March 28th, 2018

The Lord Who Heals

“…If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I have brought upon the Egyptians.  For I am the LORD who heals you.” Ex. 15:26

Here we meet Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals.  The word “rapha” in Ancient Hebrew is literally “man open;” meaning the mouth of man is open to receive medicinal treatment made from flowers, roots, stalks, and the like.  Such medicine could be ingested or applied to open wounds on the body.  As an example, boils and leprosy were healed by God, both in Genesis 20:17 and in Leviticus 13:18.  We can perhaps view healing as the restoration of health – and such health is both physical and spiritual. 

Let’s take a moment to reflect once again on the verse above.  The words of the Lord were spoken three days after the people of Israel had crossed the Red Sea.  Israel had just been set free from its captor, Egypt!  The Red Sea crossing marked a new beginning for God’s chosen people.  At the first indication of trouble, in this case bitter water that could not be drunk, the people complain.  God responds by showing Moses a tree where the waters were made sweet.  God also established an ordinance of obedience, for which the blessing included health. 

There is much we can learn from this text, including the following truths:

Ø  The Red Sea crossing set God’s people free;

Ø  His free people began a journey in the wilderness;

Ø  God promises healing to His people as they begin their new journey;

Ø  Jesus HEALED the nobleman’s son at the start of His ministry;

Ø  We, the redeemed of the Lord, are promised healing, and have evidence of it through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

We are not told when and we are not told how, but healing will happen, this side of heaven or the other.