One of the most noteworthy themes in the Bible is the connection between healing and atonement. When a sacrifice was made (often a blood sacrifice), healing or protection from sickness was the result. Symbols of the atonement of Christ produced healing in the Old Testament, as you will see below. How foolish to think that the Israelites could be healed by the symbols of Jesus Christ, but that Christians cannot be healed by the very Jesus Christ who was symbolized! Healing, atonement and forgiveness are found together throughout the Bible. Where there is atonement and forgiveness, there is healing. Since Christ atoned for your sins and forgave you, you should expect to be healed physically, too.

Exodus 12:12-13 says that the plague that killed Egypt's firstborn would pass over any house that had the blood of the Passover lamb on the front door. This symbol of Jesus Christ kept sickness away. The "destroyer" (Ex 12:23) would not visit any house with this blood on the door. The Passover lamb is explicitly declared to represent Christ in 1 Cor 5:7. Not only did the killer plague stay away, but also not a single Israelite was even feeble after this (Psalm 105:37). Israel walked in health after partaking of this symbol of Christ's atonement.


It is noteworthy that the Passover consisted of both the blood and the body, and commands were given for both. The blood sprinkled on the door redeemed the people from the plague, but the body was also significant because the people were to eat it. The people would not have had time to bake anything because of the haste with which they had to flee Egypt. The body of the Passover lamb was for their physical strength. We should expect the blood of our Lord (symbolized by the Passover) to redeem us from plagues, and we should expect the body of our Lord (also symbolized by the Passover) to give us physical strength.

Exodus 30:11-16 contains a command to the Israelites to give "ransom money" to the Lord to make atonement for their souls, so that there would be no plague among them. Atonement kept sickness away from them.


The "law of the leper," as found in Leviticus 14:1-32 and Leviticus 15:13-15, required atonement to be made for a leper to be admitted back into the camp. The healed leper could not be readmitted without this atonement.

Numbers 8:19 says that the Levites were given to make atonement for Israel, so that there would be no plague when they came near the sanctuary. God is holy. The people under the Old Covenant could not approach him in their sins. If they did, judgment would break out, as it did against the Philistines who stole the ark of God (1 Samuel 5:1-6:5). Atonement allowed men to approach God with no fear of getting a plague.


Numbers 16:44-50 tells how a plague that killed 14,700 people was stopped when Aaron made an atonement.

Numbers 21:5-9 contains the story of the complaining Israelites, many of whom died from a plague of serpents. The plague was stopped when Moses lifted up a brass serpent on a pole. Anyone who looked at this symbol of Christ was healed and forgiven. Jesus compared himself to Moses' serpent in John 3:14. It follows that anyone who looks to the One symbolized by the serpent should also be healed and forgiven.

Numbers 25:3-13 tells of another plague that killed 24,000 people before it was stopped by an atonement.

2 Samuel 24:10-25 and 1 Chronicles 21:7-27 tell of another plague that ended when a sacrifice was made.


2 Chronicles 30:18-20 says that the Lord healed Hezekiah's people after they kept the Passover, which symbolized Christ's atonement. How sad it would be if you could be healed by the symbol of Christ's atonement and not by the very thing it symbolized! This would make the symbol more powerful than the real thing when it comes to healing. This shows that physical healing continued to be connected with the Passover even in a memorial of the actual event.

Job 33:19-25 shows an understanding even in Job's day of the principle of healing following a ransom (atonement).

Psalm 103:1-5 says that God forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases (among other things). Forgiveness and healing go together. When your sins are forgiven, you can get healed.


Isaiah 33:24, pointing to the millennial reign of Christ, says that the forgiven people will not be sick.

Isaiah 53 prophesies about the Messiah who will be bruised for our transgressions. He will bear our sicknesses and pains, and with his stripes, we are healed. 1 Peter 2:24 echoes this. See Isaiah's prophecy of redemption for definite proof that healing was part of Christ's atonement.

Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:2-12, and Luke 5:17-26 all give an account where Jesus heals a paralytic as proof that he has power on earth to forgive sins. When the sins were forgiven, the person could be healed. Now that your sins are forgiven, you should be healed as well.

It should be clear from the above that atonement stops plagues, and forgiveness results in healing. Now that Jesus has bought forgiveness for us through his atonement, we must conclude that healing is now ours as well. Otherwise, the mere symbols of Christ brought God's people more than Christ himself did.