In a previous study (Seeing the Heart of God in the Life of Jesus), we saw that the heart of God is to heal and that He does not make people sick or cause them to be feeble. Even so, there are still many pastors, preachers and leaders today who are basically parroting some common misconceptions regarding scripture and perpetuating some wrong beliefs that continue to hold people in bondage and fear.
Today we will be examining these misconceptions and wrong beliefs in the light of the scriptures, and as we see the truth of Jesus in the scriptures, these misconceptions and wrong beliefs will be utterly destroyed by the glorious light of Christ.
I speak from personal experience when I say that trying to make sense of the healing of God today is a frustrating thing for anyone relying on the word of men. For every pastor who preaches that someone can be healed by God, there is another who says that God does not heal today, and then there is even another one who says that God heals, but only when He wants to. The most frustrating thing of all? They all seem to have scripture to back up their claims! So which one is right? There are some people who would simply stop at this point and say it is impossible to tell… but if like me, that answer is not good enough (especially if you need healing) then this study is personally for you today.
The good news my friends is that in truth, the word of God is simple… it is man that complicates it! Men, through their own reasoning, ideas, ignorance and pride have complicated, confused and confounded the simple truth of God’s word and have stopped many people from receiving the healing that they desperately need. So let us now agree together to set all of the preconceived ideas of men aside and read the scriptures for what they actually say without our self getting in the way. If we do this, then as we see the truth of Jesus in the scriptures, that truth will set us free, and we will be free completely.
Let’s begin by reading Isaiah 53:4-5, one of the most misunderstood verses of scripture:
“Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: 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 on him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Just as stated in the opening of this study, there are preachers, pastors and leaders who each use these verses to claim their own positions regarding healing, but we are not interested in the opinions of men, but the One True Word of God (Jesus). So what do we do then? We let scripture interpret itself for us.
We know that the “he” in these verses is speaking of Jesus because that is the context surrounding these verses and Isaiah is prophesying about Christ, the Messiah and His death on the cross. We also know that the Bible was not originally written in English, so to get a better understanding of the meaning here, we must read in the original Hebrew language. Now to save everyone some time and a lot of Hebrew lessons, what we would find is that the original sentence of Isaiah 53:4 actually reads like this:
Truly, He lifted up our physical maladies and pains
Now this “lifting up” is the exact same thing that Jesus spoke of in John 3:14, where Jesus said that He must be lifted up just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness in Numbers 21:8-9. This shows us a picture of Jesus being lifted up for all to see, as the absolute fullness of the wrath of God that was rightfully due to us for our sins was laid on Jesus instead. Our sins did not escape unpunished, Jesus took the punishment that we deserved.
Take special notice of the next part of Isaiah 53:4. What many English versions of the Bible translate as “griefs”, the original Hebrew text actually uses the word choliy (pronounced: khol-lee). This word actually has a very broad definition as “any sicknesses, disease or physical malady.”
So when we put all of this information together, we can see that as Jesus is lifted up, a picture of our total redemption, and as we see our sins and punishment laid on Him (including our sicknesses and diseases) then just as with Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wildernesses, we will be healed the same way.
Yet there are some leaders today who say that this is not a proper translation of the word “choliy” in this context, and to that I say, let’s allow the Bible to interpret itself for us even further. Turn now to Matthew 8:16-17:
“When the even was come, they brought to 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 bore our sicknesses.”
Here we have Matthew interpreting the very verse of Isaiah 53:4 that we just read (Esaias is the Greek variant name for Isaiah). So, we can see here that Jesus cast out devils with His Word, and healed all that were sick! Regardless of what they had, all who came to Jesus were healed. He did not tell some to wait until later, nor did He send certain people away unhealed. He healed all who came to Him. And what is given here as the reason? There were many scriptures that Matthew could have cited here, but he chose to cite Isaiah 53:4, and notice that Matthew translated the words as infirmities and sicknesses for the Greek, which as the same broad definition as the Hebrew word choliy that we have seen.
With all of this together, there really is no reason at all to doubt the meaning Isaiah 53:4-5. It is absolutely speaking of physical healing bought for us by Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit translated it for us in Matthew 8:16-17 and there is no escaping this wonderful fact.
