As we come to 2 Kings chapter 5, immediately
we come into contact with this man, Naaman. This
man really arises in the story almost out of
nowhere. But this entire narrative circulates
around this man Naaman. As we consider Naaman
and his situation and his cure, his condition,
we're going to look at three things today. We're
going to look at the man and his condition, his
disease, or his issue, his problem in life. And
then we're going to look at the issues that he
faced in finding a cure to his leprosy. Lastly,
we'll look at the cure itself. So as we consider
the man and his condition, the text gives us
a very avid description, a clear look at what
this man was like. Look in verse one. It says,
now, Naaman, captain of the army of the king
of Aaron. We think about that statement. This
man was the captain, the leader of a country's
military forces. He was a powerful man. He was
the captain of the army of the King of Aram.
He was a great man with his master. He was highly
favored. He was a man most likely of... high
moral integrity. He was highly respected because
by him the Lord had given victory to Aaron. Others
respected Naaman. Others looked to Naaman as
a role model in their life. Others looked upon
him, I'm sure some, with awe. of this man, his
position, his power, his influence, and his status
in line. It also says that he was a valiant warrior.
He wasn't one that stayed back while the military
and the army went into battle. Neyman was a valiant
warrior. He fought the enemies of his kingdom.
He went to war with his men. If we stop right
there and we consider Naaman, this is somebody,
isn't it? This is a man with pomp. This is a
man with power. This is a man with prestige.
This is a man that has a good life in Syria.
He's got a good job. He's got a good place. He's
well respected This is somebody but there's one
issue This man With this pump and with this prestige
and with this power with this influence had one
major problem in his life one big issue that
affected every part of who he is. One big thing
that was always with him. The text says he was
a leper. Now when we think of leprosy in the
Bible, I don't think that that is what they're
speaking of with Naaman. Naaman most likely is
referencing some sort of skin disease, not the
typical leprosy we hear about in the New Testament.
This leprosy most likely had to do with bad disfigurement
and pain and suffering. We don't know how long
he had it. We don't know if it was something
he acquired recently and he's had temporarily,
or we don't know if it's something he's had his
entire life, but we do know that he has it, that
it's a big issue in his life. He can't get rid
of it. So, we look at his life and we see that
he has this big issue and he has it as a Gentile.
One of the biggest surprises in this story is
that Naaman is not an Israelite. Naaman is not
a part of the covenant people of God, yet here
we find a story about a man. who is a foreigner,
who is an alien to the promises of God, a foreigner,
an alien to the people of God, to the God of
Israel. And we find God's grace and God's mercy
and God's compassion extending beyond the borders
of Israel to this Gentile man, that he might
impact his life, that he might change him. So
in... In Naaman, we find a man who is apart,
who is separate, who is distant, who is far from
the promises of God, who is far from the God
of Israel who saves. So in Naaman, we find a
portrait of an unbeliever who is separate from
Christ. Naaman is not so different from the unbeliever
today. He's not so different from the modern
man who rejects Christ, who denies Christ. The
modern man who rejects Christ and denies Christ
is far from the promises of God, is distant and
separate from the gospel of Christ, just like
Naaman was far and distant and away from the
promises of God. So this is the man, this is
his condition, and this is where he's at in life.
We see his deep, desperate need in this narrative
already. Now we see also the issues that Naaman
faced in finding a cure. It's obvious and clear
from this text that this man desires to be cured.
This man wants to find a way to be healed of
his sickness, of his disease, of his leprosy.
How do we know that? Well, think about the entire
flow of the story. As soon as a cure is mentioned,
as soon as a potential healing or restoration
is proclaimed, he's on it. He's eager to go and
be healed. He knows he has a problem. But here
we find this man of great resources, this man
of great power, encountering one major issue
in his life. He can't cure himself. He cannot
find a cure anywhere in Syria. There's nothing
to be found, surely. Friends, if anybody could
find a cure for such a disease, if anybody could
procure healing, if anybody could find somebody,
find a doctor, find a magician, find somebody
or anything to take care of the problem that
he had, it would be Neyman. He had the resources,
he had the ability, and Surely, he was a man
of intellectual resources. He had the ability
intellectually to consider these problems and
to figure it out, but he was incapable of dealing
with this issue in his life. He couldn't get
rid of the leprosy, and there was no way he could
find anything or anybody in Syria to do it either.
