Thursday, June 25, 2026

Naaman the Cleansed - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

This post is a chapter from the book, Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ, which is the book version of multiple sermons preached from 2022 to 2025. Since this book was meant to bless the church I am also making it available on this blog.

Naaman the Cleansed

We’ve already said a lot about Naaman, all of which can be summed up that he was as great as the world could make him but the basest slave in Syria would not change places with him. We’ve seen that he is in great need, and that he’s a great man and he knows it. He has desperately been seeking a cure from leprosy, but heretofore there is no indication that he has sought salvation or a reprieve from sin or to know the living God.

Seven instruments in the hand of God have gotten him to where he is now. A slave girl, his wife, his king, the King of Israel, Elisha, Elisha’s servant, and his servants. Yet he is still without hope and without God in the world, but he has received a great promise from heaven. Naaman could have cut himself off from hope at this exact moment. He could have hardened his heart and refused. He could have gone away sad (Mark 10:22). But in a beautiful act of submission he obeyed this gospel, the gospel that God is near to the brokenhearted and saves us when we believe on him.

So, to the Jordan we go. Muddy, murky, slow. Nothing medicinally appealing. No waterfalls. No grandeur. Just a promise of cleansing.

Just a promise of cleansing!

Into the water Naaman goes, and he dunked once…and nothing. Still as leprous as ever. No sign of improvement, no feeling of hope, no lights nor doves from heaven. The temptation to give up must have been intense.

Naaman has surely been duped, made a fool of, misled, humiliated. After all, leprosy is irredeemable and Naaman is doomed. How could he have been so foolish to believe? Surely Satan screams in his ear that this is all foolish. I imagine the temptation to stomp out of that river must have increased with every dunk. The prize is not for the one who starts the race, but to the one who wins the race. So despite all of the doubts, Naaman continued to trust God and the promise.

He dunked again, and no result. A third time, nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing.

Seven Steps to Cleansing

God is working in the repeated dunks. It’s not that God needed seven steps to cleanse leprosy, it’s that God was working in Naaman’s heart.

S. M. Lockridge, preaching on Naaman, drew a line to salvation that is seven steps long. I’ve bolded his words, the rest is my commentary:

The first dunk is a willingness to consider that Christ is king and is mighty to save; not believing it yet, but at least considering.

The second dunk is humility, recognizing that you cannot save yourself, and you need a better savior than what you can do for yourself.

The third dunk is belief, realizing that Jesus is who he says he is, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the suffering servant, the one who died but yet lives, the one who is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to him in faith.

The fourth dunk is faith, believing that Jesus is who he says he is and his great friendship and healing can be applied to your life, if you’ll only place your hope in him.

The fifth dunk is trust, not just believing in Jesus or hoping in him, but relying on him. When we are weak, then God’s power is displayed in us as his grace is sufficient; trust is declaring, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me… For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

The sixth dunk is repentance, turning from trusting in yourself to trusting in God. We’ll see in a few pages that Naaman will renounce his false god to worship the Living God. Naaman has already turned from his anger to humble himself in the Jordan River. It’s not enough to turn from sin, we must turn towards the Saviour who is able to make us clean.

The seventh dunk is obedience. Consider this: Naaman could have gone home to Syria without ever visiting the Jordan river all the while loudly declaring, “If I’ll just go dunk seven times in the Jordan I’ll be healed!” No matter how ecstatic he was, no matter how much he believed the promise, it still had to be acted upon.

It has been said that it is possible to miss heaven by twelve inches.[1] Naaman could have believed God’s promises, but the transformation occurred not when Naaman believed it was possible, but when he submitted himself wholly to the Lord.

Beloved, take a moment to reenact Naaman’s dunking seven times. I’m sure you’ll be shocked at how long and embarrassing it feels. There is nothing exalting in this act, it feels repetitive, and after six times it feels futile, like it’s an absolute farce. I’m sure the first dunk was the hardest, but after the first, I’d bet the seventh felt like he was just wasting his time.

Full Atonement, Can it Be?

But he was not wasting his time. Naaman came out of that water as good as new. His leprosy was washed away and his skin was like a baby’s.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

Lew Wallace in his masterful work, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, does an excruciating and lengthy look at the horrors of leprosy and how it isolates people from their friends and family and robs them of hope. Near the end of the book (spoiler alert), a dear friend–named Amrah–of one leprous woman[2] learns that Christ is actively healing lepers. Up to this point they have spoken at great distances and Amrah, who is healthy, has delivered food that is keeping this hopeless woman alive.

Upon learning of Christ, Amrah rushes in rapturous excitement to her leprous friend and embraces her with true love and affection; surely a death sentence if Christ were not in the story. She urgently explains the hope that has been born within her, Christ in her the hope of glory, a man who can heal lepers!

Together they rush off to find him. They learn that he has left Bethany and is on his way to Jerusalem. Wallace, in expert writing, introduces us to the fact that there are two main roadways from Bethany to Jerusalem, so in desperation, walking by faith and not by sight, they choose a path. By providence or their good fortune, they encounter first a disciple, then a throng which turned violent at them because leprosy was still a fearful ailment. But then, over the rise, Jesus of Nazareth appears. As he promises healing, she believes. For a few moments nothing happens but joy and expectation.

As the healing of the woman (and her daughter) commences, Wallace takes poetic license to describe the event; this may be accurate, or the actual healing of lepers may be much better, but regardless it brought tears to my eyes at my first reading and even now in writing this. O soul, meditate on the newfound hope and life that was poured out on that (fictional) day, then consider how many actual souls have been healed of leprosy and far worse,

There was first in the hearts of the lepers a freshening of the blood; then it flowed faster and stronger, thrilling their wasted bodies with an infinitely sweet sense of painless healing. Each felt the scourge going from her; their strength revived; they were returning to be themselves. Directly, as if to make the purification complete, from body to spirit the quickening ran, exalting them to a very fervor of ecstasy. The power possessing them to this good end was most nearly that of a draught of swift and happy effect; yet it was unlike and superior in that its healing and cleansing were absolute, and not merely a delicious consciousness while in progress, but the planting, growing, and maturing all at once of a recollection so singular and so holy that the simple thought of it should be of itself ever after a formless yet perfect thanksgiving.

And so Naaman emerged from his seventh dip. A new man, cleansed outwardly but much more importantly inwardly. And how do we know? Because of how he responded.

The Free Gift of God is Eternal Life

Naaman got what he was looking for. And more. Truly God is able to do more abundantly than we can ask or imagine. At this point Naaman could have just gone home; after all, his leprosy was gone. But he chooses to visit Elisha. And this time Elisha meets with him face to face. No cost was required and no payment was set, but out of an abundance of gratitude in his heart Naaman is ready to pay for his newfound salvation.

