Naaman and Baptism SINS

2 Kings 5: Naaman and Baptism. Naaman the Leper as Type of those who reject water baptism over mighty works of self righteousness.

Justin Martyr --Irenaeus

"'And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan' [2 Kgs. 5:14]. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: 'Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven'" (Fragment 34 [A.D. 190]).

2 Kings 5:10 And Elisha [a Prophet in Samaria 5:3] sent a messenger unto him, saying,
.............Go and wash in Jordan seven times,
............ and thy flesh shall come again to thee,
............ and thou shalt be clean.

Wash is: Rachac (h7364) raw-khats'; a prim. root; to lave (the whole or a part of a thing): - bathe (self), wash (self).

The Latin is Lavo or louô or baptize. We will see this again in the prophecy of John the Baptist and Mark 1 which makes baptism the ARCHE or primary principle of the Gospel for those who cannot die for their own sins.

2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said,

Behold, I THOUGHT, He will surely come out to me, and stand,
and call on the name of the Lord his God,
and strike his hand over the place,
and recover the leper

The Jews believed they were CLEAN because they had been predestinated by God. THEIR Messiah had better grasp their absolute predestinated purity. This TYPE is fulfulled when Jesus informed the Jews that the FEW miracles in the Old Testament were to VALIDATE the DIRECT COMMAND of God and His Word. Other than signs to VERIFY the direcl work of God, He did not HEAL or SAVE or CLEANSE by some supernatural MIRACLE. God knows what God would do: God wants to know what YOU will do after He has made everything possible.

Like Naaman their PROTOTYPE they were certain that a SOVEREIGN God would not demand that THEY do anything. They DEMANDED signs from God RATHER than His demand for obedience. Therefore,

Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Josephs son?

Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in THY country.

Luke 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Exept for a tiny remnant the Jews had repudiated the WORD of God and obedience. Therefore, Jesus knew that the TEST would be "What will YOU do when I tell YOU that I am not going to do MAGIC for you?"

2 King 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,
............ BETTER than all the waters of Israel?
............ may I not wash IN them, and be clean?
............ So he turned and went away in a RAGE. [wrath]

As he continued Jesus told them

Luke 4 :27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

Luke 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with WRATH,

Luke 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might CAST him down headlong.

Later in the book Luke shows us that they, in effect, called Jesus a liar by demanding that "he that believes AND is baptized shall be saved." Those who REJECT this counsel shall be damned:

Luke 7:29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, JUSTIFIED God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

but he that believeth not shall be damned.

2 King 5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said,
............ My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,
............ wouldest thou not have done it?
............ how much rather then, when he saith to thee,
............ Wash, and be clean?

Clean is:

Taher (h2891) taw-hare'; a prim. root; prop. to be bright; i. e. (by impl.) to be pure (phys. sound, clear, unadulterated; Levit. uncontaminated; mor. innocent or holy): - be (make, make self, pronounce) clean, cleanse (self), purge, purify (-ier, self).

This is the result of baptism which John the Baptist and Jesus through His disciples would preach and practice as the ARCHE or most important or starting point of the gospel in Mark 1. Therefore, Mark quotes Malachi to show how God as FULLER washes us to make us clean:

Mal. 3:1 BEHOLD, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

2K.5:14 Then went he down,
............ and dipped himself seven times in Jordan,
............ according to the saying of the man of God:
............ and his flesh came again
............ like unto the flesh of a little child,
............ and he was clean.

Namman went DOWN to the shore (h3381)

He DIPPED himself which means to WASH (v 10)

Dipped is: Tabal (h2881) taw-bal'; a prim. root; to dip: - dip, plunge.

And has the same meaning of WASHED or BAPTIZED.

He did this SEVEN TIMES. The word seven means that he would be completely cleansed, body and soul SIMPLY by washing which in verse 13 was NOT doing some great thing

Jesus explained that the SEVEN means that there is NO LIMIT to forgiveness:

Mt.18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Mt 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

He OBEYED the COMMANDMENT of God.

His body was healed and he became CLEAN.

Taher (h2891) taw-hare'; a prim. root; prop. to be bright; i. e. (by impl.) to be pure (phys. sound, clear, unadulterated; Levit. uncontaminated; mor. innocent or holy): - be (make, make self, pronounce) clean, cleanse (self), purge, purify (-ier, self).

He became LIKE a little child. Jesus insisted that to be cleaned and regenerated LIKE a little child we must HUMBLE ourselves and OBEY the commandment of Jesus Christ. This becomes SPIRITUALLY true after baptism where, in the Latin, we REVERTO or return to our NATIVITY.

Mt.18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be CONVERTED, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mt.18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Ac.2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Ac.3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Clean in the Latin translation is:

mundo , a-re, v. a. [1. mundus] ,

Psa 19:[12] Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.

2 Cor VII. Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

This was prophesied to be fulfilled in a SPIRITUAL sense by John the Baptist:

Mal. 3:1 BEHOLD, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

Mal. 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap:

Kabac (h3526) kaw-bas'; a prim. root; to trample; hence to wash (prop. by stamping with the feet), whether lit. (including the fulling process) or fig.: - fuller, wash (-ing).

Ps.51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Mal.3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

Immediately following the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Mark makes baptism the ARCHE or "the most important meaning" of baptism for those who trust the work of Jesus Christ:

Mark 1:1 THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Because the eunuch was a student of Isaiah, when Stephen convinced him that Jesus was the proprophesied Messiah, he REQUESTED to be baptized.

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