We live in a day where it seems like everyone finds themselves in need of healing at least some of the time, whether it’s physical healing from a debilitating disease or broken bone, or emotional healing because of betrayal, a deception, a painful childhood memory or abuse. Whether it’s spiritual healing because of a past mistake or sin that we’ve committed, or a wound picked up in some religious circle—the fact of the matter is, everyone needs healing some of the time. Thank God, whatever it is that has gone wrong in our life, no matter how impossible it may seem, He can handle it. He is the Great Jehovah Rapha, the Great Physician, the Lord that heals, saves and restores! It was an angel who spoke to Mary in Luke 1: 37 saying “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” It is a reminder of God’s omnipotence and the assurance that He can overcome any obstacle. God does not demand that we have mountains of trust before He acts on our behalf; a little mustard seed of genuine faith is all He requires. Then He steps in and supplies what we lack. Though we believe in Jesus for our salvation and know that the miracles He did in the New Testament are real, it’s a different story trusting Him to deal with our problem. God urges us to ask Him to intervene. He alone is both our safety and our security. I believe that God is calling us back to Him as “The God Who Heals” into a genuine connection to Him and His Word. Dr. Stanley makes it clear: “We must beware of allowing religious customs and church rituals to take precedence over the clear Word of God. Just because something has been done in a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean it pleases God.” God wants our hearts to trust Him for all our needs all the time! Malachi 3:6 states, “For I am the LORD, I change not.” Hebrews 13:8 reveals that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
The name Jehovah-Rapha first appears in Exodus 15:26. God says to the people of Israel, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” The context of God’s revelation of His name Jehovah-Rapha is an incident that took place early on in the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites. They had just left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. Moses took them into the Desert of Shur, where “for three days they traveled in the desert without finding water” (Exodus 15:22). The Lord was testing them and their faith in His provision and care. In the desert they came across a body of water, but they could not drink it. They called the water Marah, which means “bitter.” Their souls began to turn bitter, as well, and they “grumbled against Moses, saying “What are we to drink?” (v. 24) Moses did not know what to do and he went directly to the LORD and prayed and “the LORD showed him a piece of wood. (v. 25) Following God’s instructions, Moses threw the wood into the water, and the water miraculously became fit to drink. Immediately after the Lord “healed” the waters of Marah, He identified Himself to them as Jehovah-Rapha: “I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26). He doesn’t just heal water; He heals people. The healing of the waters was a demonstration of God’s power to overcome any impurity, contamination, or corruption.
Along with giving His name Jehovah-Rapha, God gives the Israelites a promise: “I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians” (Exodus 15:26). This is a reference to the ten plagues that God had recently sent upon the Egyptians—plagues including boils, the death of livestock, devastating hail, etc. Like many Old Testament promises to Israel, this one was conditional; God’s people were required to “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” (v. 26, ESV; Deuteronomy 30). Jehovah-Rapha has the power to heal physically (2 Kings 5:10), emotionally (Psalm 34:18), mentally (Daniel 4:34), and spiritually (Psalm 103:2–3). Neither impurity of body nor impurity of soul can withstand the purifying, healing power of Jehovah-Rapha. Here are some of the manifestations of God’s healing power as the God who heals that are found in these Old Testament passages:
Sickness and infirmity (Psalm 41: 3) Healing from mental affliction (Jonah 2: 4-7) Spiritual fatigue (Psalm 23:3) Emotional suffering (Psalm 147: 3) God’s visible manifestation of Jehovah-Rapha was revealed in Jesus Christ—the Great Physician who heals the sick. Jesus went from town to town, “healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23). In Judea “large crowds followed him, and he healed them there” (Matthew 19:2). In fact, “wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6:56). Not only did Jesus heal people physically, He also healed them spiritually by forgiving their sins (Luke 5:20) and delivering them from demonic possession (Mt. 8: 28-34). Every day, in every way, Jesus proved Himself to be Jehovah-Rapha in the flesh.
The prophet Isaiah foreshadowed the healing ministry of Jesus in Isaiah 61 quoted by Jesus in Luke 4: 18-19: “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’s favor.” Jesus’ healings incorporated the qualities that Jehovah-Rapha bestowed upon the Israelites of the Old Testament—healing from physical ailment as well as spiritual healing through forgiveness.
The strongest teaching on our need of God’s healing is found in Isaiah 53:1-5, referring to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord:
”Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of the dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.”
