Title Naaman Healed
2010.9.12 Sunday morning service sermon
2 Kings 5:10, 14'10. Elisha sent messengers to him and said, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean."
14. So Naaman went down and immersed himself in the Jordan River seven times, as the man of God had said, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young child, and he was cleansed.” - Amen.
The Syrians are a nomadic people who are descended from the Semitic peoples, also called Syria. The Aramaic nation had a commercial temperament and traded from place to place, so their language Aramaic became the language of the trading world (18:26; Isa 36:11; Ezra 4:7; Dan 2:4). After it was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, Aramaic was spoken in Palestine in the New Testament era (Matthew 27:46; Mark 5:41; 7:34).
Naaman, who held the position of military minister in this country, was a general who had many achievements in winning the wars of the Syrians as the general commander of the army. But he had leprosy. There was a maidservant whom Syria had taken from Israel, and she said to him that there was a prophet of power in Israel, and if he went to him, he would heal him. It is that God accomplished God's authority and work through one little maidservant like a lowly person.
The prophet Elisha, who healed Naaman, was a great prophet who exercised various abilities by receiving double the inspiration of the prophet Elijah from the time of King Jehoram of Israel to Joash. We want to get God's inspirational message from the incident in which General Naaman found and followed Elisha's command to receive healing.
1. Naaman Wanted to Get Better
He was a warrior in war and a famous general who was respected by the king of Syria, but in his private life he suffered from leprosy.
It was the words of a maid, but when an Israeli prophet said that he could cure his disease, he put down his pride and decided to be healed. Salvation begins when you honestly admit your illness.
The reason unbelievers are not yet saved is because they do not openly admit that they are sinners and live in punishment for their sins.
Salvation can only be obtained by those who admit that they are sinners.
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 10:51 "Jesus spoke and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Teacher, I want to see."
Zacchaeus repented and was saved. Even though there were many fishermen in the Sea of Galilee at that time, Peter and his brothers followed the Lord and were saved. Naaman wanted to heal himself. Hearing the words of the maid, I hoped to get better. This is an opportunity to be healed by thinking about your existence more honestly and being humbled.
2. I was healed by obedience
At first, he went near to meet Elisha and hoped that Elisha would come out and do a ritual to heal his wounded part, but Elisha came out of the door and sent a servant to tell Naaman that he would be healed if he went to the Jordan River and washed his body seven times. When I heard this, I was initially angry.
Rivers There are many beautiful and clear rivers, so why do they ask you to go to the Jordan River and wash your body 7 times? Elisha's residence was in the highlands of Samaria at the time, so it was a long journey to get to the Jordan River.
He had to consider the shame and shame of having to take off all the armor of the handsome general, even his underwear, and show all his leprosy in order to go to the river and sink.
1 Corinthians 10:10 “Do not grumble like them, for some of them grumbled and perished with the destroyer.”
Becoming a heretic or being tempted is mainly to blame the world and be tested. If you have gratitude and obedience in everything, you can overcome the test.
Jude 1:16 “These are murmurers and grievers, walking after their lusts, and with their mouths boastful talk and flattering for gain” it tells the characteristics of heresies.
3. Naaman who knows how to be grateful
When she came to Elisha, she brought many presents. And after being healed, Elisha did not receive any material even if she tried to give thanks. As the Lord commanded him to give freely because he received it for free, he was personally like a scholar.
Psalm 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, give thanks to him and bless his name.”
Colossians 4:2 “Continue in prayer and be awake in it with thanksgiving”
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Elisha rejected his case and sent it back. But Gehazi, Elisha's servant, was blinded by the substance. Even if you have a great prophet, you can still take advantage of sin. He went to General Naaman, who was going back to Elisha secretly, and sold Elisha's name in a lie to get a reward.
Knowing this as a revelation from God, Elisha cursed it, and the leprosy that was in Naaman went into Gehazi. Naaman is a general in a Gentile country, but Gehazi is now a leper who must be abandoned in Israel. Because leprosy is an unclean disease, it is isolated and treated as a cursed disease (Leviticus 13:44-45; Num 12:1,10; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21). In the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira also died (Acts 5:) while trying to get money by cheating.
Watching the process of Naaman's healing, I believe that we must imitate Naaman's faith and actions today as well in order to receive salvation through the gospel of the Lord Jesus and receive grace in our daily lives.
I pray that you and I will be cleansed by immersing ourselves in the blood of the Lord, remembering that God's work will be revealed in obedience when the gospel is commanded, by putting down all our own good things.