2 Kings 5: 1 – 27
Calling Out Sneaky Behavior
5 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So, he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy. 7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore, please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.” 8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So, he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18 Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing.” 19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So, he departed from him a short distance. 20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” 21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ 23 So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. 24 When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. 25 Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.” 26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.
Let’s face it—we are probably all guilty of some type of sneaking around when we were younger. We may have lied about where we were going or who we were going to be with. We may have even thought we were justified at the time and came up with all kinds of reasons to explain our misbehavior. Sadly, these ways of behaving become engrained into adulthood.
Nevertheless, sneaky behavior and lying are some of the hardest issues for parents to deal with.
When your child lies and sneaks around, it can feel like a betrayal and begins to feel like a moral issue. You start to question their character.
These are the times when parents need to be able to step back, focus on the behavior, and not take it personally. Even though the behavior may not be okay, it doesn’t make your child a bad child. And simply stressing the right and wrong nature of lying isn’t usually helpful. In fact, the most effective response I’ve found is to address the behavior, lay out the consequences, and help your child learn different ways to get what he or she wants other than through lying and sneaking around.
The truth is, kids generally know right from wrong in their gut, but don’t always act accordingly. Therefore, conversations about right and wrong generally aren’t going to solve the problem. Instead, you need to have a conversation about finding a better way to solve their problems.
Kids usually lie because they just have a poor way of problem solving. They lie to get out of a consequence because they think it’s their only option left. If you look at lying as a problem-solving issue, and not a moral one, you as a parent can help your child develop strategies so they can stop lying in the future.
Kids often justify this behavior with thinking errors. The sneaky behavior and lying become a method to solve the problem – just not a good, effective, or acceptable method.
It is normal for many teens to take risks and push limits. It’s just a part of adolescence and something to expect. Some kids just act out more than others and need more consistency and limit-setting. Some kids just are just less bothered by getting into trouble or are more easily influenced by negative peer pressure.
If your child is involved with a negative peer group and feels pressure to go along with the misbehavior of their friends, understand that this doesn’t make them a victim of peer pressure. They are still responsible for their own behavior and you should hold them accountable even if you suspect peer pressure played a role. Peer pressure is not an excuse for their behavior.
A responsible parent needs to call out sneaky behavior. When you catch your child in a lie, tell them immediately. Remind them that the behavior is unacceptable and issue the consequence. When things are calm, have a conversation about alternative ways to solve their problem. When they’ve misbehaved and lied about it, address both the misbehavior and the lying.
If you think your child has been lying to you and sneaking around but you don’t have the details or the full story, let them know your suspicions. Tell them that you’re going to follow up to get more information and that you will be monitoring their behavior more closely.
If your child’s sneaky behavior has hurt someone else, this needs to be addressed. Stealing is one of these behaviors that impact others. If you find that your child has stolen something, the consequences need to do the following:
Address the misbehavior – stealing - and have your child make amends to the other person who was affected. If your child continues to steal, it’s time to try to find out what he or she is spending this money on. This may lead to uncovering other behaviors that will have to be addressed. There may be issues with drugs or alcohol.
When your child is calm and can talk about what he or she did, it’s useful to try to find out what the motivation was.
Regardless of the motivation, let them know the sneaky behavior is not allowed and goes against your house rules. Your conversation needs to include a short, direct discussion of the risks and dangers of the behavior and your concern about your child’s safety.
The consequences and conversation should match the level of safety concern.
Today we are going to witness the prophet Elisha having to deal with the issue of his close associate and assistant doing some sneaky things. Sadly, even though he had been a faithful aide to Elisha he will not like the punishment dealt to him.
This is not only a remarkable story in that it recounts the healing by YHWH of an Aramaean general, but also because it indicates the acceptance by YHWH of a foreigner who truly believed, without circumcision. It is a reminder of the unlimited nature of God’s mercy towards all who truly respond to Him. It is also a story of contrasts which demonstrates that God treats everyone alike, for in contrast to the reception and healing of this foreigner the servant of Elisha was smitten for his great sin of deceit. The greatness of his sin must not be underestimated, for it misrepresented YHWH to one who would have little further contact with the truth, and it was committed by a man of unusual privilege. Furthermore, when faced with it he failed to repent, which exacerbated his sin. Repentance and open confession might well have saved him from his fate.
