2 Kings 5:1-9

2 Kings 5:1-9 - Daily Devotion - 14 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 1 Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.2 At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.”4 And Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said.5 “Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.”So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.6 And the letter that he took to the king of Israel stated: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”8 Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.REFLECTIONSWritten by Tim MitryYou might feel indifferent towards Naaman, dislike him, or develop a soft spot for him. I felt all those things in that order as I read this. I felt indifferent at first because, well, who on earth is Naaman!?I felt dislike for him, because he and his wife had a captive Israelite girl as their servant. I began developing a small soft spot for Naaman when I thought about his situation. He had a disease that was eating away at his skin. And I can see he is desperate to relieve himself of the disease – he takes roughly 350 kilograms of silver, and millions of dollars’ worth of gold with him to seek out revolutionary medical treatment in Israel.Naaman is a Gentile from a neighbouring country. But his story isn’t like Goliath’s. He isn’t an enemy brute to be knocked down by Israel. And while he would be the last man on earth an ancient Israelite would expect God to have mercy on, we see God at work in this story. Did you catch, in verse 1, that Naaman’s power and success was only because the LORD had given it to him? And things line up too much – repeatedly – for mere coincidence. When things go pear-shaped with the king of Israel, Elisha the man of God intervened, saying, “let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel”. I’m keen to see what happens to Naaman. It’s thrilling to see God demonstrating His love and mercy to the other nations around Israel. We’ve seen that this year in youth group with Jonah and the Ninevites, in church with King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel, and in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus’ ancestry. Will we see God make himself known to Naaman? ABOUT THE AUTHORTim is one of our Ministry Apprentices.