Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Kings 5:1-6 (New Living Translation)

The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.

² At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. ³ One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”

⁴ So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”

I love this (hi)story of Naaman. I must, since I have written about it several times.

This post is about how the king of Aram and his army commander-in-chief, Naaman, believed in the LORD and in the prophets of the LORD. Notice how these two men of power acted on information they had (see verses 4-5). These powerful men were trusting in the power of the LORD and also in the existence of prophets – people who had intimate contact with the LORD.

This strikes me as remarkable for two reasons:

(1) These men are not Hebrews, not part of God’s chosen people.

(2) These men conquered the Hebrews. They raided as often as they wanted and took captives as slaves. Why would you go to the god of someone you conquered?

This is a lot of faith and is something to be emulated.