YAHWEH RAPHA
I am the LORD who heals you
Paul Wong
God revealed His name to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” . .
. . “ “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” (Ex. 3:13-15) The name of
the Almighty God is “YAHWEH” in the
Hebrew language. God has many compound names in which He combines “YAHWEH” with other words that describe His attributes. A good example is “YAHWEH – OSHUA”
the redemptive name of God. “OSHUA” means salvation. The abbreviated name is “YAHSHUA” with its well-known transliterated English name “JESUS”. God uses the name of “YAHSHUA” (JESUS) to “save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21; Acts 4:12)
After God delivered the children of Israel from the Egyptians He revealed
to them His covenant name for healing. Here are God’s conditions.
“If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God 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.” (Ex. 15:26)
In the Hebrew language “the LORD who heals you” is “YAHWEH RAPHA”. It is called a covenant name because there are conditions to the agreement between
God and the person seeking the healing. We know that God’s salvation is
unconditional. “For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Eph.
8:2) To receive God’s salvation one just has to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ (Acts 16:31). In healing God requires more than just a simple faith in
Christ. There are four conditions for God’s healing to take place (Ex.
15:26).
1.
“Diligently
heed the voice of the voice of the LORD your God.”
2.
“Do
what is right in His sight.”
3.
“Give
ear to His commandments.”
4.
“Keep
all His statutes.”
God said that if the children of Israel were to abide by these four conditions; “I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the
Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” (Ex. 15:26)
Let us look at the circumstances that led to the revelation of God’s
covenant name for healing (Ex. 15:22-25).
“So Moses brought Israel
from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days 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 murmured against Moses, saying,
‘What shall we drink?’ So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and 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.” (Ex.
15:22-25)
This situational event has spiritual teaching.
1.
Crossing
the Red Sea is the symbolism of water baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2)
2.
Wilderness
represents desolation – a life of emptiness.
3.
Water
represents the most essential element in life. In probing the planets in outer
space for the existence of life the common evidence is the presence of water.
4.
Bitter
water represents a life of bitterness. The Israelites could not drink the water
because of its bitterness is an indication that we cannot live a life with bitterness in our hearts.
5.
Sweet
water represents a life of joy, happiness and fulfilment.
Why do some Christians continue to have lives of bitterness? It is mainly due to their reluctance to forgive others. Our
Lord’s Prayer teaches us to ask our heavenly Father, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Lk. 11:4) Our
Lord Jesus Christ taught us: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.” (Mt.
6:14-15)
“So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed
him a tree and when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.” (Ex. 15:25)
The “tree” represents the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on a tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Pet. 2:24) The apostle Peter was referring to
Isaiah’s prophecy:
“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.” (Isa. 53:4-5)
Matthew confirmed the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross affects
not only the salvation of the soul and the spirit but also the healing of the body as well.
“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself
took our infirmities and bore our sickness.” (Mt. 8:16-17)
In the Garden
of Eden God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
(Gen. 3:15) This prophecy refers to the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. When Jesus died He destroyed the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8).
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He
Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death, that is the devil,
and released those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15)
Even before the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross He was destroying the
works of the devil. The apostle Peter related “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was
with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
“Now Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases
among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to
Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics,
and paralytics; and He healed them.” (Mt. 4:23-24)
The Lord Jesus Christ gave this same power of healing to His disciples. “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out,
and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Mt. 10:1) He also gave the power of healing to
the seventy evangelists. “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject
to us in Your name,’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy,
and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this,
that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Lk. 10:17-20)
The Lord Jesus Christ has given the power of healing to all true Christians. This is called the Great Commission:
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who
does not believe will be condemned. 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.’ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand
of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them
and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mk. 16:15-20)
May God bless you
A sermon based on this article was preached by
Paul Wong to a small Congregation
in a Hospital
Room in Melbourne, Australia
on April 23, 2005
The articles is transferred to this Website on July 10, 2009
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net