spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

that the human covenant partner needs to adhere to the covenant conditions and to respect God’s
precepts. Compliance with the rules of the covenant will generate blessing, but disregard of the
conditions will lead to curse. Exodus 15:25f and Exodus 23:23f are considered to be key texts in
biblical terms about health and healing. Then there is also the blessing of the covenant in the
Prophets, in which blessing is considered as healing from disease instead of protection. Even in
the Prophets we find a theology of curse and blessing within the framework of the covenant, but,
unlike in the Torah, blessing features in the Prophets when God offers a new chance to the
covenant relation that has been damaged due to the disobedience of the people of Israel. The
blessing, then, has the nature of a promise of future recovery (that is healing, both literally and
figuratively) rather than the notion of safeguard against misfortune.
However, the covenant is not the only category in which the Old Testament deals with healing.
De Vries (2006:362f) points out that on the basis of healing stories, which do not occur often in
the Old Testament, it can be said that healing is also about (1) the recognition of the power of
Yahweh in relation to idols. The resurrection miracle in Sarafat (1 Kings 17) as well as the
healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5) testify to the idea that even those who do not belong to the
covenant of Israel may share in the salvation of Yahweh, after Yahweh’s prophet is obeyed and
the name of Yahweh is glorified. And (2) the sovereign act of God for the realization of his
history of salvation is a source of healing. The barrenness of Sara (Genesis 17:15-21; 18:10-14;
21:1f), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21) and Rachel (Genesis 30:22f) lead to God’s dealings that ignore
human limits because God’s salvation history must come to realization. Finally, (3) the
faithfulness of Yahweh to king David also provides a framework in which healing occurs. In 2
Kings 20:1-11, King Hezekiah is cured from a skin disease because of the relationship of God
and Hezekiah’s father David.
Westermann (1972) points out that healing and salvation may be different in character in the Old
Testament, but that healing should not be subordinated to salvation, as Christian theology has
always done. He too emphasizes that healing in the Old Testament is understood to mean
blessing. Healing occupies a central place in human existence, and is quite naturally considered
the work of God. In a continuous and silent way God blesses people with wholeness of life, since
that is God’s purpose and will for his creation. Westermann asserts that salvation is God’s other
way of dealing with his people. God’s saving action towards a particular people carries more of a
communal notion, while healing in the form of blessing is of individual character, leaving it to
the ‘diseased’ individual to see God’s hand in the healing (or even in the absence of healing).
Westermann (1972:19) balances healing and salvation by saying that “the experience of healing
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