healing

After three thirsty days in the wilderness, the children of Israel finally arrived at a huge pool of water.  However, when the people tried to drink the water, they could not because it was terribly bitter. Therefore, the people complained and murmured against Moses—and they named the place Marah, meaning “bitter.” Moses could have told the people to shut up. He even could have told the Lord, “I’m tired of this crowd of murmurers!” But Moses did neither of these things.

So, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statue and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, ²⁶ and said said, “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. (Exodus 15:25-26 emphasis added)

God told Moses to throw a tree into the water, and Moses obeyed. Moses was given something to do in order for the miracle to take place. Moses believed God, but his faith had to be accompanied with action. So, it is with all of us; faith demands action. You can talk faith, but you must also walk faith. When Moses threw the tree into the waters of Marah, they were sweetened. Then Jehovah revealed Himself to His people in a new way as Jehovah-Rophe. If the people walked uprightly before the Lord, then He would not only be their healer but their health as well. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we never got sick? God desires that His people have divine health.

At Marah, God revealed Jehovah-Rophe as one of His covenant names. God was telling His people they would have none of the world’s diseases if they obeyed Him and His Word. Egypt, a type of the world, was full of disease because the Egyptians practiced idolatry. God said to Israel, “You will have none of Egypt’s diseases if you listen to my Words because I am the Lord your health. I am Jehovah-Rophe!”

Moses lived on God’s Word, and its truth became a reality in his life. The Word was Spirit and life to Moses because he believed it and acted upon it. By trusting Jehovah-Rophe, God’s life and health became a personal revelation to Moses. When he died, Moses was 120 years old; and Deuteronomy 34:7 tell us, his eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. Jehovah-Rophe wants to be personal to you, also. He wants to heal you and make you whole!

God’s Word is like medicine; when you take His Word, you are taking health. That is why God told His people to heed His Word! God wants His children to be full of His life. You may believe God heals, and that’s great, but you must also receive His healing to be well. You will receive your healing and walk in divine health only by reading, meditating, and claiming the Word. God’s words of life, health, and healing must your continual feast.

In Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah prophesied the sufferings of Christ at Calvary when he wrote, Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Notice that it was not for Himself that Jesus suffered rejection and sorrow, but it was for you and me. In order to be whole persons, we not only need to be healed physically, but we need to be healed of those things which bring sickness to the soul. God has a special medicine cabinet that contains a sure cure for all kinds of sickness. If you are hurting in your body, mind, or emotions, Jehovah-Rophe has made provision for you. Don’t try to carry your grief or sorrow; cast it on Jesus and set yourself free!

A familiar chorus, taken from Isaiah 61:3, exhorts us to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Have you ever gone into a service feeling “heavy”—sorrowful and depressed—or just plain down? But, when you began to worship and praise the Lord, lifting your hands and singing, what happened? Your spirit was lifted, and you received healing in your soul. Those people who abide in praise, abide in the Lord and life in health!

The Sweet Smell of Victory

Song of Solomon 1:13 says, A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me. Who is this bundle of myrrh? Of course, He is Jesus. Myrrh has a delightful aroma, either crushed or left as twigs, and because of this, it has been used in many ways: on clothing, in incense and oil, and in sacrifices. Jesus is the perfume in our lives. He is not just a drop or a pinch, but He is a whole bundle for every heartache and heartbreak we experience. When you allow Jesus to heal wounds in your soul as well as your body, you will smell sweet like Jesus.

The three Hebrew children were thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to his statue, but the fire did not touch them. When these Hebrews were taken out alive, they did not even smell smoke. Why? Because Jesus was in the fire with them. They probably didn’t even want to leave the furnace because of the Lord’s presence, and I don’t blame them!

Perhaps you have come out of some negative experiences that wounded you, and you smell like smoke. You still talk and complain about them, the wounds still show. Friend, come to Jesus; cast the hurt upon Him. Let Jesus remove that smoky smell and give you the sweet smell of myrrh—the smell of victory. Jesus has healing for sin, backsliding, physical diseases, heartaches, depression, rejection—Jehovah-Rophe has a prescription for whatever ails you!

Pray this prayer:

Father, I believe that you are my healer. You are the God who is life and health to me! You proved your love for me when you gave your Son, Jesus, to die for me. His blood was shed for all my sicknesses and diseases—and all means all! That includes all my aches and pains. It includes all the mental attacks that may attempt to entrap me. It includes all my emotional ups and downs. Matthew 4:23 tells me that “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 disease among the people.” Jesus, you delivered the demon-possessed: healed paralytics, made the blind see and deaf to hear, and even raised the dead. Since God never changes, the same is true now, and you are able to heal me today. I put my trust in your and believe that I am healed and delivered in Jesus’s name.