Look how 2 Kings 5 is launched.
1a Now 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… (2 Kings 5:1a–NIV)
Naaman was highly regarded because of his military exploits. Is that unique? No. It is as natural as wet water or hard stone. Kings send out their armies and they expect victories. Look at the next part of verse 1.
1b … because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. (2 Kings 5:1b–NIV)
But look at Naaman’s key exploit. He had been adept at the destruction of Israel. According to some Rabbis Naaman was the man who “drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel [the disguised Ahab] between the sections of his armor” (I Kings 22:34–NIV). So Naaman was highly regarded by King Ben Hadad II because of success against Jehovah’s people.
Look, though, and how this victory was structured. It is in verse 1: “…the Lord had given victory…” The story behind Naaman’s honor, his prestige, was Jehovah. God’s hand was Naaman’s success. God’s intentions were directed against his own people and a benefit accrued to Naaman.
This benefit was utterly outside of himself; beyond his awareness. Naaman’s exalted status rested not upon his own inherent military skill, but upon the God of the very people he attacked. From Naaman’s vantage point Jehovah was bested and Rimmon-Baal victorious. That was only part of the story. It was the surface coat, but a coat he wore well on the streets of old Syria.
The deeper thing was Jehovah’s role. God allowed his people some extent of destruction by the Syrians out of Aram. Israel’s national disregard of God resulted in national harm. The sins of one nation gave rise to the victory of another.
Leave a Reply