The story of Naaman washing in the Jordan is one of those OT narratives that we teach to even the youngest Sunday School classes.

It’s a simple story they can understand, one of the characters is a little girl, it’s fun to sing songs and act out Naaman dipping 7 times…

But there is a lot of nuance in this narrative that is left out of the children’s versions. Let’s look at those peripheral details.

And this may take a while. Go ahead and top off your coffee… ☕️

1. NAAMAN ALREADY HAD HISTORY WITH YAHWEH – HE JUST DIDN’T KNOW IT

“Now Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man before his master and highly regarded, for by him Yahweh had given victory to Aram. Now the man was a mighty warrior, but he was afflicted with a skin disease.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭LEB‬‬

And who was Aram victorious over?

Israel.

If we think that Yahweh would never help “the bad guys” that belief does not square with scripture.

Naaman was already on Yahweh’s radar. The LORD had helped Naaman achieve military success. It wasn’t the gods of Aram that did that. Naaman (and his army) was the paddle in God’s hand to deliver corporeal punishment to the backside of His disobedient son, Israel.

Humans can be used by God to bring about His purpose without them having a clue that’s what they’re doing. And I believe that He does this without violating a person’s free will.

2. THERE WAS A LOT OF MONEY INVOLVED

It’s hard to know exactly what the 10 talents of silver and 6000 shekels of gold and 10 sets of clothing would be worth today, but a low estimate is 6.5 – 7 million dollars. 💰💰💰

It would be like in the movies when government agents are handcuffed to brief cases filled with millions of dollars.

In the ancient world, you don’t ask a favor of a god without bringing an appropriate offering. Naaman was prepared to make a very generous offer.

Naaman and the king of Aram were serious about showing proper respect to Yahweh the God of Israel and His prophet. It’s probably safe to say that Naaman had more respect for Yahweh as the God of Israel than the king of Israel had.

3. THERE WAS A HUGE CROWD

Naaman didn’t show up with just a couple guys. He showed up with an entire ARMY. In 5:15 the word translated as “company” is the same one used when Israel goes out to battle and there is a whole “host” or “camp.” There are horsemen and chariots. Plural.

Think about it. Israel and Aram have a very “uneasy diplomatic relationship.” They are enemies. It would be like an American General going into the heart of Iran. Even if he has been invited by the leader, he’s not just gonna hop in a jeep with a couple guys and go drive into the territory of a nation that would love nothing more than to see him dead. If he goes in there, he’s going to go in with a whole team of covert spec-ops guys and an armed escort. They are there in case things turn sour. There would be units that go in before and secure a perimeter.

There is a lot more at stake here than one guy taking a dip in a muddy creek. There are big geo-political tensions in the background. Which brings me to…

4. ELIJAH’S DIRECTIVE FEELS LIKE AN INSULT

If an American top general was invited to Iran and was told to strip down to his skivvies and dunk himself in a nasty drainage ditch, how would that be perceived? Humiliation? Mockery? Is it not more typical of delicate matters of state to treat your guest with respect? To perhaps roll out some red carpet and provide an elegant meal?

I don’t think Naaman is being petulant and prissy here just because the Jordan is muddy. He’s a warrior. He earned his stripes by getting dirty on a battlefield of hand-to-hand combat. I think Naaman is aware of what we would now call “the optics” of going into a nation you had battled (and won!) and being placed in such an undignified position. It could be a very poor reflection on all of Aram. No wonder he’s angry. It feels like a big set-up to mock him and his country.

His response is also very telling:

“But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Remember the wild behavior of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? They chanted and encanted, they shouted and slashed. It was quite a show. Cutting and blood gushing. Frenzied leaping about. Most pagan rituals involved at least some level of hocus-pocus and showmanship.

SIDE NOTE

When you see “hocus pocus” and showmanship in the church – especially when it’s about healing or miracles – I’d be very skeptical about that.

Naaman is expecting Yahweh’s prophet to do something similar. At least wave his hands over the sores and say “Abracadabra.”

Put yourself in Naaman’s shoes for a second. You brought all this money and a retinue of distinguished military men. You’ve already humbled yourself by coming hat-in-hand to your enemy. Now the prophet of their God sends his assistant to tell you to basically go jump in a (muddy) creek.

5. NAAMAN WAS BAPTIZED IN THE JORDAN

A lot of Christians who visit Israel are baptized in the Jordan.

In the Greek translation of this text in the Septuagint, the word for Naaman “dipping” himself is baptizo. Baptize.

Naaman was a Syrian (Aramean). A Gentile.

His whole story is beautifully prophetic.

Naaman is a Gentile covered with leprosy – the picture of sinfulness and death. He humbles himself and comes for cleansing to Yahweh, the God of Israel. He obeys the Word of the Lord even though it destroys his pride. He is baptized. Fully immersed. Before his baptism he is covered with death. Afterwards, he is the picture of perfect innocence; a newborn babe.

This text is hinting at the salvation of the Gentiles. I mean, the first Gentile convert baptized in the book of Acts was also a military commander.

This idea of the Gentiles being invited into the family of God did not sit well with everyone.

Jesus once spoke about Naaman in his hometown of Nazareth. And they immediately tried to kill him because of it.

Let’s just read it…

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Naaman – a Gentile – had more faith and obedience toward Yahweh than any leper in Israel. He received a miracle healing. They did not.

Jesus is comparing the people of Nazareth to the unfaithful Israelites of Elisha’s day. And it made them furious.

