Bitter Or Better

Bitter or Better

How many of you have had someone that has done something to you at one time or another and you now don’t like them?

Have you ever had a situation where you feel like you were treated unfair and you became bitter about it? Passed over for a promotion.

You have a couple of choices when things like this happen to you. You can get bitter, or you can get better.

Today we will be in 2 Kings 5. We be looking at man who had a chose as well. You can read in 2 Kings, Chapter 2 about the Prophet Elijah, one of two people who never saw death, going up to heaven and leaving Elisha, a double portion of his Spirit. Elisha was bald like me. One time a bunch of boys started making fun of his bald head and Elisha cursed them and two bears came out of the woods and had 42 boys for supper.

As we will read today, Elisha, used that double portion in a strange way. His predecessor, Elijah, in named 29 times in the New Testament, while he is only mentioned once. Luke 4:27 There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria.”

So with all these people with skin diseases, why Naaman? Naaman was a Gentile and the commander of the army of an enemy nation. Naamans encounter with Elisha illustrates to us the gracious work of got in saving the lost.

2 Kings 5:1-3 Naaman, the commander of the Aramean king’s army, was respected and highly honored by his master. The Lord had given Aram a victory through Naaman. This man was a good soldier, BUT he had a skin disease. Once when the Arameans went on raids, they had brought back a little girl from Israel. She became the servant of Naaman’s wife. The girl told her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet in Samaria. Then the prophet could cure him of his skin disease.”

The king of Syria at that time was Ben Hadad II. So as the commander of the army, Naaman would have been the number two man in the nation. He would have been like the Rambo of his time. But with all of his power and prestige, he was a doomed man. This was not an acne problem, this disease would result in death. Maybe he was trying to leave a name for himself, but notice it was the LORD who gave him the victories. Why would the LORD give victory against His own people?

When you look at who was the king of Israel at this time, you get the better picture.

2 Kings 3:1-3 Joran, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria during Jehoshaphat’s eighteenth year as king of Judah. He ruled for 12 years. 2 He did what the LORD considered evil, but he didn’t do what his father or mother had done. He put away the sacred stone that his father had set up and dedicated to Baal. 3 But he would not give up the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit. Joram would not turn away from those sins.

The short story of Jeroboam sin, was that when the tribes of Israel was divided into two separate nations. Jeroboam was promised to be the king over the largest of the division, the ten tribes. But Gods law said that they were to still go to Jerusalem to worship. But Jeroboam was afraid that the people would betray him if they continued traveling to Jerusalem to worship the LORD at the temple in Jerusalem (Not his territory) so he had two golden calves made and placed them in two different cities, Bethel and Dan. He then told the people they didn’t have to travel to Jerusalem and they could worship close to home in his territory, where he put the claves at. Then to make matter worse, he also set up false priest, not from the tribe of Levi as God commanded. So false gods and false priest would have led to punishment from God for their sins.

The Lord in His mercy did a gracious thing when He permitted Naaman to bring a captive Jewish girl to be his wife’s maid. She may have been a slave but because of her still trusting God, she was free. This little girl’s simple witness led to the ears of a king. Little is much, when God is in it.

Naaman could not leave Syria without the king’s permission. Syria and Israel were enemies, and his arrival could be greatly misunderstood.

2 Kings 5:4-7 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. The king of Aram said, “You may go. I will also send you a letter to the king of Israel.” When Naaman left, he took 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 sets of clothing with him. He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read, “I’m sending my officer Naaman with this letter. Cure him of his skin disease.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his cloths in distress. He asked, “Am I God? Can I kill someone and then bring him back to life? This man sends someone to me so that I can cure his skin disease! All of you should realize and understand that he’s trying to pick a fight with me.”