>> Jen: Welcome and good morning, faithful listeners. We're going to finish up second Kings, chapter five today and the story of Naaman the leper. I absolutely love this particular chapter of the Bible. It is such a fun chapter. But for those of you who didn't listen to last week's episode on Wednesday about the first half of this chapter, I do recommend that you do. But I'll still do a quick little recap for you guys before we begin today's
episode. So this guy named Naaman the Syrian was a very famous guy in Syria. He was good friends with the king of Syria. But Syria and Israel had a lot of tensions. They weren't on very good terms with each other. And there was kind of a lot of wars going on between Syria and Israel at the time. And one of those wars caused a little Israeli girl to be kidnapped from Israel and ended up becoming a slave to at Naaman's house. But she was possibly a
Yahweh follower herself. And so she ended up telling Naaman's wife, hey, there's a guy in Israel named Elisha who could probably heal your husband Naaman. Because Naaman had a serious problem. He was a leper. Even though he was a very famous warrior and soldier and captain of many people, he couldn't fully enjoy his life because he, he had leprosy. And it was slowly, literally eating away at him and causing a very slow and painful death for him.
So he hears about Elisha from this little slave girl and he decides to go visit Elisha. And Elisha does indeed give him the recipe of how to be healed. Naaman follows it perfectly. And Naaman is healed of his leprosy. And that is where we leave off today in Second Kings, chapter five. And we're going to read verses 15 through 27. And as you usual, I'll be reading from the web this morning.
He returned to the man of God, he and all of his company, and came and stood before him and said, see, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant. But he said, as Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. He urged him to take it, but he refused. Naaman said, if not, then please let two mules load of earth be given to your servant. For your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor
sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh. In this thing, may Yahweh pardon your servant. When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing. He said to him, go in peace. So he
departed from him a little way. But Gehazi the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, behold, my servant has spared this name in the Syrian in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him and take something from him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? He said, all
is well. My master has sent me, saying, behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing. Naaman said, be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothing and laid them on two of his servants, and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and stored them in the
house. Then he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, where did you come from, Gehazi? He said, your servant went nowhere. He said to him, didn't my heart go with you? When the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive garments and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and cattle and male servants and female servants? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your
offspring forever. He went out from his presence. Ah, a leper as white as snow. Last we left off, Naaman the Syrian, who was a mighty man of war for Syria at the time, had a serious problem. He was a leper. And so he came to Israel because he had heard from one of his servant girls that there was a man named Elisha there who was a prophet from God who could potentially heal him.
So Naaman brought a whole bunch of gifts with him. It says in verse 5 that he took 10 talents of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 changes of clothing. And all of these gifts would have added up to over a million dollars in today's American money. Had a lot of prestige, had a lot of wealth, but was desperate to find a cure for his leprosy. So when he finally gets to Elisha's home, Elisha doesn't Even come out to visit
him. You know, Naaman pulls up with his chariots and this big ordeal, and Elisha doesn't even come out to see him. Instead, he sends a messenger out to talk to Naaman and tell Naaman what to do next, which was to wash in the Jordan. So Naaman initially was angry, but he got over his anger and went and washed in the Jordan, came up a clean new man. It says his. His skin was like the skin of a child's. That is how, um, cured he was of this disease of
leprosy. So now in verse 15, it says he returned to the man of God, he and all of his company, and came and stood before him. So notice that Elisha, when Naaman had leprosy, did not come out to see him. But now that Naaman is cured, Elisha comes out to see him because it says that Naaman stood before Elisha, and he said, see, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now, therefore, please take a gift from your
servant. But Elisha said, as Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. So some people might wonder, why did Elisha not go out to see Naaman initially? Well, the first and most obvious answer is that Naaman had leprosy. And if you look at Leviticus 13, the Old Testament law told the Israeli people to completely avoid anybody that had leprosy because it was a very infectious disease, meaning it could
spread from person to person. So anybody who had leprosy was supposed to live outside of the camp until their bodies were healed, until they were cured. And when you read the word leprosy in Leviticus 13, it's talking about a whole wide range of different skin diseases, not just the leprosy that we think of today that Naaman had, but all sorts of different skin diseases. Anything that was an infectious skin disease, an Israelite would
have to live outside of the camp for. And the other Israelites who didn't have the skin diseases were supposed to avoid anybody that had a skin disease. So I think the main reason Elisha did not go out to see Naaman was because Naaman had leprosy. And it was actually against the Old Testament law for Elisha to touch Naaman in any way or go near him. And we know that that's what Naaman
wanted Elisha to do. He expected Elisha to, like, come out to him, to greet him, and to wave his hands all over the place, maybe touch him, maybe. Who knows what else Naaman was thinking? He wanted Elisha to be in close proximity with him. And Elisha said, no, I can't do that, because that is actually against the Old Testament law. So that's the first reason, I think Elisha did not come out to see Naaman. But the second reason was because Elisha was showing Naaman, who
truly was doing the healing. Don't forget that Naaman was from a foreign country, he was from Syria. And they worshiped all sorts of different gods, including this God, Rimmon, which we're about to talk about in a moment. But Naaman was coming from that culture. He didn't understand that Yahweh could do healings. He expected Elisha to do
all of these healings. And so when Elisha didn't show up for Naaman, that showed Naaman, who truly was in charge, that showed Naaman that Yahweh was God, because Elisha didn't even have to be there for Naaman to be healed. And that is exactly what Naaman says here to Elisha. He says in verse 15, see, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now, therefore, please take a gift from your servant. And this gift, it doesn't seem like, was
anything sinister. I think Naaman was truly trying to give a gift to Elisha because he did bring all of that stuff with him and expected to give it away. And so he was hoping that Elisha would take this gift. And he was probably doing it out of gratitude for Elisha. But Elisha completely refused these gifts. Completely. He said, no, I'm not going to take any payment for this miracle that God performed. And Elisha may have given up this gift, I think, for two reasons.
