Lesson 107

Naaman’s Leprosy Is Healed

2 Kings 5:1-14

MEMORY VERSE2 KINGS 5:14“So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan,according to the saying of the man of God; and his fleshwas restored like the flesh of a little child, and he wasclean.”

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:A plastic glove, baby powder and a bowl of water.

An 8’ to 10’ rope and a blindfold.

Construction paper, scissors, as many copies of the “Jesus Loves UsAll” template as the number of children in your class.

ATTENTION GRABBER!

Leprosy GloveYou will need a plastic glove, some baby powder and a bowl withwater. Before class begins put some baby powder into the gloveand put the glove on your hand. Try to act embarrassed aboutyour hand and try to keep it hidden. If a child asks you about it,just say, “Oh, it’s really nothing.” Begin to tell the story of Naaman,keeping your glove on through the story.

Your glove will represent the leprosy that Naaman had. When youget to the place in the story when Naaman dips seven times in theJordan you can then tell your class that maybe that would be agood idea for your hand. Dip your hands in the water seven times,and then remove the glove. Say, “7-6-5-4-3-2-1, Wow!” Allow thechildren to smell your hand, the baby powder helps your handsmell like a baby, like Naaman’s childlike skin.

When someone in Bible times had leprosy it was a very hard thing.They stood out from everyone else, and often had to be separatedfrom their family and friends. There wasn’t any cure for it, so forit to be healed would have been a great thing. God wanted to teachNaaman a valuable lesson and used Elisha to do it. Let’s look attoday’s story.

LESSON TIME!Have you ever seen a miracle? What is a miracle? Is it alwayssomething big and spectacular like fire coming down from heavenor can it be a small thing to help us in our daily lives? Thedictionary says that a miracle is a thing, fact or event happeningapart from the normal order of events.

What would you do to see or to receive a miracle? Would youtravel across the world and pay large sums of money if you weresick and thought you could be healed? This is what a certain armycommander from the country of Syria was willing to do in ourstory.

But God wanted to teach this army commander a very importantlesson about being proud. He thought that he was too important todo what Elisha was asking him to do and he almost missed out on ablessing. Sometimes we want God to bless us, but we want Him todo it OUR way. God doesn’t work like that, we need to listen to Hisinstructions and obey Him if we want to truly be blessed. We learnfrom Naaman’s life that We must be humble when we come t othe Lord.

2 KIN GS 5:1N ow N aam an , c om m ander o f the arm y o f the k ing o fS yr i a , w as a great and honorabl e m an in the eyes o fh i s m as t er , bec au se by h im the LORD had gi v env i c tory t o S yr i a . He w as al so a m igh ty m an o f v alor ,bu t a l ep er .

Naaman was a great army commander from Damascus, Syria.Because of his army record he was well thought of by both the kingand the nation. He was like a hero in his country. And because hecommanded a large army he was also very powerful. He was veryused to people giving him prompt obedience when he gave acommand. When he said, “jump”, most people said, “how high?”

But he had a terrible illness called leprosy. Leprosy was acontagious disease where the flesh is slowly eaten away. There wasnot cure for leprosy in that day. Because the disease could spreadto others they were afraid to be around them. They usually had tolive away from their families and friends in special colonies set upfor lepers. Also in Bible times if lepers were in public they had tokeep a distance from other people and shout, “unclean, unclean” tolet people know they were around. Could you imagine having tolive like that?

In the Bible, leprosy is like an example or picture of sin. We allhave the disease of sin and only the Lord can cleanse it. We aregoing to see in this story an example of salvation as Naaman seeksto have his leprosy healed. We must be humble when we cometo the Lord.

2 KIN GS 5:2-3And the S yr i ans had gone ou t on raid s , and hadbrou ght bac k c ap t i v e a you ng gi r l f rom the l and o fI s rae l . S he w ai t ed on N aam an 's w i f e .

Then she said t o her m i s t res s , " I f on ly m y m as t erw ere w i th the p rop het w ho i s in S am ar i a! For hew ou ld heal h im o f h i s l ep rosy ."

Naaman kept suffering every day from the leprosy. It was gettingworse and worse. One day he would have to be separated from therest of his family. He was desperate to find a cure for it.

During one of the wars a young Jewish girl was taken captive. Shebecame a servant to the commander Naaman’s wife. She told hermistress that there was a prophet of God in Samaria who couldhelp Naaman.

Maybe the girl had met Elisha, or had heard about one of the manymiracles that God had performed through him. It is interestingthat the Lord used this young girl to help Naaman and to lead himto Elisha and the Lord.

The Lord can use any of us. We don’t have to be someone great orfamous. We can just be doing the simple things that God wants usto do and then be used greatly by him. There is no telling who theLord would want us to share the good news of salvation with.Maybe there is a Naaman someday that you might get to tell aboutall of the miracles of the Lord.

2 KIN GS 5:4-6And N aam an w ent in and to ld h i s m as t er , s ay ing,"Thu s and thu s said the gi r l w ho i s f rom the l and o fI s rae l ."

