Exodus 15_25-26- The Lord Your Healer

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 22  Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.   23  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore, it was named Marah.   24  And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”   25  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,   26  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, your healer.” - Exodus 15:22-26 ESV

The Israelites had experienced a tremendous victory over Egypt. The Lord their God had brought the nation to its knees, devastating their economy, family life, and government. As they left the Red Sea, the Egyptian army that had pursued them was no more. Israel had been freed from their bondage through the miraculous power of the Lord their God. This, however, did not mean that they would not face obstacles on the path they now tread. 

The passage before us is striking. The Lord God had demonstrated His power over the nation of Egypt. He was an almighty God to whom nothing was impossible. He set His people free from bondage and led them into the desert. He defeated the army of Egypt. His people had every reason to expect that the God who led them would also provide and protect them all the way. What could trouble them if God was with them? The answer to that question came when they arrived at Marah.

There in Marah, the much-needed water was so bitter the people could not drink it. This was a serious problem in the desert. Without water, they risked dying of thirst. The question we ask is this: Why would God free His people from bondage only to let them face this trial in the wilderness? This is a question all too many believers ask today. Why does God allow us to face life-threatening trials? If He is over all, shouldn’t our lives be trouble-free? If God goes before us, shall He not remove every obstacle on our path? The answer to that question is quite obvious in this passage. Our lives are not trouble-free in this world.

There at Marah, the people found themselves in a life-threatening situation. Verse 23 tells us that they responded by grumbling. Approaching Moses, they questioned him about what they were to drink. There is deep concern for their lives in these words. Their faith in an almighty and all-powerful God was being tested in those days.

When Moses sought the Lord about the problem, the Lord provided the solution. Verse 25 shows us His response.

25  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. 

God showed Moses a log that he was to throw into the water. When Moses obeyed, the water was healed, and the people drank and were refreshed. Understand that the Lord could have healed the water without that log, but He chose not to. The log would be the means by which those waters would be healed. While the log was cast into the water, know that it was the Lord who healed that water. This is quite clear when the Lord declares in the very next verse that He was their Healer (verse 26). The people were not to worship the log as their healer; God alone deserved the credit. In his book Divine Healing, Andrew Murray has the following to say:

Both the laws of nature and the witness of Scripture show us that God often makes use of intermediary agencies to manifest His glory, but whether by experience or by Scripture, we know also that under the power of the fall and the realm of our senses, our tendency is to attach more importance to the remedies than to the direct action of God. (Murray, Andrew, Divine Healing, Aneko Press, Chapter 29, “The Prayer of Faith.”)

How often have we fallen into this trap? We credit the medication or the surgery for the healing. We worship the log and give it the glory. How foolish this is. The reality of the matter is that unless God permits the healing, it will never take place. While the log was thrown into the water, there was only one Healer. He may choose to do this with or without a log, but by whatever means He chooses, He alone is our Healer. He alone deserves the glory. 

It was here at Marah, in the context of this miraculous healing of the waters, that God introduces Himself as the Lord their Healer. Notice, however, the wording of verse 25:

  25  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them. Exodus 15: 26 ESV

Consider the phrase, “There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule.” The Hebrew word for statute is חׂק (ḥōq). It refers to a commandment, law, or ordinance. The word rule is מִשְׁפָּט (mišppāṭ) and speaks of a charge, judgment, or order. The words are significant and imply that the Lord is establishing an order by which His people were to live. Let's take a moment here to break down this statue and rule of the Lord as found in verse 26.The b

Observe that the statute and rule of the Lord begin with the word “if.” This is significant and reveals the conditions of the contract God was going to make with His people. If those conditions were met, then what followed would be their right and privilege as believers. The blessing was for those who met the qualifications. There are four conditions attached to the promise of God here.

Diligently Listen to the Voice of the Lord Your God

First, God’s people were to listen to the voice of their God diligently. The words diligent and listen are one word in Hebrew. It is derived from שָׁמַע (šāmaʼ), meaning attentive or careful. It also carries the sense of hearing and obeying. There is a two-fold implication in this word.

First, God’s people were to take the voice of the Lord their God seriously. They were to be attentive to this word in all things. You can’t say you are diligent to listen if you only listen to some of what God says and ignore what you don’t like. To be diligent to listen implies a total surrender to Him as Lord, and a willingness to seek His purpose for every circumstance they find themselves.

