Views/Scripture on Diseases

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TheIndianGirl

Guest
#1
What is the Biblical view on diseases? Is disease a form of punishment, maybe from God? Does God give us disease to redirect our lives? Is all disease from the devil? I have heard a variety of views on this from Christians. My charismatic friends (from Ethiopia) say disease is demonic/from the devil, and we have the power to cast out disease through faith and prayer (it will not be cast out with unbelief). My problem with this view is that through the disease, I am hosting demonic presence in my body. I do not think this is a healthy view. The blame is cast to the sick person as though he/she got the disease because he/she may be spiritually weak.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
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#2
Is disease a form of punishment, maybe from God?
Sometimes. See 1 Corinthians 11. This subject is quite involved, but what you could do is go to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and do a study on the words "disease" and "diseases". Try this web site and enter those words separately.
http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html
 

stonesoffire

Poetic Member
Nov 24, 2013
10,665
1,829
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#3
It’s best to stay focused on the One who healeth all my disease.
 

Subhumanoidal

Well-known member
Sep 17, 2018
3,644
2,861
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#4
What is the Biblical view on diseases? Is disease a form of punishment, maybe from God? Does God give us disease to redirect our lives? Is all disease from the devil? I have heard a variety of views on this from Christians. My charismatic friends (from Ethiopia) say disease is demonic/from the devil, and we have the power to cast out disease through faith and prayer (it will not be cast out with unbelief). My problem with this view is that through the disease, I am hosting demonic presence in my body. I do not think this is a healthy view. The blame is cast to the sick person as though he/she got the disease because he/she may be spiritually weak.
Definitely avoid the charismatic view. I was in that for a few years and it was really unhealthy for me.

I think the issue is there is no single answer that neatly explains everything. God allowed Job to be sick, not as a punishment, or a lack of faith or any of the usual answers.
Some were sick for the purpose of being healed to show the glory of God.
We also live in a world full of sickness. It's just a part of life.
And sometimes people simply don't do a good job taking care of their bodies and natural consequences come from that.
So figuring out why is often fruitless.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,195
6,508
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#5
Everything in this age demonstrates it is allied or subjected to decay. I was born with rickets, a bone malady. Before I was five I went through a long bout of rheumatic fever. Neither of these were testing anyone to the best of my knowleddge.
Except for periods of malnutrition while growing up, my life has been fairly guarded from diseases.
Now, at seventy/six I live with macular degeneration, pinched nerves in the back and neck caused by bone deterioration, UTI coming at will, and none of this says anything more to me than even our bodies are allied to, subject to corruption.
Each so/called problem for me is simply a stepping stone to glory, and a reminder that I am a stranger in this v ery strange land.
Would that all come to this manner of understanding. It is simply the confirmation of our Father-s Word and Love for each of us.
 
Feb 29, 2020
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#6
Exodus 15:26
26 and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Not observing the Lord's supper in worthy standing caused many to be weak and sickly, and many deaths (1 Corinthians 11:20-30).

But some of the brethren were sick as well for no known error; one of them being healed to spare Paul added sorrow (Philippians 2:27).
 

Mii

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2019
2,058
1,320
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#7
Interesting. This topic has been on my mind lately from a thread I think a week or so ago (I don't recall which) and also an autoimmune condition that troubles me (which I will provide another motive at the end). For some reason when typing this I feel like I should probably write this more like an article on "gotquestions" but I'm a tad lazy, but perhaps this may be useful for you to look a little deeper. There are a few "categories" to consider regarding this subject about the why.

Directly from God
The product of a fallen world
Sin nature (human interaction)
"indirectly from God"

Firstly, we live in a fallen world in mortal bodies. Sin IS a disease and our bodies are mortal. I don't want to get too into that, but that is a main component to scripture. Death could be seen as a type of disease limited to this life and eternal death a permanent disease/decay.

~John 9:1-3 is a good verse for a basis of saying that even if disease is from the Lord (as a result of a fallen nature) still the "why" is different in each instance. This instance flew in the face of the commonly accepted view, that it was because of sin. Either that person's sin, or generational sin.

~Subhumanoidal brought up Job which is a good point also. We still don't have any answers on the real "why" of that circumstance. Growing up I understood it as a test and have applied that to my own life regarding afflictions, but it still doesn't explain the "why" and may not ever fully answer it in this life. It could be that I am biased toward looking at things like this and these circumstances are rather uncommon...not sure.



