Seven Redemptive Names For Jesus
There are seven redemptive names (Some say there are as many as ten.) found in the Old Testament, each providing hope to the reader as well as prophetic insight into Christ's death and provision. One of the first of these, in the order they were revealed, was Jehovah-Rapha (Exodus 15:26). It is spelled Ropheka by some authorities. Translated it means "the Lord that healeth thee" or "I am the Lord thy physician." The presence of Christ in the Old Testament included, along with all His other manifestations, His readiness to heal.

No one would dare suggest that the New Covenant is not better than the Old. Whatever the supernatural help to man was in the Old Testament, it became "much more" (Romans 5) in the New Testament. We must believe that healing for our bodies is no less available than redemption from sin, our deliverance in our temptations or righteousness for our unrighteousness. When you can name any of the other redemptive names and provisions that have been withdrawn, then you ought to question the provision of Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord our Physician.

He Hath Borne Our Sickness
The Mount Everest of prophetic foreknowledge is found in Isaiah 53. Let's look at two verses that remove all doubt about divine healing. "Surely he hath borne our griefs (Choli - disease or sickness), and carried our sorrows (Makob – pain): yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Disease of the soul is cared for with great mercy in these verses but not by excluding disease and pain in the body. Why should anyone penknife the Word of God with a view to denying the healing of suffering individuals? It seems so uncaring to watch men bear the afflictions of Satan, while denying them the promises of God. The word borne in verse four means, "to bear away or carry off." Jesus took your sins and sicknesses upon His sinless and sick-free body and by an efficacious and judicial feat, He became a substitute for each of us. We are saved and healed by faith in His atonement. Our will to believe may fail, but His will to heal cannot.

The Gospel of Saint Matthew compounds this great truth. He shares a beautiful occasion of Christ's healing power and then sets forth this messianic prophecy of Isaiah with even stronger language. "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matthew 8:16-17). This quote by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost of Isaiah 53:4 makes the previous interpretation beyond argument.

Crippled Woman Loosed of Infirmity
This remarkable story we will discuss gives an excellent view from which to identify the source of all diseases. She was bowed over, crippled, and could not straighten herself. It surely was not an infirmity we would identify with an evil spirit. Jesus did! Neither was she identified as a sinner but as a daughter of Abraham. She was at a Jewish worship service when she was healed. Note the facts. "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him." (Luke 13:10-17).

This story establishes several valid facts. He associated disease with the work of a spirit from Satan. We must come to understand that every ounce of sickness and pain is the result of evil powers in our world. There was no sickness until Satan usurped control from the first Adam, and there will be no disease when the second Adam reconciles all things unto Himself. The first fruit of our bodily redemption is divine healing and the final fruit of that redemption will be a glorified body. We must attack sickness with believing prayer and intercession just as we attack sin.

The human body was created in the Father's likeness to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. If that body isn't garrisoned or preserved by the Spirit, eventually the forces of destruction will invade it. This woman was bound and imprisoned by her captor, but marvelously healed when a stronger than her captor took control. (I do not suggest that she was possessed, but oppressed. Oppression is a dominating factor in much sickness.) Jesus said a remarkable truth in Saint John 10:10. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (St. John 10:10). One of the two master forces is in control of your life. Jesus is by far the strongest but cannot rule unless He is invited. Satan will seek control by deception, default, or by invitation.

Jesus absolutely desires our physical health and wholeness. It is His will to heal us. He never acted in behalf of anyone but as an extension of His Father's will for the human family. Neither is He a respector of persons in picking or choosing those to receive His atonement., which includes divine healing.