Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 reads,
3:1For
everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
3:2A
time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3:3A
time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
It Is A Duty Of A Ruler To Heal
Isaiah 2:22-3:8 reads,
2:22Stop
trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils;
For of what account is he?
3:1For,
behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah
supply and support,
The whole supply of bread,
And the whole supply of water;
3:2The mighty man,
The man of war,
The judge,
The prophet,
The diviner,
The elder,
3:3The captain of fifty,
The honorable man,
The counselor,
The skilled craftsman,
And the clever enchanter.
3:4I
will give boys to be their princes,
And children shall rule over them.
3:5The
people will be oppressed,
Everyone by another,
And everyone by his neighbor.
The child will behave himself proudly against
the old man,
And the base against the honorable.
3:6Indeed
a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying,
"You have clothing, you be our ruler,
And let this ruin be under your hand."
3:7In
that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer;
For in my house is neither bread nor clothing.
You shall not make me ruler of the people.
3:8For
Because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh,
To provoke the eyes of his glory.
3:6-7 suggests that a ruler is equates with a healer. This implies that one of the duties of a ruler is to heal.
Seeing that it is Yahweh who is the healer, if one of the duties of a ruler is to heal he must indeed be sufficiently close to Yahweh to call upon him to heal those who need healing. He must therefore be Yahweh's servant, seeing that Yahweh listens to the prayers of his servants to heal those who need healing, and have repented of the actions - sins and folly - that brought about the situation requiring healing.
The Spiritually Blind, Deaf And
Simple Need Spiritual Healing
Isaiah 6:8-13 reads,
6:8I
heard the Lord's voice, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Then I said, "Here I am. Send me!"
6:9He
said, "Go, and tell this people,
‘You hear indeed,
But don’t understand;
And you see indeed,
But don’t perceive.’
6:10Make
the heart of this people fat;
Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And turn again, and be healed."
6:11Then
I said, "Lord, how long?"
He answered,
"Until cities are waste without
inhabitant,
And houses without man,
And the land becomes utterly waste,
6:12And Yahweh has removed men far
away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
6:13If
there are yet a tenth in it,
It also shall in turn be eaten up:
As a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock
remains, when they are felled;
So the holy seed is its stock."
It should be noted that those who are spiritually blind, deaf and without understanding are spiritually sick. These need to be healed spiritually. Spiritual healing is facilitated when they repent and turn to Yahweh. To repent and turn to Yahweh one must indeed spiritually see, hear and understand with the heart. And to do so Yahweh must so facilitate such spiritual vision, hearing and understanding. For it is Yahweh who wounds, and it is Yahweh who heals. Therefore when he spiritually wounds, one is spiritually blind, deaf and without understanding. But when he spiritually heals, he gives spiritual vision, hearing and understanding, thereby leading to repentance from the heart, thereby leading to further spiritual healing, or salvation or deliverance. In other words, spiritual sight, hearing and understanding is a prelude to spiritual salvation or deliverance.
Yahweh Will Cause Egyptians To
Know Him By Smiting And Healing Them
Isaiah 19:16-25 reads,
19:16In
that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear
because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Hosts, which he shakes over
them. 19:17The
Yahweh Shows No Partiality With
Respect To Whom He Heals
It should be noted that Yahweh doesn't restrict his statute and ordinance
that he made for the children of
Worship Of Yahweh With Sacrifice
And Offering Is Not Restricted To Israelites
It should also be noted that worship of Yahweh with sacrifice and offering
will not be restricted only to
Yahweh Punishes Those Who Despise
His Word And Trust In Oppression And Perverseness
Isaiah 30:12-26 reads,
30:12Why
thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust
in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; 30:13therefore
this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high
wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant. 30:14He shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken,
breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the
pieces of it a broken piece with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip
up water out of the cistern. 30:15For
thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of
The reason Yahweh punishes his people is because they despise his word and trust in oppression and perverseness, rather than trusting in Yahweh and his ways. But after his disciplines his people through the afflictions with which he will smite them with they will indeed return to him. Prior to their return he will indeed be waiting for them, for he knows that they will learn from his discipline. Once they return to him he will manifest his graciousness and mercy toward them, showing them that he is a Mighty One of justice and righteousness. He will then defend them from their enemies and shower them with manifold blessings, even guiding them continually to walk in his way, that they may continue to reap his blessings and not suffer the afflictions they previously suffered on account of their rebellion against him. This is the time when he binds up their hurt and heals the stroke of their wound.
The Bruising Of The Arm Of Yahweh
Isaiah 53 reads,
53:1Who
has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
53:2For he grew up before him as a
tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness;
and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 53:3He was despised, and rejected of men; a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face
he was despised; and we didn’t respect him. 53:4Surely
he has borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; yet we esteemed him
stricken, struck of God, and afflicted. 53:5But
he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the
chastisement of our peace was on him; and with his stripes we are healed. 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned everyone to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. 53:7He was oppressed, yet
when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn’t
open his mouth. 53:8By oppression
and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the
disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? 53:9They made his grave with the wicked, and
with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth. 53:10Yet it
pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his
soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. 53:11He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge
of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their
iniquities. 53:12Therefore will I
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the
transgressors: yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors.
