The Old Testament Prophets and Divine Healing
by Priest Symeon Kees
Much of the story of God creating and then saving, that is, healing and transforming, our human race is found in the Old Testament. A significant portion of the Old Testament focuses on the history of the nation of Israel, comprised of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). God revealed Himself to the Israelites and guided them at a time when the world had fallen into deep spiritual confusion and chaos. Among all the nations of the earth, our Creator chose the Israelites to be the ones through whom He would bring healing to all people.[1] After their escape from slavery in Egypt, God gathered the Israelites at Mount Sinai and said to them through the Prophet Moses, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be a special people to Me above all nations; for all the earth is Mine. You shall be to Me a royal priesthood and a holy nation” (Exodus 18.5-6, LXX (SAAS).
Within writings of the Old Testament Prophets, we see the tragic effects of sin as well as signs of hope for restoration and wholeness. While addressing the problems of the day that immediately faced the people of Israel and Judah, the prophets also pointed to the future when the medicine of healing would be available to the whole world. The prophet’s message is not his own, but God’s message to His people. The Lord constantly sent His prophets to call His people back to Him when they wondered off into unfaithfulness, bringing chaos to the soul and to the nation, but their obstinate rebellion continued.[2]
God threatened the Israelites with punishment as an incentive for them to repent and behave in such a way that leads away from chaos and injury back toward harmony, stability, and peace. In medicinal terms, the prophets’ warnings may be seen as calling people to the path of healing and life. As the Lord said through the Prophet Ezekiel,
“The righteousness of a righteous man shall be upon himself, and the lawlessness of a lawless man shall be upon himself. But if a lawless man turns from all the lawless deeds he commits, keeps all My commandments, does righteousness and shows mercy, he will surely live and not die. None of the transgressions he commits will be remembered. In the righteousness he does, he shall live. ‘Do I ever will the death of a lawless man,’ says the Lord, ‘since My will is for him to turn from the evil way and live?’” (Ezekiel 18.20-23, LXX (SAAS)
The Lord also spoke to through Prophet Ezekiel saying,
“’Is not My way right, O house of Israel? Is not your way wrong? I shall judge you, O house of Israel, each on according to his way,’ says the Lord. ‘Return and turn away from all your ungodliness, and it shall not be to you as a punishment for wrongdoing. Cast away from yourself all your ungodliness you commit against Me, and make a new heart and a new spirit for yourselves. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I do not will the death of the one who dies,’ says the Lord.”[3] (Ezekiel 18.29-32, LXX (SAAS)
Sadly, the people often refused to hear the Physician and follow the instructions He prescribed, as reflected in Lord’s message to the Prophet Jeremiah:
“From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day; yet they did not listen to me, or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. ‘So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.’” (Jeremiah 7.25-27, RSV)
Christ spoke about the refusal of the people of Israel to hear the prophets when he criticized the Pharisees, saying,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari’ah the son of Barachi’ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate.” (Matthew23.29-38, RSV)
Although God sent the prophets, He knew when the people would refuse to turn back to Him. The problem was not the charisma of the messengers, the content of the message, or the delivery of the Lord’s words, but with the condition of the people’s hearts. They remained hard-hearted and unreceptive to the prophetic message calling them to repentance. Although they saw the prophet and heard the Lord’s words, they neither perceived the meaning nor accepted it.[4] The Lord instructed the Prophet Isaiah,
“Go, and say to this people, Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and be converted, and I should heal them.” (Is 6.9-10, LXX)
The word of the Lord given to Isaiah reflected words spoken by Christ during His ministry. When His disciples asked him about the use of parables, Christ explained to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven” (Mk 4.10-12, RSV). Blessed Theophylact wrote that those who ask for an interpretation will receive one, in accordance with the promise of the Gospel, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt 7.7; Lk 11.9). “But the others, the Lord has blinded lest it be to their greater condemnation that they should understand what they ought to do, and yet not do it.” God kept the people from hearing for their own spiritual good.[5]
