The first compound Name that God revealed to Israel after bringing them out of slavery is Jehovah Rapha. It points to the work of Redemption by Christ.
When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. - Exo 15:23-25
When the tree was thrown into the water, it reversed the curse of bitterness. The water became sweet.
And God revealed Himself in Exo 15:26, "...I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your Healer.”
The tree was a foreshadow of the Cross. In Gal 3:13, it says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
This is quoted from Deut 21:22-23. In fact, there was a whole list of curses in Deut 28 that would be brought against anyone disobeying the Law. It included every kind of sickness (Deut 28:61).
Jesus had to die, put sin to death and be hung on the tree (Deut 21:22-23), in order to redeem us from the curse of the Law.
The Old Covenant is a foreshadow of the New Covenant which is the true substance. Just as the tree was thrown into the water to turn bitterness into sweetness, Christ had to be hung on the Cross to redeem us from slavery into liberty.
The compound Name 'Rapha' doesn't mean 'Healing'. It means 'Completely Healed'. Because you have to read in context. He said, "I will put none of the diseases on you..." This means that you are PROTECTED from diseases. You don't get healed. You live healed.
This is confirmed by Gal 3:13 where Christ redeemed us from the curse of every kind of sickness (Deut 28:61), when He was hung on the tree. The Name "Jehovah Rapha" is the revelation of the work of Redemption by Christ on the Cross!
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin, and live to righteousness. By His stripes, you WERE healed."
There's alot to expound on this one verse. But we just look at the last part. You WERE healed. Past Tense. If you WERE healed, you don't need any more healing. Because for the believers, there is NOW divine protection from sicknesses and diseases.
Not many people will preach on this. If you preach divine healing, you already get slammed by others. But if you preach divine health and protection from every sickness and disease, you might be labeled as heretic.
And this is the reason why many get sick. Because they only believe in healing.
Christ did not just come to heal you. He is also your Jehovah Rapha ----- for you to live healed and protected from every sickness.
We need to start preaching this more. Stay tuned.
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