Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July 28, 2002
Healing for the broken
When the driver of a huge trailer lost
control of his rig, he plowed into an empty tollbooth and smashed it to pieces.
He climbed down from the wreckage and within a matter of minutes, a truck
pulled up and discharged a crew of workers. The men picked up each broken piece
of the former tollbooth and spread some kind of creamy substance on it. Then
they began fitting the pieces together. In less than a half hour, they had the
entire tollbooth reconstructed and looking good as new. “Astonishing!” the
truck driver said to the crew chief. “What was the white stuff you used to get
all the pieces together?” The crew chief said, “Oh, that was tollgate booth
paste.”
This morning’s message is about putting
broken pieces back together. But you
don’t need “booth paste”, God is the best one to heal the broken.
:1-8 Naaman is a leper
:1 Naaman
Naaman = “pleasantness”
:1 captain of the host of the king of Syria
He was the chief general in Benhadad’s
army.
:1 a great man with his master
His boss liked him a lot.
:1 by him the LORD had given deliverance
unto Syria
Naaman may have been the general in charge during the last great battle
with Israel, when Ahab and Jehoshaphat fought against the city of
Ramoth-gilead, and Ahab was killed. During that battle:
(1 Ki 22:34 KJV) And a
certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the
joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn
thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
According to the Jewish Targum (commentary), that “certain man” was none
other than Naaman.
:1 but he was a leper
He’s got all these great things going for him, but he’s got one problem.
Leprosy was like AIDS of today.
It made you an outcast, because nobody wanted to catch the disease.
:2 brought away captive ... a little maid
Lesson
God can turn bad circumstances to the good
Imagine what life would be like taken captive as a slave during a war.
Removed from all your friends. Living as a slave.
Yet God’s going to use this little girl.
Think of Joseph, sold by his brothers into Egypt as a slave, then going
further downhill into prison.
(Gen 50:20 KJV) But as for
you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass,
as it is this day, to save much people alive.
It may be that what you think is “evil” isn’t evil at all, but just a
little uncomfortable, because God is using it to change you, and get you where
you need to go.
(2 Cor 4:8-18 KJV) We
are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in
despair; {9} Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; {10}
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. {11} For we which live are
alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our mortal flesh. {12} So then death worketh in us, but life
in you. {13} We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I
believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
{14} Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by
Jesus, and shall present us with you. {15} For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the
glory of God.
Paul believed that all the difficulties that he was going through would
produce a benefit.
{16} For which cause we
faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day
by day. {17} For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; {18} While we look not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Paul could see that ultimately the tough times that we endure on the earth
were working to produce wonderful, weighty results in heaven.
Even Naaman is going to find out that his leprosy will lead him to God.
:3 Would God my lord were with the prophet ...
That’s all she says.
But her few words get the ball rolling.
Lesson
It doesn’t take much to start great
things
Illustration
Play taped message: Ray Comfort’s “I Got Off At George Street”
How a little old man faithfully handed out tracts in
Sidney Australia and asked the people the question, “Are you saved? If you were
to die tonight, would you go to heaven?”
Click
here to download and listen to the story
It doesn’t take much. Just faithfulness. Commitment. Being obedient.
:5 ten talents of silver ...
(2 Ki 5:5 NLT) taking as
gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold …
This is a HUGE amount of money. Some estimates put it in the millions of
dollars.
:7 see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
The king of Israel thinks that he’s being asked to heal the man. He doesn’t
understand. He thinks its all a trap.
:8 Elisha the man of God had heard
…
It seems that Elisha must have
heard about this from a person, not from the Lord. A prophet doesn’t hear everything from the Lord.
:9-14 Naaman is healed
:10 wash in Jordan seven times
This actually seems to be an abbreviated version of what the Mosaic Law
says to do when a leper is “cleansed”.
Part of the ritual involved sprinkling with water seven times.
(Lev 14:7 KJV) And he shall
sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and
shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open
field.
Finally, after seven days, the leper was to have a complete bath:
(Lev 14:9 KJV) But it shall
be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his
beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash
his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.
Lesson
Points of contact
It seems that Elisha uses a lot of simple things to help people put their
trust in the Lord. It’s not the things themselves that cause the miracle, it’s
the Lord. But God will at times use simply physical things to help us get over
the hump of trusting in Him.