Blessed Theophylact offers another interpretation as well. Everyone sees because God has enabled them, but those who see without perceiving are inhibited from doing so by their own sinfulness. “For God created them able to see, that is, to understand the good, but they do not see, intentionally shutting their eyes so that they will not turn back and be corrected. It is as if they despised their own salvation and betterment.” The people failed to hear and perceive the words that lead to healing because they chose, according to their own free will, to reject God, the Light who illumines the perception. Christ’s words may be interpretively paraphrased like this: “To the others I speak in parables, so that seeing they may choose not to see, and hearing they may choose not to understand, for fear that by doing so, they would turn back and be corrected.”[6]
Israel’s evil behavior was rooted in their idolatry. When they forsook the One who loved them and called them to be His own people, they disregarded the law He had given them to make them a holy nation, a kingdom of priests.[7] Communion with God brings spiritual health, but alienation from God leads to spiritual sickness with the symptoms of confusion and chaos manifested. Since the people persisted in sinfulness, rejecting the source of Life, they persisted also in sickness of soul. Their lives as a people, therefore, remained in a condition of chaos.[8]
The Prophet Jeremiah did not objectively prophesy without feeling the pain of his people. Their suffering, even if self-inflicted, deeply affected him.[9] He longed for their healing, only possible through their repentance.[10] Although the prophet was deeply saddened by the people’s suffering, he knew the reason for their suffering. Even though he mourned for his people, he acknowledged why the people were spiritual sick and the nation, therefore, had fallen into chaos.[11]
The Temple, the House of God, was one of the central signs of spiritual health in Judah. God called the people with whom He dwelled, His kingdom of priests and holy nation, to trust in Him alone, but they regularly practiced idolatry and failed to faithfully follow His commandments. Therefore, God warned them not to imagine that they could continue sinning while believing they were safe because the Temple structure stood in their midst. If the people continued to follow other gods, persisted in sin, and trusted in the physical presence of the Temple itself rather than faithfully trusting in the One who indwelled it, God would abandon His House and allow it to be destroyed. Standing at the gate of the Temple, Jeremiah delivered God’s indictment to the people:
“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba’al and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, says the LORD. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, says the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.” (Jer 7.8-15, RSV)[12]
The prophets called the people back to following God and, therefore, the Law revealed by God for them to follow. They were not merely instructed to follow the Law legalistically by the letter, but to spirit of the Law, centered on the love of God and the love of others with the heart: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is on Lord. You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, and from your whole power” (Deut. 6.4, LXX). The Lord also said, “Would they had such a heart in them so as to fear Me and guard My commandments all the time, that it might be well with them and their sons forever” (Deut. 5.29, LXX). Christ Himself criticized those who followed the Law externally, but whose hearts remained blind:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel…For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self—indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also…. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23. 23-24, 25-26, 28)
God did not just warn the people of the consequences of sin, but taught that repentance constituted a path that led away from punishment. Repentance would bring continued blessing, health, preservation in the land, and communion with God.
“Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers for ever.” (Jer. 7.2-7)[13]
God, who fills the whole universe and in whom all creation is contained, does not abandon humanity, but rather humans separate themselves from God by their own sinfulness, according to their divinely-given free will. The Tradition of the Orthodox Church provides the correct way of understanding passages such as this: “The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces” (Lam 2.7, RSV). From the perspective of the people, God had abandoned them along with the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. In reality, His people had turned away from Him and, withdrawing His protection, He allowed Judah to be invaded and punished. Suffering caused by one’s own sin brings repentance to the humble, but only breads arrogance in the proud. Even after the Temple was destroyed, however, God remained near His people, though their hearts were far from Him and they were unable to perceive His presence.
