And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
The verse records a servant carrying the Israelite maid's words to his lord, setting in motion Naaman's journey to seek healing from Elisha. The maid was a little captive girl placed by God's direction in Syria as His representative to one needing divine help, who from compassion and faith in God's power with Elisha told of a prophet in Samaria who could heal leprosy. Naaman was a Syrian captain and heathen nobleman who recognized his need, sought help, acted on the light he had, and was cleansed and brought to know the true God. While he was healed, many lepers in Israel were passed over because unbelief closed the door of good to them, for God's power is given especially to hearts that can feel and faith that will grasp the light given. Thus God's mercy reached beyond Israel to a receptive foreigner, and Jesus held up this history to show that a prophet is not accepted in his own country when pride and unbelief scorn heaven's light.
Maid's Report in Syria
The verse records the carrying of the Israelite maid's words to his lord, and that report set in motion Naaman's journey to seek healing from Elisha. The speaker was a little captive Israelite girl in Syria, whose place there was God's choice and direction rather than her own. God directed her feet to the very place where one needed the help she could give, sending her to the help of Naaman the Syrian captain. She stood there as God's representative to one in need of divine help and guidance, and even in captivity she served as a witness to God.
From compassion for Naaman and faith that God's power present with Elisha could heal leprosy, she told of a prophet in Israel, in Samaria, who could help him. Her example proves that whether the duty that lies nearest is pleasing or unpleasing, it is to be done as the work God has given.
Mercy Beyond Israel
Naaman was a Syrian leper, a heathen nobleman and captain, who sought help from Elisha for his leprosy, was cleansed, and was enlightened in divine truth until he came to know the true God. He recognized his great need of help, opened his heart to divine instruction, and was willing to seek help and receive it, living faithfully according to the light he had and acting upon it. His openness as a foreigner to the help and knowledge of God was the reason his acting on the light he had received brought both healing and true knowledge.
While Naaman received healing, many lepers in Israel were passed over and left unhealed. Their unbelief closed the door of good to them, so that instead of making right use of God's blessings they perverted His grace to exalt themselves and placed themselves where God could not manifest His power for them. God's power displayed through faithful prophets was not labored for the salvation of an unbelieving, hard-hearted people, but was given especially to those who had hearts that could feel and faith that would grasp the evidences God gave.
Naaman, with the widow of Sarepta, had lived up to the light received and was accounted more righteous than God's chosen people when Israel had backslidden, rejected truth, sacrificed principle to convenience and worldly honor, and compromised principles. God thus revealed and manifested Himself among people in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light. His blessings and mercy reached beyond Israel to a foreigner and Gentile receptive to the light he had received.
People with little light who live by what they know to be right and live up to the light are regarded more favorably by God and more favorably placed before Him than those with great light and great spiritual advantages whose lives contradict their profession of godliness and who refuse to live by them. Naaman as a heathen nobleman true to his convictions of right was in God's sight more worthy of blessing than the afflicted in Israel who slighted and despised their God-given privileges. God works for those who appreciate His favors and respond to heaven's light, while even a heathen living by the best light he has is regarded with greater favor than those with great light who are made proud, boastful, and self-sufficient by it.
Jesus held up this history to illustrate that a prophet is not accepted in his own country. In doing so He answered questionings over His meekness and lowliness, poverty and sorrow. His words were a severe rebuke striking corrupt lives and wicked unbelief that scorned Him as only a common man and would have no king unless attended by riches and splendor and a grand and imposing army. The account stands as the precedent for cleansing a leper, a deed that had not been known since Elisha's time.
The verse records a servant carrying the Israelite maid's words to his lord, setting in motion Naaman's journey to seek healing from Elisha. The maid was a little captive girl placed by God's direction in Syria as His representative to one needing divine help, who from compassion and faith in God's power with Elisha told of a prophet in Samaria who could heal leprosy. Naaman was a Syrian captain and heathen nobleman who recognized his need, sought help, acted on the light he had, and was cleansed and brought to know the true God. While he was healed, many lepers in Israel were passed over because unbelief closed the door of good to them, for God's power is given especially to hearts that can feel and faith that will grasp the light given. Thus God's mercy reached beyond Israel to a receptive foreigner, and Jesus held up this history to show that a prophet is not accepted in his own country when pride and unbelief scorn heaven's light.
Maid's Report in Syria
The verse records the carrying of the Israelite maid's words to his lord, and that report set in motion Naaman's journey to seek healing from Elisha. The speaker was a little captive Israelite girl in Syria, whose place there was God's choice and direction rather than her own. God directed her feet to the very place where one needed the help she could give, sending her to the help of Naaman the Syrian captain. She stood there as God's representative to one in need of divine help and guidance, and even in captivity she served as a witness to God.
From compassion for Naaman and faith that God's power present with Elisha could heal leprosy, she told of a prophet in Israel, in Samaria, who could help him. Her example proves that whether the duty that lies nearest is pleasing or unpleasing, it is to be done as the work God has given.
Mercy Beyond Israel
Naaman was a Syrian leper, a heathen nobleman and captain, who sought help from Elisha for his leprosy, was cleansed, and was enlightened in divine truth until he came to know the true God. He recognized his great need of help, opened his heart to divine instruction, and was willing to seek help and receive it, living faithfully according to the light he had and acting upon it. His openness as a foreigner to the help and knowledge of God was the reason his acting on the light he had received brought both healing and true knowledge.
While Naaman received healing, many lepers in Israel were passed over and left unhealed. Their unbelief closed the door of good to them, so that instead of making right use of God's blessings they perverted His grace to exalt themselves and placed themselves where God could not manifest His power for them. God's power displayed through faithful prophets was not labored for the salvation of an unbelieving, hard-hearted people, but was given especially to those who had hearts that could feel and faith that would grasp the evidences God gave.
Naaman, with the widow of Sarepta, had lived up to the light received and was accounted more righteous than God's chosen people when Israel had backslidden, rejected truth, sacrificed principle to convenience and worldly honor, and compromised principles. God thus revealed and manifested Himself among people in heathen lands who had not rejected heaven's light. His blessings and mercy reached beyond Israel to a foreigner and Gentile receptive to the light he had received.
People with little light who live by what they know to be right and live up to the light are regarded more favorably by God and more favorably placed before Him than those with great light and great spiritual advantages whose lives contradict their profession of godliness and who refuse to live by them. Naaman as a heathen nobleman true to his convictions of right was in God's sight more worthy of blessing than the afflicted in Israel who slighted and despised their God-given privileges. God works for those who appreciate His favors and respond to heaven's light, while even a heathen living by the best light he has is regarded with greater favor than those with great light who are made proud, boastful, and self-sufficient by it.
Jesus held up this history to illustrate that a prophet is not accepted in his own country. In doing so He answered questionings over His meekness and lowliness, poverty and sorrow. His words were a severe rebuke striking corrupt lives and wicked unbelief that scorned Him as only a common man and would have no king unless attended by riches and splendor and a grand and imposing army. The account stands as the precedent for cleansing a leper, a deed that had not been known since Elisha's time.