First, a quick look at the context makes it clear that Isaiah had spiritual rather than physical healing in mind: Christ “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 nkjv, emphasis added). Peter builds on this understanding when he writes, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, emphasis added).

Furthermore, while healing for the body is not referred to in Isaiah 53:5, it is referred to in the verse immediately preceding it. Here Isaiah writes, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4)nkjv. Physical healing here is not only clear in context but affirmed by the Gospels where it is given an important qualification: “When evening came, many who were demonpossessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases’” (Matthew 8:16–17). Thus, the healing here was during the ministry of Christ and does not guarantee healing today.

Finally, I should note that in a real sense Christ’s atonement on the cross does extend to physical healing. One day, “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). However, as Paul points out, “We hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25,emphasis added). In the meantime, we will all experience sickness and suffering. Indeed, those who live before Christ returns will all die of their last disease—the death rate is one per person and we’re all going to make it!

For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers, 1993).

First, though God promised Moses that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3), the Exodus account underscores the fact that Pharaoh was responsible for hardening his own heart (Exodus 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7; cf. 9:34).

Furthermore, far from hardening Pharaoh’s heart in a direct or deterministic fashion, God presented Pharaoh with ample opportunity to either repent or continue in rebellion. Every time God showed Pharaoh mercy and removed a plague from Egypt, Pharaoh responded in stubborn disobedience. As such, God’s mercy was the occasion for the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.

Finally, in dealing with this issue, the apostle Paul begins with the presupposition that God judges all men justly (Romans 3:5–8). He emphasizes the fact that people like Pharaoh are “prepared for destruction” because that is ultimately what they will. Every time God provides an opportunity to repent, like Pharaoh they harden their hearts in disobedience and unbelief.

For further study, see Paul Marston and Roger Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History,2nd ed. (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2000).

EXODUS 9:34–35
“When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and
thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his
officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was
hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as
the LORD had said through Moses.”

First, a text without a context is a pretext. God’s commands to destroy the nations inhabiting the promised land of Canaan must never be interpreted in isolation from their immediate contexts. The command to “destroy them totally” (Deuteronomy 7:2) is contextualized by the words: “Do not intermarry with them . . . for they will turn your sons and daughters away from following me to serve other gods. . . . This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire” (vv. 3–5). As such, the aim of God’s command was not the obliteration of the wicked but the obliteration of wickedness.

Furthermore, God’s martial instructions are qualified by his moral intentions to spare the repentant. As the author of Hebrews explains, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” (11:31). Not only were Rahab and her family spared on account of her faith, she was allowed to live among the Israelites (Joshua 6:25) and came to hold a privileged position in the lineage of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). God’s desire to spare the pagan city of Nineveh further illustrates the extent of his mercy for the repentant (see Jonah).

Finally, God unequivocally commanded Israel to treat the aliens living among them with respect and equality. Foreigners living among the Israelites were allowed to celebrate Passover (Numbers 9:14; cf. 15:15), benefited from an agrarian system of welfare (Leviticus 19:9), and enjoyed full legal protection (Deuteronomy 1:16–17). Even descendants of Israel’s enemies, the Edomites and the Egyptians, were allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:7–8). In fact, God condemned oppression of aliens in the harshest possible language: “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless, or the widow” (Deuteronomy 27:19). Such concern for foreigners clearly demonstrates that mercy was to be shown to those who by faith repented of their idolatry and were thereby grafted into true Israel (cf. Romans 11:11–24).

For further study, see Gary M. Burge, Whose Land? Whose Promise? (Cleveland, OH:The Pilgrim Press, 2003): 82–93.

JEREMIAH 7:5–7
“If you really change your ways and your actions
and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress
the alien, the fatherless or the widow and
do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you
do not follow other gods to your own harm,
then I will let you live in this place, in the land I
gave your forefathers for ever and ever.”