NAAMAN
OF SYRIA AND BAPTISM INTO JESUS' DEATH
April 22, 2012
MF Blume
2 Kings 5:1-14 KJV Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of
Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him
the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in
valour, but he was a leper. (2) And the Syrians had gone
out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of
Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. (3)
And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet
that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
(4) And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus
said the maid that is of the land of Israel. (5) And the
king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king
of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver,
and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
(6) And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now
when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent
Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his
leprosy. (7) And it came to pass, when the king of Israel
had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to
kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a
man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he
seeketh a quarrel against me. (8) And it was so, when
Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his
clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy
clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a
prophet in Israel. (9) So Naaman came with his horses and
with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
(10) And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in
Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou
shalt be clean. (11) But Naaman was wroth, and went away,
and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand,
and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the
place, and recover the leper. (12) Are not Abana and
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may
I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a
rage. (13) And his servants came near, and spake unto him,
and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,
wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to
thee, Wash, and be clean? (14) Then went he down, and
dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean.
Naaman was captain over the entire military of Syria.
· He was afflicted with LEPROSY which is
significantly an UNCLEANNESS, which is sort of different than a regular
disease.
· IT REPRESENTS SIN.
A maiden had been seized from Israel by Syria to become his
wife’s maidservant.
· God had this healing of Naaman planned from
the start.
· This girl being from Israel would inform
them of Elisha the prophet who could bring cleansing to Naaman.
Being a military hero who was renowned and famous, he expected Elisha
to give him personal greeting and to do something grand and glorious.
· But since LEPROSY represents SIN, there is
nothing glorious to be done with Naaman seeing he simply stood as a
sinner no matter how important he thought he was.
Dipping seven times in Jordan not only cleansed Naaman’s leprosy,
but reminds us of the CLEANSING OF THE LEPER we read about in Leviticus
14.
Leviticus 14:1-8 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
(2) This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his
cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: (3) And the
priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and,
behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
(4) Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be
cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and
hyssop: (5) And the priest shall command that one of the
birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
(6) As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood,
and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird
in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
(7) 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. (8) And he that
is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair,
and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he
shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven
days.
All of this was done AFTER THE LEPROSY WAS ACTUALLY GONE FROM THE
PERSON WHO HAD IT.
He could not get involved with the community of Israel, even though he
was healed, until he experienced this CLEANSING.
· He is pronounced clean after this ceremony.
The leper was to be sprinkled SEVEN TIMES with the water and blood from
a slain bird.
· ALL OF THIS POINTS TO WATER BAPTISM FOR
REMISSION OF SINS.
Acts 2:38 KJV Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Two birds, so long as they were clean ones, were brought to the priest.
· The priest took a basin of river or stream
water, because that was the purest water to get.
· The living bird was killed over the bowl of
water so that its blood dropped into the water.
· The living bird was taken with cedar,
scarlet and hyssop and dipped into the water and blood from the slain
bird.
· This handful of hyssop, cedar and scarlet
was then soaked in the blood drenched water and used to sprinkle that
blood and water on the leper SEVEN TIMES.
· Then the living bird was set free.
CEDAR AND HYSSOP:
1 Kings 4:33 KJV And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that
is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he
spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of
fishes.
Largest to smallest.
SCARLET is blood.
SEVEN means perfect and we see a perfect cleansing BY THE BLOOD OF
JESUS in water baptism.
Acts 22:16 KJV And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 2:38 KJV Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 26:28 KJV For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
1 John 1:7 KJV But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Remission of sins is by the blood in Matthew 26 and baptism in
Jesus’ name in Acts 2:38.
· Because water baptism is baptism into the
DEATH OF JESUS, which is represented by the BLOOD HE SHED in his death.
We are immersed, or dipped, like Romans 6 says into the death of Jesus
Christ when we are baptized.
· This shows that baptism is full immersion.
· Jesus died and was buried in a tomb IN OUR
STEAD OR PLACE.
· This is indicated by taking the LIVING BIRD
and dipping it into the water and the blood from the slain bird.
· When the bloodied water is sprinkled on the
leper, this represents the death of the slain bird that was required
due to sin was IDENTIFIED WITH THE LEPER.
· In other words the life of the bird was
taken as though it were the life of the person who had leprosy.
· Lepers represent people who have SIN.
Jesus died because we had to die.
Hebrews 9:27-28 KJV And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment: (28) So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Can we all see the answer as to why verse 28 says that Jesus was once
offered to die when we read verse 27?
· Jesus died once because it is appointed to
us to die once.
· In other words, He died because our sins
caused us to have to die.
· WE HAD A DEATH PENALTY DUE TO THE CRIME OF
SIN.
· This means that HIS DEATH DEALS WITH OUR
DEATH PENALTY.
