Is There No Balm In Gilead?

Is there No Balm in Gilead?

Jeremiah 8:22… Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

Background:

• Jeremiah was weeping over the spiritual condition of Israel and epically the godless state of Judah.

• Degrading of religious authority

• Lack of interest in their spiritual condition by the church leaders

• The church was wrapped up in material and political gain instead of the people

Because of the severe conditions, Jeremiah saw he cried out:

Jeremiah 8:22… Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

Def Balm = an oily aromatic resin exuded from trees and shrubs in hot desert countries. It was believed to contain healing assistance and was very rare, expensive and hard to find. Only the rich people had a ready supply. Myrrh was almost the same and often was sold as the same.

He notices the lack of caring of the leadership, both political and religious. Jeremiah saw the hurt, the frustrations and the fear of the people. He saw people wounded and broken who needed healing.

He pleaded to the leaders of the land and to the people to turn to God for guidance and help, but they refused to listen to him. He warned them of pending destruction so they accused him of false prophecy and threw him in the dungeon to die. He continued to proclaim the help and assistance that was available through God.

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Today as we look around, we see continued suffering, pain and hurts in the lives of the people. People who need a miracle of emotional, physical or spiritual healing that can only come from God. Healing of rejection, abuse, pain and torment.

Is there no balm in Odessa Texas?

Isaiah 53:3… He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus was rejected the most by those who he came to help.

John 1:11… He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Jesus did all he could to get the Jewish church to accept Him. He really did not feel a calling to the other people.

ILL a woman of Canaan came to him for the healing of her daughter.

Matthew 15:24… He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

Jesus was trying to reach the people who did not want Him.

Rejection is a devastating action against a person. They feel they are to blame for the rejection and try to resolve the issue with all their might. It causes poor self-esteem and anger begins to build in their spirit.

ILL of rejection

1) A young woman died while delivering her first baby. The doctors preformed a c-section and save the baby girl. When presented to the father he said, “why did you save the very thing the killed my wife. I don’t want her and will not take her out of the hospital

2) A father had two sons. One was very gifted and intelligent and one was mentally handicapped. An accident took the life of the gifted child leaving the father with only one son. He stated I wish the mentally handicapped child had killed because he will not amount to anything. The boy withdrew into himself refusing to speak to anyone until and loving Christian woman reached out and help him to trust again.

3) Adopted children, raised in a loving home by good parents will still often feel the rejection of the birth parents. They will search for their birth parents and their identity.

4) A young mother with two children beaten, rejected by the husband and father for another woman. Her entire life she had felt rejection from her own father and mother. She was nervous, fidgety scared, and could not make even the simple decisions of life. She covered her pain with boldness and aloofness so there was little outward evidence of the inner pain. One day she went to an altar and found healing for the inner heart.

Isa 54:5-6 …for your Creator will be your husband. The LORD Almighty is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you back from your grief…

5) A young mother stood in a prayer line with her daughter, needing help from God. Full of worry, pain and hopelessness because her daughter had been sexually abused by the father. They both needed healing and were desperate. God came into their life and free them of the guilt and remorse that haunted their minds. Satan was defeated because there is a loving God that heals the damaged emotions.