Second, to listen diligently to the voice of the Lord God implies that God’s people were willing to follow through with what the Lord told them. They would be careful not just to hear but also to obey. This might cause suffering or hardship on their part, but anyone who listens diligently will freely suffer loss to walk in obedience to the voice of God. No one can diligently listen to the voice of the Lord if they hear what He tells them to do but don’t do it. 

Do Right in His Eyes

The next condition in this statute of the Lord is that His people do right in His eyes. Understand that the Lord God is everywhere-present, all-knowing, and all-seeing. Consider what the Psalmist had to say about this in Psalm 139:

 7   Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  8   If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  9  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12   even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.  - Psalms 139:7-12 ESV

There is nothing God does not see. He sees the thoughts of our mind and the attitudes of our heart. What is hidden from everyone else is in plain sight of God.

God calls His people to do what is right before His eyes. The word right is יָשָׁר (yāšār) and literally means straight. The idea is that we do not deviate from the path He has laid out for us. That path is revealed in Scripture and through the leading of God’s Spirit. Wherever and whenever the Lord looks upon us, He must see us walking in His purpose and doing right.y c

Give Ear to His Commandments

The third condition God sets out for His people is that they “give ear” to His commandments. The word used here is אׂזֶן ́(ōzen). It is derived from the word אָזַן ́(āzan) meaning to broaden. Have you ever placed your hand behind your ear to catch the sound and direct it towards your eardrums? In essence, you are broadening your ear to hear better. We generally broaden our ears when we have trouble hearing. It is more than this, however, it is because we want to hear what the other person is saying. We place our hand behind our ear and move our head in the direction of the sound we want to hear. In doing so, we block out other sounds and focus on what we want to hear. To give ear is to purposely focus our attention on the sound we want to hear.on

To what are we to give ear? It is to the commandments or law of God. Understand that there are many opinions about what is right. There are many things that are completely legal and acceptable in our culture, contrary to the commandments of God. You can obey the laws of the land but be guilty of disobeying the commandments and purpose of God. If you want to give ear to the commandments of God, you will need to broaden your ear and turn it to the right frequency. You will need to remove the distractions and focus your attention on the one source you need to hear. The commandments of God, as revealed in Scripture, are our guide for life and practice. God has preserved these truths in written form throughout the generations so we can know His purpose. 

Keep All His Statutes

The final condition for God’s people was that they keep all His statutes. The question arises: What is the difference between a commandment and a statute? A commandment is a general law or regulation imposed upon God’s people. God commanded His people, for example, to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. How do we love God in this way? For Israel, that meant the celebration of the Passover with all its customs and traditions. It required setting aside the firstborn of their cattle, flocks, and herds. Is it possible for us today to love God without celebrating the Passover with all its traditions and customs? By all means, but we cannot be what God calls us to be if we ignore the commandment to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The statutes of God in the New Testament have changed, but His commandments remain as the order by which He governs the universe and the standard for holy and godly living. 

Observe that God required that His people keep all His statutes. The feasts, special days, and celebrations of the Old Testament were not optional. The assembling of oneself with believers, the celebration of the Lord’s Table, and baptism are not optional in the New Testament either. God has placed these statutes in place for our benefit and spiritual maturity. He calls us to be faithful in our observation. 

Remember the context here. As the people set out into the wilderness, with all that was before them, “the Lord made them a statute and a rule.” We have seen the conditions of that statute, so now let's consider the statute and rule itself. What does God promise His people if they meet the conditions described in the first part of verse 26? Listen again to what He says:

26  … “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, your healer.” - Exodus 15:22-26 ESV

God promised that He would not put any of the diseases of Egypt on the people. The word מַחֲלָה (maḥaleh) speaks of sickness or infirmity. What is quite striking is the connection between obedience to God, physical health, and freedom from disease and sickness. The question we must ask here is whether this was specifically for Israel at that moment in history, or whether this statute and rule is present anywhere else in the Scriptures?

