SMALL GIRL, BIG GOD!
The other day, I was watching a video on YouTube and realised that much of our reality is largely inverted. As a result, we don't perceive things as they truly are, which poses a significant danger through self worship. King Solomon, who indulged deeply in hedonistic vanity, later confessed how exhausting and empty it was to live for oneself:
"I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.' But behold, this also was vanity." — Ecclesiastes 2:1 (KJV)
What’s fascinating about life is that what many people desire is what Solomon sought and enjoyed, with near disastrous results; he almost lost his soul. Fortunately, he repented before it was too late. Such testimonies are essential because they ensure that those who seek salvation aren't ensnared by the fleeting pleasures of this world. They also vividly demonstrate God’s loving kindness and mercy as he later demonstrates through his confession:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (KJV).
Lucifer, the prince of this world has ensured that we are blinded to the truth. Today, what is evil is perceived as good, and what is good appears as evil. "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." — Proverbs 14:12. In fact, in this generation as it was during Noah's time, sin is proudly flaunted. It takes great humility and deep spiritual insight to see things as they are. This is why Jesus asked, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36.
Naaman, the Syrian General, whose story is described in the second book of Kings, epitomises the kind of man Jesus spoke about. Like the Rich Young Ruler in Mathew 19:16, He had everything men yearn and worship except the one thing that mattered: salvation and personal power through Christ:
"Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable; because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper." — 2 Kings 5:1 (KJV).
From a worldly perspective, Naaman was very successful. He had wealth, power, and status, the three things most people covet. However, the author of the second book of Kings emphasises that he was a leper, which signifies he was flawed, despite all his grandeur. He had everything except the true life that comes from God alone through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
In the Bible, symbols are used to convey important ideas. This is why the Bible, though small in size, contains infinite themes. One reason for this extraordinary brevity is the use of symbols.
In Naaman’s story, the Bible presents a leper who has everything except God in his life. Leprosy represents sin: it starts as a small germ but insidiously spreads throughout the body. In ancient Israel, anyone with leprosy had to loudly announce their presence to warn others due to the infectiousness of the disease (Leviticus 13:45). It was also considered incurable unless there was a miraculous interposition, as Jesus demonstrated in Luke 5:12-16, when He healed a single leper, and in Luke 17:11-19, when He healed ten lepers, yet only one returned to thank Him. Therefore, leprosy serves as a powerful symbol of sin, much like a venomous snake bite signifies death from Satan, the great dragon of Old (See Revelation 12:9).
It is also noteworthy that Naaman was a Syrian, while Elisha, the prophet who healed him, was an Israelite. The message of salvation to the world was communicated through one person who would spread it universally. This process began with Noah, who saved the world through the flood, and included generations leading to Abraham. While all of humanity can trace their origin back to Noah, he could trace his genealogy to Adam. These generations are accurately documented in the Bible (Genesis 10; Matthew 1:17).
However, salvation came to the world through Abraham, the father of the Jews, not due to God’s arbitrariness, but as a testament to Abraham's faithfulness and righteousness: "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." — Romans 4:3 (KJV). The Jews became the custodians of the Gospel through Abraham, and anyone seeking the truth had to seek it through them. Jesus made this point clear in His interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well near Sychar when He said, "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." — John 4:22 (KJV).
The problem with the Jews was that they selfishly hoarded the message instead of acknowledging God as its owner by sharing it with other nations. They misunderstood their role and became unfaithful stewards, leading to their rejection as outlined in Matthew 23:37. Contrary to popular belief, modern Israel has been transcended by spiritual Israel since the message was taken to the Gentiles, as God originally intended. Even in their rebellion, the Jews unwittingly fulfilled God's plan, just as Judas, the son of perdition, fulfilled scripture by betraying Jesus (John 17:12). All things consistently work for good for those who live and are called according to God's purpose as Paul faithfully recorded in Romans 8:28.
Naaman's behaviour and mentality explains why many people are on the broad road to hell. Instead of heeding what God says through scripture, they come with preconceptions of what God should do to heal or help them out of their situations. Their lives are ruled by their own ideas. Like Aleister Crowley the infamous Satanist, their creed is "Do what thou wilt." If you already know why would you go to God? Our thoughts can never be as higher as God's, besides as the creator of all things, his knowledge is infinite (Isaiah 55:8). It is the same stubborn attitude and proclivity that has created self-help religions based on works where human doctrines have upstaged the word of God by which everything was created and is sustained,
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." - Mathew 15:9 (KJV).
However, the servants of Naaman disagree with their master. They humbly show him how hypocritical his behaviour is by observing that had he been asked to do a greater thing, his refusal would have made sense. They urge him to do what the prophet has requested because it's so simple (2 Kings 5:13). He heeds their reasonable counsel and is healed. What we readers of the Bible need to know is that Elisha did not have to tell Naaman to go wash in the Jordan seven times as he did.
This act of washing seven times was meant to help the Syrian general exercise his faith by realizing that every word that proceeds from the mouth of God attain whatever God intends, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55:1 (KJV). God doesn't need to do anything but send his word. On our part, our duty is simple, to do as God says, to activate the word of God through faith. There is no method other than faith, through which all things were established, ".... for he that cometh to God must believe that he is ..." Hebrews 11:6 (KJV). Had Naamann not obeyed Elisha, he wouldn't have been healed. Faith must be individually exercised by anyone who seeks God, that's why the virgins who had extra oil couldn't share their oil with the foolish ones!
Therefore, it is faith in God's word that saves us, not our works. This also explains why Elisha rejected Naaman's gifts because that would have been tantamount to the Syrian general paying for his healing, something many a modern money preacher cannot do, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" - Isaiah 55:1 (KJV). We cannot pay God for saving us, yet this is the foundation of all false religions, where men and women work to earn merit before God. This can be seen in many forms, loud public, repetitive and ostentatious prayers, holy uniforms, the use of images of spiritual characters and persons and spiritual objects such as water, salt and holy oil to worship, needless theatrics in false deliverance from "demons" amongst many other abominable and ungodly practices not sanctioned by scripture.
It is not the loudness of our voice or repetitiveness when praying that appeals to God, but the humility of our heart in silent prayers in our closet as Jesus taught (Mathew 6:6-7). We don't plant money seeds through our pastors to be financially blessed for the Bible is clear that seeking righteousness first begets all the other things that we need in life (Mathew 6:33). Everyone is called to a worship of God that's based on the spirit and the truth as Jesus advised the Samaritan woman (John 4:23). The healing of the Gentile nations in Babylon rests entirely on the little maiden, a perfect symbol for the uncorrupted church of God at this time:
"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
Revelation 14:12 (KJV).
