Naaman was a pagan army captain. 2 Kings 5:1: “Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.”  (Aram is the Hebrew word for Syria.)

Naaman was a great, honorable and courageous man whom the Lord favored. God’s favor comes to those who are serving higher standards, serving righteousness. Although Naaman was pagan, obviously he was standing for much higher principles than those around him. God favors this kind of righteous heart attitude.

He is referred to as a “valiant warrior” – a “mighty man of valor” in other translations. He is the only Gentile given this distinction. (See for example Gideon in Judges 6:12 and David in 1 Samuel 16:18.)

But he was prideful and needed to overcome that pride. After being influenced by seemingly insignificant people – a young servant girl and a group of servants, he was convinced to follow the instructions of Elisha. The end result was a cure from his leprosy and his declaration in 2 Kings 5:15: “When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.” He recognized the God of Israel.

Jesus later used him as an example in Luke 4:27: “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” Apparently, the lepers of Israel did not think to seek out Elisha for help, so God healed a Syrian instead. There was faith found in Naaman. The “many lepers” of Israel had heard of this prophet, no doubt, but Naaman had faith in God to come seeking Elisha. This was a lesson to the Israelites of Jesus’ day – even though they had the Messiah right in front of them, their unbelief kept them from the largest blessing of following him. Eventually the gospel message would go forth to the Gentiles.

There are many more blessed details to this account, so we encourage you to listen to these Additional Resources:

Audio Sermon: Naaman the Leper

Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1315: “Is My Judgment Tainted by Bias? (Part I)”
Flushing out the many ways personal bias undermines our faith
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes

Episode #1329: “How Can We Become Influencers? (Part II)”
Learning how to become powerful and God-Honoring Influencers
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes