(1) And Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and exalted man with his master, because Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria by him. He was also a mighty man, but a leper.
The King James Version says Naaman was a mighty man of valor, but a leper. To be mighty, or valorous, is to have great strength of will, resource, and fortitude. Naaman was a physical force to be reckoned with. But he had a problem. He had leprosy. Leprosy was a degenerative skin disease of which there was no cure. Naaman, though strong, was rotting away.
There are many spiritual giants that walk among us. They have great strength and resource. They are gifted and wealthy in ability, but they have this one hinderance. They are lepers. A spiritual leper is one who has open wounds. These wounds never seem to heal, and as sure as one finally appears to be healing, another opens. They are infectious. They tend to be bitter and carry unforgiveness and are often driven by these. Anyone who is around this type very much realizes that they, too, are beginning to feel wounds of the past. Leprosy is contagious!
What we know of Naaman, beyond his might, was that he was short-tempered and had a decided impression of how others should treat him. He was upset that Elisha sent his servant with instructions to wash in the Jordan river. Naaman had a chip on his shoulder, as most with leprosy do. Spiritual lepers tend to be angry people.
In the end, Naaman followed the advice of Elisha and was cleansed. His cure was to humble himself to the instruction of someone who did not even show him the respect he thought he deserved. He humbled himself to the advice of his own servant girl, as well. The cure for spiritual leprosy is humility. Place yourself in under the submission of a spiritual elder.
If you can identify someone with spiritual leprosy, the best thing you can do is to serve them as the servant girl did. She guided him to a place of spiritual authority where he had a decision to make. It was her love for her master that 'cleansed the leper'.
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