II Kings 5:10: “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.”
Why did God make Naaman do such silly stuff? Why not just heal the old boy and get it over with. Of course we know there is a matter of pride that needs to be dealt with here and no question that pride can really prevent a healing. But could there be something more, something which is much deeper as well? I am not saying I believe this; I am just tossing it out there because there are some people who may be into this sort of thing.
I have read in ancient Jewish literature that there lies a portal in the area of the Jordan River. Gideon marked if off with a monument and archeologist claim to have discovered this monument. (I read that in the Reader’s Digest a few years ago). Elisha sent Naaman to wash seven times in this river to be healed. Naaman asked a good question, “Are not the rivers in Damascus better to wash in?” He was right; of course, if you want to get physically clean the muddy Jordan River would not be your first choice. Keep in mind that people did not take baths in those days to become physical clean. All bathing was ritualistic, so Naaman would have not really have been using the cleansing process for the sake of God Jehovah if he used the waters in Damascus as he would most likely be cleansing himself for the god Rimmon which some have suggested is the same god, Dagon, the fish god or the god of the seas.
Some ancient esoteric rabbis, however, would say: “Nay, the Daleth would not be present near the waters of Damascus.” You see Jordan in Hebrew is Yoreden spelled Yod, Resh, Daleth, Nun. The ancient sages taught that the word Yoreden has a hidden commentary in its letters and teach that “Through faith (Nun) you pass through a portal (Daleth) into the presence of the Spirit of God (Resh) into the Divine power of transformation (Yod). Ancient rabbis claim that when the army of Israel crossed the Jordan they were suddenly transformed into a mighty army as they passed through this portal (Joshua 1:2).
So let’s assume there is some sort of portal located near or in the Jordan. Not everyone who visit’s the Jordan gets healed like Naaman. Naaman had to perform some ritual to open this portal, which in II Kings 5:10 is given in three words, he was to wash (Heb. rachas) seven (Heb. sheva’) times (Heb. pe‘amim) That word rachas or wash would have caught Naaman‘s attention as this could also be a Chaldean or Aramaic word which Naaman spoke and which is spelled and sounds identical to the Hebrew word for wash (rachas) but in the Aramaic also means to trust in.
In other words Naaman did not hear “wash seven times” but “trust seven times.” Naaman might have thought he was asked to trust in the Jordan seven times and, blast it, if he was going to trust some foreign waters and foreign God, he would trust the waters of his home town and the waters of his god Rimmon which I mentioned might be the god Dagon, later known to the Greeks as Neptune, the god of the seas, although some believe it was really the god of thunder, later known a Zeus. Still both have the idea of getting wet.
Then he was told to trust in this seven times. The word seven (sheva) means just that seven and/or seven times, but it also has a double meaning and could also mean to take or make an oath. The writer should have left out the word pe’amim or times as the word sheva would have provided that idea, unless of course, he intended to give a double meaning to washing or trusting seven times. The word rendered as times, pe’amim, comes from a Semitic root word Pa’am which means to move or foot step. In other words he had to walk into the Jordan, bathe and then walk out and then back in bathe again and do this seven times, just as Israel had to march around Jericho seven times. That had to be a real act of faith. But soft, let’s turn back to that other meaning of seven which is to make an oath. Naaman had to make an oath to God each time he walked back and forth into the Jordan River. What type of oath was he to take or make? Well, we need to go back to the word for times which is pa’am and spelled Pei, Ayin, Final Mem. He had to verbally speak (Pei) his spiritual insight that God gave him (Ayin) into His hidden secrets (Final mem). When he spoke this insight which was given to him either by Elisha and/or special revelation from God this portal (so the ancient esoteric rabbis would have you believe) of healing opened. Who knows maybe those words are encrypted in Joshua’s monument that some archeologist may come upon someday.
Why did Jesus spit on the ground and make clay and anoint a blind man’s eyes in John 9? Then he proceeds to tell this blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam before he was healed? Jesus spoke this in Aramaic and the Aramaic word that is used for wash in the Peshitta is wug which has the idea of returning or repeating, perhaps he had to wash seven times. Another thing is that healers in those days commonly used their spittle to make a medicine and it was forbidden on the Sabbath to heal or make any medicine. Jesus wanted to show that this healing came even when the law is broken. The reason for washing in the pool of Siloam is something no commentators can answer except maybe the distance to walk was also forbidden on the Sabbath. John 9:6-7 tells us that Siloam (with a final mem) is interpreted as sent which is Shilucha in Aramaic. Yet, Jesus choose to put a Mem at the end rather than the Chet which puts it in a plural form but then He adds an Aleph which is a definite article. This is really odd and when something like this is done in a Semitic language it might suggest a secondary meaning. Perhaps Jesus changed the Chet at the end of the word to a Mem to suggest that, like Naaman, he was to wash so he could receive special hidden revelation (Mem) which would open a portal to God’s healing.
Look, I don’t know and perhaps this is just ancient Jewish mystical thinking and has no place in our world today, but you have to wonder if God is not, maybe, giving us Mem’s all the time to open portals to his power, peace, rest etc. and we, like Naaman, just don’t realize it until we put our faith into action.
Perhaps God is saying to you and me what Hamlet said to Horatio,“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Hamlet Act I Scene 5. Shakespeare.
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