We are in chapter fifteen of Exodus with our word for today, used for the first time in the Bible. רָפָא heal, repair, rebuild, healer. It is used 67 times in Old Testament. We find our word used of God healing in a physical sense. 2 Kings 20:4-5 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will רֹ֣פֶאheal you. Moses prays for God to heal his sister of leprosy. Numbers 12:13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please רְפָ֥א heal her—please.” We also see our word used in a spiritual relational way of healing. Psalm 147:1-3 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He הָ֭רֹפֵא heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Jeremiah 3:22 Return, O faithless sons; I will אֶרְפָּ֖ה heal your faithlessness. Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God. Hosea 14:4 I will אֶרְפָּא֙ heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. In our chapter today I think we have both the physical and spiritual relational senses of our word used. Exodus 15:25-26 There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, רֹפְאֶֽךָ your healer.” We need to back up and ask the question why did God put these diseases on the Egyptians? Because of their sin as we have looked at previously. And it is always a good reminder that God has to punish sin if there is no turning away from it. He loves us and wants to forgive us and will do so if we repent and turn from it. But Egypt failed to do so which we have looked at extensively. So now God’s people have a reference of what not to do and of what not to become because it leads to destruction. God is ready to heal if his people come back to him.
I’ll close with this great reminder of the many benefits we have from our relationship with God. Psalm 103:1-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who הָ֝רֹפֵ֗א heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are נִרְפָּא healed.