Already, we find the reality that this man is
relevant and ever -present relevant for the modern
unbeliever. Every single person has issues in
their life because of sin. Every single person
has needs deep down in their soul in their lives.
Every single person today in this world, in the
culture, in society, in Edwards County, everybody
in Illinois, everybody in the United States,
everybody in the world has physical issues and
they have moral issues. And there are some issues
in life that a person cannot fix themselves.
You cannot fix your sin. You cannot heal yourself
of the iniquity that is within you. You cannot
deal with your own moral problem as an immoral
person. You cannot deal with the hatred in your
heart. You cannot deal as an unbeliever and an
unregenerate person. You cannot address The hate
and the lust and the iniquity that resides within
your soul. You can't take care of it. You can
deal with a lot of things in your life. You can
take care of your financial issues. You can take
care of some physical and health concerns in
your life. You can take care of your job situation.
You can take care of your family to a degree,
I'm sure. But you can't take care of the sin
within your heart. You can't cure yourself of
it. And you know that it's there. Unregenerate
sinners are aware that they have sin within themselves.
If you're here today and you don't know Christ
by faith or repentance, you know you're a sinner.
You have things in your life that you hate about
yourself. You have things in your life that you
cannot and you do and you want to change with
every fiber in your being that you want to give
up that you want to stop But you can't That's
because you cannot address the sin in your own
heart You can't cure yourself of it and you can't
find a cure anywhere It's not to be found just
like me Naaman is told of a potential cure. A
potential remedy is proclaimed to him by a young
slave girl. We read in verses two through three.
Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had
taken captive a little girl. from the land of
Israel. And she waited on Naaman's wife. She
said to her mistress, I wish that my master were
with the prophet who was in Samaria. Then he
would cure him of his leprosy. This young slave
girl that was captive obviously treated well.
because she had affection for her master, knows
something that this man of power and influence
does not know. This young Israelite girl knew
something that this man knew nothing of, that
this man knew nothing about. The prophet of the
living God. She knew of the power of God that
resided not in Samaria But she knew of the divine
power of God that resided in Israel and Israel
alone She knew where a cure could be found and
it was among the people of God and it was with
the prophet of God and so she proclaims this
to Her master's wife the wife tells name and
name and tells the king And so he prepares for
a journey. He gets to go ahead to go forward
and to go seek out the cure. So what does he
do? What do we read in verse five? He departed
and took with him 10 talents of silver and 6
,000 shekels of gold and 10 changes of clothes.
He gets ready for the cure. He prepares to go
and get That which he so longs for and how does
he do so By getting his money By getting his
well by getting his influence Most likely we
don't know for certain But this looks as though
it was about seven hundred and fifty pounds of
silver. We don't know exactly how much gold,
but it was probably close to 200 pounds of gold.
That's a lot of wealth. That's a lot of power.
That's a lot of influence. This man should just
go and get it and take it with him. This man
who has the ear of the king. So what does he
do next after he hears about the cure? Well,
he encounters another issue. He encounters another
problem. The king sends a letter to another king,
the king of Israel, who most likely was a very
wicked man at the time and knew nothing of the
Lord. And so Naaman goes to the king of Israel
with the assumption that the king of Israel could
cure him. Now, it's not an issue that he went
to the king, though we do know he did night raids
in Israel. He goes to the king, that's not an
issue, to seek permission to go into the country,
to go and find a cure, but it's more than that.
He was going to the king with the assumption
that the king had the cure. He was looking to
the king of Israel for the cure to his leprosy.