When Elisha refuses, Naaman insists, proving the proverb, “Buy truth, and do not sell it…” (Proverbs 23:23), and showing that knowing God and finding the treasure of Christ is worth giving up all that you own. Beloved, learn from these men, that to know Christ and to know him better is worth all of your earthly wealth, and all that you have obtained should be freely given to enrich others with the soul saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. After all, isn’t his Bible written to make you wise for salvation in Christ Jesus? We’ll speak more about the payment for salvation when we delve into the tragic tale of Gehazi.

Remember the Deeds of the Lord

Naaman, seeing that he cannot buy salvation, asks for two muleloads of Israelite soil. First let’s state that this dirt is utterly worthless, especially only two muleloads, so it wasn’t for monetary reasons. Scholars are mixed on what this dirt means, so I’m going to confidently assert my beliefs. Naaman had to travel to Israel to find a cure and declared, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel!” (2 Kings 5:15). In so doing he did not yet have a firm grasp that the Lord is the God of all creation; in some way he must have equated that God lived and was constrained to Israel. I surely hope that he had a conversation with that little servant girl when he got home and she declared that God had been with her in Syria just as God had been with him in Israel. But, in bringing home that dirt he was bringing a sort of ebenezer as a reminder that he was not just healed, he was healed by the only God in all the earth.

What did he do with it? Matthew Henry thinks he built an altar, others think he made a garden to watch grow with his faith. Whatever he did with it, dear reader, you know that your God is in the heavens, he does whatever he pleases, and he has given you a load of heaven to keep in your life.

Here we have no lasting city, we seek the city that is to come. This is why David could say, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). Our prayer and our lives should be all about, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). For truly a time has come where we don’t have to travel to Jerusalem or Samaria to worship God, for we worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21–24).

Eternal Life is Knowing God

But Naaman had a conundrum, he was going home to his king who was still actively worshipping a false god named Rimmon. Naaman already knew that he himself would never again sacrifice to any God but the Lord, but he also knew he had a job to do in supporting his master.

He begged forgiveness from Elisha for this act and Elisha granted it to him. This is a hard part of the story because only a few centuries later Israelites in Babylon would be persecuted for refusing to bow to the idols erected in that land. And later still Christians throughout the Roman Empire would face the test of offering incense to Caesar.

The temptation is to say, “Bow, because you can pray to the true God in front of a pagan statue,” and “It’s just incense: when you offer it, just don’t believe Caesar is Lord.” But in both cases that great cloud of witnesses would not submit, and many lost their lives while gaining eternity.

So, while I whole-heartedly believe that Naaman is worshipping the Lord in heaven, I believe this section of scripture is descriptive rather than prescriptive.

If you’re forced into a pagan temple, know that even there you can find mercy and grace if you seek the Lord, but beloved, I don’t think we should ever go there willingly except for reasons of evangelism, and I would never encourage feigning false worship, even if you’re worshipping the true God in your heart. When antichrist is revealed and the mark of the beast becomes a test of faith, the Christian should adamantly oppose this pretender who sets himself up against every god and object of worship (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4), no matter what it costs (Revelation 13:10).

When speaking on Daniel praying in open defiance to the edict of King Darius, when he could have easily closed the windows or hidden his prayers (Daniel 6:10), Matthew Henry said, “In trying times we must take heed, lest, under pretense of discretion, we are guilty of cowardice in the cause of God.” Charles Spurgeon, a great admirer of Matthew Henry, added, “With such a royal courage did [Daniel] lift his heart above the fear of man, and raise his conscience above the suspicion of compromise.”

But beloved, Elisha and Naaman seem to disagree, so test your conscience to serve God in the inward places. My prayer is that your convictions and affections will be plain to see by anyone who observes you, but whatever you settle on, go in peace.

What became of Naaman’s worshipping in the temple of Rimmon? Did his conscience ever get seared so he forgot the Lord or did his conscience get the better of him so that he openly worshipped God? We’ll have to ask in heaven, but beloved, what is that to you? You follow Christ.

Naaman’s Legacy

We’re not done with Naaman yet, there is a legacy to explore. Just a few weeks after this story, the Syrians sent a raiding party into Israel (2 Kings 6), and Elisha saw the whole host of the armies of heaven ready to destroy the Syrian band. Instead of destruction, the Syrians received mercy when they were struck blind and led into Samaria.

King Jehoram panicked and asked Elisha if he should execute these prisoners of war! Instead of violence, Elisha commanded a great show of grace: instead of death the captured army was treated to a feast. They were then released to return to Syria. Perhaps in some way Jehoram remembered when he was about to perish in the wilderness and God spared him. Is that why he spared the Syrians?

I wish I could say that after the feast and Naaman’s healing there were no more hostilities between Syria and Israel, but that’s not how it happened. But something did start to happen. First, when Ben-Hadad was sick he was glad to see Elisha visit him; surely there had to have been some connection.

And later, while we can’t say for sure because Syria and Assyria had a complicated history (they are not one and the same, but there is some intermingling), so I can’t help but wonder if Jonah’s revival in Nineveh some hundred years later wasn’t in some way predicated by hearing of God’s power and mercy towards Israel’s enemies. Nearly a millennia later the early church found a great foothold in Damascus and Antioch; how many hearts were prepared by hearing of God’s power towards Syrians who seemingly should have no part nor lot with the God of Syria’s enemy? How many early Christians were baptized in Abana and Pharpar?

As a Baptist I love baptism, but not to the point that I think a baptism in the Jordan is more holy or valuable than a water trough baptism; but beloved, if I had the choice, I would have loved to have been baptized in Abana…or maybe a Siberian lake…or maybe the Ganges…or maybe the Limmat…or maybe the Chattahoochee…On second thought, every baptism is special in declaring Christ’s ability to save!

Baptism does not wash away sin. If you get baptized without saving faith in Jesus Christ, you just go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner. Salvation is not by the water of the baptistry; salvation is by the blood of Jesus Christ. ~ Adrian Rogers

Each believer’s baptism declares the story of Christ’s power to save. It’s not about the water! It’s about the Christ who writes his love on human hearts washed in his blood. Every one of those stories includes other instruments that God used to save souls and publish his peace to the world.

While we don’t know exactly how Naaman prepared Syria to follow Christ, I have little doubt that his redemption played a major part in many testimonies of salvation. If by some profound twist of fate he had no impact on Syria, I know that Christians throughout the last two millennia have been deeply impacted by his story. Our goal is not to be remembered, but to ensure that Christ is known.

