The Lord Our Healer
Three days after the great defeat of the armies of Egypt in the crossing of the Red Sea, the children of Israel were complaining for lack of water. Just three days before, they were singing and rejoicing over the defeat of the greatest army on earth. Now they had traveled three days into the desert and the only water they found was bitter and not suitable for human consumption. Israel had so quickly forgotten the many miracles that had taken place in their deliverance from slavery, because of their present need for water. The bitter water reflected the condition of their soul.
Moses prayed to the Lord and the solution was to throw into the bitter water a piece of wood. Instantly the bitter water became sweet.
Sickness of the body and the soul is a consequence of sin. As Paul says, the law of sin and death entered into our mortal bodies, (Romans 7:23). Death came through man’s disobedience to God. Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was from the tree, (wood), that the curse of sickness and death came to man.
Sin and death are not the end of the story for mankind. God sent His Son to die on the cross, (tree), to become a curse and to heal us from sin and death. The wood that brought the curse now became the means out of the curse. In this way, God revealed Himself as YHWH-Rophe, (God who heals). Before the law was given, Moses received from the Lord this spiritual truth: “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer,” (Exodus 15:26).
Though man has not been faithful to keep all the Lord’s statues, the nature of God has not changed. He is still our healer. Even though we are sinners, God loves us. Even though we are unfaithful, He remains faithful. As salvation, (deliverance from sin and death), is the work of God, so is healing. It is not based on our work, but God’s work. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah that, “he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed,” (Is. 53:5). Note the present tense, “are healed”. Do you need healing today? Come to know God as YHWH-Rophe. Receive from the Lord what He has provided for through the cross. He will change the bitterness of your life into sweetness. He heals all disease. He will in no way caste you out, because He is your healer.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Ex. 15:22-26; I Peter 2:22-25; Gal. 3:13-14; I Tim. 1:15; Psalms 103:3