GOD’S WORDS OF HEALING (1)

“For I am the LORD WHO HEALS you” – Exodus 15:26b

Right from the Old Covenant, the Scriptures are abounding with GOD’S WORDS of HEALING: “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and 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” (Exo.15:25b-26). This was the COVENANT of HEALTH stated explicitly in the course of Israel’s journey from Marah to Elim. It is useful to reflect on the context in which this Covenant was initiated.

Moses, Miriam, and the Israelites had engaged in High Praises to the Lord after the Mighty Deliverance through the Red Sea. Ready to advance, Moses led the people into the desert for three days without finding water, resulting in a life-threatening situation. Shortly, they came to some water with hopes arisen, only to be disappointed by the bitterness of the salty water, and named the place “Marah”, meaning “bitterness.” They however compounded the problem by grumbling against their leader. Moses cried out to the Lord, Who showed him a tree branch, which he threw into the water. Immediately the water was made sweet and potable. Refreshing themselves, the people were revived and voyaged on to Elim, which had twelve springs and seventy palm trees.

The message of the story of the journey from Marah to Elim – from bitterness and dryness to sweetness and surplus – is: Whatever the bitter obstacles we may encounter in life's pathway, we can count on the Lord’s Power and Faithfulness, to transform situations for our good, and lead us to our Elim. When we cry our ‘Marahs’ – bitter burdens – out to God, He is able to “sweeten” and turn them into a resource for the next leg of our journey. However, beyond the visible display of God’s Power, there was an unseen redemptive process at work. Marah’s bitter waters revealed the bitterness that lodged in the hearts of the Israelites, evident in their grumbling against Moses. Clearly, they needed both deliverance from Pharaoh, and healing from their grumbling, bitter selves.

After sweetening the water with the tree, the Lord “made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them” (v.25b). God tested His people, to reveal and transform their bitter, grumbling hearts toward Himself, so they could become more “God-centred.” Now, it was time for the Lord to reveal Himself as Jehovah-Rapha: “I am the LORD who HEALS you” – Jehovah-Rapha! God didn’t say “I am the One who heals the water”! The transformation of the people was more important than of Marah’s water. He heals the heart, transforms bitter waters to renewed waters, and also the body, revitalizing and preserving us for life’s journeys.

The bitter water was sweetened by the tree. This was prophetic. Jesus – the Sent Word – hung on Calvary’s tree to purchase our Redemption. As we receive and follow Him, becoming Christ-centred, we’ll experience healing transformation beginning from within our hearts, outward. We’ll transit from the bitterness of Marah to the sweet abundance of Elim; from barren desert to fruitfulness.

This Covenant of Healing that originated in Exodus 15 holds true for Believers of all generations. Isaiah, speaking of the Messiah to come, declared Words of Healing: “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” (Isa.53:5). 1 Peter 2: 24-25 re-echoes same: “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.” Healing for the Believer in Christ is a done deal, the revelation of which we must lay hold on!