Divine Healing

Exodus 15:26 (NIV): "He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”"

In Hebrew, "the Lord, who heals you" is Yahweh Roph'eka. It is one of God's names. Originally, Exodus 15:26 was God's promise given to Israel when they left Egypt. God fulfilled His promise. Psalm 105:37 (NKJV): "He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes." God is still Yahweh Roph'eka (Yahweh, your Healer).

Isaiah 53:1-12 (Young's Literal Translation): "Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted."

This is a very accurate translation of this verse from Hebrew. The Hebrew word translated as "sickness" is "choli." This word means "physical sickness." The Hebrew word translated as "pain" 4 is "makob." This word may mean physical or mental pain, but usually it means physical pain.

The word translated as "hath borne" here is "nasa" which means "lift, carry, take; lift up; bear; take away." The same word is used in verse 12 where it is said: "And he the sin of many hath borne." The same Hebrew word is used when it is said that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and when it is said that He has borne sins of many.

The word translated as "hath carried" in verse 4 is "sabal" which means "bear a heavy load." The same word is used in verse 11 where it is said: "And their iniquities he doth bear." The same Hebrew word is used when it is said that Jesus has carried our pains and when it is said that He bore iniquities of many.

The sentence structure of verse 4 implies that Jesus "hath borne" only "our sicknesses" and "hath carried" only "our pains." He did not have His own sicknesses and pains. The first word in this verse is Hebrew word "akel." This word means: "surely, truly; but indeed, but in fact." This word is used in order to to emphasize some truth.

The only time Isaiah 53:4a is quoted in the New Testament is in Matthew 8:17. The context of this verse is physical healing. Matthew 8:16-17 (NIV): "16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.""

The word translated "infirmities" is "astheneia" which means "weakness" or "illness." The word translated as "diseases" is "nosos" which means "pain, disease, illness." The word translated as "took up" is "lambano" which means "take, take hold of; receive, get, obtain; take away, remove." The word translated as "bore" is "bastazo" which means "carry; endure, bear, tolerate; take away, remove; support, sustain; pick up."

Matthew 8:17 says that Isaiah 53:4 was fulfilled in Jesus' physical healing the sick, not in His healing their spiritual diseases.

Isaiah 53:5 (Young's Literal Translation): "And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace [is] on him, And by his bruise there is healing to us."

The word for "healing" here is niphal (passive form) from the verb "rapha" (to heal), that is, "to be healed." This word is used for physical healing in many verses.

This verse is quoted in 1 Peter 2:24: ""He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."" The Greek word translated "have been healed" is "iaomai." In all the other cases when it is used in the New Testament, it means "to heal physically."

Isaiah 53:10 (Young's Literal Translation): "10 And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him, He hath made him sick, If his soul doth make an offering for guilt, He seeth seed -- he prolongeth days, And the pleasure of Jehovah in his hand doth prosper."

Why did God make Jesus sick? In 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV), it is said: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." God made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us, that is, for our sins. In the same way, He made Jesus who had no sickness to be sick for us, that is, for our sicknesses.

Galatians 3:13-14 (NIV): "13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”, 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

What is the curse of the law? In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, there are lists of blessings for keeping the law and curses for breaking it. The curses for breaking the law include a lot of diseases while the blessings of the law included health. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law which includes His redeeming us from diseases.

I believe that all these verses clearly say that the divine healing has been included into Christ's redeeming work on the cross and that He is the Healer. I received Him as my Healer and I did experience His healing in many aspects. I know Christ as my Savior, my Sanctifier, my Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and my Healer.