Confidence is to arrogance what self-respect is to self-esteem. The former is the result of achievement; the latter is hollow chest beating. The former inspires; the latter repels. Confidence breeds success while arrogance is a symptom of impending failure. Arrogant people abuse both family members and business associates, yelling at them and belittling them. Confident people treat everyone with respect. Arrogant people view all human relationships in terms of acquiring power and authority. Confident people know that moral prestige trumps power and authority.
A crucial lesson about how the world REALLY works is embedded within every Scriptural account. The Bible is not a series of stories about long-forgotten people engaged in irrelevant activities for readers with nothing better to do but a guide to reality. One consistent Biblical message is that the prophet of God overrules even the king.
Regular readers of Thought Tools know that when a (Hebrew) word appears exactly seven times within a Tanach tale, it provides a crucial clue. Only two words in Chapter 5 in the 2nd book of Kings appear seven times: LIFNEI, meaning before and implying subservience, and ADON meaning master, implying authority. This entire account revolves around power and subservience.
The opening verse sets the theme:
And Na’aman, the army general of the king of Aram was a great man, (subservient) before his master…
(II Kings 5:1)
And the Arameans…kidnapped from the land of Israel a young girl and she was (subservient) before Na’aman’s wife
(II Kings 5:2)
Na’aman, a leper, reports to his master, the king of Aram, that this Jewish slave recounts that the prophet in Israel can cure his leprosy. The Aramean king, assuming that all is under the power and authority of the king in Israel, just as it is in Aram, sends a request to Israel’s king that he arrange for the prophet to effect the cure. However, the king of Israel, knowing that he has no power over a prophet of God, is dismayed.
Elisha, the prophet, hears and sends a message summoning Na’aman to him. Na’aman who was willing to subordinate himself to a king is haughtily unwilling to do so for merely a prophet. When he arrives at Elisha’s house he doesn’t even dismount his chariot because entering someone’s home or office as a guest or supplicant means making yourself subservient (II Kings 5:9)
In response, Elisha sends a message directing Na’aman to immerse in the Jordan. Na’aman indignantly retorts that Elisha should have personally emerged to heal him and furthermore back in Damascus he has rivers better than the Jordan. Observe the ongoing clash between power and authority versus humility and subservience.
Na’aman’s servants persuade him to obey Elisha and after bathing in the Jordan, he is cured. Whereupon he returns to Elisha but this time the text emphasizes that Na’aman appeared before (subserviently) Elisha (II Kings 5:15). He then proclaims his newfound faith in the God of Israel and wants to bless Elisha with gifts. Elisha, again using the Hebrew word for before, LIFNEI, rejects the gifts, asserting his subservience to God.
The story ends with Elisha’s own servant, Gaychazi, being cursed with eternal leprosy when he shows arrogance instead of subservience to his master, Elisha.
In ancient Hebrew wisdom, the disease TZARA’AT, translated as leprosy, is a psychosomatic disorder in which the spiritual condition of arrogance produces physical manifestations. Confidence is earned through subservience to God, breeding humility and respect to all those who are part of one’s life.
Now that you’ve gained a glimpse into this enchanting chapter, take time to read it carefully paying special attention to the submission/authority theme throughout. Not only will it enthrall you but it will help train your soul to read Scripture in the way that allows deeper meaning to make the leap from the page to your heart.
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