Healing over healing

Elisha God over gods: Healing over healing

Text: 2 Kings 5

Intro: Small decisions bring massive life changes. Meeting Amy, throwing a party, etc. It is not the dreams you dream but the decisions you make. The biggest blessing in life comes from your obedience to the Lord. Eugene Peterson made popular the phrase, “Long obedience in the same direction.”

1. The Characters
   1. The first two people in the story are both suffering, and neither can figure out why. These stories of suffering people intertwine into a work of art that glorifies God.
   2. This story reveals the answer to what God might be up to when you don’t see him at work.
   3. Naaman 5:1
      1. A non-believer discovers he has a terminal disease, Naaman
      2. Great man - gadol. Wealthy in every way. Great in every way. Military strength, intelligent, cunning, financially wealthy, popular with everyone who was someone.
      3. The Lord sovereignly allows Naaman, who did not know the Lord, to lead the Syrians into victory over Israel for their persistent sin. Ultimately, Israel will go into captivity for their sin.
      4. Naaman had everything going for him, “but he was a leper. 5:1
         1. Leprosy was the most feared disease in the world.
         2. It began as this small, white, powdery patch of skin, like a rash, that would soon spread all over your body.
         3. Wherever it spread, the nerve endings in your skin would die, and boils would break out all over your body, leaving these gaping wounds of raw flesh; eventually, body parts would fall off; your facial features would lose shape and become grotesque.
         4. Leprosy had no cure and had a 100% promise of a slow death.
         5. Once you have leprosy, you are banished to isolation.

• While working in India, Doctor Paul Brand, who pioneered the modern treatment of leprosy, once laid his hand on a patient's shoulder. Then, through a translator, Brand informed the man about the treatment that lay ahead. To his surprise, the man began to shake with muffled sobs.

Doctor Brand asked his translator, “Have I done something wrong?” The translator quizzed the patient and reported, “No, doctor. He says he is crying because you put your hand around his shoulder. Until you came here, no one had touched him for many years.”

1. Servant Girl 5:2-5
   1. The Syrians were constant enemies of Israel and, on a raid, captured a girl who became a servant of Naaman’s wife.
   2. A 14-year-old follower of God - whose parents are likely murdered, after which she gets kidnapped and put into human trafficking. This situation is not entirely unlike the situation that happened in Israel in October of 2025
   3. This girl serves Naaman, hears about his condition, perceives hopelessness, and can’t help but tell about God’s prophet. She knew that the Lord Jehovah could do great things.
2. The Trip
   1. The king of Syria sends a letter to the king of Israel, effectively stating that if you do not cure him, we will conquer your nation. 5:5-6
   2. Naaman prepares himself for the trip by taking extravagant gifts:
      1. 750lbs. of silver and 150lbs. of gold
      2. Clothing may seem an odd addition: “Here’s 5 million dollars, and some shirts.”
      3. In those days, clothing was handmade and very expensive, and this would have been party clothing. Most people would never own even a single set of clothes like this. Having 10 would be like having a garage full of Rolls-Royces. The man of God is gonna be looking sharp.
   3. The king believes this letter is a ruse to conquer them, but Elisha sees an opportunity to reveal the power of God and glorify the Lord 5:6-8
   4. Naaman goes to Elisha with horses and chariots—notice the plural 5:9.
   5. The most powerful man in the world goes to the home of an unknown prophet, and the prophet sends his servant to the door 5:10.
   6. Naaman comes with plenty of money and clothing to pay for Elisha’s healing, but the work of God is not for sale. Is. 55:1-3a, Rev. 22:17
   7. There is no large scene that is going to impress Him or get the Lord to act. How are you going to impress the one who made all of creation, who set the stars in place, made the sunset and sunrise every morning on time and in perfect harmony?
   8. Naaman’s expectations and wishes go unfulfilled:
      1. He thought the healing would be spectacular, and it wasn’t. 5:11
      2. He thought the method was dirty and should be more hygienic. He mentions two rivers in Syria that were prettier and cleaner 5:12. He was right in his evaluation, but was wrong in believing he could determine the method of healing.
      3. Naaman’s feelings about Elisha’s message through the servant are clear - he went away in a rage 5:12b

• Christ sends none away empty but those who are full of themselves. Donald Barnhouse

