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Have You Met El Qanaa?

In my last post I showed the first thing the Holy Spirit wrote about Himself. This was found in James 4:4-5. It declared in no uncertain terms that the Holy Spirit is intensely jealous over us.

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
James 4:5-6

But what really caught my attention was the phrase Scripture says. I started to ask myself where the Bible talks about this jealousy. So I searched the Old Testament.

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14

In this section of Scripture God is giving Israel the Law through Moses. As I read it I was taken by surprise to find out that His name is Jealous.

Please understand, I’ve heard a lot of teachings about the names of God. He’s Jehovah-Rapha, the Healing God. He’s Jehovah-Tsidkinnu, God our Righteousness. These names don’t even scratch the surface.

But in all of these teachings that I’ve heard about the names of God I was never told about El Qanaa. The Jealous God. (Pronounced like El Kanaw)

We need to lay hold of this. For purposes of comparison I started counting. Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides, is only used 1 time in Scripture. Abraham was inspired to use this name for God when He provided a ram for sacrifice in place of his son.

In contrast, God calls Himself El Qanaa 7 times in the Old Testament. I think that this is a part of God’s character that shouldn’t be ignored.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30

This verse literally says do not make the Holy Spirit sad, mournful. I think we lose sight of the fact that He’s a person with feelings. How many times do we make Him feel rejected or ignored?

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

This verse tells us that God did not call us to a life that’s not cleaned. That phrase could also mean not pruned. We think it’s okay to say, “I just don’t want to be cleaned up right now.”

The truth is that we’re called to a set apart life. This is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit within us. So He starts the cleaning process when we’re saved.

When I reject the process – His instruction and guidance – I reject God, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to do a work that He’s proud of in us.

Then we tell Him, “Not now. Come back later.” That makes Him sad. He knows the destiny He’s leading us to. We need an increased sensitivity to the Holy Spirit working within us.

Question: What has the Holy Spirit been working in you lately?

Healing 101 – The Sin – Sickness Connection Part 1

20 Jan

In my last post we saw that all sickness and disease is a part of the package we know as sin. It was the sin nature that Adam embraced that brought sickness into the world.

In this post, and the next, I want to show scripturally that this is the case. To do that, we will be looking at this link throughout both the Old and New Testaments.

Think about God’s treatment of sin. His goal is to remove it in all of its manifestations – including sickness.

Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
Exodus 23:25-26

The words translated among you in the above verse literally mean the source or center. That’s how God removes our sin – right from the source. He treats our sicknesses the very same way. He never does a “halfway” job, but goes right to the root of the problem.

He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”
Exodus 15:26

The Lord even calls Himself Jehovah Rapha in this verse, this is a title which means the God who heals. Why would He call Himself that if it were not true?

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases…
Psalm 103:1-3

This psalm is a standard piece of Hebrew poetry. Rather than rhyming, this kind of poetry uses equivalent statements to make a point.

For instance praising the Lord with my soul and praising His holy name with my inmost being are equivalent statements because my soul is my inmost being. Again, in the second line, my soul is the part of me that remembers. So for me not to forget His benefits is how my soul praises the Lord.

It’s the third statement, however, that I want you to pay close attention to. According to Hebrew poetry, forgiving my sin and healing my diseases are equivalent actions to God.

In my next post, we will continue looking at this connection between sin and sickness in the Old and New Covenants.

Question: Why is it so hard for some people to believe that God wants to heal us?

The Spirit and the Word

Tag Archives: Jehovah Rapha

Have You Met El Qanaa?

Healing 101 – The Sin – Sickness Connection Part 1

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