RYWN Podcast Episode 5: God's Prescription for Health + A Sweet Promise + Healing and Relationsh

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So [Moses] cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The LORD made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there 26 He said, "If you will carefully obey the LORD your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.

Exodus 15:25-27

Hello and welcome to today’s show, I’m Rekishia McMillan, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Health Evangelist. My assignment to the Body of Christ is to deliver the message of total health to help women heal their world in body, soul and spirit.

Today I’m going to spend some time teaching about God’s prescription for health. The delivery of prescription medication has become a hot topic because of the Opiate crisis that we currently have in the US. It actually started back in the late 1990s, when pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. Increased prescription of opioid medications had led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive.

This is a pivotal point in our nation, where I believe that it is time for health leaders within the Body of Christ People to rise up and provide solutions to this crisis because, countless people are looking for alternatives answers to the current crisis. Who better to get those answers from Our Creator? Who also goes by the name of Jehovah Rapha, the Lord God that Heals you.

God has a Divine Prescription for Our Health

This original prescription was written in the book of Exodus Chapter 15. I want to cover a brief history of what was going on in this 15th Chapter. God has just deliverer the children of Israel from the bondage of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh and Egyptian rule. The children of Israel had lived under a pagan system for over 400 years. Their lives were ruled by Egyptian task masters who oversaw the hard labor of making brick, straw and mortar, working by the sweat of their brow to build a pagan kingdom. Their daily living arrangements were controlled…when to get up, brutal work hours, they could not even freely worship God, did not acknowledge Yahweh as God, subject to having their babies killed…decree had gone out in the kingdom if a man child was born, they were to kill the child. God had heard and seen enough and spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:7-10

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

So the Lord sends 10 plagues that devastate Egypt and brings the nation to its knees. Exodus 15 is a song of victory declaring how the Lord had mightily delivered them out of a system that was never intended for His children to live under. He overthrew the chariots, horses and the riders, He parted the Red Sea with the breath of his nostrils. Mariam, Moses’ sister and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them

Exodus 15:21 And Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."

Can you imagine the joy that Israel had because they had been set free by the Hand of God Himself? He used Moses and Aaron his brother as vessels, but it was the Lord who had done this. As they were journeying out of Egypt and into their promised land, into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, they were now into the wilderness of Shur. Shur was a place southwest of Palestine on the eastern border or within the border of Egypt; the Israelites passed through the wilderness of Shur after crossing the Red Sea.

I want to share that the book of Exodus is central in the Old Testament because is records God saving Israel and establishing them as a covenant community, a nation that was specifically chosen to represent Him. They were no longer physically enslaved or oppressed.

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

Exodus 15:22-24

Shur, a Time of Testing

They were not doubt, tired, hot, thirsty, hungry…they needed water to drink and came across a body of water that was named Marah. Marah in the Hebrew is translated as meaning bitter. Here’s where our focus scriptures come in, verses 25-27

And he [Moses] cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer." Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

This passage represents a time of testing for Israel, they were wandering in the wilderness of Shur for three days. It was a reminder that the water in Egypt was touched by a plague and turned into blood. Just like I kept the waters pure and clean for you in Egypt, this plague did not touch you. As you are transitioning into new and unfamiliar territory, I am with you. Not only was I with you back then, I am with you now, I have always been with you. Moses takes a log, a tree, representing the tree of life, which is a type of Christ…who is our covenant and he turns a bitter situation into something sweet.

You may be in a situation at this very moment, where the situation around you is very bitter. You may be living in a Marah situation, a bitter situation, but I promise you, if you will put Christ in your bitter moment, your bitter circumstance, He will turn the situation around and make it sweet for you. He will give you a reprieve. Christ is the living water that you can come to and drink so that you will never thirst again.

Israel was so use to looking to Pharoah, the world’s system, a pagan system to give them everything including their food and water. God was showing them, you will no longer look to man’s way of doing things even when it comes down to your food and water. I have a system for you that was totally designed by me for you. I have called you out to be different, My Identification mark is on you. You are supposed to be different from what I called you out of…you are not called to live by pagan rules concerning what you eat and what you drink, you have been chosen to be different.

The Lord’s name translated in this passage is, “I AM the Lord Your Healer.” Jehovah Rapha. Just as I healed the bitter waters, not only is My healing ability for the water, but I have also provided healing for you in other ways as well, but in order to receive this healing, here’s the prescription that you must follow:

"If you will diligently (carefully obey) listen to the voice of the LORD your God
Do that which is right in his eyes
Give ear to his commandments (pay attention to His commands)
Keep all his statutes

Optimal Health Begins with Relationship

Jehovah Rapha made a sweet promise concerning health and healing in a place of bitterness: I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, Your Healer. This is a divine promise, like most others within the Bible, is fulfilled when we are obedient to the principles of God. These principles are designed to protect us from the devastating diseases that have

affected and afflicted mankind throughout history.

