2 Kings 5:12

New International Version (NIV)

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?”

For Meditation

“I can’t believe you, Kwame. After all your education, how could you believe that somebody’s death can save you?” my friend said.

He was coming from a meeting of the Rosicrucian Society, I believe it was. It did not make sense to him that the blood of Jesus washes away the sins of the penitent. He virtually called me a fool for believing this “lie.” But I don’t know who actually the fool is in this matter.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

Unfortunately, billions around the world have accepted the lie of the enemy that there is something in themselves, a higher knowledge they could acquire, or something they could do to save themselves. Consequently, they feel at ease to worship images fashioned by human hands, or bow to rivers and trees as their gods (Is. 44:12-17; Rm. 1:21-23). And they are very educated too!

Their pride is their death warrant. Their shame is their ignorance. They boast about physical things and reject everything spiritual through Christ Jesus. But how could they understand? For,

“The  person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (2 Cor. 2:14).

That’s the universal human problem – trying to understand spiritual things through human logic. That was the problem of my friend.

In the Old Testament, a celebrated warrior of Aram behaved the same way until his servants intervened (2 Kings 5:1-14). He had leprosy and came to Israel for healing. The prophet Elisha asked him to go and dip seven times in the Jordan river for cleansing; but he got angry.

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage (12).

Prevailed upon by his servants, he went, washed, and was healed (14).

1. When will the world apprehend the fact that there are many rivers in this world, but only one has inherent healing power?
2. When will the world know that that river is the blood of Jesus that flows on Calvary (1 Jn. 1:7)?
3. When will they accept that it is accessible to everyone, but only by faith (Rm. 1:17; 3:25)?
4. When will they recognize  that it cleanses as white as snow (Is. 1:18)?
5. When will they be wise, and like Naaman, put away their prideful objections, go to Calvary, wash, and be cleansed from their sins (Rm. 10:9-10, 13; Jn. 1:12-13; Eph. 2:8-9)?

I pray the time is now. Not tomorrow or the next minute; but now!

As the Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” (Heb. 3:15).

Shalom