Fruit Of The Spirit : part four

Post date: 03-Dec-2012 15:07:15

Luke 4:19 And Jesus read from Isaiah 61:2 , "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your

hearing ( Isaiah 61:7 Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion)

Naaman the Leper

Not only would the Jews not associate with someone like Naaman he was a enemy of Israel

and was an army commander to King Aram in 2 Kings 5:1

Now there was a young girl who was captured from the land of Israel

2 Kings 5:2 and was made a servant and now in Syria God uses her

"If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria!"

Naaman being so powerful yet at the tender mercy of God he is called to go to Elisha to "be saved"

Naaman The most powerful man in the Syrian army of that day was sent to Elisha by the suggestion of

a servant girl taken captive by him

So the king of Aram of syria sends naaman with a letter to the King of Israel

"So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels

of gold and ten sets of clothing"

But when Naaman arrived to meet Elisha ....Elisah sends a messenger instead and tells him to wash seven

times in the jordan

Is'nt it great when we have it all figured out ? and God does'nt do things the way we think He

should ?

"My o My" my theology can be so good and sound really good but when it boils down to it......

God does'nt do things the way I plan ! annoying or what ?

So here in this story Naaman had it all figured out !

Elisha would meet him and Elisha would accept the "talents" goods - offered and Naaman would

be healed

So when Elisah would not accept the "silver and gold" and when he was told by a messenger to wash

7 times in a river that was not as good as the rivers that he knew !!!

Naaman was offended because God didn’t work the way he expected.....

But Naaman is cured and saved from death.....once he returned and listened to his servants and he did bath 7 times in the jordan and he was healed ....

This salvation would be for the Gentiles and Jews alike, and not just for the Jews

Quote

"there were ‘many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was

cleansed except Naaman the Syrian"

Salvation is by the grace of God and Naaman’s cleansing was not a reward for

anything he had done

We see that Elisha refuses gifts brought by Naaman as he see's this as a work of God and a ministry

of God, indeed Elisha does not touch naaman nor was this healing anything to do with the faith of

naaman

And we see that the servant Gehazi runs after naaman and takes some of the gifts for himself and

that after this gehazi becomes leprous

..................

So an enemy of Israel becomes a friend of God

And a friend of God becomes an enemy of Israel (leper)

All Fall Short

If you wanted a deeper meaning to this story you could say that

Naamam here really signifies "Mankind" and you can pick up on 6 things that defined this man and

6 things that you can associate with this disease of leprosy (6 being the number of man)

Being inherited and slowly taking over the body Leprosy becomes highly contagious

Therefore in society at that time Naaman would have been an outcast and being "outside the camp"

anyone approaching would be warned with a shout "Unclean" to warn anyone approaching

Therefore Naaman was ceremonially unclean and shut out by the Mosaic law

Therefore in this living death we must find life

Romans 3:23 tells us that all fall short of the goal

Sin the same as leprosy is inherited and as time goes on it creeps up on a person slowly taking

over their lifes and at the end of a life they go to be with God only to find that they are "Unclean"

to enter

The only way for a person to be washed and cleansed is by the blood of Jesus

As Jesus took the punishment that we deserved and by His stripes we are healed

You could say that the servant girl in this story is "the Church"

And you could suggest that Gehazi sinned and in so doing caught this contation, but we also know

that God forgives and forgets as we come to Him

So we see that although this disease was incurable, nothing is impossible for God

Our conversation experience does'nt always happen in the way we expect and neither

does our healing (as with the story of Naaman)

And so God chose the outcast and the poorly and ate with sinners and tax collectors

He proclaimed that he was the "I AM"

And He was the "I AM" and is the "I Am"

Luke 4:19 Isaiah 61:2

Read Leviticus 25

The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him

(Upon whom ?, I must conclude that Jesus meant upon Him and in this I see the three of the Trinity,

One Godhead)

The year of Jubilee , the fiftieth year in which the trumpets were blown and liberty was announced

Liberty from slavery (unless you wanted to remain with your master) and debt

The restoration of land and property

What a year and what a salvation to have my debts paid and to be saved !

When I do not sow do not sow or reap what grows by itself or harvest the untended vines !

Leviticus 25:23 we are but aliens and tenants.

What a year of years

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This ends the study on "fruit of the Spirit"

Based on Luke 4:14-30 and applying the story of stories of Elija and Elisha, the widow and

Naaman

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Hope it conveyed something of the gospel message