Why is the king so flabbergasted? Why is the
king so taken aback? Because the letter assumes
that he has the ability to cure this man. He's
forgotten about the prophet. He's forgotten about
the word of the Lord. He's gone to the king,
he's gone to other men, he's gone to the people
of God. He's forgotten where the cure actually
is. Already, he's looking in the wrong place
already. This man of such wisdom, I'm sure. This
man of such power and influence is looking in
all the wrong places. for that which he so desperately
needs. I do not believe that unregenerate men
ever seek after God. Ever. The man apart from
Christ does not want Christ. But the man who
does not have Christ wants everything that Christ
can give. The man who does not know God wants
everything that God can give. And when you live
and dwell in God's creation, that means you're
all You're always going to be looking for that
which God can give. You're always going to be
seeking out, and you're always going to be searching
out, and you're always going to be trying to
find that which God can give to cure you of your
ailments in this life. Always. Non -stop. But
brothers and sisters and friends, if you don't
know Christ, you will always go to the wrong
place. Always. And it will never fix your problem.
It will never take care of the sin that's within
your heart. It will never bring healing. It will
never bring satisfaction. It will never find,
you will never have joy. It will bring disappointment
after disappointment and temporary joy and temporary
pleasure after temporary pleasure. But it will
bring no power to Satan. Men always look in the
wrong place when they don't no Christ. This is
clear that this was an issue for Naaman. Now
Naaman finally makes his way to Elisha's house.
He makes his way to the prophet or to the prophet's
house. How does the text say that Naaman arrives
at the prophet's home. So Naaman came with his
horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway
of the house of Elisha. Verse 15 says that he
had a large company with him. It wasn't just
Naaman. It was Naaman and his servants. It was
Naaman and his entourage. It was Naaman and his
gold and his horses and his chariots. It was
Naaman and his power. And he's coming to the
house of the prophet of the living God? Well,
he comes to the house, but he doesn't meet Elisha.
How does Elisha greet him? He doesn't. Elisha
sends a messenger to talk on his behalf, to tell
him... the remedy. Now Elisha has given him the
remedy. He knows the cure. He knows what he has
to do. He knows where he must go. He knows how
he can be changed. He knows how he can be healed,
restored, and delivered from this disease that
he's in possession of. He knows it. All he has
to do is go down into the dirty Jordan and take
a bath seven times. That's all he has to do.
It's right in front of him, brothers and sisters.
I mean, he is face to face with his own deliverance
from leprosy. That thing which he seemingly so
longs for, that thing which he so desires and
wants in life, it's right in front of his face.
It's right there. What does he do? He forsakes
it. He turns around and he rejects it. He denies
it. He casts it off. He walks away in a fit of
rage. What would cause a man to deny that which
will deliver him of his own disease, that which
he so longs for? to turn away from it, to reject
it, to walk away and turn his back to it. Why
did Naaman forsake his own deliverance from this
wretched condition that he was in possession
of? That's the question, isn't it? The answer
is that it was something much deeper. Naaman's
issue wasn't that he was looking in the wrong
place, that was the expression or manifestation
of something deeper. Naaman's issue wasn't that
he had no power to do this, he had no ability
to do this, that was the expression, that was
the manifestation of something deeper. And in
his response, we find the answer to why he would
forsake that which would bring healing into his
life. It's because of his sin and his unbelief.
It's because he did not believe in the God of
Israel. It's because he had no faith in his heart
with regards to what the prophet was saying to
him. He rejects the cure in unbelief. And this
is where we find such an intersection for the
modern skeptic and the modern unbeliever in the
reality of unbelief. Unbelief is what ties all
unbelievers together for all the ages. Naaman
is not that different from the modern man that
rejects the gospel, brothers and sisters. He's
not that different. What's the same and what's
the difference? The same thing. They're full
of unbelief, he's full of sin in his heart, and
he has no faith in the message that he's going
to be cured, he's going to be restored. He doesn't
believe in the God of Israel. That stayed the
same throughout all ages. Men in every age and
every period have our hearts of unbelief, hearts
of sin. Thus, they reject the promise or they
reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unbelievers
today are no different than Naaman himself because
they do not believe that which can deliver them
from the condition that they are in possession
of. The only thing that changes is the circumstances
in which men exist. The only thing that changes
is the situation in which that man lives. We
might think that we are better today than Naaman
was all those thousands of years ago. But brothers
and sisters, it's not true. Our situation is
different, but our hearts remain the same. The
scenario is different. The context is different,
but the unbelieving heart remains the same. The
sin remains the same. The same need, and that
means there's the same remedy. The same thing
that will bring restoration and healing. So why
did Naaman reject and cast off and forsake the
cure, the remedy that he so desired for in his
life. Well, it's because it wasn't what he thought
it should be. We see in verse 11, but Naaman
was furious and went away and said, listen to
this brothers and sisters, behold, I thought.
