The General and The Prophet

THE GENERAL, THE CIVILIAN AND THE PROPHET
(2nd Kings 5: 1-14)
I wonder why military men are almost 
always arrogant. 
It seems the higher the rank, 
the more arrogant they are. 
And they have a very high sense of 
entitlement! 
They could break any law in the land, 
knowing they would get away with it. 
They all sure need a strong dose in 
humility. And that is exactly what 
happened to my boss, General Naaman…
You see, my boss is a military man 
through and through. He is a veteran 
of several wars both in our country 
and had served in the United Nations 
Peace Keeping Mission in several 
countries in conflict. 
I have been working for him for several 
years and I have gotten used to being 
called “Bloody Civilian!” by him and 
other soldiers in the barracks where 
we live.
I am one of his domestic staff, 
doing the laundry, sweeping, cleaning 
and generally the hands-on man in the 
house. 
There are a few of us working in the 
house- the gardener, the cook, the butler-
 and a few female staff who work with the 
General’s wife. 
Now, my boss happened to be a leper. 
He caught the disease on one of his 
foreign missions a few months ago. 
Several soldiers caught the disease 
then and were all relieved of their 
duties and honourably discharged from 
the army. My boss was retained because 
he was still very valuable to them. 
They still needed his experience in battle, 
so they decided to manage his condition 
for as long as they could.
Just last week, I overheard one of 
the madam’s maids telling her 
”Ma, if only Oga can go to my village- 
there is a prophet there who will cure 
this leprosy disturbing him!” 
Seriously? Does this girl know what 
she’s talking about? 
Why doesn’t she just mind her business 
and do the job she was hired for? 
I know her type- they want to get 
special favours from the boss. 
Sycophants…!
Unfortunately, Oga heard and took her serious! 
I won’t blame him- he had tried to get a 
cure in the best hospitals in the country 
and abroad to no avail. 
It seemed his type of leprosy is different 
from the common one. 
It had defied all known cure, and Oga 
was getting desperate.
So he decided to travel to the maid’s 
village to see the prophet. 
And he chose ME to be on his entourage! 
I was stunned. Why me? All I know to do 
is sweep and wash clothes- what am I 
doing in the entourage of a leprosy 
infected General seeking help for his 
medical condition? Well, I didn’t 
really have a say so I was carried 
along on the journey to the village. 
We got to the village and we were 
directed to the prophet’s house. 
I was sure the villagers had never 
seen such a large convoy of vehicles
before. 
Almost all of them came out of their 
huts, wondering what was going on. 
We got to the house and it seemed 
the prophet was aware we were around 
because he had sent his servant to 
meet us at the door with an 
instruction: “General Naaman, go 
and bathe in river Jordan seven 
times and you will be cured.”
Simple. 
Or, is it?
My boss blew his top when he heard 
the instruction. 
“Me? Bathe in River Jordan- that 
dirty and stinking river? 
This prophet must be a joker! 
He has no respect! 
He didn’t even come out to greet me! 
Who does he think he is? Bloody civilian! 
Nonsense! 
Does he know how many wars I have fought? 
Does he know who I am? He is so manner-less! 
Even if I must bathe in a river, why Jordan? 
Are there not better, bigger and 
cleaner rivers?”
He went on and on, ranting and raving 
like a bull in a China shop- those 
who heard him were wondering what was 
wrong with him. 
I wondered why Oga was angry. 
He has a problem. 
Someone suggested a solution. 
And it won’t cost him a dime! 
Why doesn’t he just go ahead and do it? 
I don’t understand these soldiers, at times. 
They could be so obstinate. 
And the irony of it all is all 
the soldiers
we came with sided with him. 
Is there something in the Army that 
makes these soldiers lose their reasoning? 
I decided to talk to him. 
Maybe I was on his entourage on this 
trip for such a time like this. 
After all, I was the only civilian 
in the team.
So I approached him with my heart 
in my mouth. “Sir…”
“What?”
I could see he was still very 
much enraged. 
“Sir, I was just wondering: 
if this prophet had asked you to do 
something very difficult, 
wouldn’t you have done it? 
How much more bathe and be cured? 
Just do it sir- 
we all want you to be cured, 
that is why we are here, 
that is our mission on this trip sir…”
My boss looked at me for a long time. 
My heart was beating rapidly. 
I couldn’t remember it ever beating so fast! 
I felt I would faint. 
What was going through his mind? 
Have I goofed? 
To think just a few days ago, I was 
wondering why the maid would not mind 
her own business…
My boss cleared his throat and said, 
“Ok. Let’s go” Ok? Let’s go? Go where? 
Back home? I felt stupid. 
So, my intervention didn’t work. 
I went back to my vehicle and we drove off. 
And we stopped by River Jordan! 
General Naaman came down, stripped 
and went into the river to bathe. 
Seven times. 
And as he came out the seventh time, 
his skin got healed!
We were all excited! 
General Naaman was so ecstatic! 
He laughed, cried and hugged everybody- 
I had never seen this side of him for 
all the years I had been working for him.
 As he entered his vehicle, 
I heard him tell his driver, 
“Drive back to the prophet’s house, 
I must reward him for this!”
I smiled as I wondered, 
“Doesn’t that maid deserve a reward too? 
Don’t I deserve to be rewarded too?” 
Thank God I am a bloody civilian; 
else you would still be a leper, 
General Naaman…!