Naaman was angry because he had a particular idea of how the man of God would heal him, mostly in a dramatic, spectacular way, where Elisha comes out to him, “stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot…” This was probably due to how the pagan prophets worked, and it might also have been because he was such a great and revered warrior that he felt he deserved such a spectacular healing where he will be commemorated forever.  At the same time, he disdained a very basic, unremarkable, humiliating instruction from Elisha. Instruction is an instruction, and, if he wanted to be healed, he ought to have listened. However, the fact that he raged and dismissed it reveals that he might have either thought it was too beneath him to do such unremarkable, humiliating thing, and not be treated extra special from Elisha. He might have expected Elisha to be grateful to have been consulted by such a great man as he. But what he got was to be treated as the leper he was, where Elisha stayed away from him and instructed him to go and wash himself. Naaman was a leper! You’re not supposed to go near a leper, lest you get contaminated yourself. It was ordained in the Hebrew laws for people to stay away from lepers.

But, Naaman forgot the reality of their situation. He was an unclean leper who needed to be isolated and separated from others so as to not infect them. He was a leper, and Elisha was the healer. In this reality, it did not matter that Naaman was a great warrior and Elisha was a poor prophet. Naaman was the needy one and Elisha was the powerful one. In such a situation, Naaman needed to have been humbly accepting of any prescription Elisha gave him.

I find this at work when we do not want to submit to God’s mundane, unremarkable ways to be spiritually well. When confronted with our sinful nature, and we want to be spiritually well, we resist instructions that seem unremarkable and mundane, such as going back to God’s Word daily, to praying, reflecting, being thankful, persevering, pushing through, and obeying basic things. We want to obey remarkable, spectacular things, not humiliating, unremarkable things like daily DT, praying, reflecting, serving in small ways, etc.

The pride in us resists the unremarkable, humbling instructions from God. We are ultimately self-centered people who want to be made much of, and would like God to address our sins in such a way as well. We also want to do anything but to be deflated in our ego. It was clear that Naaman was so humiliated by the fact that he was not made much of by Elisha, that his ego could not take what was a very doable, simple, uncomplicated set of instructions from Elisha.

So often, we forfeit amazing spiritual movement in our own lives because we could not take doable, simple, uncomplicated set of instructions from God. And, of course, there was no miracle in the river Jordan. That was just another muddy river in Palestine. The miracle lay in Naaman’s obedience to whatever God instructed him to do at the moment. The river Jordan, Elisha, Naaman’s servants were all agents of God to work any miracle He chose, if Naaman obeyed.

I’ve experienced this, when people who have had longstanding strongholds submit to the daily practices of going to God’s Word, again and again, denying their pride and ego to be frustrated at the process.

What stood between Naaman and his healing? What stood between him being isolated and diseased for the rest of his life and being healed and rejoining community? It was his pride–his idea of how God ought to treat him, how he ought to made much of. It was not the disease itself, because God had a cure for him already.

To his credit, the one thing he did right was to humble himself and listen to his servants. Therein we find out hope! We are proud creatures, wanting to be made much of by God and his people. But, even in our raging, proud moments, if we pause and listen to His people again, and choose to follow instructions that God lays out, God is gracious and will allow spiritual healing.

²⁶ 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? ²⁷ 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.

Gehazi was the ultimate tragic figure. He had front row seat of this incredible work of God, and what he chose to take away was how “to get something from [Naaman].” This was the time for him to see the awesome and amazing God, to see that he was on holy ground, that God Himself was worth more than all that money can buy. This was his opportunity to see and know that God Himself was the great reward, for all the worldly things to pale in comparison. This was the time for him to reach another level of personal faith and growth, to taste and see how good God is, that, being in His presence, as poor as they were, was by far greater than any luxuries that Naaman could provide. This was the time for him to take personal conviction and knowledge of God for himself, as Elisha was demonstrating it so clearly when he refused to accept any compensation from Naaman. God laid it out all for him to just step into.

However, he was consumed with getting something from those who got healed. That colored all of his view, and he ultimately was blind and deaf, like a brute beast, who knew or sensed nothing other than personal gain.

When God does something, and He is at work around me, I need to constantly lift my eyes and see what kind of time this is. No matter what I may be, He may be offering me an opportunity to rise and take up the mantle of God’s prophet today.

