Fighting Fear with Fear - 2 Kings 5:1-17

Introduction

A surprising number of people resent their spouses without exactly knowing why. They used to be unable to imagine life without the other person, but now they find reasons to be away or to stay at work late. When they’re both home, they’re often in separate rooms watching separate shows living separate lives. The commitment they made to one another for a lifetime now seems more like a burden than a joy. And, as you flip through their wedding album with them and they see the cake they had crushed on each other’s faces, they just wonder: “How did we get here?” And, as hard as the present is, the future seems almost unbearable to consider. They hate where they are today, but they’re afraid of what it’s going to be like tomorrow.

The book of 2 Kings was written for people who feel like that. It’s written for people who resent where they are today and fear what may be coming tomorrow. The original audience was an Israel who had been expelled from the Promised Land into exile. Their temple had been destroyed and their way of life completely upended. The chosen people of God were living as slaves to the Gentiles. So, 2 Kings is written to address the same two questions so many couples have in their relationship: “How’d we get here?” And, “Do we have any hope for the future?”

God’s Word

1 and 2 Kings makes is abundantly clear how Israel got where they are. They had king after king who had led them away from the Lord rather than to him. And, in 2 Kings 5 King Jehoram, son of Ahab, gives us a great case study as to why they had done so. They had fear what they ought not to have feared, and their fear had taken them off course. Remember what we said last time: What or whom we fear determines the direction and quality of our lives.

This fear is made evident when the Syrian captain, which would have been like the Prime Minister of Syria, shows up with a full entourage before Jehoram with a note asking for him to be healed. The king responds by tearing his clothes in grief, convinced that Naaman is only trying to provoke him to war, a war he’s likely to lose. That is, he’s afraid. He’s afraid he’ll be defeated. He’s afraid he’ll lose his peace. He’s afraid he’ll lose his kingdom. He’s afraid that he’ll lose his way of life. And, this is how Israel had gotten to where they are. Their kings had feared other nations and other gods and other armies as though their God wasn’t up to the task. They feared men, but not the Lord. But, this passage is even more about hope than it is about history, and we see that in the characters that contrast with the king. The Path Forward from Fear (headline):

The “starting line” is greater “love.”

2 Kings 5:1-3 “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.””

2 Kings 5:7 “And when the king of Israel read the letter, he 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? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.””

The first contrast we should see is the most surprising. There’s a little slave girl in the house of Naaman. Now, we’re told that Naaman is a very great man, and he’s great man because God has made him a great man. By contrast, this little girl was less than an after thought. To Naaman, she was just another slave girl from another war he’d won. Now, I don’t want you to miss this from the perspective of those Israelites living in exile so many years later. It’s made clear that God made Naaman the Syrian great, and God sent leprosy to make a great man weak, and God placed a little Israelite girl in Naaman’s house to do his work. God had not forgotten about her, and God was at work through her. And, what does she say? She says, “I wish you would go to the Lord’s prophet so you could be healed.” This is a truly remarkable statement, and, in contrast to the king, it shows that...

Proper “fear” leads to true “love.”

I say her statement is remarkable because of what she had experienced at Naaman’s hand. It’s likely that she had witnessed him kill her parents. He had taken her from her home, from her family, from her friends, and he had put her to work as a slave. She had experienced real trauma at his hands. Yet, her response is: “How can I help?” This is completely different than Jehoram’s response. He doesn’t ask: “How can I help?” He asks, “What about me?” If anybody had the right to ask such a question, it was this little girl; yet, she turned the other cheek; she carried the tunic an extra mile. She loved her very enemies.

What’s the difference? Proper fear and greater love. She didn’t fear Naaman, just like Israel shouldn’t fear their exile, and just like you shouldn’t fear your boss or the people at school or the opinions of your mommy group. She didn’t fear Naaman because she knew and loved the Lord. The fear of the Lord doesn’t mean God’s people are afraid of him like we are of a terrorist that could come. It means that we recognize him as the proper source of everything we need and are. It means that you recognize that we have no survival apart from him. So, you fear being away from him and being without him. It’s a love drive by awe. It’s a devotion driven by kindness.

And, that’s why you can’t really love your neighbor or your husband or your kids if you’re afraid of what they think of you. It places them in a position where you expect from them what only God can give to you as though God isn’t willing or able to give it. In fact, the fear of man corrupts your love for them because it distorts your motives. Your love toward them becomes about their acceptance of you, their opinion of you, their response to you. Your love becomes giving them what they need so that you get what you need. And, that’s not love in the Biblical sense. You need a heart captivated by the greater love of God that rests in his covenant acceptance of you already. You don’t have to love to be loved; you can love BECAUSE you are loved! Why are you kind toward others? Why are you personable and friendly? Why do you show concern?

Because that’s the irony here. Our hope is anchored to our confidence in the love of God for his people. And, that knowledge shows us that...

Proper “knowledge” leads to true “courage.”

Think of this. What’s Naaman’s hope? The this little slave girl’s God is living, good, and able. What is this little girl’s hope? It’s exactly the same. That’s how she can live free even though a slave. The king looked at Naaman and said, “What can I do? I’m not a god!” The little girl looked to Naaman and said, “I know exactly what to do. I know God.” Isn’t her child like faith beautiful? “He would heal him!” That’s Naaman’s hope. That’s her hope. That our hope. The secret to courage in the face of people who seem to control our wellbeing is to look over their heads to a greater God.

Do you ask: What can I do? If so, you probably feel hopeless. Or, do you ask: What can God do? Your knowledge of him propels you toward hopeful courage.

So, this little girl shows us the starting line of hope, and then Elisha

The “pathway” is greater “fear.”

