Healing, Pt. 1

Many times Christians miss it in a few big areas. One of them that I would like to address, (probably in several parts) is the area of healing. Now, don’t shut me off before you read what I have to say. Read it with an open mind, and let me know what you think.

To begin a study of healing effectively, I believe the first the question that needs to be addressed is the question, “Is it God’s will to heal me?” I say, “Yes, without a doubt.” Now, the Bible says let every word be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, so, I will give a few scriptures to back up my point. The first, is 1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-BY WHOSE STRIPES YOU WERE HEALED” (NKJV, emphasis mine). The second, is James 5:15 “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The third is Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name...they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

One could also use Deuteronomy 28:61, which says that any sickness not written in the law is under the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13-14 says that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, so that the Blessing of Abraham (the first part of Deuteronomy 28) could come on the Gentiles, or non-Jews. Of course, there are many more references, but space prohibits me from getting into them at this moment.

Now, you may be asking, “What about the Old Testament, where it says, ‘God will cause these diseases to come upon you’” etc. The thing you need to remember is, when the Bible was being translated, Hebrew was a dead language. They did a remarkable job, but spoken Hebrew did not exist, except in a classroom, or in synagogues, much like Latin today. Now that Hebrew has come back into existence, and many scholars confirm this fact, that when they say, “God will cause...” in reference to sickness and disease, they used a causative verb as opposed to a passive verb. A better translation would be, “God will allow.” And the only reason it was allowed was due to disobedience, however, they had to exercise the authority given to them in their covenant.

The final point I would like to make is in reference to the names of God.
God reveals Himself in seven redemptive names in the Old Testament. Here they are. Again, let us not quibble over whether it is Jehovah, or Yahweh, or Adonai. Since we do not know the proper pronunciation, when I say Jehovah, know that I am referring to the Tetragrammaton, or the name of God.

Jehovah-Shammah The Lord is there.
Jehovah-Shalom The Lord our Peace.
Jehovah-Ra-ah. The Lord is my Shepherd.
Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide.
Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord is our Banner/Victor/Captain.
Jehovah-Tsidkenu. The Lord our Righteousness.
Jehovah-Rapha. I am the Lord that healeth thee. The Lord our Healer.

You ask any Christian, and they believe that God is Jehovah-Shammah, Jehovah-Shalom, Jehovah-Ra-ah, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Nissi, and Jehovah-Tsidkenu. He said He was all of these things in the Bible when He revealed His Name to mankind. How then can He not be Jehovah-Rapha??? Did He lose a part of Himself. For you to accept the first 6 names, you must also accept the 7th, because, if He is not Jehovah-Rapha, then it means one of two things. It means either, God is a liar, which His Word says He is not. Or, it means God changed, and His Word says He is the same, “Yesterday, today, and forever.” Therefore, if God is your shepherd, your peace, your righteousness, He is also your healer.

Looking at Jesus, one can never find a place where He told someone it was not God’s will for them to be healed. There was no sickness and disease in the Garden of Eden. There is no sickness and disease in Heaven. So, we can see that everywhere the Will of God is manifested, there is healing. So we see, God is the Healer (one translation reads "Our Physician") and He desires that we be healed. As Christians, there is healing available for us today. In the next few notes that I post, you will learn why the church stopped believing in healing, that it is for the Church today, and how to get your results on purpose.