The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1959-06-13

Elisha the man of GOD had
heard that the king of Israel
had rent his clothes, that he
sent to the king, saying,
Wherefore hast thou rent thy
clothes? Let him come now to
me, and he shall know that
there is a prophet in Israeli
Whoever told Elisha about
what was going on gave a
rather full account of it, in
Guiding the reaction of Jeho.
ram in tearing his clothes
when he had read the letter
from the king of Syria.
SO Naaman came with his
horses and with his chariot,
and stood at the door of the
house of Elisha" 1t was
intended from the beginning
that Naaman should report to
Elisha to be healed, but be-
cause of diplomatic courtesy
or failure of someone to in
clude the name of the prophet
as the little maid had sug-
gested the king of Israel be-
came involved and Elisha left
out of the picture.
ELISHA TELLS NAAMAN
WHAT TO DO:
And Elisha sent a messen-
ger unto him, saying, Go and
wash in Jordan seven times,
and thy flesh shall come again
to thee, and thou shalt be
clean"
The number seven was an
important number among the
Hebrews, the seven days, of
the week, the seven fat years
and seven lean years, and
many others. 1t was an impor-
tant number in ritual matters
like that which Naaman was
being directed to do. Leprosy
was considered to be an un-
clean disease and victims
thereof were considered to be
likewise. But Naaman was
wroth and went away, and said,
behold, | thought, He will sure
ly come out to me, and stand,
and call on the name of the
Lord his God and strike his
hand over the place, and re-
cover the leper" Naaman
made the common mistake of
thinking that his healing had
to be done as he expected it,
or as he had been accustomed
to seeing people do in his own
land. 1t is common for human
beings to want to be helped
but after the manner which
they themselves have planned
or visualized. care not ALBANIA
and Pharpar, rivers of Damas-
Gus better than all the waters
of Israel? May | not wash in
them, and be clean? So he
turned and went away in
rage" - Naaman looked down
upon the waters of Israel in
contrast to the glory of his
own country, yet he did not
take into consideration that
the man whom he expected to
heal him was a product of
Israel.
NAAMAN'S LEPROSY is
CURED:
"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 Naa-
man, like many others, was "a
bout to miss being saved from
his affection because the rem
edy seemed too simple to be
effective. 1t was fortunate for
him that he had thoughtful,
wise servants with him who
sensed his problem and adj
vised him properly. Then
went he down, and dipped
himself seven tines in Jordan,
according to the saying of the
man Of God: and his flesh
came again like unto the flesh
of little child, and he was
clean" - 1t is noteworthy that
the effectiveness of Elisha's
words remained even after
Naaman went away in a rage
and was about to repudiate the
cure offered him. When he
repented and obeyed the words
of the man of God he was
healed as though he had ac-
copied from the beginning.
"And he said, Behold, now
/ know that there is no God