He will surely come out to me and stand and call
in the name of the Lord his God and wave his
hand over the place and cure the leper." He thought.
He expected. Naaman rejected the cure because
it wasn't what he thought it should be. He denied
that which would save him from his disease because
it wasn't what he thought it should be. How many
people have forsaken the Lord Jesus Christ and
denied the gospel of God? Because the gospel
is not what they think it should be. Because
the gospel is not what they think it ought to
be. That's a manifestation of unbelief, brothers
and sisters. That's an expression of an unbelieving
heart. It's an excuse for why one doesn't believe.
The gospel, I'll take part of it. I'll take the
ethical and moral teachings of Jesus, but I'll
deny and I'll reject All the miraculous and the
divine and the supernatural that's in the Gospels.
I'll take what I want. This is what I think it
should be and I'll leave that out because I don't
think that should be in there. Brothers and sisters
and friends, if you don't know Christ, listen.
The Gospel is not what you want it to be. The
Gospel is what God says it is. And that's the
only gospel that saves any sinners from wrath,
from sin, from death, and from hell. Only the
gospel that God says is the gospel saves. Naaman
didn't believe. And because of that, he rejected
the gospel. And it wasn't what he thought it
should be. But why else? Did he reject this cure?
Why else did he forsake that which would deliver
him? Because he was thinking carnally or materialistically
When the command comes to him from Elisha What
does he think Elisha is telling him to do? What
is it? He says are not Abana and Farper, 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. He was
thinking in terms of water. He was thinking in
terms of physicality, in terms of carnality,
in terms of this world and the earth and materialistic
things. He was not thinking about the possibility
and the reality of divine power behind the command.
He had no conception of the power of God to save
him through those ordinary and those humble means
that the prophet appointed. He was thinking carnally.
He couldn't get outside of his carnal mind. To
see clearly and rightly what the prophet was
saying. He's thinking I've done this over and
over I've washed myself over and over I've taken
bath after bath. I've gone through ceremonial
cleansing after ceremonial cleansing. It's just
water There's nothing more He was thinking carnally
and materialistically the same is true of the
modern skeptic It's true of the modern scoffer.
It's true of the modern unbeliever. That they
only view the gospel through a carnal and materialistic
lens. How many times do we hear? How many times
do you hear? How many times have you said, well,
it's a nice religion. It's a nice construct that's
been built throughout the ages. from the minds
of men, but that's it. That's all Christianity
is. That's all the gospel is. That's all that
Jesus is, the imagination of men. It's something
that men have come up with to soothe their conscience
and deal with their weakness and their issues
with no conception and no thought and no view
of the reality of power in the gospel to save
their very souls. Naaman couldn't look at it
any different. And this is how he looked at it,
and this is why he turned his back on that which
would deliver him from his wretched condition.
But there's another reason that he forsook the
remedy and the cure. And I think this is the
most significant. Knowing his background and
knowing his character as we do, he refused to
humble himself. This man of great will, this
man that was well respected, this man that was
looked on by his servant, girl. most likely as
a kind man. This man who had the ability to take
seven hundred and fifty, eight hundred pounds
of silver with him and almost two hundred pounds
of gold and ten changes of fine, elaborate clothing
with him. This man who had an entourage with
him. This man who comes to the prophet with pomp
and power and prestige. Why does he turn his
back on the cure? because of pride. That's what
it is, brothers and sisters. That's what it is,
friends. He is kept from that which he needs
more than anything else because of the pride
that remains in him. You're telling me that my
gift, all that I've brought, You're telling me
you won't even come out and personally meet me?
You're telling me that you want me to bathe in
the dirty muddy Jordan River seven times in front
of everybody that I brought with all my power.