The Old Testament prophecies point to their fulfilment in Jesus Christ and connects us to the relevancy of the name Jehovah-Rapha to us today. We can call upon Jehovah-Rapha today to heal us of our physical ailments and to provide redemption for our sins. Through the power of the blood of the Great Physician—Jesus Christ, we can rise from our old sinful life as new creations in eternal fellowship with God. As the Israelites were cleansed of their bitter hearts and resentment at the river Mahra, so we can ask God to examine our hearts and cleanse them of bitterness, pride, and other afflictions of the heart that are rooted in sin. Jesus has authority over all things. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” emphasizing His supreme authority over everything.” (Mt. 28: 18) Jesus has been granted the ultimate power and authority by His Father, which He exercises as the mediator of all God’s authority. (I Cor. 15: 27-28) His authority encompasses all aspects of the universe, both spiritual and earthly realms.
This is key to us today as believers are given all authority in heaven and on earth by Jesus Christ. This authority is rooted in Jesus’ victory over sin, sickness, demons, and death, and it allows believers to stand in His name and experience the life He has made available to us! In Matthew 28: 19-20, Jesus passes this authority on to believers to make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit and is crucial in carrying out the Great Commission. This authority includes the power to overcome the devil and his schemes, as Jesus grants believers the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and to have dominion over all the power of the enemy. Jesus made it clear in Mark 16: 17-18: “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” James further affirms the Church’s role in healing in James 5: 13-20 as he says, “The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” Believers are also joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, meaning we have access to all the blessings and power that God has made available through the life and death of Jesus Christ-- Jehovah-Rapha—the God Who Heals!
Jesus closely connected His teaching with His miracles. The miracles were designed to point to the validity of both His teachings and His personal claims. Jesus passes the torch on to us as believers according to John 14: 12 where He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus’ promise is not limited to the apostles but extends to all believers, indicating that every Christian has the potential to participate in the miracles and works of Jesus as the impact of our actions can be greater due to the spread of the Gospel and the growth of Christianity. The context of Jesus’ statement also includes the promise of answered prayer, suggesting that believers will have the ability to ask for and receive what they need to carry out God’s work. James teaches that “we have not because we do not ask.” As we pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus, Jesus is our Advocate before the Throne.
It seems that over these 2000 years since the Church was birthed at Pentecost, we have lost sight of the need for empowerment of the Spirit Jesus spoke of in Acts 1: 8— “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Today we need a baptism of boldness of His Spirit to fall upon the Church composed of individual believers. Far too many Christians have succumbed to the disease known by its Latin term, non-rock-a-boatus as one writer expressed it. The Church is to reflect God and reveal Jesus. May we be Spirit-filled people-helpers—healers! Billy Graham said “Christianity isn’t only going to church on Sunday. It is living twenty-four hours of every day with Jesus Christ.” Greater is He within us than he in the world! (1 John 4:4)
Recently, God brought two articles to my attention from a pastor in Coosa County that made me realize how far we have strayed from God’s truths and Jesus’ commission. He posed the question: “What about miracles today?” I will share some of his conclusions: “I have heard many stories of “supposed miracles,” but no one has been willing to prove their claims…If miracles are being performed today, meet me at UAB and heal at least one terminally ill patient of a local doctor’s choosing or meet me at the cemetery and raise at least one person from the dead…If I am a false teacher and hindering the teaching of the Gospel then strike me blind as Paul did Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13: 8-11…Show me a miracle and make a believer of me…When all of the apostles died and those on whom they had laid their hands, miracles ceased!” Both 2 Peter 3:3 and Jude 1:18 warn us of scoffers characterized by their mockery, ungodliness, and division within religious communities. In 2 Timothy 3: 5 the phrase “having a form of godliness but denying its power” refers to individuals who outwardly appear to be religious or pious but their actions and attitudes do not reflect true faith and the fruit of the Spirit. May God help our unbelief! (Mt. 9: 24)
I give testimony of the miracle that God performed last April at UAB when Tommy experienced a stroke. Many prevailing prayers were spoken as they performed a battery of tests that revealed he would need surgery to remove the blockage in his carotid artery. The morning the surgery was scheduled a medical team and the doctor came in to report that their final test indicated NO BLOCKAGE and NO SURGERY was needed! They all acknowledged that God had answered prayers and performed a miracle! God is still in the miracle business and He is still the God Who Heals—Jehovah-Rapha! All praise be to God who is the same yesterday, today and forever!