Then the k ing o f S yr i a s aid , "Go now , and I w i l l s enda l e t t er t o the k ing o f I s rae l ." S o he dep ar t ed andtook w i th h im t en t al en t s o f s i l v er , s i x thou sandsheke l s o f go ld , and t en c hanges o f c l o th ing.

Then he brou gh t the l e t t er t o the k ing o f I s rae l ,w h i c h said , N ow be adv i sed , w hen th i s l e t t er c om esto you , that I hav e s en t N aam an m y serv an t t o you ,that you m ay heal h im o f h i s l ep rosy .

After hearing what the girl said, the king of Syria encouraged thecommander to go to Israel to be healed. He sent him to the king ofIsrael with a letter of introduction requesting that the commanderbe healed. He sent with him a large amount of money and goods topay for his healing.

The king really liked Naaman a lot and wanted to help him. Hemust have thought that it certainly couldn’t hurt to send Naamanto Israel to try to be healed. What did he have to lose? But all thewhile the Lord was preparing to teach Naaman a valuable lesson. We must be humble when we come to the Lord.

2 KIN GS 5:7And i t hap p ened , w hen the k ing o f I s rae l read thel e t t er , that he t ore h i s c l o thes and said , "Am I God ,t o k i l l and m ake al i v e , that th i s m an sends a m an tom e to heal h im o f h i s l ep rosy? Theref ore p l easec ons ider , and see how he s eek s a qu arre l w i th m e."

The king of Israel became very upset. He said that he wasn’t God.He didn’t have power over life and death. Why was thecommander sent to him to heal his leprosy? He thought that KingAram was trying to start another war with him.

The king of Israel immediately thought of himself. He didn’t thinkabout whether or not the Lord could do this, or whether Elishacould do this. He was afraid that if he somehow couldn’t do thisthen there might be a war. How we need to learn to trust the Lordwhen we get into what seems like impossible situations.

2 KIN GS 5:8-9S o i t w as , w hen El i sha the m an o f God heard that thek ing o f I s rae l had t orn h i s c l o thes , that he s en t t othe k ing, s ay ing, "Why hav e you torn you r c l o thes ?Pl ease l e t h im c om e to m e, and he shal l know thatthere i s a p rop het in I s rae l ."

Then N aam an w ent w i th h i s horses and c har io t , andhe s t ood at the door o f El i sha's hou se .

When Elisha heard that the king had become upset and tore hisclothes (a sign in those days of mourning or being upset aboutsomething) he sent a message for the king to send the commanderto him so he would know that there was a prophet of God in Israel.So Naaman took his request to the house of Elisha.

This was the prophet that the servant girl was talking about. Assoon as Elisha heard about the request that came to the king, heknew that his God could do anything. He knew that God was goingto use this opportunity to reveal his power to Naaman and to Syria.Elisha never questioned whether God could heal Naaman.

Follow and ObeyIn order for Naaman to be healed he had to follow the instructionsthat the Lord had given to Elisha. Naaman had a choice. He couldeither obey and receive the healing that God wanted to give him, orhe could disobey and miss out on God’s blessing. We have thesame choice.

This activity will help us to understand what it is like to obey. Youwill need an 8’ - 10’ rope and a blindfold. Split the class into twogroups. One of the groups will be the rope holders. They can standon one side and hold the rope chest high. They should hold it inorder to make a shape such as a large “V” “W” or “Z.”

Next, the other team can take turns guessing the shape. Blindfoldone of the children (blindfold before the first group makes theirshape) and allow them to hold the rope and move to the other side.They can then guess what the shape is. Take turns to allow theother children to do it, changing the shape each time.

Explain to the children that it is important to hold onto the Lordand His word when we follow Him. He will lead us where He wantsus to be. God wanted to heal Naaman so He led him to Elisha. Godwill lead us if we will follow and obey.

2 KIN GS 5:10-12And El i sha s en t a m es senger t o h im , s ay ing, "Go andw ash in the J ordan sev en t im es , and you r f l esh shal lbe res tored t o you , and you shal l be c l ean ."

Bu t N aam an bec am e f u r iou s , and w en t aw ay and said ," Indeed , I s aid t o m yse l f , 'He w i l l su re ly c om e ou t t om e, and s t and and c al l on the nam e o f the LORD h i sGod , and w av e h i s hand ov er the p l ac e , and heal thel ep rosy . '

"Are not the Abanah and the Pharp ar , the r i v er s o fD am asc u s , bet t er than al l t he w ater s o f I s rae l ? Cou ldI not w ash in them and be c l ean?" S o he tu rned andw ent aw ay in a rage .

It is very interesting what Elisha does. He tells a servant to go andtell Naaman to wash himself seven times in the river Jordan andthat he would be healed. Elisha didn’t even come out to meet withNaaman. We see here that Naaman became furious. Maybe he wasthinking, “Doesn’t Elisha understand how important I am? I am thecommander of the king of Syria’s army! I’ve traveled a long way tosee him. He at least can greet me.”

