When The Method Dosen't Make Sense (2)

Divine Instructions in Unexpected Places

Bible Passage: 2 Kings 5:1-14

Good evening everyone, hope everyone is doing great on this wonderful Wednesday. Who is excited to be in the house of the Lord today? I just want to thank pastor mark for this privlige and the honor to minister the word to you all tonight. we have been seeing God do some great things on this Wednesday and i know the holy spirit is gonna continue to minister here tonight amen.

If you could go with me to 2 kings 5 and this is a passage that many of you know and it has become one of my favorite passages as the holy spirit has been speaking through this text to me these past few weeks. Sometimes when we read the old testament we can find difficulty understanding and applying certain passages to our lives. So we are gonna read about a few individuals and we are gonna see how we can relate to them.

We are gonna read from verses 1-14 and then well come back to verse 1 and began our study this evening , verse 1 says.

2 Kings 5 New International Version

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

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.[a]

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[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] 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.” 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

the title i have tagged for this text is;

(When the method dosen’t make sense)

So from the start of chapter 5 we are Intoduced to a commander named Naaman in the army of Syria, scripture says he was a great man, he was a warrior who had led his army to great victories, he was probably greatly respected by others, In this time the armies of syria would raid Israel who was led by naaman and one of these raids he takes a young girl from israel and she begins to work for Naamans wife. One particular day she says to Naamans wife about Naaman she says in verse 3 if only my master would go and see the prophet who is in Samaria, He would cure him of his leprosy and leprosy was a disease that manifested by changes in the skin, mucous membranes, and peripheral nerves, there is a loss of sensation to touch. since it would affect the peripheral nerves system and cause paralysis of the hand, leg , or face. Its a disease that would destroy your flesh and is contagious on contact. Now what the little girl has said was so powerful because even though she was takin from her homeland, she still believed A prophet could heal what culture couldnt. A prophet is someone who is a mouthpeice for God, they speak Gods heart and Gods agenda in the earth and they represent the presence of God. So this young girl who isnt even named in scripture had faith that Gods grace and mercy could extend even to her enemies. See i want you to catch something

‘When Status fails, Faith stands’

even though Naaman was a great, respected Commander he still had a issue that only God could solve. His status, His employment, nor his culture could help him. This teaches us that Gods intervention dosen’t always come from well known or popular voices but from humble voices and sometimes we can overlook those voices. So he goes to the king of Syria and relays everything the young girl had said and the king agrees to send Naaman to the king of Israel with a letter that said “Heal my commander Naaman”

now in verse 6-8) Naaman goes to the king of Israel but not empty handed he takes with him ten talent of silver and 6000 shelkes of gold which comes out to 20,000 in silver and 60,000 in gold. and brought ten outfits to change into. here is my next point

(Don’t confuse your expectation for Revelation)

Naamans approach to his jouney to find healing is dependent on worldly possesions instead of simple wisdom from God. How many of us here know that Gods ways often defy our expectations. We may expect God to use one method to help us but then he uses a different method to sustain us. The king of Israel reacts in a panic when he receives Naamans letter and his mind plays tricks on him, he thought the king of Syria was trying to start a fight but in actuality the king of israel was blind to the hand of God in Israel or else he would of brought up the prophet elisha. this is interesting because Naaman goes to the king of Israel for help or with a prayer request and the king reacts with a fear driven comment he says am I God who can give life or take it, and he gets all upset and tears his clothes. Its crucial that we seek spiritual insight over material power. See cultures way of obtaining spiritual treasures is how much does it cost, Gods way is how much do you want to surrender. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” when we have a eternal perspective we will see through an eternal lense. now is it wrong to want material things? No but don’t allow a good thing to be put in a bad place. see idolatry isnt just worshipping a bad thing its also putting a good thing in a bad place, and at times we take our expectations and treat them as heavens revelation, when we should take heavens revelations and see if our expectations line up. by doing this we prioritize Gods voice over social standards.

next verses 2 Kings: 9-12

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.

(Pride Obstructs Healing )

now Naaman with his horses and his chariots go to Elisha house and as naaman is at the door. waiting for Elisha to come out, elisha sends out a messenger of his. he didnt even bother to come out to meet naaman instead he sends a messenger. Imagine if you drove to pastor marks house and he dosent even come out but he sends someone else with some instruction. and the message was go wash your self in the 7 times in the jordan river and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed. and naaman becomes angry and siad i thought he would come out and wave his hand over the spot of leprosy i have and cure me. This teaches us that just because healing came one way dosnet mean thats the only way. just because God can use a touch and he can use a dip. remeber the prophet is the mouth peice for God and he is instructing Naaman to a river and that makes Naaman more angry because not only did elisha not come out to him he sends him the jordan river , Namaan is like there are rivers where i came from and there cleaner than the jordan river. this means that sometimes Gods intervention may be based on what we dont want to do, because the method dosnet make sense. God can bring his extraordinary purpose from ordinary and unexpected methods just as was seen in the life of christ. For some of us it can be forgiving someone who has hurt you, or it can be loving someone you dont want to, sometimes those can be methods that dont make sense, taking a next steps class that can help with your discipleship here at faith builders.

next and last point is

Obedience brings cleansing

2 Kings 5:14–16 “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.”

Naaman decides to take the advice of his servants, the steps Naaman took may have been small but they were faithful. Dipping himself in the Jordan river not only brought physically healing spiritual insight. which ehos a new life in christ to those who call upon his name. Gods word was able to heal what culture, financial status, relational status couldn’t heal. Simple obedience leads to supernatural results. remember i said leprosy destryos the flesh and is contagious on contact. and for us we dont have physical leprosy but we may have spiritual leprosy which is unbeleif that is eating away at our faith in christ, intamicy with the holy spirit, and submerssion into the fathers will. The symbolism of dipping in the water can be tied to baptism, revealing the cleansing power of faith and obedience to Christ.

Closing: True healing and transformation come when we surrender our will to Christ and trust his methods even when they dont make sense.