Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. (2 Kings 5:1)

2 Kings 5:1 introduces us to an important, powerful man – a general named Naaman. We read that he was a great and an honorable man, and that God had blessed him with victory for the Syrian army. We also learn that he was a mighty man of valor, just like Gideon (Judges 6:12), Jephthah (Judges 11:1), David (1 Samuel 16:18), Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:28), and several others. In fact, it seems that Naaman was the only Gentile the Bible says was a mighty man of valor.

General Naaman had a lot going for him, but the last three words of 2 Kings 5:1 change his story completely. With his power, status, and influence, Naaman was a great man – but a leper.

Leprosy often began with the loss of sensation in some part of the body. Because of the nerve damage, the muscles started to waste away. The hands and feet became disfigured, and often deteriorated so much that fingers and toes were lost. Over the span of 20 or 30 years a leper might lose hands and feet; it was, as William Barclay wrote, “a kind of terrible progressive death in which a man dies by inches.”

The leprosy described in the Bible was a contagious, debilitating disease that corrupted its victim and makes him essentially dead while alive. Most people thought that lepers were under the special judgment of God, deserving no pity or mercy. For all these reasons, the condition of leprosy is a picture of sin and its effects.

Remember the tragic words about Naaman: but a leper. Those words speak to us today. The effects of leprosy run deep, but by appearance, the leper is “skin-sick.” All humanity is “sin-sick.” Spiritually speaking, we are all lepers until Jesus heals us.

– No matter what we accomplish in life, we still have to deal with sin.
– Our sin-sickness makes us dead while still alive.
– We can’t heal our own sin-sickness.
– Our sin-sickness often follows a slow progression.
– Left to itself, our sin-sickness will grow worse and worse.
– Our sin-sickness will lead to death without what only God can do.

The story of General Naaman has a happy ending. That isn’t true of every sin-sick person. But Jesus knows how to heal both the leper (Matthew 8:1-3) and the sinner. Jesus rescues both the skin-sick and the sin-sick.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 5

So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.(2 Kings 4:39-41)

Like his mentor Elijah, the life of Elisha was filled with miracles. This was one of the more unusual wonders God worked through the prophet.

In this case, in a time of famine (2 Kings 4:38), an unnamed man found a wild vine and brought it back to a group of young prophets. They sliced up the vine and threw it into a pot of stew. The vine or gourd was probably something known in that area as a wild cucumber. It can be bitter to the taste and cause severe digestive problems if enough is eaten, sometimes leading to death.

Under God’s guidance, Elisha put some good flour into the pot of stew and something wonderful happened: what was once so bad that it brought death was now made good. We aren’t exactly told, but it seems they enjoyed the rest of the stew.

Let’s take two applications from this. First, we often do what the unnamed young prophet did. We sometimes go out into the world for things we think will help and satisfy us, and instead they bring us death. If you belong to God, you will never again find the same satisfaction or nourishment in the things of the world. You can’t really go back to a life where the most important things are entertainment, or pleasure, or comfort, or fame, or wealth. These things in the “stew” of our life will eventually leave us shouting, “There is death in the pot!”

Second, notice what Elisha did. Instead of trying to get all the poisonous stuff out of the stew, instead he added something good: flour, the stuff you use to make bread. When wholesome food came into the pot, it changed everything.

Surely there is a time to try and remove poisonous doctrines among believers; but more often the proper course is to add as much good spiritual food as possible. Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35). Put the focus on Jesus and His life-giving Word – and watch how God gets the “death” out of a once-poisoned stew.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 4

Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” (2 Kings 4:3-4)

This was the word from the prophet Elisha to a widow who was so poor and in debt that she and her son were about to be sold into slavery for the money they owed.

In the kind of faith that desperation brings, she asked all her neighbors for whatever container she could borrow from them. Gathering the containers together in her home, she took the last small remaining bottle of oil and began to pour it into the assembled vessels. The prophet would not do this for her; she had to step out in faith herself.

I’m sure her heart beat fast as she began to pour. The oil flowed out of the small battle and into one of the borrowed containers, and it kept on flowing. By a miracle, through the promise of God, the laws of physics were temporarily suspended and a small bottle of oil filled many larger containers.

The widow gathered the vessels in faith, and the measure of the miracle was determined by the measure of her faith in gathering. In this case, the only limit was the limit of what she made available to God. When one container was filled she set it aside and went on to the next empty vessel, until they were all filled.

The oil miraculously flowed as long as the vessels were gathered, assembled, and ready. When the people of God are gathered in faith, assembled in order, and ready to receive, they will see God work among them.

One more thing to consider: all those borrowed vessels also had to be emptybefore they could be filled with oil. We can be too full of ourselves, too strong in ourselves, for God to really do His work in. Charles Spurgeon said, “A full Christ is for empty sinners, and for empty sinners only… It is not our emptiness, but our fullness which can hinder the outgoings of free grace.”

God can work miracles through our emptiness – as long as faith is ready to receive His filling. His strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 4

And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. (2 Kings 3:14-15)

Three kings came to the prophet Elisha asking for God’s help and guidance. Their armies were stuck in the dry desert, facing a thirsty death before they ever got to battle. Elisha had no respect for the kings of Israel or Edom, but because of the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, he agreed to seek God for their need.

When Elisha sought God for a prophetic word to speak to the three kings he said, now bring me a musician. It was a remarkable thing to say. When Elisha wanted to become more sensitive to the leading and speaking of the Holy Spirit, he asked for the service of a musician.

We know that Elisha was annoyed when the king of Israel first approached him on this matter (2 Kings 3:13). Perhaps this troubled his mind and spirit, and he needed some calm and God-honoring focus that music has the potential to bring. He sought to spiritually build up himself through “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16).

We don’t know the name of the musician, but when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he prophesied, bringing a promise of deliverance to the three kings. As the musician played the instrument, he probably never thought that God would use the notes and melody to bring a great spiritual and military victory. Yet, the musician did what he could do and God used it, and in at least a small way it helped to change history.

Our God is a singing God who loves music (Zephaniah 3:17, Mark 14:26). We are made in God’s image, so we have a natural attraction to music. We can do ourselves much spiritual good by listening to God-honoring music and by worshiping Him in song.

– This speaks of the great spiritual power in music.
– This speaks of the great power of giving our gifts to God.
– This speaks of the great strength of what seem to be small or unexpected things.
– This speaks of the great importance of worshipping God in song.

Make use of this great, wonderful, God-given, and God-blessed spiritual resource.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 3