2 Kings 22:11-19

Reflect on Josiah’s response to the reading of the Word (vv. 11-13; 19).  What does Josiah’s response show me about crucial steps in allowing the word of God to impact my life? This passage shows how Josiah allowed the Word of God to impact his life in a real way.  First, the Word must be read and heard.  This is what Josiah did first, and through reading the word it led to his conviction of his and his nation’s sin.  As Josiah tore his robes after reading the Word, he sought the Lord to know more about his sin and his nation’s sin.  He did not dismiss the Word or take it lightly, but instead he wanted to know the Word clearly and thoroughly as it applies to him and his nation.  Secondly, he inquired of the Lord about the Word and what it means for him and his nation who has sinned.  Thirdly, he acknowledged the truth of the Word as it described him, his nation and his nation’s idolatry and sin.  He saw clearly that the Word was a true indictment against his nation and that against the Word of God, his sins and the sins of his nation were clear.  He saw and acknowledged his sin as it was made clear through the Word.  He admitted to the truth of the Word, especially as it applied to him and his people.

These are the steps Josiah took to have the Word impact his life.  But I have to ask if I take this kind of seriousness and active role in reading the Word and responding to it.  I see clearly, how Josiah took the Word seriously that led to his repentance, tearing of his robe and inquiring of the Lord so that he would have a clearer understanding of the Word and thus his and his nation’s sin, and then to acknowledge and confess that they are guilty of not obeying the Word.  But so often this is not how I respond to the Word.  I need to take the Word much more seriously in my life and allow the incredible truths of the bible to sink in and transform my life as I properly respond in repentance.  But instead I often take the Word lightly, as yet another DT, or bible study or Sunday message.  There are very few times when it really sinks in and hits me and works in my heart to have the same kind of wrenching (and objectively, the only proper) response that Josiah had.  If I would just read the Word, really hear it and look for deeper understanding of it and acknowledge my sinfulness then I would be humbled and really experience the hand of God as Josiah did.  However, often I don’t allow myself to even hear the Word when it is spoken.  I think it is for someone else or I have simply become immune to it.  But clearly the Word is powerful and truthful and through it, life can be found, as Josiah found life through proper response and repentance brought about by the Word.  It is I that am really missing out on experiencing true forgiveness and mercy, as Josiah did in this passage, by not responding to the Word in this way.

Submitted by George Hu, Gracepoint Berkeley

Reflect on Josiah’s response to the reading of the Word (vv. 11-13; 19).  What does Josiah’s response show me about crucial steps in allowing the word of God to impact my life? King Josiah’s response was one of great sadness and tragedy that he and the people had been living apart from God’s law, and had been disobedient to it for so long.  According to Josiah’s example, the critical steps of allowing God’s word to impact my life are: being open to hearing the word of God, not being defensive about it (Josiah could have reacted by saying it’s not his fault, it happened during the reign of his predecessors, etc.), and humbling himself before God’s words, and approaching God in prayer.  One of the key aspects of his response is the fact that he was humble before the word of God, instead of acting defensively.  Technically, it was not him who disobeyed, but his predecessors, and he could have shirked the responsibility.  But his response of sadness and tragedy shows that his perspective was not self-centered but God-centered.  The self-centered response would have been to think that it was not his own personal fault, but he was doing the best he could.  The God-centered perspective sees the situation as God does, which is with great sadness and anger at the people’s disobedience, and Josiah sees it as his responsibility now as the king to inquire of the Lord.  Also, Josiah took quick action to respond to what the word of God was convicting him.  He did not delay, but quickly inquired of the Lord.

How did the content of the Book of the Law change Josiah’s perspective about the future of his nation?  To what extent do I allow the word of God to dictate my sense of reality regarding life? Josiah was busy at work repairing the temple of the Lord, probably looking forward to a time of prosperity and favor from God for the work that he was doing.  He probably thought everything was going so well in his kingdom.  But it was brought to his attention that his nation had been living in disobedience, and the prophetess declared to him what would happen.  It turns out that God was very angry at their disobedience and rebellion.  Josiah’s previous idea of the future of his nation was based on a false notion of security, and it turned out that reality was very different from what he thought.  For me, it is easy to have a similar false sense of security, thinking that God is pleased with me because of the amount that I serve at church or my attendance at different meetings, or even titles within the church.  But the reality is that my heart could be far from God and I could be living in rebellion even if with all of those things.  I need to make sure that my perspective on myself is constantly measured according to the standard in the word of God.