Exodus 15:22-27 October 26, 2008
The Names of God, Part 6
“Jehovah Rapha - The God Who Heals”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
Today we move into difficult territory. Today we learn a name for God that doesn’t feel 100% true for some of us. How many of us have prayed for a loved one to be healed from disease? How many of us believe that our prayers were not answered because the person for whom we prayed did not get better? In our Scripture for today, we learn the name Jehovah-Rapha, meaning “the God who heals you.”
If God truly is 100% Elohim, the master designer;
100% El Elyon, the most high God;
100% El Roi, the God who sees us; and
100% El Shaddai, the holy one for whom nothing is impossible, who is more than enough –
then God must also be 100% Jehovah-Rapha – the God who heals.
May our hearts be open to receive truth that will set us free this day. May we stop crediting a different test result the second time on a mistake that must have been made the first time. When the tumor wasn’t there at Hershey when it was there in Chambersburg, why don’t we stop blaming someone for putting us through “all that” and believe that God touched us and worked a miracle in our lives? It’s not arrogant to claim a healing – it’s arrogant NOT to acknowledge the One who Heals. When a surgeon goes in and finds less to fix than was originally planned, why wouldn’t we acknowledge Jehovah Rapha’s power? Why are we so quick to write God off the top of our praise list and put a doctor in that first spot – or we say something like, “Someone was really watching out for me.” Someone? Say it! Proclaim it! The Lord still heals! Let us pray:
Merciful God and Father, come now to teach us, to draw us, to heal us in whatever way you know we need today. We submit ourselves to your will, and place ourselves at your feet as your disciples. Come Holy Spirit to bring your word to life. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Exodus 15:22-27, “Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. 24And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25He cried out to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. 26He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.” 27Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.
“For I am the LORD who heals you…” Jehovah Rapha – the LORD who heals you.
Charles Spurgeon, one of England’s most beloved preachers of the mid-1800’s, made three important observations about this passage:
First, there was no healing of the water until after the people had tasted and experienced the bitterness of it. For three days (3 days – does that sound familiar? For 3 days Jesus was in the grave), the Israelites were on their journey through the wilderness. They were thirsty. I read recently that by the time you get thirsty you are already beginning to be dehydrated. These folks were severely dehydrated; they were sick from thirst. You know as well as I do that when they saw the waters before them, they rushed forward to get some in their hands to drink. But it tasted horrible! It was bitter – maybe even vinegary. Imagine being so thirsty and gulping down vinegar! To say they must have been “terribly disappointed” is a huge understatement. They must have fallen to their knees and wept with frustration and fear. “How could God bring us to this place to tease us like this?” They went from thinking relief was just moments away to having the rug completely pulled out from under them.
This is a common experience for those seeking healing of any kind – physical, emotional, or spiritual. Often a person will go through a time of pain and suffering, and then begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel, only to discover it wasn’t the way out, it was someone holding nothing but a dinky little flashlight on yet another disappointment.
The way to the pleasing sweetness of a true relationship with God is almost always through a time of bitter disappointment – perhaps even a time of wondering if God is real at all – sort of like Hagar – “do you even see me here, God? Do you remember I exist?”
When Penn State played Michigan last Saturday, they started off in very sloppy fashion. We were down 17 to 7 in the first quarter – and we were highly favored to win by many touchdowns. Halftime seemed to go on forever until the team came out on the field to take the game over from there. That win was so sweet because 1) we had lost to Michigan 9 times in a row, and because 2) we were losing for over half the game. The win was so sweet because of the adversity that proceeded it.
Often we have to go through times of suffering before we can truly experience the healing power and presence of Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. God often has to bring us to the end of all self-reliance before we can receive the miracle God knows we need. So first, from this passage, we learn that hardship & doubt often come before healing.
Secondly, notice what Moses did: He cried out to the Lord! Now, some may ask why we need to come and cry out to God for healing if God already knows our thoughts from afar (Psalm 139). Scripture tells us in James 4:2, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.” Faith must turn into action (no matter how small that mustard seed of faith may be). Faith must pour itself out in prayer before the blessing from God will come. We have to trust what the Scripture tells us to do, and come to the end of our control. In preparation for prayers for healing during these intentional times seeking wholeness and healing among our congregation, I always read from James 5, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.”
