"Dipping in a river seven times to cure leprosy? Stretching over a dead child to bring him back to life? Isn't this just primitive superstition and magic and stories? Some say that Elisha's healings are folklore and not miracles, but the symbolism reveals something a little deeper than that. So why did Elisha perform healings using symbolic actions like having Maimon dip seven times in the Jordan River or stretching himself over a child? Do these actions hold deeper spiritual meaning? Some claim that these rituals were just superstitious magic with an illogical connection to healing. Elisha's healings involved symbolic actions that were not merely ritualistic or arbitrary. They served as outward, tangible expressions of faith that invited participants to exercise obedience and humility. God frequently uses physical means to teach spiritual truths. This is a pattern consistent throughout all of scripture. Maimon's initial reluctance to follow Elisha's instructions demonstrates how pride can hinder blessings. He expected this dramatic display of prophetic power, but instead he received simple instructions to dip in a river. His servants wisely reasoned that if he'd been asked to do something great, he would have done it. So why not do something simple? His eventual obedience led to complete healing, which teaches that God's methods don't need to meet our expectations in order to be effective. For Latter-day Saints, Elisha's act of stretching over the child resonates deeply with priesthood blessings. Physical hands laid on heads, anointing with oil, and spoken words of blessing. These aren't superstitious rituals, but they are covenant actions that invite God's power into mortal circumstances. God often works through ordinary, even seemingly illogical means to accomplish his purposes, and this is precisely the point. Just as the Israelites marching around Jericho seemed militarily absurd, name and dipping seven times seemed medically absurd. In both cases, obedience unlocked divine power. The simplicity of the action of these tests, whether we trust God's wisdom over our own understanding, obedience always unlocks divine power. And this can go for a lot of things. A lot of people don't fully understand why some things are part of the word of wisdom and why some things aren't. Again, this might go beyond our mortal understanding at this point in time, but it's God's commandments and he will sometimes have us act in ways that don't logically make sense to us. And that's okay. Sometimes, no matter how illogical things might seem, the blessings outweigh our understanding. Let me know what you think in the comments below."