“And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 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. 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. 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.””
II Kings 5:4-7 NKJV
a. Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel: Considering the record of wars between Israel and Syria described in the previous chapters, it seems strange that the king of Syria would send a letter of recommendation with his General Naaman. It seems that 2 Kings is not necessarily arranged chronologically, so this probably occurred during a time of lowered tension between Israel and Syria.
i. And took with him ten talents of silver: Dilday estimated that by the values of his own day, Naaman took more than $1.2 million with him to Israel. All this together shows how desperate Naaman’s condition was, and how badly the king of Syria wanted to help him.
b. I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy: When the king of Israel (Jehoram) read the letter, he was understandably upset. First, it was obviously out of his power to heal Naaman’s leprosy. Second, he had no relationship with the prophet of the God who did have the power to heal. He thought the king of Syria sought a quarrel.
i. The king of Syria assumed that the king of Israel was on a much better relationship with Elisha than he really was. It is easy for others to assume that we have a better relationship with God than we really do. (Guzik)
Relationship With God!
“It is easy for others to assume that we have a better relationship with God than we really do.” (Guzik)
I am reminded of the Pharisees and how Jesus chided them!
““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
Matthew 23:27 NKJV
If you were alive during that time you would assume that the Pharisees had a great relationship with God, but Jesus called them out for hypocrisy!
What about you, do people see Jesus in you?
Blessings
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