For Elisha: Putting salt in a polluted spring. Putting meal in a poisonous
stew. Naaman is to wash in the Jordan and be healed.
If we’re not careful, we can cross a fine line from faith into
superstition.
The brass serpent
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, their constant complaining
brought judgment:
(Num
21:5-9 KJV) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have
ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread,
neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. {6} And the
LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much
people of Israel died. {7} Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We
have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto
the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the
people. {8} And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it
upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he
looketh upon it, shall live. {9} And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it
upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he
beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The brass serpent became a thing of faith for the people.
If they were bitten by a snake, the act of faith that was involved in looking
up to the top of the pole would bring healing.
The act of faith demonstrated that the people were willing
to look to God and trust in His solution rather than in their own ways.
It seems a silly solution. Who would have thought that
looking at a brass serpent could heal anything? Yet the act of faith brought
the healing.
Later, the Israelites would hold on to this brass serpent and it would
become a thing of superstition rather than faith. King Hezekiah would finally
take the brass serpent and destroy it.
(2 Ki 18:4-5
KJV) He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves,
and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days
the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. {5}
He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among
all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
Instead of being something that would provoke faith in the
Lord, the brass serpent had become an end in itself.
Yet Jesus would refer to the serpent because it’s initial purpose was
correct. It’s initial purpose was to provoke the people to trust the Lord.
(John
3:14-15 KJV) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up: {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life.
The hem of His garment.
(Mat 9:20-22 KJV)
And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years,
came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: {21} For she said within
herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. {22} But Jesus
turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort;
thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
The woman had told herself that touching Jesus’ robe would
make her whole. Yet it was actually her faith that brought healing, not any
“magic” in Jesus’ robe.
The lady and the furnace
Pastor Chuck tells a story about a woman who went to his church and had a
desire to receive the gift of tongues. She went home from church one evening
and went into her dining room to be alone and pray. She had been reading about
the day of Pentecost when the disciples had been in the upper room praying when
a sound as a mighty rushing wind filled the place and they all began to speak
in tongues. As she was praying, she too heard a sound, and it seemed like a
“mighty rushing wind”. She found herself beginning to speak in tongues. Later
she found out from her husband that the sound she had heard was simply the
furnace turning on. It sounds silly, but it was a simple thing like a sound
that allowed the woman to release her own ability to trust the Lord and a real,
genuine thing happened to her.
Elders and oil.
James says that if anyone is sick, he should call for the elders of the
church and as they anoint with oil, the sick will be healed. This too can be
one of those “points of contact”, a place to release a person’s faith. The oil
doesn’t heal anyone. God does the healing, in response to our faith.
:11 surely come out to me…strike his hand over the place…
Naaman was expecting some kind of show.
:11-12 Naaman was wroth
Lesson
Why are you angry?
Misunderstanding
It seems he doesn’t understand what Elisha is asking. Perhaps he thinks
that Elisha is simply saying that he needs a bath. Elisha is asking him to take
a step of faith.
Pride
Perhaps Naaman thought that Elisha himself should have come out. Perhaps he
thinks that he’s being snubbed by Elisha. Perhaps he thinks that Elisha is
trying to say that Israel is better than Syria.
:13 if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing …
Lesson
Simplicity of believing
Some people think it’s too simple to just “believe” in Jesus.
But God has always asked His people to trust Him.
When God delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt, He asked them to trust
Him by putting the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their houses. When the
angel of death came through Egypt, the judgment would “pass over” the house if
the house had the blood of the Lamb.
In the same way, God simply asks you to believe in His Son, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
(John 3:16 KJV) For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
:14 then went he down … a little child
I think the language used is interesting. He went “down”. His flesh became
like a “little child”.
Lesson
Humility brings blessing
How often are we missing out on the blessings and miracles of the Lord in
our lives because we're simply too proud to admit we're wrong, and turn around
and obey?
(1 Pet 5:5-6 KJV) Likewise,
ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. {6} Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of
God, that he may exalt you in due time:
We can choose to either be stubborn and proud, and find
God Himself resisting us, or we can humble ourselves, and find God giving us grace!
:15-19 Naaman’s gratitude
:15 now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel
It sounds to me as if Naaman has become a God follower.
“Are you saved? If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?”