Since the rebellion and fall of Adam and Eve, God longed to redeem and restore His children to the blessing of fellowship He'd originally intended at creation. How would God communicate to a people who'd died to every faculty able to perceive His Eternal Spirit? How would we as humans, for example, make ourselves known to gnats?

It was customary for heathen nations of the Ancient Near-East to make agreements or treaties with other nations, tribes or people groups. Typically, a dominant King and his vassal (head of a weaker clan) would swear an oath in treaty form, thereby creating a covenant bonding the two parties. To obtain protection from enemies and other benefits, the lesser would swear allegiance to the greater, and obedience to his obligations. The blessings continued for obedience. Curses resulted for disobedience.

Because the Hebrew people had no idea who their God was, or what He was like, God introduced/revealed Himself to them by means of a familiar concept. He formed a Covenant of Law with them in which He declared: The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deut 7:6

He then set forth the terms of the covenant which included a slew of blessings and benefits if they would obey His decrees. And, of course, curses if they choose otherwise.

The blessings offered to the Hebrews were beyond anything any tribe or nation had ever conceived. Beyond protection, God promised them abundant harvests, fruitful wives and cattle, victory in battle, and joy and peace at home . . . just for starters.

Then God swore this oath to His people:

The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. Deuteronomy 7:15

Binding Himself by Covenant promise, God swore to keep His own people from every kind of disease, but would instead smite their enemies with those diseases. Sounds more like a father than a king, no?

Either He could and would do this or He couldn't and wouldn't. Not long before this He'd delivered this same Hebrew nation out of 400 years of slavery under the lash of tyrannical Egypt. God kept over a million people (some say six million) whole and stout throughout the entire exodus.

This was a rebellious, stiff-necked, people; whose spirit by nature was at enmity towards God. In that very hostile disposition, God's mercy extended to them full and complete healing of body and soul. Think of it - they barely knew anything about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God would reveal Himself through figures, laws, and symbols - mere shadows - of Himself, because He had to begin somewhere.

And then, to make this promise impossible to miss, God told them they could call Him by a new Covenant Name: Jehovah Rapha, or, I AM Who HEALS. Astounding! If God demanded obedience from His chosen children, then God was bound to do exactly what He declared.

In short, here was the deal:
With Him: Utterly free from every kind of sickness and every kind of disease.
Without Him: Utterly subject to every kind of sickness and every kind of disease.

Throughout the Old Covenant (Old Testament) God continued to explain who He was and what He was like to His people. He spoke and acted through the law, the judges, and the seers and prophets in this manner: For it is *
*precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little. Isa 28:10
These partial, gradual glimpses of Himself were to help them to a consciousness capable of receiving the more complete revelation to come.

But the faint revelations were only like leaves on the stem of a flower. One could admire the foliage, the strength, or detect from it shoots of life. But it was utterly unable to display true knowledge of its Maker.

God yearned to disclose Himself to all who lived on the earth. To do so was costly. The Bible says that, until Jesus Christ, No one has seen God at any time. But now, thankfully, the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. John 1:18

And Jesus is singularly qualified to explain God because, He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Heb 1:3

Finally, from the stem of Jesse came . . . the beauty, glory, and blossom of perfect revelation . . . the Flower in full bloom.

Since Jesus, every previous concept, idea, or understanding of God must be re-evaluated, held suspect, discarded or overhauled.

Having revealed God as Father to the world via the process of His life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus stated this to His disciples: All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Mt 28:18 Amp. In this supremely exalted King we may confidently say,

all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.

In this state of power and authority Jesus confers on mere men His own everlasting kingdom. He calls, forgives, delivers and liberates anyone who will believe in Him. He gives them the ability to become sons and daughters of God by birth of a new nature (heart) and spirit within them. By the Holy Spirit, Jesus causes His own life to be joined to theirs. By the shedding of His blood, He is now the Author of a New and Everlasting Covenant.

Now all that God showed of Himself in that Old Covenant of shadows and symbols - the stem - was fully filled up in Christ. All the curses for disobedience to that Law were placed upon Jesus at His crucifixion, and done away - killed off. He now carries the myriad blessings the Father held for His children since creation. In fact, Jesus carries the inexhaustible glory, almighty power and presence of God, Himself, as He abides right inside us.

So, if in the temporal, fading Covenant of letters carved in stone, God's heart and will for His children was the total removal of every kind of sickness and disease, could it possibly be less for those in whose hearts the Spirit of the Living God has carved the Eternal Covenant?

If the oath of God's mercy to heal a people, whose rebellious nature so demanded that He constrain them by the outside imposition of laws and decrees, was so complete, could He possibly recant that oath to those born-again of the Spirit, whose (new) natural inclination is to please Him in every respect?

If in that Covenant of Law and death, God's boundless compassion towards the torment and suffering of His wayward, wilderness children so bound Him to totally eradicate their infirmities, could He quit such compassion toward His chosen, dearly loved saints under the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus?

If in the Covenant of the letter that kills, God gave to them His name as Jehovah Rapha, what Name gives He now to we the righteous; made adequate servants of His New Covenant in the Spirit - whose tongues proclaim the Gospel of the Worthy Lamb - by whose stripes we are healed?

If the terms of the treaty for vassals swore total assurance of healing, what of us - the co-heirs of Christ the King, Himself?

Shall we keep the stem and toss the flower?

Could the Father of the Bride of His Christ be pleased with her being laden with stems on approaching her Beloved? Or, rather that she draw nearer on a path strewn with plenteous, fragrant petals, with her flowing hair adorned with a garland of the blossoms of His glory?