The illness in question was probably not leprosy. Had Naaman had leprosy he would probably not have been able to have such close contact with people, nor enter the king’s presence (Leviticus 13.42-46). It was rather some skin disease. Unlike today where we have all kinds of separate categories of skin problems the people who lived at this time lumped them all together as ‘leprosy’. Some of these skin problems we face today are Acne, Skin Tag (Acrochordon), Allergic Contact Dermatitis, Birthmark (Congenital Melanocytic Nevus), Boils, Yeast Infection (Candidiasis), Cellulitis, Cherry Hemangioma, chickenpox, common wart, dandruff, Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis), Measles, Hives, Impetigo, and Lyme disease. I could name quite a few more but I know you get the picture. If you want to experience what the people of the bible faced, then look up some of these skin issues and you can see that you pretty much would not want to hang out with anyone who had one of these problems.
5 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.
As we have already seen the kingdom of Aram had grown strong and powerful and a constant threat to its neighbors. Naaman was commander over all the hosts of Aram. He was thus a great man, and highly respected because of his continual victories over other nations. To be ‘honorable’ meant literally ‘to have his face lifted up’, something permitted by the king only to those whom he honored. And he was a great warrior. But he had one problem. He had a disfiguring skin disease.
2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife.
These raiding bands would be operating even while there was a period of peace between Israel and Aram, probably being bands from the semi-independent tribes referred to above, who would raid over the border, taking spoils and captives whom they would then sell in the street markets of Damascus. One such captive was a little Israelite maiden who had become servant to Naaman’s wife.
We are left to imagine the sufferings of this young girl. Snatched away from her family, finding herself bundled among strangers, in fear of her life, and sold as a slave in the Damascus street markets. She might well have asked, ‘Why God?’ But God had had a purpose in it which was about to unveil. It was through her witness that the second greatest man in Aram would come to know YHWH, while throughout history her willing helpfulness and love has been an inspiration for millions.
3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”
One day, the maiden, who was clearly on conversational terms with her mistress, told her how much she wished that ‘her lord’ could be with the prophet in Samaria, who would recover him of his distressing skin disease. It was clearly a great cause of distress, and it was a testimony to Naaman that even his slaves wished him well.
The maiden was clearly familiar with the stories of Elisha’s different miracles and healings. It is remarkable evidence of the fame that Elisha had even during his lifetime. Her term for him as a ‘prophet’, and she was aware that he was often to be found in Samaria. He appears to have had a house there, from which he would travel to perform his duties to YHWH.
4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So, he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
Naaman then went to the king who on hearing what he had to say informed him that he should go to Israel with a letter from him to the king of Israel. His assumption was that, as in Aram, prophets would be at the court of the king, and that the king of Israel would know immediately who could do this thing.
The gift he took was huge, as befitted a king seeking a huge favor from another king with whom he was at peace. Omri had bought the hill of Samaria for two talents of silver (1 Kings 16.24), thus the silver alone was five times that paid for the hill in which the capital of Israel was developed.
6 Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.
The king of Aram was assuming that a prophet who could do such wonders would be a leading figure at court, and fully known to the king of Israel. He thus requested that the should arrange (with the prophet) to ‘recover’ Naaman of his leprosy. In his experience, given enough payments, such prophets would be quite happy to oblige in whatever was asked of them.
7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore, please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”
After receiving Naaman and the letter, the king of Israel was distraught, and ripped his clothes symbolically indicating intense feeling. He did not even think of Elisha. But he knew that he was not God, ‘to kill and to make alive’, how then could he cure a man of severe skin disease? He could only see it as an attempt to pick a quarrel with him to justify an invasion.
8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
The news of what had happened reached Elisha in his house in Samaria and when he learned that he had torn his royal robes he sent him a message asking him why he had done so, pointing out that if only Naaman would come to him he would soon know that there was a genuine prophet in Israel.
9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house.
