The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed! (2 Kings 5:1-14 NLT)
We usually fear the worse when we hear of a child abduction. And rightfully so as it rarely ends well. But here we have a story of a victim of war where God was very much involved. The Arameans and the Israelites were on again, off again enemies. At worst they were meeting on the battle field and at best they were keeping an uneasy peace. Either side might conduct the odd raid just to keep animosity alive and well. Israel had the upper hand when they were faithful to God. Not so much when they did not trust the Lord. And Aram was actually related to Israel. Laban the father of Leah and Rachel was an Aramean. And they were not without a faith in God as it says the Aramean king recognized that God used his army commander Namaan to bring victory.
And so we read of a young Israelite girl that was captured in a raid. We are not given her name. She would probably have been between nine and twelve as much older she would have been considered wife material. We are not told of the fate of her parents or other family members. Maybe they died in the raid or were simply separated from their daughter. Assuming they were alive they would have no way of knowing what happened to her anymore than she would have known what happened to them. But the goodness of God had made her part of a household where, though described as a maid, she appears to have been treated more like a daughter. There is a good chance that the leprous Naaman and his wife had no children. Extreme skin conditions do not make for physical intimacy. And the girl was obviously not living in fear of speaking her mind. She had a genuine love for her mistress and her husband. Otherwise she would not have spoken of a way for her master to be healed. She would have just remained silent cursing him, along with all of Aram, in her heart. But rather we see revealed a compassionate heart of faith. I can only imagine her parents had instilled this faith from her earliest remembrance. Her new Aramean home was probably not big into family devotions. But her parents had probably told her,
"We are the people of the living God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as our fore fathers. Israel went down to Egypt to survive a famine but ended up enslaved. Through Moses God did many miracles delivering us from Egypt and bringing us into this land. Our king is not living for God as he should but your mother and I trust The Lord even so. And God has not abandoned his people as there is still a prophet in Samaria whom God works through. No matter what happens you can trust our God."
And in simple child-like faith she must have accepted those words. Her parent's faith became hers. And so she said, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” This word of faith set in motion a series of events that brought God's blessing involving an army general, two kings and a prophet.
"So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!"
So if God can work through the faith of an abducted child of war, what would he do through us if we would trust Him? He remains the God of endless possibilities.
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