“Yahweh Rophe” –The Lord Your Healer

“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your Healer.” –Exodus 15:26 ( ESV).

“I Am the Lord Your Healer.”  The Israelites had been freed from Egyptian bondage.  They were now on their journey to the promised land.  Imagine a great host of people.  We are told in Exodus 12:37 that there were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the women and children in the number.  What a virtual army of evacuees.  I marvel at the communication system Moses and Aaron must have had with the people to instruct them, guide them, lead them in a day much before any modern means of communication.  The marvel of this aspect of the exodus could only have been performed by the Lord’s doings, for man had not the means nor equipment to coordinate their efforts. 

At the point of God’s announcement that he was “Yahwe Rophe, their Healer,” they had already crossed the Red Sea, a miracle in which the waters were parted and they walked across on dry land to the wilderness of Shur.  For three whole days, because of the desert region they were traversing, they had no water to drink.  Imagine the utter thirst they suffered.  At Marah they finally found water, but it was bitter to the taste.  The people complained:  “What shall we drink?”  God directed Moses to a log which he threw into the water, and it changed from bitter to sweet and the people could drink it.  After that, the Lord made a statute and a rule for them, testing them.  And that statute and rule was aptly stated in our focal scripture for today:  “Diligently listen to the voice of the Lord, do that which is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, and keep his statutes.”  It was a statute with a promise.  If you will listen, obey, keep the Lord’s commandments, then “He will be your Healer.” 

At Elim they came to twelve wonderful springs of water and seventy (a perfect number) of palm trees.  At this oasis they encamped and refreshed themselves.  And then, fifteen days into their journey out of Egypt, God rained down from heaven the manna which was to be their food.  Of course, after a while, they began to grumble about the food (don’t we all?).  Again, God provided quail to go with the manna so that they had both meat and bread, and all the nutrients they received from the heavenly provision were sufficient to keep them healthy and moving forward.  God was supplying their needs as He had promised.  Most of the churches I know have an intercessory prayer list in which we are asked to pray for those who are ill, some with extremely serious health conditions.  The faith we have in praying for the sick stems from “Yahwe Rhope—the God who heals,” and from the example of Jesus when He was upon the earth and Himself became “Yahwe Rhope”—the Great Physician.  Faithfulness to the statutes and covenant of the Lord are an assurance by which we appropriate the blessings of healing.  To God be the glory!