In this series we will cover primarily physical sickness and healing though we will not be able to escape the spiritual aspects and components of it completely.
Of the physical, spiritual, emotional and mental health problems that we deal with, the most important is spiritual healing. In one sense this is mostly what the messages are about on a weekly basis. The healing that Jesus did, most often foreshadowed a spiritual application.
Also, we will try to stay away from suffering in general. All sickness is suffering, but not all suffering has to do with sickness.
Even though we are trying to pare down the subject we are going to find out that it is still multifaceted. So, we are going to see a lot of what the Bible has to say on the core issue so that we will have a better set of tools to interpret and understand God’s will.
Is it “Natural” to be Sick?
Deuteronomy 28:58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,
Deuteronomy 28:59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.
Deuteronomy 28:60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
Deuteronomy 28:61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed.
God had a path that was intended for man to travel, but when he wandered from it there were consequences that were set in motion.
Is it Always Because of Sin?
The reason that we are talking about this is that there is a common belief that it is ALWAYS because of sin – and people have this in the back of their mind and make assessment.
We even see this attitude in the Bible and no doubt prevalent at that time as well.
Man Blind from Birth
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
John 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
John 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
It was not for correction or punishment, but for the… but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
David’s Child
2 Samuel 12:13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
2 Samuel 12:14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”
2 Samuel 12:15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.
2 Samuel 12:16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
2 Samuel 12:17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
2 Samuel 12:18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
Daniel’s Visit from Gabriel
Daniel 8:15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”
Daniel 8:17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”
Daniel 8:18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.
Daniel 8:27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Daniel, who was beloved by God and far from sin, was chosen and used to interpret revelation from God and one of the side effects of it was that Daniel was sick for days.
Can it Be Due to Sin?
In religion this is very often, if not most often what is associated with many sicknesses and illnesses within the church and as we will see it is a valid concern – but as we have already seen it is not the only reason behind why we can become sick.
Micah 6:13 “Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, By making you desolate because of your sins.
Sin is breaking of the law of God – it is not living by every word, command, precept and way of God. And God made it clear that there would be consequences if we failed to do that.
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.
Deuteronomy 28:28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.
Leviticus 26:14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
Leviticus 26:15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
Leviticus 26:16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
There is a cause and effect aspect to why God can and will afflict us.
Example of David
Psalms 38:1 A Psalm of David. To Bring to Remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
Psalms 38:2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down.
Psalms 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin.
Psalms 38:4 For my iniquities have gone over my head[loom over my head]; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Psalms 38:5 My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness.
Psalms 38:6 I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
Psalms 38:7 For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh.
Psalms 38:8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
Psalms 38:9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
Psalms 38:10 My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
Psalms 38:11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof [in the distance] from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off.
Psalms 38:12 Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, And plan deception all the day long.
Psalms 38:17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.
Psalms 38:18 For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin.
Psalms 38:21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me!
Psalms 38:22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
What Kind of God Does This?
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
Hebrews 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM;
Hebrews 12:6 FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Hebrews 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Hebrews 12:8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
Hebrews 12:10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
How do you think that God chastens us? Sometimes it is short and painful and other times it is long and grueling (example: Spanking vs grounding). It is in much the same way as our parents do/did, except God has the power to do it and undo it when it comes to sicknesses.
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
John 11:2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
John 11:3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
John 11:4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
John 11:6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
John 11:21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
John 11:23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
John 11:24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 11:26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
John 11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
John 11:42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
John 11:44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Lazarus was alive, then dead, alive, then he died, then will be alive in the resurrection.
Alive, then dead, alive, then dead, then alive – this is the God that has begun a good work in us will see it through – He is the one that knows the thoughts of our mind and intent of our hearts – He is in control of everything in the universe – He is the one that does not allow time and chance to happen to His children and He knows and controls what happens in our life for a His reason and according to His will – which we are to search out.