Title: Wash and Make Clean
Contents The nation of Syria mentioned in today's text has been at war with Israel since the time of King Saul, and has always been at war. Baaman was the chief of the army of this country. He was a man trusted by King Benadad II of Syria. (In 2 Kings 5:1, it is said, “Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man before his master.”) His name was The meaning of the word is "joy", but he was not living a life as happy as his name. Because he was suffering from a very serious contagious dermatitis, which the text reads as "leprosy."
One day, an Israeli girl with Baaman's wife's attendant hears about a prophet in the land of Samaria. The girl tells Baaman's wife that if she shows her master's illness to a prophet in the land of Samaria, she will be healed. Then his wife talked to Baaman, and Baaman told Benadad II, the king of Syria, about this, and Benadad II himself wrote a letter to King Jehoram, who was the king of Israel at the time. Through this process, only Baaah found the land of Israel. But when the king of Israel learned of this, he decided that the king of Syria was arguing with Israel, so he tore his clothes and was terrified. On the other hand, the prophet Elisha boldly tells the king of Israel, who is afraid of Syria, to send Baaman to him when he comes to Israel.
In this way, as in today's text, Baaman comes to Elisha the prophet. At this time, Elisha sent messengers to tell Baaman that he would be healed if he went to the Jordan River and washed himself seven times. Then Baaman came to him and became angry because he was displeased with Elisha, who sent messengers who could not meet him. It was because he did not receive the satisfactory treatment he had expected.
He is very angry, saying that he would rather go to the Amana and Barbal rivers in Syria, which is much better than the Jordan River (in the Bible text, Damascus, this is Aram), and wash himself. Perhaps at that time, if Baaman returned to his own country like this, he would have had the momentum to bring an army and attack Israel.
It was this time. The servants who had accompanied Baaman to Elisha's house came to Baaman, and if the prophet had done something that was really difficult, he would have done it. . One of the things we should note is this. Although his position was high enough to serve as a minister of defense for a country, Naaman was a man who listened to the loyal advice of his servant. These days, there are people who believe only in their position, power, and wealth and ignore people below, but that is wrong. In the end, Naaman washed himself seven times in the Jordan River, as the man of God said, and was completely healed.
Everyone, I need to be able to feel God the Father working in the process of giving birth to this Naaman disease. As in the case of Naaman, the history of healing is meant to occur in the course of everyday life. If I try to do it my way, there is no room for the Word of God to intervene. In the case of Naaman, God intervened in his wife's servant, the Israeli girl, and the faithful servants he had personally served.
In the case of St. Augustine we know well, he was young and prodigal, but didn't he turn his life of debauchery through his mother's many years of tears in prayer? While he was peniting his life with tears, he could hear the voice of God saying, “Open and read, open and read” in the children's nursery rhymes. So, did you not hear Romans 13:12 saying, "The night is deep, and the day is near; therefore, let us put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light", and from that we became devoted to God.
Naaman was able to experience God's work of healing that had been planned for a long time by breaking his anger and obeying the servant's words. Because he obeyed God's word, he also had a wonderful healing history.
On the other hand, Elisha could have healed Naaman, who came to him to be healed by human means or the power of godliness. However, he thoroughly obeyed the power of God, the Word of God. He did not want to reveal himself even in the slightest because he firmly believed that God would heal the sick. So, didn't Naaman make a confession that he would serve God when he was healed? Perhaps if Elisha had taken the initiative to heal himself, Naaman would have returned to his own country, built a shrine for Elisha, and bowed down to Elisha. However, because there was Elisha, who humbly obeyed God's word and depended on God's work of healing, Naaman also came to experience that it was God's work.
I hope that you will become members of Banpo Church who do not follow people but obey God and humbly obey God's Word.