The Arm Of Yahweh Bore Yahweh's
Punishment On Account Of Our Sins
The arm of Yahweh bore Yahweh's punishment, not on account of his sins, but on account of OUR sins. In other words, he took Yahweh's discipline in our stead, even to the degree of dying for your sins, as a sacrificial lamb of sin offering. All these he did to facilitate Yahweh healing us, to facilitate our learning from the disciplines of Yahweh he bore in our stead, leading to our repenting of our sins, and further leading to Yahweh saving, delivering or healing us spiritually. He valued our spiritual healing and salvation so much that he gave up his own life that we might live or be spiritually saved or delivered! On account of his very great sacrifice, Yahweh had divided him a portion with the great and strong!
Greatly Thank, Honour And Praise
Both Yahweh And The Arm Of Yahweh
We who are sinners need to learn the great debt we owe to both Yahweh and the arm of Yahweh. For if it wasn't for their doing what they have done we would not have been spiritually saved or delivered, but would have remained doomed to death or Sheol! We should therefore greatly thank both Yahweh and the arm of Yahweh for this great work they have done for us, a manifestation of love, and grace and mercy, and should diligently heed their every word, serving them fearfully and faithfully.
Learn From Yahweh's Discipline
That He May Heal You
Isaiah 57:15-18 reads,
57:15For
thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the
contrite. 57:16For I will not
contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint
before me, and the souls who I have made. 57:17For
the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid my face and
was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. 57:18I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I
will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. 57:19I create the fruit of the lips: Peace,
peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will
heal him. 57:20But the wicked
are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and
dirt. 57:21There is no peace, says
my God, to the wicked.
When we harbour sin in our hearts, such as covetousness, Yahweh disciplines us by striking us and hiding his face from us. But when we learn from Yahweh's discipline, and repent of our sins, and diligently abide by his words, he heals us of our wounds, both physical and spiritual, restores comforts to us.
Avoid Disobedience And Sin That
Yahweh May Give You Good Health
Isaiah 58 reads,
58:1Cry
aloud, don’t spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my
people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 58:2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know
my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance
of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near
to God. 58:3Why have we fasted, say
they, and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no
knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find your own pleasure, and exact
all your labors. 58:4Behold, you
fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness:
you don’t fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 58:5Is such the fast that I have chosen? The
day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to
spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an
acceptable day to Yahweh?
58:6Isn’t
this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the
bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every
yoke? 58:7Isn’t it to deal your
bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your
house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide
yourself from your own flesh? 58:8Then
shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring
forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the
glory of Yahweh shall by your rearward. 58:9Then
shall you call, and Yahweh will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I
am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of
the finger, and speaking wickedly; 58:10and
if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then
shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday; 58:11and Yahweh will guide you continually, and
satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you
shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don’t
fail. 58:12Those who shall be of
you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of
many generations; and you shall be called The repairer of the breach, The
restorer of paths to dwell in. 58:13If
you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy
day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and
shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor
speaking your own words: 58:14then
shall you delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high
places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father:
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
Yahweh disregards the disobedient and the sinful, afflicting them with sickness. But he heals the repentant and righteous, giving them good health, both physical and spiritual.
Acknowledge Your Sins And Turn
From Them, That Yahweh May Heal You
Jeremiah 3 reads,
3:1They
say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s,
will he return to her again? Won’t that land be greatly polluted? But you
have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says
Yahweh. 3:2Lift up your eyes to the
bare heights, and see; where have you not been lain with? By the ways have
you sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the
land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute’s forehead, you
refused to be ashamed. 3:4Will
you not from this time cry to me, My Father, you are the guide of my youth? 3:5Will he retain his anger forever? Will he
keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things,
and have had your way.
3:6Moreover
Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which
backsliding
3:11Yahweh
said to me, Backsliding
3:16It
shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those
days, says Yahweh, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Yahweh;
neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall
they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. 3:17At
that time they shall call
3:19But
I said, How I will put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a
goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! And I said, You shall call me
My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. 3:20Surely as a wife treacherously departs from
her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, house of
Behold, we are come to you; for you are
Yahweh our God. 3:23Truly in
vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the tumult on the
mountains: truly in Yahweh our God is the salvation of
3:12-13 shows that prior to Yahweh extending his mercy over Israel, she must indeed acknowledge her transgression - backsliding from Yahweh and prostituting herself with idolatry. In other words, prior to Yahweh healing us of our sins and their effects, we must first acknowledge our sins and turn away from them. We must return to Yahweh in faithfulness and truth, dutifully obeying his voice.
