The Ancient Promise of Healing
God cares about our health; God desire for us to be healthy in all aspects of our lives. In Jeremiah 33:6 God made a remarkable promise when he said, “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.” (ESV) The word Health here is the Hebrew word, ʾaruḵāh, meaning “The healing of a wound, restoration, repair.”[1]
In our journey through this life, we will suffer some wounds, we all need restoration and repair. God is there to provide healing. The word Heal here means, “To make fresh. It describes the process of healing, being restored to health, made healthy, usable, fertile.”[2] In order to be usable and fertile we must be healthy; we must be restored.
The word Reveal is a very interesting one, it means “To uncover.”[3] What is God uncovering? Prosperity and Security. This abundance of prosperity is beyond financial, this word means, “Peace or tranquility.”[4] The word Security is the Hebrew word ʾemeṯ meaning “Truth and faithfulness.”[5] How to have peace and truth it is not obvious, it must be uncovered; it must be revealed.
In Psalm 103:2-5 we see very detailed and valuable points and more of God’s promises,
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (ESV)
Here we see the connection between our souls and our bodies. The psalmist is commanding his soul to bless the Lord. Praise flows out of our soul as worship flows out of our spirit (John 4). The psalmist is commanding his soul to remember the benefits that we have with God:
- Forgiveness of our Iniquities
- Healing of our diseases
- Redemption for our lives
- Love and mercy
- To be satisfy that is the Hebrew word, śābēaʿ: meaning “To be satisfied, to be filled, to be full. To have had enough of something or too much.”[6] Nothing can bring that satisfaction like God. Everything else we try will leave us disappointed soon or later.
- Renew us like eagles
Only God can do these things for us, nobody else have this kind of power. If we just look at the verbs forgive, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfy and renew we get a better appreciation for the heart of God towards his creation. Beloved, these portions of Scripture and, many others, reveal the heart of God regarding his desire for us to be bless and to be healthy. This is the ancient promise of healing.
To be continued…
[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 93.
[2] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1070.
[3] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 202.
[4] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1145.
[5] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 74.
[6] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1094.
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