At first he ignored the spot.

Either his armor rubbed there, or some bug bit him. Naaman, a Syrian general, spent his days on the move. No time to waste on itchy skin.

Oops. The skin rash matured into a dreaded disease—leprosy. No cure and no hope, except for the slave girl in his house who told of a powerful prophet in Israel. Naaman, grasping at a cure, rode to meet Elisha.

When Naaman arrived, trailing his retinue of fighting men, Elisha didn’t even come to the door. He sent his servant to tell Naaman to go dip himself into the Jordan River seven times. Naaman stomped to his chariot in a huff.

Wisely, Naaman’s people coaxed him into giving it a try. What would it hurt? You came all this way? Don’t be so prideful—face it, Naaman, leprosy respects no man and you ain’t looking any better.

So Naaman dipped and dried, seven times. His skin cleared and his heart opened. He drove home proclaiming, there is no God in all the earth but in Israel!

Notice the evolution of Naaman’s faith—from desperation to indignation to resignation to exultation.

I’m encouraged by Naaman’s kernel of faith. He walked into the water (almost dragged in by his servants), with barely enough faith to even get wet. Turns out that’s enough, when your faith is in the right place.

Here in Colorado water freezes in the winter. I can have all the faith in the world that a half-inch of ice will hold me when I walk onto a frozen lake, but I’ll still fall through. But I can be scared to death when edging onto a lake with ice two feet thick, and I’ll still stay dry. In fact, I could drive my car on that lake. It’s not my faith that’s important, it’s the object of my faith.

Naaman discovered the God of Israel, the only God worthy of faith. In doing so, he experienced fresh skin and more importantly—a fresh soul.

2 Kings 5 in week twenty-nine of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Alex Kramarevsky

One hundred hungry men waited for dinner as twenty small loaves of bread appeared—nothing else. The baker knew the bread wouldn’t fill all those bellies, but Elisha served it anyway. Later, the men pushed back from the table smiling and satisfied.

A widow faced a terrible situation. To satisfy her late husband’s massive debts, the collectors threatened to seize her two sons as slaves. Elisha instructed her to gather all the jars she could possibly find from friends and neighbors, then fill them from the one small jar of olive oil she possessed. After spending a day filling jar after jar after jar, until every one sat brimming with oil, she sold it all and paid off her debts, with enough left over to live on.

A Shunammite woman befriended the prophet, and the Lord blessed her with a son in return. Tragically, a few years later the son died in her arms. Elisha ran to her home and restored the child’s life. The Lord gave life, and then the Lord restored life, both times against the cravings of biology.

These three incidents from the life of Elisha demonstrate the abundant character of our Lord. Abundant with food, abundant with finances, abundant with life.

I often lean toward a mindset of scarcity, worrying about having enough bread or olive oil. I decide to slice the pie thinner—but the Lord just makes more pies. The Lord’s economy supersedes mine. While I possess a scarcity mentality, the Lord points out his abundance.

As a result, I can act generously toward others, sharing what I hold, knowing that the Lord’s wonderful abundance overwhelms my closed-minded scarcity.

Resources in the hand of the Lord multiply.

2 Kings 4 in week twenty-nine of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Roberta Sorge

Elisha seemed touchy about his hair loss when he confronted a group of boys jeering at him—Get out of here baldy! Get out of here baldy!

When Elisha called down a curse, two bears rollicked out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. Which is a lot of mauling, and as far as I know, the only bear-curse in history.

What to make of this odd story?

Mocking a prophet of God amounted to mocking God himself. Elisha understood this as he faced the crowd of boys. Also, having just watched his mentor ride to heaven on a chariot of fire, Elisha established his new role as the legitimate successor to Elijah by defending himself.

Finally, perhaps he felt endangered by a crowd of forty-plus adolescents taunting him along a country road? Feels intimidating. I just re-read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, so idea of a group of young males going rogue doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

Plus, the bald-headed comments stung. Mock a prophet for any number of things, but leave his hair (or lack of it) alone.

2 Kings 2 in week twenty-nine of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Niklas Fredengren

While reading on the kings of Judah and Israel, I moved into stories about the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. I thought, Finally, I’ll get a clue about how the phrase “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!” entered our lexicon.

But Jehoshaphat never jumped at all. At least the writers of scripture never record any jump or leap or even a hop. Rather, he’s better known for keeping his feet solidly on the ground.

An invading army caught Jehoshaphat by surprise. Alarmed, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout the country and called the people together to seek help from the Lord. Everyone joined Jehoshaphat in seeking the Lord’s protection—All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

The Lord spoke through a prophet and encouraged Jehoshaphat and the people that the battle is not yours, but God’s. The next day, with men shouting, give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever!, the king led his tiny army to meet their foe.

The Lord fought in their stead, setting the invaders against each other, and destroying themselves in process. The Lord proved faithful as Jehoshaphat led his people with courage and trust.

So, maybe we should popularize the phrase “Standing Firm Jehoshaphat!!” But I’m doubtful it will catch on—just doesn’t roll off the tongue.

2 Chronicles 20 in week twenty-nine of reading the Bible cover to cover

Here’s an article on where the phrase Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat likely originated.