Healing in the Old Testament

David W Palmer

He sent his word, and healed them,

and delivered them from their destructions.

—(Psalms 107:20 kjv)

Let us now take a closer look at God’s word to see exactly what it reveals God’s will to be regarding healing. First, what can we learn from a review of the Old Testament?

ABRAHAM

God made a covenant with Abraham:

(Genesis 15:1 nkjv) After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

(Genesis 17:1–2 nkjv) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before Me and be blameless. {2} And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

When God said, “I am El Shaddai,” it means that he is Almighty—the all-sufficient one. It is like saying: “I am whatever it takes.” If Abraham would stay faithful to the covenant, God was promising to meet his need in every area. Under this covenant, God healed Abraham and Sarah of infertility; they bore Isaac in their latter years.

Also, as we saw in a previous part of this series, Abraham prayed to God under this covenant, and God healed Abimelech and his household too:

(Genesis 20:17 nkjv) So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children.

Clearly, when God said he would be El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One, he included healing as part of his provision.

MOSES

God initiated the covenant with Abraham, but later expanded, explained, and clarified it through Moses:

Covenant detail

God spelled out the covenant in more detail through Moses; he gave the law, the tabernacle, all the ceremonies and feasts, etc. Healing was included:

(Deuteronomy 32:39 MSG) “Do you see it now? Do you see that I’m the one? Do you see that there’s no other god beside me? I bring death and I give life, I wound and I heal—there is no getting away from or around me!”

2. Covenant Names

When God makes a covenant, one of the ways of revealing his will for the agreement is through the covenant names with which he reveals himself. This is like when a woman takes on a new name in a marriage covenant; during the ceremony, both parties make vows, seal it with a ring and a kiss, and the vowing bride takes a new name. To Moses, God pledged himself as Jehovah Raphae, “the Lord who heals.” This confirmed, in a blood-sworn oath, that his will under the Old Testament was healing:

(Exodus 15:26 nkjv) and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

Healing is God’s nature. This is God’s will for all time. He is the God who heals.

3. Healing under the Law

Deuteronomy 28 spells out the blessings and cursing associated with the Law of Moses:

Blessings for obedience

Curses for disobedience

The next passage describes the consequences of disobedience to the “law”; the law defined man’s responsibility under the Old Testament covenant:

(Deuteronomy 28:60-61 nkjv) “Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. {61} Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed.”

Clearly, the old covenant as delineated in the law and writings of Moses, was based on the principle:

Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad.

If God’s OT covenant partners obeyed him—his voice along with his written laws, commandments, rituals, feasts, etc.—he could protect them from the curse. Remember, the earth came under the curse when Adam fell, putting himself under the devil’s control; because—through his puppet Adam—Satan became the “god/prince of this world” (See: John 12:31, 2 Cor. 4:4).

If God’s covenant partners did not obey him, they walked out from under his covering and protection. Consequently, they exposed themselves to the curse outside in the satanically controlled world; it was evil, corrupt, and deadly.

Thankfully, in the New Testament, in Jesus we are no longer under the “do good, get good” system of the law. We are now under a completely different system—one in which God wants us to trust him implicitly. He wants us to put off the old nature, put on our new nature in Christ, and walk in the Spirit. Perhaps the following verse sums this up best:

(Romans 4:16 dkjv) Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not only to the one who is of the law, but also to the one who is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.

Because of all that Jesus achieved for us in the New Testament, we now live under a better covenant; if we believe—really trust him fully, using our faith—God applies his grace to us. That is, he gives us what we have not earned and do not deserve. If we live by faith, we can walk in God’s blessing. Healing is part of that blessing:

(Revelation 22:1–3 nkjv underline mine) And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. {2} In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. {3} And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

Today, even though we are under a better covenant with better promises in the New Testament; I trust you are super encouraged to see that even under the old covenant, God’s will was obviously healing for those who walked with him. This reveals his nature, his character, and his love; he certainly wants his people well, whole, and full of joy and life. You can trust him today with your whole life—from your deepest secrets, your inner fears, your health, to your safety, protection, and provision today, tomorrow, and forever. He loves you, he is that good; and this is what he wants for you