2. NAAMAN
THE MISSIONARY GIRL
ELISHA
THE SERVANTS
THE CONVERSION
This week we studied how a pagan man like
Naaman was converted to the truth. We read
how God use people in that process.
3. “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the
king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in
the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord
had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty
man of valor, but a leper.” (2 Kings 5:1)
Naaman had all he need both physically and
socially:
He was a general in the Syrian army.
He was noble and very rich (“a great man”).
The king held him in high esteem.
He was being used by God.
He was extremely brave.
But he had a “small” problem: he was a leper.
God used Naaman’s need for healing to lead him
to those who could guide him to the eternal life.
Jesus followed the same method with some
other sick people during His ministry.
4. She didn’t forget God.
She didn’t think badly of those who
forced her to be a slave.
She was filled with God’s love, so she
empathized with her sick master.
She believed that the prophet could
heal Naaman, although he was a
foreigner.
Her parents taught her that there’s
nothing impossible for God.
That captive girl wasn’t overwhelmed by the
adversity. On the contrary, she testified to God
wherever He led her.
“And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a
young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she
said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the prophet who is in
Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.’” (2 Kings 5:2-3)
5. “And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive
a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife.
Then she said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the
prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.’”
(2 Kings 5:2-3)
“Orangtuanya telah menyelesaikan
tanggung jawabnya dengan baik, dan
hasilnya adalah kesaksian yang indah
ini atas nama Allah Israel di tanah
yang tidak mengenal-Nya. Naaman
belajar dari kekuatan di luar
kekuatan manusia karena ayah yang
setia dan ibu di Israel telah
membesarkan anak mereka untuk
mencintai dan memercayai Tuhan.”
SDA Bible Commentary, on 2 Kings 5:3
6. “So it was, when Elisha the man of God
heard that the king of Israel had torn his
clothes, that he sent to the king, saying,
‘Why have you torn your clothes? Please let
him come to me, and he shall know that
there is a prophet in Israel.’” (2 Kings 5:8)
Elisha was called to the prophetic ministry by
Elijah, as God ordered him to do
(1K. 19:16).
Elisha received a special blessing when he
saw Elijah leaving: “a double portion of
your spirit” (2K. 2:9).
He worked miracles with the power of the
Holy Spirit. Some of those miracles were
similar to Jesus’: resurrections, food
multiplication, healing…).
Elisha didn’t meet Naaman who came with
pomp, splendor and riches. He instead sent
him the message of Salvation.
The glory of the miracle shouldn’t
be to the prophet but to God.
7. “And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, ‘My father, if the
prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How
much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?’” (2 Kings 5:13)
Naaman’s pride diminished after
each step he took.
When the prophet didn’t meet Naaman
and asked him to bathe in the Jordan
River instead of doing some magical act
to heal him, he exploded in anger.
In that moment, God use one of his
servants (who was as pagan as him) to
defeat his pride.
1. He accepted advice from a foreign
slave.
2. He was misunderstood by the king of
Israel.
3. The prophet didn’t meet him.
4. He was asked to bathe in a dirty river.
8. “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and
stood before him; and he said, ‘Indeed, now I know that there is no God in
all the earth, except in Israel… for your servant will no longer offer either
burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord.’” (2 Kings 5:15, 17)
Naaman was fully converted. Nevertheless, some reminiscence of his
old beliefs remained (2K. 5:17-18).
Naaman learnt two important lessons: having faith and obeying God.
Naaman learnt a third
lesson when Elisha
rejected his gifts:
salvation is by grace.
9. “The conduct of the captive maid, the way that she
bore herself in that heathen home, is a strong witness
to the power of early home training. There is no
higher trust than that committed to fathers and
mothers in the care and training of their children.
Parents have to do with the very foundations of habit
and character. By their example and teaching the
future of their children is largely decided…
The parents of that Hebrew maid, as they taught her
of God, did not know the destiny that would be hers.
But they were faithful to their trust; and in the home
of the captain of the Syrian host, their child bore
witness to the God whom she had learned to honor.”
E.G.W. (Prophets and Kings, cp. 20, pg. 245-246)
