But when Naaman and his retinue arrive at Elisha's door, the prophet does not even come out in person to speak with him. Naaman is going to receive his healing but not in the manner he expected. He's not going to interact with Elisha in the way he expected. He's used to being treated like the right-hand-man of the king of Aram. He's used to the methods of Aramean healers who put on a great show of chanting spells and burning incense and dramatically calling upon their gods for help. But Elisha doesn't even step outside the door to greet the man who is used to having people bow to him as he passes by. "So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, 'Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.'" (2 Kings 5:9-10)
Naaman is deeply offended. "But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?' So he turned and went off in a rage." (2 Kings 5:11-12)
His pride---which I believe is immense---is wounded. He may have leprosy but he is still being treated almost like a king by his people and he cannot believe that the most famous prophet of Israel doesn't even open the door of his humble shack to speak to him in person. Naaman's leprosy has not humbled him or caused him to seek the Lord in a spiritual sense; he's only seeking the help of the Lord for his physical affliction because he's already tried everything else. It's vitally important that his pride be humbled because Naaman cannot come to a saving knowledge of the Lord until he comes to the point where he must admit his utter helplessness. He cannot be made right with the Lord until he acknowledges that he can no more make his soul clean from sin than he can make his body clean from leprosy. These things can be accomplished only by the Lord.
Naaman stomps away from Elisha's house in a rage and says to his servants, "This man didn't even come out to speak to me! He didn't speak an incantation in the name of his God. He didn't wave his hands over me and call upon the God of Israel to remove my affliction. As if this wasn't insulting enough, he instructed me to go down and dip myself in the dirty waters of the Jordan River seven times! How can uncleanness be made clean by muddy waters? If dipping in a river will heal me, I can find purer waters in my homeland. This guy is a charlatan like everyone else I've visited for help. We might as well head back home."
Naaman is a proud man but I don't think he's a cruel or unreasonable man. You'll recall that the Israelite slave girl who is a lady's maid to his wife was very concerned for him in his illness. She is the one who suggested he go to see Elisha. I don't believe she would have had sympathy for him or offered a solution if he had been an unkind and unreasonable master. Because he is a man willing to listen respectfully to his subordinates, his servants have the confidence to advise him not to be hasty in rejecting the prophet's words. "Naaman's servants went to him and said, 'My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed!'" (2 Kings 5:13)
This sensible advice gets through to him. In tomorrow's study he will dip seven times in the Jordan River because he knows his servants are correct when they say something like, "If he'd demanded all the gold and silver with you, plus the ten fine robes, you'd have gladly given them in exchange for healing. If he'd asked for all our horses and chariots you'd have willingly handed them over, even though that would mean we'd have to walk all the way back to Aram. If he'd asked you to sacrifice a hundred sheep to his God, you'd have done it as quickly as it could be accomplished. But instead he told you to do something simple. He told you to do something anybody could do. What do you have to lose by trying it?"
Our healing and our breakthroughs may not come by the method we expect. They may not even come by the method we want. They will come only by doing things God's way. Naaman would have followed man's instructions with no questions asked, no matter how complicated or costly those instructions may have been. It will take leap of faith for him to follow the Lord's simple instructions. But in return for this faith, he will receive what he seeks of the Lord.
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