Healing
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life;
I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Have you ever wondered why we get sick? Where sickness comes from? How healing works? Does God want to heal everyone? Do we need to repent to be healed? And why doesn't everyone get healed? How about the purpose of sickness? These questions surround the topic of healing as we deal with invisible forces. So let's explore what the Bible says about sickness and healing and try to gain insight into how we can approach healing in our lives.
Below are Hebrew and Greek words which are used to describe healing in the Bible. They all mean the same thing and describe physical or spiritual healing:
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רָפָא (rapha) cure, cause to heal, physician, repair, thoroughly, make whole
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θεραπεύω (therapevó) heal, reversing a physical condition to restore a person having an illness (disease, infirmity)
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ἰάομαι ( iaomai) heal, make whole, generally of the physical, sometimes of spiritual, disease
Origins of sickness
Let’s start with the Old Testament to give us a basis for understanding where the sickness began in the first place.
In the beginning, when God was finished with his creation, everything was very good. We can assume that there were no diseases back then. But after Adam and Eve sinned by listening to the serpent instead of God and not taking responsibility for it, God cursed them and that affected the rest of His creation as well. That was the beginning of disease.
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good.
16 To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children…
17 And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Principles of sickness and healing in the Old Testament
Below are the principles of sickness and healing which God makes very clear to Israel as a part of His covenant with them. Essentially sickness follows sin and healing follows repentance and righteousness.
26 …“If you will listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.”
25 So you shall serve Yahweh your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. 26 No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.
Deuteronomy 28, (Leviticus 20:1–9; Leviticus 26:14–39)
15 If, however, you do not obey Yahweh your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:…22 Yahweh will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish….27 Yahweh will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured….28 Yahweh will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind…35 Yahweh will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head….61 Yahweh will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, 14 and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
2 Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— 3 He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion…
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and turn away from evil. 8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
Examples of God’s healing in the Old Testament
Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children— 18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, Yahweh had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
Miriam Becomes Leprous and Heals After Seven Days
10 As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous, 11 and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13 So Moses cried out to Yahweh, “O God, please heal her!” 14 But Yahweh answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.
Jeroboam’s Hand Withers and Heals
4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. 5 And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh. 6 Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with Yahweh your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.
Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son from the Dead
17 Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him. 18 “O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?” 19 But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to Yahweh, “O Yahweh my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to Yahweh, “O Yahweh my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!” 22 And Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. “Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared. 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of Yahweh from your mouth is truth.”
What about Job?
In the book of Job we can find another reason for sickness. Let’s sum up the book first:
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Job is blameless and upright according to God
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God is testing Job by letting Satan take his children, possessions and health
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Job and his 3 friends debate the situation for 36 chapters
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God speaks to Job
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Job repents
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God blesses Job by restoring and multiplying what he previously lost
Even though Job was a righteous man, his children were living in sin as you can see in the beginning of the book, and Job knew it:
4 Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5 And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
God was the one who initiated the testing of Job’s faith:
8 Then Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 Satan answered Yahweh, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 “Very well,” said Yahweh to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.”
As a result of his trials Job came to know God personally:
5 My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. 6 Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
So you can still see God’s principles at work here. Job’s children received the consequences of their sin and Job received the consequences of his righteousness after he had endured the trials and repented. In this case, Job’s sickness was not the result of his sin, but God’s way of bringing Job closer to Himself.
The promise of healing in the Messiah
In the following biblical passages you can see something else that the prophets of Israel point to. If you read carefully, you can recognise the first and second coming of Jesus and the healing that comes with it.
22 And Yahweh will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to Yahweh, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
26 The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that Yahweh binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
24 And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity.
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
4 Surely He took on our infirmities (sickness) and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
1 Come, let us return to Yahweh. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall. 3 Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says Yahweh of Hosts.
Healings in the Gospels
Even if healing was not a foreign concept in Israel, there are not many healings recorded in the Old Testament. When we come to the Gospels, they are full of healings. Notice that healing went hand in hand with repentance, faith - trust that Jesus can and will heal - and the desire or desperation to be healed.
Matthew 4:23-24, (Matthew 9:35)
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed—and He healed them.
The Faith of the Centurion
Matthew 8:5-13, (Luke 7:1–10; John 4:43–54)
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him, 6 “Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” 7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied. 8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you have believed, so will it be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Jesus Heals at Peter’s House
Matthew 8:14-17, (Mark 1:29–34; Luke 4:38–41)
14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve them. 16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took on our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
Matthew 9:1-7, (Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26)
1 Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. 2 Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 On seeing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” 4 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” Then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home.
20 Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was cured from that very hour.
28 After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked. “Yes, Lord,” they answered. 29 Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened.
32 As they were leaving, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
Matthew 12:9-15, (Mark 3:1–6; Luke 6:6–11)
9 Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, 10 and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all…
A House Divided
Matthew 12:22-28, (Mark 3:20–27; Luke 11:14–23)
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see. 23 The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.” 23 But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 “O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
30 Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
The Boy with a Demon
Matthew 17:14-17, (Mark 9:14–29; Luke 9:37–42)
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.” 18Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
14 The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. 15 But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
4 Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” 5 So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. 6 And He was amazed at their unbelief.
24 Then He added, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Luke 6:17-19, (Matthew 4:23–25; Mark 3:7–12)
17 Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed. 19 The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.
40 Jesus stopped and directed that the man be brought to Him. When he had been brought near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “let me see again.” 42 “Receive your sight!” Jesus replied. “Your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.
Healings by Disciples
12 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
1 And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.
6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
12 So they (Apostles) set out and preached that the people should repent. 13 They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.
8 If you enter a town and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’
16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.
12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people, and with one accord the believers gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 Although the people regarded them highly, no one else dared to join them. 14 Yet more and more believers were brought to the Lord—large numbers of both men and women. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. 6 The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform. 7 With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
32 As Peter traveled throughout the area, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and put away your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up, 35 and all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
8 The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man. 9 After this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island (Malta) came and were cured as well.
Healing in the Church
We are left with a few instructions on how to deal with sickness in the church. We know from the apostle Paul that some people have the gift of healing. If these people are available, they should be the ones praying for the sick in the church. James tells us how we should proceed. This includes asking the elders to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil, in faith and repentance.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
Healing in Heavenly Jerusalem
It is interesting that even in the New Jerusalem in the kingdom of God there is still the necessity or possibility of healing. However, we are given very little information about it and it is better to leave it a mystery for the time being.
Revelation 22:1-2, (Ezekiel 47:12)
1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Summary
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Sickness is a consequence of sin and has a purpose to lead us to repentance
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God allows fallen angels and demons to make us sick
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Under the Old Covenant healing followed repentance and keeping God’s commands
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Under the New Covenant healing followed repentance and faith to be healed (John 1:17)
As you can see, God is taking His creation on a journey. He is sovereign and almighty, yet He still chooses to involve us as His companions. Sickness and healing are God's means of keeping us on His narrow path. Though it may be difficult at times, our eternal destiny is at stake, and God knows what it takes for us to finish this race.