Elisha the prophet, and Naaman, and Gehazi
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 he went 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. 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. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyard, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.-2 Kings 5:9-27***Naaman was a commander of the Syrian (Aramean) army. Aram, the forefather of the Arameans, was born to Shem, and Shem was born to Noah the ark builder. Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch. Enoch was the great-great-great-grandson of Seth. Seth was born to 130-year-old Adam and Eve. Adam was the 1st man. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and on the 6th day the Lord God created Adam, and on the 7th day the Lord God rested and was refreshed. The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and the Lord God made Adam's wife Eve, the mother of all living, after taking a part out of Adam. The Lord God blessed them, and gave them commands, and gave Adam commands about the trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve was deceived, and Adam listened to Eve and disobeyed the command of the Lord God. Sin entered into the world through Adam and death entered through sin. Shem's son Arphaxad was the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Terah. Nahor (Nachor), Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), Haran, and Sarah (Sarai) were born to Terah. Bethuel the Syrian (Aramean) was born to Nahor and Milcah, Haran's daughter. Ishmael was born in Canaan to 86-year-old Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. Noah's son Ham, and Ham's son Mizraim were the forefathers of the Egyptians. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord God gave him the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham circumcised 13-year-old Ishmael, and Abraham and the males throughout Abraham's household and property were immediately circumcised. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. On the 8th day after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised Isaac. Laban the Syrian (Aramean) and Rebekah were born to Bethuel. In Canaan, 40-year-old Isaac was married to Rebekah. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Laban's daughters Leah and Rachel. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel and Joseph were Jacob's favorites. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger Aaron and their new baby brother were born into the tribe of Levi to Amram and Jochebed. Amram and Jochebed kept their newborn baby hidden from the murderous intentions of Pharaoh. When the baby was 3 months old, Jochebed placed him in a specially prepared ark and put the ark amid the vegetation by the river. Miriam watched Pharaoh's daughter send a maidservant to get the ark, and Miriam spoke with Pharaoh's daughter, and arrangements were made for Jochebed to be hired as the wet nurse for the baby. After the child was weaned, Jochebed took him to Pharaoh's daughter, and Pharaoh's daughter named the child Moses, and Moses lived as her son. When Moses was 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian and hid the body, and the murder was mentioned to Moses, and Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses, and Moses bolted from Egyptand began living in Midian, and was married to Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro (Reuel), a Midianite descended from Abraham and his 2nd wife Keturah and their son Midian. Moses was 80 years old and herding Jethro's sheep amid the region of Mount Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God, when he saw a fiery sight and heard the Lord God call his name. The Lord God gave Moses a command, and the Lord God and Moses spoke with each other, and the Lord God sent Moses and 83-year-old Aaron to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. The elders believed the words of the Lord God spoken by Aaron. Pharaoh did not believe, and he made work for the Israelites more difficult. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to get the Israelites and their animals and go worship the Lord God. Moreover, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to bless him. Before Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, into the desert wilderness of Shur, and the desert wilderness of Sin, the Israelites asked for and were given an abundance of valuable goods, fulfilling the words that the Lord God spoke to Abraham. 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 the Israelites were commanded to make, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants 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 sacrificed to and worshiped, and Moses burned and ground. Before the Israelites were led away from the Sinai region, the Lord God gave Moses and Aaron laws about lepers and leprosy. In Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses due to his marriage to a Cushite woman. Ham's son Cush was the forefather of the Cushites. At the tabernacle, the Lord God came down in the pillar of cloud and spoke to Miram and Aaron. After the Lord God left and the cloud departed, Miriam was leprous. Aaron made a plea to Moses, and Moses made a plea to the Lord God, and the Lord God gave Moses a command, 7 days later, Miriam was able to return and be among the Israelites. 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, Moses' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, 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. Over 300 years after 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, became the 1st king to reign. David, from the tribe of Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. Solomon, a son born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. Ahab was the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Ahab's wife Jezebel was a Sidonian (Zidonian). Canaan's firstborn son Sidon (Zidon) was the forefather of the Sidonians. Ahab and Jezebel's son Ahaziah was the 8th king, and Ahaziah's brother Jehoram (Joram) was the 9th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Ahab's 22-year reign, Elijah the prophet began proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites. In Abel-meholah, Elijah anointed his successor Elisha, according to the command of the Lord God. At the Jordan River, Elisha and 50 more prophets saw a chariot of fire and horses of fire and watched Elijah go up into heaven by a whirlwind. In Syria (Aram) Naaman was leprous, and his wife's young Israelite maidservant, who had been taken captive from Israel, told Naaman's wife about the prophet in Samaria who could heal Naaman. The king of Syria sent Naaman to Jehoram with a letter, silver, gold, and clothing. Jehoram was upset about the request. Elisha requested that Naaman be sent to him, and Elisha's servant Gehazi made a secret request. 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 the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after John the Baptist was born, he was circumcised, and on the 8th day after Jesus the Christ was born, Jesus was circumcised. 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. Jesus healed more than 10 lepers, and inside a synagogue in Nazareth, Galilee, Jesus spoke of Naaman, and Jesus sat at the table in the home of Simon the leper, and in Jerusalem, Jesus applied a spit and clay mixture to a blind man's eyes and commanded the blind man to go wash in the pool of Siloam.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 12:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra 1:1-11, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
Reference Information
talents = kikkere/kikkar/karar = a round measure, a weight of money, a biblical weight widely regarded to be approximately 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
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