The God Behind the Names: YHWH Rapha (Rophe, Rophecha, Roph'ekha)

YHWH Rapha (Rophe)

NOTICE

This particular 2013 study has been completely rewritten and expanded, but is
currently available in PDF form only. I have left the former study online below
for anyone who is unable to download or uncomfortable downloading from the
internet. Click here to download the 2019 "YHWH Rapha (Rophe)" study for free.

Go to the Table of Contents to view all teachings and downloads.

· · · · · · · · · ORIGINAL 2013 STUDY · · · · · · · · ·

YHWH-Rophe
(Rapha, Rophecha, Roph'ekha)
Please don't use without permission.

YHWH Heals / YHWH Who Heals

Pronounced Yä-wá' (or Yod-Há-Väv-Há') Roh-fee', "YHWH-Rophe" appears only once in Scripture and is the second name YHWH used to reveal Himself to His people. It arises out of one of Israel's earliest experiences in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt: Exodus 15:26 — "And He said, 'If you diligently obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim and do what is right in His eyes, and shall listen to His commands and shall guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought on the Mitsrites (Egyptians), for I am YHWH who heals you [YHWH-Rophe].'" (TS98)

The Hebrew word "rophe" (or "rapha" or "rophecha") means "to restore", "to heal", or "to make healthful", and it appears alone, in reference to Yahweh, more than 60 times, as in...

Psalm 103:2-3 — "Praise Yahweh, my soul, And don't forget all His benefits; Who forgives all your sins; Who heals [rophe] all your diseases;" (WEB)

Isaiah 30:26 — "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up [rophe] the hurt of His people, and heals [rophe] the stroke of their wound." (WEB)

Isaiah 61:1 — "The Spirit of the Lord [Elohim] Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up [rophe] the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;" (WEB)

Jeremiah 3:22 — "'Return, you backsliding children, I will heal [rophe] your backsliding.' Behold, we are come to you; for you are Yahweh our God [Elohim]." (WEB)

Jeremiah 30:17a — "'For I will restore [rophe] health to you, and I will heal [rophe] you of your wounds,' says Yahweh;" (WEB)

See also Numbers 12:13; Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Kings 20:5,8; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 6:2, 41:4; Ecclesiastes 3:3; Isaiah 19:22, 57:18-19; Jeremiah 3:22, 17:14, 30:17, 33:6; Lamentations 2:13; Hosea 5:13, 6:1, 7:1, 14:4; Zechariah 11:16.

From the above Scriptures, we may conclude that YHWH is the Great Physician who not only heals the physical needs of His people, but also our emotional and spiritual needs.

What great comfort, peace, and blessed hope there is in embracing the names "YHWH-Rohi", our loving Shepherd, and "YHWH-Rophe", the El who heals us! The great Elohim of the universe isn't far off and disinterested in His creation. Rather, He desires to have the kind of intimate relationship with us that the shepherd [rohi] has with his sheep — one by which He calls us each of us by name, and we may abide in complete safety and peace. And the Great Physician [Yahweh-Rophe] loves us so much that He willingly and purposely turned His back to be scourged and offered His body to be crucified in order to fully heal us — spirit, soul, and body: Isaiah 53:5 — "But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises [Or: and in fellowship with him] we are healed [rophe]." (CJB)

Back to Table of Contents