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Our God Is Healer

Posted on February 2, 2011 Posted by Blue Letter Bible

“If you will 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, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
(Exodus 15:26)

Yahweh Rophe. Our God is Healer.

The Hebrew word ROPHE means “heal”, “restore”, or “make whole”. In Exodus 15, shortly after His own people left Egypt for the Promised Land, God revealed Himself to them as Yahweh Rophe—“the God who heals” or “God is your healing.” The Hebrew Scriptures tell us that God is the source of all healing. The New Testament tells us that Christ Jesus is the Great Physician. We come to God, through Christ, as the healer of both body and soul.

Healing the body

God knows the human body better than any biologist or anatomist. He knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13) and He knows when you will take your last breath (Job 14:15). God is also a God of prayer. We bring our requests to Him, and He is faithful to answer. Jesus exercised His power to heal many times during His ministry (Matthew 4:23-24, 9:35). The Twelve Apostles also had this gift of healing (Matthew 10:1). The Seventy did too (Luke 10:8-9). Also, church elders are commanded to pray for their sick so that God could answer and heal them (James 5:13-16). So we pray to God, our Great Healer, when we are sick or know someone who is dying. God may choose to heal us from our ailments—all to His glory.

Healing the soul

While God indeed heals our physical bodies, physical healing is a temporary remedy for the human body. Jesus heals both mind and body. The greatest sickness is the ailment of sin and death. No man can escape this, unless he is in Christ.

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.
(Isaiah 53:4-5)

Filed Under: Names of God, Theology Tagged With: exodus, god, healer, names of god, yahweh rophe

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Comments

  1. Raniece Isenberg says

    February 3, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    I have needed this message so badly. I have been praying that I will be healed of all ailments. I am being healed, slowly, but I am soooo soooo much better with everything. My belief in our God is so true and faithful. I know that He can heal me if He has more for me to do. I asked today, the reason we have been spared the horrible things that have been going on around us. The answer to this prayer was a soft, Because you believe.
    I know that was God talking to me.
    Be blessed everyone. I am so glad to see this blog.
    Your Sister In Christ.

    Raniece

    • Chathia says

      February 3, 2011 at 9:08 pm

      I thank you also for this I do know that our GOD is a GOD of healing, but reading this just assured me and stirred up the holy spirit inside of me.Thank you.

      Chathia

  2. Doug Rose says

    February 3, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    Proverbs 3:5-8 NIV – 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

    Only when we focus on Christ and truly acknowledge Him and keep His commandments are we able to be free from disease[sickness]. Verse 6 says, “all” your ways, not some of them. Shun evil, which is difficult at times, but God always gives us a way; 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV – 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

    Praise God for health and always being there to lend a hand when we need it.

    • Paul Kusunoki says

      February 3, 2011 at 4:46 pm

      Proverbs 3: verses 5 and 6 seem so easy to do and yet are hard to do. It’s so easy to succumb to the “Ways of the world” and stray off the straight path.

    • Jeremy says

      February 4, 2011 at 6:35 am

      While I love this scripture as well, I guess the thing that I question is if we should isolate this scripture and not take in the “big picture” of the whole counsel of the word of God.

      Is it God’s will that all faithful men and women of God would be “free from disease”? Does this scripture teach is that being free from disease is a sign that you are faithful, and not being free of disease a sign that you are not?

      I guess as I compare scripture with scripture from Genesis to Revelation I see many men and women of God who are devoted to God whole heartedly, and have much more faith than me, and God sees fit to not deliver them. I guess the first one that comes to mind is Paul(among many others).

      While I understand what you are saying as to what pertains to the scripture you gave, I think there is a much bigger picture that goes beyond our personal benefit and into the realm of God’s perfect will that might lead us to suffering for His divine and eternal purposes.

      As I walk with the Lord it seems that it takes more courage and faith and more “leaning not on my own understanding” in the the midst of physical infirmities rather than in the midst of perfect health.

      • Chris Poblete says

        February 4, 2011 at 9:22 am

        Jeremy: “Does this scripture teach is that being free from disease is a sign that you are faithful, and not being free of disease a sign that you are not?”

        No, it does not. It simply states that God calls Himself Yahweh Rophe, among many other names.

        You are absolutely right. There is a much bigger picture. Suffering is, indeed, a mark of saved Christians. As a matter of fact, it is often used in our sanctification. In Matthew 5, Christ tells us that we will be persecuted for His name’s sake.

        As Christians, we should be willing to suffer well for the sake of the gospel, all the while remembering that our God can and does heal.

        Thank you for your comments, Jeremy.

        • Jeremy says

          February 4, 2011 at 12:23 pm

          Amen Brother! I bear witness with that! From scripture we can gather that God can and does heal. We should ask Him to heal as often as we are ill while at the same time trusting in His perfect will, and resting in His perfect peace if He chooses not.

          The reason for my previous response is that it seems that we live in a church age in which the “health and wealth” “name it and claim it” teaching has infiltrated the church and Jesus has become no more than a super genie to serve our needs. Far too often the church has isolated certain scriptures and taken others out of context in order to claim their “best life now”.

          With all this in mind. Thank God for who He is…Yahweh Rophe…and when He chooses not to heal, let us continue still to give thanks for who He is!

          • Doug Rose says

            February 9, 2011 at 11:25 am

            I’m not into the “health/wealth, name it/claim it” either. Heck, I’m as financially broke as I’ve ever been, but I can rely on God to provide in these times as well as understand that it is up to me to figure out what is making me this way and call on Him for help to fix it.

            When we focus on Jesus we can’t get sick. It’s against His wishes for us as seen in scripture. Being sick is a sign that we are indeed sinners and there’s no way to be 100% righteous 100% of the time. In other words, we’re going to get sick at some point.

    • Nailah Jervey says

      February 4, 2011 at 2:46 pm

      I usually stop at verses 5-6 never really looked at verse 8. Thank You for submitting whiched allowed me to look at that passage of scripture differently. Health to my body & nourishment to my bones. Amen 🙂 Please pray for my mother, sister and friends’ health in their mind, body and soul.

      Peace & Blessings,
      Nailah

  3. Joan says

    February 3, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    it is really translated God is your Healing so when you are in Christ and acknowledge what He did on the cross and by His stripes you were healed ,you are transformed and yes physically.In reply to Doug Jesus sid to the paralized man your sins are forgiven stand up and walk. in believing you are forgiven sin it it easear to believe you were healed. what you freely recieve you freely give

    • Chris Poblete says

      February 3, 2011 at 10:17 pm

      Thank you for the clarification Joan.

  4. Jeremy Morris says

    February 14, 2011 at 7:21 am

    Doug,

    Brother I guess I will have to agree to disagree… when you say the following…”When we focus on Jesus we can’t get sick. It’s against His wishes for us as seen in scripture.”

    I suppose if I take a few scriptures by themselves I could come to that conclusion, however, when I look at the totality of scripture (compare scripture with scripture) I can’t come to the same conclusion.

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