The Divine Physician

The Bible declares that God is at work in the world and in the lives of those who believe in Him. His names illustrate that work in us. Let’s look at His name Jehovah Rapha. Jehovah in Hebrew means “The Existing One” or LORD. Anytime we see the word LORD in all caps in the Old Testament it is the reference to Jesus’ pre-incarnate presence—Emmanuel, God who reveals Himself unceasingly. John 1: 1-3 confirms Jesus’ work and presence from the beginning: “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being.” The word Rapha means to restore, to heal or to make healthful in Hebrew. When the two words are combined, Jehovah Rapha, it can be translated as Jehovah Who Heals. Jehovah is the Great Physician who heals the physical and emotional needs of His people.

Let’s look at a few scriptures that reveals the Divine Physician. In Exodus 15: 26: “I am the LORD that heals thee.” In Psalm 6:2 “O LORD heal me…” In Psalm 41: 4 “heal my soul, for I have sinned.” In Psalm 103:3 “The LORD who heals all thy diseases.” Jesus fulfills Himself as the Divine Physician in Mt. 8: 16-17 when He is connected to Isaiah 53: 4 “When evening came, the people brought to Him many who were afflicted by demons. He forced out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. So was fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘He Himself took our sicknesses and carried away our diseases.” Then in Luke 4: 18-20 He reads the words of Isaiah 61: 1-2 “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the LORD.” He closed the scroll and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” Therefore, God has established Jesus as the Divine Physician for each of us, His born-again children.

The question is “How do we experience that healing personally?” Jesus desires for us to be every wit whole—body, soul and spirit. As long as we are in this fallen world, we will experience physical difficulties along the way. James tells us to ask Jesus for healing and be open to hear His voice. Healing may come in various ways as it did in Jesus’ time on earth. The woman who had a disease that she sought physicians for 12 years without success but just touching the hem of Jesus’ garment brought healing. Others Jesus immediately delivered and they were healed. Like Paul, we may be given grace for the ailment but not receive healing. However, I would like for us to focus on the healing of our soul (our mind, will and emotions) and spirit as we walk out this earthly journey. We are indeed a work in progress. God is molding us into a person with whom He wants to live and fellowship forever. Because of this, we have the hope that we are not going to be the same person tomorrow that we are today.

This requires being willing to see ourselves as we really are—as God sees us. We cannot change unless we take an honest look at our self. I Cor. 11: 27-29 tells us to examine our self to see where we are spiritually. Failure to do so can cause us to be physically sick! We may find ourself making excuses which literally means that we defy God to make us a saint—“I’m just weak and hopeless!” We all have messed up and failed and God wants to use those things to grow us and draw us to Him. Our mistakes are not the end—we are still in progress. We must recognize our weaknesses and that our enemy is the flesh. Paul instructs us in Romans 13: 12-14 to put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light—to walk properly as in the day—to put on the Lord and stop making provision for the flesh—for its cravings.” Oswald Chambers adequately describes many of us as having a new name in Christ in spots only, like spiritual measles. In sections we look all right. When we have our best spiritual mood on, we would think we are better than we truly are like 1 Cor. 10: 12 reminds us not to “let the one who thinks that he stands watch out that he doesn’t fall.”

So, what is the answer to our dilemma? We are to mediate daily on the Word—asking God to speak through it personally—to make His truths real to us—to let it soak into us. James 1: 23-25 likens it to someone who looks into a mirror and then looks away and forgets what sort of person he was, but the one who looks intently into the perfect Word and continues in it will be blessed in what he does. We are cleansed by the washing of the Word and are made holy in the name of the Lord and by the Spirit of God. God sees us clean in Christ who God says we are! We must realize that it is God who engineers circumstances, consequently there is no whine, but a reckless abandon to Jesus. We are to make no conditions but let Jesus be everything—our Divine Physician!