II Kings 5:1-4 & 9-14 “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel . . . So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 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.”

Text II Kings 5:3 “And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.”

When we come to II Kings 5, we are introduced to Naaman, a man faced with a terrible plight; “he was a leper.” Try as he may, he found himself the victim of a merciless disease. The liberty couldn’t be purchased by his means, “captain of the host”, his merit, “great man with his master”, his morals, “honourable”, or his might, “man in valour.” But it was obtained by a message delivered by a nameless, but necessary maid; “for he would recover him of his leprosy.” When Naaman walked up out of the Jordan River with “the flesh of a little child”; he could trace his liberation back to the message of one that was nameless but necessary to his recovery! The liberating ability of the message was not due to her age; “maid.” The word means a girl from infancy to adolescence. The liberating ability of the message was not due to her abilities; “little.” The word means diminutive in quality, size or number. It can be a reference to age or importance. The liberating ability of the message was not due to her affiliation; “captive out of the land of Israel.” She wasn’t a member of their family or nation; she was a stranger transported into captivity. The liberating ability of the message was due to her announcement; “And she said . . . the prophet . . . would recover him.” Nameless but necessary; not because of her age, her abilities, her affiliation, but because of her announcement; “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:13-14).