by Steve Hale
"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" ( 2 Kings 5:14, NKJV).
Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Syria ( 2 Kings 5:1). He was a great and honorable man, and the LORD worked through him to give victory to Syria! But Naaman was also a leper!
This was during Elisha's ministry, and a young girl, brought back captive by one of the raids on Israel, became acservant of Naman's wife ( 2 Kings 5:2). She told Naaman's wife of the great prophet in Samaria (the capital of the Northetn Kingdom) that could heal Naaman.
Hearing of this, the king of Syria sent great riches to the kings of Israel: ten talents of silver, six-thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing! The king of Israel thought it was a trap (due to his faithlessness), and tore his cloths thinking the Syrian king was only trying to pick a fight.
Elisha, hearing of this,sent to the king of Israel for Naaman. Elisha said: "Please let him come to me, and he shall know there is a prophet ih Israel" (2 Kgs. 5:8).
Naaman came with all the pomp and circumstance incumbent with a man of his position" ( 2 Kings 5:9). But, Elisha did not even go to personally meet him, but sent a messenger! The messenger told Naaman: "Go and wash in,the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean" ( 2 Kings 5:10).
Naaman was furious...he thought Elisha would come out personally, wave his hand over the place, call on the name of his God, and heal him ( 2 Kings 5:11). Immerse in the Jordan? It was a winding, muddy, humble river. Surely it would be more fitting for a man like him to go to Damascus, and dip in the Ababah and the Pharpar ( 2 Kings 5:12)! He went away in a rage!
His servants asked him: "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'" ( 2 Kings 5:13)? In essence, if Elisha had said go conquer a people, or climb some mountain, wouldn't he have done it?
Naaman obeyed, and was cleansed! Watch that word "obey." Naaman: (1) dipped; (2) seven times; (3) in the Jordan. What if Naaman didn't want to be dipped...after all, he was a leper, arid with all those bandages and wounds, that surely wasn't convenient.
What if Naaman said any other number, once or twice? After all, God wouldn't "nip-pick," would He? Or, what if he chose Abanah or Pharpar?
No, he had to obey God! Listen to Naaman himself: "Indeed, now I know there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel..." ( 2 Kings 5:15). Naaman now knew that only this God could save him from leprosy!
Only our God can save us from our sins. He wants us to be 'baptized into Christ to have our sins washed away ( Acts 22:16). We must not go to other places for salvation, nor substitute other ways. If we can, why couldn't Naaman? If Naaman couldn't, neither can we!