Friday, September 2, 2022
Theme: “Obedience precedes divine blessings»
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14
1. Naaman, chief of the army of the king of Syria, enjoyed the favor of his master and great consideration; for it was through him that the LORD had delivered the Syrians. But this strong and valiant man was a leper. 2. Now the Syrians had come out in troops, and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel, who was in the service of Naaman's wife. 3. And she said to her mistress: Oh! if my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria, the prophet would cure him of his leprosy! 4. Naaman went and said to his master: The maiden of the land of Israel spoke in such and such a way. 5. And the king of Syria said, Go, go to Samaria, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten change of clothes. 6. He took the letter to the king of Israel, in which it was said: Now when this letter comes to you, you will know that I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy. 7. After reading the letter, the king of Israel tore his clothes, and said, Am I a god, to kill and to bring to life, let him come to me, that I heal a man of his Meadow? Know then and understand that he is looking for an opportunity to argue with me. 8. When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to say to the king, Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9. Naaman came with his horses and his chariot, and he stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 10. Elisha sent word to him by a messenger, Go, and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan; your flesh will become healthy, and you will be clean. 11. Naaman was angry, and he went away, saying, Behold, I said unto myself, He shall come out unto me, he shall present himself, he shall call upon the name of the LORD his God, he shall wave his hand in the square and heal the leper. 12. Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Parpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash myself in it and become pure? And he would turn around and leave in a rage. 13. But his servants came near to speak to him, and they said, My father, if the prophet had asked you something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more must you do what he told you: Wash yourself, and you will be clean! 14. He then went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh became like the flesh of a young child, and he was clean.
Remember:
Often this text is treated in one sense only, that of Naaman's refusal to wash himself seven times in the Jordan. We will not talk about it, we will deal with the facts that triggered this miracle, these facts are upstream of Naaman's healing. There was a series of obedience in this text. Let us know that Syria was a pagan nation but in the midst of the pagans, the young Israelite girl preached to her mistress on the power of the God of Israel; capable of curing leprosy that was not cured at the time. The little girl obeys God who tells us to evangelize at all times, even when we are in a slave situation. His mistress received the message and believed in the power of this God; she relayed the same message without twisting it. She, too, therefore preached on the power of the God of Israel. It is a great obedience to God. Naaman the concerned also believed in this God, in spite of his stripes of Chief of the army. In the same way he relayed to the king of Syria the same preaching on the power of the God of Israel. And the king also believed and even wrote a letter by hierarchical way from chief to chief. But the king of Israel tore his clothes on receiving the letter; for lack of revelation, savvy and obedience unlike the king of Syria. Those who have God doubt their God but the pagan nations believe in this God and hope in Him to cure leprosy; though the evangelism was done by a little girl of an immature age. This series of obedience led to the great miracle after Naaman's repentance. Excellent Friday. Amen Alain Louz.-
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