NAAMAN IS HEALED
MEMORY VERSE
Isaiah 1:18b, ESV
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
DAY 1
2 Kings 5:1-5, NIrV
1 Naaman was army commander of the king of Aram. He was very important to his master and was highly respected. That’s because the Lord had helped him win the battle over Aram’s enemies. He was a brave soldier. But he had a skin disease.
2 Groups of soldiers from Aram had marched out. They had captured a young girl from Israel. She became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 The young girl spoke to the woman she was serving. She said, “I wish my master would go and see the prophet who is in Samaria. He would heal my master of his skin disease.”
4 Naaman went to see his own master. He told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “I think you should go,” the king of Aram replied. “I’ll give you a letter to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left. He took 750 pounds of silver with him. He also took 150 pounds of gold. And he took ten sets of clothes.
BIBLE STUDY
Naaman lived in the country of Syria. He was the kind of guy every man wanted to be like. He was rich. He was powerful. And he bravely led soldiers to victory in battles. He had everything you could ever want... except one thing! Naaman had leprosy, a miserable skin disease no doctor could fix. But one day, a little Israelite girl came to this big soldier’s rescue. She had heard of the great miracle power of Elisha, a prophet of the God of Israel. She believed that Elisha’s God could cure Naaman’s incurable disease. So Naaman packed his bags, along with tons of treasure, and headed to Israel.
+ Why was the little Israelite girl in the land of Syria instead of her own land? (vs. 3)
+ Why do you think Naaman brought so much gold, silver, and clothing with him?
DAY 2
2 Kings 5:9-12, NIrV
9 So Naaman went to see Elisha. He took his horses and chariots with him. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger out to him. The messenger said, “Go! Wash yourself in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed. You will be pure and ‘clean’ again.”
11 But Naaman went away angry. He said, “I was sure Elisha would come out to me. I thought he would stand there and pray to the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my skin. Then I would be healed. 12 And what about the Abana and Pharpar rivers of Damascus? Aren’t they better than all the rivers of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in the rivers of Damascus and be made pure and ‘clean’?” So he turned and went away. He was very angry.
BIBLE STUDY
Naaman traveled all the way from Syria to Israel, hoping Elisha could do the impossible: cure his incurable skin disease. He brought lots of gold, silver, and clothing to pay Elijah for the miracle he needed. But when Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house, the prophet didn’t even bother coming to the door! Instead, he sent his servant to deliver some strange instructions: “Wash seven times in the Jordan River and you’ll be healed.” After hearing this, Naaman threw a grown-up temper tantrum. If a dip in the river could really do the trick, he could’ve done that in one of the rivers back at home!
+ What did Naaman think Elisha would do to cure him? (vs. 11)
+ Do you think washing in a river seven times normally cured leprosy? Why or why not?
DAY 3
2 Kings 5:13-14, NIrV
13 Naaman’s servants went over to him. They said, “You are like a father to us. What if Elisha the prophet had told you to do some great thing? Wouldn’t you have done it? But he only said, ‘Wash yourself. Then you will be pure and “clean.” ’ You should be even more willing to do that!” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River. He dipped himself in it seven times. He did exactly what the man of God had told him to do. Then his skin was made pure again. It became “clean” like the skin of a young boy.
BIBLE STUDY
When Naaman was told to bathe in the Jordan River, he threw a grown-up hissy fit! Thankfully, his servants talked some sense into their complaining commander. “It’s not like he asked you to do something hard!” they said. “Didn’t you hear him? If you do what he says, you’ll be cured!” After hearing this, Naaman swallowed his pride and followed Elisha’s directions. And when he came up after dip #7, he was cured. His skin was as smooth as a baby’s bottom! But how? Were the waters of the Jordan River magical? Nope! It was Elisha’s God. He used an ordinary river to cure the incurable!
+ Who convinced Naaman to stop complaining and do what Elisha said? (vs. 13)
+ What was Naaman’s skin like after dipping in the river seven times? (vs. 14)
DAY 4
2 Kings 5:15-18, NIRV
15 Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. Naaman stood in front of Elisha. Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God anywhere in the whole world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from me.”
16 The prophet answered, “I serve the Lord. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I won’t accept a gift from you.” Even though Naaman begged him to take it, Elisha wouldn’t.
17 “I can see that you won’t accept a gift from me,” said Naaman. “But please let me have some soil from your land. Give me as much as a pair of mules can carry. Here’s why I want it. I won’t ever bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god again. I’ll bring them only to the Lord. I’ll worship him on his own soil. 18 But there is one thing I hope the Lord will forgive me for. From time to time my master will enter the temple to bow down to his god Rimmon. When he does, he’ll lean on my arm. Then I’ll have to bow down there also. I hope the Lord will forgive me for that.”
BIBLE STUDY
God’s miracle didn’t just change Naaman’s skin; it also changed his heart! The soldier now trusted that Israel’s God was the one true God. Naaman even begged to bring two loads of Israel’s dirt back home with him to build a spot to worship the Lord there. As a commander in Syria’s army, Naaman would be forced to kneel down in the temple of their “god” Rimmon. But Naaman promised, “I will only worship the Lord, the one true God.” As a thank you for healing his skin disease, Naaman offered the prophet all his treasures of gold, silver, and clothing, but Elisha refused to take a single cent!
