II Kings 5, Naaman's Leprosy

We continue with remarkable stories about Elisha.

2 Kings 5: 1-5, A slave girl's story

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. 

Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

"By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

Naaman is a leader of the foreign country of Aram (to the east of Israel. across the Jordan.) He has some serious type of skin disease.  (The NIV footnotes will remind us that the word translated "leprosy" is unclear. There were a number of skin diseases that might have been described by that term.) In the ancient Near East culture on slavery (outside the Mosaic Law) slaves were often captives captured in raids. Naaman learns from an Israeli slave girl that a prophet in Israel can heal him and so gets permission to travel to Samaria (that is, the northern kingdom.)

2 Kings 5: 6-7, Letter to Israel

The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." 

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"

The king of Israel believes this is a pretense for an attack. He doesn't like the prophet (no king does) and now he is supposed to connect the prophet with a potential enemy.

2 Kings 5: 8-12, Elisha's instructions disobeyed

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." 

But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

Elisha intervenes and tells the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. When Naaman arrives, Elisha does not even meet him but gives instructions to Naaman through a messenger. Both the treatment at the door and the instructions are viewed as insulting by Naaman, who is accustomed to considerable respect. The instructions include bathing in an Israeli river, not an Aramean river. Naaman refuses to follow these absurd instructions.

2 Kings 5: 13-16, Servants intervene

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, `Wash and be cleansed'!"

So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
 

 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."

The prophet answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

Naaman's servants confront their master and urge him to do the simple thing required by the Israeli prophet.  Naaman washes in the Jordan and is healed.  Ecstatic, he worships the God of Israel (this was the whole point in washing in the Jordan) and offers gifts.  Elisha refuses.

2 Kings 5: 17-19, Earth from Israel

"If you will not," said Naaman, "please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD. But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also--when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this."
 

"Go in peace," Elisha said. After Naaman had traveled some distance,
 

This is a remarkable passage. Naaman wants earth from Israel so that he can arrange offerings and sacrifices to YHWH. And he asks forgiveness, asking that when he bows down in the temple of Rimmon, that YHWH understand that he is really bowing down to YHWH!

2 Kings 5: 20-24, Gehazi's con

Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him." So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. 

When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Everything is all right," Gehazi answered. "My master sent me to say, `Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.'"

 

"By all means, take two talents," said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.
 

When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

Gehazi will not be the last person to get rich off of religion.  He sees that Naaman has offered riches and been turned down and believes Elisha should have been harder on this foreigner.  So Gehazi finds a way to get some wealth from the foreign leader. In order to hide this act from Elisha, he hides the riches in his own home before returning to Elisha. But Elisha is not fooled....

2 Kings 5: 25-27, Deceit revealed

Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked. 

"Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered.

But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." 

Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

Elisha is not fooled. It is inappropriate to accept gifts for YHWH's healing. Elisha is surely alert to having his reputation (and that of YHWH) dragged into the mud by Gehazi's greed. Gehazi's theft is punished by the same skin disease that Naaman had at the beginning of the chapter.

Gehazi has been was Elisha for some time.  Surely he might guess that Elisha would learn of this deceit!