Saturday, September 10, 2005

Healing in His Corners

But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings.
(Malachi 4:2)
This is a messianic prophecy. It tells us about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. He is the light of the world, radiating with the glory of God’s rightness. And He has come with healing in His wings.

The Hebrew word for “wings” is very interesting. It is the word kanaph. What is interesting is that we find this word in another place where it means “corners.”

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners [kanaph] of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners [kanaph]. (Numbers 15:37-38)

This is the garment that came to be known as the tallit, a prayer shawl. It was a rectangle of cloth with tassels at each corner (kanaph). Each tassel contained a ribbon of blue (a color symbolic of heaven). It was a symbol of the covenant, a reminder of the commandments of God. In Hebrew, it is called a tzitzit and refers to a fringe, a tassel, a lock (such as a lock of hair) — a wing-like projection (see Strong’s number H6734).

The word kanaph means corner, border, margin, edge, and it is often to a garment. It also refers, in a number of Scriptures to the farthest reaches of the earth, the “four corners.” And in many places, it is translated as “wing.”

The Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in His kanaph.

Perhaps you remember the story of the woman with the flow of blood, who pressed after Jesus so that she might touch Him and be healed.
Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. (Luke 8:43-44)
Jesus was an observant Jew, which meant that He wore the garment God prescribed in Numbers 15, which was meant to be worn “throughout the generations.” And on each corner was the requisite tassel.

This woman, desperately in need of healing, pursued Jesus through the crowd, crouching to touch this garment, which in those days extended almost to the ground. She was not simply reaching for the garment in general, she was specifically going after the “border.” The Greek word used here is kraspedon, and means “fringe” or “tassel.”

In Matthew’s account of this incident, we learn that she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well” (Mathew 9:21). She pursued with great focus and intent, reaching for that part of the garment which was given to remind the wearer of the covenant God made with His people, a covenant that included healing.

She pressed through until she grasped the tassel — the wing-like projection on the corner (kanaph) of His garment. The Greek word for “touch” does not mean that she merely brushed up against the tassel, but that she attached to it. With that very purposeful touch she released her faith and immediately she was healed — and knew it. Jesus also knew it. He wheeled around and said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me” (Luke 8:46). Her faith had laid hold of the covenant promise of God and released the healing power of the Messiah into her body.

This woman was not the only one who experience healing in the “wings” of Jesus. Many others came:
When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem [kraspedon] of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. (Matthew 14:34-36)
Jesus is the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness risen with healing in His “wings.” If you need healing, lay hold of Him now by faith and receive His healing power into your body.



Healing Scriptures and Prayers

Healing Scriptures and Prayers
by Jeff Doles

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Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

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