· HE TOOK OUR DEATH PENALTY.
Blood and water cleansed the leper.
· They stand for the DEATH OF JESUS.
John 19:34-35 KJV But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
(35) And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and
he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
BAPTISM IS FOR REMISSION OF SINS.
· People usually never heard of this purpose
of baptism.
1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
WASHED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD is baptism in Jesus’ name.
The other bird was released once it was dipped into the blood and water
and the blood and water were sprinkled on the leper.
· I might be tempted to say this represents
the leper being freed, but it appears so much like the atonement ritual
where two goats were taken. One was offered in sacrifice and the
other was called the scapegoat that was imbibed with the sins of the
people and released into the wilderness to the AZAZEL THE DEVIL.
Leviticus 16:7-10 KJV And he shall take the two goats, and
present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. (8) And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two
goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
(9) And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot
fell, and offer him for a sin offering. (10) But the goat,
on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive
before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a
scapegoat into the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:21-22 KJV And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon
the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of
the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,
putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the
hand of a fit man into the wilderness: (22) And the goat
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and
he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:7-10 CEV Then you will lead the two goats into my
presence at the front of the sacred tent, (8) where I will
show you which goat will be sacrificed to me and which one will be sent
into the desert to the demon Azazel. (9) After you offer
the first goat as a sacrifice for sin, (10) the other one
must be presented to me alive, before you send it into the desert to
take away the sins of the people.
Leviticus 16:7-10 MSG Then he will set the two goats before GOD
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (8) and cast lots
over the two goats, one lot for GOD and the other lot for Azazel.
(9) He will offer the goat on which the lot to GOD falls as an
Absolution-Offering. (10) The goat on which the lot for
Azazel falls will be sent out into the wilderness to Azazel to make
atonement.
The one goat is sacrificed, and the second has the sins and iniquities
of Israel on it and released to the devil in the wilderness.
It’s like JESUS being delivered before God for death to satisfy
God’s righteous demand of death due to sin as the first goat, and
JESUS also delivered to the devil to be BRUISED IN HIS HEEL by the
serpent and to suffer the death of the cross by the hands of the devil.
This is ATONEMENT.
· We become “AT ONE” with the Lord
in HIS DEATH, so we can say we paid for our sins by Jesus’ death.
· Jesus took our penalty, and so did we
THROUGH HIM.
And we are returned to the COMMUNITY OF THE SAINTS.
· We return to the family of God from which
sin took us.
Naaman was insulted by the command to dip 7 times in Jordan.
· Jesus was baptized in Jordan.
· It is associated with humbling and nothing
grandiose.
· Naaman would have liked some fancy religious
ritual that made him look good to confirm his importance as
Syria’s military leader.
· But he had to realize LEPROSY IS SIN AND IT
IS UNCLEAN and there is nothing really noble about us in the eyes of
God as sinners.
· ONLY THE DEATH OF JESUS can deal with that.
Naaman came up out of the water with the flesh of a LITTLE CHILD.
2 Kings 5:14 KJV Then went he down, and dipped himself seven
times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his
flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was
clean.
BORN AGAIN!
BAPTISM IS BEING BORN OF THE WATER as part of NEW BIRTH.
Israel was a blessed land, and Naaman wanted to take two mule loads of
Israelite earth back to Syria with him in order to build an altar on it
and sacrifice to God as though he were living in the land of Israel,
himself.
2 Kings 5:15-17 KJV And he returned to the man of God, he and all
his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I
know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now
therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
(16) But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will
receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
(17) And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given
to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will
henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods,
but unto the LORD.
Naaman came out of the darkness of Syria into the light of
Israel’s blessings from God.
Lepers were not HEALED but CLEANSED.
· There is a difference.
· He heard all about Elisha where he could be
cleansed BY THE HEBREW MAID.
Naaman wanted to pay Elisha for the cleansing, but it cannot be bought.
· Only the DEATH OF JESUS can set us free from
sin.
· Naaman had to come to Elisha rather than
Elisha come to him.
We are set free from sin in repentance and baptism for remission of
sins.
The enemy who bruised Jesus’ heel was CRUSHED IN HIS HEAD.
· Naaman took earth from Israel back to Syria.
· LIKE LAND FROM ANOTHER NATION IN SYRIA.
· EMBASSY.
· We are AMBASSADORS
· HEAVEN ON EARTH.
· Israel extended itself into Syria.
He formerly thought two rivers of Syria were better than all the rivers
of Israel, and now he takes land from ISRAEL back to Syria.
He was a mighty captain used of God according to 2 Kin 5:1, who
contracted leprosy and then was cleansed.
· Back in the saddle again.
· Return of mankind to POWER.