In AD 1707 a pastor named Richard Davis said to a young man of nine,

If you know Christ well, it is no matter though you are ignorant of many other things; if you are ignorant of Christ other knowledge will avail but little.

The memory of Richard Davis has been almost completely lost to history, but that young man, John Gill, never forgot that advice.

He went on to become one of the most prolific Baptist authors in history who discipled James Hervey, Augustus Toplady, John Rippon, William Carey, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, JC Philpot, and Charles Spurgeon, among innumerable others, including myself.

Likewise, Charles Spurgeon was converted by an unnamed preacher during a blizzard when the regular pastor was snowed out.

Augustine’s mother Monica prayed for him continuously, especially in the years he had outright rejected Christ; she was overjoyed when he repented of his sins and put his trust in Christ. While we know relatively little about her, we know that Augustine is still shaping the world today through his writings and example. We would not have his legacy without Monica.

Go thy ways and God bless thee, for it is not possible that the son of these tears should perish. ~ Ambrose to Monica

Max Lucado points out that the thief on the cross probably knew that Jesus was the claimed Messiah because of the simple sign that Pontius Pilate had ordered to be nailed over his head, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38–43). Beloved, you never know what God will do if you plant a seed in someone’s heart, tell them the story, or proclaim the excellencies of Christ; it very well may bring forth fruit a hundredfold.

I don’t know what God did with Naaman’s conversion afterwards, but I’m sure it was something powerful, and I’m excited to hear all about it in heaven, and I’m excited to hear your story as well!

[1] The average distance between the head and the heart.

[2] In the book she is never named, in the movie her name is Miriam.

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Naaman's Servants - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

Naaman’s Servants

How long does it take to become a prophet? Do you have to finish a four-year bachelor’s degree and a three-year seminary degree?

Consider the man born blind, he had known about Jesus for maybe six hours and already he’s declaring to the Pharisees, “Jesus is a prophet” (John 9:17), “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25), and he ends by giving an invitation, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” (John 9:27); in the end he’s cast out of their sight.

A prophet in six hours or less.

Love Confronts and Wounds

Naaman’s servants are going to do him one better. Naaman responds as you’d expect to Elisha’s messenger: with anger. The Authorized Version says he was wroth. The ESV says he was angry. We see him storm away in a rage. He was sure that some great miracle would occur and his leprosy would be gone in an instant. After all, hadn’t he done everything right? He’d come with a great treasure, he’d obeyed Elisha to come to him, he had Earned this. Think on that for a long hard moment.

Naaman had not yet relied on grace, humility, or mercy; he was still walking firmly in his own power. He wanted a grand show, some sort of magic trick, with Elisha waving his hand over him and declaring him to be clean. God does not share his glory, and a lot of glory sharing would have taken place if Elisha or Naaman could have earned his favor.

Further, Naaman was furious that he is called to wash in that nasty, old, silty, murky, slow Jordan river. Weren’t there better rivers in Syria? War torn today, it was not always so; the Abana and the Pharpar were beautiful destination spots with clear water and surging waterfalls. King David mentions the mountain range that Abana and Pharpar flow from and compares it to the beauty of Christian unity (Psalm 133:1–3). The Sons of Korah mention the roaring waterfalls of those mountains (Psalm 42:6–7).

If you could earn your salvation by visiting a river, then to stand under the cascades of the Abana would have been the surest way to do it.

William Carey, missionary to Serampore India, spent seven years before seeing his first Indian, Krishna Pal, come to Christ. When he baptized Krishna Pal in the Hooghly River an orderly mob of Hindus, Muslims, and tribalists observed the proceedings. Some in attendance believed they finally understood Christianity, “They worship the river, just like we do!”

The power is not in the river. The Abana, the Pharpar, the Hooghly, the Ganges, and the Jordan are just flowing collection points for rain and snowmelt. The power has always been in the God who is able to wash whiter than snow. We don’t ask, “Are you washed in the Jordan?” or “Are you washed in the Hoogly?” We ask, “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Enter Naaman’s servants. They are in a much more powerful position than you may realize. As advisors to Naaman they are well versed in his power and personality. They expected some grand miracle as much as he, and we would not fault them at all if they felt indignation in seeing their master slighted. They may well have asked, “What sign do you do, that we may see and believe? What work do you perform?” (compare John 6:30).

They could have responded to Naaman with something like, “You’re right! That so-called prophet doesn’t know who he’s dealing with! He couldn’t even come to the door?! Let’s go kick it in and drag him out into the street and execute him!”

The story would have ended there: Elisha dead, Naaman forever a leper and the Lord of Life still alien to him and his servants. That’s not farfetched, look at 1 Chronicles 19:1–19 (specifically verse 3) and see a set of servants who led their king into a war that cost thousands of lives. While it’s not stated, it probably cost each of those individual rebels their lives and eternities.

There are a lot of great “but” statements in the Bible, so don’t miss this one, “But his servants came near” (2 Kings 5:13). There is no indication that they were in any danger, but we have to always consider that a person driven to their wits end may lash out in unexpected ways. I appreciate these servant’s willingness to pursue their master in his anger and distress; it shows a lot of courage.

Maybe they went after him out of concern for his wellbeing, not wanting him to exacerbate his leprosy with stress as there are not many illnesses that can’t be made worse by stress or worry.

Maybe they were just on a mission for his health and happiness for their own sakes. In drug and alcohol ministry we find that many people resonate with the statement,

Outside of Christianity people only want something from you, or you’re in the way of what they want.

It could be argued that these servants only wanted Naaman healed to preserve their position and guarantee their future employment. There isn’t much job security in being a general’s assistant if the general dies. Have you ever served someone just for what you can get out of them?

The eternal state of many has been transformed when they realize the second part of the statement,

Outside of Christianity people only want something from you, or you’re in the way of what they want. Inside of Christianity people aren’t looking to be served, but to serve, and to love you because Christ loves you.

I don’t think Naaman’s servants were looking to be served either, I think they’ve been transformed by the message before Naaman; they don’t just go after him, they are about to speak further truth into his life, for, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6).

They weren’t looking to flatter Naaman by encouraging him in his anger, they confront him in his sinful response. Consider that if Naaman was angry before, they could very well have been setting him up to fly into a violent rage. But love hopes and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), so they knew what they had to do.

Exhort One Another

I don’t think it’s just incidental that there is more than one servant. There is great wisdom in Jesus sending out his disciples two-by-two.

