Spiritual Healing, No. 3 in a series
The Healings of Moses
Numbers 12:1-15 [The Lord smites Miriam with leprosy for her disrespect to her brother Moses, then heals her after Moses beseeches Him to do so, 12:13. Several times during the Exodus, the Lord relents after Moses appeals to Him for mercy toward the offending Israelites, sparing them a threatened disinheritance (e.g., Numbers 14:13-25) or saving their lives. But nowhere in the Torah is Moses himself portrayed as a "healer" in the way that Elijah and Elisha are in the Books of Kings.]
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. [2] And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. [3] (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
[4] And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
[5] And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. [6] And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. [7] My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. [8] With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
[9] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. [10] And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
[11] And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. [12] Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
[13] And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
[14] And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
[15] And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
Numbers 21:6-9 [The plague of the fiery serpents, and Moses's serpent of brass, which Jesus refers to in John 3:14:]
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. [7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
[8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
[9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The Healings of Elijah and Elisha
I consider it important, particularly for a contextual appreciation of the healings of Jesus, that the people to whom He ministered had, as a basis for their faith and hope, a historical tradition in which holy men had served in the past as instruments of divine healing, including three raisings from the dead. In addition to directly conveying healing, Elijah and Elisha also demonstrated prophetic gifts of being able to tell whether an ill person would recover or die: thus Elijah reproaches King Ahaziah for inquiring of "Baalzebub" rather than of God whether his injury would be fatal, II Kings 1:2-6, and Elisha foresees the death of the ailing King Benhadad, II Kings 8:7-15, as later the prophet Isaiah foretells both the death of King Hezekiah and the rescension of his death sentence, II Kings 20:1-11, Isaiah 38. Not included in the following list of healings is Elisha's "healing" of the waters of Jericho with salt, II Kings 2:19-22, nor his detoxification of the poisonous pottage with meal, II Kings 4:38-41. - JJE
I Kings 17:17-24 [Elijah has been sent to the home of the widow of Zarephath ("Sarepta" in Luke 4:26) after the drought has dried up the brook Cherith, where the ravens had been feeding him. Note that Elijah comes close to reproaching God (verse 20) before imploring God for the child's return to life.]
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. [18] And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
[19] And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
[20] And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? [21] And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
[22] And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. [23] And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
[24] And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
II Kings 4:18-37 [Elisha restores the Shunammite woman's son to life. Elisha, like Elijah in the foregoing passage, "stretches himself upon the child" to help restore life:]
[25] So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: [26] Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
[27] And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.
[28] Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
[29] Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
[30] And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
[31] And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
[32] And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
[33] He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. [34] And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
[35] Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. [36] And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
[37] Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
II Kings 5:1-19 [Elisha cures Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, later transferring it to his own servant Gehazi, 5:27, "and unto his seed for ever." Elisha's boast to the king that Naaman "shall know that there is a prophet in Israel," 5:8, implies some expected connection between prophecy and healing in the contemporary mind. Note that Elisha also absolves Naaman of guilt for future involvement in his king's idolatry, 5:18-19.]
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. [2] And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. [3] And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
[4] And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
[5] And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
[6] And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
[7] And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
[8] And it was so, when 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 Israel.
[9] So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. [10] And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
[11] 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. [12] 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.
[13] 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?
[14] 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. [15] 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 earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
[16] 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.
[17] 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. [18] 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.
[19] And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
II Kings 13:20-21 [Elisha's final healing work: the Christian tradition that touching a saint's bones might restore health or even life finds its biblical source in this story.]
And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. [21] And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
E-mail j0hnedminster@yahoo.com to request this posting as a MS Word document.
Numbers 12:1-15 [The Lord smites Miriam with leprosy for her disrespect to her brother Moses, then heals her after Moses beseeches Him to do so, 12:13. Several times during the Exodus, the Lord relents after Moses appeals to Him for mercy toward the offending Israelites, sparing them a threatened disinheritance (e.g., Numbers 14:13-25) or saving their lives. But nowhere in the Torah is Moses himself portrayed as a "healer" in the way that Elijah and Elisha are in the Books of Kings.]
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. [2] And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. [3] (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
[4] And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
[5] And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. [6] And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. [7] My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. [8] With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
[9] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. [10] And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
[11] And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. [12] Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
[13] And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
[14] And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
[15] And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
Numbers 21:6-9 [The plague of the fiery serpents, and Moses's serpent of brass, which Jesus refers to in John 3:14:]
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. [7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
[8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
[9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The Healings of Elijah and Elisha
I consider it important, particularly for a contextual appreciation of the healings of Jesus, that the people to whom He ministered had, as a basis for their faith and hope, a historical tradition in which holy men had served in the past as instruments of divine healing, including three raisings from the dead. In addition to directly conveying healing, Elijah and Elisha also demonstrated prophetic gifts of being able to tell whether an ill person would recover or die: thus Elijah reproaches King Ahaziah for inquiring of "Baalzebub" rather than of God whether his injury would be fatal, II Kings 1:2-6, and Elisha foresees the death of the ailing King Benhadad, II Kings 8:7-15, as later the prophet Isaiah foretells both the death of King Hezekiah and the rescension of his death sentence, II Kings 20:1-11, Isaiah 38. Not included in the following list of healings is Elisha's "healing" of the waters of Jericho with salt, II Kings 2:19-22, nor his detoxification of the poisonous pottage with meal, II Kings 4:38-41. - JJE
I Kings 17:17-24 [Elijah has been sent to the home of the widow of Zarephath ("Sarepta" in Luke 4:26) after the drought has dried up the brook Cherith, where the ravens had been feeding him. Note that Elijah comes close to reproaching God (verse 20) before imploring God for the child's return to life.]
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. [18] And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
[19] And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
[20] And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? [21] And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
[22] And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. [23] And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
[24] And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
II Kings 4:18-37 [Elisha restores the Shunammite woman's son to life. Elisha, like Elijah in the foregoing passage, "stretches himself upon the child" to help restore life:]
[25] So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: [26] Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
[27] And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.
[28] Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
[29] Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
[30] And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
[31] And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
[32] And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
[33] He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. [34] And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
[35] Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. [36] And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
[37] Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
II Kings 5:1-19 [Elisha cures Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, later transferring it to his own servant Gehazi, 5:27, "and unto his seed for ever." Elisha's boast to the king that Naaman "shall know that there is a prophet in Israel," 5:8, implies some expected connection between prophecy and healing in the contemporary mind. Note that Elisha also absolves Naaman of guilt for future involvement in his king's idolatry, 5:18-19.]
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. [2] And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. [3] And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
[4] And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
[5] And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
[6] And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
[7] And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
[8] And it was so, when 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 Israel.
[9] So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. [10] And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
[11] 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. [12] 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.
[13] 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?
[14] 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. [15] 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 earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
[16] 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.
[17] 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. [18] 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.
[19] And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
II Kings 13:20-21 [Elisha's final healing work: the Christian tradition that touching a saint's bones might restore health or even life finds its biblical source in this story.]
And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. [21] And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
E-mail j0hnedminster@yahoo.com to request this posting as a MS Word document.
posted by Blogger at 3/05/2005 12:52:00 PM
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