Even though the sinfulness of the people is clearly emphasized in the text as the cause of their problems, members of a parish who read the Holy Scripture may find themselves disturbed by the image of God presented in the Prophets. An unbeliever may ask, “If God is really loving and benevolently desires for His people to be healed, why then does the Scripture show God as a vengeful, wrathful God?” The questioner may point to such passages as this: “Behold the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this” (Jer 30.23-24). In truth, the Scripture speaks anthropomorphically, poetically attributing human attributes, to God by using images of human emotions. God does not suffer from the passions, such as anger, jealousy, or envy, as we do. God is passionless, yet He spoke to human beings through the Prophets in a language understandable to the ancient people with worldly, unspiritual minds tempted by the passions and paganism. St. Gregory the Theologian explained:
“According to Scripture God sleeps and is awake, is angry, walks, has the Cherubim for His Throne. And yet when did He become liable to passion, and have you ever heard that God has a body? This then is, though not really fact, a figure of speech. For we have given names according to our own comprehension from our own attributes to those of God. His remaining silent apart from us, and as it were not caring for us, for reasons known to Himself, is what we call His sleeping; for our own sleep is such a state of inactivity. And again, His sudden turning to do us good is the waking up; for waking is the dissolution of sleep, as visitation is of turning away. And when He punishes, we say He is angry; for so it is with us, punishment is the result of anger. And His working, now here now there, we call walking; for walking is change from one place to another. His resting among the Holy Hosts, and as it were loving to dwell among them, is His sitting and being enthroned; this, too, from ourselves, for God resteth nowhere as He doth upon the Saints. His swiftness of moving is called flying, and His watchful care is called His Face, and his giving and bestowing is His hand; and, in a word, every other of the powers or activities of God has depicted for us some other corporeal one.”[14]
As illness in one’s body may produce spiritual benefits within the person who turns his heart to God, then the sickness of the people of Judah, affecting the nation as a whole, provides an opportunity for personal repentance and, therefore, for healing and blessing affecting the entire nation. Even when God told His people there was no medicine for their wounds or healing available to them as they persisted living sinful lives, He immediately promised, “I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal” (Jer 30.17). The punishment of the people resulted from their self-injurious behavior, but in the midst of their sin and the proclamation of coming punishment, God gave them a message of hope.
The fullness of the restoration and healing for humility revealed in the writings of the Prophets did not reach realization. The Prophet Isaiah foretold a time when “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the LORD will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory” (Is 60.19, RSV). Isaiah presents a cosmic end-of-the-age image of the restoration of Israel that never existed in Old Testament times:
“For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon drome-daries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. And some of them also I will take for priests and Levites.
For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the LORD; so shall your descendants and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD.
And they shall go forth and look on the dead bodies of the men that have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Is 66.18-24).
The promise of the restoration of Israel includes the reestablishment of the Davidic kingdom. The Prophet Amos spoke the word of the Lord, saying, “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name” (Am 9.11-12). The Prophet Isaiah said, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Is 11.1, RSV). Similarly, Jeremiah prophesied, “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness” (Jer 23.5-6, RSV). The Prophet Micah actually foretells the birthplace of this king: “And thou, Bethleem, house of Ephratha, art few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Juda; yet out of thee shall one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel; and his goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity” (Mi 5.2, LXX). Furthermore, the unique manner of birth is described by the Prophet Isaiah: “Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? And how do ye contend against the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel” (Is 7.14, LXX).[15]
In The Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, St. Irenaeus of Lyons described the role of the prophets in human history:
“Hither the prophets were sent from God; by the Holy Spirit they admonished the people and returned [them] to the God of the patriarchs, the Almighty, [and] were made heralds of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, announcing that his flesh would blossom from the seed of David, that He would be, according to the flesh, son of David, who was the son of Abraham, through a long succession, while, according to the Spirit, Son of God, being at first with the Father, born before all creation, and being revealed to all the world at the close of the age as man, ‘recapitulating all things’ in Himself, the Word of God, ‘things in heaven and things on earth.’”[16]
The revelation of Jesus Christ is the central message of the Prophets. The very existence of Israel was wrapped up in the coming of Christ, for the nation had been established in the midst of the peoples of the earth to prepare the way for His birth. The call to repent with the promise of blessing and preservation, the warnings of impending judgment for failure to repent, the words regarding the return from exile, and the hopeful message about the restoration of the Davidic-Solomonic kingdom with the rebuilding of the Temple in the city of Jerusalem all pointed to Jesus Christ, His incarnation and His work to lead us out of spiritual exile, where death reigns over us, to new life in Paradise.
