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 Moses does
not appear as a “healer” in the way that Elijah and Elisha later
do.]
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.