Story of Commander Naaman - 2 Kings 5

The original Korean text: http://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025358579

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Naaman was the commander of the army of Syria, a neighboring country of ancient Israel. He won great confidence from the king for his brilliant victories in the war. But he had a problem that he was a leper. one day a maiden taken from Israel said, "Would that my lord were with the prophet in Israel! He would cure him of his leprosy." Like a drowning man who is catching at a straw, Naaman prepared many gifts and went to Elisha to get help from him. However, not going out from the house and receiving any gifts, Elisha said to him, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored."

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At Elisha's attitude Naaman was furious. The reason, in conclusion, was that Elisha did not do what he thought was 'formal treatment'. He expected Elisha to offer up a bull to God and to receive an oracle from God and to lay his hands upon him (Naaman) in order to cure him. But Elisha didn't. (He couldn't see even Elisha's face.) In short, he thought that Elisha hurt the self-esteem of him who has come a long way.

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But Naaman followed the advice of one of his adjutants and, though feeling shame, he washed his body in the Jordan seven times. And he was healed of his illness. Then Naaman realized that the God of Israel was indeed a living God and that Elisha was a true servant of God.

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The story of Commander Naaman shows us how God works. And this story teaches us that the promise of God and the obedience of man are more important than the ritual, in Christianity. Why did Elisha, when he cured Naaman, not use such a grand ceremony as Naaman expected? The reason was that such rituals were never necessary to heal the sufferer. He wanted to see also the humble attitude of Naaman by doing so. Is it reasonable for a leprosy patient to come to a servant of God for cure of the illness and to be haughty against him? When God declares blessings to his children, he does it through his servants. Because he wants his children not to be proud.

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Conversely, when God declares punishment to a sinner, God does it through the mouth of his servant, for there is no reason for him, the Holy one, to manifest himself directly to sinners to declare punishment. The president of a country does not personally declare punishment to a gang leader. No matter how leisure a president is, he will not do such a thing. There is not such an arrogant criminal in the world as to complain that the president himself does not declare the official punishment to him.

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But already God himself has officially declared blessing and cursing. It is the Bible. If you live in obedience to the Bible, you will be blessed by God. on the contrary, you will be punished if you commit the sins written in the Bible. Therefore, if God's servant declares blessing and punishment based on the Bible, it itself becomes a process to reaffirm the official blessing and punishment. If a punishment is declared on a humble man by a servant of God, the humble man repents his sins and is forgiven, acknowledging that his deeds were against the Bible. But an arrogant man takes issue with the servant of God on the declaration of the punishment, saying, "Who are you? Do you have the qualification to declare God's punishment upon me?" And he goes to ruin all of a sudden.

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A man is a inferior believer if he does not accept the declaration of blessing or cursing, not considering his deeds until now, but questioning whether it is really official. The declaration of blessing is the same as the principal's declaration of acceptance at the entrance ceremony. Those who have studied hard before and have passed the entrance examination are allowed to enter the school even if they do not attend the entrance ceremony and hear the principal's declaration of acceptance. The declaration of blessings is a words of encouragement that the deeds of a believer have been good so far and that such blessings will truly take place in the future if he continues to live like that. On the contrary, the declaration of warning is a warning that you should repent and turn away from sins lest you be punished while living like that; the declaration of cursing is like a sentence of imprisonment. By the court sentence, a criminal should serve his full term in jail if there is no presidential pardon. He who is cursed can be forgiven by the special pardon of God.

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The great St. Augustine heard the voice of a child one day. “Pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it.” He obeyed the voice and read the Bible, which changed him completely. And he changed the world. You are a great man if you obey even the voice of a child if it has some useful meaning. When you stand before God's words, you must not accept them in consideration of the preacher's qualification, status, age, and educational background, etc. God's word has authority in itself. Every humble man hears the word and is saved and blessed while every haughty man arrogantly rejects the word and is destroyed.

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