1. Naaman’s servants loved him enough to push him towards the Jordan River 5:13. Had Elisha said to clip the toenails of a dragon, climb the highest mountain, or cross the longest desert, wouldn’t you have done it? To the servants, the message was simple: wash and be clean.
2. Naaman agreed, went to the Jordan, and did what Elisha said. After dipping himself all seven times, the Lord restored his flesh. 5:14
3. Naaman and Elisha meet face to face for the first time 5:15a. If you were healed from a terminal illness at the word of a prophet or a doctor, and you were now able to speak to them, what would you say?
   1. Thank you
   2. How could I ever repay you?
4. Naaman’s first words were “I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.” 5:15
5. Naaman came with pain and wanted the pain to go away, but God did more than that. God’s ultimate goal is not the removal of your earthly pain, but for you to know Him.
6. So What?
   1. God Often Uses Pain To bring You To Himself.
      1. Before the phone call, or feeling the lump, or in Naaman’s case, seeing the spot, we are on top of the world, but once the news comes about our pain, we see all of life through the lens of pain.
      2. One moment makes us realize that life is short and renews our focus on its brevity.
      3. What if God uses your pain in your marriage, your job, your health, your children, your finances, a habit, a fear, a shame, or a guilt that you can’t run away from, to bring Him glory and to bring you closer to Him?
      4. One day, Naaman woke up and saw a spot that changed his whole perspective on life. Do you have a spot? Are you looking at life through glasses of pain? The moment I ask this question, you know the answer. You are always thinking about it, and sometimes you can’t stop talking about it.
      5. Whatever your spot of pain is, minimally, the purpose of your pain is to remind you that you are a sinner in a sinful world with the inability to fix your sinful problems. Rom. 3:23, 6:23a
      6. Naaman continues to try to give a gift to Elisha, but Elisha refuses 5:15b-16.
      7. Elisha’s rejection of Naaman’s gift reminds us that salvation is always a free gift. Had Elisha accepted Naaman’s grateful gift, people would have understood his healing as bought.
   2. When We Come To Jesus, We Come Undone
      1. Naaman fcalls himself for the first time a servant of Elisha. When we come to Jesus, how we see ourselves changes. 5:17
      2. Could I have a couple of loads of dirt to take back to Syria so that when I make sacrifices to the Lord, it will be on dirt from His land? This is not commanded in any part of scripture; Naaman came up with this on his own. His heart desired to follow the Lord. 5:17b
      3. Evidently, Naaman will go with those in authority over him, as a requirement to the temple of Rimmon, and he is already convicted of it. 5:18
      4. Elisha doesn’t go off on him but instead simply says, “Go in peace.” We are not to expect new believers to be anything other than new believers. Allow people to come to Christ and then to grow in Christ. Elisha doesn’t excuse his sin, but he knows that he needs more growth.
      5. If you are a new believer or willing to admit you are an immature believer, may I give you some advice? God is looking for humility and faith.
         1. Admit that you don’t know and that you are in need. Think about how much humility it took for Naaman to cross that border into Israel, a place he regarded as an inferior culture, to seek salvation; to admit he sought healing in Israel that was not found among his own mighty Syrians.
         2. With God, the way up is down, and the safest place is to trust, not live in independence.
   3. God Often Uses Our Pain To Bring Those Around Us To Himself
      1. 5:2-3 How would you respond to the person who likely murdered many of your friends and family, and took you captive, making you a slave in his house?
      2. She was concerned for Naaman.
         1. Serves him right was not the attitude of this little girl. 5:3
         2. We are open to using our pain to help others when we genuinely care for them.
         3. She suffered as a slave because of Naaman and not because of herself. Because she suffered, she was in a position to point Naaman to the Lord.

• John Piper says, “At any moment God is doing around 10,000 things in your life, and you are aware of only about 3 of them.” He’s using your pain, your suffering, the fact that you are not being rewarded properly for your obedience, to point other people to him.

1. She had confidence in the Lord.
   1. She spoke of the greatness of the prophet in Israel, where leprosy would not have the final word. In her own way, when she saw Naaman’s pain, she pointed to the greatness of the Lord in the middle of her pain..
2. Are you willing to allow your pain to be used to bring others to Christ? The question is not will you suffer, but will you allow your suffering to be used for God’s purposes and for His glory.

• If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.

1. Don't stop talking about Jesus, especially in your pain. Your pain and the darkness of your life reveal the greatness and beauty of the gospel on a dark canvas.

• (show pic of Victoria Price) Victoria Price was working as a reporter for her local NBC affiliate station when she received an urgent suggestion to see her doctor. But the idea didn’t come from a coworker or a supervisor; instead, it came from a viewer.

"Hi, I just saw your news report,” began the email in her inbox. “What concerned me is the lump on your neck. Please have your thyroid checked.” By itself, those words might be generally concerning, but it was the next bit that propelled Price into action. "Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of yourself."

Price did consult her doctor, and it turned out that the eagle-eyed viewer was right. The lump was cancerous, and she eventually scheduled a surgery to get it removed.

Price expressed her gratitude in a subsequent Instagram post. Price said, "Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It's a scary and humbling thought. I will forever be grateful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway."

Cydney Henderson, “Florida news reporter diagnosed with cancer after viewer spotted lump on air” USA Today (7-24-20)

1. Maybe in the middle of your pain, you know that you are to forgive someone. Perhaps word has gotten to you that people are talking badly about you behind your back, and you know that you are just to endure. Whatever you are to do, do so in humility and faith.

Conclusion: Maybe in the middle of your pain, you know what you’re supposed to do — forgive, endure, trust, obey — even when it hurts. Whatever God is calling you to, do it in humility and faith. Because you never know what He’s doing through your pain.

During World War II, the Japanese captured a young Scottish officer named Ernest Gordon. They sent him to a prisoner-of-war camp along the River Kwai — a place so brutal they called it the “Death Railway.” Disease, starvation, and hatred filled the air. Ernest became deathly ill, and they carried him to what they called the “Death Ward,” a hut where prisoners went to die.

But then something remarkable happened. Two fellow prisoners began to care for him — washing his wounds, feeding him, and praying for him. Slowly, Ernest began to heal. But more than that, a spiritual awakening began in that camp. Men full of anger and despair began to serve one another, share food, and even bury their dead with dignity.

Ernest Gordon survived. But later, he said something extraordinary:

“The miracle wasn’t just that I lived. The miracle was that, in a place of death, I met the living Christ.”

Naaman went to Elisha looking for healing for his skin — but he found something far greater: healing for his soul. Ernest went into the Death Ward as a dying man and walked out as a new man. And you — you may have come here today looking for relief, for answers, for healing in your circumstances. But maybe God brought you here for something deeper — to meet Him.

The greatest healing God offers is not from sickness, but from sin. Not from pain, but from separation. Not from death, but from spiritual death.

Naaman had to humble himself and dip in the Jordan. Ernest had to surrender in the bamboo hut. And you — you have to bow before the cross of Jesus Christ.

Because the same God who healed Naaman’s leprosy can heal your heart. The same God who met a soldier in a prison camp can meet you in your pain. And when you come to Him, He may not take away every scar — but He will make you clean.