Balm Of Gilead

Balm of Gilead

Jeremiah 8:21-22

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBMc2Mr5p90&t=6s

Today I’d like to share what many people refer to, but really don’t know much about, and that is the Balm of Gilead. They talk about Jesus being the Balm of Gilead, but really don’t know how it applies. Therefore, why say it?

In an old hymn or spiritual called, “Balm In Gilead,” Its refrain goes like this, “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”

Since we’re taking our text from the prophet Jeremiah, who actually references this twice, it would be beneficial then to look at what was ailing Israel at this time.

Israel, or better, Judah had a problem, and at the time it seemed to be an incurable sore that plagued them, and it is what Jeremiah continued to reference.

In Jeremiah 30:12-13, Jeremiah said, “For thus says the Lord: ‘Your affliction is incurable, your wound is severe. There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up; you have no healing medicines.’”

Yet, God never leaves us without hope, and even though the people of Judah continue to sin and disobey God, He promised to restore and heal, which is brought out in verse 17. The Lord said, “For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds.”

Looking at these verses, I love what 18th century pastor, J.C. Philpot said, “There is more in the balm to heal than there is in guilt to wound; for there is more in grace to save than there is in sin to destroy.” (J.C. Philpot)

And it is verse 17, and what J.C. Philpot said that I’d like for us to take a look at today, but first, we need to understand the question Jeremiah posed to the people

You see, Babylon is coming, and this is because of the sins of the people and nation.

“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with foreign idols?” (Jeremiah 8:19 NKJV)

Within the context of the passage, Jeremiah is referring to the sins of Israel, specifically idolatry as to why they was not seeing God, or His King, the Messiah.

And then He asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?” (Jeremiah 8:22 NKJV)

What he is saying is that there no salve, no soothing ointment, no medicine for their souls, and what ails them. And then, why there is no healing for the wound of God’s people? And then he said that since there also are no physicians, that is, no one righteous enough to bring God’s healing balm and apply it, then there would be no forgiveness and thus no recovery.

From what Jeremiah asked, what we discover is that the Balm of Gilead means spiritual health. Even though God delivered Israel from slavery, and walked through the Red Sea, the people still looked elsewhere for spiritual fulfillment. They even worshipped other gods.

But there is good news, and that is there is a balm and physician in Gilead.

But, like the people of Israel, we also look for the temporary, the quick fix, and don’t look deeper as to the ultimate cause.

You see, the Balm of Gilead has a deeper symbolic meaning. God showed Israel, through imagery, that they’d turned to a temporary healing solution. Yes, the balm might heal their physical wounds, but they had far deeper spiritual wounds that needed healing.

This is why we need to look deeper at this area of Scripture. We should care about the Balm of Gilead because we know that the temporary solutions that Israel turned to, and those solutions we often turn to, don’t work.

We need to stop placing the fullness of our trust upon these temporary solutions to our problems, sicknesses, and the rest. In the same way, do we trust in temporary balms like Israel? Do we apply them to festering spiritual wounds? Or have we turned to the ultimate healing physician, who can truly cure our ailments?

When Jesus came to earth, in His mission to set the people free, and to usher in the kingdom of God, and to be that Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, He also went about healing everyone.

Let me give examples at how Jesus looked deeper and saw beneath the wounds and to the ultimate cure.

Matthew 9:2 says that some people brought to Him a paralyzed man. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” The first words Jesus said to the paralyzed man were “Your sins are forgiven.”