There is accountability, companionship, and most importantly in this case, encouragement. I remember open-air preaching with a dear brother in Atlanta. As it was my turn I froze and couldn’t get the first word out. My beloved friend called from behind me, “Don’t you care that these people are perishing?” That was all I need to open my mouth, “I am here to speak to you about your souls!” On another occasion I had the opportunity to encourage that same brother with a Keith Green quote, “Do you see, do you see? All these people sinking down! Don’t you care, don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown?”

A faithful friend in ministry is worth his weight in gold. Do you have anyone in your life that you can pray for like Paul prayed for Philemon, “I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 7). It doesn’t tell us which servant spoke, maybe they spoke together, or maybe one was just there just to encourage the other. But spoke they did.

Put the Bible to Work

How many Bible verses do you have memorized verbatim? How many do you know the gist of? How many Bible verses do you need to know to be effective in ministry? Naaman’s servants knew one Bible verse, indeed we may say that their entire Bible at this moment was one verse long.

And they quoted it with power, “Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13, quoting 2 Kings 5:10)! They appealed to his pride, that if some great thing had been commanded, something that would have lifted him up and earned him his cleansing, he would have done it in a heartbeat. But I think these servants had begun to see that God opposes the proud while exalting the humble. When I shepherded Middle Schoolers (11–13 years old), I loved to explain grace this way,

When we get to heaven and someone, maybe an angel, comes up to us and asks, ‘how did you get in here?’, if your inclination is to bow-up and declare that you’re here because you’re awesome, or faithful, or any such thing, then you’ve missed the point. But the real answer to that question is to humbly answer, ‘I shouldn’t be here, but for the love of my Saviour who loved me and sought me and bought me and to him belongs all of the honor, power, and glory!’

Imagine the story Naaman could have boasted in if he had done some great thing to earn his cleansing? He would have been exceedingly proud, cleansed of leprosy, and devoid of hope.

Psalm 147:6 would not be nullified just because Naaman was no longer leprous, “The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” Naaman would have been in more trouble had he grounds of boasting; he needed humility and his servants helped to get him there.

These faithful and loving servants confronted him and pointed him towards humility, recognizing that the greatness of the promise came from God, not from Naaman.

May we all have such friends in our lives who will stand between us and destruction.

Are you that friend? How can your words be used to save a soul?

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Elisha's Servant - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

Elisha’s Servant

Let’s talk more about this unnamed prophet. Many of my favorite characters in the Bible are unnamed. There is a man born blind, a little boy who shared a small lunch, a thief on a cross, a woman caught in adultery…there are many more, but you get the point: to be anonymous does not mean you are unfaithful. Heaven knows who they are, and if no one else knows who this prophet is, Naaman certainly does.

Christianity in the last century has somehow morphed into a spotlight of celebrity pastors and musicians. Conferences have predictable casts, libraries are dominated by names everyone recognizes. Disciples aren’t called by their preacher’s name very often anymore, but they still love the cliques.

Despite this celebrity culture, God still loves to use the unknown and unnamed preachers known but to God. As Charles Spurgeon’s grandfather said,

Here comes my grandson! He may preach the gospel better than I can, but he cannot preach a better gospel; can you, Charles?

Dear reader, whether you are world renowned or hardly known, know that God knows your name and your ministry. Consider the most famous faithful preacher you know, and consider that you both have the same promises from God, one of which says, “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

The world needs Jesus, and you have the words of eternal life. A few weeks before writing this chapter I found myself approaching a group who were in the middle of a drug deal. It was after a parade and I was excited to share Christ with everyone I could find since I had been bolstered by some wonderful conversations earlier in the day. I didn’t realize that it was a drug deal until I was greeting the group, and they were obviously incredulous that I would interrupt. Fortunately, it turned out to be a good discussion, and afterwards I thanked God for the opportunity to share Christ with them. I’d be shocked if they know my name, but my goal is not my fame, it’s Christ’s.

A Faithful Delivery

As the prophet answers the door, he simply and concisely delivers the message. It’s short, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean” (2 Kings 5:10). I say prophet because a prophet is anyone who speaks for God. A true prophet will accurately deliver the message, a false prophet will either fabricate the message or modify it. Our prophet delivers this faithfully simple, yet exceedingly humbling, message.

It requires Naaman to obey a servant, rather than a recognized prophet, rather than God. It calls him to humble himself by dipping himself in a foreign river before a foreign God. It requires him to believe a one sentence promise that he has traveled over a hundred miles to hear. If you put yourself in Naaman’s shoes (or skin), it’s quite unbelievable.

Here our prophet might have a temptation to expound upon the message. He could have explained the cleansing principles of running water (Leviticus 15:13), he could have waxed eloquent and told of all of the miracles that Elisha had been performing, he could have made additional promises to Naaman, and he could have just kept talking and talking. He could have proved the proverb, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking,” but he chose the second half, “but whoever restrains his lips is prudent!” (Proverbs 10:19). He faithfully delivered the one-line promise.

Consider Jonah who likewise preached a one-line sermonette. He was sent to call out against Nineveh, and call out against Nineveh he did. Arguably it’s the worst sermon in the Bible, meant to only appease God and to do nothing for the condemned Ninevites. Jonah didn’t mention God, he didn’t mention repentance, it’s a hopeless message because he only delivered the bare minimum.

And still, God brought about the single largest revival ever recorded from any sermon. If we’re honest we’d say that sermon was hardly a faithfully delivered message. But God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. What will he do with you if you seek to faithfully exposit his Word to the world?

Offend the Audience

The Bible tells us in multiple places that we are ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador’s faithfulness is not measured by the response of the audience. The ambassador’s faithfulness is measured by his accuracy to the king’s message. Our prophet made Naaman mad, but his job was not to make Naaman happy, it was to be an ambassador for Elisha. George Whitefield would remind us, “It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher.”

I once had a friend who sought to preach expositionaly through the book of Romans to a fledgling church. I asked him later how it went and he said that once he got to chapter nine, he decided to preach on something else, because his church was not ready to hear it. How could they not be ready after hearing the previous eight chapters? More so, I met his church once at a potluck and truly they were not mature in Christ, and a few short months later my friend was caught in a scandal that cost him his church and his family, and at the time of this writing he’s working full-time at a grocery store. Unfortunately, the conclusion was that his sermons were meant to tickle ears, not to change lives. The audience may have said amen, but they were not changed, and God was not impressed.

The next time you preach and come across something that is sure to offend, let it offend. God heals up wounds which he himself opens (Isaiah 30:26). A surgeon uses a very sharp scalpel to inflict a very serious wound in order to access and repair an even more serious malady. So must we trust what God says of his Word, “it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). The life you save may be your own (1 Timothy 4:16).