Maybe the people themselves didn’t have faith to pray as they wept by the waters of Marah, but their leader Moses, did have faith. Maybe you don’t have enough faith to pray for your healing today (or someone else’s healing), but your elders are standing in faith for you – and they are willing to call out to God on your behalf. So first, we have to remember that often suffering comes before the breakthrough to healing; secondly we have to remember to call out to God, or invite someone to call out for us.
Thirdly, we must notice that the water became sweet through the presence of something outside of it – a piece of wood thrown into the water. Immediately the water was transformed – it was a miracle from the hand of God!
I mentioned before about the 3 days of wandering in the wilderness tying into Jesus’ 3 days of darkness in the grave before new life sprang forth. Do you see the connection now to what brought the healing to the water? A piece of wood – foreshadowing the cross of Jesus Christ. “ But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
We wouldn’t have any spiritual authority to pray for healing for ourselves or for others without the selfless suffering and glorious victory of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Without the cross, without Jesus’ death, without resurrection power – there would be no healings – only growing bitterness and a debilitating spiritual thirst that would go on forever and ever and ever.
Maybe you’re here today and you need healing of some kind. Maybe you’re in that period of disillusionment or disappointment, and you’d rather stop hoping than have your hope stomped on yet another time. Remember that it is often when we’re at our lowest that we come to the end of ourselves, marking the beginning of a new, sweet relationship with the God who heals!
Maybe you’re here and you don’t really know the elders who will be praying for needs today, or maybe you do know them and don’t think their prayers will get you what you need (after all, you know they’re not perfect) Remember, it is Jehovah Rapha who heals you, not the elders, or the words of their prayers. They are willing to step forward in obedience to Scripture – to cry out in faith for you – and that’s all God asks of his children.
Maybe you don’t know whether you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you or anyone else. Maybe you’re in a place of doubt. Maybe you think you believe, but you’ve never opened your heart to the new life he promised to give those who believe. On the card in your bulletin, there’s a place for you to indicate that you want to open your heart, or recommit your heart to the Lord (perhaps it has grown hard). There is no greater healing for anyone than to have their sin sick soul healed by the righteous covering of the blood of the Jesus.
It’s important that we notice what happened after Moses cried out to the Lord and the water was made pure: “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.”
Elim was just seven miles south of Marah. When the Israelites came to Marah and were bitterly disappointed, an oasis of 12 springs and 70 palm trees was waiting just seven miles ahead. Twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees – an interesting numerical fact – but much more than just interesting: Twelve is the number of the people of God: 12 sons of Israel, 12 disciples of Jesus. Seven is the biblical number of wholeness or completeness, as seen in the seven days of creation. Seven multiplied by 10 (70 palm trees) intensifies the concept of completeness. In Genesis 10, when God started over with humankind after the flood, there were 70 nations. Genesis 46:8-27 lists the 12 sons of Jacob who came to Egypt, along with their families as 70 (and remember this is before the Israelites spent over 400 years in slavery to the Egyptians, wondering if God had forsaken them, until one day someone began crying out to God for deliverance. Exodus 3:7 finds Moses talking with God through the miracle of the burning bush as God says, “I have heard the cry of my people. I know their suffering. I have come down to deliver them.”) Then they make it to the 12 springs and 70 palm trees in Exodus 15. In Exodus 24:1, the Lord told Moses to come up to him, along with the 70 elders of Israel. In Luke 10:1 we read how Jesus appointed 70 people to go out and spread the good news of salvation. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” He started first with 12, then grew to 70. These numbers tell us that the deal is still on. God’s plan for the salvation of all humankind, which comes ultimately through one descendant of Israel, Jesus Christ, God’s plan for salvation is still in process. John 14:12 reveals Jesus’ teaching for us, “I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” These? Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor! (Luke 4:18,19)
So, this oasis in the desert is just seven miles ahead (Seven - meaning that in the covering of those miles, in the pressing on of our journey of faith, we will find wholeness as God completes something important within us). Surely we can help each other go the next mile by praying for each other. We don't know the future, (and today may seem pretty bad), but by God’s grace, we can remind each other that God will provide what we need – for he wants us to know him by the name Jehovah Rapha – the God who heals.
Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-39)
Amen.
The Names of God, Part 6
“Jehovah Rapha - The God Who Heals”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
Today we move into difficult territory. Today we learn a name for God that doesn’t feel 100% true for some of us. How many of us have prayed for a loved one to be healed from disease? How many of us believe that our prayers were not answered because the person for whom we prayed did not get better? In our Scripture for today, we learn the name Jehovah-Rapha, meaning “the God who heals you.”
If God truly is 100% Elohim, the master designer;
100% El Elyon, the most high God;
100% El Roi, the God who sees us; and
100% El Shaddai, the holy one for whom nothing is impossible, who is more than enough –
then God must also be 100% Jehovah-Rapha – the God who heals.
May our hearts be open to receive truth that will set us free this day. May we stop crediting a different test result the second time on a mistake that must have been made the first time. When the tumor wasn’t there at Hershey when it was there in Chambersburg, why don’t we stop blaming someone for putting us through “all that” and believe that God touched us and worked a miracle in our lives? It’s not arrogant to claim a healing – it’s arrogant NOT to acknowledge the One who Heals. When a surgeon goes in and finds less to fix than was originally planned, why wouldn’t we acknowledge Jehovah Rapha’s power? Why are we so quick to write God off the top of our praise list and put a doctor in that first spot – or we say something like, “Someone was really watching out for me.” Someone? Say it! Proclaim it! The Lord still heals! Let us pray:
Merciful God and Father, come now to teach us, to draw us, to heal us in whatever way you know we need today. We submit ourselves to your will, and place ourselves at your feet as your disciples. Come Holy Spirit to bring your word to life. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Exodus 15:22-27, “Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. 24And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25He cried out to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. 26He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.” 27Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.
“For I am the LORD who heals you…” Jehovah Rapha – the LORD who heals you.
Charles Spurgeon, one of England’s most beloved preachers of the mid-1800’s, made three important observations about this passage:
First, there was no healing of the water until after the people had tasted and experienced the bitterness of it. For three days (3 days – does that sound familiar? For 3 days Jesus was in the grave), the Israelites were on their journey through the wilderness. They were thirsty. I read recently that by the time you get thirsty you are already beginning to be dehydrated. These folks were severely dehydrated; they were sick from thirst. You know as well as I do that when they saw the waters before them, they rushed forward to get some in their hands to drink. But it tasted horrible! It was bitter – maybe even vinegary. Imagine being so thirsty and gulping down vinegar! To say they must have been “terribly disappointed” is a huge understatement. They must have fallen to their knees and wept with frustration and fear. “How could God bring us to this place to tease us like this?” They went from thinking relief was just moments away to having the rug completely pulled out from under them.
This is a common experience for those seeking healing of any kind – physical, emotional, or spiritual. Often a person will go through a time of pain and suffering, and then begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel, only to discover it wasn’t the way out, it was someone holding nothing but a dinky little flashlight on yet another disappointment.
The way to the pleasing sweetness of a true relationship with God is almost always through a time of bitter disappointment – perhaps even a time of wondering if God is real at all – sort of like Hagar – “do you even see me here, God? Do you remember I exist?”
When Penn State played Michigan last Saturday, they started off in very sloppy fashion. We were down 17 to 7 in the first quarter – and we were highly favored to win by many touchdowns. Halftime seemed to go on forever until the team came out on the field to take the game over from there. That win was so sweet because 1) we had lost to Michigan 9 times in a row, and because 2) we were losing for over half the game. The win was so sweet because of the adversity that proceeded it.
Often we have to go through times of suffering before we can truly experience the healing power and presence of Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. God often has to bring us to the end of all self-reliance before we can receive the miracle God knows we need. So first, from this passage, we learn that hardship & doubt often come before healing.
Secondly, notice what Moses did: He cried out to the Lord! Now, some may ask why we need to come and cry out to God for healing if God already knows our thoughts from afar (Psalm 139). Scripture tells us in James 4:2, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.” Faith must turn into action (no matter how small that mustard seed of faith may be). Faith must pour itself out in prayer before the blessing from God will come. We have to trust what the Scripture tells us to do, and come to the end of our control. In preparation for prayers for healing during these intentional times seeking wholeness and healing among our congregation, I always read from James 5, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.”