~We also have people dying from "seeming" plagues in the Old Testament (I could provide a list if you like).
There are over 40 instances of the word "pestilence" in the OT. The word appears to be plague but you'd have to read through each reference to be certain of the context.

Consider in 2 Samuel 24:15 when 70,000 people died due to David's error in taking a census.


Consider also:

The Lord gave Gehazi leprosy via Elisha. The Lord gave Miriam leprosy directly. Both were punitive.

~Was Naaman's sin mentioned regarding his leprosy? Not as far as I can tell.


In the NT the sin of the lepers was not mentioned, but that didn't mean that generational curses didn't exist necessarily but it is simply not said neither by Jesus or contextually (to my knowledge). I would appreciate it if someone could find a verse in the gospels that points out an affliction being sin based.


"some" afflictions may be demonic. You would do well to at least bear in mind the authority the enemy has on this earth without being under the protection and freedom of Jesus, but also to counter that with the fact that we are mortals in a fallen world. Sometimes a disease is man made. The motivation and coercion involved excepted, this has a unique factor in my own calculations regarding causation. I think far too often people jump to the demonic as a first resort and that needs a closer look.

~Regarding sin nature
Note: I am making a distinction between being in a fallen world and being mortal vs receiving the penalty for error.

STDs. They've been around since ancient times (anecdotal evidence). You'll have to do some "good" research as it
isn't as easy as a simple search to find the information but it is out there. This is a lengthy topic that has a few outliers (such as mother to child transmission) but other than a generational curse discussion these aren't relevant in general. Another important factor is that disease theory wasn't developed so while some probably believed it was spread sexually, it may not have been generally known. Syphilis has been around for quite some time. I have a lot of random information regarding this which is interesting (to me) in context to the discussion, but it's a lot for most readers.


A last area that I have time for currently is one of humanity and our ability to heal ourselves. It sort of lends itself to your question below

Does God give us disease to redirect our lives?
Not only disease, but MANY things. Trials, tribulation and suffering. I choose to see the Romans 8:28 as a primary focus for stuff like that. What I'm typing below isn't meant to make light of anyone's suffering but only that there are some things that need not trouble us if we simply do some problem solving. To prime it though...consider that poison ivy is preventable, but if you want to be out in nature it requires problem solving if the poison affects you.

I may add more tomorrow (I typed a block of text) but it's late now and I don't want to prematurely post certain conclusions. Essentially, sometimes we just need to learn more about our own bodies on our own. Each of us is uniquely and wonderfully made. There is a reason why drugs (medically) affect everyone differently, with some experiencing extremely rare side effects. Even down to our musical preferences no two are alike...that's a given for most, but what it does mean is that since the Lord knows me that intimately (being the creator) it could simply be a journey to discovery of how to navigate obstacles with him as your guiding light. Nothing is an accident and nothing is random in his eyes...It may not be for everyone, but what causes someone to realize a leading into the scientific field or to invent something? Sometimes it's just knowing it being of interest and not being satisfied with "we don't know" or "your results may vary" and that life is a process of discovery and there's nothing sinful in that. It's an adventure.

He knows why it does what it does. He wrote the code. It's possible that a very large percentage of it is beyond all of us, but there is some that we can know and learn to understand :)

All I know is I've been lazy regarding something that afflicts me and there are lot of things to try that are worth a shot and it may honestly be that sometimes it's a problem that can be solved that only you can solve for yourself within financial reason. I don't have thousands to put forward into technologies that would very likely help as a first resort.
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
30,095
6,479
113
#8
What is the Biblical view on diseases? Is disease a form of punishment, maybe from God? Does God give us disease to redirect our lives? Is all disease from the devil? I have heard a variety of views on this from Christians. My charismatic friends (from Ethiopia) say disease is demonic/from the devil, and we have the power to cast out disease through faith and prayer (it will not be cast out with unbelief). My problem with this view is that through the disease, I am hosting demonic presence in my body. I do not think this is a healthy view. The blame is cast to the sick person as though he/she got the disease because he/she may be spiritually weak.
IF my friend told me this stuff, I'd be like........

new friends.png
 

EternalFire

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2019
639
338
63
#9
I've been fascinated by Jesus' response at the end of this passage in John 5.

