An unnamed girl is chosen as my woman of the week this week. She is only talked about in four verses, but her testimony of the power of the God of Israel changed the life of a powerful man!
Verses: 2 Kings 5:1-4
Verses: 2 Kings 5:1-4
Background –
parents, husband, children, siblings
There is nothing written about this young girl's family. One only commentary estimated her age to be about eight to ten years old. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible said this about her parents, "A little maid - Who, it appears, had pious parents, who brought her up in the knowledge of the true God. Affectionate parents are deprived of their promising daughter by a set of lawless freebooters, without the smallest prospect that she should have any lot in life but that of misery, infamy, and woe. If God permitted the parents to be deprived of their pious child by the hands of ruffians, he did not permit the child to be without a guardian."
There is nothing written about this young girl's family. One only commentary estimated her age to be about eight to ten years old. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible said this about her parents, "A little maid - Who, it appears, had pious parents, who brought her up in the knowledge of the true God. Affectionate parents are deprived of their promising daughter by a set of lawless freebooters, without the smallest prospect that she should have any lot in life but that of misery, infamy, and woe. If God permitted the parents to be deprived of their pious child by the hands of ruffians, he did not permit the child to be without a guardian."
What is she
most known for? Victories?
Defeats? How can I be
like her? How can I
avoid being like her?
This young girl will always be remembered for her outspoken faith. She didn't hesitate at all in her belief of what God could do through His prophet. "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." (2 Kings 5:3)
"We see here the permanent results of early religious training. This captive maiden, because she had been taught to know and trust God, was so strong in faith that she was the means of bringing salvation to the house of her captivity, and of raising up a testimony for God which rang through the whole land of Syria." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
Did she reach a place when she needed to reset? If so, did she? For good or evil?
This young girl will always be remembered for her outspoken faith. She didn't hesitate at all in her belief of what God could do through His prophet. "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." (2 Kings 5:3)
"We see here the permanent results of early religious training. This captive maiden, because she had been taught to know and trust God, was so strong in faith that she was the means of bringing salvation to the house of her captivity, and of raising up a testimony for God which rang through the whole land of Syria." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
Did she reach a place when she needed to reset? If so, did she? For good or evil?
I can only imagine how scared this young girl must have been as she was carried away captive. I wonder if her father was killed in battle, leaving the family unprotected. She was alone and put to work. The people of Israel were then desperately wicked. It was the time of Jezebel; and thousands had forsaken Jehovah for
idols. But her parents were obedient to the teachings of Deuteronomy chapter 6, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." She was taught the ways of God and carried that in her heart to the place of her captivity.
She could have easily ignored her master's disease. Naaman was stricken with leprosy. There was no cure. "This little maid was a captive in Naaman’s household. It would, therefore, have not been at all unnatural had she hated him. But, instead of that, she pitied him as a leper, and manifested her kindly feelings toward him by telling her mistress where he could obtain deliverance from his sad condition." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
"Helpless as she was, the little maid of the story helped her master to the recovery of health, and the knowledge of God. Now the basis of her helpfulness was her religious training. She could help man, because she knew God. When they carried her away captive she could sing them the Lord’s song in a strange land." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
There is a lot said about the healing of Naaman, especially the unusual manner that Elisha used (dipping seven times in the muddy Jordan river.) But greater than physical healing was the spiritual transformation that took place. 2 Kings 5:15 says, "And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel."
I assume that most of my readers are no longer children, so our days of being a witness as a child are behind us. But there are a couple of lessons for all of us. 1) No matter the situation, on the job, at home, the store or school, we can be a witness. 2) Keep teaching children the ways of God! As you make a difference in their life, you never know how God may use them to change a life.
She could have easily ignored her master's disease. Naaman was stricken with leprosy. There was no cure. "This little maid was a captive in Naaman’s household. It would, therefore, have not been at all unnatural had she hated him. But, instead of that, she pitied him as a leper, and manifested her kindly feelings toward him by telling her mistress where he could obtain deliverance from his sad condition." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
"Helpless as she was, the little maid of the story helped her master to the recovery of health, and the knowledge of God. Now the basis of her helpfulness was her religious training. She could help man, because she knew God. When they carried her away captive she could sing them the Lord’s song in a strange land." (The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.)
There is a lot said about the healing of Naaman, especially the unusual manner that Elisha used (dipping seven times in the muddy Jordan river.) But greater than physical healing was the spiritual transformation that took place. 2 Kings 5:15 says, "And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel."
I assume that most of my readers are no longer children, so our days of being a witness as a child are behind us. But there are a couple of lessons for all of us. 1) No matter the situation, on the job, at home, the store or school, we can be a witness. 2) Keep teaching children the ways of God! As you make a difference in their life, you never know how God may use them to change a life.
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