A question that gets asked a lot today by many different people is: “Does God still heal today?” This is a very exciting subject, because in order to answer this question, the way we have to approach it might come as a little surprising to you.
In order to discover whether God still heals we have to look at who He is.
The Bible tells us that He is the Lord and He never changes.
Malachi 3:6
New King James Version
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change;”
In the book of Hebrews, the bible tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever. This is a great clue as to whether God still heals today. If He healed before, and He does not change, then surely, He can still heal today? Both God the Father and Jesus Christ healed many people in both the Old and New Testament. Something that is quite remarkable to note when you look at scripture, specifically in the Old Testament, is the many different names that are used to describe God. This is no mistake; you will find that these names are given to Him because of who He is and what He does. They describe His character and nature. To give you an example: He is known as “Jehovah Raah”, which means “The Lord is my shepherd”. In this context we know He is the one who takes care of us and He is the one that leads us. The bible also refers to God as “Jehovah Jireh” meaning “The Lord who will provide.” Clearly this is self-explanatory in describing God as a provider, showing us that He will provide for us.
The name that I would like to highlight today, is the name “Jehovah Rapha”, describing God as a Healer. “Jehovah Rapha” literally means “the Lord that heals”. When you study this specific word in depth, the meaning becomes so much more powerful, because you will find that it describes God’s healing power, showing that it is far more than just a physical sickness. You will find that it even describes healing of a home and healing of water, making this incredibly interesting and mind blowing. What this indicates is that the true meaning of this word would probably be the Lord who “restores”. He restores things that have been damaged, destroyed, or made sick. We see this described so beautifully in the New Testament, because Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. This once again shows us, that Jesus can restore a broken heart. Jesus prays for the sick and they are healed or restored. It is important to understand if healing or restoring is the nature and character of God and He does not change, there is no doubt that He is who He says He is and that He can heal again.
As the bible tells us:
1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
24who 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.
It is important to note, that it describes what took place at the Cross when Jesus paid for our sins, and that we have healing available, because it was paid for at the cross. The word healed in this context, is so important because it describes so much more than salvation alone. Next month we will be discussing this in a little more detail. We will also look at why we don’t see healing in every situation. Be at peace and remember, if He did it before He will do it again!
Blessings,
