Elisha the prophet and Naaman
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying. Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 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. Are not Abanal 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. 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? 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. 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: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.-2 Kings 5:9-22***Naaman was a leper and the highly respected commander of the Syrian (Aramean) army. The Israelite slave girl who served Naaman's wife spoke about a prophet in Samaria, the royal city of the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land, who was able to cure the disease. Thus, with permission from the king of Syria, and a royal letter of request, and 10 talents of silver, and 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 sets of clothes, Naaman went to see King Jehoram (Joram), the 9th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. After Naaman obeyed the words of Elisha the prophet, Naaman's flesh was restored and clean. Over 750 years after Elisha died and a dead man began living again after contact with Elisha's bones, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that in Galilee and the surrounding regions, lepers asked Jesus to make them clean.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings 1:1-13:25, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
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Jesus the Christ, the Son of God,
and James and John
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.-Matthew 20:20-23***James and John were Israelites and fishermen. James and John worked with their father Zebedee and with Simon Peter, until Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, told James, John and Simon Peter to follow him. When James and John's mother came to speak with Jesus, she wasn't seeking the miracle that Jairus the synagogue ruler sought for his 12-year-old daughter, or the healing that an official in Galilee sought for his son, or the healing another father sought for the boy who was possessed. Moreover, the mother of James and John was not seeking the healing that a Gentile, a person not born into the Israelite tribes, sought for her daughter, nor was James and John's mother asking to be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter, as Herodias told her daughter to request from Herod Antipas the tetrarch, ruler of Galilee for the Roman Empire.-Genesis 11:26-35:29, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
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