Jeremiah 6:10-15 reads,
6:10To
whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is
uncircumcised, and they can’t listen: behold, the word of Yahweh is become to
them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 6:11Therefore I am full of the wrath of Yahweh;
I am weary with holding in: pour it out on the children in the street, and on
the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be
taken, the aged with him who is full of days. 6:12Their
houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I
will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh. 6:13For from the least of them even to the
greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even
to the priest everyone deals falsely. 6:14They
have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when
there is no peace. 6:15Were they
ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed,
neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at
the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
There is a proper way to heal people's hurt, and an improper way. The improper manner of healing is to speak falsehoods, such as when prophet and priest falsely comfort the people in false hopes contrary to Yahweh's word. A proper manner of healing is to speak to people to repent of their sins and faithfully return to Yahweh, to diligently obey his voice. For when sinful people repent, merciful Yahweh forgives them their sins and heals them of the effects of sin. But those who speak falsehoods to the people cause them to believe lies, so that they don't repent, and thereby are not healed!
Proper Healing Is Founded In
Yahweh's Law
Jeremiah 8:4-12 reads,
8:4Moreover
you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again?
Shall one turn away, and not return? 8:5Why
then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They
hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. 8:6I
listened and heard, but they didn’t speak aright: no man repents him of his
wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turns to his course, as a
horse that rushes headlong in the battle. 8:7Yes,
the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the
swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don’t
know the law of Yahweh. 8:8How do
you say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false
pen of the scribes has worked falsely. 8:9The
wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have
rejected the word of Yahweh; and what manner of wisdom is in them? 8:10Therefore will I give their wives to
others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for everyone from
the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even
to the priest every one deals falsely. 8:11They
have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace,
peace; when there is no peace. 8:12Were
they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all
ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who
fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
Proper healing is founded in Yahweh's law - knowing Yahweh's law and abiding by it. And in Yahweh's law is wisdom, for those who abide by the word of Yahweh. But those who deal falsely, such as false scribes, who erroneously and intentionally falsify the record of Yahweh's word and law, improperly heal the people. For true healing is founded in Yahweh's true word - not on corruptions of it. For it is when people repent of their sins and live their lives according to Yahweh's true word, that he forgives them their sins and heals them of the adverse effects of their sins.
The Foundation Of True Healing
Jeremiah 8:13-22 reads,
8:13I
will utterly consume them, says Yahweh: there shall be no grapes on the vine,
nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have
given them shall pass away from them. 8:14Why
do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified
cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence,
and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
8:15We looked for peace, but no good
came; and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay! 8:16The snorting of his horses is heard from
Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles;
for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city
and those who dwell therein. 8:17For,
behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and
they shall bite you, says Yahweh. 8:18Oh
that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me. 8:19Behold, the voice of the cry of the
daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: isn’t Yahweh in Zion?
Isn’t her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their
engraved images, and with foreign vanities? 8:20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are
not saved. 8:21For the hurt
of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me. 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?
True healing is founded in Yahweh's word - walking according to his law, and not in sin. This means forsaking idolatry and rebellion against Yahweh. This means faithfully worshipping Yahweh and dutifully obeying his voice. For it is when one walks righteously before him that Yahweh heals the one of ill health. Walking faithfully before Yahweh is therefore imperative in having good health, both physical and spiritual.
Submit To Yahweh's Word Now To
Ensure Your Salvation
8:20 talks about the harvest being past and the people not having been saved. This appears to me to be talking about the spiritual harvest to take place just prior to the time depicted in these verses. Those lamenting, as pictured by these verses, are Israelites Yahweh gave several opportunities to repent, but who rejected his word, and for so being rebellious were not saved spiritually! It is therefore imperative that we submit to Yahweh's word NOW - that he may indeed save us from the adverse effects of our sins, by forgiving us our sins and healing us of the consequences of sin.
Why Yahweh Strikes Judah And
There Is No Healing Or Peace For Her
Jeremiah 14:11-22 reads,
14:11Yahweh
said to me, Don’t pray for this people for their good. 14:12When they fast, I will not hear their cry;
and when they offer burnt offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them;
but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
14:13Then
said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, You shall not see
the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this
place.
14:14Then
Yahweh said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I didn’t send
them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to
you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of
their own heart. 14:15Therefore
thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I didn’t
send them, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword
and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 14:16The
people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury
them-them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour
their wickedness on them.
14:17You
shall say this word to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and
let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great
breach, with a very grievous wound. 14:18If
I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! And if I
enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both
the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.
14:19Have
you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck
us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and
for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay! 14:20We acknowledge, Yahweh, our wickedness, and the
iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you. 14:21Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake; do
not disgrace the throne of your glory: remember, don’t break your covenant with
us. 14:22Are there any among the
vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers?
Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have
made all these things.
The REASON why Yahweh strikes Judah and there is no healing or peace for her is because of her sins. Nevertheless, as 14:20 shows, Judah will indeed repent of her sins. For she will acknowledge her wickedness, and those of her ancestors. This is a necessary first step in obtaining healing and peace from Yahweh. For those who acknowledge their sin, and repent of it, and dutifully obey Yahweh's voice subsequently, faithfully serving him, will indeed receive mercy and healing at Yahweh's hand.
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