Goodness (8) - Naaman's Goodness
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April 07, 2013 |
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 "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Naaman was a captain of the army of the king of Aram, a country that was adjacent to Israel. He was a valiant warrior, but he was a leper as written in 2 Kings 5:1. In those days, leprosy was an incurable disease so he couldn't be free from it even with good medicine or outstanding medical treatment of the time. He wasn't healed even when he relied on the god he served. But he received healing by the power of God after meeting Elisha the prophet of Israel.
The Bible tells us that not all men have been able to receive blessing although they were with prophets who performed great power and they were with Jesus the Son of God. Only the ones who sought the truth with goodness like the deer pants for the brook's water, like Namaan, can meet the living God and receive blessing.
So, Luke 4:27 reads, "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." By seeing the deeds of Naaman we can understand the keys to receiving the answers from God. Then, what aspects of Naaman were deemed as goodness?
1. Listening to the good news with humbleness
In the house of Naaman there was a young maidservant who had been taken captive from Israel. One day, she said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy."
These words of hers were told to Naaman, and he did not reject her words at that time. Although he had a very high position next to the king, he was so humble that he would not even neglect the word of a lowly maidservant.
The words of the maidservant was the news of goodness. If we listen attentively to the good news with humbleness no matter whoever might preach it, God deems our hearts to be good. If Naaman had been wicked and stubborn, he would have neglected her words saying, "You are only a maidservant, why do you interfere?"
Today many people will not listen when we evangelize them saying, "God is alive. He can answer anything you desire if you come to Him with faith." Their reaction tells us the extent that they are good. There are many who do not want to hear what preachers say though it is heard. As they come to hold higher positions and have greater possessions, they will not listen to the preachers and they tend to rely on the world more and more.
2. Showing the evidence of faith with deeds after listening to the good news
When he heard about the prophet of Israel from the maidservant, he didn't send his servants to bring the prophet to him and he didn't send a letter asking the prophet to pray for him. He himself went to the prophet.
2 Kings 5:5 says, "[Naaman] departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes." Naaman showed his earnest desire to be healed with offerings he had prepared with sincerity.
Naaman did not expect that he would reap what he had not sown. So, when he went to the prophet of God, he did not expect more than what he had sown. Instead, he prepared offerings with sincerity and earnest hope for his healing.
In the end, Namaan came to Elisha, though he was sick, with offerings he had prepared. But Elisha didn't personally come before Namaan, but he just sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean." Naaman was furious and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.'"
When Elisha's servant told him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan to be healed, in Namaan's own mind and by his own thoughts he could not believe what the servant had said. He has gone to Elisha with faith, but because Naaman had fleshly limitations, he could not believe and accept the words of the prophet, and instead he felt as if he had been mistreated. He was just about to return to his own country.
But, the following deeds of his tell us how good and humble he was. His servants said to him in 2 Kings 5:13, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" The fact that the servants called him 'My father' and they could give advice to their master shows how good and humble he was.
He did not neglect the words of his servants but listened to them. He was so broadminded that he could accept whatever was right and good. That's why his servants could advise him with love. Naaman eventually turned his thinking around and he obeyed the advice his servants offered him. He dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times as instructed by the prophet Elisha.
The number "7" spiritually refers to the perfection. The water of the Jordan symbolizes the Word of God. So, his dipping himself in the Jordan seven times meant he fully obeyed the Word of God. He did not give up although he was not healed the third or fourth time. He fully obeyed God's command and dipped himself in the river seven times, in that way he fully experienced the work of God.
He followed the good will of God and obeyed the Word to the very last even though it was not consistent with his own thoughts. When Naaman believed the word of the prophet and fully obeyed it, God accepted it joyfully and healed him of his leprosy as recorded in 2 Kings 5:14. In other words, when we trust men of God, God regards it as trust in Him and as goodness, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:20.
3. To repay the grace he received unchangingly and without forsaking it
Luke chapter 17 describes that Jesus healed ten leprous men but only one of them came to Him and gave thanks. Then, Jesus said in Luke 17:17, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?"
Today when many people pray to God that He might heal them or give them the desires of their heart, they confess they will be faithful to the point of death after healing or vow something to receive God's answer. But in many cases they forget their confession after being healed. But Namaan didn't forsake the grace. 2 Kings 5:15 reads, "When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, 'Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.'"
After he was healed, he didn't just leave for his country. He returned to Elisha with all his company and expressed his thanks. He also made a remark of determination that he would only acknowledge and serve God. (2 Kings 5:17)
Just as said above, God chose Namaan and received glory through him though he was a Gentile since he had a good inner heart that gave thanks for God's grace and would never betray God whom he met.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the greatness of your blessing and the speed of answers are different according to how much goodness you have cultivated in your heart. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have the heart of goodness like that of Namaan and manifest the goodness in perfect deeds. I hope by doing so you will become the source of joy and receive answer to your heart's desire.
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