Is there nothing more glorious and more proud
that I could do or take part in? This is so humbling.
This is so inglorious. You're asking me to submit
to such a humble approach to this cure. What
kept Naaman from being cured in that moment?
It was the pride and the arrogance of his sinful
heart. It was unbelief. And it manifested itself
in pride. Do you know what keeps more men out
of the kingdom of heaven than anything else I
believe? Pride. The devil's best friend and man's
worst enemy. Pride. The gospel of Jesus Christ
requires one to humble themselves before God.
The gospel of Jesus Christ requires one to repent
of their sin and recognize that they are a beggar
with nothing in their hands and that Jesus Christ
is everything and all that they have. That's
what the gospel requires and men won't do it.
Men will give up their sin for Christ? I'm privileged
and I have the right to my sin. I refuse to give
this up. I refuse to be humiliated. I refuse
to humble myself before a sovereign God. More
men are kept from the kingdom of heaven. More
men are kept from true wisdom and true wealth.
and true glory in Jesus Christ because they won't
give up their vainglory in this world. Brothers
and sisters, this is the manifestation of unbelief
in the life of Naaman and this is the manifestation
of unbelief in your life if you don't know Jesus
Christ. If you're here today and you don't know
Christ, your pride is keeping you from Christ
because you refuse. to give up your riches. You
refuse to give up your works that you like to
boast in and you like to hold on to. You refuse
to give up your righteousness and run to Christ.
It's keeping you from true glory with Jesus Christ
and his eternal kingdom. It's keeping you from...
eternal life and that which your soul needs more
than anything. It's keeping you from being reconciled
with your Maker, with God. Pride. Is it worth
it? Is it worth suffering wrath for your pride?
Is it worth experiencing eternal judgment because
of pride in your heart? Forsake the pride and
run to Jesus Christ. Humble yourself that you
might be exalted with Him in glory. Give up your
sin that you might gain eternal life. and forsook
the cure because of pride. If we were to sum
up all of these reasons that he rejected the
cure, we would have to say this. He was coming
to God on his own terms. He was coming to the
gospel of Jesus Christ with conditions. He was
coming to the glorious God and Savior of our
salvation on his own prideful, sinful terms.
I'll believe. I'll receive the cure if. If. It's
the way I want. If. I don't have to give this
up. If I can keep this. You don't set the terms
and the conditions for your eternal salvation
with the creator of the heavens and the earth.
He sets the terms. He sets the conditions. He
tells you what is required of you and your soul
if you are to be saved and he says repent He
says believe in Christ he says humble yourself
He says believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
his life his death and his resurrection and then
you will be saved You don't set the conditions
for your own deliverance name and didn't he couldn't
and you don't Unbelief is rampant in our world
because sinful hearts are rampant in our world.
One might think, looking at Naaman and this story,
that this man of unbelief, this man of pride
and arrogance and pomp and prestige, you might
think there's no way that man could be saved.
There's no way he's cured. There's no way that
he would believe. But there is. And he does.
But not because of himself. This leads us to
the last and third thing we must consider, the
cure itself. Naaman ultimately did not know what
he truly needed. He was truly ignorant of his
true need in his life. He thought he needed healing
from a skin disease when in reality he needed
to believe in the God of Israel and his sovereign
power. The cure was according to the word of
the man of God. The cure was according to the
man of God. It was according to the prophet of
God. It was God's word and the miraculous deliverance
of Naaman, the miraculous healing that we see
in verses 13 through 14. confirms the Word of
the Living God. The miraculous healing of Naaman
in the Jordan River confirms the reality and
the veracity of the existence of the God of Israel.
So Naaman knows without a shadow of a doubt.
that the God of Israel is the one who saved him
because Elisha wasn't even present. He knows
it wasn't just water. He comes to the realization
that it was God, the God of Israel, who saved
him. It was the Lord who delivered him from his
disease. In spite, of all of his unbelief. In
spite of all his excuses and his reasons for
forsaking it, the Lord did in fact save him.
