Focus: God's Jordan River

Text: 2Kgs.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."

Naaman regards the rivers of Damascus as better rivers than all the rivers of Israel. In fact, it is said that "these rivers of Damascus were never dry, but made the region they watered like the Garden of Eden for fertility and beauty," whereas Israel's rivers dry up under the summer sun.

Naaman praises the rivers of Damascus as being better than the River Jordan, and for him, it makes no sense going to wash anywhere else. He sees no sense in traveling abroad merely to wash in one dirty and ugly river as remedy to his malady. He sees going to wash in River Jordan as demeaning and degrading, after all, Pharpar and Abana, also known as Amanah, are the royal rivers of Damascus. But Naaman seems to be forgetting something, which is that he needs healing, not honor. He is a leper in need of healing, not a hero in want of worship. Any where you see arrogance it is always wearing the toga of ignorance. Arrogance is ignorance in disguise. Naaman fails to understand that Jordan as a river has history behind it. By an act of miracle the children of Israel walked through the river of Jordan on dry ground, and it was at the time when the river overflowed its banks, and according to the psalmist in Ps.114, Jordan was absolutely in shock to see the presence of YHVH, the Lord of all the earth, marching with Israel on the way to the promise land, and instantly, the overflowing river turned into a dry ground, making way for Israel to pass through it. By the mantle of Elijah, Elisha miraculously passed through the Jordan River before the watchful eyes of fifty sons of the prophets. Yes, Jordan has history of a supernatural kind.

Now Elisha tells Naaman, 'Jordan is the appointed place for your healing. This Jordan will change your life and give you a supernatural story to tell. Go there, and wash yourself seven times.' Naaman did not take into consideration the fact that no river of Damascus has such a history as Jordan has, and there is nothing to suggest that Abana and Pharpar, the royal rivers of Damascus, contain any sort of curative powers. None of them, at any time in history, had ever cured any one of even the slightest headache, not to talk of cleansing the leprous.

What Naaman does not know is that God thinks differently from the way man thinks, "for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Lk.16:15). God chooses what to do, where, when, how, and with whom to do it.

Jordan might be lacking in beauty and pleasantness, but it is God's appointed place for the miraculous. The cross of Christ is God's River Jordan. It may look ugly and unwanted, but it is God's choice tool for man's salvation. Just a look at it, and you are healed from the snake bites of this world. Right there on the cross sin was atoned for, death was ousted, and Satan was crushed. From the cross of Christ all of God's blessings flow.

On the cross Christ looked bloody and ugly. He was spit upon and brutally beaten. He lost His comely form and physical charm. But regardless of His looks, the truth remains that no man can go to heaven without Jesus. No human being can be saved without Christ and His cross. No one can have eternal life without Jesus Christ. We are helpless, powerless and hopeless without Him. God approves of Him. Peter declares, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Act.4:12).

The church is God's River Jordan in the world. It is the divine oasis in this worldly desert. A good church doesn't have to look flashy to be the church of Jesus Christ, but it has to be healthy. A good church doesn't have to have the best technology, the best entertainment, the best style of worship, or the biggest number to be the church of Jesus Christ. What makes for a good church is the presence of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, the supremacy of the logos and the primacy of the rhema of God through Spirit-filled preaching, the centrality of Christ and His cross in our daily lives, and the love of Christ as it takes root in us and bears fruit in our lives. We know that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The presence of God turns a hell into a paradise, and His absence turns a paradise into a living hell. Jacob says, "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not" (Gen.28:16). It is written that Moses "drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Ex.20:21). Your darkness turns into light when God who is the light comes into it.

Let us look at Naaman's reaction. The Scripture says, "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" (2Kgs.5:11). That is the way of man, always assuming and presuming, but the truth remains that man is incapable of figuring God out, and he is never in a position of dictating to Him or telling Him what to do or how to do it. God is supreme and sovereign, and Isaiah describes Him as the one who sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, and he goes on to say, that He stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in (Isa.40:22).

Let us see the outcome of Naaman's compliance with Elisha's directive. We read that "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" (2Kgs.5:14). The blessing of obedience is greater than the cost of it. Jordan did not only possess healing and cleansing powers, but also, it possesses transforming power. Apart from the fact that he was healed and cleansed, Naaman's skin was also transformed into that of a child, fresh and glowing. Let me join the psalmist to say, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and THOU SHALT MAKE THEM DRINK OF THE RIVER OF THY PLEASURES… THERE IS A RIVER, the streams whereof shall MAKE GLAD the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High" (Ps.36:8; 46:4).

God's Jordan is still here with us. Jordan worked for Naaman, and I am confident that it will work for you as well. Bear in mind that the church is God's Jordan and Christ in the midst of her is the supplier of her life, and the Spirit is the provider of her power.

The river of life from Christ is flowing every day, and those who believe and obey shall experience the reality of spiritual power.

You are God's Jordan today. If you let God, He will flow through you to others in curative ways.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter