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Names of Our God, Part II: Jehovah-Rapha 
Do you know what your name means or where it comes from? Many of us may have names passed onto us by our families. There was a time when the meaning of a name was very significant. Parents would choose carefully the name they were going to give to their newborn child. This chosen name was something that marked the child as a person. It told a story; it told who they were.
When we refer to God, we use names such as Lord, Savior and Heavenly Father. All of these names refer to God.
When the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, the name used for God was “Yahweh” ( in our translations, it is “Jehovah”), the powerful defining name of God that was used in the Old Testament.
It was a name so holy and so revered that it was not spoken aloud for fear that they would mispronounce the name of the divine God. In history, it is recounted that when the name of God was written, scribes would throw the pen away to never use the same pen again that had been used to write the name of their God.
Jehovah-Yahweh
This name for God comes from the verb "to be," meaning simply, but profoundly, "I am who I am," and "I will be who I will be." It was the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). Although this name Jehovah was used for God in the Old Testament, it still describes who He is to us and for us today. Hebrews 13:8 says, ¨Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. ¨ Who He was, He will always be.
Let´s look at another name of Jehovah:
Jehovah-RAPHA
We find this name in Exodus 15:26: "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
When the children of Israel came to Marah, they found themselves in great trouble. The waters were bitter. The Israelites were literally dying of thirst. There was plenty of water, but not an ounce they could drink. Then God intervened . . . right on time! He delivered them from their trouble by healing the waters so they could drink.
In our lives today, God is also working on our behalf to make the bitter waters in our life sweet. Sometimes He simply changes our circumstances.
Have you been in a bad situation that you thought you could not endure another day? Just when it looked as though you couldn’t handle it, the Lord removed the trouble. When we think of the many bitter experiences of our lives (those times of difficulties, those times of trouble), we also can see how God has intervened and changed our situation.
Exodus 15:26 gives us the revelation of the name. God says in the last part of the verse, "...I am the Lord Who Heals You," (NKJV). Literally, I am Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord Who makes bitter things sweet. Read that again: “The Lord who makes bitter things sweet!”
Jesus: Our Healer Today
Luke 4:17-18 “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (NIV).
Luke 9:11 ”But the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing” (NIV).
The name Jehovah-Rapha is a name that speaks to us and to our need today. We live in a stressful world. Every day new problems confront us and sometimes we feel the pressure is so great that we cannot continue on. We are also afflicted with physical sicknesses and pain. Jehovah-Rapha says to you today, “I am the Lord who heals you, I am the only one who can heal!”
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord that Heals!
He heals our troubles. He heals our sicknesses. He heals our souls. We can trust that He is the God OUR Healer.
Prayer: “Father, I thank You today that You are my Jehovah-Rapha. You are the God that heals. I thank You because this is a promise of Your Word, and today I declare that promise over my life, over my family, over my job, over my present and over my future. May my life be proof that I serve the Jehovah-Rapha: The God who is my healer: The God who makes bitter things sweet. Thank You that I can trust You to bring the healing for and in all circumstances. To You I give ALL the Glory. Amen.”
Copyright © 2008-2015 Melinda Henderson
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