Balm of Gilead
Healing comes to us in many ways and in many
shapes in our lives. It may be that it
takes many years to work through some of the problems and hurts we have felt
. I heard someone say that you know that
forgiveness , a kind of healing , happens when we no longer wish ill on someone
who has harmed us. That means we have
finally let go of our anger and frustration and have forgiven. In the Old Testament we read of healing that came
from Gilead. Genesis 37 said “ Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels
bearing spicery and balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt” vs. 25 “It was a healing compound made from the
resinous gum of a bush which grew plentifully in the area of Gilead” Wikipedia
In our OT lesson we read , “ Is there no balm
in Gilead; is there no physician there?”
Jer 8:22. The people had gone far
from what God had asked of them. They
had provoked the LORD to anger with their disobedience. Jeremiah laments, “ the harvest is past, the
summer is ended , and we are not saved.” Vs. 20
Why? He kept on telling them what
God had said to him as a prophet yet they were” slidden back by a perpetual
backsliding.” Vs. 5 ----“no man
repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? “ As well the wise men were not so wise in
their sayings. Why? “ They have rejected the word of the LORD”
Jeremiah said.
So the question is asked, “ Is there no balm
in Gilead?” This is a bit of a question
like, “ Does a dog bark?” “ Does a cat
meow?” Of course there was balm in
Gilead. We have been told of its use as a healing compound. What God is saying is that He is their
physician and healer. They knew
this. Exodus 15:26 “If thou wilt
diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is
right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his statutes, I will put none of these
diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: FOR I AM THE LORD
THAT HEALETH THEE.” I have a book in my
library called, None of These Diseases written by a medical doctor who
tells of how God blesses and heals his people through their life style. This does not mean that sickness is a sign of
sin. It does mean that we as Christians
can live in the path of the LORD and be blessed by His presence and His healing
in our lives. Sometimes He will use
these illnesses to show His love for us and help us to be His witnesses to
others who are struggling.
What about the steward in Luke 16 who “was
accused …that he had wasted his goods?”
He had apparently not been too faithful in this . He kept his job after figuring a way to get
money for his master immediately by reducing debts. Jesus uses this story to point out to us as
Christians that money can be for us a trap to not serving God or others. We have been given our money to use to serve,
not to be served. “ No man can serve two
masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
We heard the
wonderful duet of the “ Balm in Gilead” last week which is a spiritual about
our Great Physician: “There is balm
in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole ;
There's power enough in heaven,
To cure a sin-sick soul
How lost was my condition
Till JESUS made me whole!
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin–sick soul.”
There is no other cure. The good news is that we know the cure. I Timothy 2 says, “ God our Saviour , who
will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the
truth. For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus , Who gave Himself a ransom
for all”
We can be hopeful about our lives here now
that under God’s watchful care have purpose and meaning. Each of us I have been
reminded of in recent days has so many days alloted to us here that are simply
days of preparation and anticipation for the life to come which is
everlasting. If we choose to ignore the
healing balm that is in Christ we are lost and without hope. But if we choose to embrace and receive the
gift of eternal life and the Balm of Gilead, that is Christ Jesus our Savior ,
the one Mediator between God and man, we have everlasting life now and in the
life to come. May we not be like the
people of God in the Old Covenant who God kept chastising for their unbelief
and rejection of His Word and His Laws.
This is not the way of peace.
This is not peace. But Christ is
our Great Physician now and in the life to come where we will experience the
joys of living in the presence of God.
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