The Prophet Isaiah, who has been called the “Prophet of the Incarnation,” foretold the birth of Christ, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel” (Is 7.14). The Prophet Micah also foretold Christ’s birth, noting that Christ would be born a ruler in the town of Bethlehem: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (5.2).
Christ alone fulfills the prophecies mentioned above foretelling the coming of a king, the son of David. On the Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ we remember that the birth of Christ is the way which God brought healing to humanity: “Come, O Bethlehem, prepare for the birth. Come, Joseph, and be enrolled with Mary. O most sacred manger! O swaddling clothes that carry God! There the Life was wrapped, even Christ our God, who shall tear to pieces the bands of death, and bind fast mortal men to incorruption.”[17]
The entire ministry of Christ on earth should be viewed as the work of the Great Physician to heal humanity. [18] The incarnation of Christ itself, whereby Christ joined His divinity to our broken humanity, is an act of healing.
Christ revealed that He is the One of whom the Prophet Isaiah spoke. He came to “heal the brokenhearted” and proclaim “recovery of sight to the blind.” The proclamation of healing read from the Book of Jeremiah is particularly encouraging given the seriousness of the sickness described at the beginning of the same book: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they are not pressed out, or bound up, or softened with oil” (Jer 1.6, RSV).[19]
The text of Great Vespers on Holy Friday shows the irony that Christ, the Creator and Healer, is afflicted by those whom he came to heal:
“Oh, how the assembly of the law-transgressors condemned to death the King of creation, not being ashamed nor abashed by his benevolences, of which he had assured them formerly, calling them to their remembrance, saying, ‘My people, what have I done to thee? Have I not showered Judaism with wonders? Have I not raised the dead by only a word? Have I not healed every sickness and every weakness? With what, then, hast thou rewarded me? And why forgetest thou me? For healing, thou hast inflicted wounds upon me; and for raising the dead, thou dost cause me, the benevolent, to die suspended upon a Tree as an evil-dower; the Giver of the Law, as a law-transgressor; and the King of all, as one who is condemned.’ Wherefore, O long-suffering Lord, glory to thee.”[20]
Moses prefigured the Crucifixion when he made a brazen serpent and raised it up on a pole in the midst of the people, according to God’s command, so that the victims of snake bites who looked upon the serpent would be healed (Num. 21.4-14). Christ referred to this when he said,
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3.14-17)
The Prophet Isaiah revealed that Christ even healed through His death by Crucifixion: “He bears our sins, and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in suffering, and in affliction. But he was wounded on account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities…and by his bruises we were healed” (Is 53.5-6, LXX). The text for Matins on the third Sunday of Lent explicitly connects other Old Testament prophets with the Cross. Other prophets are also noted for prefiguring or prophesying about the Cross.[21]
After His Crucifixion, Christ’s body was laid in a new tomb. The Church affirms that while His body rested in the tomb, fulfilling the Sabbath, He descended into Hades as foreshadowed in the Book of Job: “Do the gates of death open to you for fear, and did the doorkeepers of Hades quake when they saw you?” (Job 38.17, LXX). The bodily deaths of those who lived in Old Testament times, and there were many, must be viewed in light of Christ’s descent into Hades, described by St. Peter:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water.” (1 Peter 3.18-20, NKJV)
The Orthodox icon of Christ’s Resurrection is actually an image of Christ’s descent into Hades in soul prior to his bodily Resurrection. In this icon, Christ stands in Hades in the midst of the righteous ones of the Old Testament as He, firmly grasping of Adam and Eve above their wrists, triumphantly pulls them up from their tombs. This icon shows Christ’s victory in Hades, liberating the captives from Old Testament times, and also prefigures the bodily Resurrection of Adam and Eve with all their descendents at the Second Coming of Christ to earth, initiating the end of the age.[22]
The healing act of Christ through the Cross and His descent into Hades, must be viewed in light of His Glorious Resurrection. The potential of resurrection is seen in the life of the Prophet Elijah, who raised the widow’s son and was himself taken bodily up to heaven before death (1 Ki 17.17-24; 2 Ki 2.1-12, RSV).[23] The vision of resurrection is continued in the writings of the literary prophets. During Matins for Holy Saturday, also called The Lamentation Service, we read the prophecy the Book of Ezekiel about the valley of dry bones:
“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, thou knowest.’ Again he said to me ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”[24]
According to the prophetic text these bones represent the “whole house of Israel,” which the Church understands to be herself, but also relates to Christ “the first born over all creation” who is the “firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col 1.15-18, RSV). The resurrection of Christ offers the hope and assurance of the resurrection of us all. This prophecy should be viewed in light of St. Paul’s description of the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age described in his First Letter to the Corinthians (15.35-58).
