JEHOVAH-ROPHE

 

 

INTRO

1. Review the five names that we have studied so far.

2. Read Exodus 15: 22-26.

 

"I am the LORD that healeth thee."

 

3. In these compound names of Jehovah there is a progressive revelation, showing us that

Jehovah is able to meet every need that could possibly arise in the life of God’s people.

4. Everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament is for our admonition (I Cor. 10:11).

5. The word rophe means:

a) to heal

b) to cure

c) to restore

d) to repair

6. Other passages where rophe is used:

a) Read Psalm 147:3:

 

"He healeth (rophe) the broken heart, and bindeth up their wounds."

b) Read Isaiah 30:26:

 

"Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,

and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, as the light of the seven days,

in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,

and healeth (rophe) the stroke of their wound."

c) Read Jeremiah 33:6:

 

"Behold, I will bring it health and cure (rophe), and I will cure them,

and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth."

7. In our text, Exodus 15, God is able to HEAL the bitter waters of life.

a) Notice in verse 25 that a tree was cast into the waters.

b) This tree is a type of the CROSS. The cross can make that which is bitter sweet.

8. Aren’t you glad that your God cares enough to heal us?

a) Yes, we believe in divine healing.

b) But the emphasis should be upon SPIRITUAL HEALING, not physical healing.

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I. MANKIND NEEDS A HEALER

A. Physically

1. Read Exodus 15:26.

2. Aren’t you glad God does heal us physically?

3. How many children, teens, adults, grandparents have been healed by God?

B. Spiritually

1. Read Isaiah 1:4-6.

2. Too much emphasis of the 700 Club and the Pentecostals is on physical healing.

3. God’s will is not for everyone to be healed, and those not healed do not

necessarily have a lack of faith.

4. Because man is sinful, he needs a Healer for his sin.

 

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II. JEHOVAH-ROPHE HEALED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

A. Examples:

1. MOSES

a) Read Numbers 12:1,9-13.

b) Leprosy is a type of sin.

c) Miriam personally came to understand how much God hates sin.

d) Moses prayed for her.

2. DAVID

a) Read Psalm 103:2,3.

 

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

 

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases."

 

b) Here you see in verse 3 both types of healing.

c) David understood spiritual healing.

3. JEREMIAH

a) Read Jeremiah 3:22 and 14:19,20.

b) What are they looking for here: physical or spiritual healing?

 

B. Principle:

Often the only obstacle in God’s way for healing is man himself;

man is not willing to come to God for healing.

 

1. Consider this verse in John 5:40...

 

"And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."

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III. JESUS IS THE JEHOVAH-ROPHE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

A. Read Luke 4:16-18.

1. This is the first Scripture that Jesus quotes as He begins His ministry after

His temptation.

2. The first reason Jesus came was to preach the gospel.

3. The second reason is to heal the BROKENHEARTED....that is spiritual

healing, not physical.

4. Even the "...are bruised..." is a reference to the spiritual, not physical.

5. Jesus begins His first sermon by giving the people the reason why He came.

6. Watch out for the religious movements that place emphasis on physical healing.

7. The main reason He came was for SPIRITUAL, not physical. How many

times did the disciples misunderstand Jesus in the physical realm?

B. Read Matthew 4:23.

 

1. This shows us that the miracles of physical healing were to be proof that He

was the Messiah, the Jehovah of the Old Testament.

2. There wasn’t a disease that Jesus could not heal.

3. Read Matthew 11:2-5.

a) The cousin of Jesus wanted a proof that Jesus was God.

b) Jesus said use the miracles as proof of God’s stamp of approval.

 

Principle:

PHYSICAL HEALING WAS ONLY INCIDENTAL

TO THE MAIN WORK OF CHRIST, WHICH WAS SPIRITUAL HEALING.

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IV. DOES JEHOVAH-ROPHE HEAL TODAY?

A. Read Isaiah 53:4-5.

1. There are those who tell us that in Jesus’ atonement there was healing.

2. They use verse 5 as proof.

3. Do you believe that there is physical healing in the atoning work of Jesus?

B. Matthew 8:16-17.

1. Yes, if we believe.

2. BUT that does not give us the green light to preach that it is ALWAYS God’s

will to heal or that God always wants His children healthy all the time.

3. People like Oral Roberts tell people that God always wants you healthy, but he

wears contact lens and gets colds just like you and I do.

 

C. Illustration:

1. Just as you are now saved, you are not a finished work of salvation.

2. Yes, Jesus’ work for our salvation is complete.

3. But have you already received your inheritance?

4. Your body does not have all of its inheritance yet.

5. If you were completely saved, you wouldn’t have anymore fights with your

wife/parents.

6. You are 100% saved POSITIONALLY.

7. You are not complete in your salvation PRACTICALLY yet.

D. Read II Corinthians 12:7-9.

1. It is not always God’s will to heal.

2. A "thorn in the flesh" is just what it says it is.....a physical ailment.

3. God wants to get glory out of our lives, and He told Paul that He will get more

glory out of Paul’s life by not healing him.

4. God said, "No." to healing Paul.

E. But It Is God’s Will To Heal Most Of the Time

1. Read James 5:13-16.

2. We can believe that God does desire to heal us most of the time.

3. By the way, notice who does the calling here. It is not the preacher who is to

call the sick to come and be healed; it is the one who is sick.

4. God is STILL in the healing business.

5. Christians need to forsake sin and ask for healing....God will heal.