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Captain Naaman Healed of Leprosy
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leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.”
The guilty man’s punishment followed swiftly. He went out from
Elisha’s presence, “leprous, as white as snow.”
This experience teaches solemn lessons. Gehazi placed a stum-
bling block in the pathway of Naaman, whose mind had received
wonderful light and who felt favorably toward the service of the
living God. There could be no excuse for the deception Gehazi
practiced. To the day of his death Gehazi remained a leper.
“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies
will not escape.”
Proverbs 19:5
. “All things are naked and open to
the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:13
. God
revealed to His prophet every detail of the scene between Gehazi
and Naaman.
Truth comes from God; deception in all forms comes from Sa-
tan. Whoever departs in any way from the straight line of truth is
betraying himself into the power of the wicked one. Those who have
learned from Christ will be straightforward and true, for they are
preparing for the fellowship of those holy ones in whose mouth is
found no deceit. See
Revelation 14:5
.
The Savior presented Naaman’s wonderful faith as an object
lesson. “Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet,”
He declared, “and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the
Syrian.”
Luke 4:27
. God passed over many lepers in Israel because
their unbelief closed the door to them. In God’s sight a heathen
nobleman who had been true to his convictions of right was more
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worthy of His blessing than the afflicted in Israel who had despised
their God-given privileges. God works for those who appreciate His
favors, who respond to the light Heaven gives them.
If those who are honest in heart follow what they understand to
be duty, God will give them increased light until, like Naaman, they
will acknowledge that “there is no God in all the earth” except the
living God, the Creator.
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