If you desire optimal health, it can be yours only as you experience spiritual, moral, mental and physical restoration through the principles found in the Bible. If we look around today, some of the same disease are being experienced that the Egyptians experienced. Deuteronomy 28:22-35 mentions a number of diseases (1):

What Are the Diseases?

The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, the LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

Wasting disease – tuberculosis, malaria, long lasting disease of the body to include auto immune disorders.

Fever – flu, pneumonia or intestinal disease.

Inflammation – inflammatory diseases of our day, arthritis, joint pain, fibromyalgia, brain inflammation, muscle pain.

Burning heat – skin infections (The first defense against these organisms, sickness and disease is the skin itself. Skin consists of several layers of cells packed closely together and gives excellent protection against germs).

Mildew – fungal infections, skin, body, athlete’s food, parasitic infections, bacterial infections within the body.

Fiery heat – related to high fevers associated with heat stroke, headaches, failure of harvest [crops and food supply] due to excessive heat.

Boils – skin diseases, bumps on the skin, acne pimples, small pox, chicken pox, leprosy, shingles, simple boils, carbuncles (collection of boils in a limited area), abscesses involving important structures of the body muscles, lungs, brain, liver, spleen, kidney, bowel and appendix, and infected glands.

Tumors – fibroids, cancer (abnormal enlargement of some part of the body; or it may be a neoplasm, i.e. a growth of abnormal tissue distinct from the healthy tissue underneath.

Festering rashes and scabies – mites within the skin, lice, itching skin, skin irritation, skin infections.

Mental Health - Madness and mental confusion – insanity, dementia, lunacy, depression, anxiety, paranoia, disorientation, poor judgment, Alzheimer’s, hallucinations, senility, diseases that cause deterioration of the brain.

Blindness – brought on by poverty, unsanitary conditions, brilliant sunlight, excessive heat, blowing sand, accidents and/or war injuries.

Does any of this sound like what many individuals are experiencing today? I believe that without questions, much of the sickness that is plaguing our world is due to departing from disobedience, as well as departing from God's original prescription for wellness. The health for the Children of Israel was in stark contrast to their Egyptian counterparts.

A Review of Health and Ancient History

Color pictographs on the wall of Egyptian tombs furnish descriptions of their lifestyle. From the slave to Pharaoh on his throne, innumerable mummies have been preserved for thousands of years. Some of the mummies have been autopsied. Since these initial autopsies in 1880-1900, many more have been examined by x-ray. From these sources, as well as the Bible, there is considerable insight into the lifestyle of the Egyptians and know much about their maladies of ancient Egypt. According to modern paleopathologists, obesity as a problem in the days of ancient Egypt. Degenerative arthritis was common. Pharaoh Ramses II, in the 19th Dynasty, had severe dental disease and abscesses in the jaw, severe degenerative arthritis of the hip joints, and extensive arteriosclerosis of the major arteries in the lower extremities. His son, Merneptah, was a partially bald, obese old man who has sever degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and arteriosclerosis (2).

As a result of obedience in following God’s specific medical laws and commands, Psalms 105:37 says Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who feeble…weak, sickly. Their physical health was preserved.

I want to challenge your thinking, as Believer’s in Christ, for those of us who have confessed Him and made Him our Lord and Savior and believe that through His death, burial and resurrection, we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness and into His marvelous light, we need to make Him Lord in every area of our lives and this includes the way that we eat, what we drink and our lifestyle habits.

In Exodus 15:26, His name is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals you. Because He is the Lord who heals us, just like He showed Israel that they were not to rely on a pagan system for their source, God’s ways have never changed. He said, I am the Lord Your God, I change not. I am the same yesterday, today and forever.

Even though we live in a different dispensation, do you realize that demonic kingdoms, principalities and systems have not changed, but are just represented under a different name: For instance, do you realize that the FDA which is a type of Babylonia or Egyptian system? Meaning it is a corrupted and wicked governmental system ruled by demonic entities who are legally authorized to knowingly place toxic, harmful and deadly poisons within the food and water supply.

In by book, Rock Your World Naturally: 7 Divine Keys to Unlock Extraordinary Health, I give many examples of how this is being done legally by the FDA. What has been labeled as food is not even food, but a food product.

