Jehovah-rophi: The Lord My Healer

Jehovah-rophi: The Lord My Healer

If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and laws, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you. –Exodus 15:26

What a celebration it was as the Israelites sang of their freedom from slavery. They had walked through the Red Sea on dry land. Surely they had left their troubles behind in Egypt. But they were immediately plunged into the desert for three days without water. And when they finally found the water they thought would slake their thirst and save them, the water tasted bitter.

Exodus says that Moses cried out to the Lord for help and that the Lord showed him a tree branch. Moses threw the branch into the water, and the water was made good to drink (Exodus 15:23-25). What was bitter became sweet, and what was death-causing became life-giving. Then God laid out for them the conditions for testing their faithfulness in the days ahead, challenging them to listen to him and obey, offering himself to them as “the LORD who heals you.”

Have you waded into bitter waters? Did you come thirsty to an alluring pool of sexual satisfaction only to have the bitter taste of shame and regret left in your mouth? Perhaps you believed that just one more drink from the pool of possessions would satisfy, only to find yourself thirsty for more. Or is there a spring of unforgiveness in the interior of your life that has left you neck-deep in a pool of bitterness that is choking the life out of you?

If so, drink deeply of the Lord, who heals you from lust, materialism, unforgiveness, and every sin that makes your soul sick. As you listen to his voice and do what is right, he will purify your body, soul, and mind.

The wood Moses cast into the bitter waters was a foreshadowing of another tree that would bring ultimate healing—the tree of Calvary. “He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!” (1 Peter 2:24). Come to Jehovah-rophi, who will heal you and make you whole.

My Jehovah-rophi, how I need the healing in my spirit, mind, and body that only you can provide. Heal the bitter places in my life so that I might experience the sweetness of hearing your voice and obeying your Word.

DIGGING DEEPER