Jehovah-Ropheka
The medically un-curable headache, which had caused me to be hospitalized several times, has been completely healed….
Testimony: Jehovah-Ropheka (Healer)
So He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them and said, “if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ears to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I’ll put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus 15:25-26)
As far back as I can recall, this severe headache has been with me since I was 3 or 4 years old. It could get so bad that I had to be hospitalized from time to time. At one point, my father thought that he was going to lose me forever because of it. All throughout my life, there had been an endless number of visits to the doctors and hospitals. My husband even joked about how I had already seen all the doctors available on earth, and yet my condition didn't improve at all. In these past two years, I learned many new ways of prayer and I have been praying by quoting God’s promises over my physical condition. Since then, my overall health has improved quite a bit including the headache. However, it did not go away completely. Once the headache strikes, it usually lasts 2 to 8 days. In that situation, I would need complete bed rest for at least a day or two in order for the symptoms to subside. When the pain gets unbearable, I would have to seek immediate professional medical help. One of my aunts is a physician; she once told me that what I have is a genetically neurotic headache and that there was no available medical remedy to cure it.
Recently, I have been attending the DVD Discipleship Program offered by The Promised Land Ministries International. During the 3rd lesson of the “Pursuing Godliness” series, Rev. Rachel taught us how to study the Bible using some basic hermeneutic principles. The homework of that lesson was to look up the meaning of Jehovah God’s seven compound names listed in the Bible. One of the names was Jehovah-Ropheka (Rapha) from Exodus 15:26. Most translations of the Bible do not list out that name directly, but instead translate it into a sentence. The name “Jehovah Ropheka” means, “I am the Lord, Jehovah, who heals you”. The background for this passage was that after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and crossed through the Red Sea, they arrived at Marah in the wilderness. Since the water there was bitter and not drinkable, people complained and Moses sought the Lord. After God made the water sweet, He followed up with a teaching to the Israelites saying, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ears to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I’ll put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” While I was studying this passage, I cross-referenced to Ezekiel 47:8 which also talked about turning water from bitter to sweet. The original text referred to this act of turning bitterness into sweetness as healing the water. Therefore, the miracle that God performed at Marah as recorded in Exodus 15:25 is another incidence of healing the water. God moved and told His people in Exodus 15:26 that He is the Lord their Healer. Each compound name of God represents one of His main characteristics. Since it is in His nature to heal, based on the above scriptures, it is reasonable for me to believe that He is also the Lord who can heal me.
The night after I had done the study on Jehovah-Ropheka, I was struck by the headache again. Whenever I feel the initial stroke of the headache, I usually respond by putting on a hat to keep my head warm in order to prevent the situation from worsening. However, as I was about to get out of bed to grab a hat, I remembered the meaning of Jehovah-Ropheka. So I began to pray and proclaim His healing promise by reciting the verse from Exodus 15:26. I was half-asleep at the time. The pain disappeared soon after my prayer and I quickly fell back asleep. The pain didn't come back the next day. And the headache never occurred again since that night. Hallelujah! May all glory and praises to the Lord, my God, the Ultimate Healer!
Hong Tai, June of 2015 in Northern California, USA
(Translated from Chinese by Jeanette Cheng and Rachel Hsu. Edited by Sarah Pan-Chen.)