The Names of God: #3 Jehovah Rapha: The Lord is the Healer

... If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, 

and wilt do that which is right in his sight, 

and wilt give ear to his commandments, 

and keep all his statutes, 

I will put none of these diseases upon thee, 

which I have brought upon the Egyptians: 

for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

~Exodus 15:26

The name Jehovah Rapha occurs in Exodus 15:26 when the Israelites arrived at Mara and could not drink the water because it was bitter. When Moses, commanded by God, cast a tree into the water, it became sweet. At that spot the Lord instituted a rule and a law and promised them He would lay no sicknesses upon them  (like the sicknesses He had laid upon the land of Egypt), if they obeyed His commandments and regulations "because I am the Lord thy Healer."

The words heal and cure in the Scriptures are both derived from the same Hebrew stem which means to "re-instate" persons or things, to "reform" them to their original state. It is applied to the healing or cure of the body as well as the soul (Psalm 41:5 and Psalm 147:3), for the healing or purifying of the nation
(2 Chronicles 7:14); the reinstating or healing of the broken altar of the Lord (I Kings 18:30).

If we read this section in Exodus 15 we note that the promise to heal was applied more to the causes of the sicknesses than to sickness itself. This being assured by obedience to God's commandments. Disobedience to God's commands results in a disordered nation (2 Chronicles 36:16), or in infertility of vineyards, crops etc.

The bitter waters of Mara are a type of the corrupting influence of sin. Jeremiah 2:13,18,19 says, For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

Jehovah-Rahpa has indeed made the waters sweet by means of the tree (the Cross). So likewise has Christ signified the Cross. No matter how contrary the Cross may appear the Lord frequently does heal through sickness.

Psalm 41:3,4 says that whosoever has consideration for the poor: "the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness."

Another translation puts it: "The Lord sustains him on a sick bed, and brings him back to health." It is clear that a physical ailment only is not implied, for the following verse says: "Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee."

Deuteronomy 32:39 says, "See now that I am He, and there is no God with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I would, and I heal . . . "

Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord is the Healer, and since it is needful and desired, also of the body. But primarily His aim is to heal man's souls and to reform the image of God in him. For this purpose sickness and suffering is frequently called for to create a calm and thoughtful atmosphere of reflection; and often God must shatter man's dearest ambitions and illusions for the healing process in his soul to operate; He does kill and He does heal and frequently He must smite before He can heal.

In Jesus Christ, God sent the Great Healer of sicknesses who has truly healed many sick bodies; yet this was only visible evidence of an even higher commission: "That ye might know that the Son of Man has power on Earth to forgive sins" (Matthew 9:6).

Similarly in His first sermon at Nazareth: "He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted" (Luke 4:18).

So that He could deliver humanity from eternal damnation, Jehovah-Rapha, the Healer Himself, had to undergo the sting of death, "for as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:14,15).

Thanks be unto God for the Cross, by which the bitter waters of Mara (sin) have been made sweet by Jehovah-Rapha.