2Kings 5:1-6 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and honourable, by him God had given deliverance unto the nation of Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.

2Kings 5:2-6 And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that you may recover him of his leprosy.

Clarke's Commentary: The Syrians had gone out by companies (troops). When one or two hundred men go out by themselves to make prey of whatever they can get, that is called a troop. They had gone out in marauding parties and on such occasions they bring away grain, cattle and such of the inhabitants as are proper to make slaves. "Waited on Naaman's wife": Her decent orderly behavior, the consequence of her sober and pious education, entitled her to this place of distinction, in which her servitude was at least easy and her body and mind safe. 
   If God permitted the parents to be deprived of their pious child by the hands of ruffians, he did not permit the child to be without a guardian. In such a case, were even the father and mother to forsake her, God would take her up.

JFB Commentary: By this young Hebrew slave of his wife, Naaman's attention was directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel and set out for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the East, very costly presents.

Matthew Henry's Commentary: Though the Syrians were idolaters and oppressed God's people, yet the deliverance of which Naaman had been the means, is here ascribed to the Lord. Such is the correct language of Scripture, while those who write common history, plainly show that God is not in all their thoughts:.Psalms 10:4.

2Kings 5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.

2Kings 5:8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he.(Elisha).sent to the king, saying, Wherefore have you rent your clothes? Let him come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

Barnes Notes: Apparently the king had forgotten that there was a true representative of the God of all life, love, light and creation, living among Israel.

2Kings 5:9 So Naaman.(2Kings 5:1).came with his horses and with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

2Kings 5:10-14 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times and your flesh shall come again to you and you shall be clean. But Naaman was wroth and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.(Naaman had the wrong kind of pride, like why is he asking me to do this thing? I see it could have been done the way I wanted it to be done'. Naaman lacked humility). And his servants came near and spake unto him and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather then when he says to you, Wash and be clean? Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

Matthew Poole's Commentary: Naaman failed to consider the cure was not to be wrought by the water, but by the power of God, who might use what means and methods of cure he pleased.

2Kings 5:15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company and came and stood before him. And he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the Earth, but in Israel.(what does this sentence mean?). Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of your servant.(Naaman awakened).

2Kings 5:16,17 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. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of Earth? For your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but only unto the true God.

2Kings 5:18 In this thing God pardoned thy servant.(Naaman), that when my master goes into the house of Rimmon.(Rimmon was a Babylonian god, an idol of the Syrians, a god presiding over storms).to worship there and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the God has pardoned thy servant in this thing.

Naaman still was a member of the king's court in Syria and as such would still need to act accordingly, though now he believed in the true God. He mentions this to Elisha and Elisha says, no worries, go in peace, do what you have to do. Elisha knew it was the heart that counts, not actions one may have to do to maintain harmony in life and avoid dissension:.Romans 12:18.

2Kings 5:19,20 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God began to scheme, thinking, behold, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. But, as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take somewhat of him.

2Kings 5:21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, Is all well?

2Kings 5:22 And he said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes of garments.

2Kings 5:23-27 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments and laid them upon two of his servants and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house. And he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Where are you coming from Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went nowhere. And he.(Elisha).said unto him, I knew what you were up to when you went out of here to see Naaman. I knew you couldn't let this opportunity of prosperity for you pass. You figured that it was your time to shine. But this was not right for you to do. I took nothing. You are not learning from me. Your actions of lying to gain a selfish advantage are a 'slap in the face' to me. Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto you and unto your seed forever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

Naaman (the story) was healed of his leprosy, but it was transferred to Gehazi, a confidential attendant of Elisha. Gehazi fraudulently obtained a portion of the present his master had refused. His covetousness and falsehoods provided guilt enough to punish himself by attracting leprosy and he didn't have the sense to see that Naaman was healed of it and that, if he sought forgiveness, he would have been as well:.Acts 10:34 "...God is no respecter of individuals" Psalms 103:2,3 "Bless God, O my soul and forget not all his benefits; Who forgives all iniquities; who heals all your diseases.".What happened with Naaman being healed, happened in our age today with Brandon Bays. Lesson being, when considering Gehazi's actions, don't disadvantage yourself by trying to gain something by lying. One has right to anything by being absolutely truthful and that is where faith in God resides. Well, what then about Rahab? She lied to protect those she cared about.

Faith in God or faith in the lies and manipulation done by so-called trusted authorities is always the choice and which one is chosen shows an individual what they really are. If it isn't liked what one sees about himself or herself, it can be changed so one's character gets to be on the right track of honesty. When one lies for selfish advantage, it opens the door to the dark side and the way down begins.

In the Old Testament things such as this were handled this way:.Leviticus 5:4-13.
In the New Testament era, Christ has covered all sins for all time:.Hebrews 10:12.

....continues to Chapter 6

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