...................................................................LET US LEARN TOGETHER WHAT IS GOOD. Job 34:4b(NIV)................................................................Some people see the Bible as a long and boring book filled with incidents and events from the lives of ancient people who probably never existed. The biblical stories are seen as fables. Romans 15:4 (KJV) reveals: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. In this blog, many of the situations and conversations found in the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible have been placed in categories that correspond to expressive sayings and phrases. Reference information, background information and links connecting the people and places are given to help you find a place to begin reading the Bible for yourself.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Now I Know

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 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. 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: when I bow down 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.
-2 Kings 5:9-19***Centuries before Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, at least 3 other events occurred involving the Jordan River and Israelites. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were Israelites from the tribe of Levi, descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai),  Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egyptian slavery, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said they would obey the words of the Lord God. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God gave Moses commands about the offering willing Israelites were to bring, and the Lord God described to Moses and showed Moses the likeness of the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the other sacred items that the Israelites were to make, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said they would obey the words of the Lord God, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites thought they were abandoned and told Aaron to make gods to lead them. Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and Aaron made a golden calf that the Israelites worshiped and Moses burned and ground. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried. Joshua was Moses' aide and  successor from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Jacob and his 2nd wife Rachel, their firstborn son Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. After the Lord God spoke to Joshua, and Joshua sent spies to Canaan, and Rahab hid the spies, and the spies returned, Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. Elijah and Elisha were Israelites and prophets of the Lord God. Over 500 years after 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Elijah and Elisha visited prophets in Bethel and Jericho and were together at the Jordan River. Elijah and Elisha spoke their last words to one another before a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind. Less than 5 years thereafter, Naaman, a Syrian (Aramean) army commander, was afflicted with leprosy. The young Israelite captive who was the maidservant for Naaman's wife mentioned that Naaman could be cured if he went to see Elisha. Naaman went to King Benhadad, ruler of Syria (Aram), and Benhadad sent Naaman, with a royal letter, to the king of the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land, widely regarded to be King Jehoram (Joram), the 9th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel.  After reading the letter, the king of the northern nation of Israel became distraught. Elisha requested that Naaman be sent to him. Approximately 850 years after Naaman dipped himself into the Jordan River, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ 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 Jacob and Leah's 4th born son 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. 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.-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, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings 1:1-13:25, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26

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http://biblecategorizer.blogspot.com/2016/05/now-you-know.html