North Anderson Baptist
ON MISSION
October 15, 2023
Locations & Times
North Anderson Baptist Church
2308 N Main St, Anderson, SC 29621, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
JEHOVAH RAFA: THE GOD WHO HEALS (Exodus 15:22-26)
God heals our circumstances
The people of Israel had experienced some harrowing circumstances. They went from Egypt, a place where, though uncomfortable, offered certainty. They knew they would have to work hard, but in a hard way, there was a comfort in knowing what life consisted of. Now, they are free but uncertain as to what life would be like. They had faced imminent genocide at the hands of the Egyptian army. Throughout their wilderness wanderings, they faced difficult circumstances. In this instance, they are faced with the lack of a life essential – drinkable water. Some of you may have noticed, I hardly go anywhere without a water bottle. I bring my water bottle to church, I take my water bottle with me to mow the grass, go hiking, kayaking, to play youth group games, I even take my water bottle in the truck to the grocery store! Any time I’ve taken youth to Riley Moore Falls to hike, besides my water bottle, I take a 3 liter Camelbak with me (and those of you who have been know that it’s only a mile and a half round trip). When COVID hit, I made sure I had plenty of water bottles. I could only imagine if I was there with the people of Israel at Marah. I would have been crying out with them.
What is Moses’ response to this dilemma? It is prayer, prayer to the Lord who provides healing.
25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. (Genesis 22:25a)[1]
Yahweh shows Moses a tree, which when thrown into the water, turns bitter, undrinkable water, into a life-sustaining fountain. Scholars and experts on that region all agree that the water at Marah was undrinkable, even the locals there today testify that the water is not good. They also all agree that there is no known plant or tree that can be thrown into that water that would cause it to become drinkable. God healed the water in order to make His people’s circumstances bearable. How often do we, when faced with difficult circumstances, choose to grumble about the situation instead of turn to the One who has power to remedy it? Dear saint, trust in Yahweh Rafa to heal. Turn to Him when the circumstance is unbearable!
God heals our physical bodies
Not only does God heal our circumstances, but He heals our bodies. He made a pact with them, as verses 25-26 say,
The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there.
God tells Israel, if they will honor Him, He will not punish them with the same afflictions He poured out on Egypt. This is expanded in Deuteronomy 11, 26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:
Scripture is filled with promises of healing for God’s people.
1 My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
5 He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the Lord’s temple. (2 Kings 20:5)
God shows His love for His people through healing. Jesus Himself healed people in the Gospels, not only for the sake of healing, but also to prove that He was the promised Messiah. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 4, verses 16-21, at the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim releaseto the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.,
20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.
When John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if He truly is the Messiah, Jesus heals in front of them and tells them to tell John the Baptist what they have observed as His answer.
Suffering saint, perhaps when illness and injury plague you, you focus more on the hurt than the Healer. Turn to Yahweh Rafa! Perhaps you have turned to Him for healing but have not experienced that healing yet. It may be that God has allowed that in your life in order to draw you closer to Himself and to display His power through your weakness. Ultimately, if you are in Christ, you have the promise of ultimate healing one day!
God heals our souls
The healing that God promises is not just a circumstantial or physical healing but ultimately healing of sin-sick souls. A tree thrown into bitter water heals it, causing it to become drinkable and providing a physical salvation to Israel. Another tree was used by God in the first century AD to provide salvation for all mankind. Jesus was lifted up on the cross of Calvary so that our sin-sick souls can be healed. Isaiah 53:1-5 says,
Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
Peter echoes Isaiah, saying,
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.
Yahweh Rafa – Our God Heals Us! Oh, sinner repent! Oh, saint rejoice! Behold our God, the one Who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the tree so that you may be healed. C.H. Spurgeon once said,
The Lord our God will heal our spirits, and he will do it in somewhat the same manner as that in which he healed Marah. How was that? First, he made the people know how bitter Marah was. There was no healing for that water till they had tasted it, and discovered that it was too brackish to be endured; but after they knew its bitterness then the Lord made it sweet to them. So is it with your sin, my brother. It must become more and more bitter to you. You will have to cry out, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” You will have to feel that you cannot live upon anything that is within yourself. The creature must be made distasteful to you, and all trusts that come of it; for God’s way is first to kill, and then to make alive; first to wound, and then to heal. He begins by making Marah to be Marah, and afterwards he makes it sweet.[9]
Conclusion
Yahweh Rafa! Turn to Him to heal you and praise Him! Perhaps you have never experienced the healing power of God. May you experience the wholeness that God offers. This morning, perhaps you have an acute feeling of your need for Yahweh Rafa. I invite you to pray now. Bow the knee to your Sovereign Creator and Sustainer.
