A Miraculous Curing Of A Dread Disease

Issues – July/August 2020 – Grace & Truth Magazine

A Miraculous Healing Of A Dread Disease

Leprosy And Naaman
The word “leprosy” in the Bible refers to an incurable disease that caused deformities and a dangerous inability to feel pain. Unlike Hansen’s disease, called “leprosy” in our times, there was no treatment for it. Leprosy in the Word of God is a metaphor for sin – just as leprosy disfigures physically, sin disfigures us spiritually.

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, “was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper” (2 Ki. 5:1 ESV). When he heard that there was a prophet in Samaria (Israel) who could “cure him of his leprosy” (v.3), he told his king. The king of Syria then sent a letter with Naaman to the king of Israel, along with “ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.” The letter said, “I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy!” (v.6).

The king of Israel, frustrated by the letter, “tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?’ ... But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, ‘... Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel’” (vv.7-8).

What Cures Leprosy
Material wealth and human power cannot cure leprosy – or the matter of sin. Only God can cure a leper, and He will do so to accomplish His divine purpose. He wanted Naaman, an idolater, to see that Israel’s God was the true God.

Naaman had drawn his own conclusions about how he would be cured. He thought that Elisha “would surely come out to [him] and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God” (v.11). But no! God’s way was for Naaman to “go and wash in the Jordan seven times” (v.10). By doing so, he was told, his flesh would be restored and he would be free of the disease.

The leper became angry and thought that the nice, clean waters of Syria would be better than the dirty Jordan. People often reject God’s way of cleansing them, asserting that they do the best they can or promising to “turn over a new leaf.” However, each individual must conclude that “I have sin” – a sinful nature from which they need to be cleansed (1 Jn. 1:8). Every person must believe with conviction that “the blood of Jesus ... cleanses us from all sin” (v.7). We must believe that Christ’s suffering, death, shedding of blood, and resurrection are all part of His bearing “our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). This would be our washing. The Lord said, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me” (Jn. 13:8) – you are still in your sins.

God Changes Us
When Naaman went into the Jordan seven times, “according to the word of the man of God ... his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2 Ki. 5:14). What a change! He then said, “There is no God in all the earth but in Israel” (v.15). He also asked for forgiveness if, as part of his job, he went with his master into the house of Rimmon where his master worshiped and he too bowed himself (v.18). Elisha simply told him, “Go in peace” (v.19).

When we become believers we receive a new nature and will want to sin no longer. We become, as the Lord said, “One who has bathed ... [and] is completely clean” (Jn. 13:10). It is also true that as we walk about in our daily lives our feet become dirty and need washing. Then if we, like Naaman, confess and seek forgiveness, these sins will be forgiven and He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

A Child’s Testimony Can Be Effective
A little girl told Naaman’s wife about the power of God available through a prophet in Israel. Indeed, children who have but little knowledge are able to point, as it were, a leprous person toward God. I know a murderer awaiting execution in a prison in the United States who was led to the Lord through a little girl. It is noteworthy that he is now carrying on a fruitful ministry for the Lord, even from prison!

May the example of Naaman and the little girl in the Old Testament serve to encourage children – the children of God – to speak to others about the love and power of our Lord and Savior. Interestingly, we do not even know her name!

By Alan H. Crosby