Saturday, August 25, 2007

Are you a seven dip Mormon?


Here is a story that is easily understood by all ages: It begins with the Old Testament record of Naaman who, as the commander of the armies of Syria, had “given deliverance” to his country. He became a leper and the king of Syria feared he would die.

An Israelite slave girl who served Naaman’s wife spoke of prophets in Israel who had the power to heal.

The king of Syria sent a message to the king of Israel saying, “I have … sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.” The king of Israel suspected a plot and complained, “He seeketh a quarrel against me. … Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy?”

Elisha, the prophet, heard of the king’s distress. And “he sent to the king, saying, … let him come now to me.” Elisha would heal Naaman, and he told why: that “he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

When Naaman was near, Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, … and thou shalt be clean.” Naaman was angry. There were rivers aplenty in Syria, as good, he thought, as the Jordan. He had expected Elisha to perform some impressive ceremony like clapping his hands upon him. And he “turned … away in a rage.”

But one of his servants (it seems there is always a servant) courageously chastised the general and said, “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?”
Humbled by his servant, Naaman “went … down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: … and he was clean.” (2 Kgs. 5:1–14; italics added.)
Human nature hasn’t changed over the years. Even today some of us expect to be bidden to do some “great things” in order to receive the blessings of the Lord. When we receive ordinary counsel on ordinary things, there is disappointment, and, like Naaman, we turn away. “ (Boyd K. Packer, May 1972 Ensign, The Gospel A Foundation for our Career)
The moral of the story is: are you a seven dip Mormon? Or are you a six dip Mormon? Do you have enough faith to follow the instructions of the Lord when you can not see the end from the beginning.

Summary of the Story Points

1. Naaman, a Syrian, was a brave man and the captain of his king’s army. Sadly, he had leprosy, a skin disease that had no cure. (See 2 Kgs. 5:1.)
2. His wife’s Israelite maid told her mistress about a prophet in Israel who could heal Naaman. When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman to the king of Israel with gifts of silver and gold and a letter asking the king of Israel to heal Naaman of his leprosy. (See 2 Kgs. 5:2–6.)
3. The king of Israel could not cure Naaman. He was frightened that Syria would start a war with Israel if Naaman was not healed. The King was so unhappy that he tore his clothes. (See 2 Kgs. 5:7.)
4. Elisha was then the prophet. He told the king to send Naaman to him. So the captain went to see Elisha. (See 2 Kgs. 5:8–9.)
5. When Elisha told Naaman that he would be healed if he washed seven times in the Jordan River, Naaman was angry. He said that there were better rivers in Syria. Why couldn’t he just wash in those rivers? He decided not to do what the prophet counseled. (See 2 Kgs. 5:1–12.)
6. But Naaman’s servants asked him why, if he would have done something difficult to be healed, he wouldn’t do something easy. Naaman repented and obeyed Elisha’s instructions, and he was cured. And from then on, although he had been worshipping false gods, he worshipped only the Lord. (See 2 Kgs. 5:13–17.)
7. Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Naaman would have only dipped himself 6 times in the river? Are you a 6 dip Mormom or a 7 dip Mormon? How are each of us today with God’s commandments. Do we obey all of them except one?

(Here is a more simple version of the story to tell the smaller children: (See 2 Kgs 5:1–17.)
As captain of the king’s army, Naaman was an important man in the country of Syria. He was a good and valiant man, but he was a leper.

Naaman’s wife had a little maid from the land of Israel. She told her mistress that if Naaman were with the prophet in Samaria, the prophet would heal him. When the king of Syria heard this, he sent Naaman to the king of Israel with gifts of silver and gold and a letter asking the king of Israel to heal Naaman of his leprosy.

The king of Israel rent his clothes because he knew that he could not make Naaman well. When Elisha the prophet heard about the situation, he sent this message to the king: “Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him [Naaman] come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman went with his horses and his chariot and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. The prophet sent a messenger out to tell Naaman that if he washed himself in the Jordan River seven times he would be healed. This message made Naaman angry. He exclaimed, “Behold, I thought, He [Elisha] 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 [heal me].

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?”

Naaman stomped off in a rage. But his servants followed him and said, “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?”

Naaman thought it over, then went to the Jordan River and washed himself seven times as the prophet Elisha had instructed him. When he came out of the river, he was completely healed.
Naaman returned to Elisha’s house, happy and thankful. He told the prophet that he knew that he had been healed by the power of God, and he promised that from then on he would worship only God.

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