God heals our circumstances
The people of Israel had experienced some harrowing circumstances. They went from Egypt, a place where, though uncomfortable, offered certainty. They knew they would have to work hard, but in a hard way, there was a comfort in knowing what life consisted of. Now, they are free but uncertain as to what life would be like. They had faced imminent genocide at the hands of the Egyptian army. Throughout their wilderness wanderings, they faced difficult circumstances. In this instance, they are faced with the lack of a life essential – drinkable water. Some of you may have noticed, I hardly go anywhere without a water bottle. I bring my water bottle to church, I take my water bottle with me to mow the grass, go hiking, kayaking, to play youth group games, I even take my water bottle in the truck to the grocery store! Any time I’ve taken youth to Riley Moore Falls to hike, besides my water bottle, I take a 3 liter Camelbak with me (and those of you who have been know that it’s only a mile and a half round trip). When COVID hit, I made sure I had plenty of water bottles. I could only imagine if I was there with the people of Israel at Marah. I would have been crying out with them.
What is Moses’ response to this dilemma? It is prayer, prayer to the Lord who provides healing.
25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. (Genesis 22:25a)[1]
Yahweh shows Moses a tree, which when thrown into the water, turns bitter, undrinkable water, into a life-sustaining fountain. Scholars and experts on that region all agree that the water at Marah was undrinkable, even the locals there today testify that the water is not good. They also all agree that there is no known plant or tree that can be thrown into that water that would cause it to become drinkable. God healed the water in order to make His people’s circumstances bearable. How often do we, when faced with difficult circumstances, choose to grumble about the situation instead of turn to the One who has power to remedy it? Dear saint, trust in Yahweh Rafa to heal. Turn to Him when the circumstance is unbearable!
God heals our physical bodies
Not only does God heal our circumstances, but He heals our bodies. He made a pact with them, as verses 25-26 say,
The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there.
God tells Israel, if they will honor Him, He will not punish them with the same afflictions He poured out on Egypt. This is expanded in Deuteronomy 11, 26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:
Scripture is filled with promises of healing for God’s people.
1 My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
5 He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the Lord’s temple. (2 Kings 20:5)
God shows His love for His people through healing. Jesus Himself healed people in the Gospels, not only for the sake of healing, but also to prove that He was the promised Messiah. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 4, verses 16-21, at the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim releaseto the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.,
20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.
When John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if He truly is the Messiah, Jesus heals in front of them and tells them to tell John the Baptist what they have observed as His answer.
Suffering saint, perhaps when illness and injury plague you, you focus more on the hurt than the Healer. Turn to Yahweh Rafa! Perhaps you have turned to Him for healing but have not experienced that healing yet. It may be that God has allowed that in your life in order to draw you closer to Himself and to display His power through your weakness. Ultimately, if you are in Christ, you have the promise of ultimate healing one day!
God heals our souls
The healing that God promises is not just a circumstantial or physical healing but ultimately healing of sin-sick souls. A tree thrown into bitter water heals it, causing it to become drinkable and providing a physical salvation to Israel. Another tree was used by God in the first century AD to provide salvation for all mankind. Jesus was lifted up on the cross of Calvary so that our sin-sick souls can be healed. Isaiah 53:1-5 says,
Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
Peter echoes Isaiah, saying,
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.
Yahweh Rafa – Our God Heals Us! Oh, sinner repent! Oh, saint rejoice! Behold our God, the one Who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the tree so that you may be healed. C.H. Spurgeon once said,
The Lord our God will heal our spirits, and he will do it in somewhat the same manner as that in which he healed Marah. How was that? First, he made the people know how bitter Marah was. There was no healing for that water till they had tasted it, and discovered that it was too brackish to be endured; but after they knew its bitterness then the Lord made it sweet to them. So is it with your sin, my brother. It must become more and more bitter to you. You will have to cry out, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” You will have to feel that you cannot live upon anything that is within yourself. The creature must be made distasteful to you, and all trusts that come of it; for God’s way is first to kill, and then to make alive; first to wound, and then to heal. He begins by making Marah to be Marah, and afterwards he makes it sweet.[9]
Conclusion
Yahweh Rafa! Turn to Him to heal you and praise Him! Perhaps you have never experienced the healing power of God. May you experience the wholeness that God offers. This morning, perhaps you have an acute feeling of your need for Yahweh Rafa. I invite you to pray now. Bow the knee to your Sovereign Creator and Sustainer.