Naaman didn't need water. Naaman didn't need
the king of Israel. Naaman needed the sovereign
power of God to transform him. Naaman needed
God to change him. Naaman needed the God of Israel
to restore him, to deliver him, to heal him.
That's what Naaman needed. And that's what God
did. But it wasn't apart from the means that
the prophet ordained. It wasn't apart from the
word of God. It wasn't separate from the humble
means that the prophet demanded he submit to.
It was in accordance with those means. It was
in the water, the dirty water, and it was seven
times that he submitted to. So it was only through
the ordained means of the word of God and the
prophet of God that he would be delivered by
the sovereign power of God from his disease and
from his sin. And this restoration, it wasn't
partial, friends. It wasn't incomplete. He was
fully and completely and totally healed of his
leprosy. So when he went down and dipped himself
seven times into the Jordan, according to the
word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored,
listen to this, like the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean. It's reminding us of the little
girl in verse 3. It's reminding us of the little
girl in verse 3 who was his slave. who was in
possession of faith. It's reminding us of the
reality that now that Naaman has experienced
the divine power of God at work in his life in
this miraculous deliverance, that he has been
changed and he's been made like a little child.
Very similar to the slave girl who first pointed
him to a cure. And this cure is complete and
total. Can you imagine how different Naaman felt?
Can you imagine how different Naaman looked?
Consider, he had skin disfigurement, he had disfigurement
in his body. It was a total and it was a complete
disease. It was something that was always with
him. It was something that was with him at all
times, at all periods. And it affected every
part and every area of his life. And now because
of the divine power of God, it's gone! It's disappeared!
He's been delivered from that condition, from
that disease that he's so long to be rid of because
of God's divine power. It was a complete and
total transformation because God himself changed
him and it was only God who could do it. Naaman
looked and looked and looked, do you remember?
He had the resources, he had the power, he had
the intellectual capacity and ability and resources
to figure it out, but he couldn't. He went to
the king of Israel. He couldn't help him. Only
the God of Israel could save him, and only he
could do it. If you don't know Jesus Christ by
faith and repentance, then you have never experienced
the divine power of God to make you a new creature.
If you don't know Jesus Christ by faith and repentance,
then God has not worked in your life. He has
not transformed you. He has not forgiven your
sins. He has not pardoned you. He has not given
you eternal life. He has not given you divine
and supernatural peace. He has not given his
spirit to you. He has not... sake to find you,
and he has not justified you. None of the blessings
of God, of saving reality, of redemption, are
in your possession if you have not experienced
the divine power of God to make you a new creature,
to regenerate you, to convert you, to bring you
into his kingdom. And only the power of God can
do it. You can't do it. Nobody can do it. No
person can do it. But the Lord Jesus Christ by
his gospel can save you through his divine and
sovereign power by working in your soul. By causing
you to be born again to a living hope. He can
bring you into his kingdom and he can give you
every blessing that he procured in his life,
his death, and his resurrection. And he will
for those in possession of faith and repentance.
It's only through the cross and it's only through
Jesus Christ and his gospel that you can be saved
and delivered from wrath. That's it. Listen,
the world is going to give you a lot of options.
The culture is going to tell you to ignore it.
That it's all hogwash. But there is nothing else
that can deliver you from the sin in your heart.
There is nothing else appointed in heaven and
on earth to save your soul from the depths of
hell and the wrath to come, but the blood and
the cross of Christ can. It's the only thing
that can and it's the only thing that will. If
God works in your soul, you will be completely
and totally changed. You will never be the same.
Your heart will be different. Your affections
will be different. Your desires and your longings,
your thinking will be different. The Spirit of
God will dwell within you. Your life will go
in a new direction. You will be sanctified. God
will justify you. He will forgive your sins and
He will bring you to glory and you will spend
eternity with Him and His never -ending kingdom
with Jesus Christ. But that's only for those
who have come through the appointed means of
the gospel, through Jesus Christ and His cross.
Consider Naaman. Consider Naaman and his unbelief.
Consider your own heart and your own soul. Have
you considered if you have experienced the divine
and sovereign power of God in your life? Have
you been made new? Do you know Jesus Christ by
faith and repentance?