"Be prepared"

THE COMMANDER AND THE CAPTIVE:
A LITTLE REMARK WITH A BIG RESULT (2 Kings 5:1-5)

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Girl Scout Appreciation Day—Dr. Paul Manuel—2004

Children sometimes amaze adults by what they have learned, often from the example others have set for them.

A family invited several people to dinner. At the table, the mother of the family turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say......The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?" ...Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you should not have said.

Children watch adults, so it is important for adults to watch themselves, to be careful about what they say and do lest they present the wrong example to those who look to them as examples. Yet children can do more than just imitate adults, they can also help adults, as one young girl does in a tale about The Commander and the Captive, and about A Little Remark with a Big Result.

The Bible contains many stories about famous men and women, people who have a leading role in God's program. There are...

• Great military figures, like Gideon and Deborah,
• Great religious figures, like the Elijah and Huldah,
• Great political figures, like David and Esther.

These people all have a prominent part in fulfilling God's purpose.

There are also stories about not-so-famous individuals, people who appear only briefly on the pages of scripture, whose names we may not even know, but who are still important, because something they do changes someone else's life for the better. Please turn to 2 Kgs 5:1-5, where we will consider one such example, that of a little girl.

2 Kgs 5:1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram IBen-Hadad III son of Hazaell. 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. 2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel IJ(eh)oram?1." So Naaman left....

The first person we meet in this story is...

I. The Commander

His name is Naaman, and...

A. He has a powerful position.

He is the general in charge of Aram's army, the country today known as Syria. Not only does he hold a high rank, he is held in high esteem by both the king, who regards him as "a great man," and by his troops, who regard him as "a valiant soldier." Indeed, he has proven himself on the battlefield. Aram has been at war with its neighbor Israel, fighting over territory each country claims as its own and fighting for control of a major trade route that runs through the region. The conflict has lasted for several years, with neither side gaining a decisive victory. Recently, however, Aram has scored some important advances, largely because of Naaman's able leadership. As proof of his success, he has taken Israelite prisoners and has made one of them a servant in his own house.

Naaman should be quite satisfied with his accomplishments and ready to enjoy a rest from the perils of combat. Alas, he is fighting another battle, a personal one, for...

B. He has a chronic condition.

However many military engagements he has won, this particular conflict is one he is losing. Naaman has leprosy, a term the Bible uses to describe a variety of serious skin diseases. Whatever the cause of Namaan's problem, the doctors in Syria have not been able to cure him. Whether his condition is getting worse or just not getting better, it troubles him and those around him. Is he doomed to suffer this illness for the rest of his life?

There is an odd yet intriguing statement in v. 1. Did you notice it? Naaman does not worship the true God. He and the king serve Rimmon, the Syrian name for the Canaanite storm deity Baal, whom the LORD calls a "shameful god" (Jer 11:13). So the statement in v. 1 is both odd and intriguing. It says, "through [Naaman] the LORD had given victory to Aram." Why would the true God help someone who worships a false god?

At several points in Israel's history, God uses His people's enemies to punish them when they disobey Him.¹ That may be the case here, for the Israelites have been disobedient to God. Perhaps He is using the Syrian army to discipline Israel. Still, the biblical author does not say that God helped Syria or the Syrians but that God helped Naaman, which is both personal and pointed. Besides, even if the Lord is using Syria to punish Israel, He is not limited to doing something for one reason alone. In His great wisdom, He may have several reasons for doing something. In this case, God may work with someone who does not know Him, like Naaman, to prepare that person to know Him.

You probably have friends or relatives who seem to have no interest in the things of God.

• You pray for them.
• You encourage them to come to church.
• You wish for them the same joy and peace that you have found.

But you do not know what else you can say or do to convince them. The good news is that you are not the only one concerned or involved. God is also concerned and involved. Whether you see it or not, God may work with someone who does not know Him to prepare that person to know Him. God does not force anyone into His kingdom who will not go, but He does present the opportunity.

Whether or not Naaman saw God's hand in his military victories, that was only one step in the process of his coming to know God. The next step comes from an unlikely source, what we might consider an unimportant person...

II. The Captive

...the young girl Naaman took from Israel. Her situation is quite different from his. While Naaman has a powerful position...

A. She has a powerless position.

Snatched from her home, separated from relatives and friends, this young girl is forcibly taken to another country to serve people she does not know. Her future looks very bleak. She will certainly not have a normal life. If she were growing up free, she could make many of her own decisions. As a captive, her choices are severely limited. Someone else will decide what she will do every day, how she will spend her time, whom she will see, where she will go. Even as an adult, that will not change. She will still have to obey her captors.

Others in her situation might be bitter, angry at Namaan for how he has apparently ruined her life. Instead, we discover that she has come to accept her situation and that she even cares for her captors. When she learns about Naaman's medical problem, she does not say, "It serves him right. He deserves to suffer for what he has done to me. I hope he never gets better." That is not her attitude at all.

Despite all that has happened to her, this young girl's faith is still strong, and she is not afraid to express it. Upon hearing that he has a chronic condition, she offers what help she can,² because...

B. She has a concerned conviction.

...She knows about someone who can help Naaman.

Notice what she does not say as much as what she does say. She does not criticize the god Naaman serves. "Why do you worship Rimmon? The idol hasn't helped you. Get yourself a real God." That might be correct, but it would certainly not be "speaking the truth in love" (Eph 4:15a). It will not help matters for her to belittle Naaman's god, even if it is false. Instead, she offers the testimony of her own faith. "[S]ee the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure [the commander]."

Who is this young girl? She appears only in this passage, and we know almost nothing about her. Who were her parents? Where had she lived in Israel? ...What was her name? The author could have told the story without even referring to her, saying simply that Naaman heard about a prophet in Israel and decided to visit him. Did we really need to know where he got the information? ...Apparently, God wanted us to know, because He inspired the writer to include this particular detail.

Notice how far and how high this little girl's comment travels. She speaks to her mistress who speaks to her husband, the commander, who speaks to his boss, the ruler of Syria, who speaks to his counterpart, the ruler of Israel. A young captive's words reach the kings of two nations.

Do not think that you are not old enough or important enough to serve God.³ If He can use a captive to help a commander, He can use you to help someone else. As with this young girl, God may work with you who know Him to reach someone who does not know Him.

It is also interesting to note that the great commander heeds the advice of a lowly captive. She actually says very little, just ten words in the Hebrew text, but what the young girl tells her mistress convinces the older woman that she should encourage Naaman to visit the prophet. He agrees and is eventually cured.⁴ The lesson here is that even the few words you speak in kindness can bring comfort to others.⁵

The story about The Commander and the Captive does not end with Naaman' s cure, for he also comes to believe in Israel's God, the true God. This all happens because a young girl speaks out. It is A Little Remark with a Big Result. Just as God worked through this little girl to help Naaman, so God can work through you to help someone else. You just need to pay attention to the opportunities He brings your way.

For a pdf including Endnotes, see here.