Lesson 390: "Have We Forsaken Gilead?"
During the period of the judges, Gilead was the strongest Israelite group in Transjordan and all of Canaan (Jud. 10:3, 12:7). Certainly Gilead’s heartland was hill country (Gene. 31:21) and became known as “the hill of testimony” and “mound of witness”. From the trees of these mountains came a soothing salve that Jeremiah compared to the healing power of God (Jer. 46:11). The territory was often a place of salvation or safety for the faithful. It was to Gilead that Jacob fled from Laban (Gen 31:21), from where the Ishmaelites came and saved Joseph from the hands of his brothers (Gen. 37:25), where some hid from the Philistines in the reign of Saul (1 Sam. 13:7) and where David won his victory over Absalom (2 Sam. 17:26).
In the early centuries, shortly after the time of Elijah, Gilead was no longer an independent Israelite territory. The Lord began to make Israel smaller and Hazael took all the land of the Jordan known as the Land of Gilead. According to Hosea, Gilead had become a place of evildoers (Hos. 6:8, 12:11). It was predicted that Gilead would be returned to Israelite control (Obad. 1:19, Mic. 7:14, Zech 10:10) in the Day of the Lord when Israel rises again.
Through Jeremiah God asked; “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people” (Jer. 8:22). Do we strive to stay the “original Gilead or have we become a place of evildoers? God told the Israelites from the beginning; “I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex. 15:26), and the Lord does not change (Mal. 3:6). Does Jesus stand amazed at our faith as He did the centurion (Luke 7:9) who without a doubt knew that Jesus was the Great Physician! Have we forgotten? “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14-15). Not the balm and not the oil but the faith in the power of Jesus Christ the Healer will heal if we ask in His name. Have we forsaken Gilead? Do we fail to call on the Physician? Why are the wounds not healed?