Tag: rapha

“… for I AM the LORD, your Healer.” Exodus 15:26

Exodus 15:22-27 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord Provides Water

22 Then Moses [a]led Israel from the [b]Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters [c]of Marah, for they were [d]bitter; therefore it was named [e]Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. 26  And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Yahweh Rapha: “the Lord Who Heals”

In the desert at Marah, we have another story of God’s provision and testing.

With empty water sacks, standing before a pool of bitter water, the people of Israel begin to grumble.

Although they complain bitterly against Moses, they are really complaining against God.

Their grumbling seems very shortsighted.

Only a few days earlier God had parted the Red Sea and saved them from Pharaoh’s army! (Please Read Exodus 14-15.)

But again, as we see in this story, God delivers his people, making the water fit to drink.

At Marah, the Israelites learn God is Yahweh Rapha, “the LORD who heals.”

This name comes from the Hebrew word raphe, meaning “to heal, to make healthy.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/exo/15/26/t_conc_65026

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7495/esv/wlc/0-1

The people also learn that God expects his people to trust him in all things, and he expects them to be devoted, obedient, holy, as he is holy.

Indeed, a few chapters (Ch. 20) later at Sinai, he lays out a code for holy living.

In the New Testament, however, we will discover an irony about Yahweh Rapha.

There we learn that “the LORD who heals” suffers to heal us and to forgive our sins.

In the words of Isaiah 53:5, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.”

These words refer to Jesus, the Son of God. “By his wounds we are healed.”

” … for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

God progressively revealed the many facets of His eternal character throughout the pages of Scripture and it was to His Servant Moses that the Lord God has now just revealed Himself as Jehovah-Rapha –  “I am the God Who heals you.”

God had already revealed Himself to Abraham as ‘the Lord God’ ‘the Almighty God’ and ‘the everlasting God’.

He also identified Himself as Abraham’s ‘Provider’, when He spoke those words, which are pregnant with meaning, “I will Provide Myself – a Lamb.”

Genesis 22:6-8 New American Standard Bible 1995

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.  7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will [a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

It was God Who saved His people Israel, after 400-years of bondage in Egypt, when they applied the shed blood of the Passover lambs onto the lintels of their doors – a striking picture of the true Passover Lamb,

Whose shed blood at Calvary would provide the means of healing the nation that was saving His people from slavery to sin and its terrible consequences.

And as the attributes of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continued to be revealed to His chosen people, as the years rolled by, so each of God’s revealed characteristics, was one more beautiful picture of the coming Messiah

– the Mighty God and Prince of Peace, Who would also be the one Who would heal His people Israel, the nation whom Isaiah described as being sick, ‘from the crown of their head to the sole of their foot’.

Isaiah 9:1-7 New American Standard Bible 1995

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

9 [a]But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles.

2 [c]The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 You shall multiply the nation,
You shall [d]increase [e]their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness [f]of harvest,
As [g]men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as [h]at the battle of Midian.
5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will [i]rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

He would come as the Horn of salvation for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

He would come to heal the nation from their spiritual sickness, awake them from their spiritual slumber, He will remove the blinkers from their spiritual blindness… for He said to them,

“If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your Healer.”

He would save His people from the hands of their enemies and rescue them from those that hated them.

He would come in holiness and righteousness to bind up their wounds and heal His people from the sin and the suffering that has plagued this world since the fall of Adam and Eve and their forceful expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

He would come as the Promised one, Who would fulfil the covenant God made with His people. He would come as God’s ‘perfect Lamb’ Sacrifice for their sin.

Jesus is the one Who heals the brokenhearted and Jesus is the one Who sets the captives free. Jesus is the one who made the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the dead to rise into newness of life

– for every attribute of the Almighty, Everlasting God, pointed towards the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, and perfect Man –

The Lord our Healer.

It was to Moses, in the nation’s infancy, that God revealed Himself to His people as Yahweh-Rapha – “I am the Lord that heals you.” 

David expanded this glorious truth in so many of his psalms, for we read:

“He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” Psalm 103:1-5 –

“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven – whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32

He is the one Who rights all wrongs, and He is the one who performs righteous deeds and judges the oppressed in righteousness.

And as with all of God’s good and perfect gifts, the healing He gives to all the redeemed is beyond our understanding and has an eternal perspective.

James 1:16-18 New American Standard Bible 1995

16 Do not be [a]deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or [b]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be [c]a kind of first fruits [d]among His creatures.

God often heals the physical wounds and earthly diseases that trouble our mortal bodies, and play heavily on our minds and emotions.

But oft-times He whispers into our hearts, “My grace is sufficient, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness… in your sickness, in your hardship – in your loss, and your pain.”

But the incomprehensible truth of Jehovah-Rapha, is that His healing touch also spans the eternal sphere and the spiritual realm.

I am the Lord Who heals you SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY.

I am the one Who heals your spirit – when you were justified, through initial faith in Jesus as Savior – PAST salvation.

I am the one Who heals your soul – through the sanctification process, as you walk in faith and grow in grace – ONGOING salvation. 

I am the one Who heals your body – at the Rapture of the church and resurrection of the dead-in-Christ – FUTURE salvation.

God’s gradual unveiling of His perfect character throughout the pages of Scripture, progressively reveals His eternal plan of redemption, which is perfected and completed in the Lord Jesus.

Let us always remember that our eternal healing took place at the cross – and if physical healing is withheld, there is a reason that God alone knows about – and His grace is and will always remain sufficient.

May you have peace today, knowing that all your sins have been forgiven.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 103 New American Standard Bible 1995

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.

A Psalm of David.

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

6 The Lord performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows [e]our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him,
And His [g]righteousness to children’s children,
18 To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.

19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His [h]sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Heavenly Father, thank You, that You are the great healer. I am thankful I can lay my burdens at Your feet. I pray for Your healing touch in my life. You are my Jehovah-Rapha, and Your grace is sufficient. O God, you are the one who heals. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, Your Perfect Lamb, Your Perfect sacrifice, we have been healed and have been forgiven. Help us to live fully with this blessed assurance. In Jesus’ name.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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