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
 
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TheIndianGirl

Guest
#10
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
Do you think Jesus was saying that the man might get a worse disease if he sins (worse than being cripple) or whether He was talking about afterlife?
 
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TheIndianGirl

Guest
#11
In my circle of Christian friends (I know a handful of foreigner Christians), I know a fair share of people who think disease is a form of demonic attack. The more "weird" or mysterious the disease which people have trouble understanding (strange skin lesions, certain mental illnesses, tinnitus/hyperacusis, some mysterious inexplicable nerve issue that may cause excruciating pain, etc.) the more likely they point that there is something "spiritual" about the disease. And, the cause of this demonic attack is that we are spiritually weak. I think the last thing you want to tell a sick person that they are spiritually weak, etc. Not only are you dealing with a health battle, but a newly added spiritual battle. On the other hand, the more healthy way to deal with this is remain positive and praying for healing (without thinking about a demonic attack). Any thoughts on this?
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,763
113
#12
In my circle of Christian friends (I know a handful of foreigner Christians), I know a fair share of people who think disease is a form of demonic attack.
This is definitely one aspect of diseases or disabilities. We see it in the Gospels. But to diseases exclusively demonic is nonsense.
 

Mii

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2019
2,058
1,320
113
#13
In my circle of Christian friends (I know a handful of foreigner Christians), I know a fair share of people who think disease is a form of demonic attack. The more "weird" or mysterious the disease which people have trouble understanding (strange skin lesions, certain mental illnesses, tinnitus/hyperacusis, some mysterious inexplicable nerve issue that may cause excruciating pain, etc.) the more likely they point that there is something "spiritual" about the disease. And, the cause of this demonic attack is that we are spiritually weak. I think the last thing you want to tell a sick person that they are spiritually weak, etc. Not only are you dealing with a health battle, but a newly added spiritual battle. On the other hand, the more healthy way to deal with this is remain positive and praying for healing (without thinking about a demonic attack). Any thoughts on this?
I think that when the body is out of alignment (unhealthy) it can cause a person to be more open to causality in a way that a direct spiritual affliction/oppression is an option. I personally think the enemy uses this to almost "taunt" believers into doubts that are unproductive. The few times (if any) that it is actually from him as a result of not putting on the FULL armour, there still may be physical ailments that can manage those symptoms and provide relief, but the deeper root must be considered further and dealt with accordingly.

Much like a situation arising that you could in no way prevent, but you realized after the fact what you "could" have done and you now give ear to the accusations that you are guilty and at fault. Like saying something that turned into a shouting match and later you realize you were careless with your words so it's your fault, how could a believer do this, etc. etc.

There are quite a few scenarios that can cause this. Your flesh has a compass of sorts that wars with your spiritual compass. A "guilty conscience" is sometimes simply your flesh giving credence to the enemy's moral system and being at fault, whereas your spiritual guilt is practically nonexistent (being unintentional) and simply a matter of maturing past it. If you were actually in error repent.

If it were truly willful error, then we have a more serious problem, but still repentance as a primary action. These accusations are much harder to navigate because the doubts of truly being his when one is rebellious becomes a part of the equation (for myself at least).

Hopefully none of this is "too" vague. I agree with this statement below conditionally

I think the last thing you want to tell a sick person that they are spiritually weak, etc.
Unless it can be legitimately perceived that a person is "being a baby" and you know they are fully equipped to deal with this and are just being lazy or giving into fear, this in my experience, is entirely unhelpful and just feeds into more weakness, hopelessness, doubts and despondency/depression.
 

MendedSoul

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2019
430
289
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#14
Definitely avoid the charismatic view. I was in that for a few years and it was really unhealthy for me.

