A great general told to wash seven times in a muddy river: Naaman’s healing in 2 Kings 5

Naaman expected a ceremony. He was the commander of the army of Syria, a great man, and he had brought gold, silver and fine clothes. The prophet did not even come out to meet him.

The story of Naaman, in 2 Kings 5, is about power, pride and the simple obedience that brought healing.

A great man and a servant girl

Naaman was honoured by his king and successful in battle. But he had leprosy, a skin disease that brought fear and shame. In Naaman’s house was a young girl, taken captive from Israel in a raid, who served his wife. She said, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.”

The most powerless person in the story pointed the most powerful man towards healing.

The instruction

Naaman travelled to Israel with a letter from his king. The king of Israel panicked, thinking it was a trick to start a war. The prophet Elisha sent word: let him come to me. When Naaman arrived, Elisha sent a messenger with a simple instruction: go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored.

Naaman was furious. He had expected the prophet to come out, call on God and wave his hand over the place. And why the Jordan? The rivers of Damascus were better. He turned away in a rage.

Gratitude

His servants reasoned with him: if the prophet had asked you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more when he says, “Wash, and be clean”? Naaman went down to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times. His flesh became like that of a little child. Naaman returned to Elisha and declared that there was no God in all the earth but in Israel. Elisha refused his gifts. Elisha’s servant Gehazi later secretly took some of the gifts and was punished.

The seventh dip

Naaman’s biggest obstacle was his pride. He wanted healing on his own terms. The story shows that God’s ways can seem too simple to proud people, and that humble voices, like a servant girl’s, can carry God’s message. Nothing happened after the first dip, or the sixth. Naaman had to keep going down into a river he despised until the seventh. Many who wait for answers to prayer recognise that part of the story best.