And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘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 heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, 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 (vv.10-12).
These were simple, uncomplicated instructions. Yet as Naaman’s reaction demonstrates, these were humbling instructions. Naaman had it all figured out. In his great need, he anticipated a way God would work, and he was offended when God didn’t work the way he expected. Because his expectation of how God should work was crushed, Naaman wanted nothing to do with Elisha. If the answer was in washing in a river, Naaman knew there were better rivers in his own land. So he turned away in a rage.
However, 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’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. (vv.13-14).
Thank God for faithful subordinates who will speak to their superiors in such a way. Naaman was obviously angry, yet they were bold enough to give him the good advice he needed to hear. Naaman did exactly what Elisha told him to do, trusting in the word of God through His prophet.
The end result, Naaman’s response of faith was generously rewarded. God answered his faith with complete and miraculous healing.
The Truth: "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, Yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:27)
