In the [New] King James Version of the Bible, the word “healed” appears twice in the book of Isaiah. The first usage describes our problem: the reason why we are often not healed from sickness or disease. The second time “healed” is mentioned describes our Solution: how God’s desire to heal us can come into fruition.
First, what is our fundamental problem?
“Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:10 NKJV)
These words from God are repeated in the New Testament in Matthew 13:15, John 12:40, and Acts 28:27. If these words in Isaiah 6:10 are repeated three times in the New Testament, might God be trying to communicate something important for us that He wants us to understand?
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ (Matthew 13:15 NKJV)
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” (John 12:40 NKJV)
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’ (Acts 28:27 NKJV)
Isaiah 6:10 and its New Testament parallels contain three spiritual blocks that may be preventing us from receiving our physical healing: a hard (dull or “fat” [KJV]) heart, blinded (shut or closed) eyes, and dull (or heavy) ears. What does that mean? What are hard hearts, blinded eyes, and dull ears in the spiritual sense?
What is a hard heart?
A word search in the KJV will yield 42 results for “hard heart,” 20 (nearly half) of which mention “Pharaoh,” the Egyptian king. Just as Jesus spoke to God’s people in parables, God taught a sick man named Job about the spiritual root cause of his problem (in short, self-pity and religious pride) as he described a dragon-like water spirit whose heart was hard like a millstone (see Job 41:24).
Passages like Ezekiel 29:3 describe Pharaoh king of Egypt as a great river dragon, showing how in the invisible spiritual realm, the human Pharaoh, Job, and we ourselves so often listen to (and agree with) the voice of pride rather than the voice of God. Pride (or a hard heart that won’t take God at His Word) is a major block to healing, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (see Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).
What are blinded or closed eyes?
Our spiritual eyes are closed or blinded when we don’t see things the same way that God does. When we see things the same way God does–when we change the way we think by seeing how good, powerful, just, merciful, holy, awesome, compassionate, and amazing God really is–then the eyes of our heart are enlightened. When we more fully grasp the good news of God that Jesus demonstrated, then even our bones and bodies submit to the power of God’s love to transform and heal us from the inside-out.
“The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.” (Proverbs 15:30 KJV)
“Bright eyes gladden the heart; Good news refreshes the bones.” (Proverbs 15:30 NASB)
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19 NASB)
What are dull ears?
Dull spiritual ears are when we are hard of hearing, trusting, and obeying God’s voice. When this is our condition, all kinds of bad stuff may happen to us, since we have a difficult time connecting with, trusting, submitting to, and being continually filled with the Source of love, wisdom, joy, peace, self-control, courage, and goodness. See Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15ff; John 15; Hebrews 4.
Having briefly described our problem–closed eyes, dull ears, and hard hearts–what is our only hope and Solution? That brings us to the second time in [N]KJV the word “healed” is used in Isaiah:
“But He [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 NKJV [brackets mine])
This verse likewise describes our spiritual condition apart from God. All too often, behind our problems, sicknesses, and human miseries are our transgressions (our own bad choices and mistakes) and iniquities (bad stuff we were born with–unhealthy and dysfunctional ways of thinking and acting that have been passed down to us throughout generations).
Because of our transgressions and iniquities, we deserve God’s just wrath, as surely as a hardened rapist or murderer deserves to be punished for the sake of his victims and for the safety, soundness, health, and well-being of others in society.
“A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22 NKJV)
According to this proverb, where does sickness and disease come from? Frequently, the immune system is compromised by the drying up of the bone marrow of which the immune system is composed. What dries up the bone marrow, thus compromising the immune system, according to this verse? A broken spirit–being inundated with or entertaining thoughts and feelings of rejection, self-hatred, self-pity, perpetual grief and sorrow, depression, sadness, hope deferred, guilt, fear, self-accusation, shame, worry, anxiety, condemnation, disappointment, disillusionment, confusion, bitterness, and overall lack of identity, purpose, joy, peace, and direction.
What then, according to this proverb, is the Answer for the removal and replacement of a broken spirit? A merry heart does good, like medicine. We need to have our crushed spirit removed and replaced by the merry heart of God by His Holy Spirit (whose nature is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, humility, and self-control). We need to be filled with this Spirit of joy through unbroken connection to God the Father through Jesus.
“The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, And a good report makes the bones healthy.” (Proverbs 15:30 NKJV)
The good news (or report) of God–what Jesus did for us at the Roman whipping post, cross, and resurrection from the dead–makes our bones fat or moist again [see Proverbs 15:30 KJV]. A broken spirit dries up our bone marrow, compromising our immune system, giving way to all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.
Particularly, autoimmune diseases may form as a physiological byproduct of listening to a continual barrage of accusations, guilt, shame, and fear, which dumps excess cortisol into our bloodstreams and works to keep our bodies frail and infirm.
Inflammation within the body may occur as we allow the flaming darts of accusation and lies about our identity in God to penetrate us day and night (see John 8:42-44; Ephesians 6:12-16; Revelation 12:10).
The good news of the gospel is that now we have a Shield available to protect us from those flaming arrows (or bitter words–see Psalm 64:3) that our spiritual enemies launch against us through thoughts, feelings, and impressions.
Who is our Shield, who quenches all the flaming darts (bitter words, lies, and accusations) of the father of lies (the accuser)? Jesus took the full hit of all the bitter words and fiery accusations of the enemy against us when he hung on that cross.
At the cross, God made Jesus’ soul an offering for guilt, taking away the sin of the world for all who commit to Him with all we are and all we have (see Isaiah 53). We pick up the shield of faith when we daily and constantly trust in Jesus and fully rely on what he already did and accomplished for us at the cross and resurrection from the dead.
We believe that God has got our back, because all the blows and bloody stripes that we deserved have already been laid on Jesus’ back. When we truly believe that, then we will not let our hearts be troubled and afraid.
Once that reality truly hits our hearts, and God’s perfect love casts out fear, our brains will finally have no reason to keep dumping that excess cortisol (fight-or-flight hormone) into our physical bloodstreams, our immune systems can return to the homeostasis that God intended and desires for us, and we can experience the manifestation of healing for all our diseases that resulted from a wacky immune system.
The point of all this is not being merely healed of our physical diseases or sicknesses. That is only a secondary benefit or byproduct of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength because He first loved us. So even if that healing process doesn’t fit our timetable, that ought not to deter us from pressing deeper into trust and relationship with God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
For more information or a continued investigation on this topic, I recommend the post “Healing Sandwich” here.
