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2 Kings 5 | Part 1| Background

 This is a multi part sermon note from 2 Kings 5. There are at least four people here in this Bible chapter and though a character study is needed, the main point is to examine oneself with the same premise and see how the Gospel of Jesus relates to the main issues in this portion. The Bible is meant to show us both an issue and provide an answer to it and the hope of the answer is found in the life of Jesus.

Background

Firstly, let us look at the background of the story. There are some key understandings that i have moved from the below passages to here to help the reader understand though they may only provide some information to the points I wish to captivate your attention to.


There had been a number of attacks by Syria ( also known as Aram - this means i would use Syria and Aram interchangeably in these notes) during the reign of Hadadezer ( King of Aram 865 - 642 BC) and Jehoram ( King of Israel 849–842 BC). Seeing 2 Kings 5:1-2, we read about Naaman being the commander of the armies of Aram. This is a position similar to the modern day Prime Minister or the Chief of Armies. This is a very powerful, important, strategic and prime role. This person is often the right hand man of the King. Often the wars involved prisoner of wars where people were taken as slaves and often made to work for the captor. There are historical records of Hadadezer in the  Kurkh Monoliths, and Jehoram in the Tel Dan Stele artefacts. 


Another factor to keep in mind is the trifacta of the ancient cultures - Land, Language (People, Tribe) and Lord (God). The ancient cultures were based around rivers. This meant that the river often took the position of God or the river was the source of all blessing. Infact, the civilization was based around the river. For example, the Indus valley civilisation near the Indus river in south asia, the Tigris and Euphrates for the Syrian - Mesopotamian civilisation, the Nile river for Egypt. This is why the gods Indra, Hadad, Hapi were some of the common deities respectively. This is a point that I would ask you to keep in mind as we continue this study. We see similar understanding even in the book of Ruth, where  Ruth tells Naomi that your Land is my Land, Your People my People and your God is my God.


Naaman has the Tzaraat which is translated as Leprosy. However, this may not be the leprosy that we know today as this disease came from South Asia to the middle east much later during the time of Alexander the Great. The diseases share similar symptoms but were called so as there was no need to create detailed names for skin diseases that could not be treated. All it meant was there was significant disfigurement of the skin. I am not going to dive into this topic but have stated this here so that you may consider looking this up on your time.
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