The Unlikely Missionary
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the July 18, 2015
Sabbath School Lesson
“For if you remain silent at this
time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you
and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to
your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14, NIV
Women have
long played an important role in accomplishing God’s missions here on our
Earth. However, they rarely get as much recognition from others as mankind
often does not consider their work as important perhaps as God does. The
heroine of this week’s Sabbath School lesson does not even get a name in the
biblical account, but then neither does her mistress, the wife of the warlord
Naaman. Captured by the Arameans from some unnamed village in Israel, this
young lady is made a slave in the household of Naaman.[i]
She may have been attractive as the best of the captives probably went to the leaders
of the army. She may also have been literate and well-spoken as would befit a
noble household. In any event, she enjoyed the trust of her mistress and was
allowed to speak openly.
Seeing and
understanding the difficulties that chronic illness brought to the family, she
told her mistress of a possible cure. Perhaps she understood that her own
prosperity depended on that of her mistress’s household.[ii]
Or perhaps, as a servant of God, her heart was simply that compassionate. In
any event, she told her that Israel had a prophet that might heal Naaman, who
had been afflicted with leprosy. Trusting her little maid, Naaman’s wife
relayed the story to her husband. Incredibly, although this was just a tale
shared by a Hebrew captive, Naaman decided to act on what she had told his
wife. Perhaps he did so instantly or perhaps it was the result of continual
reminders from his wife every time he suffered with his leprosy. We are not
told. But he sought an audience with the king and obtained permission to travel
to Israel, even carrying a letter from his king to the Israelite king asking
that he arrange for Naaman to be healed. Naaman then traveled to Israel with a
large retinue[iii]
and huge amounts of gold, silver and fine clothing to reward whoever might heal
him.
Either the
little maid did not know the prophet’s name or the name did not survive the
retelling by Naaman’s wife since the Israelite king did not seem to know what
they were referring to and thought it a pretense for war. It may come as a
surprise in those ancient days before phones, internet and social media, but
somehow the story got to Elisha who advised the king to send Naaman to him.
What an impact it must have made for the retinue of this important official to
pull up to the humble cottage of the prophet. But even though Naaman was a man
of importance, Elisha didn’t even deign to go out to meet him. Instead he sent
his servant to tell Naaman what to do. That Naaman’s pride was wounded showed that
he was well aware of protocol, and expected it to be honored by this prophet. Turning
away in anger, he set his heart on returning home.
Perhaps he
often would lose his temper. That his servants were skilled at approaching him
when he was angry might indicate this. Elisha had instructed him to bathe seven
times in the Jordan River, and Naaman’s servants reminded him of what a simple
thing this was compared to what he might have been asked to do. Eventually his
anger subsided, and he allowed himself to follow Elisha’s instructions and was
healed of his leprosy. As a result, he learned that there is a God who rules
over the affairs of men and that humility rather than pride is the proper way
to approach that God. He took not only a healthy body back to Aram but
knowledge of that true God as well.
All of this
would not have happened except for the faithful witness of the little Israelite
maid. In many ways, she echoed several other great Bible characters even though
she remains nameless. Like Joseph, she was carried away to another nation and
enslaved.[iv]
Also like Joseph, she sought to be a blessing to those who were her masters. Although
the Bible does not say, perhaps she was given a position of honor in Naaman’s
household for the great service she had performed in directing him to the
healing prophet. God rewarded Joseph for his faithful service, so it would be
hard to believe that the maid went unrewarded, especially since she served the same
God that Naaman had told Elisha would be the only God he would serve
heretofore. Possibly Naaman and his household even sought her out to teach them
more about this healing God.
That this
little Israelitess was so faithful to God that she witnessed to his power
reveals that she was also like Moses[v]
who was raised by his Hebrew mother until he was weaned and never lost his
connection to the Hebrew nation, even though he was raised in Pharaoh’s
household and was taught in the schools of the idolatrous Egyptian priests. He,
too, left the country of his birth and upbringing, eventually to return at God’s
call to lead the Hebrew nation to deliverance from slavery.
She also was like the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus met at Jacob’s well.[vi]
She, too, remains nameless, but her story has been told for thousands of years.
Having come face to face with the Messiah, her response was to tell others
about Him. As a result, her whole village came out to see for themselves that
Jesus was indeed the promised One of Israel. She did not hold back when she
knew something that could be a blessing to others. The little maid, like the
Samaritan woman shared what she knew and blessings resulted.
There was
also something of the famous Queen Esther[vii]
in the maiden. Esther delivered her people from sentence of death through her
faithfulness. Like her, the maid recognized that perhaps she was brought to
Naaman’s household for a purpose. Searching for that purpose, she may have felt
she found it in the agony of Naaman’s leprosy. As Jesus later pointed out,
although there were many lepers in Israel at the time, Naaman, a foreigner, was
the only one who sought out Elisha to be healed. This alone highlights the
special circumstances that this maid’s witness brought about. Although
nameless, she was astride a spiritual and historical nexus that God could bring
about because of her faithfulness. Like Mordecai’s words to Esther as quoted at
the top of this page, who knows but that the Israelitess’s capture by the
Arameans was for the purpose of bringing her to that nexus, “for such a time as
this?”
The Samaritan
woman brought a village to Christ. Moses returned the entire Hebrew nation to
the worship of the true God, even though they had lived with the idolatry of
the Egyptians for 400 years. Joseph saved that same Hebrew nation, when they
only consisted of his father, mother, eleven siblings and all their servants,
from famine in Canaan. His brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt, and
later when he became powerful, they feared retribution, but he reassured them
that what they had meant for evil, God had turned to good.[viii]
He recognized God’s purpose and witnessed to it.
Maybe one
problem with the Bible is that it is limited to what is contained in its pages.
God continues to work and has worked through thousands of years in exactly the
same way he has in the lives of these heroes of the Bible. Others have been
faithful witnesses as well. They may not have made it into the pages of the
Bible, but they are heroes and heroines all the same. Like the little maid,
their names may have been lost to history, yet they impacted that history profoundly.
Because of her witness, the maid’s story was referred to by the Messiah centuries
later, and is still read today by those who read the Bible seeking to learn
more of the God she told Naaman about. Like Joseph, Moses, and Esther, her
story has been immortalized in the Bible that is the foundation for two of the
world’s great religions, and all she did was share what she knew.
Each of us
stands at the confluence of many different social currents. We, too, have come
to know the same God as that little maiden. What we share also influences the
lives not only of those around us, but of those who will come after for however
many years remain until Jesus returns. Although that return seems very near to
us when we see events in the world around us, it may not be. The Apostles
thought it would happen in their day. Yet, here we are two thousand years
later, still waiting. But this may not be an unhappy thing. Because time has
gone on, we are given the opportunity to also share as they did all those
centuries ago. Perhaps our story will span the ages as well, if we simply share
what we know about God and what He has done for us.