+ What did Naaman learn from his miraculous healing in the river? (vs. 15)
+ What did Elisha say when Naaman offered a present to Elisha? (vs. 16)
DAY 5
2 Kings 5:19-24, NIRV
19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said.
Naaman started out on his way. 20 Gehazi was the servant of Elisha, the man of God. Gehazi said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman from Aram. He should have accepted the gift Naaman brought. I’m going to run after him. I’m going to get something from him. And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive.”
21 Gehazi hurried after Naaman. Naaman saw him running toward him. So he got down from the chariot to greet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the group of the prophets have just come to me. They’ve come from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothes.’ ”
23 “I wish you would take twice as much silver,” said Naaman. He begged Gehazi to accept it. Then Naaman tied up 150 pounds of silver in two bags. He also gave Gehazi two sets of clothes. He gave all of it to two of his own servants. They carried it ahead of Gehazi. 24 Gehazi came to the hill where Elisha lived. Then the servants handed the things over to Gehazi. He put them away in Elisha’s house. He sent the men away, and they left.
BIBLE STUDY
Naaman offered Elisha a pile of presents for healing his leprosy. But Elisha wouldn’t take his gifts of gold, silver, and clothing. After all, God did all the work, not Elisha! But Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, thought it was crazy to let all those riches just walk on out the door. So he ran as fast as his legs could carry him and caught up with Naaman’s chariot. He told a completely-made-up story about his master Elisha needing silver and clothes to help some friends in need. When Naaman believed this lie, Gehazi snuck home with 150 pounds of silver, thinking his secret little plan had worked perfectly!
+ What did Gehazi trick Naaman into giving him? (vs. 24)
+ Gehazi thought he’d gotten away with his secret plan. But who sees all that we do?
DAY 6
2 Kings 5:25-27, NIRV
25 Then he went back inside the house. He stood in front of his master Elisha.
“Gehazi, where have you been?” Elisha asked.
“I didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
26 But Elisha said to him, “Didn’t my spirit go with you? I know that the man got down from his chariot to greet you. Is this the time for you to accept money or clothes? Is it the time to take olive groves, vineyards, flocks or herds? Is it the time to accept male and female slaves? 27 You and your children after you will have Naaman’s skin disease forever.” Then Gehazi left Elisha. And he had Naaman’s skin disease. His skin had become as white as snow.
BIBLE STUDY
The “perfect crime” is a phrase people sometimes use. It describes an evil plan that’s so perfect, even the smartest detective wouldn’t be able to catch who had done it. Gehazi thought that he’d committed the “perfect crime” when he tricked Naaman into giving him lots of silver and clothing. After all, nobody was around to watch him do it. And video security cameras wouldn’t be invented for thousands of years!
But there were two people who knew all about the evil thing Gehazi had done. The first, of course, is God. After all, he sees everything that everyone does! There’s really no such thing as a “perfect crime” because there’s nothing we can hide from the greatest detective in the universe: God! But who was the second person who knew?
When Gehazi returned, his master, Elisha asked, “Where have you been?” Gehazi told his master a big fat lie. “I didn’t go anywhere.” But unlike the lie Gehazi had told to Naaman, this one didn’t fool anybody. And that’s because Elisha was the other person who knew all about Gehazi’s secret scheme.
Elisha explained it this way: “Didn’t my spirit go with you?” God had done something special for Elisha. Though his body had been far away, back at home, it was like Elisha had been there with Gehazi the whole time, watching everything.
Gehazi had used God’s miracle to take something that belonged to Naaman and keep it for himself. Because of this, Elisha said that God was going to give Gehazi something else that had once belonged to Naaman: the terrible disease of leprosy!
Unlike Gehazi, who had seen God’s power in Elisha’s many miracles, Naaman was from Syria. He knew almost nothing about the God of the Israelites. And he threw a temper tantrum when he was told to do something simple like washing in the river. But his servants convinced him to listen to Elisha’s words. And I’m sure he was glad he did when he came up out of the water the seventh time.
Naaman walked out of the Jordan River not only with smooth-as-a-baby skin, but also a brand new heart! After seeing the Lord’s power over his leprosy, Naaman became a believer in the one true God, the God of Israel. But did you know that the same God who washed away Naaman’s leprosy offers to wash you clean, too?
You might be thinking, “But I don’t have leprosy!” That’s true. You have something much worse: sin! But just like God washed away Naaman’s disease in the Jordan River, God offers to wash away our sins, not with water, but with the blood Jesus shed as he died on the cross! If we trust in him, our hearts will be as clean as Naaman’s skin!
+ How was Elisha able to know what Gehazi had done? (vs. 26)
+ If we believe the good news, how are we “washed clean” like Naaman?
© 2023 Andrew Doane. All rights reserved.