The best way to keep God’s Word from accomplishing its purposes is to not preach it! I sat through the worst sermon I have ever heard, either before or since; the text was Romans 10:17, that “faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.” How could you mess that up? Somehow the preacher ended up speaking for thirty-five minutes not on the passage, but on how God is appearing to Muslims in dreams and leading them to Christ. He didn’t say it quite this clearly, but the entire message could be summed up with one sentence: “We don’t need to evangelize Muslims, God is doing it for us.”

Afterwards one of my young disciples–who had sat through the same sermon–looked at me and asked what I thought. Zeal got ahold of me and we went to meet the preacher, I intended to be tactful, but what I ended up saying was, “You’d do better to just start reading at Romans 1:1 and read for thirty-five minutes, then pray and sit down.”

There is a real temptation in preaching to say things we want to say which are not the things that the king wants us to say. Beloved, when you say things the king didn’t intend for you to say, you risk losing your status as ambassador. In some countries you could be executed for committing treason. God has had false prophets stoned and others roasted in the fire. Judgment starts at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).

Consider the next time you seek to expound on an idea, seek to help people to understand, and to give the sense (Nehemiah 8:7–8), that your goal is for your king to say amen, regardless of what the audience thinks. We want them to understand, yes, but they don’t have to like it.

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:17

Our prophet could have ended this story right here, all he needed to do was refuse to deliver the message, or he could have changed it in the distance between Elisha and Naaman, or he could have hidden it in his own words, or he could have seen the fortune that Naaman had brought and said, “Give me some of that and I’ll wave my hand over the leper and you’ll be healed!” or “This message comes with a price.”

But he didn’t, he faithfully delivered the message, and hence the story continues.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Elisha - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

Elisha

And now we meet the hero of this story. Or do we? Elisha was in the same precarious position as Jehoram. He was not God either, and in himself he had no power to kill or make alive. But beloved, there had to be that temptation in his life, to think that he had achieved some sort of power. After all, he was well on his way to performing twice as many miracles as Elijah, and to this day, other than Jesus, he holds the record for number of miracles performed in a single lifetime.

Jump forward to Acts 19:13–18 and meet the seven sons of Sceva who thought the name of Jesus was a good-luck charm that gave them power over demons. Severely trounced and deprived of their clothing they learned that they had no power in themselves to do anything.

Elisha knew that the power was not in himself as the servant of God, else he might end up with a savior complex, thinking himself to be far more important or useful than he was. This temptation is alive and well in our day. Have you ever thought that you were the catalyst for church growth or the only one who could lead a ministry to success or lead someone to Christ? Jesus told us that if we don’t speak, the rocks would cry out. Consider the next time you’re tempted to think you’re somebody; you could be out-preached by a rock.

Beloved, I actively try to live my life in such a way as to never be out-preached by a rock; I pray that God allows me to open my mouth to proclaim his excellency boldly and often. But God does not need it to be so, he does not need me, and he does not need you. There is no rhetorical lilt, no specific formula, not a single sinner’s prayer that can save sinners from their sin. Our hope is in Jesus, mighty to save, and this is why we endeavor to know nothing except Christ and him crucified, to pray that we will decrease so that he may increase. Elisha knew this fact well and sets himself up wonderfully to remind us who the true hero in this story is.

Faithful in the Small Things

When we meet Elisha in this story he’s running a prophet’s school. Today we’d call it a seminary, a place where the seeds of faith can grow. There is great value in making disciples and training them to obey everything that the Lord has commanded. Just as Elijah had discipled Elisha, so does Elisha always have a servant or servants with him.

He is not sitting around waiting for miracle seekers to knock on his door; he is busy doing the Lord’s work, always ministering, always preaching. Long before Jesus said it, he was trying to prove it, “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing (serving) when he comes” (Matthew 24:46).

Know the Needs of the Nation

As Elisha is working, he has his ear to the pulse of the nation. He hears that King Jehoram has torn his clothes and is in despair at what is perceived as an imminent war with Syria. Here is a bit of literary license, bear with me: I don’t believe Elisha had any idea what God was going to do, only that God was going to do something. Elisha was walking by faith at this point, knowing that if God had called a Syrian general to seek the blessings of the one true God, that God would not refuse him.

In drug and alcohol ministry we love lots of verses, but probably none so much as these two:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ~ John 6:37

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost[1] those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

~ Hebrews 7:25

Elisha wouldn’t have known those verses verbatim, but he knew the sentiment and he knew who God was. So, he called to have Naaman sent to him, knowing that God would in no wise cast him out.

Faithfulness without Fanfare

Naaman shows up and Elisha shows us that his spiritual gift is not hospitality. He doesn’t fling open the doors, there is no red carpet, he doesn’t have a meal prepared, it seems exactly the wrong way to greet a general, whether friend or foe. It’s not that he didn’t know how, he was sending a message; a few weeks later in Samaria he does throw a feast for a different set of enemies.

But right now, Naaman is standing outside the door of Elisha’s house. Later we’ll see his anger, but I wonder if it didn’t start as he stewed on the step of what was supposed to be his salvation. This was all by design, Elisha knew full well that God is no respecter of persons: he doesn’t regard the general as any more important than the servant’s son, he doesn’t love the Israelite more than the Syrian, the healthy is in just as much need of God’s grace and healing as is the sick. Remember, we have all fallen short of the glory of God, or as S. M. Lockridge would say, “Naaman – He was a leper, every individual without Christ is a leper.”

So Naaman waits, what if no one had answered the door? What if Elisha had decided, “God’s promises and blessings belong only to Israel.” Or “I am come only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Or “Naaman’s sins have come up before him and it is too late. I’m not going to waste my time.”

These were all real possibilities. The story could have ended here.

Entrust Others with the Truth

But Naaman waits…until someone does answer the door. But it’s not Elisha; it’s one of his servants. Elisha doesn’t abandon Naaman, but he doesn’t want him thinking that the power is in the prophet.

There is a foreshadowing of the New Testament church in this story. Jesus told us, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). Elisha uses this opportunity as a teaching moment for this young man; he makes him an apostle (a sent one) to deliver a message to a lost and dying man. Reader, when was the last time you sent someone to deliver the lifesaving message of Jesus? I hope it was recently, but if it wasn’t, I hope that it will be soon.

Elisha is a pivotal part of this story, but no more than the others we have looked at. He seems central, but we’re going to see that there is someone far more central. We’ll leave Elisha for a moment, but we’ll explore the rest of his part in this story in subsequent chapters.

[1] In drug and alcohol addiction ministry it resonates to say “He saves to the guttermost.”

