Doug Van Pelt

White As Snow

Sometimes on my way to work, or leaving, I'll pass a bunch of Elk, who are on this ranch with the zebras and deer, and many other animals.

Wow.
Elisha was a man of God. In 2 Kings 5, a young girl from Israel was taken captive to serve Naaman's wife. Instead of being resentful (and maybe she did have some anger issues), she cared about the well-being of her masters. 'If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.' This took place and the results were funny. First off, the king of Aram sent along a note with Naaman to give to the king of Israel. The note said, "I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."

The king of Israel was insulted, and tore his robes. "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life?" Very funny. Elisha heard about it and told them to send the man to him. When Naaman arrived at Elisha's house, Elisha didn't even go out to meet him. He just sent a messenger to say, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." Once again the result was anger, as Naaman was insulted that Elisha didn't come out and wave his arms over him. Naaman went away, figuring he'd wash in his own rivers. One of his servants persuaded him to follow the instructions, though, and he did and his skin became as clean as that of a young boy. When Naaman tried to reward the prophet with money and such, Elisha refused. A classy move. Before leaving, this man declared that there was only one true God, and he would only sacrifice to the One True God, but asked for forgiveness if he bowed down in a false temple (of Rimmon) with his master, who would lean on his arm as he bowed down. So funny. He knew it was wrong, but wanted some slack because it was almost part of his job description. That's like, "I believe in You, Lord, but please forgive me whenever I go to the Klan and coven meetings with my family..." True belief will require changed actions in scenarios like that. Ya gotta have the guts to make those kind of changes when faced with that. Otherwise you live a contradiction.

Later on one of Elisha's servants decided he wanted some of that booty, so he chased down the chariot and used a made up story to ask for money. He came back and hid it in his house, but Elisha knew better. He said, "Was my spirit not with you when the man hopped out of the chariot?" I wonder if this was a spiritual gift of some sort of spiritual travel. Paul makes mention of "being with you in spirit," and I wonder if it's more than just a phrase, like we use today to tell someone that we're "standing by them" in support. Anyway, Elisha brings a curse of leprosy on this lying servant, whose skin turns white as snow.

Whoa, tough move!