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Captain Naaman Healed of Leprosy
This chapter is based on 2 Kings 5.
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a
great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him
the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of
valor, but a leper.
Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, had defeated Israel in the battle that
resulted in Ahab’s death. Since that time the Syrians had maintained
a constant border warfare against Israel. In one of their raids they
had carried away a little maid who, in the land of her captivity,
“waited on Naaman’s wife.” A slave, far from her home, this little
captive was one of God’s witnesses, fulfilling the purpose for which
God had chosen Israel as His people. In that heathen home, her
sympathies were aroused in behalf of her master, and, remembering
the wonderful miracles of healing that God had performed through
Elisha, she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the
prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”
She believed that by the power of Heaven Naaman could be healed.
The captive maid’s conduct in that heathen home is a strong
witness to the power of early home training. There is no higher trust
than that committed to fathers and mothers in the care and training
of their children.
Happy are the parents whose lives reflect the divine, so that the
promises and commands of God awaken gratitude and reverence in
the child. These are parents whose tenderness, justice, and long-
suffering interpret to the child the love and justice and long-suffering
of God. They teach the child to love, trust, and obey the Father in
heaven. They endow that child with a treasure as enduring as eternity.
Our children may spend their lives in common occupations, but
God calls them all to be ministers of mercy to the world. They are
to stand by the side of Christ in unselfish service.
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