Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. – 2 Kings 5:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 11, 2019): 2 Kings 5

I am not sure if it is a matter of stupidity or trust, but as Israel and Judah fought Aram over the city Ramoth Gilead, Ahab, the King of Israel, decided to disguise himself. But he instructs Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, to enter the battle dressed in his royal robes. Ahab hopes that his enemies will think that Jehoshaphat was actually him and that they will pursue the man dressed in royal robes. The story behind the request was that the prophet Micaiah had prophesied that Ahab would die during the conflict. And so Ahab’s request of Jehoshaphat essentially took the enemy's attention off of him and placed it squarely on the shoulders of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat submits to Ahab’s request. Bringing us back to the question concerning Jehoshaphat. Was it stupidity or trust that prompted the king of Judah acquiesce to Ahab’s request. Maybe we can err on the side of trust. Jehoshaphat knew that the prophecy simply did not concern him.

The battle raged all day long. But then the arrow happened. According to the Biblical account of the campaign (1 Kings 22), it was at the end of the day, as the generals were calling the soldiers to go to the nearby towns for the night, that someone let an arrow fly. The truth is that it was a wasted shot. There was no target to shoot at, at least not one that the shooter had any hope of hitting. Arrows were needed. I can imagine a higher up reprimanding the shooter for the wasted shot. The arrow left the bow and flew through the air, hitting the disguised Ahab exactly where it needed to, between the sections of the armor. Ahab was mortally injured, just as Micaiah had prophesied.

So the question became who let the arrow that killed the king, fly. The Bible doesn’t answer the question. But rabbinic tradition says that the soldier's name was Naaman. Maybe it was that shot that made his career. The author of Kings says that it was through Naaman that God gave Aram the victory. Now, four years have passed, and Naaman is the commander of the Aramean army. The author of Kings calls him a valiant soldier, literally a “mighty man of valor.” It might be that this is the only Gentile who is specifically given this title, one he shares with Hebrew heroes like David, Gideon, Jeroboam, and Jephthah.

But this mighty man was sick. Leprosy was the scourge of the ancient world. And the disease never had and happy ending. Naaman was honored by God and a mighty man of valor, but that did not mean that he was immune to a terrifying illness.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 6