied to. Or, “it's only a white lie,” there's no such thing for a Christian! Or “I didn't mean to”. Then why do we do it?
Think of Ananias and Sapphira.
The final lesson I get out of this story is;--- we don't know how or when judgement will come on us, or how many chances we'll get to come clean, Gehazi had four chances, Ananias and his wife only one. But judgement did and will come, and in both cases it was instantaneous.
Most of us have been Christians long enough to know God's expectations. I believe the time for bottle-feeding and nappy changing is over. We must read the signs, the end is getting nearer. It really is time for us to stand out in the crowd and be seen to be what we profess to be. The chosen Sons and Daughters of Almighty God, ready to fight for the Kingdom.
Thank you for Reading this
God bless you all
Phaline ----------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment