Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord Who Heals
DAY 4 WRITTEN BY: BEN BIESECKER-
Exodus 15:22-26
Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” 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. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at March, and he tested them there. He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
-
Three days prior, the people of Israel were being delivered by God from Egypt through the split Red Sea. Now, they’re questioning if God can quench their thirst in the wilderness. In a matter of thirty-six hours, Israel has gone from being brought out of the water to running out of water.
When the people arrived in Marah, they found water, but it was bitter and undrinkable. Because of this, the Hebrew word “Marah” came to mean “bitter”. It was this disappointment that turned the people bitter in their hearts. Ironically, the more time they spent in Marah, the more Marah (bitterness) got into them.
The Israelites doubted God’s goodness and His ability to provide. They responded in light of their circumstances by complaining against God. Moses, on the other hand, believed God was capable of healing the water. Instead of complaining against the Lord, he cried out to the Lord.
God brought healing to the people by way of a tree that healed the bitterness of the water. A shadow of the cross, through which God would one day heal the bitterness of our hearts. In Hebrews 12:15, the writer says: “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” Bitterness springs up in our hearts when we neglect or reject the grace that God desires to pour out in our lives.
God healed the bitter water—not because the people of Israel were worthy or deserving, but because Moses called on His name, Jehovah Rapha, “The Lord Who Heals.” May we call on that same name.
-
Jehovah Rapha, as I walk through my own wilderness and endure bitter circumstances, illnesses, or grief, keep me from complaining and help me call on your name for healing. Thank you for Jesus, who by His sacrificial death on the cross, healed my soul of the bitterness of sin. In His name I pray, amen.