The commander became offended because Elisha didn’t come outpersonally. Naaman thought certainly because he was such animportant man that Elisha would come out and do somethingspectacular like calling loudly to God and waiving his hand overthe leprosy.

Naaman had in his mind what the miracle should be like.Sometimes people think that God should act in a certain way.When He does something other than what they thought He shoulddo then they get mad. But God always acts with our best in mind.He knew that in order for Naaman to come to Him that he wouldhave to be taught a lesson about being humble. We must behumble when we come to the Lord.

Elisha wanted the commander to know that it would take faith inGod to be healed. Naaman had to be willing to humble himself anddo a simple thing. Instead, he got angry and left. He almost letpride get in the way of his miracle.

What Elisha told Naaman to do was very simple. All he had to dowas to go to the Jordan River and wash seven times and he wouldbe healed. Sometimes God works very powerfully in very simpleways. There isn’t always the fire from heaven or the trumpetssounding. This was too simple for Naaman.

Naaman said that he could have just stayed home and washed inthe rivers there. Why did he need to go to the Jordan? He turnedto leave. What a terrible thing if he would have missed out onbeing healed because he didn’t want to obey.

Sometimes people will come to Jesus to be saved. They think thatthey have to do something, or it can only be certain way. Thenwhen they find out how simple it is, that we can be saved by simplybelieving, they think that it is too simple and sometimes they walkaway. Think about the story of the rich young ruler. He hadeverything he needed, but his riches were more important thancoming to Jesus. The Bible says that he went away sad. May ourpride never keep us away from Jesus! We must be humble whenwe come to the Lord.

2 KIN GS 5:13-14And h i s s erv an t s c am e near and sp oke t o h im , andsaid , "M y f ather , i f t he p rop het had t o ld you to dosom eth ing great , w ou ld you not hav e done i t ? Howm u c h m ore then , w hen he says t o you , 'Wash , and bec l ean '?"

S o he w en t dow n and d ip p ed sev en t im es in theJ ordan , ac c ord ing t o the say ing o f the m an o f God ;and h i s f l esh w as res tored l i ke the f l esh o f a l i t t l ec h i ld , and he w as c l ean .

Naaman’s servants went after him and reasoned with him. If theprophet had asked you to do some great thing or pay a great price,you would have done it. Why not try this when he tells you to justwash and be clean. Naaman’s servants had a lot of wisdom intelling him this. We need to lay down our ideas or opinions aboutthings and do what the Lord tells us to do.

So he went to the river Jordan and dipped into the river seventimes and he was healed. His flesh became whole, clean andsmooth like a young child. It was a real miracle of God. He waswashed and made clean.

This is a picture of how Jesus saves us. We have all sinned andcan’t do anything about our condition. Like the leprosy there isnothing we can do. But when we come to Jesus and ask Him intoour hearts we can be made clean. But we must be humble when wecome to Him. We must be humble when we come to theLord.

God hasn’t limited His miracles to the Bible times. He doesmiracles today too. We expect a miracle to be something big andspectacular and sometimes they are. But miracles can happen bydoing simple things like Elisha telling the commander to go wash inthe river. Maybe the Lord wants to heal us by going to the doctor.The doctor can help us but God always does the healing.

Because God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we thinkHe should, we sometimes think He hasn’t answered. We can missGod’s miracles because we aren’t looking for them or we have ourown idea of what it should look like. We think the small things arejust a coincidence. They are miracles of God to help us in our dailylives. God is taking care of His people. God sometimes usesmiracles to show His love for us.

God is all-powerful. There is nothing too big or too small for God.We need to have faith in Him and know that He knows what is bestfor us. He has promised to always be with us and to take care of us.We must be humble when we come to the Lord.

Jesus Loves Us AllGod loved Naaman even though he wasn’t from the nation of Israel.God loves all people everywhere and wants them to come to Him.God sent His son Jesus so that any one of us could have eternal lifeif we would believe in Him. This craft will help us to rememberthat Jesus loves every child everywhere.

You will need construction paper, scissors, copies of the enclosedtemplate. Use the instructions on the enclosed template for yourcraft.

Remind the children that God used the young servant girl fromIsrael to lead Naaman to Elisha for his healing. God can also use usto lead others to come to know Jesus as their savior.

PRAYERLead the children in a prayer of commitment to be humble whenthey come before the Lord, to submit their will to His. If there areany children who have not yet responded to the gospel, give themopportunity to do so.

Template - Jesus Loves Us All

Directions: Cut out the palette and children above. Paste the palette onto a piece ofconstruction paper (any color). Next, paste a picture of a child over each of the colors on thepalette. Next, cut circles out of construction paper (various colors) large enough to cover thepictures of the children. Place the colored circles over the children and paste at one end toform a flap. God loves us all, even though we might be different.

Jesus LovesEvery Boyand Girl!