I want to go back to our Divine Prescription for health. In a current view of books used by health professionals to diagnose physical health and mental health conditions are readily found in the DSM-V, Oxford’s Handbook of Clinical Medicine, Merk’s Professional Manual. In spite of the extensive research and compilation that has gone into each of these professional manuals, there is one book that is often overlooked when addressing health conditions. It’s one of the most Ancient and sacred books and has gone by various names: The Holy Bible, The Good Book, God’s Word, Holy Scriptures, the Torah, Sacred History, The Testament, The Writings of the Apostles and Prophets.

Many times, the view of the Bible has been limited by man’s perspective and is only viewed as the foundation of our existence, to include our spiritual and earthly lineages, however, it rarely taught as resource that can be referenced to heal and address physical and mental conditions. Some of you may have never even heard of the idea of the Bible being used as a medical reference.

Prior to each of these scientific studies, God through Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, wrote about the spread of disease, sanitation, personal hygiene and quarantine as key principles for optimum personal and community wellness more than 3,500 years ago. God’s medical instructions for Israel for exceeded the medical knowledge possessed by other ancient societies. Because of the advanced medical information documented throughout the scriptures, it suggests that the infinite healer, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord God that Heals, provided specific prescriptions for optimal health and wellness. Precise medical knowledge is contained in the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

In fact, Black Death and Leprosy were two of the most terrible plagues of the Middle Ages. God’s principles of Public Health such as hygiene, quarantine brought these diseases under control, millions of lives were saved and recorded. Doctor’s actually turned to church leaders during those plagues.

Where is the Church?

Can the community turn to our churches today regarding health?

65-70% of congregants are sick to include pastors and church leadership. The remedy?

Getting back to God’s original prescription of divine health. It does not involve taking a pill or drug, but begins first with your relationship with the Lord who is Jehovah Rapha.

Do you have a relationship with Him?

Examine your heart, your life…are you carefully obeying and listening to the voice of God.

Are you doing what is right in His eyes? What does that mean? We live in a time when everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes, vs. living our life through the eyes of God.

Have you ever thought to consider, what is God’s perspective on my health? How does God want me to eat? How does He want me to govern my lifestyle? You can find these answers by exploring and studying the bible, connect to a Bible Believing church, commit to doing what the Bible says and when you do, you’ll begin to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, walking in integrity, truth, holiness, a life that is set apart for Him, you’ll begin living the prescription…

"If you will diligently (carefully obey) listen to the voice of the LORD your God
Do that which is right in his eyes
Give ear to his commandments (pay attention to His commands)
Keep all his statutes

Maybe you’ve never even heard that God has a plan for you even regarding your health. Yes, He has a plan for everything that concerns you. Without question, we are living the in the Last Days, and the Body of Christ must be fit spiritually, emotionally and physically to do the work that He has called each of us to do.

Reflecting back on our focus scriptures, Exodus 15:25-27, Israel had left a time of bitterness in the wilderness of Shur. Desert places are oftentimes are times of training; it's training ground that God wants to use to teach you. They left a position of praise, celebration, victory and freedom…now they’re in the wilderness. Life happens in cycles. In nature we see it through the seasons winter, spring, summer and fall. The cycle of night and day. Our lives are no different and we also experience times and seasons, cycles.

Life Happens in Cycles

A cycle is a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. Know that after praise, a time of testing will come. Have you been there? Reflect on your life. Praise and victory and then you’re hit with a major test. Jehovah trains you us in the difficulties.

David said that it was in a dry thirsty land with no water, that he reached out to God, Psalms 63:1.

God had just brought them through the Red Sea and drowned their enemies with water. He drowned their enemies with what they were thirsting for.

I believe that God wanted Israel to know that the victory, the sufficiency is not in the water, but it is in me the Living Waters. Israel, I need you to understand that in the wilderness, I am your source, I am your supplier, your former life of relying on someone to provide for you. I have got to retrain you in the wilderness. When you find yourself in the wilderness what did Moses do…he prayed to the God of Heaven. He cried to the Lord.

Psalms 121 was in effect – I will lift up my eyes to the hills where my help comes from. He depended on God. My brother, my sister, are you praying? Are you seeking the Living Water vs. physical things to meet your needs?

The wilderness is a place where we are brought to re-evaluate our prayer life, relationship with the Father. It’s where we take personal responsibility for where we are at. Some of you are stuck in the wilderness of Shur right now because adjustments need to be made to your prayer life, you’re there because it’s time to seek the Living Water.

Marah was a place of bitterness and testing, but because Israel endured and received provision from God, the genuinely gained from their time at Marah. They learned prayer, they learned self-distrust, they learned daily dependence, they learned obedience, and they even learned a new name for God.