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The King of Israel - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

The King of Israel

Jehoram, the king of Israel,[1] is utterly unfamiliar with the workings of God in his kingdom. Perhaps this could be forgiven him if he and his army hadn’t just been saved from dying of dehydration in the wilderness of Edom by the intercession of Elisha the prophet. As though a massive spring of water in the desert weren’t easy enough for God, he went further to save Jehoram, his army, and his allies from the hand of the Moabites. Which is more difficult? To save a man from leprosy or an army out of the hand of the enemy into whom the Lord has given them?

They are both impossible, but with God nothing is impossible! Jehoram, despite the powerful lesson he had just received, failed to open his ears to the teaching of God. When confronted with Naaman’s leprosy and Ben-Hadad’s letter, he tore his clothes and lamented and was sure that this is some sort of trap to start (or continue) the war with Syria!

Jehoram is a hindrance to this journey that Naaman is on, so maybe we should just stop here. But if we stop the story here, then Naaman dies in his leprosy, the little girl is a liar, Naaman’s wife is full of vain confidence, and Ben-Hadad ventured for nothing.

The saying goes that God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. There is more to Jehoram than meets the eyes, and he is not just a bad example, but he is a crooked stick. We can learn several things from him.

An Honest Self-Assessment

The first is that he was willing to admit his own shortcomings. “Am I God, to kill and to make alive?” Jehoram didn’t learn as much from his father’s sins as he should have, but he did learn that he couldn’t control God or be God. King Ahab–Jehoram’s late father–had four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of Asherah who thought they could bend the will of divinity to suit the will of men. If you know the story, you know those prophets of Baal were slaughtered on Mount Carmel by Elijah and the prophets of Asherah were pursued into hiding and slaughtered by Jehoshaphat, the previous king of Judah.

Jehoram learned by observation that he couldn’t make divine promises or force God’s will to his own service. He didn’t dare to go find a prophet of Baal or Asherah and make promises to Naaman; he had learned those false gods were not covenantal gods and were awful at fulfilling their promises or protecting their prophets. After all, if an idol could have healed Naaman, he might as well have stayed in Damascus and sought help from the statue of Rimmon. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if we found out that Naaman had already tried that.

We can learn a lot from Jehoram when he admits his own shortcomings and doesn’t promise things he cannot deliver. This may sound instinctive, but there is real humility here; many kings in history have elevated themselves to some state of deity or at least a super-human position and/or title. It was not uncommon for Caesars to accept worship, Nebuchadnezzar declared “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).

Indeed, less than two hundred years later the people of Israel were seeking salvation, not from God, but from the king of Assyria: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound” (Hosea 5:13).

Perhaps the most recent example was when Douglas MacArthur was closing the chapter on World War Two and required Emperor Hirohito of Japan to explicitly renounce his claim to divinity and declare his humanity.

We declare today, “Jesus is Lord” in direct defiance to the earlier declaration, “Caesar is Lord.” We have to give King Jehoram some credit that he admitted he was not God and could not do the things of God. I know some god wannabes who could learn a thing or two from him.

I was privileged a few years ago to train medical missionaries to share the gospel. There was a moment where they jokingly said that the best doctors in the world come in two sorts: 1) those that think they are God and 2) those who know they are not God.

Those that think they are God use their talents and energy to learn and apply as much as they absolutely can, and those who know they are not God do likewise with the addition that they rely on God’s wisdom and power through prayer rather than trusting and hoping in themselves. Ironically, the outcome on earth can be the same: skillfully healed people. But their outcomes in heaven are exactly the opposite.

The person healed by a doctor who has deified himself will be tempted to put their trust in the doctor and thereby preclude their hope from being in the living God. Martin Lloyd-Jones, a doctor turned preacher, observed that medical healing merely prolonged physical life, allowing people to go right back to sinning.

Consider if Naaman’s story happened today and you had Thalidomide, Rifampin, Clofazimine, and Dapsone handy (the multi-drugs used for fighting Hansen’s disease today), and you administered them to Naaman, his body would be healed, but his soul would still be as diseased as ever. Lloyd-Jones understood that the true need of his patients was an eternal healing of the soul, to put their trust in God rather than a doctor, and that’s why he left the medical field to become a pastor.

As a chaplain, I once had a young man approach me who knew I put a great emphasis on salvation. He was at the lowest point of his life–not knowing that an even lower point was just on the horizon–when he came to me in great despair. His question shocked me, “Chaplain, will you save me?”

I desperately want everyone to be saved; in fact while writing this I’m deep into a fast for the salvation of multiple loved ones, but I am utterly incapable of saving anyone. To paraphrase Paul: I can plant and I can water, but it is God who gives the growth. This is why God is everything and I am nothing (1 Corinthians 3:6–9), and why Christ must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30).

For all of the ways that Jehoram failed, he did not set himself up as the savior of Naaman.

Not a Glory Seeker

Had Jehoram desired the glory there are multiple ways he could have lied and taken the glory in this story. Jehoram could have assumed the role of prophet and waved his hand over the spot and declared the leper to be healed!

When Naaman invariably was not healed, Jehoram could have played the prosperity preacher and declared that the problem was neither God nor Jehoram, the problem was that Naaman did not have enough faith to be healed! Or his offering of the wealth of Ben-Hadad was not enough; he needed to bring more to sow the seed of faith that would lead to his healing. Or Jehoram could have declared that hidden sin in Naaman’s life was keeping him from receiving healing. The horrendous fact of accusing someone of “hidden sin” is that the prophet need not have any inclination of what the sin is, he only has to declare that it’s there!

Jehoram could have also promised all sorts of different cures, he could have gone to his local Pharmacist/Sorcerer and brought back a powder or a pill that claimed supernatural healing power. He could have called it an essential oil. He could have funded research into Hansen’s disease. He could have come up with a fanciful mud-bath or ritual cleansing or detox. He could have told Naaman he needed to eat more organic food and less dairy.

Would it have worked? No–but that’s beyond the point–giving false hope and generating superstition is as effective at turning sinners from the hope of the gospel as is claiming yourself to be the God who makes alive.

Jehoram could have also brokered the healing. There is a small chance that Elisha would have come if Jehoram had summoned him; and Jehoram should have known that Elisha was able to heal Naaman in the same way he had rescued Jehoram’s army in the desert by God’s intervention. If Jehoram had called Elisha and he had healed Naaman, then Jehoram could have claimed that he was a significant part in Naaman’s healing. Can you think of any priests or peddlers who claim that if you come through them that you can receive God’s blessings?

