Good News

The beginning of 2 Kings establishes Elisha as the successor to Elijah. There is story after story of Elisha’s power and wisdom to let the reader know that God had indeed selected Elisha to follow after Elijah. One of those stories is about a foreign military commander with leprosy.

Naaman was the commander of the Aramean army, the world’s superpower at the time. He would have had access to anything he wanted. He had the respect of his king, wealth, admiration of his soldiers and the rest of his country. He had arrived at the top of the achievement pyramid. The only threat to his glory was also a threat to his continuing ability to lead and even live.

Leprosy is usually a slow, but determined disease. Today it is treatable with antibiotics, but in Naaman’s days, it would slowly destroy the ability of nerves to feel sensation. A story is told about a physician who went to work in a leper colony in the days before antibiotics had been discovered, he was having trouble turning the key on an old padlock, when one of the residents offered to help. The man took the key and the lock and turned with great strength until the lock popped open. But then the doctor saw what had happened to the man’s hand in the process. His fingers were deeply cut and were bleeding profusely, yet he felt no pain. This reveals the danger to the leper, he abused his extremities, without realizing it till they literally were worn away or became infected.

Naaman was told that the prophet Elisha could heal him so the he went immediately to find the healer. Although he had to humble himself to obey the prophet’s prescription for healing, he believed the cost would be worth it and it was – it changed his life. Afterward he said, “From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other God except the LORD.” (2 Kings 5:17)

Naaman’s bad news came in contact with the kingdom of God and that changed his life. He recognized Jehovah’s preeminence among all deities. He humbled himself before God and men. He changed his life-long religion to worship the one true God.

The good news that changed Naaman’s life was first delivered by his servant girl when she told him she knew a man who could heal him. But the good news changed at the time of his healing: it became the realization that the most powerful being in the universe knows him and cares about his health.

We often find our best news and deepest devotion to God by reflecting back over our worst times and seeing his deliverance.