So now that we know healing is paid for us to have through Christ Jesus, we must now address those who claim that God heals, but only in His sovereign will (whenever He wants to).
This is another terrible lie of the enemy that keeps people in doubt and fear rather than standing firm on the promises of God in Christ Jesus. After all, you can’t really stand firm against the enemy if you are unsure whether God is backing you up or not. I have met some people who have been unsure whether God really wanted to heal them or not; and some believed that God was the source of their sickness! I took the time to explain to them what I am sharing with you today, and then prayed for their healing and they were able to receive, what they didn’t have the faith for before.
Now regarding those who claim that God only heals when He wants to, or in His time, we then must ask the question: when is His time? We get the answer from 2nd Corinthians 6:2:
“(For he said, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
We can see here that now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
Yet some say that this is only talking about saving us from hell to heaven; but that is not how God sees salvation… He does not see salvation in such a limited fashion as we do. You see my friends, in the Greek text, the word “salvation” is soteria, (pronounced: soh-tare-ree-uh). It is another one of those broadly-defined words that not only includes saving us from hell to heaven, but also every other “lesser-blessing” such as health, protection and deliverance.
Now if that was not enough, Jesus Himself defines for us the way He sees salvation in Luke 5:23-25, remember always let the Bible interpret itself:
“Whether is easier, to say, Your sins be forgiven you; or to say, Rise up and walk?
But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy,) I say to you, Arise, and take up your couch, and go into your house.
And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that where on he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.”
To Jesus, there is no difference at all between salvation and healing. He even asks them, what is easier to say, “your sins are forgiven; or rise up and walk?” You see to Him they are both the same thing. Now why is this so? Because we must understand that to God, sins are not just the things that we do. In the Greek language, the word for sin is hamartia (pronounced: ham-arr-tee-uh) which means “to miss the mark, anything that falls short of God’s glory”. So as far as God is concerned, any sickness misses the mark of His design, any weaknesses falls short of His divine glory – and so it is sin.
Seeing this truth, it becomes clear that to God, salvation and healing is really all one big master-work – all accomplished by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. When He took our sins, He took our sicknesses too, there is no separation.
So then, those that claim that God only heals when He wants to, are both simultaneously ignoring that verse which we read in 2nd Corinthians 6:2, and also diminishing the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Now my friends, I am very much aware that some use Paul as a negative example against healing because he had a thorn in the flesh. So as we are closing this study today, we are going to address this common misconception so that it can no longer be used by the enemy to rob people of their healing. Let’s go ahead and read the verses in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-9:
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me.”
On the surface and with our English translation it looks as if those pastors and leaders were correct and sometimes God chooses not to heal people to keep them humble, but oh my friends this is such a terrible mistake and lie of the enemy. Paul gives us a clue right in verse 7 that his “thorn” is a messenger of Satan, and the Greek word used there can only be used to denote a personality and not a thing.
Furthermore, much of this confusion comes from the phrase “thorn in the flesh”. We tend to fixate on the word “flesh” and tend to think of some bodily ailment, but we need to understand that “thorn in the flesh” was a common euphemistic expression, quite similar to what we say today when we call someone a “pain in the neck”.
Think about it: when we say “Gee my boss, is a real pain in the neck!” we are not actually telling someone that our neck hurts, we are simply describing our frustration in a colorful manner that gets the real point across: my boss is annoying and frustrating.
Likewise, when Paul says that this person sent to him by Satan is a “thorn in his flesh” he is saying that this person is annoying and a hindrance to his ministry, probably by slandering him, disrupting him, backbiting and otherwise slowing his progress.
Even so, remember that we must always let the Bible interpret itself: so now let’s let God interpret the phrase “thorn in the flesh” for us… turn now to Numbers 33:55:
“But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell.”
So we can see here that God translates the “thorns in the side” as a people that vex, irritate, harass and be hostile towards His people. Exactly what the messenger of Satan was doing to Paul.
My dear friends, now that we have seen the truth of God’s healing in the light of Jesus and have thoroughly explored the scriptures to eliminate some common misconceptions, I pray that this has strengthened your faith to receive the healing that Jesus Christ paid such a high price to give you. Never let anyone talk you out of the plain and simple truths of the Gospel. Healing is yours in the Name of Jesus.
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