6. THE DIRT IS IMPORTANT

This topic has come up before as we’re reading through the OT. Ever since the Tower of Babel when “the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭32‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The borders of the peoples- the lines on the ancient maps- were determined by God based on “the number of the sons of God.”

This is why King Balak kept moving Balaam from mountain to mountain in an attempt to curse Israel.

It’s why Ben-Hadad decided to battle Israel in a different location; the valleys instead of the mountains.

Where you physically STOOD mattered.

Are you standing on Yahweh’s turf, the Promised Land? All the lands outside of that were divided up and assigned to the various Gentile nations and their divine family representative – one of the sons of God.

Jesus discusses this situation with the woman at the well… (emphasis mine)

“The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus brought a whole new paradigm. His redemption broke the old system. He opened the way for all people- Jew and Gentile- to be in relationship with God. And it’s no longer based on geography.

The rebel sons of God that had been placed in authority have been circumvented. They have nothing they can hold over the heads of the Gentiles to say, “See. They are guilty!” The Accuser of the Brethren has been cast down. They don’t have a legal case anymore.

Look what Paul wrote to the Gentile believers in Colossae about how Christ disarmed these spiritual authorities with their accusations of guilt:

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Through the redemption that is in Christ, mankind is given access to a new location for worship. And it’s not geographical. It’s spiritual. And you can’t draw a border around that. It’s not in a particular mountain anymore. Or in Jerusalem – as special as it is.

Any where the saint of God is, that is Holy Ground because the child of God is the Temple.

But that’s how it is NOW.

In Naaman and Elisha’s time, everyone understood how things were set up. Yahweh’s land is Israel. The other real estate is the turf of other, lesser gods.

So Naaman comes up out of the waters of baptism a new man and a believer in Yahweh, the God of Israel.

“Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Elisha won’t take the millions. Which makes him VERY different from the “prophets” on tv.

😏 Oooo… now you’re meddling.

Oh hi. Haven’t seen you in several days. Where have you been?

😌 Tahiti.

Tahiti?!

😌 Yeah. Little island nation in the Pacific.

I KNOW where it is! And??????

You’re just gonna say “Tahiti” and that’s it? No explanation? No pictures?

😌 Nope. But I did bring you back a little bottle of sand. So now you own a piece of paradise. 🌴 That’s kinda what Naaman did, isn’t it?

Yes…

I still can’t believe you went to Tahiti and didn’t tell me.

😌 I just told you.

I mean BEFORE you went!

🙄 Ok, Miss Hall Monitor. I’m going to the grocery store in a minute. Need anything?

Just to wrap up this blog post… and maybe some more of that really good eggnog in the glass bottle.

😎 Got it. You write. I’ll get eggnog. 🚗

Tahiti… can’t believe I wasn’t invited…

Anyway… Naaman and the dirt…

Naaman is a follower of Yahweh now. But he also has to go back home to Syria. Only- Yahweh is supposed to be worshiped in sacred space; on holy ground. You can’t just do sacrifice any old place.

“Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There’s no holy ground in Syria. Unless he takes some with him…

“Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Naaman’s 2 mules-loads of earth are like taking a little piece of sacred space. Like a little chapel of light in a dark land. Like an embassy of the heavenly kingdom in a foreign territory. Naaman needs Yahweh’s land if he’s going to worship Yahweh. And since he can’t move to the Promised Land, he’s going to take the Promised Land with him.

Even though the way has been cleared for mankind to come into the heavenly kingdom…

“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The saint of God is like a living, breathing, walking embassy of light in the darkness. We are holy ground- sacred space in the midst of the nations. The barrier has been kicked down. Christ has made the way. The nations are no longer bound to the principalities and powers in the unseen realm. But if a lion doesn’t know that the door to his enclosure has been opened, he’s just as confined as if it were still locked.

There are two ways to be in the darkness.

1. The lights are off.
2. The lights are on but your eyes are blinded.

It’s our job to proclaim the good news to the nations: the prison door is open. You can come out now. And I pray that our lives are luminous enough to light the way.

Now here’s something that may challenge us a bit…

Naaman didn’t run down to the Bible Bookstore and pick up a copy of the Torah. He didn’t get circumcised. He probably didn’t eat kosher, keep the Sabbath, or observe any of Israel’s feasts. And he was going back to his job as the commander of the Syrian army and the king’s personal assistant- even to the point of going into a pagan temple and helping his king bow to worship. And he asks that Yahweh would not hold this against him.

And Elisha tells him, “Go in peace.”

There is no church for Naaman to attend. No Bible study group to join. No other believers for fellowship. No Bible to read. All Naaman had was the truth that Yahweh was the only true God.

And Elisha doesn’t have a problem with this. He sends him home in peace.

It’s very popular today to think that we can somehow be more sanctified if we observe the Torah. But it is not the Torah that sanctifies us.

“But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

It it Jesus Christ Himself Who IS our:

• Wisdom
• Righteousness
• Sanctification
• Redemption

Note that it doesn’t say He gives us those things. He BECAME those things FOR us.

“For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭4‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Abraham did not need the Law of Moses to be righteous and neither did Naaman.

“Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin. Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And here are a bunch more texts you can look up…

All Naaman knew was…

• Yahweh is the true GOD
• I will serve only Him

And that was enough for Jesus Himself to commend his faith and hold him up as an example.

🚗

😎 I’m back. Eggnog time.