The king of Israel being relieved sent Naaman to Elisha’s house. He arrived with his whole entourage of horses and chariots.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”
Elisha did not come out himself to speak to this royal visitor but sent word through a messenger. Elisha was no man-pleaser. And he was concerned that all the glory for what was about to happen should go to YHWH. So instead of coming out personally he sent a note telling Naaman to go to the River Jordan and wash in it seven times. Then his flesh would be restored, and he would be clean of his skin ailment. .It was deliberately given as a command from a superior, YHWH of Hosts, with Elisha simply as His messenger. And it was an indication that Naaman must not look to him, but to the God of Israel whose river (in Naaman’s terms) was the Jordan. The fact that he was called on to do it seven times gave the dipping a deliberately supernatural connection and was an important part of the message. It would make Naaman recognize that he was dealing with the divine since 7 is the number of perfections. Who but our Holy God can cause perfection.
11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’
Naaman was livid. He felt that he was not being treated properly at all. He had assumed that like all good soothsayers and magicians Elisha would come out, stand in front of him, mutter incantations, wave his hands over him, and heal him of his skin disease. And instead he had dismissed him with a message to go and wash in Israel’s dirty river.
12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So, he turned and went away in a rage.
To Elisha’s remarks being passed on to him by a servant Naaman was greatly insulted. In his anger he stated that the rivers of Damascus were far better that all the waters in Israel. Instead of coming all the way to Israel he could have just washed in them. (The answer unspoken was that then he would give the credit to the gods of Damascus). How dared the prophet send him to wash in a measly Israelite river? And he turned away from Elisha’s house in a rage.
13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
Fortunately for Naaman his followers were wiser than he (they of course did not feel that they had been insulted). They pointed out to him that if Elisha had called on him to perform some difficult feat to obtain healing he would have done it. How much rather then should he follow the command to, ‘Wash and be clean.’
14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Reluctantly, and still seething, Naaman humbled himself and did what Elisha, ‘the man of God’, had commanded. He dipped himself seven times in the Jordan. And to his amazement, and the amazement of all his servants his flesh became as smooth as a child’s. For years he had been the talking point of men and women, and had been self-conscious about his appearance, and now it was all over. No one would ever sneer at, or point at, his disfigurement again. It wrought within him a complete transformation. Fury had changed into gratitude, arrogance into humility, confidence in the gods and rivers of Damascus into faith in YHWH, the God of Israel. He was a new man.
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
What a different man it was who returned to the house of ‘the man of God’. It was the same entourage but arriving in a totally different manner. It was now he who stood before the man of God, recognizing his superiority. Here was a man who was in touch with God. And he cried, “Look, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.” And he begged him to accept a present from one who was now his ‘servant’, because he, Elisha, represented YHWH. He wanted to demonstrate his wholehearted gratitude liberally.
His words indicate a recognition of at least the superiority of YHWH, as the one who had done this might miracle, and as thus the only God Who counted in all the earth. He had no doubt sought to many gods, but there had been no answer. Here, however, was a God Who answered.
16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
In spite of Naaman’s continuing urging Elisha refused to accept any gift. To have done so would have served to destroy the new relationship between Naaman and YHWH. Elisha knew how quickly such a relationship might die once Naaman felt that he as YHWH’s prophet had been ‘paid off’. On the other hand, while he was the recipient of YHWH’s freely dispensed goodness his heart would remain faithful to YHWH.
17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD.
Naaman responded by indicating that he would continue to express his gratitude by worshipping YHWH as the only true God. And in order that he might do this he asked Elisha for two mules’ burden of earth from the land of Israel. This request might not be as strange as it first seems. It did not arise because he felt that YHWH the God of the whole earth, could only be worshipped on the soil of Israel (a rather naive idea believed nowhere in Israel. Israelites prayed to Him wherever they were). It was rather because he was aware that the only altar that could be acceptable to YHWH according to Israelite Law, was an altar of earth built where YHWH had recorded His Name (Exodus 20.24). And while there was nowhere in Aram where YHWH had recorded His Name, the next best thing would be to worship at an altar built of the material from the earth of the place where YHWH had recorded His Name. Thus, Naaman had the idea of building an altar of Israelite earth which had been taken from the land of YHWH’s inheritance, just as he had been healed by water in the same land.
18 Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing.”
The depths of Naaman’s ‘conversion’ comes out in this request. He was aware that he must worship only YHWH. But his duties demanded that he stand next to the king of Aram as his supporter when he was worshipping in the Temple of Rimmon. He asked therefore that he might be forgiven if at such a time he bowed his head to show respect to his earthly master. It was not to be really bowing to Rimmon, something which he could now never do, but to YHWH, and he requested that YHWH might pardon him for even appearing to bow to Rimmon.
