JESUS CHRIST: The Fulfillment of the Promises of God Part 3 of 9: The Lord our Healer

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Part 3: The Lord our Healer (Jehovah-Rapha)

“19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us - by me, Silvanus, and Timothy––was not "Yes and no," but in him was "Yes." 20 For all the promises of God in him are "Yes," and in him "Amen," to the glory of God through us.” (2Corinthians 1:19-20 EMTV)

Remember, the name Jehovah refers to God in covenant relation to His people. God is Jehovah to us through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In our study of the Jehovah titles we are on the second as they appear in scripture. Jehovah-Rapha is Jehovah our healer. As is the case with the first of the Jehovah titles this one only occurs once in scripture. Also as with the first of these titles this one appears throughout the scriptures displayed as God’s character and his desire to bring his people into oneness with wholeness. In other words, as God is shown to see or provide for His people (1^st Jehovah Title) throughout the scriptures, so He is shown to heal His people throughout the scriptures.

Exodus 15:26b AV “for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” Jehovah-Rapha. This literally reads “I am the Lord your healing.” This verb, as used here, means unbroken continuity of action. God is trying to tell us that he is Jehovah our continuous healing. This is very similar to 1Peter 2:24 “by his wound we are healed.” This is in a timeless verb tense and emphasizes, not when something occurs, but that it occurs. This would then read; “by his wound you have healing.” Some other translations of the end of this verse are “For, I, am Yahweh, thy physician.” ROTHERHAM. Also, “ for I, Jehovah, am healing thee.” YOUNG’S LITERAL.

This word “heal” means to stitch together, mend, repair. This refers to, not just physical wholeness, but wholeness in every way:

• “And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” (Exodus23:25 ASV)
• “And Jehovah will take away from thee all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, will he put upon thee…” (Deuteronomy 7:15a ASV)
• “So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.” (2Chronicles. 30:20)

The following verses show us that sins and ill-health are related:

• Psalms 103: 3: “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” (AV)
• John 5:5-15, especially v. 14: “Behold, thou art made whole (of a 38 year long infirmity wherein he was impotent to walk); sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”
• Mark 2:1-12: (vs 10-11) “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.”
• Psalms 31:10 “For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my iniquity, And my body has wasted away.”
• Psalms 38:3 “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin 4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. 6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.”
• Psalms 41:4 “As for me, I said, ‘O LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
• Isaiah 33:24 ASV “And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”
• Jeremiah. 14:19-20 “Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay! 20 We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against thee.”
• Jeremiah 30:12-15 ASV “For thus saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous. 13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. 15 Why criest thou for thy hurt? thy pain is incurable: for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.”
• 2Chronicles 7:14: (WEBSTER) “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
• Exodus 12:13 “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
• Romans 8:20-22 The whole creation groans and suffers until now.
• And see Deuteronomy Chapter 28

But praise be to the glory of God's grace, for all sin and it's consequences of every kind were put upon the Lord Jesus Christ at Calavary. He became the bearer of our sins and their due punishment. See Isaiah 53.

We are placed in Christ Jesus 1Corinthians 1:30. In him is no sin or consequences thereof:

“And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” (1John 3:5 AV)

There is no record of ill-health or sin related to Christ, other than that he bore our sins and their due punishment in our behalf. There is no record of ill-health in the Garden of Eden before sin entered into the world. Sin and ill-health are as related as righteousness and wholeness. Jesus Christ’s redemptive work provisioned for our wholeness because it made us righteous. See 2Corinthians 5:21. In the end there will be no ill-health when God restores all things:

“20 and He may send Jesus, who has been appointed Messiah for you. 21 Heaven must welcome Him until the times of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about by the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning.” (Acts 3:20-21 HCSB)

Psalms 107:20: “He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from all their destructions.” So many healings have resulted from God’s people hearing His Word. The Word enters and you know that the wholeness of God is yours; “…the word of the cross…is to us… the power of God.” 1Corinthians 1:18. Take the time to consider deeply that Christ’s work on the cross provided YOUR deliverance from sin and its consequences. The power of the truth makes us whole. “For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus Christ) are "Yes," and in Him "Amen," to the glory of God through us.” (2Corinthians 1:19-20 EMTV)