And they're honestly the same two reasons as to why Elisha, uh, did not come outside to meet Naaman. The first reason being that these gifts that Naaman wanted to give to Elisha were probably carrying leprosy with them, because we know that with leprosy, the skin would ooze and pus up and there was a lot of, like, fluid that came along with
the disease of leprosy. And a lot of that could have gotten on Naaman's possessions, on his clothes, perhaps his servants also were, um, infected, spreading some of this disease onto the clothing. We don't know. And so in order to avoid getting leprosy once again and avoid being ceremonially unclean, Elisha refused the gifts from Naaman. That's the first reason. And the second reason is because Elisha did not consider himself to have been the one that did this miracle, he was giving
all of the credit and the glory to God. So he was saying to Naaman, no, I'm not going to take any payment from you or even a gift from you, because I, I am not the one who performed this miracle. Uh, I don't deserve this payment or this gift from you. This was all God's doing. So Elisha was giving 100% of the credit to God. And so that is why he did not. At least that's why I think he did not take these gifts from Naaman. So Naaman, he insists.
But Elisha was firm. He's like, no, I'm sorry, I will not take any of your gifts. So, so finally Naaman accepts it. He says, if you won't accept my gifts, then please let two mules load of earth be given to your servant. For your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh in this thing. May Yahweh pardon your servant. When my master goes into the house of Rimnon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the
house of Rimmon. When I bow myself, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing. So Naaman is now speaking very humbly to Elisha. He's calling himself the servant of Elisha. And this is a common way that people in the Old Testament times used to talk. They would call themselves the servant of the other person. It was a way to show humility to that other person. Kind of like how in Japan they will bow when they meet somebody and they try to, like, make themselves lower
than the person they are meeting. It's sort of the same thing here. And Naaman, even though he was a very wealthy and prestigious man, you can see by his personality that he, he was kind of humble for being in the position that he was in. Even throughout the entire thing, he listened to his servants. It seemed that he treated them pretty well. They weren't scared to talk to him or give him advice. And also he wasn't scared to admit that he was wrong and make himself
humble. And Naaman had a complete transformation. He started fully following Yahweh at this point. And he told Elisha, I now understand that there is no other God in all the earth except the one that is in Israel. And that is the only God I am ever going to worship ever again. So he says, please let me take two mule loads of earth with me back to Syria. And what he's asking for is for some of Israel to go home with
him. And this was probably more of a superstitious belief that Naaman had, that somehow Israel's land was holier than the dirt that was in Syria. And so if Naaman had some of Israel come back with him, he might feel more connected to Yahweh that way. So it was likely a superstitious thing. But I also read another commentary that said maybe Naaman wanted to bring that Israeli dirt back with him so that he could spread it on the floor of the
temple of Rimmon. So then when he goes to the temple of Rimmon with the king, and the king forces him to bow down to Rimmon, at least he will be bowing on Israel's earth, which I thought was a kind of an interesting viewpoint and take on that.
So we don't exactly know why Naaman wanted to take part of Israel home with him, but likely it was for some sort of superstition that he had, because that was common in the day to believe that there was a god of a certain land or that the land had some sort of power in and of itself. And I mean, God meets people where they're at. And Naaman was a gentile Syrian who had once been pagan only moments before this. And God meets people where they're at.
And so Elisha actually gives Naaman the go ahead. He's like, all right, you can take a little bit of Israel's dirt home with you if that'll make you feel better. And so. And so that is what Naaman does. But in verse 18, it mentions that Naaman is still going to go to the temple of Rimmon because he is forced to do this thing, he says, in this thing, may Yahweh pardon your servant Naaman. When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow
myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself, may Yahweh pardon your servants in this thing. And Elisha actually does not give an answer regarding that. Instead, he tells Naaman, go in peace, meaning that Elisha was leaving that whole situation up between Naaman and God. This was a situation that God would have to work on Naaman's heart for that.
