2 Kings 5:1-19; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19; Psalm 98
October 13, 2019
Larry Campbell
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to You, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
In the last 20 or 30 years I’ve been learning to read the Bible in a way that is profoundly at odds with my Biblical education. When I was young, I read the Bible as though it was a history book. I heard from my teachers, “all scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16), and “not one jot or tittle, the smallest letter or stroke, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished”. (Matthew 5:18) That’s what I was taught as a child, and as a college student.
A particular interpretation of scripture based on verses like these has led to a theology in the last two hundred years or so, that calls for a literal reading of everything in the Bible. Richard Rohr says the Bible can be read in a literal fashion, but reading it that way offers the least in terms of wisdom and depth.
Read in this literal way, the God of the Old Testament can be seen as condoning, and even calling for, genocide and violence. In the case of Abraham and Isaac, it seems that God demands child sacrifice. Rather than commandments given to us for our freedom, God is seen as angry, and a stickler for rules and regulations. This led the people of Israel to commit atrocities in the name of God. When Israel was at war with the Amalekites, we are told that God commanded Saul, through Samuel, to “put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey”. (I Samuel 5:3) This is hard to read and understand.
When a people of faith, meaning us, take this kind of reading of our holy scripture at face value, it can justify all kinds of horrors.
- Sending knights on a mission to rid the hold land of the followers of Mohammed is justified.
- The Spanish Inquisition.... taking Christian brothers and sisters, because of diagreement, to imprison them, or to burn them al the stake as heretics is justified.
- Slavery is justified
- Calling for the imprionment, and even the death penalty for homosexuals is justified.
- Bombing abortion clinics, and killing doctors who perform those procedures is justified…
...all because we read scripture with the view that God is angry, and has called for fiery punishment on all who act contrary to what we judge as the decrees of God.
Back in my day, archaeological discoveries seemed to support some of the more fantastical stories in the Old Testament. However, as Biblical archaeology uncovers more and more about those times, it seems there’s not as much evidence to support many of those stories as we thought. From stories of he flood, the Ark resting on the peaks of Mount Ararat, to the plagues in Egypt, to the crumbling walls of Jericho, all seem to have fewer historical roots. Rather, they are stories told over millennia by a people trying to make sense of who they are, and Who is this God to whom they belong.
This is not unlike cultures from all over the world. They have their own stories... stories of creation, stories of heroic deeds, stories of military victories granted by their gods, even stories of virgin births, and gods rising from the dead.
Obviously, the debate rages on between scholars on both sides of the issue, all of whom are much smarter than I am.
Our story from the 2nd book of Kings is not necessarily about an actual event in the history of the people of Israel. The story-teller may use people from their history in much the same way as we read books, or watch movies of historical fiction, but the point of the story is not historical accuracy. Maybe it’s about God using the powerless. Maybe it’s about God humbling the mighty. Maybe it’s about being thankful. Or all of those.
Here are the characters in our story today:
- Naaman, who was considered a “great man”, a “mighty, and victorious warrior”. He thought like a powerful man of the world, and assumed that his great wealth could buy him anything he wanted or needed. He believed he deserved a certain amount of respect and deference because of his position.
- The young Israeli slave girl. In a raiding party from Aram, she was kidnapped, enslaved, and powerless. The power differential between her and Naaman was as wide as you can imagine. Yet, she had a good relationship with Naaman’s wife. The young girl was innocent and perhaps naive, but very proud of her country’s celebrity prophet.
- The King of Aram. He was also a powerful man, and one who believed in both war and diplomacy. He knew that, when his top general was going to enter some foreign land, permission from the king of that country was necessary. He probably loved Naaman, but he also needed him to continue to lead his mighty army.
- The King of Israel. He knew about the many military victories of this powerful Aramean king. He was afraid that Israel may be attacked. It was a great relief when he realized he could pass the crisis off to Elisha.
- Elisha. Elisha was the celebrity prophet. He was on speaking terms with the King of Israel. He was unafraid, and had great faith in Yahweh. And I suspect there was some degree of arrogance and racism. But I’m just guessing.
- Lastly, there was Naaman’s servant. He was confident that he could speak boldly to his boss, which actually speaks highly of Naaman’s character.
- The characters in the background were Yahweh, the God of Israel, and Hadad, the supreme god of Naaman’s people. The temple where the people of Aram worshiped was called Rimmon.
Maybe this was the way the story was told around the fire or the hearth before bed-time…
Once upon a time, long, long ago, Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Now, bands of marauding soldiers from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young, insignificant girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress,
“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
She was so innocent and hopeful, and so proud of her nation’s celebrity prophet.
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.
“By all means, go,” the king replied. “I will send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman left, taking with him $20,000 worth of silver, $60,000 worth of gold, and ten sets of beautifully made, festive clothing. The letter he took to the king of Israel read:
“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy,”
...for he believed that only a king would be powerful enough to command such a miracle.
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said,
“Am I God? Can I take life and give life? Why does this powerful king send someone to me to be cured of leprosy? He’s just setting me up and preparing to wage war with me!”
Meanwhile, when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message:
“Why have you torn your robes? Send the man to me, and he will know; there is a prophet in Israel.”
So Naaman went with his soldiers, servants, horses and chariots. The huge entourage stopped at the door of Elisha’s little hovel. But Elisha didn’t even go out to meet him. He sent a messenger of all things! The messenger said to him,
“Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”
But Naaman became very angry and said,
“I thought that he would, at least, come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot, and cure me of my leprosy! The rivers of Damascus are better than any river of Israel. Couldn’t I just wash in them and be healed?”
and he turned and stomped off in a rage.
Naaman’s servant went to him and said,
“My father,” which was a title of honour in their country, “if the prophet had sent you out on some great quest, you would have done it with extraordinary courage. This simple request should be as easy as pomegranate pie… ‘Wash in a river, and be made clean’!”
So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as Elisha had told him, and, lo and behold, his skin was restored, and became as clean and smooth as a baby’s bottom.
Then Naaman and all his attendants rushed back to the man of God. He said to him,
“Now I know, there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept these gifts from me, your servant.”
The prophet answered,
“As surely as Yahweh lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.”
And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
Then Naaman said,
“I am your servant. I will never again make offerings and sacrifices to any other god but Yahweh. But may your God forgive me for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Hadad Rimmon to bow down and worship, he will be leaning on my arm, and I will have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may Yahweh forgive me.”
And Elisha said, “Go in peace.”
Now, brush your teeth, and go to bed.