God The Healer

Along with many names to show His character, God is Yahweh Rapha, or Yahweh Ropa eka, “The Lord Who Heals.” He is The Great Physician. He heals physically sometimes, and often He heals spiritually if we cry out to Him.

Exodus 15:22-26

So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the LORD [Yahweh], and the LORD [Yahweh] showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God [Yahweh Eloheka] and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you [Yahweh Rapha].”

He is the One who heals us when we cry out to Him; He is the one who comforts us in our distress. No matter what we are going through, He will get us through it.

Psalms 107:16-21

For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two. Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the LORD [Yahweh]in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD [Yahweh]for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Sickness is not because of a sin we committed or God punishing us. It is a fact of life. In some cases, He might allow it, but often it is to show His great mercy, or it is because of the fallen world we live in. Sometimes it is because of our decisions or lifestyle. Sometimes He allows distress in our lives to make us stronger. It is something we don’t understand. But one thing I do know is that there will come a time when we won’t have to worry about any of the struggles and the pain of this life if we believe and trust in Jesus Christ.

Psalms 30:2-5

O LORD my God[Yahweh Eloheka], I cried out to You, and You healed me. O LORD[Yahweh], You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the LORD[Yahweh], you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

God will always hear our prayers. As we pray let us acknowledge His goodness and thank Hime for the many blessings He has given us. He also wants us to pray for when we are in time of need or are struggling as well as in our joy.

James 5:13-16

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Pray, pray, pray. It is something we can never do enough of. God wants fellowship with us and He wants to help us in our need. There is nothing that he can’t do. He created us. He loves us and He heals us, physically, and more importantly, spiritually. He sent His Son for this purpose.

Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

When Jesus started His ministry, He read this scripture in the synagogue. Then He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

Not only did He heal people and meet their needs, He took our sins upon Him and suffered for us.

Isaiah 53:3-11

He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

You would think this was a New Testament scripture written about what Jesus did for us. But it is not. It was written about 400 years earlier. God had a plan all along to provide a way to salvation for each of us. Jesus would take our sins upon Himself and pay for them so that we may be healed. Sins forgiven. Souls cleansed. So that one day we would be with Him. Without blemish. Without pain. Without suffering. This is what Jesus was her for. This is what He meant when He said that those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. We have a disease called sin, and He has the cure. He is the cure.

Luke 5:30-32

And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

He is the One and Only Healer that can heal the sick and brokenhearted, and declare us righteous because of His grace. We are saved by faith in Him. We are born again. Our old self died so that we can have a new life. We can have abundant life in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 2:21-25

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Yahweh Rapha, God the Healer. God the Father sent His One and Only Son to die for us so that we may live.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.