Tell the Story
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.1 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels2 of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana3 and 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. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Gehazi’s Greed and Punishment
15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD. 18 In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.”
But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” 23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up 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. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
After Elijah didn’t die (but went to heaven all the same), God raised up a new prophet to walk in Elijah’s shoes. His name was Elisha and he didn’t literally walk in Elijah’s shoes, but he did literally wear Elijah’s cloak and was blessed with a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. He was the next great prophet to speak God’s message and wield God’s power.
And Elisha did a lot of both. As a messenger, he instructed kings, rebuked enemies, and promised food for hungry people. And as a miracle worker he multiplied cooking supplies, purified deadly stew, made an axe head float, and brought the dead back to life.
In those days, Syria was often at war with Israel, and on one of their raids they stole a little Israelite girl who would play a big part in God’s plan. The little girl worked for the wife of Naaman, a commander in the Syrian army. Naaman was a mighty man of valor, but he also had a serious skin disease called leprosy. When the little girl learned of Naaman’s disease she spoke up: “You need to see the prophet from Israel!”
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stood at the door to Elisha’s house. “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times,” Elisha told him, “and you shall be clean.” You might think this would be good news to Naaman, but it made him furious. “The Jordan River!” he said. “We have better rivers in Syria.
I thought this prophet was going to help me!”
As Naaman was leaving, one of his servants urged him to listen to Elisha. So Naaman humbled himself, went down, and dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times. And wouldn’t you know it, the leprosy was gone. Naaman was clean.
Being a rich man, Naaman was prepared to pay for such a miracle, but Elisha refused. He would not take anything from Naaman. The grace God gave Naaman was to be a gift.
But one of Elisha’s servants, a man named Gehazi, thought differently. “I bet I can still get something for this miracle,” Gehazi figured. So he ran after Naaman and took from him two bags of silver and two changes of clothes.
When Gehazi returned, Elisha knew something was not right. “Where have you been?” Elisha asked. “Nowhere,” Gehazi replied. But Elisha saw through the lie. He knew that Gehazi had chased after Naaman. “Because you sought to get rich from God’s grace,” Elisha said, “the leprosy that left Naaman will now stick to you.” Gehazi learned the hard way: there are some gifts money can’t buy, and some money we shouldn’t accept.