Consider what the Lord God told His people in Leviticus 26:

 14   “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,   15  if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,   16  then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.  - Leviticus 26:14-16 ESV

God tells His people here that if they did not listen and obey His commandments, He would visit them with wasting disease and fever. If they spurned His statutes and abhorred His rules, they would suffer from panic and heartache. Both physical and mental illness would be the result of sin and disobedience in their lives. 

In Deuteronomy 28, the Lord again warns His people about the dangers of not obeying His voice when he says:

 15  “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.  16  Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.   17  Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.   18  Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.   19  Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.  20  “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.   21  The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.   22   The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.  - Deuteronomy 28:15-22 ESV

God declares here that if His people did not obey His voice, then he would strike them with wasting disease, fever, and inflammation. Sickness would be the result of their sinful ways and disobedience to His command. This sickness was both physical and a breakdown of their economy and relationships.

We have an example of this in Haggai 1:

 2  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.”   3  Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,   4   “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?   5  Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.   6   You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. - Haggai 1:2-6 ESV

Because His people had not put Him first, the blessing of God was removed from their personal lives. They sowed their gardens but harvested little. They ate but were still hungry.  They put on clothes but were cold. This was a direct result of their neglect of God and His purpose. 

In Numbers 12, we read how Miriam and Aaron spoke out against Moses. 

 1  Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.   2  And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. ...   5  And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.  ... 10  When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.  - Numbers 12:1-2,5,10 ESV

What was the result of Miriam’s sin? God struck her with leprosy. While this was not permanent, when she repented of her sin, God restored her to health. Clearly, the cause of her leprosy was her sin against Moses.

Consider also the words of Proverbs 3:7-8:

 7   Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.  8  It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. - Proverbs 3:7-8 ESV

What is the promise of these verses? The writer tells us that if we turn from evil, it will be healing to our flesh and refreshment to our bones. In other words, sin will bring sickness, but repentance and obedience will heal the flesh. 

In these Old Testament passages, we see the connection between obedience and physical and societal health. The question we must ask now, however, is whether this carries through into the New Testament. Is this principle still applicable in our day?

To answer this question, consider first the example of Jesus healing the paralytic in Matthew 9:2:

 2   And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,  “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” … 7  And he rose and went home.  - Matthew 9:2, 7 ESV

The words of Jesus are striking. Notice first the condition of the man who was brought to Jesus – he was a paralytic. Second, observe the response of Jesus to His condition – He told him his sins were forgiven. Finally, consider the result of this forgiveness – the man rose up and went home.  The man needed his sins to be forgiven for this healing to take place. Those sins kept his body paralyzed. Forgiveness freed him to be whole again.

Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul had this to say about their practice of the Lord’s Table:

 28   Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.   29  For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.   30  That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. - 1 Corinthians 11:28-30 ESV

The apostle told the Corinthians to examine their hearts when they come to the Table of the Lord because if they ate and drank at this table in an unworthy manner, they risked the judgment of God. What form would that judgment take? Paul tells us that it would come in the form of weakness, illness or possibly even death. Observe that this was already happening in Corinth in the phrase, “that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” The apostle shows us a direct connection between physical sickness and sin in the lives of those who were taking part in the Lord’s Table. 

Listen to the exhortation of James to those who are sick:

 14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. - James 5:14-16 ESV

James tells those who are sick to call the elders of the church to pray over them, anointing them with oil. Notice the connection between this sickness and sin in the life of the individual. James tells us that if the sick person committed sin, he would be forgiven through this prayer for healing. Observe also the exhortation of the apostle to the church. They were to confess their sins to each other so that they could be healed. There is a strong connection here between physical sickness and sin.

Having said this, there is one more question we must ask. Is all sickness the result of sin? To answer this, let's consider the passage we have just quoted above. We read in James 5:15:

15  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  - James 5:15 ESV

Notice the phrase, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The word “if” is significant. While James recognizes that there is sickness that is the result of sin in the life of the believer, the word “if” shows us that this is not always the case. 

Jesus expressed this understanding when asked about a man who was born blind in John 9:

 1  As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.   2  And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”   3  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. - John 9:1-3 ESV

In response to their question about who sinned that this man was born blind, Jesus told them that no one had sinned. His sickness was not the result of some personal unconfessed sin in anyone’s life. It was for another purpose. Through His healing, God would receive great glory.

What do we need to understand from Exodus 15:26? Let me conclude with a few thoughts.

