If it was not in the tradition of prophets to receive gifts from those who consulted with them, Naaman would not have been carrying gifts to see Prophet Elisha with, in his quest to be healed of his repugnant leprosy. However, Naaman’s gifts, as lavish as they must have been, were gifts that the prophet was not to receive. Why?
Prophet Samuel received a gift from King Saul (1 Samuel 9:7-8). Prophet Elijah, Elisha’s boss, received gifts, gestures, favours in the course of his ministry (1 Kings 18:9). Elisha himself had received similar offers (2 Kings 4:9-10). Why did he refuse the same gestures freely offered from Naaman the Syrian army general? The reason may be found in the consequence of those gifts in the life of the one man who eventually stubbornly cornered a part of them, not discerning that those gifts were merely an attractive cover for something generationally reproachable.
Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, could not understand his master’s sudden and strange change of tradition. No, not now that the offer was larger than they had ever seen in all their prophet- days. So, he cornered the gift, and in the process also cornered the leprosy that was an ‘attachment’ to the gift.
Some gifts carry with them a curse that is looking for a head upon which to be transferred. The undiscerning greedy prophet, who is indiscriminate in the gifts he accepts, will soon inherit the problems of those who give such hard-to-resist gifts; gifts that are actually a means of transferring the giver’s problems. ‘Attached’ to Naaman’s cheerful, willing, and bountiful gifts was the obstinate leprosy from which he sought to be free. The greedy apprentice-prophet who took that man’s fat offering also got the ‘attachment’ of leprosy that went with it. He took it secretly, but the consequences became public; he took it alone, but the consequences fell upon his entire generations; it was a one-time taking, but it brought upon him a lifelong curse.
That a gift comes in the name of the Lord does not mean that it must be accepted. Many have become lepers of sorts through gifts received or compelled in ‘appreciation’ for spiritual services. Freely they had received from God, but freely they would not give, not especially to rich and opulent strangers such as Naaman (Matthew 10:8). Unfortunately, some of such ‘lepers’ never get to discover the source of their affliction, and it usually transfers strangely and persistently from generation to generation (2 Kings 5: 15-16, 20, 27). There is a time for everything. A time to receive offerings, and time to reject them.
From The Preacher’s diary,
April 4, 2002.