Nature has incredible healing powers, but not all “natural remedies” actually work. Everywhere we turn friends and family (and the internet) promote various “natural” and “holistic” remedies for every ailment. Some may work because the ingredients contain effective chemical compounds, others do nothing beyond soothing the patient while the body heals on its own (the placebo effect), but some can be harmful, usually slightly though sometimes quite seriously.

However, since Morning Minutes in the Bible on An American Missionary isn’t a health advisory column please do your research on that topic elsewhere. But if you’re looking for information on how to obtain spiritual healing, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve been working our way through the OT book of Hosea as God warns the materially prosperous but spiritually bankrupt nation of Israel that their refusal to obey Him will bring a material collapse to match their spiritual one.

“They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have borne illegitimate children, now the new moon will devour them with the land. Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven: ‘Behind you Benjamin!’ Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure.” Hosea 5:7-9

Because of their idolatry, which included both spiritual and physical adultery, their sense of safety and prosperity needed to be removed. But Israel refused to listen, “because he was determined to follow man’s command” and vainly sought healing for his wounds from “natural” sources, such as the nations around them, instead of God, not believing “there will be none to deliver…until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face” (Hosea 5:11-15).

Listen carefully to Hosea 5:11 because “determined to follow man’s commands” describes most religious practices. Not just in the world’s religions that have rejected Jesus entirely, but even among many, perhaps most, who claim to follow Christ. If it wasn’t for the deadly consequence of eternal destruction, watching modern American Christianity call on Jesus for healing while rejecting His words for their own “natural remedies” found in human ideas and commands would be funny. But there’s nothing funny about rejecting God. And, unless we admit our guilt and earnestly seek God for His healing we will end up spiritually dead, too. Let’s go to God for healing, shall we?