First, sickness has its roots in the fall of humankind into sin through Adam and Eve. It is the result of the curse of God upon a sinful world. Sickness, death, brokenness, and separation from God are all the results of that fall. Jesus came to give us victory over the curse of sin in all its dimensions. That reality is not just for after we die, but in the here and now as well.

Second, God may use sickness to speak to us and refine us in our walk with Him. I remember sitting with my dad in the hospital after a fall that shattered the bones in his ankle. As he lay there with nothing to do but listen, He told me, “I think that Lord is telling me to slow down.” God was speaking to him in those days through the things he suffered. The challenge for us is to listen to what He is telling us and put it into practice. If we do not listen, he may speak more loudly. Listen to what Isaiah the prophet told his people from the Lord:

 6  “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,  7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,  - Isaiah 8:6-7 ESV

Because the people refused the waters of Shiloah that gently flowed, the Lord would bring against them the mighty waters of the River. Those mighty waters of the river would communicate what the gently flowing stream would not, but it would also bring more trouble. We would do well to listen to the Lord God in those times, hear what He has to tell us, and respond in obedience.

Third, God may use sickness to refine or keep us humble. Consider what the apostle Paul had to say about this in 2 Corinthians 12:

 7  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,  a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.   8   Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.   9  But he said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, ESV

Paul had a thorn in his flesh. He called it a messenger of Satan sent to harass him. He asked the Lord to take this away, but God refused because it had a purpose in his life. What was that purpose? It was to keep the apostle humble. Paul had experienced many wonderful and miraculous things in his relationship with God. It would have been easy for him to become proud and demanding. God afflicted him, ever so gently, to keep his feet on the ground and dependent on Him in all things.

Next, the church has an obligation to pray for the sick. Remember that there is a spiritual dimension to sickness. Sometimes sickness is a result of sin in our lives. Sometimes sickness is God’s way of getting our attention to speak to us. I remember being in a car accident a number of years ago. I was driving to meet my wife at a coffee shop. About halfway there, I blacked out in the car, crashed through a guard rail, and found myself upside down a few feet from a pond. Until the doctors could be assured that there was no danger of this happening again, they took my driver’s license from me. I had to give up a number of ministries. That year was a year of intense reflection and seeking God for me. My prayer was often, “Lord, don’t let me go through this and come out the other end the same. Teach me what you want me to learn.” 

During these times of sickness, we need the body of Christ to stand with us. Consider the lessons Job learned as he went through a time of being stripped of health, family, and friends. How he longed to have someone to stand with him in those days! He cried out for someone who would understand Him in an accusing way. Sometimes we feel as if Satan is unleashing his full fury upon us. Our energy is fading, and we begin to feel discouraged. Sometimes all we have is the prayers of God’s people, their support, and encouragement. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:

 39  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’   40  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. - Matthew 25:39-40 ESV

Understand two things from these verses. First, Jesus lifts up this ministry of ministering to the sick and afflicted. Second, Jesus tells us that when we minister to the sick in His name, we minister to Him. We minister to Him firstly because He feels what His children feel and suffers with them. We minister to Him secondly, however, in that we help our brother or sister to understand what He is saying to them through the sickness and trial they are facing. This not only brings Him glory, but draws a lost sheep, He loves dearly, closer to Himself. 

We often fail to understand what God wants to do through sickness. We rush to our doctors to ease the pain or make our wounds better, but God often has great lessons to teach us as well, which we often ignore. He calls the church to minister to the sick. He calls for believers to pray not just for relief but for a touch that penetrates deep into the very soul, transforming our lives and drawing us closer to Himself. He calls us to listen during our sickness. He challenges us to realize that we can heal the pain but miss the point of that pain and the lessons He wants us to learn.

How does God heal? He may use a variety of means to bring this healing. In the case of the undrinkable waters of Marah, God used a log of wood. Timothy suffered from “frequent ailments.” Writing to him in 1 Timothy 5, the apostle Paul prescribed a little wine:

 23  (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)  - 1 Timothy 5:23 ESV

Understand that there is ultimately only one Healer. Wine may be an instrument, but only God can make it work. The log may be thrown into the water, but it is God who made the water drinkable again because He alone is the Lord God our Healer.