The resurrection of the body, a transformed, immortal body (sw?ma) that is at the same time spiritual and physical, completes the healing of the human person, soul and body.[25] The Prophet Isaiah spoke these words concerning the resurrection of the dead: “The dead shall rise and they that are in the tombs shall be raised, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew from thee is healing to them; but the land of the ungodly shall rejoice” (Is 54.19, LXX). Isaiah’s proclamation is announced during the Midnight Office of Pascha: “When Isaiah, O Christ, saw thy light that setteth not, the light of thy divine appearance coming to us in pity, he rose up early, crying, ‘The dead shall rise, and they who are in the tombs shall awake, and all those on the earth shall rejoice.”[26] The destruction of death and, therefore, the healing of humanity from death is expressed in the Paschal text: “Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. Verily, Jesus is risen from the tomb, as he had foretold, and hath bestowed eternal life upon us, and great mercy.”[27]
St. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote about the connection between the words of the Prophet Isaiah and healing in his work Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching:
“Of His healings, Isaias says thus, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases,’ that is, ‘He will take,’ and ‘will bear,’ for there are places [where] the Spirit of God, through the prophets, relates things that would come to pass as having happened, for with God [what is] approved and determined to be is counted as already having happened, and the Spirit employs words considering and regarding the time in which the fulfillment of prophecy is accomplished. And he called to mind the different types of healing saying thus, ‘In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind, in darkness and gloom, shall see.’ And again the same says, ‘Be strengthened weak hands and palsied knees; be comforted you fainthearted in mind; be strong, fear not: Behold our God renders judgment and will render it. He will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerer will be clear.’ And concerning the dead, that they shall rise, he says, ‘So shall the dead arise, and those in the tombs shall awake’; and by doing these things, He will be believed to be the Son of God.”[28]
Perhaps the most explicit connection between the prophets and Christ’s resurrection is the sign of Jonah. When the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign, He responded,
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” (Mt 12.38-41, NKJV)
The Church recalls the sign of Jonah, who foretold the resurrection through the events of his life: “Verily, Jonah the Prophet was caught but not held in the belly of the whale. But being a sign of thee, O thou who didst suffer and wast delivered to burial, he came out of the whale as out of a chamber, and cried unto the watchmen, ‘In vain do ye watch, O watchmen; for ye have neglected mercy.”[29]
Christ’s words to the scribes and Pharisees not only refer to Jonah, but also relate to the dream of the Prophet Daniel:
“I beheld in the night vision, and, lo, one coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he came on to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to him. And to him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.” (Dn 7.13-14, LXX)
The cosmic, eschatological imagery in the prophetic writings are also fulfilled in Christ. Reflecting the imagery of Isaiah 66, the Revelation of St. John describes the New Jerusalem:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’” (Rv 21.1-4)
Finally, as Isaiah foretold, all nations will gather in Jerusalem, their true home, to live eternally in the presence of God. As St. John wrote, “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” The whole city of New Jerusalem is the Temple for God dwells there among men. The One of whom St. John the Forerunner cried, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” has indeed destroyed sin and death and reigns forever (Jn 1.29). St. John continues describing what an angel showed him in the New Jerusalem:
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of the street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve him.” (Rv 22.1-3)
The cosmic vision St. John saw of the heavenly reality, the New Jerusalem, is not merely a future reality, but one in which the Church presently participates.[30] The kingdom of God has not yet been fully realized, but is here now. The Church lives between heaven and earth, experiencing both.
