Naaman healed in the Jordan River

II Kings 5:1-14

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army, and he had leprosy. He heard about the prophet Elisha through a slave girl who was working for his wife. Elisha sent a message to Naaman to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times, and then he would be cured. Naaman flipped his lid at such an affront; he desired a more glamorous method of healing, or at least to be asked to take a dip in one of the rivers of Damascus, not the waters of Israel. Then one of his servants pulled him aside and persuaded him otherwise. He did so and was healed. Naaman was so grateful that he believed in the God of Israel on the spot. Namaan tried to pay Elisha handsomely, but as Frederick Buechner said, "Elisha said he was a prophet of Yahweh, not a dermatologist, and refuse to take a cent." Elisha thus emphasized that the goodness laid upon him was from God and not men.