Knowing God - Jehovah Rapha
Knowing God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
Introduction:
I. The Meaning of Jehovah Rapha
I. The Meaning of Jehovah Rapha
In Exodus 15, the Bible records for us Israel’s song of praise after the Lord had just performed probably the greatest miracle in the OT.
The Lord had just performed the miracle of parting the Rea Sea, when Pharaoh’s was pursuing Israel.
Notice how the writer of Hebrews describes this miracle.
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
It was by faith that the Children of Israel crossed the Rea Sea on dry land.
When the children of Israel arrived at the Rea Sea, they began to immediately complain to Moses.
And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Notice Moses’ response to their lack of faith.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Notice what Moses encouraged the people of Israel to do to help build their faith.
First, do not be Scared.
Always, keep in mind that fear is never from the Lord.
And if it is not from the Lord, then it can only that is from Satan.
Second, be confident to Stand.
Do not be Scared, but stand.
But not just to stand, but to stand still, which is a Hebrew word that means to be firm.
They were to stand firm in the promise that the Lord had given them.
The Lord had promised to deliver them from Egypt and they needed to stand firm in that promise.
They needed to be unmovable in that promise.
So they were not to be Scared, but to Stand.
Third, they were to See.
See how God will deliver and will work out what He promised what He would do.
So, the encouragement of Moses was that they should:
Not be Scared.
But Stand.
And See.
Fourth, be Silent.
Moses said the Lord will engage the battle for you, just remain silent.
It seems that the people did not accept that encouragement, mush like we do not sometimes, because the Lord said to Moses.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Moses, why are you coming to me, I have given you the command; now tell the people of Israel to move forward.
You know, they are many times in our Christians lives that there are things that need to prayed about, but there are other times when things do not need to be prayed about.
We do not need to engage in a time of prayer for things that the Lord has specifically commanded or promised.
God gave Israel a specific command and promise and then told Moses, “why are you talking to me about it, Moses, just do what I have commanded you to do because I have also given you a promise.
And you know the rest of the story.
And this is amazing what God did through obedience.
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
God caused the sea to become dry land for which the children of Israel could walk; but notice:
And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
“Took off” in the Hebrew literally means “to turn aside, to drag.”
It is almost as if as the Children of Israel were walking on dry land, the Egyptian soldiers were trying to drag their chariots through mud and possibly mud so thick that it was causing the wheels of the chariots to fall off.
This is one of those, “only God” moments.
Then as a result of this miraculous miracle of God, the God that can do anything He wants (the El Shaddai), the children of Israel sang a song of praise to the Lord, that we see recorded in the verse 17 verses on Exodus 15.
But.....
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Now, they must face the desert.
The desert was hot and dry, and they had not brought enough water.
The first day after the Rea Sea everyone was still joyful.
The second day was perhaps much of the same.
But on the third day when the came to Marah, notice what happened.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Many of these people ever seeing and learning but many of them never coming to a realization of the truth and began to immediately complain.
John Calvin said:
Preaching the Word: Exodus—Saved for God's Glory No Whining!
God “might have given them sweet water to drink at first, but He wished by the bitter to make prominent the bitterness which lurked in their hearts.”4
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Now, notice the promise:
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
We find that this is the first time that the Hebrew word “רפא” (Rapha) is used in direct reference to God.
And, of course, God refers to Himself as the “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”, which as we have seen refers to the self-existing God, the ever-present God.
So, we learn form this that “Jehovah Rapha” is a name for God that means that “the self-existing, ever-present God is our healer.
Jehovah Rapha helps us to know God as the God Who can heal us physically and emotionally.
II. The Manifestation of Jehovah Rapha
II. The Manifestation of Jehovah Rapha
God alone has the power to be known as the Jehovah Rapha, because only the self-existant, the one who has been here before the diseases started, could ever have the power over the disease.
Jehovah Rapha manifests to us through His Word that He has the power to heal physically.
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
Now, notice the first thing that Hezekiah did:
Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
This was Hezekiah’s was of asking God for more time, I believe.
And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
And the word “heal” there is the Hebrew word “רפא” (Rapha) and God revealed to Hezekiah that He was the Self-Existent God who heals, physically.
Not only did he heal him, but He gave Him another promise.
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
Hezekiah, not only do I promise you healing, but I also promise you 15 more years of life.
Listen, only the self-existent God has the power to do this.
And then Jehovah Rapha sealed this with this promise.
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
Here God shows Himself as not only the Jehovah Rapha but also the El Shaddai, the God that can do anything that He wants.
Remember that we saw with El Shaddai that God, in the creative process, has created the universe to function in a certain way; leaved come to life in the Spring and die in the fall, that is just part if the natural process of creation.
But El Shaddai has the power to change those processes for His own glory.
And God has the power to give this King a sign that he would live another 15 years by reversing the normal processes of things and make the sun go back 10 degrees.
He shows Himself to be the physical Jehovah Rapha.
Jehovah Rapha also reveals Himself as the healer of our emotions.
Elijah was a tremendous prophet of God.
In 1 Kings 18 he prayed one of the most powerful prayers in Bible, literally bringing fire down from heaven at Mt. Carmel (1 King 18:36-39).
When the Queen of Israel, Jezebel, who already did not life Elijah, said this.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
And When Elijah heard this, he ran for his life into the desert.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
The text tells us in verse 5 that Elijah slept under a tree and then the Angel of the Lord touched him and told him to get up and eat.
And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
God knew that Elijah was emotionally down and knew that he first needed rest and nourishment.
Listen, it may seem like a small thing, but the fact is that things always look worse when you are hungry and tired.
When we get tired and hungry we usually focus on feelings instead of facts.
The angel told Elijah to get some nourishment and then go back to sleep.
1 Kings 19:7-8 tells us that that the angel came back the second time an d had Elijah get up and eat.
Then Elijah traveled 40 days and he went into a cave at Mt. Horeb.
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
Elijah told the Lord that he had been very zealous for Him and that the Israelites had forsaken His covenant, torn down His altars, and killed His prophets.
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
In the midst of depressing, Elijah exaggerated the negative.
When we are depressed it seems as the whole world has gone to pot.
We think that we are the only ones that are trying to live for God.
Of course, that was not true.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Then Elijah told the Lord that Jezebel is trying to take my life.
However, that was not true either.
If Elijah had taken time to think and pray, he would have realized that Jezebel did not date to kill him.
She did send the threat.
But if you are going to kill someone in the next 24 hours, would you send a messenger to warn him?
No, you would send a hit man.
Elijah told the Lord his feelings and the Lord told him to go out and stand on the mountain.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
III. The Material of Jehovah Rapha
III. The Material of Jehovah Rapha
When I am emotionally sick, God rarely heals me with some big dramatic demonstration of His power.
It is usually through a gentle whisper.
Sometimes the whisper has been a spiritual impression that I cannot explain.
Sometimes it is through what a person has said to me, though they never knew that God was “whispering” to me through them.
Sometimes the gentle whisper through the reading of the Word.
After God healed Elijah of his depression, which was nothing more than self-pity.
After which, he sent him back to anoint a new king over Israel.
The Lord always heals of emotional sickness by causing me to get my eyes off myself and start looking at the needs of others.
Now, what about those times that God does give us healing, what does He give instead?
Grace.
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Sometimes God’s healing requires time.
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
