I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
—Exodus 15:26
How often have we read these words without expectation that the Lord would fulfill them in us! That the people of God ought to be exempt from the diseases inflicted upon the Egyptians. But we believed that this promise applied only to the Old Testament, and that we who live under the New Testament cannot expect to be healed of sickness. Because we were obliged to recognize the superiority of the new covenant, we came, in our ignorance, to assert that sickness often brings great blessings. Consequently, we believed God had done well to withdraw what He had formerly promised, and to be no longer for us what He was for Israel, “the Lord that healeth thee.”
Today, we see the church awakening and acknowledging her mistake. She sees that it was under the new covenant that the Lord Jesus acquired the title of Healer by all His miraculous healings. She is beginning to see that in charging His church to preach the gospel to every creature, He has promised to be with her “alway[s], even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).
As the proof of His presence, His disciples should have the power to lay hands on the sick, who should then be healed. (See Mark 16:15–18.) There is nothing in the Bible to make the church believe that the promise made to Israel has since been retracted, and she hears, from the apostle James, this new promise: “The prayer of faith shall save [or heal] the sick” (James 5:15).
The church knows that unbelief has always limited (or set boundaries around) the Holy One of Israel (see Psalms 78:41), and she asks herself if it is not this same unbelief that is hindering the manifestation of God’s power to heal today. Who can doubt it?
God is always seeking to make us true believers. Healing and health are of little value if they do not glorify God and unite us more closely with Him. Thus, in the matter of healing, our faith must always be put to the test. He who counts on the name of his God, will have the joy of receiving from God Himself the healing of the body, and of seeing it take place in a manner worthy of God, conformable to His promises. When we read these words, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” let us not fear to answer eagerly, “Yes, Lord, You are the Lord who heals me.”