We sometimes sing the song, “Did You Think to Pray?” In one of the verses, it mentions the “Balm of Gilead.” This may be an unfamiliar term to us. What exactly is the Balm of Gilead? In order to have a better understanding and appreciation for the words we are singing, let us notice what the Bible says about it.
Balm was used medicinally to treat wounds. We first read of it at the time when Joseph’s brothers decided to sell him into slavery. They found “a caravan of Ishmaelites…coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt” (Genesis 37:25). The medicinal use of balm is mentioned in Jeremiah’s prophecy of the fall of Babylon: “Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed” (Jeremiah 51:8).
Earlier in Jeremiah, this balm was used as an illustration to show the necessity of returning to the Lord to be healed of sin: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22). “Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain have you multiplied remedies; there is no healing for you” (Jeremiah 46:11).
In the first verse, the people were being rebuked for not taking advantage of the healing provided by God: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” These are rhetorical questions. Of course there was balm in Gilead. The point was that there was no reason for them to remain in their sickness – being separated from God. The remedy was available to them.
In the second verse, we see the admonition to go to Gilead to obtain balm. But what had these people done instead? They had searched after other remedies in vain. If we do not obtain the remedy God provides, we will not be healed.
So how does this apply to us today?
All of us “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Paul described this condition as being “dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). How do we fix this condition? We must take advantage of the remedy that God has provided – the blood of Christ. John said that Jesus “released us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5).
What do we need to do to have our sins removed? If you are not a Christian, you need to do what the apostle Paul (then Saul) was told to do before he was a Christian: “Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16).
If you are a Christian, you must do what John told the Christians to which he was writing: “Walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light…and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). For the times when we do stumble, John said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Many people want to find a different way for dealing with the problem of sin. But like the daughter of Egypt who searched in vain to find another remedy that would heal her (Jeremiah 46:11), our search is also vain if we look for a different way than what God has provided. We can have our sins washed away when we humbly submit to God’s will in baptism. After becoming a Christian, we can receive forgiveness for our occasional sins through prayer – confessing our faults and asking forgiveness.
God can and will heal us. But it is up to us to take advantage of the remedy He offers.dy He offers.
