Exodus 15:25,26 – “So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26and 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.’”
After the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, the children of Israel journey for three days and find no water. Finally they came to a place that would be named Marah, for the waters are undrinkable because of their bitterness. The complaint of the people prompts a prayer by Moses and a reply by God to cast a tree into the waters. The waters are then made “sweet,” or healed and as a result God issues this divine law. If the people will do four things, they will live a healthy life. They must:
- Diligently heed the voice of the Lord;
- Do what is right in His sight;
- Give ear to His commandments;
- Keep all His statutes. There is a connection between the spiritual and the physical. A breakdown in one can lead to a breakdown in the other. Keeping our spiritual being healthy is key in keeping our physical being healthy.
This passage is referred to as the Old Testament Covenant of Healing. God reveals Himself more and more to the children of Israel in their journeys. Here He announces Himself as Jehovah-Rapha—The Lord who heals. This compound name of God is consistent with other compound names in which Jehovah means the Self-Existent One and then the suffix ascribes an attribute to God. For millenniums God has been healing His people. May you experience the power of Jehovah Rapha in your life today and may God heal you of all your diseases in Jesus’ Name! Amen!!!