· Israel gained by self-examination at Marah

· Israel gained by personal experience at Marah

· Israel gained by spiritual insight at Marah

God hears Moses prayers and provides the answer. Matt 6:33…when you seek Him first, then what you need will manifest…the Lord directed him to a tree…the tree here represents a few things.

Revelation 22:2 - In the middle of its street On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

This tree is what we call a type and represents healing for the nations. In this dispensation, true healing for the nations, can only be possible through Christ…the tree is life, the tree is medicine for the spirit, soul and physical body.

Revelation 2:7 - 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

People of God, true healing is found in God Himself. Just as He was retraining Israel, what He expected from them was obedience…if you love Me, you will keep my commandments. I want to know Israel that you love me. When you listen and do what I say, you are coming out of a pagan nation with old ways, an old system and now I need to teach you how to love me. Pharaoh thought he was your god, your Lord, your master…I had to prove Him wrong and set you free from his oppression Psalms 116:16, Luke 1:17, 75

As you are learning to know me and love me, follow me and my ways, as you trust me and do what is right before me, here’s My part of the newly established covenant, I will not put any of these diseases on you.

Obedience = Health, Happiness, Safety and Spiritual well-being

You will know me by a new name, Jehovah Rapha, you will see and experience a new way. A different side of my divine personality will be revealed to you. I am the Great Physician and this is my prescription for you. In fact, it is written in the New Testament that the covenant is sealed in My Son’s Blood…

I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians: This was God’s promise to an obedient Israel. In many ways our spiritual health and physical health was directly connected to our obedience.

Dr. S.I. McMillen in his book None of These Diseases noted, "Many of God’s laws to Israel had a direct impact of hygiene and health. Practices such as circumcision, quarantine, washing in running water, and eating kosher made a real medical difference in keeping Israel free from disease. Beyond the direct medical implications, obedience also means we are at peace with God – and free from a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety in life. This has an obvious benefit to the health of any person. This miracle was connected with a promise; from now on obedience to commands and statutes would bring healing, both physically and morally.”

The Wilderness is Not Your Final Destination

God may have you in a wilderness moment, but that’s not your final destination, Exodus 15:27.

" 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

After the time of testing God had a time of refreshing for the people of Israel. He knew exactly what they needed, and He knew when to test them and when to rest them. Here we have 12 wells for their supply, for every tribe…showing them that they will need to strive or fight over blessings. There’s more than enough. He gives them abundant wells and 70 date palm trees…the bible says that the righteous shall flourish like palm tree, Psalms 92:12.

The Meaning of Numbers: The Number 70

Seventy has a sacred meaning in the Bible that is made up of the factors of two perfect numbers, seven (representing perfection) and ten (representing completeness and God's law). As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order carried out with all power. It can also represent a period of judgment (4).

Seventy (70) elders were appointed by Moses (Numbers 11:16). After reading the covenant God gave him to read to the people, Moses took 70 elders, along with Aaron and his sons, up Mount Sinai to have a special meal with God himself (Exodus 24:9 - 11).

Ancient Israel spent a total number of 70 years in captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:10). Seventy is also specially connected with Jerusalem. The city kept 70 years of Sabbaths while Judah was in Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 25:11). Seventy sevens (490 years) were determined upon Jerusalem for it to complete its transgressions, to make an end for sins and for everlasting righteousness to enter into it (Daniel 9:24).

Exodus 1:1-5 – These are the names of the Sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each came with his family, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher, the total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70, Joseph was already in Egypt.

There are two main views of the meaning of the number 70. First, in his book Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance, E.W. Bullinger states that “7 x 10 signifies perfect spiritual order and carried out with all spiritual power and significance. Both spirit and power are greatly emphasized.”

Now, the number 70 signifies the restoration of all things in that it refers to all the nations. As we have already seen, there were 70 descendants of Noah following the flood, and these 70 were essentially the beginning of the nations on earth that was restored after the flood. Thus, the number 70 represents all the nations and their restoration.

Prayer of Restoration

I want to pray a prayer to help you re-establish God’s original covenant with your health and healing. The first miracle that God performed for Israel when they left Egypt and entered the promised land involved their health. God so desperately wants to reveal Himself to you as Jehovah Rapha, as the Lord God that heals you in spirit, soul and body. Right now on the Biblical Calendar we are entering into the month of Elul which occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar (3). In the month of Elul it is a time of repentance in preparation for the upcoming High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The word "Elul" is similar to the root of the verb "search" in Aramaic. We’re going to ask God, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer, to help us to search our hearts and return back to original covenant of health and healing.

References:

(1) Diseases of the Bible

(2) A Review of Ancient Health and History

(3) The Month of Elul

(4) Meaning of the Number 70

(5) Wilderness Photo

(6) Palm Trees Photo