The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied about a new covenant with a law written, not on stone or on a scroll, but upon the hearts of his people: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer 31.34). Through Christ’s victory on the Cross we have the forgiveness of sins. As St. Paul said, the Father “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1.13-14). During his ministry Christ both granted healing and divine forgiveness. Through the Church we each personally receive the cleansing from sin prophesied by the Prophet Jeremiah.
St. Symeon the New Theologian quoted the Prophet Isaiah, “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth” (58.8), explaining to his contemporaries that “those who sit in darkness must see the great Light shine (Isa. 9:2), if only they look toward it, and also that none of you may think that though it shone in the past, it is impossible for men of the present day to see it while they are still in the body.” The experience of the light and the experience of healing associated with it as foretold by the prophets is the present experience of the Church.[31] Until the last day, when Christ will return, the dead will be raised, and the fullness of the heavenly reality is realized, the Church exists on the earth as the hospital where men and women can find and receive healing of soul and body.
The healing to which the prophets pointed is not merely a corporate, national healing, although all people/nations are called to be gathered together in the ekklesia (ekklhsi<a), the Church, the New Israel, the holy nation called by His name (1 Pt 2.9).[32] The experience of the Church is the experience of the Kingdom of God. The healing foretold by the prophets in word and action is also the personal, holistic healing of the human person. Within the Church what Christ has accomplished for all becomes a personal reality.
As the national healing of the people in Israel and Judah was determined by their will to reject God or repent, and the healing of the human soul is determined by our free will to live in death or turn toward the source of Life, our ultimate enjoyment of Paradise or hell is determined by our own disposition toward our loving Creator God who calls us to live in communion with Him in this age and in the age to come. As Christ said concerning us, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn 10.10, NKJV).
The age of the Old Testament prophets revealed in the Holy Scripture is a significant part of the spiritual story of the healing of our human race. The prophets’ words and actions in there own time reveal God’s love and desire for His people to remain whole, but if injured by their own sin, to be restored to communion with Him, who is the source of Life, and to experience health and wholeness. Most importantly, the prophets revealed Christ, the Great Physician who would come to heal humanity from death. By studying the Prophetic texts we can learn about the Holy Scripture and history. We can also come to a deeper understanding of our experience as Orthodox Christians who, together as the Church, centered in Jesus Christ, participate in the healing the prophets foretold and Christ made possible.
Text copyright © 2018 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees
[1] God promised to Abraham, the common ancestor of the Israelites, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you; and in you all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12.2-3). This promise to bless “all the tribes of the earth” is fulfilled in Christ.
[2] See Jeremiah 7.25-26, 25.3-7
[3] The death of one who dies without repentance is indeed tragic because he partakes of both physical and spiritual death, which is a continuing state. However, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones” (Pslam 115.5, LXX), because the Siants fall asleep in body, but shall partake in the fullness of Life.
[4] See Isaiah 6.9-10
[5] Blessed Theophylact, The Explanation by Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to Mark, commentary on Mark 4.2-12, Blessed Theophylact’s Explanation of the New Testament series, vol. 2, (House Springs, MO: Chrysostom Press, 1993), 37-38.
[6] Ibid.
[7] See Ex 19.1-8 & Jer 2.1-37.
[8] Jeremiah 30.12-15
[9] In addition to the writings of Jeremiah, the personal anguish of the prophet is also evident in the writings of Habakkuk, who said, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear? Or cry to thee “Violence!” and thou wilt not save? Why does thou make me see wrongs and look upon trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise” (Habakkuk 1.2-3).
[10] Jeremiah 8.19-22. Galaad (LXX) is also known as Gilead. Galaad (Galla>ad) is a direct transliteration from Greek to English.
[11] Jeremiah 9.2-6
[12] The Tabernacle had once rested in Shiloh, but Shiloh was still destroyed (Jo 18.1, Jgs 12.19, 1 Sm 1.9; 4.3-4). See “Shiloh,” Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ed. by Ronald F. Youngblood (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995).
[13] The fruit of a healthy soul is love of God and love for others (philanthropia), especially the poor and needy. See Deuteronomy 10.12-19; 15.7-11; 24.14-15, 19-22; 26.12-13.
[14] St. Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen), “The Fifth Theological Oration: On the Holy Spirit,” XXI, NPNF, Second Series, Vol. 7.
