The Gospel For The Gentiles

Introduction

As we do a brief survey of the OT portrait of the gospel even before Jesus was born we have examined the fall of man and the promise of a Savior in Genesis 3.

We also examined the promise made to Abram concerning all of the families of the world being blessed and saw how God entered a covenant practically by Himself and how that actually points to the cross

Last week we saw the gospel proclamation from the belly of a great fish. How God cared enough for a non-Jewish nation… uncircumcised, non-Sabbath keeping, pig eating, ceremonially unclean people. All they had to do is repent from their violent deviant ways and trust in Yahweh of host, and much to the Jewish prophet’s dismay yet not surprising, God forgave and saved them from His own wrath. And God did this through the sign, coming out of the belly of a fish.

Jesus gave us the same unique unequivocal signs by coming out from the belly of the earth (the grave) in three days.

And today we will see again how God cared for the Gentile world in how the invitation to believe and be saved was given to them even before Christ.

Our survey takes us today to 2 king chapter 5

Today we are not going to go through the passage thought by thought, our purpose today is to use this passage and put it into the context in which Jesus used it in Luke 4. However, we will not ignore whatever morsels of truth we may encounter on our way to the goal.

The narrative we are about to read is about Naaman, a Syrian not part at all of the nation of Israel. A pagan, a Gentile, a dog by Jewish standards. This Naaman was a great man who commanded the forces of the king of Syria and although he was foreign to the things of God, laws, customs of God and Israel he was still an instrument in God’s hand.

2 Kings 5:1–8 (NIV)

1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.

3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Elisha was sure of his office, understood the ramifications of the office and followed the same life, requirements, statutes common to true prophets as opposed to false ones which were numerous especially in the Gentile pagan world around Israel but also within Israel.

Old Testament prophets opposed sin

They confronted the sins of the people head on. They called people out and did not allow them to hide from their sins

Idolatry

adultery

the oppression of the poor

the killing of babies for they were offered as sacrifices to pagan gods… there is a direct correlation between this and abortion.

The lack of justice or abuse of power.

These prophets were normally hated because they told people what they did not want to hear versus what they wanted to hear. Often, a prophet entering a city was not welcome news because he was going to set the record straight. This is why prophets were persecuted.

Today’s so called prophet often ignores the sins of the people and pronounces things that people want to hear… financial blessings, physical healings and so on.

Old Testament prophets were specific

They spoke with specificity rather than general terms: I sense that some one…

The OT prophet was not only specific but was accurate 100% of the time knowing that if they were wrong it was because God did not spoke through them. And the penalty was death Deut 18:20 (false prophet). Therefore the words spoken had nothing to do with the level of faith of the receiver.

Old Testament Prophets were not money driven

The rich and powerful rulers came to seek the Lord through the prophet and yet the prophet himself did not become wealthy as a result. Many of the so called modern prophets are motivated by nothing else by money.

In Elisha’s words there is the implication that he did not see people who operated outside of these parameters as prophets at all. Thats why he did not say, “and he will know that there is a true or real prophet in Israel”.

2 Kings 5:9–19 (NIV)

9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.

10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”

14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.

18 But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said. After Naaman had traveled some distance,

According to God and Jewish religious culture, lepers were unclean. People with leprosy could not enter the presence of God, and if someone without leprosy encountered them, that person also became impure and would have to undergo ritual cleansing. Thus, lepers would go around shouting, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn people of their approach.

Leviticus 13:45 (NASB95)

45 “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

A leper was excluded from the assembly of God’s people as being unclean

Gentiles were considered unclean as well (Acts 10:28)

Naaman was both a Gentile and a leper. This was a double whammy.

Yet God was willing to deal directly with him by healing him. In doing so, he gave us a glimpse into the heart of God and the future mission of Jesus to bring good news to Jews and gentiles

Ephesians 2:14–16 (NASB95)

14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

But both groups would have to come to Him the same way. You do not get to work for it, you do not get to pay for it, you do not get to earn it. And if you try to do any of that you will be excluded from it.

Naaman learns of a prophet in Israel who may cure him, so with the authority of the Syrian king, and a fortune, he travels to meet the prophet the money he brings, along with his angry response to Elisha’s instruction to dip in the Jordan seven times—sent by his servant, of all people—shows that Naaman expected to pay handsomely for an elaborate ceremony of healing.

But Elisha does not even come out to meet him. In so doing he is not only reducing Naaman’s importance which is why Naaman gets angry but he is also reducing his own importance as a prophet.

He decreased that God may increase and get every bit of glory for God says,

Isaiah 42:8 (NIV)

8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.

God doesn’t require pomp and ceremony. God’s favor cannot be bought. Receiving a gift from God is humbling.

You cannot work for it, you cannot pay for it, you cannot earn it or deserve it.

About 850 years later or so, Jesus goes into Nazareth the town in which he grew up and went into the local synagogue with friends, relatives, local people who watched him grow up which also happens to be the same area nothern area where Elijah and Elisha were from.

Luke 4:17–20 (NASB95)

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,

19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

The passage Christ read was Is 61:1,2. He stopped in the middle of v.2… the rest of the verse are the prophesied judgement in the day of God’s vengeance.

That part of the verse pertained to Christ’s second coming, so he did not read it. That part of the prophesy even in our perspective is still in the future. Consider John 3:16-17 in which God so loved the world that he gave…

Today is still part of the favorable year of the Lord as he is still giving out the gift of salvation to all who would receive it.

Luke 4:21–28 (NASB95)

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ”

24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

Although people where amazed by His gracious words, they immediately began to question with authority with which He could say these things.

This is the same snot nosed kid that use to runaround here with Joseph, remember that passover when his parents were worried sick. Who does he think he is.

Jesus knowing their thoughts begins to address them all. Because you do not get the simplicity of faith in me regardless of your self-perceived status, thats why God by passed you and blessed those who would believe and accept the gift God is offering.

He He gives the example of God sending Elijah to Zarephath, a Phoenician foreigner instead of Israelites that were also in need.

And then the one that truly ticked them off, the sending of Elisha to Naaman, the Syrian, a foreign military leader enemy of Israel at that instead of the many sick among God’s Covenant people Israel.

Why, they did not demand no sign. Naaman almost missed it because of his pride… but let it go long enough to find righteousness outside of himself…eq

Romans 3:21–24.

Abram was justified before God turned him into a Jew not after, and Naaman never became a Jew.

proof of Naaman’s trust and belief in God is in his willingness to dunk himself in the muddy water 7 times.

And now God came up with another “foolishness”

1 Corinthians 1:21-24.