Elisha tells the king to send Naaman to him, and Naaman shows up with an entourage horses and chariots (Seal Team 6) and hundreds of pounds of gold and silver. Everywhere he goes, people know that Naaman is a great and powerful man. Naaman is an intimidating dude! You can see why the king melted like he did. He assumes this guy just wants to provoke another war to ruin him. How does Elijah respond? He sends our his secretary! The king is terrified, but Elisha doesn’t even look up from his Bible! Why? Elisha knows that...

God is more “impressive” than “others.”

2 Kings 5:8-10 “But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.””

Elijah is called “the man of God”. This is a designation for the prophet, and it marks him as a man who lives in God’s service by God’s power for God’s glory. Prophets had to say what God told them to say regardless of what others thought of them as a result. That is, they had to fear God more than kings. That’s why Elijah isn’t impressed by Naaman like everyone else. The fear of God shrinks people down to their actual size. Men aren’t very impressive in the presence of the living God! That’s how you fight fear with fear. The closer you are to God, the less intimidated you are by a man. For he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. And, that’s the point that Elijah is making to Naaman. You’re just another man that can receive the kindness of God. You aren’t entitled, and you aren’t impressive. Leprosy was proof that Naaman didn’t control the future, including Israel’s wellbeing. And, when you see that God is greater than the people whose approval you’re tempted to need or who you treat differently because you want to impress them or because you think you need them as a reference, it sets you free to just be the you God made you to be. Who wields the greatest influence over how you act and what you do and how you speak and how you present yourself?

You see, once you see people in light of God’s greatness, now you can really help them. Because the fear of the Lord doesn’t just say that God is greater than them; it also says that....

God is more “important” than “me.”

2 Kings 5:11-13 “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. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?””

Naaman is peeved at Elisha’s lack of hospitality and worthless instruction. Of course, he’d tried washing! He’d washed in rivers much cleaner and clearer than the Jordan! That’s why he’d brought all this money with him. He needed to meet Elisha, impress him, and then pay him off so that he could be healed. That’s how every god worked. Pay them, and they give you what you want. But, not YHWH and not his prophets either. Elisha isn’t for sale, and healing isn’t either. This wasn’t about Elisha and his wealth, and this wasn’t about Naaman and his wealth. This was about whether or not Naaman trusted in who he was or in who YHWH was, in what he brought to the table or what YHWH brought. Naaman’s servant’s are wiser than they know. Every translation except ESV, translates verse 13 as “You expected to have to do a hard thing. Can’t you do this good and simple thing?” Naaman expected to need to pay off the god or go prove his greatness with some conquest. But, YHWH only asked him to trust him and to show it by dipping seven times into the Jordan. It was too simple and too good to believe, especially for a man like Naaman.

The good news for Naaman is the good news for us. God’s offer really is that simple. That’s what makes it so wonderful and him so unique. You don’t have to prove anything and you don’t have to earn anything and you don’t have to be somebody great. You have to trust him. Has the simplicity of the gospel been a stumbling block for you? Have you found it hard to believe that a new life, a new heart, and a new future could be so simple? Well, that shows you just how difficult trusting by faith really is. God is greater than you, and that’s good news. Because that means He’s the path forward into the future without fear. That was the case for those exiled Israelites, and that’s the case for us panicked Americans too. Can you trust him with simple faith?

You see, the path forward by for Naaman and for Israel and for us is headed to an optimistic future.

The “destination” is greater “glory.”

2 Kings 5:14-17 “So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 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.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 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.”

So, Naaman, by faith, dips seven times into the Jordan, and one of the sweetest phrases in all the Bible appears as a result. “…and he was clean.” He was clean! Not because of his greatness. Not because of his money. Not because of his military might. Because of his simple faith in a great God, he was clean! Now, this is remarkable two times over because Naaman was in clean two times over. Leprosy made one unclean before God to enter into the worship of his people and so did being a Gentile. But, it doesn’t just say that Naaman’s flesh is healed. It states — without qualification — “He was clean.”

We see that...

New fear that leads to a new “freedom”.

Like Rahab and Ruth, here’s another enemy of God saved by him, accepted by him, and loved by him. And, what do we see happen simultaneously in the heart of Naaman? He has a new fear and that new fear leads him to a new freedom. 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.” In Naaman, we see what we always see in a person who fears the Lord. He discovers there’s only one who is worthy of his life, and he gives it freely to him. Before he wanted to give in order to prove that he was great and worthy; now, he wants to give because he recognizes that God is great and worthy! Before he wanted to worship so that he could get; now, he wants to worship because he has already been given.

That’s gospel freedom! That’s gospel joy! It’s not gospel freedom to begrudgingly slide in a few dollars. It’s gospel freedom to recognize that He is worthy and wish you had more to give. It’s not gospel freedom to check a couple of church services off of your sheet; it’s gospel freedom to lift your hands and voice because you’re overcome with passion for one so worthy. Has the fear of the Lord set you free?

That’s the hope for the future. That was the hope that those exiled Jews should’ve recognized. Not only would God conquer the Gentiles; He would convert them. He would set them free by vanquishing every god and being glorified by his very enemies. You see, the invitation to those downtrodden Jews who worried about the future is the same for all of us who are afraid. Find a new fear! Find a greater fear! For they must know that...

New fear that points to a new “future.”

Oh, the future is in mind here. Is it any wonder that it was the Jordan? In the Septuagint (LXX), “dipped” is translated “baptizo.” Does that strike a thought in your mind? Oh, our Lord Jesus would be baptized in the Jordan too, wouldn’t He? And, from there He would inaugurate a new Kingdom with a secure and glorious future. And, we can be enjoy his glory in it. How? By coming to him in baptism, where we lay down our old life and are set free for a new one. It’s that simple. Will you come?