I think the issue is there is no single answer that neatly explains everything. God allowed Job to be sick, not as a punishment, or a lack of faith or any of the usual answers.
Some were sick for the purpose of being healed to show the glory of God.
We also live in a world full of sickness. It's just a part of life.
And sometimes people simply don't do a good job taking care of their bodies and natural consequences come from that.
So figuring out why is often fruitless.
This response. Also check out Psalm 91 on God’s promises of protections.
 

wolfwint

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2014
3,589
873
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61
#15
What is the Biblical view on diseases? Is disease a form of punishment, maybe from God? Does God give us disease to redirect our lives? Is all disease from the devil? I have heard a variety of views on this from Christians. My charismatic friends (from Ethiopia) say disease is demonic/from the devil, and we have the power to cast out disease through faith and prayer (it will not be cast out with unbelief). My problem with this view is that through the disease, I am hosting demonic presence in my body. I do not think this is a healthy view. The blame is cast to the sick person as though he/she got the disease because he/she may be spiritually weak.
I would see, death and diseases are the consequences of the sinfall.
Today you can see that unbelievers as well believers become sick. It is not a question of faith to be sick ore not. But also sickness can be a consequences of our lifestil and in the other Hand God can Use sickness for to bring our FOCUS to Him.
The allmost people will die because of any sickness and weakness from the body.
From the scripture I cant see a sickness free life guarantee for an believer here in our fleshly body. But in heaven!
Many people are disapointet and frustratet because of such Statements which you heared from this charismatic fellow.
 

EternalFire

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2019
639
338
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#16
Do you think Jesus was saying that the man might get a worse disease if he sins (worse than being cripple) or whether He was talking about afterlife?
The Bible does not indicate in this passage what constitutes something "worse." To me, the message of the serious consequences of sin is certainly something that is one of the things the passage is trying to convey. This man had been ill for 38 years! I can't even begin to imagine the suffering that this person experienced during that time. Whatever the "worse" may be, it is clear that it would result from disobeying what Jesus said regarding sinning.
 
C

cuz

Guest
#18
This is something that I have been wondering about myself
What I have come up with is how it deals with the flesh
The fall of Adam gave us a corrupt flesh
Now you have to ask yourself
what flash do I live in today
Have we received the flesh of Christ ?
Or is that something that is still to come
In my understanding we have received the spirit but the flash is still to come and will receive at his coming
So where does that leave us in the present time
Are we still in the corrupt flash that we received from Adam and Eve and I think we are
And we are still in that corrupt flesh
Then it would reason that we are still going to get sick
And we are still going to have problems in this world
Because we are not of this world
Our world is still to come

blessings
 

wolfwint

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2014
3,589
873
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61
#19
This is something that I have been wondering about myself
What I have come up with is how it deals with the flesh
The fall of Adam gave us a corrupt flesh
Now you have to ask yourself
what flash do I live in today
Have we received the flesh of Christ ?
Or is that something that is still to come
In my understanding we have received the spirit but the flash is still to come and will receive at his coming
So where does that leave us in the present time
Are we still in the corrupt flash that we received from Adam and Eve and I think we are
And we are still in that corrupt flesh
Then it would reason that we are still going to get sick
And we are still going to have problems in this world
Because we are not of this world
Our world is still to come

blessings
Correct
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,763
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#20
I think the issue is there is no single answer that neatly explains everything.
1. Correct. Sickness, disease, decay, corruption, and death are all a result of the Fall. The fact that there are numerous harmful bacteria and viruses on earth speaks for itself. But one day all of creation will be redeemed from this curse.

2. There is no question that while Jesus of Nazareth walked on this earth, He healed almost everyone, especially those who came to Him for healing. Not one was turned away. And there was a good reason for His miracles as we see in Scripture. The Jews require a sign, and after seeing His miracles, all Israel should have been saved. But that did not happen.

3. Also, the gifts of healings and miracles were given to the apostles, their companions, and the apostolic churches to prove to all unbelievers that the Gospel was from God. But God anticipated the demise of the apostles, therefore the prayer of faith of the elders (James 5) within the churches was given as the answer to sickness and disease within the churches.

4. However, there is no guarantee that every believer will always be in perfect health and never encounter any sickness, disease, or disability. Even Paul was given a physical disability which would not leave him in spite of his entreaties.

5. At the same time, those who connect everything to demons are simply giving demons and Satan more recognition than is their due. There is no question that some diseases and disabilities have this source, but it needs to be kept within bounds.

6. One could say that the Wuhan virus was released by the demonic evildoers who rule China, but that would not be a literal demonic plague. On the other hand, little Anthony Fauci is definitely controlled by Satan because of all his lies and fraudulent nonsense, and yet he is being able to control the narrative and affect the lives of millions.