Jehovah-rapha – The Lord who Heals

Jehovah-rapha heals; He heals the wounds of a nation, spiritual wounds, physical wounds and emotional wounds.

Sin is moral decay, I never thought about sin ravaging us, but it does. To “ravage” means to destroy, spoil, devastate, wreak havoc on, pillage or plunder. This ravaging occurs before we were saved as well as when we stray from the Lord. NOTE not all needs for healing (spiritual wounds, wounds of a nation, physical wounds and emotional wounds) are because of sin, but there are times that sin brings wounds. **Sinners know they are sinning it is impossible in our self to get away from our sins. No matter how hard we try to stop sinning, stop being immoral there is no way apart from God to accomplish it…we are just not strong enough.**

A little background on sin - it began with 1 man (Adam) and 1 act recorded in Gen 3 this is reiterated in Romans 5:12; disease entered the world then God provided a way out to Israel in Exodus 15:22-27. He promised that they would not endure the diseases the Egyptians had just encountered if they would turn their eyes and ears toward Him and obey. These diseases He promised that would not come to them included physical (poisoned water, boils, death of firstborn), diseases of land (gnats, frogs, hail, locusts,). But we see that they “did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25) and did evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 2:11, 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1…). Below are divided into spiritual and physical, but know when there is a spiritual problem that is causing a physical ailment the spiritual must be dealt with!!

Healing the Wounds of a Nation 

• 2 Chronicles 7:14 (pg. 76) ** sin caused this **– God heals land. In Hebrew this means “Earth” used 3 other times to this point in 2nd Chronicles; it also means “Country/Nation” which was used 6 other times up to this point. BUT first the nation must humble itself, pray, seek God and turn from their wicked ways.
• Isaiah 19:22; 53:5 (pg. 76) ** sin caused this **– God was telling of how He would strike Egypt (vs. 18 refers to it as the City of Destruction) and when they cry to Him and worship Him, He would heal them.
• Jeremiah 30:15-17 (pg. 76) ** sin caused this **– This passage is referring to the restoration of the nation of Israel; the “injury” in these verses is the destruction caused by the siege in 586 BC. God will restore the nation to health to show other nations He keeps His promises from the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and the nation of Israel.
• 1 Chronicles 21:10-14 (pg. 81-82) **sin caused this** David sinned and was given 3 choices, he was to pick one for himself and one for the nation to endure. David chose the sword of the Lord (of which he repented and was shown mercy vs. 27) and the nation lost 70,000 to a plague.

 Healing Spiritual Wounds

• Psalm 103:1-3 (pg. 77) – He pardons/forgives ALL sins
• Matthew 8:16-17 (pg. 77) – He (Jesus) cast out spirits for those who were demon-possessed; Paul warned of the power of spirits in Eph 6: 11-12
• Luke 4: 18 (pg. 77-78) – He restores sight to the blind; this refers to both physically blind as in Mt 9:29 as well as spiritually blind (1Cor 2:14)
• 1 Pt. 2:24-25 (pg. 78) – By Jesus’ wounds we are able to die to sin and live in righteousness

 Healing Physical Wounds

• Numbers 12:9-13 (pg. 82-83) ** sin caused this ** Miriam and Aaron had opposed Moses and talked bad about him; Miriam became very sick with leprosy. They both repented and Moses pleaded with God for her life and she was healed.
• Psalm 38:1-3 (pg. 83) ** sin caused this ** Due to individual sin discipline occurs in the form of God’s wrath impacting health issues “no health in my bones”
• Isaiah 1:4-6 (pg. 83) ** sin caused this ** - The nation is Israel sinned, their offspring were evildoers and acting corruptly. As a result the head is sick, the heart is faint and from head to foot there are all kinds of health problems (bruises, welts and raw wounds).
• 1 Corinthians 11: 27-32 (pg. 84-85) ** sin caused this ** Many had taken the Lord’s Supper without examining him/herself and resulted in them being weak, sick and a number sleep (dead).
• John 9:1-3 (pg. 84) **no one sinned** - Jesus healed a blind man whose blindness was so that God’s work might be displayed for all to see.
• Philippians 2:25-30 (pg. 85) **no one sinned** Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death for the work of Christ. God healed him so that God’s mercy would be displayed to him, Paul and the church at Philippi.
• John 5:5-8; 14 (pg. 84) – Jesus healed a paralyzed man who had not moved in 38 years. Jesus told him don’t sin anymore.
• James 5: 14-16 (pg. 86) If there is sin confess it, call in other believers, pray for one another and the prayer offered in faith will restore the sick. Total restoration may mean our restoration in heaven.
• 2 Kings 20:1, 4-5 (pg. 75) – God hears prayer and He does heal the mortally ill to the point of death. We have a responsibility to get our house in order.
• Psalm 103:1-3 (pg. 77) – He pardons/forgives ALL sins and heals ALL diseases from the Hebrew word “tachalu” which means pain
• Matthew 8:16-17 (pg. 77) – Jesus healed their diseases and infirmities

Healing Emotional Wounds

• Psalm 147:3 (pg. 77) – He heals the brokenhearted
• Luke 4: 18 (pg. 77-78) – He sets free the downtrodden (from the Greek it literally means those “broken into pieces”), the NIV uses the words oppressed.

 The longer Israel journey with God, the more familiar she became with His character and ways. Their revelation of Him was progressive and our journey is as well. I pray that as you encounter wounds on your journey of life you first seek the counsel of Jehovah-rapha.  He loves you and wants what is best for you.

In His Love,

Ellen