Maybe the people themselves didn’t have faith to pray as they wept by the waters of Marah, but their leader Moses, did have faith. Maybe you don’t have enough faith to pray for your healing today (or someone else’s healing), but your elders are standing in faith for you – and they are willing to call out to God on your behalf. So first, we have to remember that often suffering comes before the breakthrough to healing; secondly we have to remember to call out to God, or invite someone to call out for us.
Thirdly, we must notice that the water became sweet through the presence of something outside of it – a piece of wood thrown into the water. Immediately the water was transformed – it was a miracle from the hand of God!
I mentioned before about the 3 days of wandering in the wilderness tying into Jesus’ 3 days of darkness in the grave before new life sprang forth. Do you see the connection now to what brought the healing to the water? A piece of wood – foreshadowing the cross of Jesus Christ. “ But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
We wouldn’t have any spiritual authority to pray for healing for ourselves or for others without the selfless suffering and glorious victory of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Without the cross, without Jesus’ death, without resurrection power – there would be no healings – only growing bitterness and a debilitating spiritual thirst that would go on forever and ever and ever.
Maybe you’re here today and you need healing of some kind. Maybe you’re in that period of disillusionment or disappointment, and you’d rather stop hoping than have your hope stomped on yet another time. Remember that it is often when we’re at our lowest that we come to the end of ourselves, marking the beginning of a new, sweet relationship with the God who heals!
Maybe you’re here and you don’t really know the elders who will be praying for needs today, or maybe you do know them and don’t think their prayers will get you what you need (after all, you know they’re not perfect) Remember, it is Jehovah Rapha who heals you, not the elders, or the words of their prayers. They are willing to step forward in obedience to Scripture – to cry out in faith for you – and that’s all God asks of his children.
Maybe you don’t know whether you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you or anyone else. Maybe you’re in a place of doubt. Maybe you think you believe, but you’ve never opened your heart to the new life he promised to give those who believe. On the card in your bulletin, there’s a place for you to indicate that you want to open your heart, or recommit your heart to the Lord (perhaps it has grown hard). There is no greater healing for anyone than to have their sin sick soul healed by the righteous covering of the blood of the Jesus.
It’s important that we notice what happened after Moses cried out to the Lord and the water was made pure: “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.”
Elim was just seven miles south of Marah. When the Israelites came to Marah and were bitterly disappointed, an oasis of 12 springs and 70 palm trees was waiting just seven miles ahead. Twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees – an interesting numerical fact – but much more than just interesting: Twelve is the number of the people of God: 12 sons of Israel, 12 disciples of Jesus. Seven is the biblical number of wholeness or completeness, as seen in the seven days of creation. Seven multiplied by 10 (70 palm trees) intensifies the concept of completeness. In Genesis 10, when God started over with humankind after the flood, there were 70 nations. Genesis 46:8-27 lists the 12 sons of Jacob who came to Egypt, along with their families as 70 (and remember this is before the Israelites spent over 400 years in slavery to the Egyptians, wondering if God had forsaken them, until one day someone began crying out to God for deliverance. Exodus 3:7 finds Moses talking with God through the miracle of the burning bush as God says, “I have heard the cry of my people. I know their suffering. I have come down to deliver them.”) Then they make it to the 12 springs and 70 palm trees in Exodus 15. In Exodus 24:1, the Lord told Moses to come up to him, along with the 70 elders of Israel. In Luke 10:1 we read how Jesus appointed 70 people to go out and spread the good news of salvation. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” He started first with 12, then grew to 70. These numbers tell us that the deal is still on. God’s plan for the salvation of all humankind, which comes ultimately through one descendant of Israel, Jesus Christ, God’s plan for salvation is still in process. John 14:12 reveals Jesus’ teaching for us, “I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” These? Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor! (Luke 4:18,19)
So, this oasis in the desert is just seven miles ahead (Seven - meaning that in the covering of those miles, in the pressing on of our journey of faith, we will find wholeness as God completes something important within us). Surely we can help each other go the next mile by praying for each other. We don't know the future, (and today may seem pretty bad), but by God’s grace, we can remind each other that God will provide what we need – for he wants us to know him by the name Jehovah Rapha – the God who heals.
Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-39)
Amen.
