The Seventh Dunk

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana an Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel..."

2 Kings 5:10-15a

This story gets me every time. Our kids and I read it together yesterday morning during our Bible time and we discussed some of the very things I want to share with you.

After reading the passage above, do you think Naaman believed he would be healed by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan River? I doubt it. He went off in a rage and mentioned that the rivers in Damascus were better than the Jordan. I have heard that the Jordan River was not necessarily a pretty river and was actually pretty gross. Did his servants believe? We don't know, but they seemed to care about Naaman. They called him "father." He must have treated them kindly. I think they were at least more hopeful. They convinced Naaman to give the Jordan River a try. How far do you think he stormed down the road before they convinced him to turn back?

The thing that gets me every time in this story is that God chose to reveal His power and heal Naaman in spite of his unbelief! God cares about everyone, not just those who go to church and call themselves Christians! I have heard that from a worldly perspective seeing is believing, but from a Christian perspective, believing is seeing. Did you catch that? Christianity is based on faith. Faith is required. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). For we live by faith, not be sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Once you believe, then you start to see how God is working in you and around you.

But that was not the case here. Maybe Naaman had an inkling of hope. He was definitely desirous of a cure, so maybe once his anger subsided, he was more hopeful and believed it might work. I don't know, though. I still lean toward the idea that he was more like, "Fine, I'll try it. It won't work, but I'll go in the Jordan just to prove it to you." I've always wondered if the healing came little by little, or not until the seventh dunk...Similar to the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. They were all healed but only one came back thanking Jesus and praising God. Were they healed somewhere along the road as they walked to the temple, or not until they took the last step into the temple? I could imagine faith would increase in increments if the healing began early in the process and came in portions, but that's not how God always works - sometimes it's not until the seventh dunk.

Here are a couple verses that came to mind:

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29).

Sometimes God lets the seeing come before the believing. Like Naaman. Like Paul, who used to be known as Saul of Tarsus. Like Muslims who dream about Isa (Jesus) calling them away from Islam before they have much, if any, thought of the sort - even if they are leaders in their religion. Like the disciple John when he went to Jesus' empty tomb: "Finally the other disciple [John], who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed" (John 20:8).

God's ways don't always make sense to us. God doesn't always answer the way we want Him to answer us. Does that sway your belief in Him? 

I know there are times I pray, knowing the He is completely capable to answer my prayer the way I want, but not sure that He will - not sure that He wants the same thing I do. I wonder if my will really matches His will, so sometimes I have doubts about whether He will act in a certain situation. I see the trees; He sees the forest. Seriously, He sees the whole universe, not just the forest! He sees all of space and time, so He knows how His answer will affect not only the people here and now, in the local vicinity, but the further reaches across this current generation and future generations. Anyhow, back to the point, do I have faith enough that He will answer? I believe that yes, I do, but sometimes I'm with the father above, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" My faith grows after the seeing. 

That's not unusual, though. Yes, believing leads to seeing...and then seeing leads to believing more...which leads to seeing more...which -- you get the point. Our faith grows. We "...continue to work out [our] salvation..." (Philippians 2:12). 

"...as your faith continues to grow..." (2 Corinthians 10:15)

"...your faith is growing more and more..." (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

"...so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good," (1 Peter 2:2b-3)

Naaman's servants convinced him to follow Elisha's directions, to go into the Jordan and dip seven times. How many were with him? How many witnessed his miraculous healing and his new faith in the God of Israel? How many of his servants also began to believe at that moment? How many faith journeys began after the seventh dunk?

Sometimes believing is seeing...but occasionally, God allows us to see, and then believe.