19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So, he departed from him a short distance.
We may presumably assume from the reply given (‘go in well-being’) that YHWH recognized the genuine dilemma and indicated that He would see such an attitude for what it really was, an act of etiquette, and would thus pardon it. The idea behind ‘go in peace’ is that it represents the confirmation of a covenant. All was well between them. And the result was that Naaman went on his way with his heart full of praise to YHWH.
But he had not gone far when he was to witness the duplicity of someone who claimed to be a servant of YHWH.
20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”
Gehazi’s thoughts were full of greed. He felt that Elisha had spared Naaman, (‘this Naaman the Aramaean’ indicating his contempt for foreigners) by not accepting the gifts that Naaman had brought, and he thought how nice it would be if he himself could benefit by it. After all, Naaman would not miss it. He did not consider the fact that such an act might have a bad effect on Naaman’s new found faith, nor that Naaman was now a new found ‘brother in YHWH’. There is an irony in his words, ‘As YHWH lives’, while at the same time he thought that he could get away with sinning, by keeping it from the same ‘living God’. Amazing! There was a contradiction in his ideas (and yet how often we do the same). He should have known that there could only be one consequence. But he dismissed such a thought and decided to run after Naaman and ask for a gift.
21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”
Naaman, moving along at a leisurely pace saw Gehazi running after them and alighted from his chariot to meet him. Gone was the old arrogant Naaman. Now he was the new concerned Naaman. And he was concerned lest something had gone wrong with Gehazi’s master.
22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’
Gehazi assured him that all was well and then began to spin a story about the unexpected arrival of two young men of the sons of the prophets, who had seemingly come in need. Could Naaman let them have a talent of silver and two changes of clothing?
23 So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him.
The unsuspicious Naaman pressed on him two talents of silver, one for each of the fictitious men, as well as the two changes of clothing. He also supplied two men to carry the silver and clothing for Gehazi (‘talent’ is a weight, not a type of coin. Thus, the silver would be heavy).
24 When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed.
Once they came to the hill of Samaria Gehazi took the goods from their hands and sent them on their way. We note that Gehazi’s sins are mounting up. First greed. Then taking YHWH’s Name in vain. Then despising a foreigner. Then lying and fraud. And now duplicity. This will be followed by lying to a prophet. But the worst thing of all was that he had interfered in the prophetic process, and misrepresented Elisha. He had been building up judgment on himself.
25 Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”
Having bestowed the goods in a safe place hiding place Gehazi went back to serve Elisha secure in the knowledge that he knew nothing. Then Elisha asked where he had been. He was providing an opportunity for Gehazi to confess his fault. But Gehazi replied, I didn’t go anywhere.” He had missed his opportunity.
26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?
Then Elisha looked at him sternly. ‘I know what you did. Did you think your sneaky act was not witnessed by our Holy God? He therefore knew everything that he had done.
Then he asked him whether he really thought that this was a time to be thinking of accumulating wealth and servants, when it was a time when YHWH had wrought a great miracle and an important man’s life had been transformed. It meant that a man had come to know YHWH, and that Israel would from now on have a firm friend in the counsels of Aram (Syria). The wide sphere covered by his words indicated that they were meant not just for Gehazi, but for all whose emphasis was on increasing wealth.
27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.
The chapter began with a man badly skin diseased, and now it ends with a man badly skin diseased. For YHWH’s judgment on Gehazi was that, because of the awful nature of his sin, and the privileged position that he had enjoyed and abused, he would experience Naaman’s skin disease and that it would be passed on in his family continually (please make note of this last remark for it will be effective in an upcoming chapter). Immediately the curse fell on Gehazi, so he went out from Elisha’s presence as white as snow.
The Lord Jesus Christ would take this example of Elisha’s healing of Naaman the Aramaean as an illustration of the fact that God’s love reached out to the nations as well as to the Jews (Luke 4.27). It is a reminder to us that God’s love is open to us no matter what our background and how bad our pasts have been. Thank You Precious Lamb of God Who took away the sin of the world.
