Day Eleven - Who are you, God? JEHOVAH RAPHE

“So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Numbers 21:7c-9). “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14). “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die”

John 12:32

It began where all pain and suffering begin, with our sin. After forty years of wandering in the desert, the people of God had still not learned to trust him in all circumstances. Now, as they moved up the east side of the Jordan and anticipated their entry into the Promised Land, they did the same thing they had done when they first came out of Egypt. They grumbled and complained about food and water. And so God sent fiery serpents as a punishment for their unbelief. We are told that many of them were bitten and some died. Witnessing that, it didn’t take long for them to confess their sin to Moses and beg him to pray for God’s healing. 

The first time they had complained, the issue was also their hunger and thirst. Then they whined after finding a water source that was bitter and undrinkable. On that occasion, God miraculously healed the water so that they could drink it. Then he explained that just as he had healed the water, he would prevent any disease from coming upon them if they would only follow him. Then God revealed a little more about who he was by introducing himself as “…I am the Lord, your healer” (Exodus 15:27). In Hebrew, this is translated as Jehovah Raphe (pronounced Rah’ fah). 

Now back to the snakes. I don’t know if you’re like me and Indiana Jones, but I hate snakes! I cannot imagine the terror that spread throughout this complex campground as snakes slithered in and out of tents and went from one tent to another. I can imagine people running, parents panicking, startled students, and children screaming. In the midst of this chaos, Moses asked God to intervene and God gave Moses the weirdest of remedies. He told Moses to make a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and lift it up so that everyone who had been bitten could look up at the bronze snake and be healed. What! What?

Before we consider what God was up to in this ancient form of healing, I want to point out that a snake on a pole is still around 3,500 years later, and you’ve probably seen it at the place you go for healing. A snake wrapped around a pole is the symbol for most medical associations in the world, including the World Health Organization. This symbol has been attributed to Asclepius, the Greek God of healing. But I believe it may go back to the healing that Moses introduced in the wilderness and that the symbol was copied or adapted by Asclepius who came along almost a thousand years after Moses. That is just something extra to think about. 

Back to the symbol itself. Why would God use the source of pain as a remedy to heal? I mean, if you’ve been bitten by a snake the last thing you want to do is look at a snake, especially a big bronze one on a pole. God is up to something here and is teaching us about how he expresses himself as Jehovah Raphe, the God who heals. Could it be that our healing God has the ability to turn the source of our pain into the source of our healing? 

What is your pain right now? Is it physical? Do you have broken bones, a bad back, a serious illness, or chronic illness? Is your pain mental or emotional? Are you dealing with depression, insecurity, fear, or mental illness? Is your pain spiritual? Do you feel guilty, unworthy, trapped in sin, addicted, or lost? As I mentioned, our pain comes from sin­­--sins we have committed, sins committed against us, and the evil of this sin-sick world. Until we arrive on the other side of eternity, I don’t think we will fully comprehend the complete devastation that sin has brought into our existence. Every pain we have can be attributed to sin, and the result of all this sin leads us to the greatest pain of all. According to Scripture, sin results in death. As Romans 6:23a tells us, “For the wages of sin are death.” 

This is where we see God’s plan for the bronze snake on a pole. It was designed to be a picture of the greater healing that God had planned through Jesus’ death on a cross. Since sin and death are the things that bring us the greatest pain, God brought healing by raising up death and sin on the cross of Jesus. Jehovah Raphe brought healing by offering his only Son Jesus to take away our sin and death by the shedding of his blood and his resurrection. There is no healing until we lift our eyes from our pain and look to the cross. 

Whatever your fears are today, look to the cross. Whatever your pain is today, look to the cross. Whatever your sin is today, look to the cross. Whatever your insecurities and uncertainties are, look to the cross. And be healed by the God who heals.