Wording of this Handout:
The Lord my Healer.
The second name we are going to look at is Jehovah Ropheka. This name was given when the people of Israel were wandering through the wilderness on their 40 year trek to the Promise Land.
They came to a pool and tried to drink from it, but the water was sour. They started to complain (yet again), o God told Moses to throw a tree into the water. When he did this, the waters turned fresh and "sweet." Then God told the Israelites that if they would only obey Him, He would take away all the sickness from them.
What a tremendous promise! The Isrealites could have been the only nation in the would which had no sickness!!
But they continued to disobey God, so they missed the chance. However, the tree in the water is a symbol of Jesus. The tree was cast into the waters - it died in the midst of the sourness. Jesus gave his life in the midst of a sour old world. But the effect of the tree on the water was to make it sweet - just the effect Jesus has on the lives of those who receive him into their hearts, and obey Him as Lord
And one day those who drink the "sweetness" of Jesus will never be sick - for ever.
The Bible says: "If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your GOD, and will do that which is right in his sight..... and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon thee....for I am the LORD that heals you. Exodus 15:26 (King James version)