Comment: One of the ways God asserted His divine authority in the days of old was through Elisha’s healing of Naaman, the leper. With pomp and circumstance, this captain of the Syrian army left his base to consult with the prophet of God for solution to the ravaging leprosy on his body, a skin disorder that brought banishment, isolation, quarantine, stigmatization and loss of pride to its victim as can be seen in the law of God in Leviticus 13:1-27.

He, however, lost faith when the servant of God sent his messenger to him, instructing him to go and bathe in the River Jordan seven times. He failed to realise that, for him to get a clean bill of health, he must obey the instruction from the servant of God. As he attempted to make his way back to Syria, the intervention of his servants, made him to accept the River Jordan: “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’s arrogance and initial refusal to acknowledge the River Jordan – God’s gracious provision for his cure are all evidence of man’s frailty.   May the Almighty God deliver us from pride and arrogance and clothe us His children with humility.