Hebrew Highlights 78 – BY HIS STRIPES

Shalom. This is Yuval Shomron, coming to you from Jerusalem.

ISA 53:4-6, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

I’ve referred to this scripture before on Hebrew Highlights, and will probably do so again. It is so full of revelation about the character of our Messiah Yeshua. Today I’d like to focus on one little phrase, “And by His scourging we are healed”. The word “scourging” which I read here in the New American Standard version of the Bible, is variously translated as “stripes” or “wounds”. Any of these words are fair.

In Hebrew we read, “ubachavurato nipalanu”. “Chavurato” or His stripes, is based on the root word “chaver”. This root is also used in the words “friend”, “connection”, “group”, and “fellowship”. Before exploring further, let me read an interesting New Testament cross-reference.

PHI 3:8-11, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Take note here in verse 10 of the phrase “fellowship of His sufferings”. In Hebrew, one could say, “chevrat chavorato”. The Apostle Paul continues in verse 11 by saying, “being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

It is in our identification with Yeshua’s death and resurrection that we ourselves attain to life. In the same way, it is by our connection with His sufferings that we attain to the healing He has purchased for us at so great a price.

Many of us seek healing, whether for physical illnesses, emotional problems, or spiritual weaknesses. The question is, do we also seek to identify with His pain? Perhaps by taking hold of Yeshua’s anguish, we might better understand the remedy to our own hurt.

Yeshua did not only take on pain to give us well-being, but accepted death on the cross in order to bring us eternal life. Let’s read JOH 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends”. Here again, in the word “friends”, “yedidim” or “chaverim”, our Hebrew root reappears.

In order to receive the full benefit of Messiah’s prophetic act of sacrifice and victory, we need to be connected to Him, to be in fellowship with Him, and to be proud to call Him our friend. Then truly “by His stripes”, we will be healed in every area or our life. A life that because His unselfish gift, will be eternal.

Shalom, Shalom , from Jerusalem.