Saturday, February 5, 2011

Expect the unexpected

We all have pre-conceived ideas about how God should and should not act. A case in point is Naaman, as recorded in 2 Kings 5. He had definite ideas about the way that the LORD, the God of Israel, should heal him from his leprosy: it should be very dramatic.

10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 

The Prophet Elisha and Naaman, Lambert Jacobsz (ca. 1598-1636). I found this image at Biblical Art on the WWW, which is particularly useful because you can search under specific Biblical passages.

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