Statement of Faith Doctrinal Statements and Positions

Doctrinal Statements and Positions

Divine Healing

Healing in the Old Testament: Natural and Supernatural

Malcolm Webber, Ph.D.

Ever since the beginning of human history, people have battled sickness, disease, pain and oppression in every realm - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Sickness and oppression have always been a part of human life.

The reason for this was the sin of man. When man sinned - when he went his own way instead of obeying God - he came under the curse of sin, and that curse included sickness and all the sufferings and oppression of this life.

In response to this suffering, understandably, man has sought relief. Every human culture - ancient and modern - reveals evidence of man's pursuit of healing through a variety of means, both natural and supernatural.

In human cultures, there are many different kinds of doctors (specialists in various fields) and many different kinds of witchdoctors (they too often have their own specialties).

We see these two kinds of healing also in the Old Testament in the midst of God's people Israel:

In the Old Testament we see several things:

1. The willingness of God to heal His people supernaturally.

The Old Testament reveals God's willingness to use His supernatural power to heal His people from sickness and to deliver them from oppression. God revealed Himself as the "healer" of His people:

He said, "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." (Ex. 15:26)

2. The biblical balance regarding divine healing.

God does not, in the Old Testament, condemn the use of doctors or medical science. He does, of course, condemn the use of all supernatural means of healing apart from Himself. He condemns all other kinds of supernatural healing in the clearest of terms. For example in Deuteronomy 18, God condemns all kinds of occult activity, some of which can be used in the pursuit of healing:

When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. (Deut. 18:9-12)

In 2 King 1, King Ahaziah seeks help from the pagan god and is condemned by Elijah the prophet.

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!'"…(2 Kings 1:2-4)

A Biblical Balance

We must have this balance in our theology of divine healing.

We do acknowledge there is often some overlap between doctors and witchdoctors. Natural healing and spiritual healing are tied together in many cultures. For the sake of simplicity we will deal with them separately in this study.

Natural Healing in the Old Testament

Firstly, we will look at God's acknowledgement of the existence of doctors and natural healing practices in Israel. God acknowledges their existence without condemnation.

Here are some general references.

Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness - only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. (Is. 1:5b-6)

In Isaiah 1, God uses physical sickness as a metaphor for spiritual sickness, and there is a clear expectation on His part of medical treatment: cleansing, bandaging and soothing with oil. This passage and the ones that follow clearly reveal the presence of natural methods of healing in the normal life of the community of God's people. God draws from the lifestyle of His people practical and instantly recognizable images and He uses those images as spiritual metaphors in the words of His prophets as they address spiritual issues.

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? (Jer. 8:22)

Again this is a spiritual picture. But, again, this spiritual picture clearly reveals a context of the normalcy of natural methods of healing being used by God's people. The people didn't look at Jeremiah with a blank stare when he spoke these words and ask, "What's a physician? What's balm?" For a metaphor to be useful it must be meaningful as well as instantly and clearly recognizable.

In particular, from Jeremiah 8:22 we see:

1. God has a positive view of the physician.
2. The physician's presence in the midst of God's people is expected. God is surprised that there is no physician there.
3. He is recognized as a "professional." The physician has a recognized place in society.
4. He is expected to promote physical healing.
5. He is expected to use natural means to do so (e.g., the healing balm that Gilead was noted for).

Notably, God is "sad" in Jeremiah 8 that there is no physician. He expects a physician to be there! He is positive toward the idea. There is something wrong with the fact that there is no physician.

Go up to Gilead and get balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt. But you multiply remedies in vain; there is no healing for you. (Jer. 46:11)

Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. (Jer. 51:8)

Both these prophecies again use sickness as a spiritual image, but we still see:

1. It is common and expected to seek natural cures for sickness.
2. There were several, perhaps many, possible treatments.

Once more, God does not express disapproval of this practice of natural healing. He expects it; it is normal in the life of the community of God's people.

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. (Jer. 6:14; cf. 8:11)

From Jeremiah 6 we see that the dressing of wounds was a known skill and one could do it well or badly. The leaders, in a spiritual metaphor, were doing it very poorly here! Consequently, God rebukes them. In this metaphor, He rebukes them for not performing natural healing properly (cf. Job 13:4).

Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up for healing or put in a splint so as to become strong enough to hold a sword. (Ezek. 30:21)

Thus, it was known that binding up the broken arm will help it to heal. This is a natural healing process. There is no supernatural healing spoken of here and there is no condemnation from God of natural means of healing. This method of assisting natural healing is spoken as being a normal and expected part of life.

You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. (Ezek. 34:4a)

For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. (Zech. 11:16)

Once more, these are prophetic metaphors in God's condemnation of the abusive leaders. The literal image behind these metaphors is that of a shepherd caring for his sheep. It is seen as good and appropriate for a shepherd to seek the healing of his sheep through natural means. Moreover, God clearly considers it quite inappropriate for the shepherd to not seek the healing of his sheep through natural means. It is downright irresponsible and negligent for him not to do so!

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. (Prov. 17:22, NJKV)

According to God, medicine "does good." If God saw medicine as bad then He would not have said this here.

Now we come to the clearest passage on this subject in the Old Testament. The following two verses occur in the early part of Moses' law.

If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but is confined to bed, the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed. (Ex. 21:18-19)

This is not a spiritual metaphor here; God is speaking about literal sickness and literal physical healing. Moreover, there is no reference to supernatural healing of the injured man's condition here, since the "loss of his time" clearly implies a process of healing over a period of time.

To "see that he is completely healed" means to make sure the injured man receives appropriate treatment and that his medical bills are paid. God commands this here as a part of His holy law!

the assailant must pay for time lost because of the injury and must pay for the medical expenses. (New Living Translation)

The New Living Translation is certainly a paraphrase of this verse and not a strict translation, but it does provide an effective and accurate interpretation of the meaning. The New King James Version gives a stricter translation of the verse, and it too is quite clear.

He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed. (New King James Version)

From Exodus 21, we see:

1. Physicians were present in Israel and fully accepted at the earliest stage of Israel's national existence.
2. Natural healing is not opposed by God.
3. God actually commands appropriate medical treatment here and even details who is ethically responsible in this particular situation to pay for it.

In conclusion, we do not see in the Old Testament any tension between supernatural healing by God and natural healing with the help of physicians. God does clearly condemn all uses of spiritual, supernatural healing apart from Himself, but He does not condemn methods of natural healing.

King Asa

Let us now consider the story of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. (2 Chron. 16:12)

Teachers of "extreme faith" who do not have a balance in their theology of divine healing will almost always cite this verse as evidence of a contradiction between divine healing and natural healing. They try to use this verse to show that you must choose between the kinds of healing; it is either one or the other. Therefore, if a believer accepts physical treatment of some kind he is sinning against God because God has promised to heal him.

Is that what this passage teaches? Let us look a little closer. Firstly, one should note that Asa's sin was primarily in the fact that "he did not seek help from the Lord." That statement clearly reveals the backslidden state of his heart.

Secondly, and more significantly, a better translation of the Hebrew would be:

even in his sickness, he did not seek the Lord, but rather made enquiry of the physicians. (Hebrew)1

Consider the King James translation of the verse:

yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. (KJV)

The statement is that Asa made (oracular) enquiry of the physicians. The Hebrew term is a technical one referring to a religious enquiry. Thus, there is the idea of sorcery here. It is not merely that Asa sought natural healing through the help of a normal doctor. Asa went after pagan physicians who were practicing some kind of occult healing.

The same Hebrew term is used in 1 Chronicles 10:

So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. (1 Chron. 10:13-14)

It was this kind of "seeking" that Asa committed in 2 Chronicles 16 - a religious, spiritual kind of seeking. What Asa must have done in 2 Chronicles 16 would have been similar to the sin of Ahaziah in 2 Kings 1:

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." (2 Kings 1:2)

Our conclusion is that 2 Chronicles 16:12 does not condemn natural healing through a physician, but it does condemn the use of occult healing practices.

In summary, God allows natural healing through physicians for His people. He expects it as appropriate; it is a normal part of life. God even commands it as part of His law (Ex. 21:18-19). However, when it comes to supernatural healing, God commands that His people turn to Him alone. Moreover, God is willing to heal when we turn to Him.

Let us now look at God's willingness to heal as revealed in the Old Testament.

God's Willingness to Heal His People Supernaturally

There is repeated evidence in the Old Testament of God's willingness to heal His covenant people through His own supernatural power. Here are just a few passages:

He said, "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." (Ex. 15:26)

Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. (Ex. 23:25-26)

See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. (Deut. 32:39)

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. (Ps. 41:1-3)

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (Ps. 103:2-5)

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov. 3:7-8)

What wonderful promises! Moreover, these promises were not only made to the nation of Israel, but Paul boldly declares:

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Cor. 1:20)

Jesus is the final and comprehensive revelation of God (Heb. 1:1-3) and He is the personal embodiment of God's faithfulness. God has fulfilled and continues to fulfill every one of his promises in and through Christ. Furthermore, we affirm God's faithfulness to His promises when through Christ we say "Amen" to the teaching of God's truth.

Thus, even in His Old Testament promises of healing to Israel we find a clear revelation of God's willingness to heal His people today!

The Extreme Teaching

In contrast to the biblical balance, extreme faith teaching promotes the idea that God forbids His people to use natural means of healing. Such teaching is very damaging. If a Christian believes that God does not condemn natural means of healing, then he will continue to pray and look to God while he is receiving medical care. However, if he believes there is a contradiction between the two, he will fall under condemnation and be unable to pray or look to God for healing, thinking that God is angry with him and that he has no grounds to expect God to heal him while he is receiving any natural treatment. In this way, supposed "faith" teaching actually undermines the faith of God's people!

Moreover, if God forbids His people to receive medical care, where do we draw the line? Is it acceptable to use band-aids or to set a broken bone? Can a Christian clean a wound or is that "not faith"? Is it "faith" to use preventative measures related to physical health? Where do we draw the line? Thus, many sincere Christians have been brought under confusion by such teaching.

Additionally, there have been many sincere believers who have allowed themselves or their children to die for lack of medical treatment, all along believing they were doing what God expected of them. This has been a bad witness for the Christian faith.

The biblical teaching of divine healing is a very positive message of hope and blessing through the grace of God; it is not one of guilt, fear, condemnation and death.

In Conclusion

In the Scriptures we find a balanced theology of divine healing:

The Word of God, and not the errors of men, is the basis of our faith. An "extreme" and unbalanced faith will not help the people of God, but will only lead them into bondage and further oppression. In the Word of God there is life and victory!

1 Michael L. Brown, Israel's Divine Healer, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995, pp. 47-53.

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