HEALING OF MEN AND THE NATIONS

INTRODUCTION: The healing of land starts with God's healing of hearts. The world today is generally sick. With the world population rising to 7.84 billion persons. It is sick and faced with climate changed, destruction of nature, poverty, food and water scarcity, insecurity, war, economic meltdown, violence, terrorism, rape, health challenges, unemployment, racial injustice, religious conflict, corruption, and the likes. All these atrocities are committed by human beings, not animals. Therefore, we need the Lord to heal and restore us to wholeness. 

Healing is the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again. According to Wikipedia, healing is the process of the restoration of health from an unbalanced diseased, damaged or revitalized organism.

According to the story in 2Kings 5:1-14, 

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I, God? Can I kill and bring it back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Naaman was healed of leprosy with a simple but powerful command from the prophet of God (Elisha) who told him "wash and be cleansed". He only received his restoration,  salvation, and miracle when he believed in the word of God and did accordingly as he was commanded by the man of God. 

Likewise the case of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:2-8, Luke 5:18-26. 

2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

The paralytic received his healing because of the faith of his friend. His friends went the extra mile to see that he was believed from that health challenge he is facing. They made an opening in the roof, digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on, this is not an easy task but a sacrifice of loving and caring friends. 

Today, we can also be healed, only believe. Let's exercise our faith today.