And we must not diminish the fact that kings are able to overstep their roles in the absence of a prophet. Earlier, Saul lost his kingdom for making a sacrifice in the stead of Samuel (1 Samuel 13:8–14). Later Uzziah would be struck by leprosy in the very act of thinking he could be a priest and a king (2 Chronicles 26:16–21).

We previously considered the saying, “I am not, but I know I AM.” I am not a healer, I am not a king, I am not a savior. I am glad I’m not a savior or a hope for anyone, but as a priest I can point people to the one who can save their souls. I’m just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about somebody, who can save anybody.

If I could have saved that young man–mentioned earlier–would I have? If I had, I would have cut him off from the true Saviour, I would have set myself upon a pedestal that I have no business being on, and I would diminish the joy I have in seeing my disciples walking in the truth. I am not the way, the truth, or the life, and if I think for a moment that I am any of those things, or that people can come to the Father through me, then I have set myself in a very precarious place because God will not share his glory with anyone.

Thank God that Jehoram left the door open for Jesus of Nazareth–the perfect prophet, priest, and king–to be the way, the truth, and the life, and to prove that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). If you set yourself up as a savior, you very well might cut someone off from the one who would die to bring us healing and reconciliation with God, who secured his title as our Lord, our Saviour, and the King of kings.

Not a Hindrance to Salvation

To this living God did Naaman need to go, and Jehoram did not stand in the way. We have to see that Jehoram was willing to “let him come to [Elisha], that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8).

Jehoram could have stood in the way of salvation by denouncing Elisha to Naaman, declaring him to be the troubler of Israel and Syria. Or Jehoram could have kept the message a secret so that Naaman would have returned to Syria dejected and doomed. Or Jehoram could have stated that God only saves Israelites and that a Syrian enemy was beyond redemption. Or he could have invoked the law, that leprosy had utterly cut Naaman off from any hope of ever being healed.

Beloved, please see that Jehoram didn’t do any of that: he allowed Naaman to go to Elisha. If Jehoram had refused, would God have gotten Naaman where he needed to go? Probably, but by the grace of God in their lives we don’t have to wonder about middle knowledge in this case, because Jehoram did the right thing.

Doing the right thing to help someone seek hope may also seem intuitive, but as of the writing of this book there are about fifty countries that have standing laws forbidding non-Christians from seeking Christ or Christians from proselytizing. We’ll consider more about the prophet Jonah later, but for now consider that Jonah would rather flee than have any chance of bringing God’s salvation and blessings to his enemies. Consider even Peter had to be rebuked for trying to make foreigners less foreign before they could be saved (Galatians 2:14).

Jehoram could have hindered Naaman in all sorts of ways at this point. But, for all of his failures, Jehoram did not stand in the way of Naaman seeking a cure.

Beloved, I hope you’ll never set yourself up as the savior or stand in the way of anyone’s salvation. Point to Jesus, declare “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), make your message one of declaring that there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12)! Be like John the Baptist who confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am Not the Christ” (John 1:20). Never consider that your writing or preaching or wisdom has more power than the Word of God to make people wise for salvation in Christ Jesus. There is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents and returns to the Father through the Son.

I have watched several of my personal evangelistic efforts reach fruition when someone other than myself has led a person to Christ. This was after I had planted and watered and tilled and sweated and strove over seeds for weeks and months. It was exhausting, and yet someone else was privileged to lead them to Christ.

Initially I was bitter that I was not the mid-wife in the rebirthing process at the moment that the Spirit quickened a dead soul and transferred them from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. But in retrospect I rejoice that I was just a messenger and that my Living Saviour gets all of the glory for his saving work! Truly, he must increase and I must decrease.

Just a week before writing this chapter a new convert told me that I was the only one who could make God’s Word make sense to him. Heaven forbid! It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all! It is the Spirit who makes the Bible discernible to everyone to whom he chooses to reveal the truth. I hope he uses me to save many more lost souls, but I desperately hope that none of those sinners ever thinks I was anything special other than a faithful instrument in my redeemer’s hand.

Declare with George Whitefield,

Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified. Let my name die everywhere, let even my friends forget me, if by that means the cause of the blessed Jesus may be promoted.

Declare with Jehoram,

I am not God, I cannot heal or make alive!

But dear one! You have this advantage over Jehoram:

You know the God who can!

[1] Not to be confused with Jehoram the king of Judah who reigned concurrently.

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The King of Syria - Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ

The King of Syria

The king of Syria had been greatly blessed by Naaman, and therefore had a vested interest in his recovery. The world has a way of investing in people who can serve them until–when further service is impossible–they are thrown away.

This king of Syria, later revealed to be Ben-Hadad,[1] is an enigma because he was clearly an enemy of Israel, but he had some sort of affinity towards the Living God (2 Kings 8:7–8) while actively doing evil (2 Kings 6:24–25) and worshipping false gods (2 Kings 5:18). If we learn one lesson from him before we look at anything else, he reminds us that people are complicated and God’s work is myriad and mysterious as he sends the rain on the just and the unjust.

Like many of the people prior to the gift of the Holy Spirit, Ben-Hadad’s spiritual state is not easily discerned, but of all of the enemy kings (save Nebuchadnezzar and Darius) faced by the Israelites and Jews, this enemy king is most to be emulated. Why?

Spend For Others

For one, he was happy to spend for others. Imagine with me for a moment that the cost to enter heaven were $1, and someone you loved dearly was only $1 short, would you pay for their eternal blessing? If you would–and I pray that you would–then we’ve set a precedent: people are worth spending for (Romans 9:3).

If you’d spend $1, then how about $10? $100? $11,700,000? More? Obviously, the cost to enter heaven is perfection, so the analogy breaks down, and our sins are costly and we can’t even pay for our own sins, let alone for others (Psalm 49:5–9), but we can pay to get others closer to the one who can ransom them.

We could look at Romans 5:6–8 for an examination of spending for people we don’t love, but that’s not apt to this story because Ben-Hadad loved Naaman, and he was willing to pay for his healing. Ben-Hadad–as much as a pagan king can–loved Naaman and sought his highest and best usefulness. How does Ben-Hadad show us that? Not by his words, but by his actions (James 2:15–16). He put his money where his mouth was. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He showed us where his heart was by filling up what was lacking in Naaman’s ability to be redeemed.

