The Name of God: Part 5 - 'Jehovah Rapha - The Lord who Heals'

Exodus 15:22-26 
Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They travelled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).

Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.  So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.
It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.  He said, “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 keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”


Psalm 104:1-4 
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name.
  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and do not forget all his benefits—
  who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
  who redeems your life from the Pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy



Prayer and Reflection:

Loving God, we praise you and thank you that you are Jehovah Rapha, our Healer and Restorer, mighty and eternal God, the Alpha and Omega, who knows the end from the beginning for each of us and for the whole world.

Heavenly Father, whose power, and grace and loving-kindness surpass all understanding, you already know us by name. You know all your precious children and you know all of our needs, and all our hearts’ desires.

Almighty God, for all our family and friends, our church family, and ourselves, we ask for healing and restoration in all those diseases, conditions and hurts that trouble us. We come to you Abba Father and ask “if it is possible” salve our wounds, heal us, but we do not see things You do, and we want Your will not ours to be done. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.



Questions to Consider

1. The Bible says that God heals us, but we are not always healed. What do you make of this?
2. What do you think of the idea that there is a difference between the Biblical statement “God heals all your diseases” versus the (non-Biblical) statement “God always heals your diseases”? If you accept that there is a difference, what is it?
3. What experiences do you have of asking God for healing?
4. It has been said that there are three answers to our prayer requests: yes, no and wait. What do you make of those answers and what have your experiences been of each?
5. Sometimes it seems that God moves in mysterious ways – we don’t get the “yes” answer we hope for, but it all seems to work out for the best in the end. What experiences have you had like this?
6. What are you currently praying for, in the area of healing or restoration?
7. What do you make of the thought that the words salve (as in to salve a wound) and salvation have the same Latin root (salvus)?