Naaman’s story in 2 Kings 5 opens like many other Bible passages. A sick man gets an undeserved miracle. He’s then convinced the God of Israel is the one true God and declares he’ll worship the Lord from now on. God’s grace and power are on display in this happy ending.
But what Naaman asks for next turns a familiar storyline into a curious one. As part of his job as the Syrian king’s right-hand man, Naaman has to attend Syrian worship. So he asks Elisha if the Lord would please forgive him for bowing his knee to the false god alongside his boss.
Was Naaman already coming up with excuses to sin? Had he not seen previous headlines about God’s jealousy and holiness? I turn the page and brace for Elisha to bring down an Old Testament hammer. Instead, I’m shocked when he responds, “Go in peace” (v. 19).
Peace? On the surface, Elisha seems to be condoning false worship, but there’s more to the story. Let’s consider what Elisha’s response means and what we can learn from it as we read the books of Kings today.
Elisha’s Response Shows God’s Compassion
If we understand that the original audience is God’s people living years later in Babylonian captivity, this odd twist starts to make more sense. Just as Naaman wanted to worship God on foreign soil, God’s people wanted to worship God despite their relocation to Babylon. I can only imagine how sweet it would have been to hear this story and feel understood—to realize that God knew how awkward and stuck they felt between the world they missed (where they could worship him freely and obediently) and the world in which they lived (surrounded by pagan culture and no temple worship).
God knew their predicament. Naaman’s story showed them that the Lord understood they were caught between their faith and their workplace responsibilities. The exiles must have struggled to know how to respond as their Gentile bosses threw around Babylonian curse words, served pork at workplace parties, and decorated their shops for pagan holidays. Commentator Peter Leithart writes, “Elisha’s response is remarkable and shows something of God’s gentleness in dealing with believers in tricky moral and political circumstances.”
Living in today’s society can be a lot like the Israelites living in exile then. We struggle with various questions: Should I teach a school curriculum that goes against my beliefs? Should I quit a job that has LGBT+ stickers on its storefront window? Will my boss understand if I ask for the Lord’s Day off? In this story from the ancient world, we sense God’s compassion for us as we try to figure out how to be in the modern world but not of it (John 17:14, 15).
Gehazi’s Sin Highlights Naaman’s True Worship
Naaman’s sort of worship—his heart worship of the true God—is what God wants over knee worship. David explained this in Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
In this story from the ancient world, we sense God’s compassion for us as we try to figure out how to be in the modern world but not of it.
To underscore this truth, the script flips when Namaan departs and Elisha’s servant Gehazi chases after him. Here we see a stark comparison between Naaman, right-hand man to the Syrian king, and Gehazi, right-hand man to Elisha. Though Elisha refused to accept presents from Naaman, Gehazi secretly acquired expensive goods from Naaman and lied about it to Elisha.
Gehazi bent his knee toward God while bowing his heart to beautiful clothes and silver. Elisha—who’d just pronounced peace on Naaman—cursed Gehazi’s disobedience. As a consequence, leprosy clung to him and his descendants, keeping them out of worship forever. The contrast is noteworthy. Both Naaman and Gehazi claimed to worship God, yet God saw past their knees to their hearts (1 Sam. 16:7). We need to ask ourselves what God sees in ours.
Many Gehazis sit in our church pews, bowing the knee to God while their hearts run after the financial and fashionable gods of today such as full social calendars, expensive houses, political power, or Instagram notoriety. Or, like the Pharisees of Jesus’s time, churchgoers may cloak obedience in their tribal rules of what feels biblical to them.
These Christians are less understanding than Elisha as they critique their brothers and sisters who struggle like Naaman in the tension of obeying God while figuring out how to be a team player at work or a loving friend in the neighborhood. If you’re walking in the tension of loving God as you work and live where God has put you, let Naaman’s story encourage you that God has compassion for us as we navigate these situations.
Don’t Rule Out Bold Obedience
Yet Naaman’s peaceful ending is the biblical exception when you look at the myriad of men and women who obeyed the Lord and experienced persecution because of it: Daniel met hungry lions. Esther faced an “off with her head!” moment as she broke palace norms. Paul’s body showed scars of beatings before dying for his obedience. John the Baptist preached against King Herod’s adultery and lost his head.
Naaman’s peaceful ending is the biblical exception when you look at the myriad of men and women who obeyed the Lord and experienced persecution because of it.
Today too, many believers are called to give up possessions, status, and health in the name of bowing the knee as well as the heart to God. So how do we know if we can “go in peace” or if we should take the risk of bold obedience?
Naaman points the way.
Ask a godly friend. When faced with a big decision, my mind can get fuzzy. I need someone outside of the situation to help me process. A godly friend can ask good questions, help decipher what’s going on in my heart and mind, and offer biblical wisdom. Just like Naaman asked Elijah for help, we can seek godly counsel.
Ask God. Go to his Word. As a prophet, Elisha was the source of God’s Word for Naaman; the Bible is ours. Dig into it. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom in big theological questions and everyday applications of them (James 1:5). But be sure to bring your heart, not just your knees, to God. As we’ve seen in Naaman’s story, that’s the kind of question he delights to answer.