YHWH Rophe means “the Lord your healer” and is pronounced Row-fay. It is the second name God gives himself in Scripture and appears only once (Exodus 15.26), though God is referred to over 60 times as "healer" or "restorer". The backstory regarding this name is an interesting one — it is an object lesson from God to his people. After crossing the Red Sea the people camped on its shores for some time, but it was time to move on. Moses led the people through the desert and when they came to Marah they were anxious to drink, refill their canteens and water the animals.

The water there, however, was bitter and not healthy to drink. The people were greatly upset and in need of water (they had traveled three days through the desert) so God showed Moses how to make the water safe for drinking. God then said this to the people: “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I am YHWH Rophe" (the Lord your healer, Exodus 15.26). He then went on to lead them to a place named Elim, an oasis with 12 wells and 70 palm trees. The people were satisfied, but only for the moment. After quenching their thirst their attention quickly turned toward food, making them ready for a second object lesson.

We mentioned that God is called a "healer" or some variant of it over 60 times in Scripture. One example is Jeremiah 30.17a: "Yes, I will rophe you to health. I will rophe your wounds. I, the Lord, affirm it!" And Psalm 103.2-3: "Praise the Lord, O my soul! Do not forget all his kind deeds! He is the one who forgives all your sins, who rophe all your diseases..." The other passages are all similar in nature, describing God as the Great Physician. Is it any wonder that one of the signs of the Messiah is that he would heal his people?

Some have taken this to mean that we do not need the assistance of modern medicine and that reliance upon doctors and hospitals show a lack of faith in YHWH Rophe, but there is no Scripture that forbids or warns God's people against visiting a physician. The fact that Luke was likely a trained doctor tells us there is nothing sinful about understanding the human body and attempting to heal or cure disease. In fact, one of the lessons of the Bible is that God can use many different means to heal, including people.

The lesson is that God is not disinterested in his creation. This should bring us peace of mind and emotional comfort. God's desire is to have a relationship with us, and as the psalmist points out, one of the great deeds (or benefits) of that relationship can be healing. Sometimes it is the form of spiritual health, other times it may be emotional or physical health. All three of these forms of distress are placed upon Jesus at the cross. The emotional trauma of having God turn away from the Son as Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world and becoming our sacrifice — only to be healed through resurrection.