“So Adonai will strike Egypt—striking yet healing—so they will return to Adonai, and He will respond to them and heal them.”
Isaiah 19:22 TLV
“It’s not nice to hit,” is a phrase I’ve uttered more than once as a teacher, an aunt to 3 rowdy boys, and as a mom.
When I first read this verse it’s the thought that came to me – that to “strike” meant merely to hit.
The word in the Hebrew for strike is nâgaph (naw-gaf’) – to push, gore, defeat, stub (the toe), inflict (a disease):—beat, dash, hurt, plague, slay, smite (down), strike, stumble, put to the worse.
It’s a little hard to fathom that a good G-d would do such a thing. He would inflict disease? He would strike humanity, causing man to stumble? He would send plagues? Yes. Yes He would. Yes He has. And Yes He will again. Why? Because He will use whatever means necessary to get our attention, turn us to Him, and reconcile us to Himself.
Years and years ago my mom had a bone spur at the top of her nasal cavity. She’d broken her nose as a little girl playing with her siblings and it was never fixed. As an adult, the spur was inconvenient and led to many headaches. When they finally decided to repair her septum, they had to start with breaking her nose. Before healing came breaking.
There’s a principle there which I’m sure medical people will get far more than me. Sometimes, breaking has to proceed healing. Chests have to be cut open and the sternum broken before clogged arteries can be healed. Cancerous tumors have to be cut out or cut off so healing can begin. Before the healing comes a breaking.
It’s uncomfortable and miserable but the reality is that striking and healing often go hand in hand. The Hebrew word for healing above is râphâʼ: to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure, (cause to) heal, physician, repair thoroughly, and to make whole.
We are a broken people in a broken world. In order to walk in the fullness of what He has for me, I must be whole – whole in body, in mind, and in spirit. And there’s only One who can make me whole – Adonai – and He will use whatever means necessary. He will strike so that He can heal – and when He does, I will trust Him and lean into the process.
Father – this isn’t my favorite verse. It humbles and scares me. But as Job said, why should I accept only good and not pain? You are good You keep doing good. Your leadership in my life is perfect and You can be trusted. Amen.
Daily Reading: Isaiah 18-22
July 17, 2022