Even though Naaman was scared to refuse to worship Rimmon, God would have to show Naaman that worshiping another God in any context, even in fear, was the wrong thing to do. But Elisha knew that that was something God would have to work on Naaman's heart with. So Elisha tells Naaman to go in peace. And so Naaman, uh, departs. Then the story completely changes back to Gehazi. And you guys remember Gehazi, right? He's, uh, he's Elisha's servant.
And every single time we see Gehazi in the past, it has not been in the best light. Usually he's doing something wrong. So now his story kind of comes to a conclusion. Gehazi, who has been serving Elisha for many years, gets very greedy. He is angry that Elisha did not accept any gifts from Naaman when Naaman brought all of these beautiful things from Syria. In verse 20, Gehazi says, Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian in not receiving
at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him and take something from him. So there could have been a little bit of, I wouldn't say racism, but Syria and Israel were not on the best terms during this time. And it kind of seems like Gehazi is salty that Elisha let Naaman the Syrian get away so easily without having to do anything. Like, he was just healed and that was it. But isn't that how God works? God just heals and forgives
and shows mercy to people all the time. He doesn't expect them to pay Him for the free gift that he gives them. Elisha was just showing the character of God by, I guess, allowing Naaman to get off easy. But Gehazi got angry about this, and so he decides that he is going to make up this lie and run after Naaman and get something from Naaman. So
it says that Gehazi followed after Naaman. And so when Naaman saw that Gehazi was running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and he said, is all well? Is everything okay? And so Gehazi said, yes, all is well. But my master Elisha just sent me because there were two young prophets that just came to visit us not too long ago, and they're in need of some clothing and money. So can you please spare a talent of silver and two changes of clothing for these
prophets who are in need? And so Naaman's like, yeah, absolutely. I will totally give you anything you need for your ministry. In fact, take two talents of silver. Naaman bound the two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothing and laid them on two of his servants, and they carried them before Gehazi. And so Gehazi and the servants get to the hill, and he took them from their
hand and stored them in the house. So Gehazi sends the servants away before they get back to the house, because obviously there were no prophets there. That was a lie that Gehazi made up so he could get this, uh, money and the changes of clothing. And then Gehazi hides the silver in the house along with the two changes of clothing. And Elisha knew everything because he got a prophecy from God. And he said to Gehazi, where did you go, Gehazi? And he said, what are you talking about?
I didn't go anywhere. What do you mean? And Elisha says, didn't my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is this really now the time to receive money and garments and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and cattle and male servants and female servants? So Elisha sternly rebukes Gehazi for what he did. He's like, my heart went with you when you followed after Naaman and asked for money from
him. And honestly, even though Naaman was excited to give a gift to Gehazi and to Elisha and seemed eager to give more, that doesn't mean that that couldn't have put a stumbling block in front of Naaman, that maybe Naaman was really impressed that Elisha refused to take any gift from him whatsoever. And now all of a sudden, Elisha is asking for a gift in his mind because Gehazi lied about Elisha and the two prophets. And maybe that slightly tainted Naaman's
opinion about what happened. And we don't know if that is truly the case or not, because Naaman, I don't think is ever mentioned again. But you don't know how that could have affected Naaman. That could have put a stumbling block in front of him, him being such a new Yahweh follower and Gehazi lying so blatantly to Naaman, saying, no, Elisha actually does want a gift for these two prophets that came to visit us.
So we don't know exactly how Gehazi's actions could have affected Naaman or possibly the servants of Naaman who were analyzing this entire situation? Gehazi became a poor witness of Yahweh because of his greed. And so Elisha is very stern with him. He says, gehazi, is this really the time to accept all of these gifts, to gain wealth for ourselves? Is this the time to do it? And he says, because you did this thing, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your
offspring forever. And what does that tell you? That means that it was absolutely true that Naaman's Leprosy had seeped in to those gifts and Gehazi, because of his greed, ended up catching leprosy for himself. It says, to conclude this sad story, Gehazi went out from Elisha's presence a leper as white as snow. So his skin immediately turned white and flaky. And he caught leprosy because of his greed and because he touched all of the
gifts that Naaman had given him. But of course this was also a punishment from God over what Gehazi had done. Because once again, we don't know the effects of Gehazi's actions. We don't know who could have stopped believing in Yahweh because of Gehazi's actions. We don't know the situation of it. But whatever it was, it was a serious situation and that is why Gehazi ended up becoming a leper. M We're not going to hear too much about Gehazi after
this. Maybe once or twice, but for the most part Gehazi's story is done because once he became a leper, he is now, according to Leviticus 13, an outsider. And unfortunately Gehazi had chance after chance to turn his life around. While he was like working with Elisha, seeing all these miracles that were being done, Gehazi had the chance to be a true Yahweh follower and unfortunately did not choose that
path. But faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed 2nd Kings chapter 5 and discussing every aspect about Naaman the Syrian and Elisha and Gehazi. And if you did enjoy the podcast then leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Switch, Spotify or any other podcast platform that you listen on. And perhaps one of these days I will read your review on the podcast or put it up on my website. But faithful listeners, I hope you have a great rest of your day. I will see you guys
tomorrow. Until then, happy listening and God bless.