The Holy Spirit–through Paul–said it better than I can:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Ben-Hadad wouldn’t have been so deep or eloquent or clear, but he knew he wanted Naaman healed and he knew he was willing to pay for it. It’s difficult to put an exact price tag on what Ben-Hadad was willing to spend, but we can get close enough to know it was a lot. He sent ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. A talent weighed about seventy-five pounds, a shekel was just less than half an ounce, and the clothing was certainly ornate and valuable. I don’t know we can accurately put a value on the clothing, but silver and gold have standard weights so we can be pretty accurate in our estimate that Ben-Hadad sent $900,000 worth of silver and $10,800,000 worth of gold.[2] Naaman was worth a lot to Ben-Hadad.

Now, I don’t want to give too much credit to this king, because surely he was hoping to receive some gain for his efforts, but we rejoice when the kingdom of heaven is furthered even for impure motives or selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15–18). The king–almost certainly without knowing it–was proving “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15).

A Sense of Urgency

Next, we’ll see that Ben-Hadad not only funded the trip, he enhanced the urgency by saying “Go now!” He sends Naaman on his way right now, immediately; other translations say “By all means go!” and “Go to. Go!”

There is no time to wait, to try another cure, to pray about it, to see if he’ll recover naturally, to consider how God can heal such a man, nor even time to count the cost. The cost had already been counted, Naaman’s life is lost without a miracle.

It has been said that the devil’s favorite day is “tomorrow.” You can have the best of intentions just so long as you never act on them. I wonder if Ben-Hadad was tempted to yell, “Today is the day of salvation! Stop talking and start walking! Go seek the cure!” When should someone flee to Jesus for salvation? Right now! If redemption is possible we want to move people in that direction as soon as we can!

If you tarry ‘till you’re better, you will never come at all. ~ Joseph Hart

There are two reasons to “Go!” quickly to Christ, first because you’re not promised tomorrow, and second because he’s worthy to be served as soon and as early and as long as possible. Whether you are old or young reading this, know that the best time to come to Christ was as soon as you could hear his voice, the second-best time to come is right now! The best time for Naaman to have sought the true and living God was when he found out there was a true and living God; the second-best time, according to the king of Syria, is now, “Go! Now!”

Love commands urgency; pleading, commanding, urging, pushing, begging, warning, compelling, imploring people to seek the Lord while he may be found. If you tarry ‘till you’re better, you will never come at all! What are you waiting for! Go! Now!

An Advocate

The king of Syria was not a perfect king nor a follower of the living God, yet he did do many things right. One of the greatest gifts God has given to men is someone to ally with, to plead our cause, to be our intercessor, and to help us open doors we couldn’t open ourselves. Ben-Hadad proved this by being Naaman’s intercessor.

Imagine if Naaman had gone to Samaria of his own volition and approached the king of Israel stating, “I’m here because I heard there is a prophet in Israel who can heal me.” Imagine the whispers and the pointed fingers and the snarled lips. They know who he is, they recognize him, they have learned to fear him, and they have learned to hate him. Imagine the accusations, “You’re here as a spy!”, “You’re looking for little girls to steal!”, “You’re here as an enemy of Israel!”, “You’re here to get stoned!”, and “Yeah! We’ll end your leprosy…by ending your life!”

Naaman needed a letter of introduction and a powerful ally. The king of Syria does not disappoint: he says, “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” This letter becomes Naaman’s lifeblood, without it he would have been perceived as a spy, and his chances of receiving grace and help in his time of need would have been greatly diminished.

Consider another letter written by the Apostle Paul and given to a man named Tychicus to carry to a far-off church (Colossians 4:7–9). This letter explicitly tells the church to welcome a man named Onesimus with open arms. And more so, it tells his owner, Philemon, to receive him back–not as a runaway slave–but as a brother (Philemon 1:15–16). During their entire journey from Rome, I imagine Onesimus would badger Tychicus to confirm that he still had the letter and that it was still safe.

The letter to Philemon, comprising so few words it is not even broken into chapters, was Onesimus’ entire hope. Without it–as a runaway slave–he legally could be executed as a warning to other slaves. Now, of course his hope was in the living Christ for his eternity, but his earthly hope was that God was using his friend Paul’s influence and network of Christian brothers to plead his case before his earthly master.

Some people would call this “the good-ole-boy club,” where “it’s not what you know, but who you know,” and they would say so disparagingly. Indeed, this system can be horribly abused when connections are based on partiality and cliques rather than merit and love. But God’s church is built on networks and who you know. One of the first things I do when I move to a new location is contact that nearest Baptist association. God has blessed us abundantly through this networking, but the allies we have in our conventions, synods, associations, alliances, and churches is nothing compared to our greatest ally.

The wisest bumper sticker I ever read said, “I am not, but I know I Am!” The great I Am, if you know him, is pleading your case even as you’re reading this. His will is your sanctification, your highest and best usefulness, and his glory. Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who accomplished so much for Christ, knew that he was pleaded for continuously,

If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.

And one of my favorite hymns puts it this way,

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
a great high priest whose name is love
who always lives and pleads for me!

~ Charitie Lees Smith

I love the question D. James Kennedy would use to open an evangelistic conversation, “If you died tonight and God said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ how would you respond?” It’s a question that cuts right to the heart of the matter.

There are lots of ways to point that question to Jesus. Musician Shai Linne’s wrote a song called Penelope Judd, which is the story of a little girl who goes on a journey to meet the king. Penelope is from the land called “mud,” and she is wholly unfit to enter the palace. When she knocks on the door her only hope becomes the invitation she is carrying, which she quickly presents as evidence that she should be admitted (we’ll revisit this song again in a future chapter).

Likewise, in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, the scroll becomes the most prized and important possession to meet the true king. In Bunyan’s story a man is cast from the very gates of heaven when it is discovered he does not have an invitation, which had been freely offered at the cross; his lack of a scroll reveals that he had not come by way of the cross.

Reader, do you have assurance of salvation purchased in the cross of Christ? Is he pleading your case ready to stand at the gates of heaven to welcome you in? Are you pleading the case of lost sinners continually before the throne of grace? Are you interceding before men for the help of Christ’s church?

When a saint moves to a new city or church, as is common in our modern world, a letter of recommendation can be the difference between a thriving ministry in a new church and starting from scratch and wasting years earning trust. It grieves me that so many churches and pastors think these letters are just old-fashioned nonsense.

Letters of introduction were not nonsense to Naaman or Onesimus or John Bunyan, and they’re not nonsense to me. The church has a lot to learn from the king of Syria, and I pray you will learn that lesson well.

Because of the faithfulness of Ben-Hadad, Naaman now has this letter of introduction that is going to keep him safe, lead him to the right people, and hopefully cure his leprosy.

In urgent obedience Naaman takes the letter straight to the king of Israel.

[1] The Bible probably refers to his title rather than his name, history tells us his name was likely Hadadezer.

[2] At the time of this writing.

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