• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FairMormon

Save the date! 2019 FairMormon Conference August 7-9
(You can still read 2018 talks or watch streaming.)

  • Find Answers
  • Blog
  • Media & Apps
  • Conference
  • Bookstore
  • Archive
  • About
  • Get Involved
  • Search

What Is the Significance of the Unusual Symbolism in Elisha’s Healings? (Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29B)

August 10, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Triptych of the Cleansing of Naaman: the centre panel depicts Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, washing in the River Jordan to cure his leprosy at the command of the prophet Elisha, who in the background refuses gifts offered to him, 1520

An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29: “He Took Up … the Mantle of Elijah” (2 Kings 2:5-6) (JBOTL29B)

Question: Elisha’s request of Naaman to immerse himself seven times in the Jordan River in order to be healed and his “stretching himself” upon a child to raise him from the dead seem highly unusual. Was there any special meaning to Elisha’s actions?

Summary:Like some other Old Testament prophets, Elisha’s invocation of God’s power as he taught and blessed his people was accompanied by actions that symbolized sacred realities. As with modern priesthood ordinances, the physical actions themselves do not bring about the resultant blessings. However, such sacred actions, when required by the Lord, invite participants to reflect about resonances of those actions that extend beyond immediate circumstances and teach eternal principles. Symbolic actions that parallel Elisha’s miracles has at times accompanied healing both anciently and today.

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL29B — What Is the Significance of the Unusual Symbolism in Elisha’s Healings?

Filed Under: Bible, Early Christianity, Evidences, Lesson Aids, Masonry, Questions, Resources, Temples Tagged With: 2 Kings, Baptism, Elijah, Elisha, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Gospel Doctrine: Old Testament, Healing, Mary Jane Knowlton Coray, Naaman, Ordinances, Sacred Embrace, Symbolism

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


RSS-Icon RSS Feed (all posts)

Subscribe to Podcast

Podcast icon
Subscribe to podcast in iTunes
Subscribe to podcast elsewhere
Listen with FairMormon app
Android app on Google Play

Pages

  • Blog Guidelines

FairMormon Latest

  • A Look Back in LDS History for Black History Month
  • “The Laborers Are Few” (The Church in the DR Congo: A Personal Perspective, Part 11)
  • FairMormon Conference Podcast #23 – Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Explaining Away the Book of Mormon Witnesses”
  • Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior
  • Church Developments and Their Timescales

Blog Categories

Recent Comments

  • Jack Berg on Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior
  • Dennis Horne on Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior
  • Jack Berg on Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior
  • Hogarth on Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior
  • Chrys Reynolds on FairMormon Questions: First Presidency Statement on Temples

Archives

Footer

FairMormon Logo

FairMormon is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS doctrine, belief and practice.

Quick Links

  • About FairMormon
  • Bookstore
  • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
  • Sign Up for Updates

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • iTunes
  • YouTube

Donate to FairMormon

We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.

Donate Now

Donate to us by shopping at Amazon at no extra cost to you. Learn how →

Site Footer

Copyright © 1997-2019 by The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No portion of this site may be reproduced without the express written consent of The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc.

Any opinions expressed, implied, or included in or with the goods and services offered by FairMormon are solely those of FairMormon and not those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Logo

FairMormon™ is controlled and operated by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR)