The Ministry of Healing

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He reminded them of some very definite rules and regulations concerning healthful living. Exodus 15:26 and he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.”
What an amazing promise!

Well , you say, “probably the Egyptians didn’t have the disaeses we have today.”

A team of specialists from around the world gathered at the Manchaster Medical School in England in 1975. They made some autopsies on the Egyptian mummies in that museum.

These mummies dated back to 1900 B.C.

The findings were remarkable. The ancient Egyptians suffered from many illness, common to modern man: heart disease, cancer, vascular diseases, artheritis, hepatitis, tetanus, trichinosis, etc.

You see, God designed our bodies. He knows exactly how they function. He understands the principles necessary to keep our bodies in good health, and how we can avoid disease.

Let’s go back to the garden of Eden.

God gave Adam and Eve a perfect diet to sustain and promote their health. Gen.1:29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

In modern language we would say they were given fruit, grains and nuts. This was their food.

God also gave them the right to eat of the tree of life, which was in the garden of Eden. This fruit supplied their diet with a special life-giving substance which would insure etarnal youth and health. After Adam and Eve sinned, God seperated them from the tree of life and added vegetables to their diet. Gen. 3:18… and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

This was man’s total diet until after the flood. It must have been good diet, for the people before the flood lived to be more than 900 years old.

The oldest man that ever lived was Methuselah. Gen.5:27. All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

After the flood man’s life soon decreased markedly.

Noah’s son Shem lived 600 years. His grandson 239 years. His grandson 175 years.

And by the time of King David man’s lifespan had decreased to 70 years.

The flood destroyed plant life on Earth and Noah’s supply of food was exhausted after he and his family had been confined in the ark for a year. So God allowed Noah and his family to eat animals as an emergency measure.

God has given Noah instructions about clean and unclean. Gen.7:2. Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ark, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth.

After God brought the Israelites out of Egypt He gave Moses instructions about dietary principles and regulations to protect their health.

In Deuteronomy, chapter 14, God gives a classification of the animals, fowl and fish. Deut. 14:4,5 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois…..

We can easily identify which are clean and which are unclean for food. Deut. 14:6 Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat



God said that if the animal chews the cud and parts the hoof, it is safe for food. But, some chew the cud and do not part the hoof: Deut. 14:7,8 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you. 8 The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you: of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
If you study this list of animals carefully, you will see why these animals were classified as unclean. Most of them are scavangers.

God also gave instructions about which fish were good for food and which should be avoided:Lev.11:9,10. These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat. 10 All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you,

God placed another restriction on man’s diet: Lev. 3:17. “‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’”

It is not safe to go against the laws of health and then expect God to keep us healthy through a miracle or two. We can not honestly ask Him to heal us from disease if we continue living contrary to his laws of health.

You must not cling to a single habbit that would destroy your mind and body. You must not hold back any part of life from Him.
You must give up things like intemperance in eating, body destroying habits like smoking, drinking, mind destroying habbits…

Proverb 20:1-Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler; Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

But there are other ways we can injure our health like: overweight, sugar, smoking, coffee, ….caffeine.All of these beverages are now being linked with heart diseas, neurological disorders and cancer of the bladder..
Not only does the heart have to work harder when we are overweight, but the kidneys, liver and lungs also are overworked.

One of the enemies of good health is large amount of refined sugar consumed. When you are ill it will be harder for your body to get rid of it’s infection..

We too need time and place to rest a while from our busy schedule. Mark 6:31 He said to them, “You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile.”

The importance of caring for our bodies can only be understood when we know what God has said in the Bible. 1 Cor. 6:19. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You see God dwells in our life through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The best broad principle of health you can follow is to live for God’s glory. God loves you so much that He has saved you from the power of sin and from eternal death.

Apostle Paul continues by explaining that we are not our own. 1 Cor.6:20.

First, we are the property of God by creation and second, we are His again by redemption. Man lives today because of what God has done. We live because of God’s love.

“All things come of God. We have nothing that we have not received; and more than this, we have nothing that has not been purchased for us by the blood of Christ. Everything we posses comes to us stamped with the cross, bought with the blood that is precious above all estimate, because it is the life of God.”(Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p66).

Think of it, friend. We have life today because Christ gave us his life on the cross. Rom. 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

As we think about these things, we begin to see more clearly how good health fits into life. God wants us to live according to the best health and spiritual laws for several reasons.

Because we love God and want to bey Him. As Jesus said;”If you love me, keep my commandments”John 14:15.Obedience to His laws will bring us better health, a fuller life. The apostle John stated God’s wish for us when he wrote;”Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest proper and be in health, even as thy soul propereth.”3 John 2:1The third reason is one of service. Jesus showed us how much God loves us, but in doing so he also showed us how to love others. He said; “A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”John 13:34. In order to love others and able to help them, we should try to be in best physical and mental health possible. It is hard to love and help others when we ourselves are weak, prone to get easily irritated and discouraged.

Will you determine ow to walk on the road to health?
Will you let God fully into your life so He can fully heal your mind and body?

Then look upon Jesus, and have your sins taken away.
1 John 1:29:”Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.”

As you look at Jesus and more fully comprehend that his death on the cross made your life posible, your love will grow for Him.

How important you are to God, the Father and Jesus his Son! No wonder God wants you to be in the best of physical and mental health.

He wants to have the deepest, most meaningful relationship possible with you…a relationship based on love, respect and trust.

In our strength we cannot live right and overcome wrong habits. But that is the wonderful thing about our Saviour. He is right there longing to help us.
Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.