March 14 – A Little Bit of Dirt… But a Clean Heart (and Body)
II Kings 5; Luke 4:27
II Kings 5 is a tremendous chapter in the Bible. Read it! Smile, as you try to process all of the lessons.
One is a lesson about God’s providence. The word “providence” is not used in most translations of the Bible. But in Ezra 8:18 in the New Catholic Bible it appears. It appears as a translation of a Hebrew phrase that is more literally read: “by the hand of our good God upon us.…”
We find at the beginning of this account in II Kings 5, that God has given victory to the Syrian army over Israel. There is at least a partial lesson in God’s providence: often we do not understand at the time what He is up to. God’s enemies become victors!? Well, maybe for the sake of one little girl and a general. Maybe for the future of an entire nation, or the world!
During the victory in what seems to be a border skirmish, a little Israelite girl is taken captive and ends up in the house of the Syrian general Naaman, who also happens to have leprosy.
First, if the girl’s parents survived the battle, imagine their distraught hearts, as their little girl is taken captive! Where and how could God’s loving hand be upon them as their girl is taken from them?!
But even worse, if the girl’s parents died in the battle, how could she forgive her God? Parents gone… she’s made a slave… in a foreign land. Hopeless. No! That little girl was hope-ful and faith-ful!!
Another lesson in the story is, like Joseph innocently sold into slavery in Egypt (Gen. 37), this little girl is making lemonade with her lemons. She has not given up her faith in God; instead, she witnesses to His power to heal Naaman. And guess what? Naaman believes her and goes to his king, asking permission to go to Israel’s king, seeking a miracle!!! (Three wonders, three exclamation points!!!) Oh, add a 4th – the Syrian king agrees and lets Naaman go to Israel for a miracle. And he gets it!
Now here’s a problem presented by faith conflicting with culture. What’s a general to do when he goes back to a country that is at war with the country who worships the God that healed him? Well, Naaman does not give up his new-found faith. But he asks for forgiveness because he believes he will need to be a bit of a hypocrite by going to the Syrian’s King’s place of worship, the house of Rimmon, a god of supposed power over aspects of creation (except leprosy?). While his king bows down, what is Naaman to do? He seeks Elisha’s permission, and Yahweh’s mercy. And he asks for 2 loads of dirt from Israel, as a remembrance of the miracle of healing. And he is granted this exception. His heart is in Israel and in Yahweh, even though he is by duty instructed to bow before a god he no longer believes in.
It is not until Jesus’ ministry that we see the fullness of God’s plan which is to reveal that His Kingdom and the Christ are for all. In Luke 4, Jesus explains why the II Kings 5 account is Christ-like. The slave girl bore witness to a faithless general, and his king and people, just as Jesus would find faith beyond Israel, but not always in Israel. Sometimes one little captive girl can turn the rudder on the future of a man or a nation, or the world.
Prayer: Jesus, we do not always understand Your good hand when we suffer loss.
Help us see that just as Your cross appeared as a tragedy – at first – You often turn burdens into blessings.
Protect and bless our faith in all circumstances. Amen.
