Healing in the Bible
Image via Wikipedia The restoration of health (Ps. 41:3), the making whole or well whether physically, mentally, or spiritually. The Bible indicates that God’s highest will for man is for him to “enjoy good health … even as your soul is getting along well” (3 John 2). Healing is a prominent topic in the Bible. Sickness is cured by the supernatural intervention of God with or without the use of earthly means. God himself proclaimed, “I am the LORD , who heals you” (Exod. 15:26), and Scripture clearly teaches that God heals all of man’s diseases (Ps. 103:3). In the OT the word used most commonly to denote healing is rāpāʾ, in the LXX iaomai frequently stands for rāpāʾ, and in the NT healing is normally expressed by the words therapeuō and iaomai. The Bible presents two basic views concerning healing and sickness. 1) In the OT Yahweh alone was the source of healing, just as he was considered the source of sickness. Summarizing the basic OT attitu...