Luke 4:27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
2 Kings 5:1-3 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
From the story of 2 Kings 5, we hang three large portraits on the wall. Elisha, of course. And Naaman. And Gehazi. God is not there – simply because images are not to be made of him. We won’t display Benhadad’s and Jehoram’s pictures, since we don’t really like them! When we come to the end of the chapter and see his deceit, we decide to remove Gehazi’s picture. As we take it down, we notice a small previously unnoticed frame in the corner. “Who is that,” we ask? “I don’t know her name,” comes the answer. “She’s just a little maid from Israel.” A little unnamed maid out of the land of Israel.
Naaman is a primary and noteworthy figure throughout the chapter. The little maid is mentioned in passing. Naaman was a captain; she was a captive. Naaman was a great man; she was a little maid. Naaman is accentuated by name; her name is unknown. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Let us not rush past, but stop and linger here. Look here. Learn here.
Doubtless a man in Naaman’s position had tried the doctors, tried the experiments, and even tried the quacks. Nothing worked. Despite his position of honour and power, he was a diseased dying man, afflicted by the uncurable leprosy. Whatever he might have tried for healing had failed. “So death will soon disrobe us all, of what we here possess.”
In his providence and by his special aid, God used Naaman the captain to bring deliverance to Syria, expanding their power and prosperity. Why, God? O, why? They are Israel’s enemy. Syria’s armies had gone out in companies, raiding the coasts of Israel. In one particularly successful raid, a little maid was taken, separated from father and mother. Did she know what happened to them? Did they know what happened to her? We know what happened to her. Of all the families in all the houses of all the people of Syria, she landed in just one house, the house of Naaman – the captain of the host, the great man in the eyes of his king, the mighty man of valour – who was also a leper. A little maid; a prominent household; a grand providence.
The little maid was brought into captivity because of God’s judgment on Israel. At this time Jehoram was king in Israel. “He wrought evil in the sight of the Lord” (but not like his father and mother – Ahab and Jezebel). Jehoram sanctioned, promoted, and stood by “the sins of Jeroboam” – the worship of the golden calves that Jeroboam installed in Dan and Bethel (2 Kings 3:3; 1 Kings 12:28-33). This serious breach of God’s law was an invitation of God’s judgment. God had begun to lay Israel low, and he would lay them lower. If Israel would not hearken to the voice of the Lord in keeping his commandments, “the Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies,” and “thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 25, 32). Through no direct fault of her own, but through the fault of her national leaders, a little maid in Israel is now a captive in Syria.
The little maid received her cup and allowed no root of bitterness to spring up. Perhaps this little maid saw her parents slain before her eyes; perhaps she was ripped from their arms never to know what happened to them. A sad fate, either way. In our society, we excuse bad behavior because of bad circumstances that decimate one’s life. In our mindset we would concede her every right to be angry, to nurse a grudge, to become bitter, to wish the worst for her captors. Yet the little maid let no root of bitterness spring up within her. She obeyed the New Testament exhortation, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you” (Ephesians 4:31). It seems she dutifully went about her business, serving the mistress of the house, Naaman’s wife.
The little maid loved her enemies, blessed them that cursed her, and did good to them that hated her. It is likely that this little maid did not consider her master and mistress as enemies who hated her. What God would do for Naaman and how Naaman received the God of Israel as the true God suggests God was working a work in his heart. However, the Syrians and Israelites were enemies who hated one another. They were at odds, and at war. Nevertheless, the little maid did not withhold the good news she could impart in her household. Out of the mouth of babes – and of little maids – hath God perfected praise. The little maid believed in God, his power, his miracles, and his prophet. Surely, she testifies of what she has seen? Nay, O man, she testifies of what she knows! How many lepers had the little maid seen cleansed? None! (Luke 4:27) She withholds not the good. She withholds not the good news. There is a prophet in Samaria of a God in Israel (yea, in all places) who heals. If the master could just get to him. The simple words of a simple child, so beautiful in their simplicity, were not dismissed by the wife or household of Naaman. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. How miraculous in itself is their submission to the words of this child! Naaman had no were else to turn.
The providence of God rules over all – the just and the unjust, in good times and in bad times. God hath done whatsoever he hath pleased (Psalm 115:3). Often, we speak of providence of the good things of our life, of how God works all things for our good. Truth! On the other hand, the way we speak of God’s providence might lead the unknowing to believe that God wakes up betimes and then realizes he needs to take care of us. How unlike the God of mercy and grace. Speaking of this, George MacDonald acknowledged, “God’s care is more evident in some instances of it than in others to the dim and often bewildered vision of humanity.” For this reason, “Upon such instances men seize and call them providences.” But how much “gloriously better if they could believe that the whole matter is one grand providence.”
These things were written for our learning. May we learn:
- To not despise the day of small things – or small people, for God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
- To trust God and believe him in all our circumstances. Trust in him at all times.
- To act in faith, for who knoweth whether thou art come for such a time as this?
- To do good to them that hate you, for all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.
- To speak out in all circumstances. Speak the truth, in Christ, in love, always.
3 comments:
that was a good post Mr. Vaughn - i really enjoyed it.
i don't know why i was expecting a Hans Christian Anderson tale when i clicked on it...
anyway, it was good.
interesting thing that i realized after i had read it, was the Jehoram put away the image of Baal that his father (Ahab) had made (Jeze' being the conduit for that spiritual degradation and idolatrous advancement); so i assume that he and Israel was granted a little leniency during this time (as his sister went to Judah and brought the Baal bond there in marriage to Jehoshophat's son Jehoram) but of course he still clung to Jeroboam's sins. Just found it interesting.
Alex, thanks for stopping by, reading, and commenting. Good things to think about concerning Jehoram.
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