[15] The Greek word for “virgin” used in the LXX is “parqe<noj”; Georges A. Barrois. The Face of Christ in the Old Testament (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974), 105; This Isaiah prophecy is quoted in Mathew 1.23.
[16] Irenaeus of Lyons, On the Apostolic Preaching, Trans. by John Beir (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997), 60.
[17] The Festal Menaion, trans. by Mother Mary and His Grace, Bishop KALLISTOS (Ware) (St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1998), 218.
[18] Significantly, the Greek word translated “salvation” in the New Testament (s&<zw) may also be translated “cure” or “make well.” Newman M. Barclay, Jr., A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, United BibleSociety/Deutsche Bibelgesellscgaft (Stutgart, DEU: Biblia-Druck, 1993). See also footnote 18 on the board use of the term salvation within the Church.
[19] The preceding words make clear why Israel is so sick: “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be smitten, that you continue to rebel?” (Is 4-5, RSV).
[20] “Great Vespers of Holy Friday,” stichera verse for “Lord, I have Cried,” from. The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha According to the Use of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 2nd Revised Edition, ed by V. Rev. Father Joseph Rahall (Englewood, NJ: Antakya Press, 2006), 545. The third OT reading for this service is Isaiah 52.13-15; 53.1-12, and 54.1 (See pp. 550-552 of The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha.)
[21] The Lenten Triodion, “The Third Sunday of Lent on which we celebrate The Adoration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross,” trans. by Mother Mary and His Grace, Bishop KALLISTOS (Ware) (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2001), 430, 342, 344-345.
[22] Chosen as a holy nation among all the nations of the earth, Israel’s calling involved acting as the agent of God’s punishment upon sinful nations. The Israelites were not permitted to wage war indiscriminately, but were called to obey the divine instructions (Deut. 20). The conquest of Canaan resulted from God’s promise to Abraham and judgment on the Canaanites. The Israelites were told that the land of Canaan was not given to them because of their own goodness, but because of the evil of other nations (Deut. 9.1-7). The Israelites were called to act in obedience to God. This duty of serving as executioner of God’s judgment on surrounding nations served as a warning to the Israelites themselves to worship only the true God and to follow His instructions. (See Saul’s war with the Amalekites in Exodus 17.8-16, Deut. 25.17-19, and 1 Kingdoms 15.) The war waged by the Israelites in the Old Testament should be viewed in light of Christ’s descent into Hades (2 Kingdoms 12.19-23; Psalm 138.7-12).
[23] In the LXX, 1 Kings is referred to as 3 Kingdoms and 2 Kings is referred to as 4 Kingdoms.
[24] The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha, “Orthros of Holy Saturday (The Lamentation Service),” 614-615, quoting Ezekiel 37.1-14.
[25] sw?ma – “body”; According to St. Paul in 1 Cor 15.44, the resurrection body will be a “spiritual body” (sw?ma pneumatiko<n). This does not imply a body without physicality.
[26] The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha, Canon, Ode 5, “The Midnight Office,” 700-701.
[27] Ibid., Canon, Ode 8, “Paschal Orthros,” 727
[28] Irenaeus of Lyons, On the Apostolic Preaching, trans. by John Beir (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997), 83. The Book of Isaiah is an important Scriptural source in St. Irenaeus’ presentation of Apostolic preaching.
[29] The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha, Canon, Ode 6, “The Midnight Office,” 701.
[30] Notes on the New Jerusalem from the Orthodox Study Bible: “The holy city, New Jersalem is the city built by God (Heb. 11:10). It is the perfected Church, the bride ready for her husband, Christ, the abode of the righteous eternally” (note for Rv 21.2). “The New Jerusalem descends out of heaven from God, for God Himself completes the reunion of heaven and earth” (note for Rv 21.10).
[31] St. Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses, XXXIV, Symeon’s Apologia, 11-12, from St. Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses, trans. by C.J. de Catanzaro (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), 356-357.
[32] Whereas healing in the Prophets shows both personal and national dimensions, the healing experience of the Church is also both personal and communal.